Afford Anything | Make Smart Choices About Your Money, Time And Productivity

#558: What happens when you spend three decades talking to retirement experts? You learn that most of what people think they know about retirement planning is oversimplified or wrong. Christine Benz, director of personal finance and retirement planning at Morningstar, joins us on the Afford Anything podcast to share what she's discovered after 31 years of interviewing experts across personal finance, tax planning, and Social Security. One key insight: The standard advice about withdrawing 4 percent of your portfolio annually in retirement misses the mark. Real-life spending isn't that simple. In your 60s, you might spend more on travel. By your 80s, healthcare costs often rise. Benz suggests creating separate "pots" of money for different purposes - like a travel fund you aim to deplete within your first decade of retirement. Want to protect against market crashes early in retirement? Benz recommends keeping 5-8 years of planned withdrawals in cash and high-quality bonds. This prevents having to sell stoc