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Early Retirement Health Insurance Options

Posted on July 1, 2022February 25, 2026 by Alek Johnson, CFP®

Entering retirement can be both thrilling and intimidating at the same time. The thought of “hanging up the cape” and permanently leaving the workforce behind can be viewed as unburdening and relieving to one individual, but completely frightening to another. Regardless of the viewpoint you have on retirement, it will undoubtedly come with new challenges and troubles to overcome. Among the different problems to solve for retirement, one of the biggest challenges is that of early retirement health insurance options.

For those age 65 and older, or certain younger individuals with disabilities, Medicare has you covered. Medicare is the country’s health insurance program managed by the federal government. Once you enroll, there is very little management that you have to do throughout retirement.

But what about those who retire earlier than age 65? An early retirement is certainly achievable, but requires careful planning, especially when it comes to your healthcare. This article will enlighten you on the different healthcare options available for early retirees, with a focus on the Marketplace. If you are not familiar with what the Marketplace is, don’t worry, we will get to the details soon.

Health Insurance Options for Early Retirees

If neither you nor your spouse will be covered through an employer plan, fear not! There may be more options than you think. Below is a summary of a few options. I highly recommend speaking with your financial advisor about which route makes the most sense for you.

COBRA

A law that allows employees and their dependents to keep their group coverage from their former employer’s health plan. This coverage can last for 18 months after termination from the employer, but beware, this can be very costly.

Medicaid

Though unlikely for some retirees to qualify due to the low-income requirements (i.e., in Utah, coverage is available for those with household incomes up to 138% of the federal poverty level), this may be the cheapest option for those who do qualify. However, many doctors don’t accept Medicaid, so you may have to change your primary providers if you qualify for coverage.

Christian Healthcare Ministries

This is not traditional insurance, but rather a Christian-based method of sharing the costs with others around you. Each member pays a monthly premium, and those funds are used to help other members cover their healthcare costs.

The Marketplace

Finally, we have the Marketplace, which tends to be the route most early retirees take. For this reason, I want to expound upon how the Marketplace insurance really works.

The Marketplace – What is it?

In March of 2010, the Affordable Care Act (sometimes called Obamacare) was passed with the goal of making health insurance more affordable. The law provides individuals and families with government subsidies (otherwise known as premium tax credits). This helps lower the costs for households with an income between 100% and 400% of the federal poverty line. As a reference, in 2022, 400% of the federal poverty level for a retired couple is $73,240. The federal government operates the Health Insurance Marketplace, or “the Marketplace” for short. This is an online service that helps you enroll for health insurance. You can access the Marketplace at HealthCare.gov.

How does the Marketplace work?

First and foremost, I recommend you work with a trusted, licensed health insurance agent to help you navigate the waters of the Marketplace. Especially if you’ve only ever received health insurance through your employer. There is no additional cost to you to use an agent – they will be compensated by the insurance company directly. You can then tell the agent any specifics you are looking for with your coverage (such as certain doctors, hospitals, etc.). They can help narrow the available plans down to your liking.

That being said, let’s look at how this actually works.

You can enroll in health insurance during open enrollment, which generally runs from November 1st to December 15th. This is for coverage starting January 1st of the following year. You also have the option to enroll during a special enrollment period. This is based upon major life events, such as a change in household or residence.

You’ll be rewarded with a special enrollment period when you’re looking for health insurance options as an early retiree. Don’t feel like your retirement date needs to line up with the open enrollment period. During this special enrollment, you’ll have a 60-day window to enroll through the Marketplace.

During enrollment, you will fill out an application with basic personal information. Included with this application, you will give them your best estimate of what your income will be for the coming year. The Marketplace uses your Modified Adjusted Gross Income – MAGI – to define “income.”

When evaluating early retirement health insurance options, it’s important to understand how Marketplace subsidies work. The Health Insurance Marketplace bases eligibility on your projected income for the upcoming coverage year — not your prior year’s income. This distinction is especially important when considering health insurance options for early retirees, since retirement often significantly reduces taxable income.

For 2026 coverage, if your projected household income falls between approximately 100% and 400% of the federal poverty level (FPL), you may qualify for a federal premium tax credit to help lower the cost of your insurance premiums. If your income exceeds 400% of FPL, you generally will not qualify for a subsidy and must pay the full premium yourself.

The temporary subsidy enhancements created under pandemic-era legislation — which allowed households above 400% of the poverty level to receive assistance — expired after 2025. Unless new legislation is passed, Marketplace subsidy eligibility for 2026 and beyond follows the original Affordable Care Act structure. Because of this, managing your projected retirement income carefully can play a significant role in keeping your early retirement health insurance costs affordable.

What happens if your income isn’t exactly what I put on the application?

The answer is that you will reconcile any differences when you file your taxes.

If your income was less than what you projected, you’ll get a credit as you qualified for more of a subsidy throughout the year. If your income was more than what you projected, you will have to pay some of that subsidy back. Generally, this isn’t that big of an issue unless you projected your income to be less than 400% of the poverty level, but it was actually more. In this case, you are required to pay back the entire subsidy. Even if your income was only $1 more than the threshold.

For this reason, I suggest consulting with your financial advisor to pinpoint what your income will be through your early years of retirement. I also suggest you speak with your advisor about potential planning strategies available to control your Modified Adjusted Gross Income, as there are certain strategies that can help you qualify for a subsidy while enjoying the income you desire throughout retirement. For an example of how this might work, Mark Whitaker wrote an article in 2020 describing a case study that explored these strategies.

As far as the plans that are available, the Marketplace ranks them in four different categories. These categories are Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum. The Bronze plans typically tend to have the lowest premiums, but they are also the most catastrophic plans. This means they have high deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums. Gold and Platinum plans typically tend to be better plans as far as coverage, but have higher premium costs. Again, working with an agent can help you navigate which plan is best for you.

Frequently Asked Questions About Early Retirement Health Insurance Options

Choosing the right early retirement health insurance option can significantly impact your long-term retirement plan. Below are answers to common questions about health insurance options for early retirees and how to manage coverage before Medicare eligibility.

1. What are the best early retirement health insurance options before Medicare?

If you retire before age 65, you’ll need coverage until Medicare eligibility. The most common early retirement health insurance options include:

COBRA continuation coverage from your former employer
ACA Marketplace (Affordable Care Act) plans
Coverage through a spouse’s employer plan
Part-time employment with health benefits
Private individual insurance plans

For many early retirees, the ACA Marketplace is the most flexible and potentially affordable option, especially if income qualifies for premium tax credits.

2. How do health insurance options for early retirees work with the ACA Marketplace?

Marketplace plans determine subsidy eligibility based on your projected income for the upcoming year, not your prior year’s earnings.

For 2026 coverage, households with income between approximately 100% and 400% of the federal poverty level (FPL) may qualify for premium tax credits. If income exceeds 400% of FPL, subsidies generally are not available under current law.

Because retirement often reduces taxable income, careful income planning can significantly lower health insurance premiums.

3. Can early retirees qualify for government subsidies?

Yes — many early retirees qualify for premium tax credits through the ACA Marketplace.

Subsidy eligibility depends on:

Projected Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI)
Household size
Federal poverty level thresholds

Strategically managing withdrawals from retirement accounts (such as IRAs, Roth IRAs, and brokerage accounts) may help maintain income within subsidy-eligible ranges.

4. Is COBRA a good health insurance option for early retirees?

COBRA allows you to continue your employer-sponsored coverage for up to 18 months (sometimes longer in certain circumstances).

However:

You pay the full premium (including the employer portion)
It is usually more expensive than Marketplace options
It is temporary and not a long-term pre-Medicare solution

COBRA can serve as a short-term bridge to Medicare or to the next Marketplace enrollment period.

5. How much does health insurance cost in early retirement?

Costs vary widely depending on:

Age
Location
Plan type (Bronze, Silver, Gold)
Income (which affects subsidy eligibility)

Without subsidies, premiums for early retirees can be substantial. With subsidies, however, coverage may be significantly reduced — especially for households near the lower end of the income range.

This is why income planning is one of the most important factors when evaluating early retirement health insurance options.

6. What happens when I turn 65?

Once you turn 65, you become eligible for Medicare.

Many early retirees structure their health insurance decisions as a bridge to Medicare, choosing options that provide stable coverage until Medicare enrollment begins. Planning ahead helps avoid coverage gaps and late enrollment penalties.

7. What is the biggest mistake early retirees make with health insurance?

One of the most common mistakes is failing to coordinate retirement income planning with Marketplace subsidy rules.

Large IRA withdrawals, Roth conversions, or capital gains in a single year can push income above the subsidy threshold — dramatically increasing premium costs.

Proactive tax planning can help maintain eligibility and reduce overall healthcare costs during early retirement.

What Health Insurance is Available for Early Retirees?

There is more to the Marketplace and the other health insurance options for the early retiree mentioned than can be discussed in this article. Hopefully, this provides you with a framework of the options you have as an early retiree. Early retirement is achievable for those who are prepared and understand how their healthcare needs can be met.

Learn more about how we can help you prepare for retirement with our Perennial Income Model™, or schedule a free consultation.

Preparing for, and Dealing with, Market Turbulence

Posted on May 31, 2022August 21, 2025 by Scott M. Peterson, ChFC®

At Peterson Wealth Advisors, we manage the retirements of several retired commercial pilots. As I have discussed these pilots’ careers with them, one of the retired pilots explained that being a pilot can be described as, “hours and hours of boredom punctuated by moments of sheer terror.” Although these moments of sheer terror are rare, pilots will spend countless hours of training throughout their careers. They are preparing for that moment when their flight plan might not go according to plan.

Just as pilots have a plan, investors also need to have a plan to follow when their investments are not going according to plan. The last couple of years have provided investors ample unplanned and unforeseen market turbulence. A pandemic, a supply chain crisis, the highest inflation rate in our lifetimes, and the prospects of another world war in Europe have certainly rocked the investment world. It’s even caused the best-made investment plans to not go according to plan.

Investors should always be asking, “what is my plan when things temporarily aren’t going according to plan?” Let me share with you the Peterson Wealth Advisors’ perspective and what we are doing for our clients. Especially when it appears that things aren’t going according to plan due to ‘investment turbulence’.

Embrace the Volatility

First, temporary downturns are not a deviation from the plan. Rather, they are an expected part of the plan. Stock and bond market downturns are always temporary. Historically the duration of almost every major decline is measured in months, not years. The media would have you think that market corrections, “are unexpected events that are shocking in both their occurrence as well as their impact.” As investors with longer-term perspectives, we understand that the price you pay for inflation-beating investment returns consist of enduring occasional periods of market volatility. Few of us would pass up a Hawaiian vacation because there will surely be some turbulence in our flight to and from Hawaii. We likewise need to keep temporary market downturns in perspective and remember that turbulence is a planned for event.

Even though the exact timing of a correction is difficult, we should expect and even embrace market volatility. Investors should seize the opportunity to make wise tax moves during declining markets by doing Roth conversions, rebalancing portfolios, and tax-loss harvesting. They should also be opportunistic by purchasing depreciated equities while they are being sold on discount.

Protect Gains

We believe that investors should never be in a position where they need to liquidate depleted investments due to a temporary market downturn. This is difficult to do if an investor is not preparing for the downturns before they happen. With the Perennial Income Model™, we proactively attempt to protect our clients from selling investments at a loss. This is done by following a rigid, goal-centric, approach to harvesting investment gains once the goal of an investment has been reached. Harvesting is the process of transferring aggressive investments to more conservative investments as goals are achieved.

Navigating retirement with a plan that establishes investment goals and appropriately harvests gains can bring order, discipline, peace of mind, and added security to the retiree.

Maintain Flexibility

If you have the flexibility, you can wait out market downturns and wait for good investment opportunities. The best way to add flexibility, and tip the investment odds in your favor, is by increasing your time horizon. The longer you are invested, the better opportunity you have to endure a range of market turbulence. This endurance flexibility lets you stick around long enough to let the odds of benefiting from a positive outcome fall in your favor.

Additionally, flexibility within an investment portfolio allows Peterson Wealth Advisors to select only positive-performing investments within a portfolio to be drawn upon for income. This allows investments within that same portfolio, that may have temporarily dropped in value, to rebound.

Flexibility gives you room for error. Giving yourself a margin of error is the only way to safely navigate the world of investing. The world of investing is governed by probabilities, not certainties.

Create a Plan that has Conservative Projections

In other words, plan for the worst and hope for the best. As the creators of the Perennial Income Model™ we project retirement income streams over decades. This process is unique to our firm. We have concluded that it is in everybody’s best interest to project low. We assume future investment returns 30% less than historical averages in all of our planning and projections. If an acceptable retirement income stream can be created from the conservative assumptions that we use, an actual income stream that spins off more income than originally projected will certainly be welcomed.

Conclusion

Market turbulence has and will continue to afflict investors with regularity. This is why we choose to create retirement income streams. We follow the goal-based, time-segmented processes of the Perennial Income Model.

A retirement income plan is only successful if it can survive reality. A future filled with unknowns is everybody’s reality. That is why we feel it is important that retirees understand and embrace volatility, follow a goal-based plan to protect investment gains, maintain investment flexibility, and use conservative estimates as retirement income streams are projected. If retirees understand and embrace these points, they will be prepared to answer the question, “what is my plan when things temporarily aren’t going according to plan?”

Schedule a free introductory meeting with an advisor.

The Perennial Income Model™ – Retirement Income “bad luck insurance policy”

Posted on April 22, 2022August 21, 2025 by Scott M. Peterson, ChFC®

The Perennial Income Model™ was created and launched in 2007. Through all the ups and downs of the stock market, it has withstood the test of time. The initial goal of the model was to provide a logical format for investing and for generating inflation-adjusted income from investments during retirement. In the beginning, we did not fully anticipate all the accompanying benefits that would result from projecting a retiree’s income over such a long timeframe. However, our eyes have been opened to a number of benefits, one of them being how the Perennial Income Model acts as a ‘bad luck insurance policy’.

The Perennial Income Model can help protect your retirement income during a bad market

The Perennial Income Model can protect you if you are unlucky and happen to retire about the same time as a stock market crash. Every stock market correction is temporary, but that knowledge isn’t helpful if you are ill-prepared and are having to liquidate equities in down markets to support yourself.

Let me share with you an example, Mike had been carefully planning for his retirement for years and it was finally his turn. He wanted to be conservative as he selected investments for his retirement years, but he knew enough about investing to realize that a good part of his investment portfolio had to be invested into equities if he was going to keep ahead of inflation.

So, he reluctantly invested more than half of his portfolio in stock-related investments. Mike retired, and almost immediately his worst fears were realized, as the stock market dropped by 50%. His money was invested in a balanced mutual fund that was composed of 60% stock and 40% bonds. Unlike the working years, Mike couldn’t just wait for the stock market to recover, he had to withdraw a portion of his money every month from his mutual fund just to pay the bills. As Mike withdrew his monthly stipend, he realized that he was liquidating a proportional amount of stocks and bonds each month from his balanced mutual fund. This meant, he was systematically selling stocks at a loss every month that the stock market was down, and it could take months, or even a couple of years before the stock market recovered.

Mike was frustrated, and even a little angry. He thought to himself, “why did this happen to me? I anticipated, and planned for, every contingency of my retirement in detail, then the one thing that I have no control over trips me up. I must be the unluckiest person on the planet!”

Mike is not alone; this exact scenario happens and will continue to happen to millions of new retirees every time there is a market correction. It’s true when we are no longer contributing and we begin taking withdrawals from our accounts, the temporary ups and downs of the market can have a much bigger impact on our investments than when we were working and had time to wait out market corrections.

To be clear, Mike’s mistake wasn’t in being too aggressively invested because a 60% stock, 40% bond portfolio is a very reasonable allocation for a new retiree. His mistake was failing to have a plan that allowed him to only liquidate the least impacted, non-stock portion of his portfolio to provide immediate income during a market downturn.

To illustrate this point, let’s take the example of two investors, Mr. Green and Mr. Red. Both have decided to retire at age 65 and both have saved up a $1,000,000 nest egg. Each of them plan to withdraw 5% of their initial balance each year to have an annual income of $50,000. As you can see from the table, both average the same 6% return during their 25-year retirements, but Mr. Green ends up with more than $2,500,000 to pass on to his heirs at death, while Mr. Red runs out of money halfway through his retirement. How can this be?

Every aspect of their retirement experience is identical except for one thing: the sequence of their investment returns.

retirement income planning chart comparing two possible outcomes

As you can see from the chart, Mr. Green experiences overall positive returns at the beginning of his retirement and a string of negative returns towards the end. Mr. Red experiences the same returns only in reverse. He goes through a series of negative returns at the beginning of retirement and the more positive returns come at the end. Again, both investors average the same 6% return over their 25 years of retirement. The sequence of those returns is the only difference. We can see from the table just how much of a difference the order of returns makes.

Set yourself up for retirement success

The good news is that it’s possible to set ourselves up to be successful no matter what the markets happen to do year by year. The Perennial Income Model is the bad luck insurance policy that can protect you from the pitfalls that Mr. Red experienced.

I’m not suggesting that following the Perennial Income Model will guarantee that your account balance will never go down, or suffer temporarily because it will. What I am saying is, that by following the Perennial Income Model, you shouldn’t find yourself having to sell stocks at a loss during a stock market correction.

Mr. Red’s losses are realized as he liquidates equities in down years at a loss to cover his expenses. If Mr. Red were to have his portfolio organized according to the investment regimen provided by the Perennial Income Model, he would not be in a position where he would have to liquidate stocks in down years to provide income. He would have a buffer of conservative investments to draw income from while giving the more aggressive part of his portfolio a chance to rebound when the stock market temporarily experiences periods of turbulence.

The Perennial Income Model’s design is intended to give immediate income from safe, low-volatility types of investments. At the same time, it furnishes you with long-term, inflation-fighting equities in your portfolio, equities that won’t be called upon to provide income for years down the road. Market corrections typically last for months, not years. So, even if you are the unluckiest person on the planet and your retirement coincides with a market crash, your long-term retirement plans won’t be derailed as long as you are following the investment guidelines found within the Perennial Income Model.

Ready to talk? Schedule your complimentary consultation here.

Four Questions Your Retirement Plan Should Answer

Posted on April 3, 2022August 21, 2025 by Alex Call, CFP®

Creating a retirement plan can be a daunting task. At Peterson Wealth Advisors, we use our propriety process, the Perennial Income Model™, which outlines three ‘building blocks’ to a retirement plan. Whether you use the Perennial Income Model or another type of retirement plan, these building blocks will make sure you are on the right track to a successful retirement.

The three building blocks to a retirement plan are income and investments, taxes, and legacy. If your plan is built on these three blocks you should have the necessary information to answer the following crucial retirement planning questions.

4 Questions your Retirement Plan Should Answer

1. Do I have enough money to satisfy my income needs in retirement?

2. How do I invest my money to ensure this income lasts throughout retirement?

3. What can I do to protect my income from taxes?

4. How can I make sure my money goes to who I want it to go to when I want it to go to them?

If your retirement plan doesn’t give you the necessary information to answer those four questions, then it’s a poor plan and you should find something better. If it does, then you’re on the right track.

3 Building Blocks to a Retirement Plan

Block 1: Income and Investments

The income and investment block is the foundation to a retirement plan. Income and investments go hand in hand because how much income you can expect to have in retirement is determined in large part on how you invest your money.

The income portion of the block is where your different sources of retirement income – investments, social security, pensions, rentals, etc. – are gathered to create a consistent single stream of income throughout your retirement. To maximize your income, you must look at each source in the context of your entire plan, not in a vacuum. For example, the goal is not to maximize your Social Security income, but the goal is to maximize your retirement income.

The investment portion of the block determines how to invest your money while balancing risk and return. The money you need to live off in the early years of retirement needs to be invested conservatively to limit volatility, where the money you don’t need for decades needs to be invested aggressively to keep pace with inflation.

The Perennial Income Model achieves both these objectives, letting you know how much income you can expect to have in retirement and how to invest your money to ensure your income lasts throughout retirement. It’s up to you to determine if this amount of income will satisfy your income needs in retirement.

Block 2: Taxes

The goal of tax planning is to pay the least amount of income tax, not just in the first year of retirement but throughout all of retirement. Knowing what your income will be over the next 30 years allows you to build a long-term tax plan. This is exactly what the Perennial Income Model does, allowing you to build an efficient tax plan throughout your retirement.

The different tax strategies that can be used are beyond the scope of this post, you can learn more about them here, but they include using tax-efficient investment funds, minimizing Required Minimum Distributions, utilizing Roth conversion, and charitable giving strategies.

Block 3: Legacy

Once your income is secure throughout retirement you move on to the Legacy building block.

The goal of the Legacy building block is to effectively and efficiently transfer your assets to who you want them to go to when you die.

Knowing how much you will have at the end of your retirement plan gives you the insight needed to make those decisions and to know if you should be concerned about estate taxes. People typically fall into one of three groups:

Simple: This group wants their money split evenly between their heirs when they die, and their estate isn’t large enough to be affected by estate taxes (an individual’s estate needs to be over $12.06 million, in 2022, before estate taxes affect it).
Minor Complexity: This group wants more control, outlining when the money goes to their heirs and what they can use it for, and their estate still isn’t large enough to be affected by estate taxes.
Complex: This group has a large enough estate where estate taxes will be a concern – they need to not only think about who will receive their money and when they will receive it, but also how they will avoid paying estate tax on their money.

The different estate tax strategies that can be used are more than can be covered here but they include creating a gifting plan, knowing which accounts should be donated to charity, and moving money out of your estate to avoid estate taxes.

The Perennial Income Model lets you know how much you will have at the end of your plan, giving you the necessary insight into how much you’d like your heirs to have and when they receive their money. It also allows you to know if you need an estate tax plan.

Will Your Retirement Plan Succeed?

When presented with a retirement plan, whether it be by Peterson Wealth Advisors or someone else, you need to first ask yourself “will the income from this plan be enough for my retirement needs?” If the answer is yes, then ask your advisor these three crucial follow-up questions to make sure your retirement plan will succeed:

How do I invest my money to ensure this income lasts throughout retirement?
What can I do to protect my income from taxes?
How can I make sure my money goes to who I want it to go to when I want it to go to them?

The Perennial Income Model is based upon the three building blocks of a retirement plan – income and investments, taxes, and legacy – giving you the necessary information to answer these retirement questions.

Ready to discuss your retirement plan? Schedule a complimentary consultation.

Are You Ready for a 30-Year Retirement?

Posted on May 19, 2021August 21, 2025 by Scott M. Peterson, ChFC®

Warren Buffet once called the babies born today “the luckiest crop in history” because they are expected to live longer and enjoy greater prosperity than any previous generation. I believe it would be a fair assumption to add that the baby-boomer generation is the “luckiest crop” of retirees to have ever lived. Today’s retirees are healthier, wealthier, happier, safer, freer, more educated, more equal, more charitable, and more technologically advanced than any previous generation.

4 Common Threats to Retirement Savings

Ironically, the wonderful advancements that current retirees are blessed with are also the root of the problems that retirees will face. Longevity, inflation, and the retiree’s individual responsibility to manage their own investments will be the challenges that this generation of retirees will have to grapple with.

1. Longevity

Not only are we living better, we are also living longer. Therein lies the challenge: We are living too long. Life expectancies are steadily climbing. According to the Social Security Administration, a couple who is currently 65 years old have a 48% chance that one of them will live to be the age of 90.

Because of long life expectancies, many retirees face the very real risk that they will outlive their money if they don’t plan for a lengthy retirement. Planning on living to the average life expectancy is not enough. It is best to plan on living longer than your life expectancy, because life expectancy estimates the average time a person will live. To be certain, some people will die before their life expectancy, but some will live beyond, sometimes many years beyond, their projected life expectancy.

2. Inflation

Longevity is the catalyst for today’s retirees’ second challenge: their dollars are shrinking.

Every day, the purchasing power of the retiree is eroding as goods and services are getting more expensive. Although inflation has always existed, no previous generation has had to deal with it to the extent that today’s retiree does. Our parents and grandparents lived ten or fifteen years past retirement, inflation never had time to develop into a problem for them.

A retirement lasting thirty years or more is a game-changer. Inflation isn’t something that may happen, it will happen. In our opinion, inflation has confiscated more wealth, destroyed more retirements, and crushed more dreams than the combined effects of all stock market crashes. Historically the average inflation rate has been more than 3% annually. To put that into perspective, at a 3% inflation rate, a dollar’s worth of purchasing power today will only purchase forty-one cents worth of goods and services in thirty years from now.

Inflation poses a “stealth” threat to investors as it chips away at real savings and investment returns. The goal of every investor is to increase their long-term purchasing power. Inflation puts this goal at risk, because investment returns must match the rate of inflation just to break even. An investment that returns 2% before inflation in an environment of 3% inflation will actually lose 1% of its purchasing power. This erosion of purchasing power might seem incidental, but this type of loss, compounded over the duration of a retirement, is life-changing.

Dollars invested into money market accounts, certificates of deposits, fixed annuities, and bonds, never have, and never will, keep up with inflation. Uninformed, anxious, stock market-leery investors that depend on these types of investments for long-term growth may be insulating themselves from stock market volatility, but they are committing financial suicide, slowly but surely. To make matters worse, the paltry gains associated with these products must be taxed, which makes it that much more unlikely that they will be able to preserve purchasing power.

In the current environment of huge government budget deficits and spending, it is likely that inflation will continue to rise at least at the same pace as its historical average. Given the one-two punch of longevity and inflation, it is imperative that retirees are mindful of inflation as they invest and plan for the future.

3. Investment Management Risk

A third challenge for retirees to be aware of is the personal responsibility they now have to manage their own investments.

During the last couple of decades, a subtle transfer happened. The responsibility to provide retirement income shifted from the employers to the employees. The popular pension plans of the past, which guaranteed a lifetime of monthly income to retired employees and their spouses, are disappearing. Pensions have been replaced by 401(k)s and other similar plans that all place the burden of funding, managing, and properly distributing investments to last a lifetime, squarely on the backs of the unprepared employee. Like it or not… you, not your employer, hold the keys to your financial future.

An annual study done by DALBAR, Inc. shows that the average stock fund investor managed to capture only 60% of the return of the stock market over twenty years. Ouch! The largest contributing factor that explains this blatant underperformance was the investor’s own behavior. It appears that the typical investor followed the herd mentality, buying when stocks were high and selling in a panic when stocks were low. Seldom was the investor guided by a comprehensive investment plan. Consequently, little or no discipline was demonstrated. What is most concerning, is that for the most part, the investor failed at the easy part of investment management: the accumulation phase.

4. Retirement Income Distribution Risk

When people enter retirement, they also enter the distribution phase of investment management. In other words, they start withdrawing their investments. The distribution phase is much more difficult to manage than the accumulation phase. In the distribution phase, it is still crucial to know how to properly allocate and invest a portfolio, but additional complexity is added to the mix. Therefore, income-hungry retirees need to know how to create a distribution plan that will provide a stream of income that will last until the end of their lives. They need to create and then follow a Retirement Income Plan.

Retirees need to be kept informed in order to make the best financial decisions. It is also important to work with a financial professional that specializes in retirement issues and that is a fiduciary who puts the retiree’s best interest ahead of their own.

Are you ready to start planning your 30-year retirement? Click here to schedule a complimentary planning session to start creating your own ‘Retirement Income Plan’.

The SECURE ACT: Tax Law Changes for IRA’s that Impact Retirees

Posted on February 5, 2021August 21, 2025 by Scott M. Peterson, ChFC®

As 2019 came to a close, the president signed into law a sweeping series of changes that will affect how we save for retirement as well as the distribution of IRA proceeds. The new law is officially entitled the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act, but it is more commonly known as the SECURE Act. This new law includes both welcome changes as well as some controversial elements. As I said, the changes brought about by the SECURE Act were sweeping, but I am only going to highlight those changes that impact the retiree.

First, let’s address the more controversial parts of the law. There is a change to the rules that govern inherited IRAs, or so-called stretch IRAs.

Stretch IRAs

Previously, if you inherited an IRA, you were allowed to take distributions from the retirement account over your life expectancy. That is to say, a healthy 40-year-old person who inherited an IRA from their parents or grandparents could withdraw the funds over several decades.

While there are exceptions for spouses, minor children (until they reach the age of majority), disabled individuals, the chronically ill, and those within 10 years of age of the decedent, the new law requires that you withdraw the assets from an inherited IRA account within 10 years if the decedent passed away after December 31, 2019. There are no changes to inherited IRA accounts for those who died prior to 2020.

In the past, we have commonly recommended that an IRA participant’s spouse be listed as the primary beneficiary and the children be listed as secondary beneficiaries (not the family trust). This, most likely, may still be your best option, but the new law makes listing the children individually as beneficiaries less tax advantageous than before the new tax law went into effect. We look forward to discussing alternatives with you to make sure your family has the right beneficiary designation going forward.

Long Overdue Changes:

While the law governing stretch IRAs is creating challenges, there are also big, positive changes that we believe are long overdue.

If you turned 70½ after January 1, 2020, the initial required minimum distribution (RMD) for a traditional IRA is being raised from 70½ to 72. Those who turned 70½ prior to January 1, 2020, are still required to take RMDs based on the old rules.
You may now contribute to a traditional IRA past the age of 70½, if you are working and have earned income. Previously you were unable to make IRA contributions past age 70½.
Many of you donate to charity directly from an IRA by making a Qualified Charitable Contribution (QCD). Now, even though some of you will not have RMDs until age 72, you are still able to donate to your charities using a QCD starting at age 70½.

Hopefully, this sheds some light on the parts of the SECURE Act that most likely apply to your situation. We appreciate the trust you have placed in us and we look forward to answering any additional questions that you might have.

Peterson Wealth Advisors has taken the academically brilliant idea of time segmentation and transformed it into a practical model of investment management that we call “The Perennial Income Model™”. To get a better understanding of the Perennial Income Model™ you can request our book “Plan on Living, a Retirees Guide to Lasting Income and Enduring Wealth”. For specifics on how the Perennial income Model™ could be applied to your retirement income plan, schedule a complimentary consultation with one of our Certified Financial Planner™ professionals.

Investing Tips for Retirees: Risk vs. Volatility

Posted on February 3, 2021August 21, 2025 by Scott M. Peterson, ChFC®

Since 2009, investors have been well rewarded for owning equities. One surprising characteristic of this bull market had been the low volatility many investors have experienced. With this return of volatility to the market, a discussion of what volatility means to you as an investor seems warranted.

Volatility vs. risk in the stock market

The price investors pay to achieve inflation-beating returns is volatility. The history of the stock market has demonstrated a lot of volatility and we don’t see that changing anytime soon. Most investors think that volatility and risk are the same thing which is not the case. Properly understood, ‘volatility’ is merely a synonym for unpredictability. The word volatility has neither negative nor positive connotations. Let me share with you an example that might help you to distinguish between volatility and risk:

What is volatility?

My family’s favorite vacation destination is Lake Powell. We own a houseboat that we share with several other families. I have learned through experience that the most important safety precaution I must attend to at Lake Powell is the proper anchoring of our boat. I will sometimes have our boat tethered to four or five anchors at a time. Why? The Lake Powell area regularly experiences sudden and powerful thunderstorms. These storms come complete with white caps, driving rain, and microburst winds that are capable of sinking both large and small boats. Many inexperienced boaters have sunk boats because they were not prepared, they were not properly anchored, or they panicked in a temporarily volatile situation and let their emotions rather than sound judgment rule the day.

While the storms are volatile and scary, they last but a short time. If a boater is properly anchored, they will be safe. If a boater is prepared for the volatile storms, there is no damage to life or property.

Financial storms, such as stock market downturns, are likewise frightening but they too last but a short time. The experienced, anchored investor is prepared for the frequent, volatile gyrations equities give us. The unprepared and emotionally driven investor turns a temporary volatile financial storm into a permanent loss by panicking and selling equities at a loss. Remember, volatility itself does not lead to losses in the equities market. Rather, it’s the emotional reaction to volatility that ultimately leads investors to lose money in the stock market. In the world of investing, the anchor is having a plan. Having a plan to follow in times of market turmoil reinforces discipline and self-control in the prepared investor.

So now that we know what risk isn’t, let’s answer the question, ‘What is risk’?

What is risk?

Financially speaking, risk is the loss of purchasing power. Sometimes purchasing power is lost in dramatic fashion like when a business fails. Other times, the erosion of purchasing power is so gradual that the loss of purchasing power is imperceptible, such as in the case of inflation.

Every asset class is susceptible to its unique set of risks. Bonds are victims of interest rates, defaults, and inflation risks. Real estate has liquidity and market risks. Equities and commodities likewise have market risks to deal with. Fixed annuities and bank deposits are subject to inflation risks. All of these risks can erode purchasing power.

Many investors tend to either ignore the risks of their situation or don’t understand the risks that have the greatest potential to inflict damage. When I think of risks, I think of my personal phobia of sharks. I can’t think of anything more frightening than being attacked by a shark. My fear is shared by millions. In fact, there are many people who are so afraid of sharks that they refuse to even get into the ocean.

I have done research on the frequency of shark attacks, and surprisingly discovered that of the more than seven billion people that populate the planet, on average, only ten people per year die from shark attacks. Ten. That means I have only a one in 728 million chance of dying from a shark attack. I would say my chances are pretty good that I won’t be dying of a shark attack any time soon. On the other hand, 66,000 people die from skin cancer each year. That means I have a one in 110,000 chance of dying from skin cancer. I am 6,600 times more likely to die from skin cancer than a shark attack!

It appears that, when I go to the beach, my fellow shark phobics and I are worrying about the wrong kind of risk. It’s not the dramatic, sudden shark attack that will kill us; it’s being exposed to the sun that is more likely to do us in. So, it is with investments.

The dramatic but temporary declines in the stock market, though scary, don’t do nearly as much damage as does the day-to-day loss of purchasing power caused by inflation. That is why it’s important to understand all the risks in your own situation and do what you can to minimize them.

The understanding that volatility is not risk and that risk is the loss of purchasing power is fundamental to becoming a good investor.

We chose to manage money for retirees because a lifetime of investment experience has usually taught these seasoned investors the difference between risk and volatility and the importance of preserving purchasing power. When you really drill down, you will find that investment decisions driven by emotion are at the core of almost all investment losses. Having a core knowledge, of what risk is and what it is not, goes a long way towards helping the investor through the inevitable ups and downs of the stock market that will be imposed on us with regularity.

If you are getting close to retirement and will have at least $1,000,000 saved at retirement, click here to request a complimentary copy of Scott’s new book!

Now That I Am Retired, How Do I Craft an Estate Plan?

Posted on February 2, 2021August 21, 2025 by Mark Whitaker, MS, CFP®, CRPC

Common Estate Planning Questions

We often hear the following questions from people we work with:

What will happen with my estate upon my death?
Who will look after my spouse and help them make good financial decisions when I am gone?
If either my spouse or I become disabled, who will look after us, and who will help us to not make poor financial decisions as we age?
When we pass away, what will happen to our hard-earned savings?
What can I do now to protect my family’s savings from taxes?
Is there any way to make sure our heirs use the money wisely?

All these questions can be answered by crafting a good estate plan. Many people are familiar with, or have at least heard of, the legal documents that are used in an estate plan such as a will, trust, or power of attorney. These legal documents are critical to a good estate plan. However, if these documents are hastily thrown together without first defining what it is you are trying to accomplish, and who it is that you want to carry out your wishes, the outcome can be less than desirable.

Five things to consider when creating an estate plan

1. Questions that need to be answered to create an estate plan

If I become incapacitated, who do I want to appoint to look after my financial and legal affairs?
Who would I want to make medical decisions for me if I get to the point where I can’t make them for myself?
What end-of-life decisions do I want to make now and/or who would I want to make life-ending decisions for me?
When I pass away, what do I want to happen with my possessions and assets?
Are there any special considerations (needs of a disabled child) or preconditions that I want to put in place for my beneficiaries?

2. Choose one or more people that you fully trust to follow your instructions and carry out your wishes

You should choose someone with integrity. When choosing one of your children to fill an important role in your estate plan, it is helpful to choose one who works well with others and can build consensus. Conflict and hurt feelings are common between siblings after the death of a parent. Therefore, choosing the child who can cross divides with maturity and grace is more important than one who happens to be good in business or simply choosing a child because they happen to be the oldest.

Roles in a typical estate plan:

- Executor: The person who administers your estate/will
- Trustee: The person responsible for trust administration
- Power of attorney: The person responsible to act on your behalf for legal and financial matters when you are unable to do it for yourself
- Medical power of attorney: The person designated to make medical decisions on your behalf when you are incapable of making them yourself

These roles can be filled by a single person, or by multiple people working together on your behalf. Additionally, each of these roles can be filled by different people. It is also wise to consider choosing a backup for each of these roles if your first choice is unable or unwilling to serve in that capacity.

3. Meet with qualified professionals to help you implement your estate plan

You will need to work with a licensed attorney to draft any legal documents that are required to carry out your wishes. In partnership with an attorney, your financial planner can help coordinate the attorney’s advice with other areas of your financial plan. Your financial planner can be very helpful by making sure you update your retirement account beneficiaries and that your investment accounts are properly titled to make sure they are in accordance with your overall estate plan.

4. Clear communication is a must when it comes to estate planning

Your son or daughter shouldn’t learn that you have chosen them to decide when to end lifesaving medical care when you are in the hospital. There may be good reasons to not share all the details of your estate with your family before your death, however, walking through your general intentions and the roles each person is being asked to fill will help prepare those involved for the great responsibility you are asking them to carry out.

5. Review your estate plan often

There are common reasons why you should consider regularly updating your estate plan:

It has been several years since you last reviewed your estate planning documents
There have been major changes in estate or tax law
There have been changes in your family like deaths, divorce, or disability that could impact your beneficiary’s designations as well as your potential choices for trustee, executor, etc.
After major changes in your financial situation

Spending a small amount of time to periodically review your estate plan can help you avoid major mistakes down the road. Reviewing your estate plan will also ensure your plans still make sense amid life changes.

It is uncomfortable for most of us to have to make decisions regarding our own death or disability. Additionally, finding an attorney, dealing with all the documents, changing beneficiaries, and transferring titles to property can make the estate planning process overwhelming, and therefore it is often put off. Your estate planning attorney and financial advisor have been through this process many times before and can carefully, and easily, walk you through the steps of creating an estate plan.

An estate plan outlines the wishes for your care while you are alive and frees your family members from the burden of second-guessing what you would have done with your estate after you are gone. A well-thought-out estate plan is truly a gift to your family and helps with retirement income planning.

Questions? Learn more about our Perennial Income Model™ or click here to schedule a complimentary consultation to review your situation with one of our experienced advisors!

Equities are too Risky and Should be Avoided: Grand Illusion #4

Posted on February 2, 2021August 21, 2025 by Scott M. Peterson, ChFC®

It happens all too often. The office receives a phone call or an email from a nervous investor who has been surfing the internet or watching their favorite news network. They’ve come across an article, a headline, or an advertisement proclaiming that the stock market is poised to drop by some cataclysmic amount. Further, the advertisement promotes the idea that the stock market is a high-stakes gamble, a roll of the dice, and is certainly rigged against the “Little Guy.” We are told by these frightened investors that these warnings must be credible. “After all, they are advertised on Fox News,” and these warnings “are all over the internet!” It’s an amazing phenomenon to watch the power of the media as it turns otherwise rational people into devout believers that the apocalypse is on our very doorstep.

The promoters of this brand of financial pornography are especially troubling. They prey on the uninformed and the most anxious investors of our society. They dupe the very investors that probably have the greatest need to own inflation-beating investments. Scaring the already apprehensive investor into purchasing high-commission products that will “keep their money safe” from stock market corrections is their modus operandi. Certainly, their articles, advertisements, and headlines are provocative. They are masters in the art of deception as their message distorts reality and is damaging to those who fall under its influence.

Volatility vs. risk

Anybody who understands investing knows that, in the long run, the only way you will be able to maintain the purchasing power of your money is to become a partial owner in a collection of the most profitable companies the world has ever known. In other words, you must own equities if beating inflation is your objective. The price the investor pays for superior, inflation-beating returns is short-term volatility. The stock market has been and always will be volatile. Those who are deceived by the grand illusion that equities are too risky and must be avoided fail to discern the difference between volatility and risk. Few people can make this distinction, but that is precisely the reason why few investors prosper.

Volatility is the advent of a temporary decline, while risk refers to the chance of a permanent loss. Properly understood, “volatility” is merely a synonym for unpredictability: it has neither negative nor positive connotations. It is worthwhile to take a minute and review the volatile history of the stock market as measured by the S&P 500 or large company stocks.

The Bear Market

Remember, a bear market is a drop of about 20% in value from the market’s previous high. This phenomenon is not something that is unusual or unique, bear markets are as common as dirt. As you can see from the chart below, in the seventy-three years since World War II, there have been 13 bear markets. They come around about every five years on average. These declines vary in their severity, frequency, and duration, but on average, the stock market retreats a little over 30% in a bear market. They last on average about 15 months, then the stock market rebounds and moves on to new highs. Given the very real possibility that your retirement could last two or three decades, you’ll be a participant in five or six bear markets during your retirement, so you might as well get used to them.

The biggest issue with bear markets is fear. Not fear of what the stock market is doing, but fear of what the investor is doing. Peter Lynch, the fund manager for the highly successful Fidelity Magellan Fund throughout the nineties, said, “The key to investing in stocks is not to get scared out of them.” You must not abandon equities when they are down because as sure as bear markets are to come, bull markets will surely follow.

The Bull Market

Included below is a chart that shows all the bull markets since World War II. As you can see, most investors are missing the point. Instead of worrying about avoiding the next -30% bear market, we should focus our attention on making sure we participate in the next 300% bull market!

As mentioned in our blog on market timing, it is an exercise in futility to try to guess when to be in or out of the markets. The key is to be disciplined and to stay invested. Since 1945, or the end of World War II, the S&P 500 has averaged an annualized rate of 11% including dividends. Another way of looking at this, if you could have invested $1,000 in the S&P 500 in 1945, that $1,000 would have grown to more than $1,800,000 today. A handsome reward for staying invested.

The Masters of Misinformation

Instead of teaching the public the virtues of investment discipline and sharing a historical perspective of investing in equities, the purveyors of this grand illusion that the equity markets are dangerous and should be avoided design advertising campaigns to reinforce the irrational fears of the financially ignorant. They fail to provide a historical perspective that a diversified portfolio of U.S. stocks has never gone down without fully recovering within a relatively short period of time. Never. Nor do they reveal that in a diversified portfolio of stocks, such as the S&P 500, the only way to lose money is to sell when the stock market is down. Not so coincidentally, this is exactly what they suggest you do to free up the cash to buy their “safe” products. The promoters of these sleazy enterprises profit only when you panic. They win only when you choose to lose.

So, who are the promoters that benefit from this grand illusion? The answer is simple. Any entity that benefits from frightening people out of equities is a co-conspirator. The companies that profit when you panic are predominantly the sellers of precious metals and annuities with the financial media assisting as a loyal partner in crime. For as they say in the news business, “If it bleeds, it leads.” Frightening, sensational, and exaggerated headlines and stories touting the demise of the stock market are the tools they employ to promote their ratings and sell their products.

In an accompanying blog, we look at the world’s worst investments. It may come as no surprise that in our estimation, the world’s worst investments are precious metals and index annuities. These historical underachievers are bought only by the fearful and ignorant. These products have horrible performance histories and are purchased only because, as Jeremy Siegel was quoted to have said, “fear has a greater impact on human action than does the impressive weight of historical evidence”. Unfortunately, experience has taught us that Mr. Siegel’s quote is entirely accurate.

Peter Lynch said, “Far more money has been lost by investors preparing for corrections, or trying to anticipate corrections, than has been lost in corrections themselves.” Think about this. Some investors are more than willing to systematically watch their purchasing power erode, because they are afraid of the pain associated with a temporary stock market correction. They are willing to pay unbelievably high fees to insurance companies that sell annuities with the promise to protect their money should the stock market crash. Some investors willingly throw money at the poorest of investments and subject their money to the promises of the shadiest of characters before they allow their money to be exposed to the temporary fluctuation in price of a share of the most profitable companies the world has ever known. The fearful investors are so focused on missing the next bear market that they willingly skip out on one of the most profitable investment opportunities ever made available to mankind: investing in equities.

Certainly, there will be temporary periods of pain and discomfort from investing into equities, but the pain of owning a well-diversified portfolio of equities has always proven to be temporary, and the long-term results have always been able to protect purchasing power.

Investing is more of an emotional exercise than it is intellectual. Those who can harness their emotions during volatile times, and not fall prey to the peddlers of doom, will be successful. Those who lack the emotional maturity to be a disciplined investor will forever struggle. The antidote to fear and panic is having a plan. Every investor needs to have an investment goal in mind when investing and then they need to create an investment portfolio that matches their future income needs. Without a goal-driven plan, emotions drive our investment decisions and emotionally charged investing will never produce a good investment outcome.

If you are getting close to retirement and will have at least $1,000,000 saved at retirement, click here to request a complimentary copy of Scott’s new book!

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Welcome to the Grand Illusions

Grand Illusion #1: Market Timing

Grand Illusion #2: Superior Investment Selection

Grand Illusion #3: The Persistence of Performance

Past Performance Does Not Guarantee Future Results – Grand Illusion #3

Posted on February 2, 2021September 24, 2025 by Scott M. Peterson, ChFC®

“If past history is all there was to the (investment) game, the richest people in the world would be librarians.” -Warren Buffett

If you have ever bought shares of stock, a bond, or shares in a mutual fund, you were presented with the following disclaimer: “Past performance does not guarantee future results.” The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission requires it and the SEC is right, there truly is no correlation between an individual investment’s past performance and its future. Past performance has no predictive power whatsoever.

Of course, that doesn’t mean your investment advisor sat you down, rested a hand on your shoulder, and with a kind but concerned look in their eye, uttered these words. No, it was in the fine print somewhere that most of us never bothered to read. Or worse, when we came across this disclaimer, we ignored it, because frankly, we did not want to accept it. We like guarantees. When we buy an investment, we simply want the assurance that it will perform as it has done in the past. Unfortunately, that promise can’t honestly be given.

The “grand illusion” of persistence of performance is hard to diffuse because so much of our life experience is based on the reliability of past performance. We believe the sun will come up tomorrow morning at the appropriate time, because it always has. We therefore assume that it always will. Your summer vacation at the beach, or next winter’s ski getaway, can be planned months in advance because of the persistence of performance of the weather, and the reliability of the change of the seasons. If you have a car that has averaged seventeen miles per gallon since you purchased it four years ago, it would be crazy to assume it will average anything but seventeen miles per gallon next month.

The persistence of performance surrounds us, and it seems quite natural to want to use past performance as a criterion to select our investments. Unfortunately, there is no evidence that the past performance of a specific investment has any predictive power of that investment’s future.

S&P Persistence Scorecard

S&P Global, an independent research company that monitors the mutual fund industry, produces a biannual report they call the “S&P Persistence Scorecard.” These annual reports, always come to the same conclusion: that over a five-year period, less than 1% of the mutual funds in the top quartile at the beginning of a five-year period have been able to maintain their top quartile status at the end of five years.

Many investors waste an inordinate amount of time and energy studying past investment returns, attempting to discover next year’s investment champions. It is an exercise of futility, but it is easy to get caught up in, because we really want this illusion to be true. Founder of Peterson Wealth Advisors, Scott Peterson recounts an experience of when he was first beginning in the investment business:

“I cut my teeth in the investment business in the late eighties and early nineties, back in the day when double-digit investment returns were the investment norm. It seemed as if the whole world was consumed with finding the hottest-performing mutual fund. As a young and inexperienced advisor, I spent countless hours identifying all the top-performing funds so I could direct my clients to them. I now recognize that perfecting my golf swing or cleaning my garage would have yielded equally productive investment results.”

So, who profits from promoting the idea of persistence of performance?

Any entity that touts their ability to direct you to a superior investment, based on that investment’s past performance, perpetrates this grand illusion. The Morningstar, Inc. star-rating system for investments is based on past performance, rendering their system meaningless. That is right: buying a five-star fund versus a one-star fund does not increase your chance of success! Countless newsletters and magazines are sold as they flaunt their recommended lists of the hottest stock or best mutual funds to buy. All their recommendations are based on historical performances which has no predictive power.

Just as the road in front of us is different from the road behind us, it is important to recognize that drivers as well as investors who navigate solely by what they can see in their rear-view mirror are not well equipped to manage the inevitable twists and turns of the road that lies ahead.

If you are getting close to retirement and will have at least $1,000,000 saved at retirement, click here to request a complimentary copy of Scott’s new book!

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Grand Illusion #4: Equities are Risky and Should be Avoided