Transcription
I am going to share something with you today that I have never shared publicly before. After more than seven decades of investing, after building one of the largest fortunes in history, after making every mistake possible and learning from each one, I have distilled everything I know into what I consider my final and most important investment advice.
This is specifically for those of you who are over 60. You are in a different phase of life than younger investors. Your time horizon is different. Your priorities are different. And the mistakes that would merely set back a 30-year old could be catastrophic for you. So listen carefully because what I am about to tell you could mean the difference between a comfortable retirement and financial disaster.
Let me start with a confession. For most of my career, I gave advice that was optimized for people with decades ahead of them. Buy wonderful companies at fair prices and hold them forever. Be greedy when others are fearful. Think like a business owner, not a stock trader. All of that advice is sound and I stand by every word of it.
But I have come to realize that when you are over 60, when retirement is either imminent or already underway, the game changes in fundamental ways that I did not always acknowledge. You see, a 30-year-old who loses half their portfolio in a market crash has time on their side. They can wait for recovery. They can keep contributing to their accounts. They can let compound interest work its magic over the following decades.
But a 65-year-old who loses half their portfolio might never recover. They might be forced to sell at the bottom to fund living expenses. They might have to delay retirement, go back to work, or drastically reduce their standard of living. The math is unforgiving and I want to make sure you understand it completely.
Here's my first piece of advice and it might be the most important thing I tell you today. Protect what you have. I know this sounds obvious, but you would be shocked at how many people over 60 are taking risks they cannot afford. They are chasing returns because they feel behind on their retirement savings. They are putting money into speculative investments because a neighbor or a television personality told them about some hot opportunity. They are concentrating their portfolios in a handful of stocks because diversification feels boring.
Let me tell you a story that haunts me to this day. Back in 2008 during the financial crisis, I received a letter from a man in his late 60s. He had retired two years earlier with what he thought was a comfortable nest egg around $800,000. He had been a diligent saver his whole life, living modestly, contributing to his retirement accounts every year. By the time he retired, he felt secure. But then he made a series of decisions that destroyed everything.
First, he put a large portion of his savings into bank stocks because they were paying high dividends and he needed the income. Then when the crisis hit and bank stocks crashed, instead of accepting his losses, he doubled down. He was convinced they would recover quickly. He borrowed against his home to buy more. By the time he wrote to me, he had lost nearly everything. His $800,000 had become less than $100,000. His home was underwater. His retirement dreams were shattered.
This man was not stupid. He was not greedy in any unusual way. He simply made the mistake of taking risks he could not afford, of trying to recover losses by taking even bigger risks and of not understanding that at his stage of life, protecting capital was more important than maximizing returns. I think about him often because his story is not unique. Millions of people over 60 are making similar mistakes right now.
So what does protecting what you have actually mean in [clears throat] practical terms? It means diversification. Real diversification. Not just owning different stocks, but owning different asset classes. It means having enough stable investments that you never have to sell stocks during a downturn. It means being honest with yourself about how much risk you can actually tolerate, not how much you think you should tolerate. It means understanding that a 20% gain followed by a 20% loss does not leave you even. It leaves you down 4%. The math of losses is brutal and it gets more brutal the older you are.
And my second piece of advice, simplify everything. When you are over 60, complexity is your enemy. Complex investments with fees you do not understand. Complex strategies that require constant monitoring. Complex tax structures that even your accountant struggles to explain. All of this complexity introduces risk. And risk at this stage of life is something you want to minimize, not maximize.
I have built one of the most successful investment records in history. And do you know what I have told my own family to do with their inheritance? Put 90% in a low-cost S&P 500 index fund and 10% in short-term government bonds. That is it. No hedge funds, no private equity, no complicated option strategies, just simple low-cost diversified investing that will outperform most professional money managers over time.
Why do I recommend something so simple? Because simplicity works. Because you can understand it. Because you will not be tempted to tinker with it. Because you will not pay excessive fees to people who are not adding value. Because you can explain it to your spouse, your children, your executor. Because when the market crashes and everyone is panicking, you can look at your simple portfolio and understand exactly what you own and why you own it. Complexity in investing usually benefits the people selling you the complex products, not you. Every layer of complexity is an opportunity for someone to extract fees. Every strategy you do not fully understand is an opportunity for you to make a mistake. When you are over 60, you do not have time to recover from mistakes caused by complexity you did not understand.
My third piece of advice is to focus on income, not just growth. When you were younger, total return was all that mattered. It did not matter whether your investments paid dividends or appreciated in price. Either way, you were building wealth that you would not touch for decades. But when you were over 60, when you are either approaching retirement or already there, income becomes critically important.
Income gives you something to live on without selling your investments. Income provides psychological stability during market downturns. When the market drops 30% but your dividends keep coming in, you can hold on. You can wait for recovery. You are not forced to sell at the worst possible time. Income also tends to come from more stable companies. The businesses that pay consistent dividends, companies like utilities, consumer staples, healthcare. These are not the flashiest investments. They are not going to double in a year. But they are also not going to go to zero overnight. They are mature, profitable businesses with real cash flows.
I want you to think about income differently than most people do. Most people think of income as something you receive and spend. I want you to think of income as freedom. The income from your investments is what allows you to not sell during downturns. It is what allows you to ignore the daily fluctuations of the market. It is what allows you to retire on your terms, not based on whether the stock market happens to be up or down. Build a portfolio that generates reliable income from multiple sources. Dividend paying stocks, bonds, maybe some real estate investment trusts. The specific allocation depends on your situation, but the principle is universal when you are over 60. Income is your friend.
My fourth piece of advice might surprise you. Do not be too conservative. I know this seems to contradict what I said earlier about protecting what you have, but hear me out. When I say protect what you have, I mean avoid catastrophic losses. I mean do not take risks that could wipe you out. I do not mean put everything in bonds or CDs and watch inflation slowly destroy your purchasing power.
Here is the reality that most people over 60 do not fully appreciate. You might live another 30 years. If you are 65 today and reasonably healthy, there is a good chance you will live past 90. That is 25 or 30 years of retirement. That is a long time. And inflation will cut the purchasing power of your money roughly in half over that period. If your money is not growing, you are getting poorer every year in real terms.
The solution is balance. Yes, you need stability. Yes, you need income. Yes, you need to protect against catastrophic losses, but you also need growth. You need at least some of your portfolio and assets that will appreciate over time. For most people over 60, that means having a meaningful allocation to stocks, probably somewhere between 40 and 60%, depending on your specific situation. The mistake is going to either extreme: all stocks is too aggressive. You cannot afford a 50% draw down at this stage, but all bonds is too conservative. You cannot afford to have inflation erode your purchasing power for decades. Find the balance that lets you sleep at night while still giving your money the chance to grow.
My fifth piece of advice is to have a plan for withdrawals. Accumulating money is only half the challenge of retirement. The other half is spending it wisely. And this is something most people put almost no thought into until they are already retired. The traditional guidance is the 4% rule. Withdraw 4% of your portfolio in the first year of retirement, then adjust that amount for inflation each year. On a $1 million portfolio, that is $40,000 in year 1. This approach has historically allowed portfolios to last at least 30 years in most market conditions.
But I would encourage you to be flexible. In years when your portfolio has done well, maybe you can withdraw a bit more. Take that trip you've been dreaming about. Help your grandchildren with college. In years when markets have crashed, maybe you tighten your belt a bit. Defer some expenses. Reduce your withdrawals. This flexibility can significantly extend the life of your portfolio. Also, think about the sequence of withdrawals. Which accounts do you tap first? Taxable accounts, traditional retirement accounts, or Roth accounts. The order matters for taxes and for how long your money lasts. This is one area where professional advice can genuinely add value because the tax implications are complex and specific to your situation.
My sixth piece of advice is to understand what you own and why you own it. This sounds basic, but I am constantly amazed at how many people over 60 cannot explain their own investments. They own funds they do not understand. They hold stocks they bought years ago based on tips they no longer remember. They have annuities with terms they never fully read.
Here is why this matters. When markets crash, and they will crash, you need conviction to hold on. If you do not understand what you own, you will not have conviction. You will panic. You will sell at the bottom. You will lock in losses that you could have avoided simply by holding on. Every investment in your portfolio should pass a simple test. Can you explain it in one or two sentences? Do you understand how it makes money? Do you understand the risks? If you cannot answer these questions, either learn about the investment or sell it and put the money into something you do understand. I have been investing for over 70 years and I still refuse to invest in things I do not understand. When the .com bubble was inflating in the late 1990s, people told me I was a dinosaur for avoiding technology stocks. I did not understand those businesses, so I did not invest. When the bubble burst, I was glad I had stayed in my circle of competence. You should do the same.
My seventh piece of advice is to be very careful about who you trust. The financial industry is filled with people whose interests are not aligned with yours. Advisers who earn commissions on products they sell you. Fund managers who charge high fees regardless of performance. Insurance salespeople pushing annuities that benefit them more than you. Media personalities giving advice that generates clicks rather than returns.
I am not saying everyone in finance is dishonest. Many financial professionals are ethical and genuinely want to help their clients. But the structure of the industry creates conflicts of interest that you need to be aware of when someone recommends an investment. Always ask how they are compensated. If they earn a commission on what they sell you, they have an incentive to sell you expensive products regardless of whether those products are best for you. If they charge a percentage of assets under management, they have an incentive to gather as many assets as possible, which might not align with giving you advice to pay down your mortgage or put money into other investments they do not manage. The best arrangement is a fee-only adviser who charges a flat fee or hourly rate and has no financial interest in what you invest in. Even then, be careful. Get references, check credentials, ask hard questions. Your financial security is too important to trust to someone you have not thoroughly vetted.
My eighth piece of advice is to coordinate with your spouse. I've seen too many situations where one spouse manages all the finances and the other has no idea what is going on. Then something happens: death, divorce, disability, and the uninformed spouse is suddenly responsible for financial decisions they are completely unprepared to make. Both spouses need to understand the family finances. Both need to know where accounts are held, how much is in them, what the investments are, and what the overall strategy is. Both need to have relationships with any financial advisors. Both need to know what to do if something happens to the other. This is not about trust. It is about preparedness. Even in the happiest marriages, one spouse typically outlives the other. The survivor needs to be able to manage the finances without missing a beat. Have these conversations now while you are both healthy and clear-headed. Create documentation that either spouse could use to manage the finances independently. Update beneficiary designations. Make sure your estate plan is current.
My ninth piece of advice is to think carefully about Social Security. For many people over 60, the question of when to claim Social Security is one of the most important financial decisions they will make. You can start as early as 62 or delay until 70, with your monthly benefit increasing by about 8% for each year you delay. My view is that most people should delay as long as possible. That 8% annual increase is a guaranteed return that you cannot get anywhere else. If you can fund your early retirement years from your investment portfolio while delaying Social Security until 70, your guaranteed lifetime income will be significantly higher. This provides enormous security and reduces the pressure on your portfolio.
But I recognize that not everyone can delay. If your health is poor, if you need the income immediately, if delaying would force you to deplete your savings too quickly, earlier claiming might make sense. There is no universal right answer. The right answer depends on your health, your savings, your other income sources, and your family situation.
My 10th and final piece of advice is perhaps the most important of all. Do not let money dominate your life. I have spent my entire career thinking about money and investing. I have accumulated more wealth than I could ever spend. And what I have learned is that beyond a certain point, more money does not make you happier. What makes you happy in your 60s, 70s, 80s, and beyond is not your account balance. It is your health. It is your relationships with family and friends. It is having purpose and meaning. It is being able to do the things you enjoy. Money is a tool that supports these things, but it is not the goal itself.
I have seen people over 60 sacrifice their health, working longer to accumulate more money they will never spend. I have seen people over 60 damage relationships with family because of disputes over inheritance. I have seen people over 60 spend their retirement worrying about money instead of enjoying the life their money could support. Do not make these mistakes. Use your money to support the life you want to live. Be generous with those you love. Invest time in your health because no amount of money can buy it back once it is gone. Build and [clears throat] maintain relationships because they will sustain you in ways money never can.
Now, let me bring all of this together with some specific guidance for different situations you might find yourself in.
If you are over 60 and still working, you have options that those already retired do not have. Maximize your contributions to retirement accounts. Delay Social Security if you can. Use this time to pay off debt, especially your mortgage if possible. Build up your emergency fund. And perhaps most importantly, use this time to simplify and organize your finances so that when you do retire, everything is in order.
If you have recently retired, the first few years are critical. Your spending patterns will set the tone for decades. Resist the urge to spend lavishly just because you finally have time. Give yourself at least a year to understand what retirement actually costs before making major financial decisions. And be very cautious about big purchases, a new car, a vacation home, a boat, until you are confident you can afford them sustainably.
If you are over 60 and have been retired for years, take stock of where you are. Is your withdrawal rate sustainable? Are your investments still appropriate for your situation? Have you updated your estate plan recently? Have you coordinated with your spouse? Are you taking advantage of all the tax strategies available to you? Even if everything seems fine, a periodic review can catch problems before they become serious.
If you are over 60 and worried you have not saved enough, do not panic. Yes, you may need to work longer than you planned. Yes, you may need to reduce your expenses. Yes, you may need to adjust your expectations, but despair is not the answer. And neither is taking wild risks hoping to make up for lost time. Take an honest assessment of your situation. Cut expenses where you can. Consider part-time work in retirement. Delay Social Security to maximize your guaranteed income. Make the best of what you have rather than gambling it on long shots.
If you are over 60 and wealthy beyond what you will ever spend, your challenge is different but still real. How do you want to use this wealth? How do you want to pass it on? What causes do you want to support? How do you prepare your heirs to receive an inheritance responsibly? These are important [clears throat] questions that require thoughtful planning.
Let me close with a story about time, which is the most precious resource any of us has. A few years ago, I was speaking with a friend who had just retired. He had worked hard his whole career, saved diligently, and accumulated enough to retire comfortably, but he was anxious. He kept checking his portfolio. He worried about every market fluctuation. He second-guessed every financial decision. I asked him why he was spending his retirement worrying about money when he had more than enough. He thought about it and admitted he did not know. He had spent so many decades focused on accumulating wealth that he did not know how to stop. The habits of accumulation had become the habits of anxiety.
I told him something I want to tell all of you. The purpose of money is to buy freedom. Freedom from want. Freedom from work you do not enjoy. Freedom to spend time with people you love. Freedom to pursue interests that matter to you. If your money is not buying you freedom, if instead it is buying you anxiety, then something has gone wrong.
When you are over 60, time becomes the scarcest resource. Every year is precious in a way that it was not when you were 30 or 40. Do not waste your remaining years worrying about money. That is already enough. Do not sacrifice experiences today for a slightly larger inheritance tomorrow. Do not let fear of market crashes prevent you from living the life you worked so hard to afford. Build a sensible portfolio. Follow the principles I have outlined. Protect what you have while still pursuing reasonable growth. Generate income to fund your lifestyle. Simplify everything you can. Be careful about who you trust. Coordinate with your spouse. Make smart decisions about Social Security. And then, having done all of that, stop worrying and start living. That is my final investment advice. Not how to beat the market, not how to find the next great stock, just how to use your money wisely so that you can enjoy the years you have left without financial anxiety. That is what investing is really about. Not numbers on a screen, not beating some benchmark, just living well and dying knowing you made the most of the time and resources you were given.
I've been fortunate in my life and career. I've had the chance to learn from mistakes and successes, to study the greatest investors in history, to build businesses and relationships that have brought me joy. And if there is one thing I hope you take from this conversation, it is that the financial part of life, while important, is not the most important part. Get it right so you can focus on what really matters: your health, your family, your friends, your passions, your legacy. That is my advice. That is what I wish someone had told me when I was over 60. And that is what I hope will serve you well in the years ahead.
But before we part, let me go deeper on some specific topics that I know many of you are wrestling with right now. These are the questions I get asked most often by people in your situation, and I want to make sure I address them thoroughly.
The first question is about market timing. Should you get out of stocks now because the market seems overvalued? Should you wait for a crash before investing? My answer is always the same. Do not try to time the market. I have been investing for over 70 years and I cannot reliably predict what the market will do over the next year. Neither can anyone else, no matter what they claim.
Here is what I know with certainty: over any 20-year period in the history of the American stock market, stocks have never lost money. Never. Not during the Great Depression, not during the stagflation of the 1970s, not during the dotcom crash or the financial crisis. If you have a time horizon of 20 years or more, and many of you do, even at 65, stocks have been a winning bet 100% of the time.
The problem with market timing is not just that it does not work. The problem is that it leads to the worst possible outcomes. People who try to time the market typically sell after big declines when prices are low and buy after big rallies when prices are high. They do exactly the opposite of what would make them money. They would have been better off doing nothing. So my advice is simple: Decide on an asset allocation that is appropriate for your situation. Implement it and then leave it alone. Rebalance once a year if your allocations drift significantly, but do not try to time the market based on valuations or predictions or feelings or headlines. Just stay invested and let time work.
The second question is about individual stocks versus index funds. Should you try to pick winning stocks or just buy the index? For most people over 60, I strongly recommend index funds. Let me explain why. Picking individual stocks requires time, knowledge, and emotional discipline that most people do not have. You need to analyze businesses, understand competitive dynamics, evaluate management, and stay current on developments. That is essentially a full-time job. And even professional investors who do this full-time usually fail to beat the index after fees. What chance does a part-time amateur have?
Index funds give you instant diversification across hundreds of companies. They have rock-bottom fees, often less than one tenth of 1% per year. They require no research, no monitoring, no decision making. You just buy and hold, and over time they beat most actively managed funds because of their low costs and broad diversification. Now, I built my career picking individual stocks. I still believe that a skilled investor can beat the market over time, but I also recognize that most people are not skilled investors, do not want to become skilled investors, and have better things to do with their time. For those people, and that is most people, index funds are the answer.
The third question is about bonds. What role should bonds play in a portfolio for someone over 60? This is a nuanced topic because bonds are not as simple as many people think. The traditional advice has been that you should hold your age in bonds. If you are 60, hold 60% bonds. If you are 70, hold 70% bonds. I think this advice is too conservative for most people. It was developed when life expectancies were shorter and when bonds paid higher interest rates. Today, with people living into their 90s and bond yields still relatively modest despite recent increases, that formula can leave you exposed to inflation risk.
My view is that most people over 60 should hold somewhere between 20 and 40% in bonds, with the rest split between stocks and dividend-paying stocks. The bonds provide stability and income. The stocks provide growth to combat inflation. The dividend stocks provide a middle ground with income and some growth potential. The type of bonds matters too. I generally recommend short-term Treasury bonds for most people over 60. Long-term bonds are actually quite risky because their prices fall significantly when interest rates rise. We saw this in 2022 when long-term bonds had one of their worst years in history. Short-term bonds are much more stable and still provide reasonable income. Some people ask about corporate bonds, high-yield bonds, or bond funds with complex strategies. My advice is to keep it simple: Treasury bonds, backed by the government, short to intermediate maturities, low-cost funds. Do not reach for yield by taking on credit risk or interest rate risk that you do not understand.
The fourth question is about annuities. Should people over 60 buy annuities for guaranteed income? This is a topic where I am more cautious than some advisors. Annuities can provide guaranteed income for life, which is valuable, but they also tend to have high fees, complex terms, and restrictions on access to your money. Insurance companies are not charities. They design annuities to make profits for themselves, and those profits come out of returns that would otherwise go to you.
If you want guaranteed income, you already have the best annuity available. It is called Social Security. It provides inflation-adjusted income for life with no fees and no surrender charges. For most people, maximizing Social Security by delaying until 70 is a better use of resources than buying commercial annuities. That said, there are some situations where a simple immediate annuity can make sense. If you are worried about outliving your money, if you want to reduce the complexity of managing investments, if you value the peace of mind that comes from guaranteed income, an immediate annuity, converting some of your savings to lifetime income, might be appropriate. But be very careful. Get quotes from multiple insurers. Understand all the fees. Make sure you can afford to give up access to the money. And do not annuitize so much of your wealth that you have nothing left for emergencies or legacy.
The fifth question is about real estate. Should people over 60 invest in real estate? This depends entirely on what type of real estate and why. If you are asking about rental properties, my answer for most people over 60 is no. Rental properties require active management. You have to deal with tenants, repairs, vacancies, and the general headaches of being a landlord. Maybe that was fine when you were 40 and had energy and a long time horizon, but in your 60s and 70s, do you really want to get calls about broken toilets at midnight? If you already own rental properties and have systems in place to manage them, that is different. Keep them if they are performing well and not causing stress, but I would not recommend that someone over 60 go out and buy rental properties for the first time.
Real estate investment trusts are a different matter. REITs let you own real estate without the hassle of direct ownership. They trade like stocks. They pay dividends. They provide diversification for someone who wants real estate exposure without the management burden. REITs can be a reasonable addition to a diversified portfolio. Just be aware that REITs can be volatile, especially interest rate-sensitive REITs like those focused on offices or retail.
The sixth question is about helping adult children or grandchildren. Many people over 60 want to help their family financially. Whether it is helping with a down payment on a house, paying for grandchildren's education, or providing ongoing support, my advice is to be careful. First, make sure you can afford it. Your financial security has to come first. If helping your children puts your own retirement at risk, you are not helping anyone. You are just shifting the burden from them now to them later when they have to support you. Second, consider the impact on your heirs. Unequal gifts to children can create family conflict that lasts for generations. If you are going to help one child, think about how that affects relationships with your other children. Sometimes the most loving thing you can do is treat everyone equally, even if needs are unequal. Third, think about the incentive effects. Providing too much financial support can actually harm your children by removing their motivation to build their own financial independence. There is a balance between helping and enabling, and you need to find it. Fourth, consider using tools like 529 plans for education or structured gifts over time rather than large lump sums. These approaches can help with taxes and can ensure the money is used for its intended purpose.
The seventh question is about long-term care. This is one of the biggest financial risks facing people over 60 and it is one that many people do not adequately plan for. The statistics are sobering. About 70% of people over 65 will eventually need some form of long-term care. The average cost of a nursing home is over $100,000 per year in many parts of the country. Medicare does not cover long-term care except in very limited circumstances. Medicaid covers it, but only after you have spent down nearly all your assets.
Long-term care insurance can help, but it is expensive, especially if you wait until your 60s to buy it. And many insurers have raised premiums dramatically on existing policies, leaving policyholders with the choice of paying much more or losing coverage. There is no perfect solution to this challenge. Some people buy long-term care insurance and hope they never need it. Some people self-insure by saving extra money that could fund care if needed. Some people plan to rely on family. Some people accept that they might eventually spend down their assets and go on Medicaid. Whatever approach you choose, do not ignore this risk. Have a plan. Talk to your family about their willingness and ability to help with care. Consider whether your home could be modified for aging in place. Look into continuing care retirement communities that provide a range of services as needs change. This is uncomfortable to think about, but planning now is far better than facing a crisis unprepared.
The eighth question is about estate planning. I am not a lawyer and cannot give legal advice, but I can tell you that proper estate planning is essential for anyone over 60 with any significant assets. At a minimum, you need a will that specifies how your assets should be distributed. You need powers of attorney for financial and health care decisions in case you become incapacitated. You need to have beneficiary designations on retirement accounts and insurance policies that are consistent with your overall plan. And you should consider whether trusts might be appropriate for your situation.
Estate planning is not just about minimizing taxes, though that can be important. It is about ensuring your wishes are carried out, reducing conflict among heirs, and making things as easy as possible for your family during a difficult time. A few thousand dollars spent on proper estate planning can save your heirs tens of thousands in legal fees, taxes, and emotional stress. Review your estate plan periodically, especially after major life changes like the death of a spouse, the birth of grandchildren, or a significant change in your financial situation. Laws change, circumstances change. Your plan should change with them.
Now, let me share one final story that captures everything I have tried to communicate today. Years ago, I knew a couple who retired in their early 60s with what should have been more than enough money. They had saved diligently, invested reasonably, and had a paid-off home. By any objective measure, they were financially secure, but they never felt secure. The husband was constantly worried about the market. He would stay up late watching financial news, making himself anxious about events he could not control. The wife wanted to travel and spend time with grandchildren. But the husband was always reluctant to spend money. Even small expenses made him nervous.
As the years passed, their net worth actually grew. The market did well. Their investments performed, but their quality of life did not improve. They traveled less than they wanted. They gave less to charity than they could have. They lived in a state of constant low-grade financial anxiety, even though they had nothing to worry about. When the husband finally passed away in his mid-80s, he left behind a portfolio worth almost twice what he retired with. All that worry, all that anxiety, all those experiences deferred, and for what? He never spent the money, he never enjoyed the security it should have provided. He was rich on paper but poor in life.
I tell this story because I want you to understand that the goal of investing is not accumulating the largest possible number. The goal is living the best possible life. Money is supposed to serve you, not the other way around. If your relationship with money is causing you stress rather than providing security, something has gone wrong.
So yes, follow the practical advice I have given you today. Protect what you have. Simplify your investments. Focus on income. Do not be too conservative or too aggressive. Have a plan for withdrawals. Understand what you own. Be careful who you trust. Coordinate with your spouse. Make smart decisions about Social Security. Plan for long-term care and estate issues. But also remember why you are doing all of this. You are doing it so you can live well, so you can spend time with people you love, so you can pursue interests that bring you joy, so you can be generous with causes you care about. So you can face the future with confidence rather than fear.
That is my final advice to everyone over 60. Get your financial house in order. And then stop worrying and start living. Time is the one thing money cannot buy, and you do not have unlimited supplies of it. Use it well. That is the best investment you can possibly make.