How to Recalibrate Your Financial Plan When Life Changes

Be one of a kind with Mike's Plan.

Welcome to the One of a Kind Financial Show Daily with your host, Mike Milligan. It's Tuesday, December 9th, and here we are closer to Christmas. Every day you have the lavender fields, the grandkids, the daily java on the porch, and then life throws you an unexpected curveball. Maybe you're sitting on the rocking chair now, or maybe you remember that song from Tim McGraw, Live like you were dying. When he went skydiving, he went Rocky Mountain climbing, he went a couple seconds on a bull named Fu Manchu, and he loved deeper and he spoke sweeter, right? But when retirement plans change overnight because of a health issue or something that comes up unexpected, how can you pivot without panic? Because a good retirement plan is the difference between relaxing on the porch and pacing on it. Um, the One of a Kind Financial Plan, The book that we wrote, the podcast, the One of a Kind Financial Show Daily, and the One of a Kind Financial Show that we air is here to help you give practical advice when that happens. Because whether it's a song, whether it's happened in your real life or someone you know, the unexpected will come. And what I want to do is I want you to listen to the segment Gary and I recently recorded because we talk about what wrap retirement Many people think it should be, but how you can adjust when the unexpected occurs. Be one of a kind.

Retirement is supposed to be the chapter when you finally kick back, follow your passions, and enjoy your freedom you earned. But what happens when life doesn't read the script? Today we're going to explore how to respond when peaceful retirement meets curveball What adjustments matter most and how to keep your financial foundation strong, even when life changes directions. First question, who's the unexpected for?

In an article that, you know, we got a lot of this data from, Gary, a 60-year-old retiree with a solid nest egg assumed all was well until he became a guardian for his late sister's teenage daughters. See, MoneyWise, where we got a lot of the data for this segment from—

That's correct, yes.

Shows us that even well-positioned retirees can face major surprises. In this case, the curveball was all of a sudden becoming custodian, guardians for teenage girls when you were in retirement. And so the easiest way to plan for curveballs goes back to my baseball days. So Gary, you know I played baseball.

Yep.

I also coached baseball. And as a player, a coach will always tell you with a curveball, if you see it high, let it fly. If you see it low, let it go. Let it go.

Yep.

Right. All right. So the stance there is if you see it come out of the pitcher's hand high, that means you should swing at it as hard as you can. And if you see it come out of the pitcher's hands low, which means it's going to— it's like mid— it's going to break. The curveball is going to break and be a ball.

In the dirt. Yep.

See, we had a plan when a pitcher threw a curveball, a baseball. The plan was see it high, swing as hard as you can. see it low, let it be a ball, and then wait for your next pitch. Okay? When life throws you a curveball, you have to have a plan in place. So like in this situation where this retiree all of a sudden inherited, right? You inherited family, which is a great situation to be in if you know it's coming. They should have— If it was unexpected, it's not a plan. But if they had had conversations with the sister and knew the health situation and knew what the financial situations were, now you got a plan and they could have adjusted their lifestyle. Many people do this, by the way, with parents. We all know the sandwich generation right now is between their late 40s and mid-60s where they could still have kids at home, Sure. But they also have parents that they need to take care of. We call those people the sandwich generation. There's a lot of people right now in that sandwich generation who are not realizing what their responsibility's going to be in the future. Right. And then there's others who are realizing that probably in 10 or 12 years, I'm going to be in an area caring for a parent. And what those people are doing is they're now out traveling. They're the ones that you see in their 40s and 50s going to Thailand and the Philippines and Australia and Europe, and they're getting their traveling in now. They're planning for that traveling while they're still young because they know that they're going to be taking care of someone they love a lot. That is a plan, Gary. That is, that is, that is seeing it high and letting it fly and seeing it low, letting it go.

How do these surprises affect your financial aspirations?

Um, in the example from the article, the retirees' planned spending and withdrawal strategies were thrown off because of the increased expenses and responsibility. So one of the things you have to know in a retirement plan is what is going to be your retirement income? What's going to be the withdrawal rate on your money? What are going to be the expenses that you have to cover? And then what is the time horizon? That's a technical one-size-fits-all. What's your time horizon?

Yep.

I always talk about, is your money going to be there when you need it?

Mm-hmm.

And then there's always the what-if scenarios. Now, we can what-if life to death, right? What if we bomb Venezuela? What if I die early? What if? And that's the land of fear and anxiety. That's the land you go to and you get stressed and you end up— your life goes away. Nobody wants to vacation to the land of fear and anxiety. People want to vacation to the land of certainty, hopes, and dreams, and comfort. That's where they want to vacation to. So in this situation, we want to have a plan that has what-ifs covered by proper withdrawal plans, expenses, and having those what-ifs in place right before they actually come.

The show is the One of a Kind Financial Show. I want you to get the one of a kind financial plan. Mike's going to talk about it again in just a couple of minutes. Let's get you the phone number. Let's get you on the calendar. The folks at One Oak Financial. Financial standing by this weekend for your phone call, 800-748-1838, 800-748-1838, or text the word ideas to 600-700. Like I said, the folks at One Oak Financial standing by ready for your phone call. So why does emotion matter as much as the math, Mike?

The article mentions that becoming a guardian wasn't just about a financial shift. It was emotionally exhausting. It was life-altering. and required new rhythms. When clients face sudden changes like this, the emotional side, the stress, the identity shift, the role change become— can start weighing down on them. They can see dreams shattered. They could see future plans altered. And that's why it's important in the financial plan to talk the emotional side of the what-ifs before they happen, because then you can— Prepare for them.

So what quick action should someone take when this curveball is going to hit sooner or later? So what, what can people do? What should they be doing, Mike?

You have to have a plan, right?

You—

so you, you secure benefits such as survivor benefits if the what-if is mortality, the loss of someone early. You reassess the budget. You educate the spouse, right, or the person in the household who maybe doesn't handle the money. So that they're not all of a sudden lost because not only did the person they loved and care for, that they're gone, but they also have to now figure out how to balance a checkbook and pay bills. And then you have to revisit long-term goals rather annually, on an annual basis. You come in, like when our clients, When we're going through this, we're building the vision for retirement and building a one-of-a-kind financial plan for them. When they come in for their annual review, we literally are sitting down again, even though we did it last year, we're coming in and saying, hey, what's changed? What's on the horizon? And then we visit the future together. So we literally go out into the future and say, what is this going to look like by the choices we're making today? And it's not always fun, but it's necessary if you're going to live a one-of-a-kind life.

Right.

Now, when we're watching football, we always see the quarterback sometimes change the play at the line, you know. So how do you adjust your withdrawal strategy among mid-retirement, changing the plan as you go?

Oh, you're now— now you've changed sports on me. You've gone from baseball to football.

I went to football on you.

Now we're— now instead of seeing curveballs, now we're doing audibles.

That's right.

So if your budget jumps up, either because all of a sudden now you're caring for a parent, in this article, now you have teenage kids that have come into your home because of a death in your family, you may need to pull from savings more aggressively or delay certain goals. So in this scenario, in the article, the retiree modeled their increase, their income needs increased from $45,000 to $70,000 in annual spending. You just have to recalibrate. You have to readjust life. And if we've talked about what-if scenarios ahead of time, we've already talked about this in our annual meetings.

A couple of minutes left. What about returning to work? Is that an option? Some people, I guess they have to do that, huh?

It could be a smart move if you still have the energy to do that, and it's purpose-driven work. So something like tutoring the next generation, working in a community center, working for a nonprofit, that could extend the life of your portfolio retirement because you're not drawing as much of your assets now as you're using somebody else's in the form of trading your time for income. So this could— reentering the workforce can help solve that budget gap when your budget need increases dramatically.

All right, a minute left or 2. What about estate planning, insurance, legal documentations? Do these all need a second look? You need to take a look at these as well?

Anytime life throws you a curveball or you need to audible, right? So baseball and football here, anytime those happen—

We got it both.

You have to— there could be some gaps. I mean, the reason that Peyton Manning would audible at the line of scrimmage is because he saw something in the defense That to him showed that the play that was previously called would not work, but this play that they knew would.

Mm-hmm.

And so when you see something in the future where your plan may not work, it's time to call an audible and amend your trust, change your beneficiaries, and update other, like update asset allocation, update withdrawal strategies and the such.

We'll try to work in hockey and basketball next. Okay? We'll try to get to those too. All right, Mike, tell us about the one-of-a-kind financial plan that you do for folks.

Well, Gary, it's fantastic to talk about reactions to events, but what's even better is to build a buffer, flexibility, and a mindset ahead of time. That's what the one-of-a-kind financial plan does. It, it creates a plan that is dynamic. And that is centered around paying the taxes you want to pay, right? Versus paying what is required of you. It's helping you in lowering those taxes along the way, by the way, over your lifetime. It's creating a retirement income that can be flexible when you need it to, but more importantly, is there to reduce fear and anxiety during your life. An investment plan that will help keep up with inflation and ultimately will pay the fees that are worthy for the return you expect. Creates a long-term care plan because the only person you can count on to take care of the older version of you is the younger version. And a legacy plan that says, I love you. Guys, that's called the one-of-a-kind financial plan. And you deserve it because I believe you live a one-of-a-kind life. Gary, do you want to tell them how they can call us and we can build one of those for them?

Sure, absolutely, Mike. Happy to do so. Sorry to interrupt there. 800-748-1838, 800-748-1838, or text IDEAS to 600-700.

I hope you enjoyed that segment of the One of a Kind Financial Show. We're found weekly on WINS and WTAR in Norfolk, Virginia, and on AM in In Midland, Odessa area in Texas, in anywhere you find your podcast. I want to remind you that I, Mike Milligan, am an investment advisory rep with Advisory Alpha LLC. Ideas by Mike, doing business as One Oak Financial, is an unaffiliated entity to Advisory Alpha LLC. All opinions expressed on this mini podcast and on the One of a Kind Financial Show radio show are just of that. The opinions are mine and Gary's. We're here to provide educational content for you, but remember, as always, Always consult a licensed financial professional before making any decisions. Any tax advice references Social Security Administration should refer to the Social Security Administration and tax advice should reserve— be reserved for the IRS website and also consult a qualified tax advisor before making any tax decisions.

Be one of a kind with Mike's plan. In a face-shot world, take a stand. Visibility, strategy, take the lead. Transformation's yours, fulfill the need. Mike's got the way to help you rise and stay. Leadership impact you'll find in your one-of-a-kind mind. Be one of a kind. Take the flight. Mike's the guide. You'll shine bright.