In this episode of the One of a Kind Financial Show Daily, host Mike Milligan and guest Gary Norland dissect why conventional retirement projections—built on average returns, inflation, and spending—often give retirees a false sense of security. They highlight real‑world stressors that routinely break spreadsheet assumptions: rapidly rising healthcare costs, volatile travel expenses, unexpected tax liabilities (including IRMAA and Social Security taxation), and longer-than‑expected longevity. The conversation argues that planning around averages ignores the variability of actual lives, leading to anxiety and a lack of confidence among retirees. As a remedy, they champion adaptable strategies anchored by guaranteed income sources with cost‑of‑living adjustments, emphasizing that such certainty removes many surprises. The duo then promotes their proprietary One of a Kind Financial Plan, a personalized, tax‑aware, legacy‑focused service offered through One Oak Financial (and its affiliate Advisory Alpha LLC). They provide a call‑to‑action with a phone number and text option, mention Mike’s book on the plan available on Amazon, and conclude with a standard regulatory disclaimer that the content is educational, not financial advice.
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It's the One of a Kind Financial Show Daily with your host, Mike Milligan. Your retirement projection says everything's fine, assuming nothing ever goes wrong. Nobody lives past 90 and you never replace a roof. See, most financial projections give the same one-size-fits-all solution with a one-size same, and it has the one-size-fits-all criteria for everyone. Well, recently on the One of a Kind Financial Show, Gary and I talked about why real life refuses to follow spreadsheets. And why that is actually good news, especially for those looking to live a one-of-a-kind life.
Retirement planning loves certainty. Real life loves surprises. Somewhere between the two is where most retirees actually live. Now, in this segment, we're talking about the gap between retirement math and retirement reality and why the goal isn't always perfection, but preparedness. So, got a lot of questions for you, Mike. The first one is, why do retirement plans feel so confident, but retirees don't?
On paper, right? We don't live on paper. We live in the real world where there's sunshine and rain and markets going up and markets going down. But on paper, where a lot of financial planners like to live, projections are clean and logical. In real life though, expenses spike. Your tires go out, you need a new roof, your kids move back in your house. And then priorities shift, right? All of a sudden, that doctor visit causes you to rethink life a little bit, and then emotions get involved. And many retirees say, the numbers say I'm fine, but they don't feel fine. Anxiety and fear are up. And if you follow the trends on what's going on with those that are surveyed right now, more people are feeling less confident about the future. than they are about really the reality of where we are. People tend to be more negative than positive.
Yeah, absolutely. That always seems to be the case. What assumptions tend to quietly break first in retirement?
Well, healthcare costs rise unevenly. I was just, for our company, Winook Financial, our health insurance advisor was in this week to quote our company's health insurance, and there was a 12% increase in health insurance costs coming this year. See, although we're getting the exact same benefits from the exact same doctors, right, we're paying 12% more money. And that's— so healthcare costs rise quicker than what inflation does. Then travel spending, the things that we want to do, often tend to get more expensive. Oil prices shoot up unexpectedly, and now all of a sudden that flight that was $300 is $800. That cruise that we're going on with our grandkids, now all of a sudden goes up higher. And then taxes don't behave the way people expect. See, when you enter retirement, you're entering a whole new tax arena that you've never experienced before, because there's things like IRMAA, there's how much Social Security's taxed, there's the ordinary income brackets versus the capital gains and qualified brackets. There's all these things about taxes that you didn't know about before. And when you put those all together and you add in longevity, which stretches plans longer than anticipated because we're living longer, that's where the breakage comes. That's where those microfractures or those microleaks come in that spreadsheet or that paper plan.
Yeah. And Uncle Sam's your partner in all of this, am I right?
Oh my gosh. The partner you never knew you thought you needed.
Exactly. But he's there. He's there for you.
He's there. And he's lured you into a trap that you didn't realize you were getting into. It was like that he's given you tax break after tax break after tax break to put money into a 401. Stock markets have had record growth. And now he gets between, depending on what your tax bracket is, 20% to 40% of every dollar that comes out of That 401.
Exactly. So why do averages fail real people?
Most plans assume average returns, average inflation, average spending. But guys, if we are truthful with each other, has inflation been average over the last 3 or 4 years?
Oh no.
Has the cost of goods been average? Nobody lives an average life. Some people, some years are expensive, Some are lean. Just depends on what you're planning on doing that year. Retirees need to think different about variability. Things are going to cost more some years, things are going to cost less. Don't put a plan around average. Put a plan around how we actually live.
Yeah, Mike and the team will definitely do that for you when they get together. The show is the One of a Kind Financial Show with Mike Milligan. I'm Gary Norland, your consumer advocate. I want to thank you for joining us. Let's get you on the calendar, all set up with that comprehensive plan. There's no cost, there's no obligation. Starts by picking up the phone and dialing this number, 800-748-1838. 800-748-1838. Or text the word ideas to 600-700. The folks at Warnock Financial standing by this weekend, ready for your phone call. One more time on the number before we get back to segment number 1. 800-748-1838. Or text the word ideas to 600-700. So is Precision giving retirees a false sense of control, Mike?
Withdrawal rates down to the decimal point can feel reassuring, but real confidence comes from adaptability. Gary, do you remember when we were learning math, that symbol pi?
Yes.
Remember that?
Yep.
It was like 3.14167182. Remember that number?
Something like that, yeah.
Yeah. And it was like this random thing that we're taught. in school that we never really use. The only really application for pi we have in our life is, is it apple, peach, pecan, or sweet potato?
Exactly right.
But here we get to retirement and all of a sudden we start treating withdrawal rates like they're pi, right? And we don't— that's not the way people live real life, right? Withdrawal rates should be from guaranteed income sources. Because if you have guaranteed income that hits your checking account every month, then you never worry about things going up. And then if it has a cost of living adjustment on top of it, well, that's true certainty when it comes to retirement. That's how you take the surprises out. And we do. And instead of living off this mathematical thing, pi, that we learned in 3rd grade, we live off real numbers, not a decimal. But real numbers. You need $8,000 per month to live on? We're going to guarantee that you get it.
All right. Tell us about the One of a Kind Financial Plan, Mike. We're up against the clock here.
Love to. The One of a Kind Financial Plan was built by our firm. I wrote the book about it. It's on Amazon. If you want to learn more about me and the One of a Kind Financial Plan, go to amazon.com, look up The One of a Kind Financial Plan, Mike Milligan. You're going to learn why the One of a Kind Financial Plan helps you alleviate uncertainty, fear, and anxiety from your financial plan, because we focus on taxes, retirement income, investments, long-term care, and legacy. The One of a Kind Financial Plan is built by One Oak Financial. One Oak meaning one of a kind, because just like you, we live a life that is unique. We provide financial solutions that are one of a kind and unique for the people we talk to. And so folks, if you're looking for certainty and you want to take surprises out of your financial life and leave them for your grandkid's birthday, you need to call us because One Oak Financial is here to build a one-of-a-kind financial plan for your one-of-a-kind life.
All right. And that number is 800-748-1838. 800-748-1838. Or text the word ideas to 600-700. Folks, good news. There's no cost, no obligation. Get a better handle on your financial situation.
This has been the One of a Kind Financial Show Daily with your host, Mike Milligan. I hope you've enjoyed these segments. From the One of a Kind Financial Show with Gary Nolan and I, I need to give you a reminder, and that is that I am an investment advisory representative with Advisory Alpha LLC, member SEC. Ideas by Mike, doing business as One Oak Financial, is an unaffiliated entity of Advisory Alpha LLC. All opinions expressed by me and Gary on the One of a Kind Financial Show are for education purposes only, should not be construed as financial advice, and are solely our opinions. For more information on One Oak Financial, go to the number one oak financial dot com. And, uh, if you're interested more in about the book that I authored, the One of a Kind Financial Plan. You can go to amazon.com to, to read the reviews and find out more about that book.
Be one of a kind with Mike's plan. In a face shot growth, 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. Be one of a kind, take the flight. Mike's the guide. You shine bright. You shine bright.
