Don't Worry, Retire Happy! Quotes

“no retirement plan is complete without a plan for long-term care. It is the one risk that most people forget about, and it can wipe out even a very large retirement portfolio quickly.”
― Tom Hegna, Don't Worry, Retire Happy!: Seven Steps to Retirement Security

“having a purpose in your life is very important to living a long life and being happy.”
― Tom Hegna, Don't Worry, Retire Happy!: Seven Steps to Retirement Security

“Why do the wealthiest people in America buy the biggest life insurance policies? It isn't because they need it. They have plenty of money. Their kids will have plenty of money. Why buy it? It is because they want to leave their money an efficient way!”
― Tom Hegna, Don't Worry, Retire Happy!: Seven Steps to Retirement Security

“By employing a tax diversification strategy and moving a portion of your money into a cash value life insurance, you can lower your taxes, giving yourself more to spend and allowing you to increase your standard of living.”
― Tom Hegna, Don't Worry, Retire Happy!: Seven Steps to Retirement Security

“Permanent life insurance that builds cash value can be a great tool in this situation. The premiums are paid with after-tax dollars. The policy grows tax deferred, and you can access those cash values before or after retirement on a tax-free basis as long as it is structured properly. Upon your death, the death benefit is paid to your beneficiaries generally income tax free and, if you set it up properly, estate tax free.”
― Tom Hegna, Don't Worry, Retire Happy!: Seven Steps to Retirement Security

“However, in the distribution phase, they can be a tax nightmare since all distributions are fully taxable. With the economic problems facing this country, where do you think tax rates are going? The math is clear – taxes will be going up. I have no doubt about that.”
― Tom Hegna, Don't Worry, Retire Happy!: Seven Steps to Retirement Security

“With the recent drop in markets and housing, many of the baby boomer men are underinsured. Who will pay the consequences? Women! Don’t take my word for it: Find a widow who is living well and a widow who isn’t. Ask them about the importance of life insurance – it will be the key difference between them.”
― Tom Hegna, Don't Worry, Retire Happy!: Seven Steps to Retirement Security

“Seventy percent of married baby boomer women will become widows. Because women live longer and typically marry men older than themselves, they may be widows for 10, 20, or even 30 years. A woman's retirement is an important topic that many people are talking about.”
― Tom Hegna, Don't Worry, Retire Happy!: Seven Steps to Retirement Security

“why do so many people refuse to spend their retirement assets?”
― Tom Hegna, Don't Worry, Retire Happy!: Seven Steps to Retirement Security

“People may think life insurance has nothing to do with retirement but, the truth is, life insurance has everything to do with it! The people who enter retirement with a significant amount of permanent life insurance will likely enjoy a much happier and more successful retirement than those who don't.”
― Tom Hegna, Don't Worry, Retire Happy!: Seven Steps to Retirement Security

“the best financial advice in the world can't help the person who doesn't ever get started.”
― Tom Hegna, Don't Worry, Retire Happy!: Seven Steps to Retirement Security

“If you are carrying large credit card balances or other types of debt with high rates of interest, start paying as much as possible toward these debts until they are fully paid off. You would be surprised at how much it can free up to put toward your retirement savings.”
― Tom Hegna, Don't Worry, Retire Happy!: Seven Steps to Retirement Security

“A recent study found that a person who works for just an additional three years beyond age 62, saves 25 percent of their gross income, and delays collecting their Social Security benefits would increase their retirement income by 28 percent.”
― Tom Hegna, Don't Worry, Retire Happy!: Seven Steps to Retirement Security

“If you can save 10 percent, 15 percent, or even 50 percent on a purchase, it is the same as earning that money in the stock market.”
― Tom Hegna, Don't Worry, Retire Happy!: Seven Steps to Retirement Security

“is time to become more frugal. Frugal doesn't mean that you can't have fun anymore. It simply means staying at the Comfort Inn instead of the Ritz Carlton and buying the used car, not the brand new one.”
― Tom Hegna, Don't Worry, Retire Happy!: Seven Steps to Retirement Security

“I have seen people who never made over $30,000 per year retire comfortably, while couples who made hundreds of thousands of dollars approach retirement almost penniless.”
― Tom Hegna, Don't Worry, Retire Happy!: Seven Steps to Retirement Security

“Long-term care is the one big risk that can wipe out your entire life's work, but many people don't have insurance to protect themselves from this risk.”
― Tom Hegna, Don't Worry, Retire Happy!: Seven Steps to Retirement Security

“No retirement plan is complete without a plan for long-term care.”
― Tom Hegna, Don't Worry, Retire Happy!: Seven Steps to Retirement Security

“When it comes to protection from the high cost of long-term care, ANY plan is better than NO plan at all.”
― Tom Hegna, Don't Worry, Retire Happy!: Seven Steps to Retirement Security

“In fact, my colleague Peter D'Arruda ("Coach Pete") sums it up best when he says that no one is any safer than the person who has looked ahead and shifted the financial burden from their family to an insurance company in the form of life or long-term care insurance. There's really no better way to bring peace of mind with you into retirement”
― Tom Hegna, Don't Worry, Retire Happy!: Seven Steps to Retirement Security

“The odds that you will need some form of long-term care between now and the day you die are about 72 out of 100, or 72 percent. However, less than 30 percent of Americans over the age of 45 have purchased long-term care insurance to protect themselves from this need.”
― Tom Hegna, Don't Worry, Retire Happy!: Seven Steps to Retirement Security

“the inflation problem is compounded over time.”
― Tom Hegna, Don't Worry, Retire Happy!: Seven Steps to Retirement Security

“Inflation has always been an important factor in retirement planning, but it has become even more essential as life expectancy has lengthened.”
― Tom Hegna, Don't Worry, Retire Happy!: Seven Steps to Retirement Security

“there is no adverse effect on your Social Security retirement benefits as a result of income you earn after you reach full retirement age.”
― Tom Hegna, Don't Worry, Retire Happy!: Seven Steps to Retirement Security

“According to the Employee Benefit Research Institute's 2014 Retirement Confidence Survey, 65 percent of workers now plan to work for pay for at least some period of time in retirement.”
― Tom Hegna, Don't Worry, Retire Happy!: Seven Steps to Retirement Security

“brain scientists are adamant about how important it is to be stimulated and connected to the outside world in order to retain brain fitness.”
― Tom Hegna, Don't Worry, Retire Happy!: Seven Steps to Retirement Security

“A hybrid retirement occurs when a retiree finds a full- or part-time position after leaving their primary career.”
― Tom Hegna, Don't Worry, Retire Happy!: Seven Steps to Retirement Security

“Today's retirees have more post-retirement career options than any other previous generation”
― Tom Hegna, Don't Worry, Retire Happy!: Seven Steps to Retirement Security

“Many Americans give more attention to planning their annual vacation than they do to planning their retirement or selecting their Social Security start date. Mis-timing your start date could cost your household hundreds of thousands of dollars!”
― Tom Hegna, Don't Worry, Retire Happy!: Seven Steps to Retirement Security

“Payroll taxes are used to fund the Social Security program, with any surplus held in a trust fund to help cover the cost of the boomers' retirement. However, the trust fund is actually a pile of IOUs. Congress has already spent the money! Furthermore, the monthly benefit payments certainly will not be enough to cover average living expenses.”
― Tom Hegna, Don't Worry, Retire Happy!: Seven Steps to Retirement Security