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It’s time for families to get serious about the coming retirement and wealth transfer deluge by starting out simple: Have the conversation.
People are “too busy concentrating on the present,” Domain Money CEO Adam Dell told Yahoo Finance Executive Editor Brian Sozzi on Yahoo Finance’s Opening Bid podcast (video above; listen below). “It’s easy to forget the future is coming, and you’d better be prepared.”
Thinking about how to live after retirement might not be the easiest feat during the daily grind, but a lot of baby boomers are soon going to be faced with reality. According to the Census Bureau, 1 in 5 Americans are expected to reach retirement age by 2030.
This age group is the first to face that milestone without cushions like full Social Security benefits and defined benefit pensions. Add on a lack of savings — for the 30.4 million Americans turning 65 between 2024 and 2030, more than half have assets of less than $250,000 — and the need to take retirement seriously becomes clear.
“People don’t talk enough about money,” said Dell. “Within a family, the dynamics of the financial situation of your parents and their long-term well-being and the impact it’ll have on your life as they pass is something that people need to learn to talk about.”
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The looming $84 trillion wealth transfer from boomers to their offspring is also something families need to discuss sooner rather than later.
To avoid potential blunders and confusion, Dell suggests being up-front about how things stand financially. Taking steps now, like communicating whether there’s a will, who the estate’s administrator is, and where assets are held, can help in the long run.
Another potential “big miss” is tax implications.
“Understanding what taxes will face the estate and how that impacts the assets at the end of the tax obligations” should be part of the conversation, Dell said.
Increasingly, more retirees are opting to spend more of their money on themselves, and family members need to be transparent with one another “so that you’re on the same page about what the expectations are and what’s reasonable and realistic to try and achieve.”
Dell, whose older brother Michael founded Dell Technologies (DELL), sees Domain Money’s mission as helping everyday consumers gain access to high-quality information, which is key when planning for transitions like retirement.
“You need a realistic plan and small incremental steps to take toward that plan,” he said. “Having that conversation earlier rather than later, especially as they age and their cognitive abilities decline, is a much better approach.”
For more retirement tips, listen to Yahoo Finance’s Decoding Retirement podcast hosted by Robert Powell.
Three times each week, Yahoo Finance Executive Editor Brian Sozzi fields insight-filled conversations and chats with the biggest names in business and markets on Opening Bid. You can find more episodes on our video hub or watch on your preferred streaming service.
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