Join Al Smith as he debunks common myths about aging and retirement. In this enlightening episode, Al explores how maintaining a level of physical activity can positively influence the aging process and why common assumptions about aging might be misleading. Discover how you can still enjoy a fulfilling and active lifestyle well into your retirement years, with a focus on exercises that strengthen your mind and body. Delve into the societal perception of aging and how these perceptions can shape reality, influencing retired individuals’ approach to exercise and health.
Welcome to Retirement Unpacked with Al Smith, owner of Golden Eagle Financial. You want a retirement plan that alleviates your fears about the future so you know your money will last. As a chartered financial consultant, Al Smith will help you find a balance between the risk and reward of the market and the safety of your retirement income. And now, here’s your host, Al Smith.
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Welcome to another program of Retirement Unpacked. I want to thank you for tuning in. I’m sure there’s other things that you could be doing. And if you like the information that you hear here and if you’re maybe moving toward retirement or in retirement, And you might have a concern about, gee, what will my taxes look like in retirement? Am I still going to be paying a lot of tax? Well, there’s an event coming up this coming Saturday at Arapahoe Community College. And that’s at 5900 South Santa Fe. The event lasts from 10 until 1130, and it’s like the tax consequences and the tax strategies that you need to hear about in retirement. Today, I did a little digging and so forth and thought I would talk about some of the fallacies that are out there with respect to aging. Because people have certain preconceptions and certain thoughts they think about people as they age. And a lot of those are, to say the very least, erroneous. And the first of those, which we all may have some affinity to or knowledge about, is physical deterioration. We think once you get old, your body kind of deteriorates. And there’s been a little research about that. And one of the things that they have discovered is is if people have in their mind a sense of anticipation of their bodies deteriorating, where they’re able to do less and so forth, then it’s more likely to occur. One could describe it as a self-fulfilling prophecy. which is a little bit of an overused statement, but I think in this case it’s absolutely true. If in your mind as you age, if you are anticipating the physical deterioration of your body and as a result you decide to do less and participate less and exercise less, then it’s likely that your body will deteriorate physically. However, It’s not a foregone conclusion. They say some people think that as you age, when you reach a certain age, you should avoid exercise. And I believe that is totally untrue. I think the exercise, rather, should be geared toward your level of of comfort and so forth and if you are aged and i and you haven’t really done exercise and you’re wanting to begin that i would certainly consult your personal care physician first but there are a lot of exercises and activities that can be extremely helpful There’s one research that came up with a brisk walk of 75 minutes over an entire week can add 1.8 years to your life. Avoiding exercise, that’s a complete fallacy. I would say you should continue exercise. And if you’ve been rather sedate before you retired, you can even begin an exercise program. I would highly recommend that you visit with your personal physician first to find out how that is going to work for you. And depending on what you do, that can also increase your confidence Social activity. Some people join hiking clubs, biking clubs, things of that nature. So in addition to getting exercise, you will be making some new friends. Less sleep. Some people think you need less sleep in retirement, and that is really not the case. The CDC, the Center for Disease Control, says we need seven to eight hours sleep after age 65. And I think sleep is incredibly important. There’s a gentleman on TV who is a billionaire that wants to live an extremely long, long period of time. And he takes an enormous number of supplements and does all of these things. And in spite of his thinking of himself as being extremely important, he has arrived at some things that help us live longer. And with respect to sleep, I know he suggested that you don’t eat within a few hours before you go to sleep, and you don’t do anything that involves screens, whether it’s your phone, your tablet, or the television, and about 30 minutes before you fall asleep. You sort of wind down and that would mean, you know, no alcohol. And by winding down before you actually go to sleep, then once you lay your head down, so to speak, it’s easier to move into that, you know, dream REM sleep that they call it that we all need every night. Women are the only ones who get osteoporosis. That is another big fallacy that people have about folks who are aged. One in three women will get osteoporosis. One in three, I’m sorry, one in five men. So men get it also, just not with quite as much frequency. Next big one, dementia. once you reach a certain age, it’s going to happen for sure. Well, that is a complete fallacy. 10% of men and women over age 65 have dementia, but that means that 90% do not have it. 22% of folks over age 65 have mild cognitive impairment. Now, mild cognitive impairment is not the start of dementia. Mild cognitive impairment is where you might forget things, but what you will often find out, let’s say you’re watching TV and you’re seeing, oh, there’s, what’s his name, that actor, and you’re with another person, a spouse, a friend, and you say, yeah, he’s the person that starred in that other film with, what’s her name? And what people often do is then they Google it and they find it. Oh, yeah, that’s such and such actor. Now, once you Google it and pops up, you do remember. So it’s not a question of remembering. memory as much as it is recall because things that are in our frontal lobe, they get moved to the back burner, for lack of a better word, and bringing those back to the front to our conscious memory often takes a little bit longer. Now here’s an example. How often have you gone from one room to another in your home or maybe in your garage or where you work, and once you go into that other room, you’re going there to get something. You may have gone in there to get a book or to get some notes that you wrote down in another room. Now, once you pass into that other room, you will forget, what did I come in here for? Okay, that has nothing to do with aging. There was some research done at Notre Dame University years ago, and they found that when people pass through a threshold, a doorway, and go into another room for some particular purpose, it’s highly likely that they will forget what they’re going in there for. And again, it has nothing to do with aging. It’s just one of those phenomena that are weird. And if you’re going into another room to get something, I would suggest you clench your fist. And then when you get into that other room, you’re asking yourself, why is my fist clenched? And that will remind you, oh, I came into this room to get a paper towel because of whatever. So cognitive decline has a lot of factors that determine that. And I’ll give you some of those. Educational level, I had no idea. If you’ve had a head injury, the level of physical activity in which you participate. Smoking. Alcohol, both of those affect cognitive decline. Your level of cholesterol, if you are obese. Your level of social contact, if you have diabetes. All of these factors contribute to cognitive decline. So does possible vision or hearing loss. So a lot of things affect that, some things that we should be aware of. Another example, old people are frail. That’s a fallacy also. Older people, their bones and muscles are not quite what they were when they were younger, but that’s completely different than being frail. If you are healthy enough, if your doctor permits you, you can do resistance exercises. You can go to the gym or you can buy dumbbells. Dumbbells go from as little as 2 1⁄2 pounds to 20, 30 pounds if you’re a bigger person, and you can use those, and that resistance exercise will enable your bones and muscles to be stronger than they would be if you chose to do no exercise. Bad habits cause frailness. A lack of activity causes frailness, and that’s true not just for exercise, elderly people, but for everyone. Elderly people are bad with technology. That’s part of the aging process. You have to have a grandchild around to show you how to navigate your new iPhone. But the reality is older people who choose to learn more about technology are just as able to learn about it as younger people are. Often it’s a case of, well, it would be a lot easier if I had my granddaughter help me with this than if I learned it myself. And we’re going to talk more about some of the fallacies about aging after the break.
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Al Smith of Golden Eagle Financial helps you get on track for 2026 by taking a fresh look at your retirement plan. If you’re like most people, money gets spread out over time. Old accounts, new jobs, life changes, and suddenly it’s hard to see the whole picture. Taking a fresh look with Al often means simplifying what’s gotten complicated. So less confusion, clearer records, and a solid plan for the future. And it’s not just about numbers. Al asks what’s really driving you to come in. because sometimes the issue isn’t your 401k. It’s a move you’re considering. Family dynamics, new health concerns, or uncertainty about retirement timing. Golden Eagle Financial plans at your speed and follows up regularly so you can be confident that you’re retiring on your terms and getting the most out of what you’ve spent a lifetime putting in. Get a fresh look at your retirement plan with a no-obligation meeting with Al Smith. Find out how on the klzradio.com advertisers page.
SPEAKER 01 :
Welcome back to Retirement Unpacked. We’re talking about some of the fallacies people have about the elderly or about aging. Now, one thing you may or may not be aware of, but there is a high percentage of people over age 65 in the workforce. And that didn’t always used to be the case. There’s sort of a bubble curve. If we go back a certain number of years, a lot of people worked beyond age 65. Then about 1990s, 2000s, it dropped down to only about 10 to 15 percent. Right near the present, there are nearly… 40% of people beyond age 65 who are still working, and maybe part-time, maybe even on a volunteer basis, but there is a relative high percentage. Now, one fallacy is older workers are less productive. And that is a complete fallacy. There’s a lot of research out there that indicates older people are more reliable. Many of them are used to coming to work on time. They’re less concerned about personal time and one thing or another than they are performing the duties that they’re required to do for their jobs. Another fallacy is that older people cannot learn new things or be creative. I had a client who right up until she passed away was teaching watercolor art classes at a recreation center in Fort Lupton. She was doing this very much into her old age. Another fallacy is that older people may lose their independence. And that is not necessarily the case at all. Many older people live alone and they do fine. Some of them take public transportation. Some of them walk to wherever they purchase food. You may see them sometimes walking with one of those little carts with groceries in it. So many older people have not lost their independence. And it’s also a fallacy that they’re lonely and depressed. Now, there may be who some Some who are lonely and depressed, but it is certainly not the vast majority. And some also say they have lost their purpose. I know some older people who are contributing enormously to society. I know a gentleman. who is the president of the Gideons in the Littleton area, and he is also extremely active in his church. He’s fully retired, and he is busier than nearly anyone I know. He’s over age 65, retired from Lockheed Martin. I had him on the radio show a while back. He’s a marvelous example of people who… are not only finding their purpose, but they’re staying incredibly active in retirement. One of the things I talked about earlier, and I’ll talk about a book that I believe is extremely important, is the importance of exercise, not only in retirement, but in life. And it provides quite a few different things when you choose to exercise on a regular basis. And it can increase your endurance. And I’ve often met people who say that they’re tired. And when you exercise on a regular basis, especially some aerobic exercise, you will ultimately have more energy. And strength exercises are very important as people age because that will make fractures less likely. It will keep bones strong and muscles strong. If you have a strong skeletal structure, including bones and muscles, then fractures, they still may occur, but they will be less likely. Balance is important. How many times… Do you hear about an older person falling? A client of mine just recently who is up in years broke her ankle. And I don’t know the exact circumstances, but it’s not at all unusual for older people to have fractures. And also very, very important is flexibility. When you feel more flexible… and you can stretch and do that sort of thing that fits together with balance and makes a lot of injuries for the agent less likely if you’d like to learn a little more about how exercise can improve your mind whether you are retirement age or 20 years old there’s a book called spark and the author is named john ratey And it’s partly about some research that was done at Naperville High School. The high school participated in vigorous aerobic exercise every morning. And the test scores that they had were unbelievable. Ranking this high school globally, they were number one in science and number seven in math. And the only major thing that they did differently is exercise every morning. And the book is full of the benefits of exercise having to do with depression, aging, anxiety, all kinds of things that exercise is beneficial for. Now, in the few moments that we have left, I’m going to talk briefly about taxes in retirement. This is the topic that we’re going to be covering Saturday at the event at Arapahoe Community College. And if you’re not doing anything this Saturday morning, I would highly encourage you to attend. You can call my office, 303-744-1128. If you’re driving, you can contact KLZ, and they’ll put you in touch with me and make sure that you get a seat. We have about 60 people already signed up, and usually there’s a fallout where some of them will not be able to make it. but it’s going to be a good event with a lot of good information. Taxes in retirement, what a lot of people may or may not be aware of, but if you have an investment account that is outside of an IRA or a Roth or or a 401k or something like that, the capital gains and dividends that are generated from that retirement account, if you are a couple, the first $98,000 of those include a zero tax rate. Dividends and capital gains, there is zero tax for a couple up to $98,000. For a single person, it’s all the way up to $48,000 is not taxed. And so that means you can have a very healthy investment account and live off some of the dividends and capital gains that are thrown off from that investment account without having to pay tax on that. And I’m not saying anything against Roths or IRAs or 401ks or anything like that. I’m just pointing out that by knowing all of the tax structures and the… tax benefits and that sort of thing that are linked to retirement, you’re able to enjoy what you’ve worked many, many years for without having to be in a tax bracket that is off the charts, so to speak. So there’s some real things that can be done as you approach and move through retirement that can minimize your tax burdens. In addition to that, if you have a longer window between the present and when you plan to retire, and if you’re fortunate enough to have a healthy 401k or IRA, you can create a strategy to convert that to Roth over time. And by doing that over time, once you fully retire and begin drawing income from that account that income will be tax-free and the compounding effect why that is so important is that will mean that your Social Security may also be tax-free or if it’s taxed only a very small amount of it will be included in your tax and so how Having tax-free income and having postponing Social Security to age 70, sometimes that makes sense. If you’re healthy and you have anticipating good longevity, combinations of these can put you in a very good tax place once you fully retire. And the things that you do Before retirement, they can be extremely important once you fully retire. If you’re already retired, there certainly are some things you can do, but it’s a little bit like anything else. The more you plan, the better will the result be. And so, again, this Saturday, January 10th, Arapahoe Community College. It’s in room 3750. There’s lots of parking available on a Saturday because they have very few classes. And again, we’re going to have some really good tax information for folks who are preparing for moving through or are already retired students. I want to thank everyone for listening today to Retirement Unpacked. And in the next few weeks, I’m going to have some guests and have some really interesting information. And if you would like to have a conversation with me, you can reach me at my office at 303-744-7000. 1128. And if I’m not there, one of my staff will answer or it may go to voicemail. But I’d love to have a conversation with you if you have some concerns, if you’re on track for retirement, or maybe how you can pay a little less in tax once you retire. God bless you. Thank you for listening. And hopefully one or two of you there will give my office a call and we’ll find room for you this Saturday at the tax and retirement event at Arapahoe Community College. God bless you. Hopefully you’ll be here next week.
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