What's Your Plan?: A Financial Guide to Developing Your Ideal Retirement

WHAT’S YOUR PLAN?

Copyright © 2021 Adam Olson

All Rights Reserved

This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except in the case of reprints in the context of reviews, quotes, or references.

Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty. While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representation or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book. (The author and/or publisher do not guarantee that anyone following these strategies, suggestions, ideas, will be successful. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damage including, but not limited to, special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.)

Printed in the United States of America

Paperback: 978-1-953497-91-8

eBook: 978-1-953497-92-5

Library of Congress Control Number: 2021901066

Published by Cocoon to Wings Publishing

7810 Gall Blvd. #311

Zephyrhills, FL 33541

www.CocoontoWingsBooks.com

(813) 906-WING

**Financial statement images presented as resource information in this book are used with written permission from © Advisys Inc. 2021.

Cover design by ETP Creative

Contents

Acknowledgements

Dedication

Opening

Introduction

PART 1 - Paths and Detours

Chapter 1 - Values

Chapter 2 - What do you got? Get it together!

Chapter 3 - Order of Operations

Chapter 4 - Oh, you fancy, huh? Keeping up with the Kardashians

Chapter 5 - Save for your future first

Chapter 6 - The Sandwich Generation

Chapter 7 - Risk vs. Reward & Investment Basics

Chapter 8 - Pivoting

Chapter 9 - Divorce

Chapter 10 - Upgrade

Chapter 11 - What happens now?

PART 2 - How to create your plan

Introduction

Chapter 12 - My planning process

Chapter 13 - Creating your own plan, a 3 step DIY version

PART 3 - End Game

Chapter 14 - What have you learned?

Chapter 15 - What do you need to learn more about?

Chapter 16 - What are you going to do now?

RESILIENCE: A closing note to Millennials

Deliverables

Cash Flow Detail

Net Worth

Appendix

Landmarks

Cover

Title Page

Copyright Page

Half Title Page

Acknowledgments

Dedication

Preface

Introduction

Part

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

First, I must recognize my team at Cocoon to Wing Publishing: Stephanie Outten, E. Claudette Freeman, Ereka Thomas, and the rest of the team. You guys are amazing to work with. I really don’t know how I would have written and published this book without you. Your ability to see my blurry outline of a book and focus that into what this turned out to be is truly amazing. You make me feel like I’m part of your family, and I am honored to be able to work with you all. God is blessing you and your businesses, and I see continued success in your futures.

Next, I want to recognize my wife, Katie, for allowing me to work on my passion, which is educating people about money. Most of my writing is done while she is driving us to the lake on the weekends, or while we are having some time alone without the kids. Thank you for letting me be distant for a brief period to get this book written.

Dedication

This book is dedicated to everyone who struggles with money; and those of us that feel stress or anxiety in regard to money. (I’m one of these people by the way). This book is for those of us that feel we have to get that new car or dress a certain way in order to fit in. This book is for me; writing helps me stay grounded, it keeps my goals and spending habits in check. Writing this book helped me clearly define my goals and values while determining what makes me happy.

I feel a deep sense of responsibility to share my knowledge with whoever wants to read it.

I love the saying, Be the change you want to see.

I want to see people take control of their financial lives. I want to see people stop stressing about how to make payments. I want people to be educated about how small changes and tweaks to spending habits in your 30s and 40s can pay HUGE dividends in your retirement years. I want to see people create and fulfill their dreams. I want to see your kids’ college tuition and expenses paid for. I want to see people retire early and live on the beach.

I want to see people happy!

I understand that starts with me. For you, my hope is that this book enables you to be the change you want to see.

Opening

In order for you to get the most out of this book I need you to have a basic understanding of money and how to handle your personal finances. My first book 21 Things You Need To Know About Money, covers all the basic financial concepts that everyone should know. If you find yourself still struggling with a budget, credit card debt, and you’re not exactly sure how to handle the money you have, then check that book out before you dive into this one. You’ll learn how to budget, how much you should be saving, assessing home loans, and much more. It was designed to help you get, keep, and grow your money. Think of it as a prerequisite to this book. It can be ordered at www.21thingsmoney.com and it is also available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble online and Apple iBooks.

Once you have those basic financial concepts down, you’ll be better positioned to proceed with this book. You have to learn how to crawl before you can walk.

Introduction

My goal with this book is three-fold:

Educate you about financial situations you may face in your midlife years

Help you Envision what your ideal retirement looks and feels like

Equip you with the tools to make those retirement dreams a reality for you

Also, in the book I have the story (Case Study) of Jack and Diane. This isn’t the story of Two American kids growin’ up in the heartland. This is the story of actual people that I have worked with and rewired their retirement plan and vision. I started with them from the beginning of their financial journey and put them on a path towards freedom. Obviously, I have changed their names and other details were left out and altered to protect confidentiality. You will get to see their situation slowly unfold throughout the book and see real world examples of how planning can have a positive impact in your financial life.

The book is laid out into three parts.

Part 1 (Paths and Detours) will walk you through situations that you may face during life or that you are already going through. I will give you examples of how to handle some common obstacles you may face. Also,