Retirement in the Time of COVID-19 with Mark Miller [Podcast]

Episode #190 – Marc Miller Interviews Mark Miller of the Retirement Revised Podcast and Newsletter

Description:

I will interview Mark Miller, that is M-A-R-K Miller of the Retirement Revised newsletter and podcast. Mark is a good friend and colleague, writes for the New York Times and many other major outlets. A lot of our generation will either choose to retire or be forced into retirement by the COVID-19 pandemic and I wanted to get Mark’s take on the situation.

Mark’s bio from his website states:

RetirementRevised.com is edited and published by Mark Miller, a journalist, author, and podcaster who is a nationally-recognized expert on trends in retirement and aging. His writing offers a holistic view of retirement security, including healthcare and Medicare, Social Security, retirement investing, midlife careers, and housing. He also writes frequently about retirement-related public policy issues, including reform of Social Security, Medicare, and workplace retirement plans.

Mark writes on retirement for Reuters, The New York Times, Morningstar, and WealthManagement.com. He also has contributed to NextAvenue.org and the AARP magazine. Mark also hosts a weekly podcast on retirement that is distributed alongside his weekly subscription newsletter.

Mark’s latest book, Jolt: Stories of Trauma and Transformation, was published in February 2018 by Post Hill Press. He also is the author of The Hard Times Guide to Retirement Security, published by Wiley. He also contributed chapters to The Silver Market Phenomenon: Business Opportunities in an Era of Demographic Change (Springer, 2008) and 65 Things to Do When You Retire, 65 Notable Achievers on How to Make the Most of the Rest of Your Life (Sellers Publishing, 2012).

An experienced public speaker, Mark’s engagements include the Morningstar Individual Investor Conference, The National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, the 2015 NAPA 401(k) Summit, National Institute on Retirement Security, National Academy of Social Insurance, the World Aging & Generations Congress 2009 in St. Gallen, Switzerland, the Silver Market Phenomenon conference in Tokyo, Positive Aging Conference, the Silicon Valley Boomer Venture Summit, and the What’s Next Boomer Business Summit.

RetirementRevised.com was honored in Money Magazine’s May 2010 feature The 100 Smartest Things to do with Your Money as one of the nation’s top retirement planning websites.

Mark is the former editor of Crain’s Chicago Business, and Sunday editor of the Chicago Sun-Times.

This episode is sponsored by Career Pivot. Check out the Career Pivot Community.

Now on to the podcast…

Retirement Due to COVID-19

We have seen this before in the great recession. During the great recession, the number of people who claimed Social Security early or before their full retirement age (FRA) increased.

Since the end of the great recession, the trend went in the opposite direction. More people were working on delaying retirement.

New research by The New SchoolSchwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis says that 50% of older workers have been pushed into early retirement which accounts for about 3 million people and they expect another 1.5 million to follow them in the coming months.

Some additional research mentioned by Mark is LABOR MARKETS DURING THE COVID-19 CRISIS: A PRELIMINARY VIEW

Stock markets continue to rise but only about a third of US households have any meaningful exposure to the stock market.

Allan Roth who has been on the RetirementRevised podcast multiple times says if you are near retirement or retired well and done well, do not keep playing the game when you have already won.

Medical Insurance Before Medicare Eligibility

This trend could be devastating to many households even those that are affluent.

Mark discusses:

Navigating the Health Insurance Exchange
Eligible for Medicaid and live in a state that expanded Medicaid
The possibility that the ACA may be thrown out by the Supreme Court

Joe Biden has proposed to drop Medicare eligibility age to 60 which is fairly simple to implement.

Medicare for All will be very difficult to implement.

Claiming SSI before FRA

If you file for SSI at 62 you only get 75% of your benefit.

One option is to change the formula for how Social Security penalties are applied for claiming early. That formula was last revised in the 1950s.

The full retirement age has been steadily rising to 67. Mark suggests that continuing to raise the full retirement does not make sense in the current environment.

How to Prepare If You Think You Might Get Laid Off

Think through the claiming date for taking Social Security.
Careful planning around health insurance.
Batten down the hatches when it comes to expenses.
If you think you might get laid off you should be saving as much money as possible.

You can reach Mark at the RetirementRevised contact page. You can subscribe to his newsletter here.