retirement

Half Marathon Woes and Retirement Mistakes

Lifting my hand to my brow around mile 7, I knew I was in trouble. I was a little over half way through the Star Valley Half Marathon race, and I had stopped sweating and was feeling lethargic. This was a clear sign that if I didn’t slow down and get some liquids, my safety would be at risk.

When I signed up for the race with a goal of finishing in under two hours, I was determined to not have to walk during any part of it; and I followed a training routine that had me well prepared to go the distance. Now it didn’t matter. I knew in my heart that I had to walk and work on refueling.

Fact Check: Can Wyoming Retirees Live On Social Security and $100k?

A Wall Street Journal article caught our attention recently. The headline read “You Don’t Need to Be A Millionaire to Retire.” Hale Financial has enough non-millionaire retired clients that we know this to be true, but the article explained that of a group of retirees surveyed who had less than $100,000; over 70% of them said they were doing fine financially.

“Ok, what’s the catch?” There are some catches to living a retired life with less than $100,000, but after analyzing what we’ve learned working with many Wyoming retirees, we’ve found that it is possible, with certain limitations.

Exploring COLA Options in the Wyoming Retirement System Pension

The Wyoming Retirement System (WRS) pension is an impressive retirement plan, offering guaranteed income to thousands of Wyoming employees across hundreds of employers. 

Among its many features, a cost of living adjustment, or COLA, is available at varying amounts. This feature helps your benefit keep pace with inflation, but it reduces your payment initially. When does opting for COLA make sense, at what levels, and what is the financial impact?

Ways to Combat Inflation in Retirement

The financial shock of soaring inflation in 2022 caught everyone off guard. Within a matter of months, the price of rent, fuel, and countless consumer goods went through the roof. Having been in a period of relatively low, calm inflation for decades led us not to worry about this financial expense, until things went really wrong.

While inflation is now trending downward, inflation is historically always present, and there’s still a threat that unusually high inflation can rear its ugly head once again, especially given that most retirees expect to live another 20 to 30 years once they leave the workforce.

Overview: The Wyoming Retirement System Public Employee Pension Plan

The WRS Public Employee Pension Plan serves more than 450 employers across the state “including state agencies, school districts, counties, cities and towns and other government organizations.” By Wyoming standards, it’s a big pension.

I’ve had the pleasure of helping several employees navigate some of the ins and outs of this pension plan, so it felt timely to do an overview of how the plan works, giving detailed focus to the benefit areas that have carried the most importance for my clients. The complete WRS pension handbook can be found at retirement.wyo.gov in the “Pension Handbooks” subsection under “Members.”