With inflation raging and the stock market reeling, it’s time to readjust your retirement planning strategy. That means making sure you not only don’t outlive your money, but also fill your free time with meaningful tasks so you can stay emotionally, socially, and psychologically connected. Below, retirement planning expert Wes Lyon* CPA, CFP^® discusses the changes you should make to retire successfully.

Planning for a financially secure retirement looked quite easy at the end of 2021. The stock market had soared almost 81% (as measured by the S&P 500) over the past three years (2019-2021). Also, home values skyrocketed more than 30% on average over the same time period, creating substantial equity. Meanwhile, practice values continued to rise, and doctors received more offers to buy their practices than ever before. What could possibly go wrong?

Unfortunately, a lot! When the government flooded the economy with money, there was way too much money chasing too few goods and services, due to the supply chain crisis. This caused inflation to spike at an 8.6% annual rate in May of 2022, the highest in over 40 years. The Federal Reserve