Retirement Planning 101 with KJ Smith

**SPEAKER_1** (0:00)
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The issues that matter most, right here. The Drew Mariani Show.

**SPEAKER_2** (0:12)
On Relevant Radio.

**Betsy Stevenson** (0:17)
President Trump has promised a golden age for American workers, but things haven't been looking so good for men. Betsy Stevenson is a professor of public policy and economics at the University of Michigan.

**SPEAKER_4** (0:29)
She says since Trump came back to the White House, 348,000 jobs have been added for women, 21,000 jobs have been added for men.

**Betsy Stevenson** (0:38)
According to the Labor Department, that's nearly 17 times as many jobs filled by women as by men, not counting jobs on farms or people who are self-employed.

**SPEAKER_1** (0:48)
It's The Drew Mariani Show on Relevant Radio.

**Drew Mariani** (0:53)
I find that to be really fascinating. I don't know if I'll be getting to that right away. I want to do something a little bit different today. I want to kind of open the phones and give you an opportunity to get your financial questions, answer financial planning and investment and a whole lot of things. But that actually, that particular study struck me. And maybe if I have time tomorrow, I'll dive into it in greater detail. I came across the study that said that for the first time in American history, women now hold more jobs than men, right? I saw something like the stat, I was reading in the article this morning, something like 17 more jobs are given to women than men. So what have I told you the most jobs created over the past year went to them? A lot of these traditionally male occupations they've either stagnated or they disappeared. So the workplace is changing, the economy is changing. The question is whether America is prepared for what comes next. That is a conversation worth having. But coming up in just a second, I'm gonna be joined by KJ Smith. He's a certified financial planner, the founder of Ethos Logos Investments. I had an opportunity to speak to him not too long ago, and the conversation was so compelling. I thought, well, we should probably dive into this in greater detail as well. I know our phones were super busy. If you wanna get in, you can join me too. It's triple eight, nine one four, nine one four nine. It's triple eight, nine one four, nine one four nine. I wanna look at the importance of smart financial planning for your retirement. What do the studies say you really need? Do you need a million dollars? That was like the big number for a long time. Then I saw one that said you need 1.5. A lot of people think you need 2 million. Some say 2.5.
Can you retire on less? To most people, a million dollars is out of reach.
Maybe you didn't start early. How important is starting early? How does that change everything? What about that eighth wonder of the world, compounding? So we're going to take some practical wisdom. We're going to answer your questions. We're going to look at how you can secure a much better tomorrow, really. And it's never too late to start. It is never, never too late to start. Yeah, I think stewardship, just from a Catholic perspective, before we get into this, it's an act of prudence. It really is. It's an act of prudence and stewardship, caring for the gifts that God has given to you and the people that now depend on you. So a comfortable retirement can, if you can get to that age, give you the money to serve, spend more time with your family, maybe help out the kids or the grandkids, and face the future with less worry. I don't know if I will retire. You know, I love what I do. It's not like I swing an ax, you know? It's like if I could stay here, you know, for decades and still be able to articulate and have a sharp mind, I would love to do that. If that's God's will, but maybe it's not. But we have to also be prudent about our futures. Is there some studies out there that show that most of us are gonna need anywhere from 70 to 80% of our pre-retirement income to maintain our lifestyle. So think of how much money you're earning right now, right?
Do you have enough that you could live off of 70 to 80% of that in retirement? There's a common benchmark from Fidelity Investments and they give you this number, and it's kind of staggering to be honest.
You should aim for at least 10 times your annual salary.