For a while, it was great. “For about six or eight months, it was sort of like a retirement honeymoon,” says Vertz, who is now 74 and lives in Wakefield, Rhode Island. “I didn’t have to get up early. I could just go and do whatever I wanted to do. Every morning, I would walk the beach. And then I found a group of people I could go and play golf with. It was really nice.”

Until it wasn’t.

After those few honeymoon months, Vertz says, he felt a strong sense that he was no longer contributing to the world, that he was “a taker, just breathing out carbon dioxide.”

Vertz found his way, first by forming a group with other retired men struggling with purpose and then by teaching classes to other older adults. One of the classes he teaches at the University of Rhode Island’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute is on finding purpose for successful retirement. He’s also written a book: Purpose Driven Retirement.

Vertz’s experience rings true to many retirees, but it also raises questions: Does every retiree need a clearly defined purpose? Or can a life of leisure be fulfilling?

Defining Purpose

Research suggests that purpose, if not essential, is certainly a good thing and is linked to better health, a longer life, and a more positive outlook. But dig deeper and the answers get more complicated.

People, including researchers, define purpose in different ways.

Does purpose mean having clear goals? Does it mean pursuing activities that are deeply meaningful to you? And do you have to contribute to the broader world in some way?

It depends on whom you ask.

Fred Sloan, a CAPTRUST financial advisor in Lake Success, New York, says he works with some retirees who live a leisurely retirement lifestyle, but do seem purposeful and satisfied. “I’m thinking of one person who plays golf three days a week and tennis three days a week, and on the seventh day, he rests. He goes to see his grandkids once in a while and maybe reads The Wall Street Journal in the morning, but that’s about it. He feels fulfilled and happy, and that’s his purpose.”

While it’s good to be thoughtful about what successful retirement looks like for you, Sloan says, “I don’t think you owe it to the world to get another job or cure cancer. Once you decide to retire, I think you should have the freedom to do whatever it is you want to do.”

Sloan says he encourages his clients to think about how to use all that freedom. These are some questions he suggests they ask themselves: What does a great day look like? What’s on my bucket list? What can I learn, both positive and negative, from how my parents handled retirement? The answers vary, Sloan says—and they should.

Joshua Becker is the author of Things That Matter and founder of becomingminimalist.com, a website dedicated to living with fewer possessions and more purpose. He says that, to him, living with purpose at any age means “not wasting away our days or letting someone else define what is going to be important to us, but realizing that we have just one life to live, and we want to make the most of it.”

Andrea Millar, a life planning coach, says that she sees living with purpose as “getting to the core of who you are as an individual, living a life true to what makes you feel most energized, what makes you come most alive, and what gets you out of bed in the morning.”

For some retirees, Millar says, that’s a high-impact volunteer role or a second career. For others, she says, it means having some fun, taking care of loved ones, or contributing to their communities in small ways. The most fulfilling life, at any stage, tends to be one that combines self-care, strong relationships, and giving back to the wider world, she says.

Giving Back

Nearly a third of older adults are working toward “goals that are meaningful to the self and aim to contribute to the world beyond the self,” according to a 2018 survey of 1,200 adults ages 50 to 90 conducted by researchers at Stanford University and encore.org.

Almost all those purposeful people have a bright outlook on life, the researchers reported: “Though many people in this group were dealing with serious life problems, such as poverty, poor health, family difficulties, or bereavement, they emphasized the joy and satisfaction they experienced in their lives.”

That good feeling we get when we give back is just part of human nature, says retirement coach Nancy Collamer: “I think we are wired as human beings to feel good when we help other people.” A retirement lifestyle based entirely on fun and leisure is less nurturing, she says. “It’s like having a diet of just sugar and junk all the time. It’s going to catch up with you.”

Becker says social science backs up that view. “Every study that’s ever been done shows that people who reach the end of their lives the most fulfilled and with the highest sense of well-being are people who volunteered, people who gave, people who were generous, and people who served others.”

Purpose Anxiety

Purpose has become such a byword for both working and retired adults that some people have developed what researchers call purpose anxiety, a sense that, if they can’t identify their one true purpose, they are doomed. Collamer says she sees some clients “burdened by the concept of purpose.” But she and other experts say retirees struggling with the idea should understand a few key concepts.

You Can Take Your Time

Millar says many people approaching retirement are “sick and tired of the never-ending to-do lists.” For those people, taking some time to relax, with a few clear goals and plans, can be essential to successful retirement. A period of calm and quiet, she says, can help people see what they want to do next.

Collamer agrees: “There is typically a period of time after somebody retires, particularly from a very intense career, when they just want to be able to kick back and decompress, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.”

Your Retirement Lifestyle Doesn’t Have to Change the World

Much of the anxiety new retirees feel around purpose, Collamer says, stems from confusion over “purpose with a capital P” versus “purpose with a little p.” If you think purpose means “you have to solve world hunger, then it’s very intimidating and overwhelming.” If you grow and give a bit every day, you are on the right track, she says.

Millar says that giving doesn’t have to involve formal volunteer work. The woodworker who makes someone’s home a little nicer or the gardener who makes her block more beautiful is also making a meaningful contribution, she says.

You Will Learn by Doing

Collamer says she encourages clients to think of the first year of retirement as a gap year, like the one many young people take between high school and college. “It’s your opportunity to try different things on for size, no pressure, to see what speaks to you.”

Millar says that a little experimentation can be eye-opening: “You really can’t get clarity unless you take action.”

Becker agrees: “I would encourage [the uncertain] person to just get started with the one thing that they’re most passionate about.”

You Can Still Have Fun

Vertz, the aviation executive turned beachcomber turned teacher, says that he encourages his students to set some goals that are all about enjoying themselves. In his case, that meant setting a goal to ski and snowboard at 50 ski resorts on five continents in five years. He started in 2013 and finished in 2018.

Collamer says her own husband retired recently and struggled for a while with finding purpose. He’s now working as a nature guide—and playing a lot of pickleball. “That’s not a particularly purposeful activity,” she says. “But it’s fun.”

She wasn’t at ease for long.

Salinas started receiving calls about careers with Fortune 500 companies, but nothing felt right. Then she heard from a headhunter about leading the Girl Scouts in her area.

“It was the first phone call I got excited about,” says Salinas, 68. “I realized this was a chance to impact the next generation of leaders.”

In 2015, she became chief executive officer of Girl Scouts of Southwest Texas, based in San Antonio, overseeing the nonprofit’s operation, which then included 21,000 Girl Scouts and adult volunteers in a 21-county area.

“The reason I took this job is every single Girl Scout wears the American flag on her sash and her vest,” Salinas says. “Every meeting starts with the Pledge of Allegiance and the Girl Scout Promise. I get to work with girls who, at the age of five, raise their hands and say the words, ‘On my honor, I will try to serve God and my country.’”

“There’s my link,” she says. “To me, it’s the patriotism, because being in the military, I am a patriot. This is one of the few organizations today that still teaches patriotism.”

Growing Up in Texas and California

Salinas’s life took several surprising turns before she landed where she is today. She was born in Alice, Texas, the youngest of five children. When she was in fourth grade, her family moved to Vallejo, California.

Both her father, a mechanic, and her mother, a housecleaner, were smart and hardworking but struggled financially. They tried to do everything they could to help her blend in, so they got her into Girl Scouts. “I didn’t quite feel welcome because I didn’t look like the other girls, but I was proud of the green uniform, yellow tie, and beret,” Salinas says.

Navigating New Territory

After high school, Salinas knew she needed an advanced education to chart a different course for herself, so she enrolled in Dominican College (now Dominican University) in San Rafael, California. “Nobody in my family had completed college when I went,” she says. “But we understood that if we wanted to get ahead, we had to go.”

There were only three Hispanic students in the school, she says. “Nobody looked like me. I had bad study habits. I had no support. I was good at one thing—I partied. My grades showed it. I was at the bottom of my class.”

She considered dropping out. “I had convinced myself that people like me don’t go to college,” Salinas says. “We are domestics. We clean houses. We work at McDonald’s. We are not the people who rise in the world.”

That was 1974, and the Vietnam War was winding down. “Americans were burning the flag. Military service members were afraid to wear their uniforms.”

In the spring, Salinas, 19, was walking to mail a letter when a chance meeting with a Marine recruiter changed her life. He said to her, “Why aren’t you a Marine?”

“I said, ‘Look buddy, I’m just trying to mail a letter.’”

Looking back, she says, “I believe it was truly fate. That was April 30. On May 4, I was taking the oath: ‘I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.’”

On May 7, she reported to boot camp in Parris Island, South Carolina.

“I was being dressed down,” Salinas says. “I had abandoned my civilian identity. I was now recruit Salinas. I was standing there wondering what I’d done. The transformation had begun. My entire life changed from almost being a college dropout to where I sit today. It was a blessing.”

Having the Right Stuff

For her first two years in the Marines, Salinas was in the Reserves so that she could finish college. She graduated with a degree in history in 1976 and later earned a Master of Arts from the Naval War College. The Marine Corps was 98 percent male when she joined. “For many of my assignments, I was the first woman,” Salinas says.

She was the first woman to command a recruit depot and the first Hispanic woman promoted to general in 2006. She was named major general in 2010.

Her goal during her years of service: “I didn’t want to be known as a good Latina Marine or a good female Marine. I just wanted to be known as a good Marine.”

When she retired, Salinas was the highest-ranking woman in the Corps, and she is still the only Hispanic female major general. Her many military decorations include the Defense Superior Service Medal and the Navy Distinguished Service Medal.

Accepting a New Challenge

About a year and a half into her retirement from the military, Salinas stepped into the role of CEO of Girl Scouts of Southwest Texas. She felt strongly that many girls in the area would benefit from the program. “I love the mission: to build girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place,” she says.

“About 76 percent of the members in my area are Latinas or people of color. This is a population that historically hasn’t been attracted to Girl Scouts,” she says.

The program helps prepare girls to be future leaders, she says. Many successful women today were Girl Scouts—including most of the women who have flown in space and all three women former secretaries of state: Madeleine Albright, Condoleezza Rice, and Hillary Clinton.

Girl Scout activities are built around four areas: entrepreneurship, life skills, outdoors, and STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) education. Members can earn badges on a wide range of topics, from cybersecurity to cooking new cuisines to becoming an eco-explorer.

It’s difficult to find enough adult volunteers for the troops, so Salinas and her staff have found nontraditional ways to make things work, including taking the program into schools and partnering with other nonprofit organizations. “A staff member does virtual meetings with girls who are waiting to go into a troop while we’re looking for a leader,” Salinas says.

The pandemic hurt membership, and the council is working to encourage parents to get girls into the program, she says.

Raising Money for Girl Scouts

Stepping into this job meant Salinas had to develop new skills, including learning how to raise money.

When she took control, the group was in the red. It was critical to balance the budget because people are uncomfortable giving money unless you do, Salinas says.

Every year, she must raise enough for her council to pay the staff; offer a variety of programs; provide scholarships to girls; and maintain the camp, buildings, and grounds. “Right now, I’m struggling, because if people don’t want to donate, I can’t offer some programs. I have a 236-acre camp that needs a new water tank.”

She made a mistake early in her new role that helped shape her philosophy. She met with a donor and walked away thinking she had gotten a large financial commitment, but at the second meeting, she realized she had misunderstood. “I had already put the money in the budget. Camp was in session. We had given girls scholarships.”

“I got in my car, ready to quit,” Salinas says. “I thought to myself: This is too hard. I’m a general. I’m a failure. I’m at my wit’s end. How do I go to the board and tell them that we are going to go a quarter of a million dollars in the hole?”

“But I thought about a seven-year-old Girl Scout trying to sell cookies,” she says. “She might have a goal of selling 250 boxes of cookies to help pay for a trip the troop is planning.

“That young Girl Scout may ask someone if they want to buy a box of cookies, and they say no. She asks if they would like to buy a box to give to a friend. They say no. She asks if they would like to donate a box to a military member, and they say no again. The Girl Scout says, ‘Thank you very much, and have a great day.’”

“She’s bummed, but she still has to sell 250 boxes of cookies because people are depending on her,” Salinas says.

“I thought, if that seven-year-old Girl Scout can figure it out after someone says no to her three times, I can figure it out. That’s my philosophy.”

Salinas went back to her office and wrote on the wall: “Figure it out.” The motto is still there.

Taking a lesson from that young Girl Scout, Salinas went back to the donor. “I said, ‘Listen, please blame me. I’m new. I made a mistake. I didn’t get it in writing, but I can’t solve this problem without your money. I will never ask for another penny, but please don’t punish our Girl Scouts for me not knowing what I’m doing.’”

The donor didn’t give the full amount but gave enough for Salinas to make her budget. And after a few years, the donor came back to offer financial help again.

Salinas is in awe of people “who invest in our mission.” At lunch with a donor recently, she explained her vision to turn 3.5 acres into a space with an outdoor pavilion, a camping area, ropes and an adventure area, and nature trails. When Salinas was driving home, the woman called and offered $1 million to jump-start the project.

“We had never received a donation in this amount in a non- capital campaign. I almost drove through my garage.”

Enjoying the Achievements

Salinas says she’s inspired by the girls who use their Gold Awards—the highest achievement a Girl Scout can receive—or use other projects to help fix a problem in their communities or make a lasting change in their world. One girl worked with the state legislature on a bill to combat cyberbullying; another created a magnet with medical information for senior citizens to post on their refrigerators.

One of the biggest rewards of the job is seeing how the program changes lives. One Girl Scout was introduced to aviation by a volunteer, and she eventually met an Air Force pilot who took her for a flight on a Cessna. “Later, that girl went to the United States Air Force Academy and is now flying jets for the Air Force,” Salinas says. All because of a chance meeting through Girl Scouts.

Another girl decided to pursue a degree in the environmental sciences after her experiences at camp. “These are women who, in the next 10 years, are going to be incredible movers and shakers. They already are.”

Saluting Her Work

People who know Salinas are impressed with her dedication and management style. She’s the perfect person for the job because of her leadership skills, communication ability, and likeability, says Suzanne Goudge, a banker and a strong supporter of the Girl Scouts. “She’s real and approachable. She is humble.”

If Salinas is walking by a young Girl Scout, she immediately stops, gets down on her level, and talks to her, Goudge says. “She is a role model who enables the girls to see that they can be whatever they want to be, no matter where they start from.”

CAPTRUST Senior Director Teri Grubb, one of the Girl Scouts of Southwest Texas’s board members, agrees. “She does everything she can to make things better for these young girls. She looks for ways to offer them new opportunities and pathways to education and future careers. She lives and breathes the mission through and through.”

Her management style is inclusive, Grubb says. “When we are talking about ideas, everybody’s voice and vote counts. You don’t see that in all leaders.”

When it comes to her legacy in this role, Salinas says it’s not about her.

“Our council is celebrating 100 years in 2024. I’m envisioning a stadium filled with people from our community taking a pledge to commit to ensuring our Girl Scouts are here for the next 100 years. That should be everyone’s legacy,” she says.

The organization teaches its members to leave a place better than it was when they found it. Salinas wants to do the same. “I hope that people say that I was a good Marine and that I was a good Girl Scout.”

In doing so, they paved the way for generations of camper van lovers to put their own twists on the mobile lifestyle. You can credit their children—millennials—for elevating the van-life aesthetic with social media photographs of sunrise beaches, faux-vintage tin mugs, and customized campers.

But it was the global pandemic and the resulting work-from- home boom that really supercharged the recent van-life craze, filling American campgrounds to overflowing these past two summers.

According to the RV Industry Association, recreational vehicle (RV) ownership surged to 11.2 million households, an increase of 62 percent in the past 20 years. The trend stretches across all age groups, but about half of RVers are over age 55. Roughly one million RV owners live in their vehicles full time.

RVs, trailers, fifth wheels, converted school buses (called skoolies), and other luxury camper vans have been hot commodities in recent years as Americans seek the freedom to vacation—and live—in the open air or to safely visit friends and relatives.

Shops specializing in upscale van conversions are now common across the country and are doing roaring business: A Mercedes- Benz Sprinter or Ram ProMaster van with a built-in bed and storage and an on-board kitchen can cost more than $100,000, depending on the customizations. Or you can convert a camper on your own for around $1,000.

Cindy and Kevin McCabe retired in February 2020, sold their home, and had big dreams of traveling the country in an RV, but campground closures halted the plan. Instead, the two made a semipermanent home solution, splitting time between their parked 40-foot fifth wheel at Lake Gaston, North Carolina, and an active retirement community in Central Florida.

The McCabes love having kayaks and sporting gear at their disposal, but the people are what keep them there. “We have found that people who camp are friendly and so unique,” says Cindy. Camping culture is full of camaraderie, from cookouts to boating on the lake together. “We meet so many folks from all walks of life. That’s what we enjoy most about the campground.”

Here are some other ways that baby boomers are enjoying their RVs and campers.

RVing Off-Grid

One major trend has been to venture beyond established campgrounds into the wild. Recently, many campers seeking solitude or to socially distance from their neighbors leaned into the joys of dispersed camping, meaning off-grid camping outside of designated sites. Think of it as backcountry camping in an RV. These sites usually don’t have access to amenities like bathrooms or trash removal, but they can be some of the most beautiful places to camp.

Tracy Finnegan, 54, says she and her husband, Tim, 56, bought their camper in 2019 as a way to decompress from the work week. The pair, who have been married for 31 years, have dreams of retiring and traveling across the U.S.

For now, the empty nesters are venturing out mostly on the weekends. “Our first trip was in April of 2019, and we’ve had 51 since,” says Tracy. The Finnegans like to travel across the Southeast, finding new campsites where they can hike, kayak, or simply take in the views. “The mornings are spent with coffee by the campfire, and then we end the day with sunsets by the campfire. We love the minimalistic lifestyle it provides.”

Dispersed camping—also known as boondocking, dry camping, or wild camping—has grown increasingly popular as more RVers park on public land, often for free, but without the benefit of water and electric hookups.

The Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management allow this type of camping only in specific areas, typically requiring that visitors stay no longer than 16 nights at one spot, keep away from developed recreation areas, follow rules to protect natural resources, and remove all their own garbage and waste. Often, you will also need a permit.

But the reward for your effort is an unspoiled, back-to-nature experience. And it’s easy to plan and book through recreation.gov—the federal government’s trip planning and reservation service portal.

The App Experience

Another type of camping experience that’s all the rage these past few years is upscale glamping—or glamorous camping—on farms and other private properties. Mobile tools like Campendium, The Dyrt, and Hipcamp make all sorts of camp settings easy to find and book.

For example, Hipcamp has created networks of property owners who open their cabins, RV sites, vineyards, or orchards to campers. To browse the site is a trip in itself, and you’ll find thousands of unique spots, often paired with unique experiences.

Recent RV site listings include $25 to camp at an Ohio fish aquaculture farm, with an option to participate in a shrimp harvest on certain dates and a free shrimp-boil dinner for those who help with the harvest; $70 to park at an Oregon winery next to a creek, among apple trees and chickens, with an eight-wine tasting flight available for an additional $9; and $60 for a waterfront RV pad on Core Sound in North Carolina, next to the ferry landing for Cape Lookout beaches.

Work Camping and Volunteering

Many baby boomer campers and RVers feel a strong desire to give back, along with a fervent wish to stay longer in many of the beautiful areas they visit. Hence the allure of work camping—which means taking a casual short-term job or volunteer position at a park for a few days, weeks, or a season.

Instead of just a short stay, wonderful though that may be, imagine getting up-to-your-elbows involved as a camp host at Yosemite National Park or the Grand Canyon. Imagine helping to clean up animal habitats or beach boardwalks at scenic parks across the country. In exchange for such typically light-duty jobs, the work camper often receives access to a free RV pad with hookups, amenities like laundry and propane, or sometimes even a small wage.

The possibilities are endless, ranging from pure volunteerism to paid positions. Work and volunteer campers have lent a hand at amusement park booths, Christmas tree stands, park gift shops, recreational shooting ranges, and more. Opportunities are available for individuals, couples, or families.

Some gigs are mostly indoors, such as the chance to work in cultural resources at Yellowstone National Park, researching museum exhibits, archiving photos, and creating custom storage boxes for interesting artifacts. Campers can also contribute their professional talents in photography, resource management, computers, and more. Volunteers often receive a free national or state park pass after a certain number of service hours.

Unique Local Stopovers

While road tripping, it’s often a good idea to break up long drives by finding somewhere—anywhere—to park your RV to catch a few z’s. In a pinch, that can mean a less-than- beautiful parking lot. But surely you’d prefer something more memorable.

The need for an overnight stay inspired the membership club Harvest Hosts. This booking service ($99 a year) connects RVers with available private lands where they can stay overnight. However, only self-contained vehicles with indoor plumbing are permitted—no tents, RV hookups, or outside cooking. The network has nearly 5,000 unusual camping locations in the U.S. and Canada, including alpaca farms, lavender farms, golf courses, and museums.

Members don’t pay to stay, and the hosts don’t collect a campsite fee, but you’re encouraged to talk with the business owners; sample local wine, craft brews, or homegrown produce; and buy handmade goods or play a round of golf.

By venturing off the beaten path in your camper van, you’ll have more opportunities to connect with local residents and make an impact on local economies. Many campers choose to support small businesses by bringing their wares to the folks back home as gifts and souvenirs. After all, the whole point of RVing or van life is to see new sights, try things you’ve never done before, and explore the world.

Note: Although there are several types of tax-favored employer- sponsored retirement savings plans, this article focuses mainly on 401(k) plans because of their widespread use. Most of the following also applies to 403(b) plans and Roth-designated 401(k)s, but these plans will have extra features to consider. Before you take any action regarding your retirement funds, speak to your financial advisor about your specific case.

What should you do with your 401(k) when you retire? Broadly speaking, you have two tax-smart options: Stay in your plan, or move the money to an individual retirement account (IRA). Which approach is right for you depends on your circumstances, says Philip D’Unger, a manager on the CAPTRUST wealth planning team. For either path, there are multiple factors you should keep in mind, including investment options, taxes, and recordkeeping.

Staying in Your Plan

Assuming your employer allows for this option, you can choose to keep your 401(k) account in your employer’s plan. There are lots of potential benefits to staying in your plan. For one thing, there are no immediate tax consequences, says Jennifer Wertheim, a director of tax at CAPTRUST. “Tax deferral is always an option unless you take the money directly,” she explains. There can be other advantages too.

For example:

• You may already be comfortable with the plan and know how it works, so you don’t have to make any changes.
• You may be able to access more affordable mutual fund options in your employer’s plan.
• Generally, 401(k) plans provide greater protection from the claims of creditors than IRAs.
• You may be able to access the money in your account without the usual 10 percent early-withdrawal penalty if you retire or otherwise separate from service and you’re 55 or older (age 50 for public safety employees).

But there are also potential disadvantages to staying in your plan, including the following:

• Your employer may limit your investment options, offer only expensive options, or reduce the investment options you have access to after retirement.
• Aspects of your plan could change, including your investment options, if your employer undergoes a merger or acquisition.
• You won’t be able to continue making contributions.

Moving to an IRA

Another option is to move—or roll over—your account balance to a traditional IRA. Depending on the circumstances, you may be able to transfer the money directly from your 401(k) to an IRA. In other cases, your employer will send you a check for the entire amount. Then it becomes your responsibility to redeposit the funds into your IRA.

There are several benefits to an IRA. IRAs typically offer more flexibility and investment options than 401(k)s. Many financial services companies, including registered investment advisors, banks, and mutual fund companies, offer IRAs. And if you have had multiple 401(k) plans through multiple employers, you can consolidate them into a single account.

With an IRA, you typically can get access to your funds when you want, though tax rules still apply, and you have greater control of your saved money.

You can set up any number of IRAs and designate one beneficiary for each one. But with a 401(k), you are typically allowed to designate only one beneficiary for your account. That means, from an estate-planning perspective, an IRA may offer more flexibility.

You may want to use part of your IRA assets to buy an immediate annuity. The annuity option generally pays you a fixed amount throughout your life, says Gal Wettstein, a senior research economist at the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College. Note that a federal law enacted in 2019 generally lets 401(k) plans provide annuity income options too, but some plans may not offer the option—or may not offer it yet.

There are also some disadvantages to an IRA. For instance, you’ll need to pay attention to specific time windows for completing the rollover, and if you miss them, you’ll have to pay the tax consequence.

D’Unger says some 401(k) plans he’s worked with are “incredibly flexible” and generally let you do what you want, when you want. Some plans won’t let you keep your 401(k) account in place once you retire or otherwise separate from service, but other plans may let you make partial or systematic withdrawals. In brief, it pays to be familiar with all of your plan’s rules and how they work, he says.

Mind the Rules

If you plan to move your money to an IRA, be sure to follow the proper procedure. For example, if your plan sends you a lump- sum check, make sure that the check is not made payable solely to you. If it is, you could be taxed on the entire amount, including the 20 percent that your employer typically withholds for taxes.

To avoid such complications, ask that the check be made payable to your financial institution for your benefit, Wertheim says. Technically, the check may be made payable to the custodian or trustee that oversees your IRA, using the initials FBO (meaning for the benefit of). For instance, a check might be made payable to “Trustee of Plan X, for the benefit of Alice Smith” or “Institution Z, FBO Alice Smith’s IRA.”

Don’t sign or cash the check. Instead, forward it to your IRA or new employer’s plan. It’s a good idea to consult your IRA provider or new retirement plan to see what procedures are required in such cases. The point is to avoid immediate tax consequences, thus allowing your money to keep growing on a tax-free basis until you begin withdrawals.

Whether your plan sends the money directly to your IRA or sends you a check with an FBO, as described previously, it’s considered a direct rollover and no immediate tax consequences will ensue. Wertheim says she recommends direct rollovers “because there’s less room for errors.”

Check with your 401(k) plan provider and your IRA to be sure you are taking the right steps in the right order.

Middle of the Road

Another option is to move some of your money from your 401(k) to an IRA and leave the rest of the money in the plan. This means more recordkeeping for you but still may suit your current circumstances.

You might also consider leaving your nest egg inside your 401(k) temporarily, until you make a final decision. In other words, there’s no need to rush. Take your time to explore IRA options, comparing features such as investment options and fees.

Cashing Out

At retirement, many people feel tempted to take a lump-sum payment and cash out their retirement savings. But cashing out may not be your best bet. For one thing, you’ll miss out on the potential for your nest egg to keep growing.

Also, if you have a traditional, pre-tax 401(k), the entire amount will be taxed as ordinary income at federal tax rates of up to 37 percent, says Wertheim. Depending on where you live, state and local taxes may also take a bite. Thus, in what seems like the blink of an eye, a big chunk of your savings can disappear.

Although it ultimately depends on your situation, cashing out is generally “not a good choice,” D’Unger says.

Bridge to Social Security

One final strategy to consider: Use periodic withdrawals from your 401(k) to serve as an income resource—a bridge—until you finally start collecting Social Security benefits. Underlying the bridge strategy is a key point about Social Security benefits. The longer you wait to start collecting your monthly benefit, the higher the amount of that benefit will be. That means, in effect, you could use the bridge strategy to ensure a higher Social Security benefit later on, says Wettstein.

The following example shows how this bridge might work. Suppose you were born in early 1955 and earned enough money in your working years to start collecting a $3,100 monthly Social Security retirement benefit at 65 years old. If you instead wait until you are 68 years old to start collecting, then your monthly benefit might be closer to $3,800—$700 a month more.

If you need a source of income in the meantime—a way to make up for the money you did not collect from Social Security—you could use your 401(k) or other such account as a bridge, withdrawing money every month.

While this example is intentionally broad, relying on numerous assumptions that may not precisely fit your situation, the bridge option is worth considering.

When you retire, what you do with your traditional, pre-tax 401(k) account generally comes down to two options: Leave it in your employer’s plan, or move it to a traditional IRA. There are advantages and disadvantages to each. “There is no one-size-fits-all solution. It depends on what you’re trying to accomplish,” says D’Unger.

His advice: Start weighing the factors long before you retire so you don’t feel tempted to rush. Also, consider talking with your financial and tax advisors to ensure you choose the solution that’s right for you.

By gaining a holistic picture of your financial life, including your goals and risk tolerance, a financial advisor can customize your investments to meet your unique needs and desires. They do it through a combination of inputs that include financial planning insights, capital market acumen, and tax perspective. Behind the scenes, the financial advisor is constantly trying to position each client’s portfolio so that it stands to benefit from a multitude of potential future events.

What difference does it make if your portfolio is 60 percent stock and 40 percent bonds versus 80 percent stock and 20 percent bonds?

Both portfolios might be equally likely to fund your retirement spending needs, but the difference may lie in what you leave behind. Or it could impact how much flexibility you will have to indulge in things like an 80th birthday cruise around the world, a large donation to charity, or the decision to fund a grandchild’s education.

“Imagine three buckets,” says Mark Feldman, CAPTRUST principal and head of tax services. “The first bucket is the one that’s going to take care of you for the rest of your life, so those assets are going to be invested more conservatively. We call this the capital preservation bucket.”

“The second bucket—the liquid risk bucket—contains more volatile investments to help grow the portfolio. And the third bucket—the illiquid risk bucket—contains assets that will grow the portfolio but are not able to be accessed immediately,” says Feldman. “If you know your needs are taken care of with the capital preservation bucket, you become more risk tolerant with the excess.”

By separating your assets into buckets like these, a financial advisor can craft an investment portfolio that’s personalized to meet your goals.

Planning for Investment Goals

“We do the planning first,” says Briana Smith, CAPTRUST financial advisor. “Then the plan informs how we will manage the portfolio. First, we need to know your cash flow, your long- term legacy goals, your charitable intention—all those things. Then, we can align your portfolio appropriately to reach your goals.” A robust financial plan will take account of your income, expenses, investments, estate planning, insurance, taxes, and more.

Investment planning is one part of financial planning. It involves portfolio construction, selection of investments, monitoring, rebalancing, and trading for clients. It is the merging of investments with financial planning.

What is key, says Smith, is for the financial advisor to have a complete picture of your financial activities, needs, and goals.

The Investment Engine

To create that holistic picture, your financial advisor will strategize your unique investment plan, evaluating available investment portfolios to find the ones that best align with your goals and risk tolerance.

The hidden driver behind this investment plan is the investment team that designs each individual portfolio. This is the group of people responsible for doing deep research and weighing all the crosswinds—in the markets and the global economy—to guard portfolios against outsize losses that would compromise clients’ financial plans.

The investment group is always dealing with uncertainty, but it is also always planning and preparing for a wide range of outcomes. What happens in the markets if a war breaks out tomorrow? What happens if a war abruptly ends? The investment team faces the capital markets every day, making decisions about where they see opportunities and where they take risks, always with your interests in mind.

In other words, the investment team is responsible for developing a range of portfolio options with enough variety that your financial advisor can easily match your individual assets to the goals set by your financial plan. That means offering multiple investment engines that meet the needs and life goals of a large and diverse client base with unique tax profiles and circumstances. And it means balancing the risk and reward of any given security in a portfolio.

Proactive Tax Strategies

Perspectives from tax planning and advisory services are another big piece of the investment planning puzzle. To create a fully optimized investment plan, your financial advisor will pair your portfolio and investment opportunities with income tax strategies.

Eric Ensign, CAPTRUST financial advisor and tax consultant, says most people still think of doing a tax return as if it is only meant to take account of the past. “Most people are looking backward at the tax year that just occurred,” he says. “They’re usually not looking forward to the future with one eye on strategic tax planning.” That’s a potential missed opportunity.

The aha moment is when advisors can find synergies between tax planning, estate planning, and investment strategy that enrich your financial picture.

Tax advisory involves not only planning and strategizing but also considering tax implications and analyzing the tax impact of various investment strategies. As Jennifer Wertheim, CPA, a director of tax at CAPTRUST, explains, “Although tax might not be the biggest driver of a financial plan or financial decision, understanding and being aware of the potential consequences is important so that there aren’t surprises on the back end. If advisors can understand what your goals are, then they can plan and try to make your tax consequences complement the choices you’re making and the choices you plan to make in the future.”

Assembling Your Roundtable

Robust planning is simply not possible unless your financial advisor has all the necessary information at their fingertips, right when they need it. “Unless we’re looking at the tax return right next to the balance sheet,” says Feldman, “we’re going to miss the ways to connect them. We can save people more money when we view those two things together.”

Of course, that can mean more work upfront for you, namely in tracking down and uploading tax reports and account statements. But with recent technology, including secure files and uploads, it’s not as hard as it used to be.

The best-case scenario, says Jeremy Altfeder, CAPTRUST financial advisor, is when clients connect him directly to their other advisors, including tax professionals, insurance agents, estate attorneys, and more. “Then, if you are making big tax payments or moving money around, your CPA can just tell me what needs to happen and copy you on the conversation. Or the estate attorney can send documents directly to me so we can spare you the time and hassle. You probably don’t want to play the middleman, and frankly, you don’t have to,” he says.

This way, your financial advisor can act as a general contractor or project manager on your behalf.

Also, Altfeder says, “If it is only a financial advisor and a client working together, the voice of the financial advisor can sound a lot like the mom from the old Peanuts cartoons: ‘Wah wah wah.’ But when there are multiple perspectives from professionals with different expertise, that group of people is likely to generate better outcomes than one advisor alone.”

Creating this group of experts and putting them directly in touch with each other increases operational efficiency, reduces room for error, and can enhance the overall value of the advice. “You may be wary of bringing more advisors to the table,” says Wertheim, “because you haven’t needed to in the past, or you like to keep things simple, or you want to avoid fees. But having more people in the room—all your professional advisors talking to each other—adds tremendous long-term value that will exceed the short-term cost.”

Reducing Risk

What are the risks of not integrating your investment management with your tax and financial plans? In Feldman’s words, “Suboptimization of the options.” Or as Altfeder phrases it, “If your advisor can see only half of the picture, they can only give you half of the great advice.”

Wertheim agrees: “From a tax perspective, it could undermine your goals. If you aren’t aware that you are going to have a huge tax bill at the end of the year because of whatever strategies you’ve engaged in, it can leave you feeling very frustrated.”

“If you have a gain, yes, you’ll also have a tax bill at the end of the year, but hopefully we can minimize or strategize how to use that gain,” says Wertheim. “If you have a loss, that can also be beneficial. In fact, you might strategically plan to have a loss so that you can use it against something else. The key is to avoid unbeneficial losses.”

By integrating investments, planning, and tax, your advisors create a benchmark and can give you a clear-eyed vision of the future. You can practice scenarios so that you feel prepared. In this way, investment planning creates better outcomes, and it grows your confidence.

“We’re going to constantly test our assumptions about what the excess is,” says Feldman, “and we need you to guide us on how you want to allocate and design your plan. We need you to tell us what happens with the excess. And to the extent that we know there is excess, and the excess is unguarded by taxes, we look for ways to design the excess more tax-efficiently.”

Making Changes

For some investors, this type of long-term planning can feel prescriptive or limiting. Others wonder: What if this financial advisor isn’t the right one for me? What if I change my mind in five years? Remember that nothing is set in stone. Your financial plan is a living document.

Unlike the old days, when plans were reviewed only every three to five years, today’s technology allows advisors to make frequent updates and model different scenarios, like changes in spending, market environments, and tax rules. Your financial advisor will also help you edit your plan whenever there is a big shift in your financial situation, whether that means an unexpected gain, the selling of a business, or the loss of a family member.

You can also replan and recalculate when you feel your risk tolerance changing. For instance, if the market takes off, you can probably have a less risky portfolio and still achieve your life goals. Or you can choose to keep the pedal to the metal and leave a bigger legacy behind.

Right on Target

Smith says, “Having a path to follow—that is, the recommendations determined from the plan—and your financial advisor as an accountability partner is the biggest value to having a holistic plan, rather than just setting a portfolio. The plan will provide peace of mind when the market dips and give you clarity on what impact short-term decisions will have on your long-term projections.” Also, “Having a sounding board to discuss your goals and fears before making a big decision helps to make sure you aren’t acting out of emotion,” she says.

For Ensign, the beauty of integrating investments with tax and with financial planning is that advisors can provide more accurate, personalized guidance. Ensign says, “We often find ourselves challenging the investment thesis, which says, ‘This is the right thing to do right now. Sell this and buy this.’ But we can look at a client’s unique situation and say, ‘OK, that might improve the performance report, but for this particular client, it would be absolutely disastrous.’” That’s why it is critical advisors have a variety of portfolio options to choose from.

“It feels almost magical when it all comes together and we can find these big wins for people,” says Ensign. “We do this one thing over here, shift this other thing over there, and suddenly 1+1=3. Those moments don’t come for every client, every month, or every year necessarily. But when they do, that’s a bull’s-eye.”

Every family carries its own keepsakes. Some may have tangible value, such as jewelry, paintings, or baseball cards. Others have sentimental value, like photo albums, baby blankets, or toys. In most cases, the dollar value of these items is far less important than their role in a family’s story.

A Sense of Belonging

For Robyn Fivush, a professor of psychology at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, and author of Family Narratives and the Development of an Autobiographical Self, her grandmother’s candlesticks evoke strong memories. The candlesticks remind her of celebrating Sabbath services together and “make me feel a sense of history and tradition that extends beyond me,” she says.

These family stories “are important for the individual living in the present,” Fivush says. “They give us a sense of meaning and resilience that our family is a source of stability, love, and connection. We’re not adrift; we belong somewhere.”

Passing It Down

Stories and mementos transferred from one generation to the next can have a major impact on the younger generation. Based on her research, Fivush says, younger adults who are told these stories and understand what these keepsakes mean “have higher self-esteem, lower levels of depression, and less anxiety. They are more secure in who they are and consider their family an anchor in a difficult world.”

Not all stories conveyed from grandparent down to the next generation are uplifting. Some families have dark histories that can require a “lot of family story repair work,” Fivush says. But in most cases, these family treasures and tales “provide a cocoon that we’re not alone, that there’s a network of people who love and support us, and that even through difficult times, we can be resilient,” she says.

For Adrienne Waterman, the cofounder and CEO of Not Forgotten, a company that produces digital archives of families, the focus of heirlooms “is preserving intergenerational wealth and wisdom and will also help you secure your family’s financial future.” It helps pass the torch from the family’s past into the family’s future.

Waterman acknowledges that family valuables, such as jewels, diamonds, and watches, help build intergenerational wealth, but for many, “the intoxicating stories behind the creation or acquisition of that heirloom make them priceless for a family.”

Not Forgotten helps preserve a family’s traditions through video interviews, hybrid storage for physical tapes and digital media, and video archives. Waterman says that a family’s story invariably focuses on several themes—its lessons, values, mission, and family traditions. These can include family Christmas traditions or their story of survival. Its videographers attend memorial services and film eulogies to ensure a family’s legacy is preserved.

Waterman says the best time to start preserving a family’s history occurs at a pivotal moment in a family member’s life, like a grandparent’s retirement, a grandchild’s graduation from college, a couple getting married, or the birth of a first child. When a younger family member begins creating wealth and building their own family, that is also a propitious time to start the process.

When Denise May Levernick, a blogger at The Family Curator, received a trunk filled with her grandmother’s old photos, papers, and memorabilia, she became the family archivist to sort it all out. In the process, Levenick learned a few secrets from her family’s history, including stories of a kidnapping, a custody battle, and a disappearance that turned out to be an elopement.

The family knowledge gained through these heirlooms has had a positive effect on her son, who resides in the Boston area. He learned that his great-grandfather was a drummer and soldier in the Revolutionary War. When he took his children on the Freedom Trail and traveled to Concord, Massachusetts, seeing locations from the war meant a lot to them because of their family heritage.

When keeping these family mementos in a family of multiple siblings, Levenick advises picking numbers out of a hat so everyone has a chance to get their first choice and no one feels slighted.

How to be a Family Archivist

Here are a few additional tips that Levenick offers when a family member becomes the family archivist:

• Decide on exactly what your role is. In most cases, you’re preserving items for future generations.

• Be selective about what you keep. You don’t have unlimited space. Scan and digitize photos to save space.

• Pay attention to storage. Buy some office supply folders because they’re acid-free. Don’t keep things in the garage or attic because the temperature fluctuation can ruin them.

• Move papers into archival storage boxes or metal filing cabinets in your house, and keep them away from light, which ruins documents, photos, and textiles.

Financial advisors can also play a role in helping their clients assemble these family heirlooms because it’s part of a “holistic approach to retirement planning that goes beyond money,” says Steve Morton, a CAPTRUST financial advisor based in Greensboro, North Carolina. “Since advisors help with estate planning, finding ways to preserve family heirlooms can be part of that process.”

Morton says that when his dad died, there was a trunkful of photographs left, but Morton didn’t know who most of the people in the photos were. Cousins? Friends? Ideally, assembling these family mementos should take place before the death of a loved one.

Letting a loved one know what a favorite pendant meant to someone, where they bought it, and what it symbolizes turns an object into a family memory, says Morton. Preparing a video to explain what the heirloom means helps children or grandchildren understand its significance. “Understanding the story deepens the meaning,” he says.

Almost every family Waterman has dealt with has been surprised by the outcomes of seeing family members interviewed and recorded. “None of us sit around the dinner table and say, ‘Dad, what’s your secret to your happiness?’ In a video, what you learn about people you love is extraordinary.”

Several specialized companies help preserve these family heirlooms and provide time capsules and video memories, such as Not Forgotten, Try Saga, Farewelling, Lastly, Memorify, and Safe Beyond.

Q: With the high prices of gas, I’m considering buying an electric vehicle. But is it really cheaper in the long run than a gas-powered car?

Over time, yes. Although electric vehicles (EVs) are often more expensive to purchase than their gas-powered counterparts, EVs generally cost 4 cents less per mile to operate than a gas-powered car, saving you $8,000 over 200,000 miles. Eventually, your savings will outweigh your initial investment. Here’s how.

U.S. gas prices have been volatile in recent months due to shortages and supply-chain issues caused by the labor crunch and the war in Ukraine. Average prices for regular gas topped $5 per gallon in mid-June, according to AAA. Although prices have dropped since, sticker shock at the pump was enough to make many people consider switching to an EV car.

When comparing electric and gas cars, you should factor in the purchase price, ongoing fuel and maintenance expenses, and any tax incentives you might get. As an example, let’s compare the gas-powered Lexus ES 250, which has a base price of around $41,000, with an electric alternative: the Tesla Model 3.

The Tesla starts at $47,000, so it’s more expensive upfront. However, assuming you drive the car for eight years, the Tesla ends up cheaper in terms of total cost of ownership. In fact, after taking into account fuel, maintenance, insurance, taxes, and other costs, the Tesla works out to be 4.8 percent less expensive according to a February 2022 analysis by the data-technology firm Atlas Public Policy.

When it comes to trucks, with their significantly higher fuel consumption, there is an even greater cost difference.

The Ford F-150, which starts at around $31,500, would really hurt the wallet the next time gas hits $5 a gallon, costing a whopping $180 to fill the optional 36-gallon gas tank. Looking at the total cost of ownership over eight years, the electric Ford F-150 Lightning, which sells for around $40,000, is much more economical, at 17.1 percent less than the gas-powered version.

In general, EVs have lower maintenance costs as well. Note though that expenses will vary depending on whether you’re charging at a free, public station or one with a per-minute fee or you’re plugging your car in at home at night, when electric rates are lowest.

Also, consider that more federal tax credits could be available to eligible EV owners in the coming years. Starting next year, the Inflation Reduction Act will remove the current cap on the number of $7,500 tax credits that are available for each auto manufacturer, meaning that popular EVs will be eligible again. However, there will be a new income cap of $150,000 per individual ($300,000 per couple) to receive the credit.

Starting in 2024, buyers will gain the ability to transfer the tax credit directly to an auto dealer. This means consumers should be able to get $7,500 off of the purchase price at the time of purchase instead of having to pay first and claim the credit on their tax filings later.

Q: My children have already graduated from college, and I have leftover 529 funds. What should I do with them?

Children sometimes thwart our best-laid plans, but having extra money in a 529 college-savings plan is a pretty good outcome. Families can end up with leftover college funds for a variety of reasons, such as when a student gets their education paid for through military service or chooses to pursue a business idea instead of attending college.

As you probably know, 529 plan contributions are made with after-tax money and can offer a state tax benefit depending on where you live and which plan you used. When they’re used for qualifying expenses, distributions are tax-free and penalty-free. But when they’re used for nonqualified distributions, you’ll be on the hook for income tax plus a 10 percent penalty on the earnings.

One exception is if the student received a scholarship. In that case, you can withdraw the equivalent amount with no 10 percent penalty, although you will have to pay income tax on the earnings (not the principal).

If you were diligent in saving for college but now have unused funds, there are a number of ways you can use the money with little to no tax consequences.

To maximize 529 plan benefits for leftover funds, first look for another qualified way to use the money, keeping in mind that there is no time or age limit. Might your child pursue a graduate degree or a different field of study later on? If so, you could leave the funds in the account and let them grow tax-free.

Otherwise, consider whether someone else in the family might have educational expenses coming up. The 529 plan owner can change the beneficiary to another family member at any time with no tax consequences. And the definition of family includes a sibling, spouse, child, cousin, son- or daughter-in-law, brother- or sister-in-law, aunt, uncle, niece, nephew, and many other relatives. You’re even allowed to make yourself the beneficiary.

Qualified expenses include undergraduate or graduate tuition at accredited institutions, as well as room, board, books, and computer equipment. In addition, the SECURE Act of 2019 expanded allowed expenses to include K−12 tuition of up to $10,000 per year at a private, public, or religious school.

The SECURE Act also classified student loan payments as a qualifying expense. You can use up to $10,000 per beneficiary toward outstanding education loans. Ideally, someone in your family can take advantage of these funds.

Before you make any decision about your leftover 529 funds, check with your financial and tax advisors to make sure you know the impact on your specific situation. A financial advisor can also help you prevent or minimize overfunding.

Q: Some economists are predicting a recession, and I’m in my early 60s. How could this impact my retirement?

The decision to retire is complex and personal, more so when the stock market is volatile and the economic climate is so uncertain. But all the planning you’ve done over the years, such as analyzing various scenarios with your financial advisor, will come to good use in these final years of your career.

Even if gloomy forecasts are making you feel anxious, one of the cardinal rules of investing is to stay invested. Remember: Market timing is a fool’s errand. You’d need to have access to a magic crystal ball—not just once, but twice—to be able to know just when to get out of the stock market and when to get back in.

Instead of doing anything drastic, consider taking these financial steps to best position your retirement plan in case of a recession.

Take stock of your financial plan. Revisiting and updating your projected household expenses is paramount. That way, you’ll have a thorough understanding of the income needs from your portfolio.

You should also work with your financial planner to test the resilience of your nest egg against market fluctuations by rerunning projections and layering on several different what-if scenarios.

Calculate your cash cushion. The amount you need is based on personal preference. Building your portfolio buckets may help you become comfortable with the amount of cash you should hold. We recommend keeping about a year’s worth of expenses in cash as an emergency reserve. As you approach retirement, it can make sense to increase this amount, depending on your other sources of retirement income.

Recessions normally don’t last longer than a year. Having a cushion will insulate you from being forced to sell equities in a falling market.

Use tax-loss harvesting. With taxable accounts, it’s always prudent tax planning to be proactive about realizing any capital losses. They can be used to reduce your tax bill by offsetting previously realized gains. Anything you can do to give yourself an edge will help in the long run.

As always, you should speak with your financial and tax advisors about your personal financial situation before you make any decisions. If you don’t have a thorough financial plan that addresses your retirement under various market and economic conditions, now is a good time to consider one.

While that may sound thrilling to some, no doubt others are terrified about the prospect of pulling 5 Gs—an acceleration fast enough to cause riders to black out—from the height of a 40-story building. During peak summer, up to 1,400 thrill seekers per hour get to experience Kingda Ka.

Got Veloxrotaphobia?

How do you feel about roller coasters? Do you enjoy the thrill of trying out a new coaster with unknown twists, turns, and inversions? Or do you suffer from veloxrotaphobia—more commonly known as coasterphobia, the fear of being on a roller coaster?

The good news is that you have a choice. Peer pressure aside, if you find yourself at Six Flags Great Adventure, you can choose not to ride Kingda Ka. Instead, you can try out one or more of the other 13 coasters operating in the park. Presumably, you can find one to your liking. Or you can keep your feet firmly planted on the ground.

The stock market—with its breathtaking rises, falls, dips, and corkscrews—has been a metaphorical roller coaster over the past couple of months, even the past couple of years. But, like at Six Flags, you have the ability to dial in the level of thrills you can stomach with your investment strategy.

Dialing It In

Finding the right mix of stocks, bonds, cash, and other investments is critical. Building a portfolio with too many thrills can create anxiety and lasting fears about market losses, causing you to knee-jerk react when the inevitable market turmoil hits or, worse, deter you from investing at all. And too few thrills may keep you from fulfilling your financial needs due to insufficient returns over time.

The impact goes beyond strictly financial. “If a client goes to sleep every night worrying about their portfolio, it’s not a good sign,” says CAPTRUST Principal and Financial Advisor Justin Pawl. “That’s no way to go through life. Investments represent savings from the past and future financial security, so it’s understandable that clients have an emotional reaction to the fear of losing both.”

Therein lies the challenge of getting it right—balancing the need for returns with a ride that the client can stomach. While every investor wants outsized returns, remember: Those returns don’t come without risk. “The key is for clients to understand their risk tolerance and for their portfolios to reflect that tolerance,” says Pawl. Of course, finding the right risk level for yourself and your financial goals is easier said than done.

Part Science, Part Art

Financial professionals and academics have explored many ways to divine investors’ risk tolerance, including questionnaires, software, and simulators. Monte Carlo simulators, for example, illustrate risk by using historical or projected returns and are excellent tools for helping investors understand the impact their decisions have across many potential future market outcomes— many of which will be very good.

An investor who is in thinking mode is likely to see the benefits of a riskier strategy and weigh the probabilities in a rational way. That’s why “even the best tools, like Monte Carlo simulations, may actually lead to higher perceived risk tolerances,” says Jim Underwood, CAPTRUST senior director and portfolio manager.

While some tools are better than others, even the most sophisticated tools fail to capture the emotional element of investing. They depend on the parts of your brain responsible for rational thinking and do not fully capture the impact of your fight-or-flight response when market turmoil strikes.

“The emotional reaction to market volatility is the primary risk for investors, because unlike roller coasters, where the rider is buckled in to ensure they finish the ride, investing doesn’t have any seat belts,” says Underwood.

“I think investors most often get the emotional part of investing through downturns wrong, because when markets are selling off, it is always accompanied by a lot of negative information,” says Pawl. “Investors underappreciate the toll it will take on them because, on top of declining account values, all the news is bad. Breathless ‘breaking news’ media reports, conversations with friends and colleagues about how awful the market is, and sensational internet forums add fuel to the fire.”

It’s important to remember that volatility is not risk, says Pawl. “Crystallizing losses in a down market, creating a permanent capital loss, is risk.” This emotional reaction happens when the amygdala— the part of your brain responsible for the fight-or- flight response—activates, releasing stress hormones and preparing your body to either fight for survival or to flee to safety.

When emotions are running high, the decision-making process becomes compromised, and it’s easy to lose sight of the analysis and discussion that led to your portfolio strategy.

Finding Perspective

“Unfortunately, risk tolerance is often only knowable after the fact, when you have exceeded it,” says Underwood. As always, you can employ strategies to help manage your emotions and set the stage for future market volatility.

Talk it through. Experience—living through numerous market cycles—matters and highlights the value of a financial advisor or other trusted sparring partner who can provide perspective when your amygdala kicks in. Many people process their thinking by speaking, so talking through your feelings and anxieties can be a helpful way to expand your thinking. The more viewpoints, the better. Open discussion will add nuance to your ideas and help ensure you are thinking rationally. Your brain literally cannot process fear when you’re having a rational conversation with a friend.

Rerun your plan. Just after a market pullback is always a good time to revisit your financial plan. A sound financial plan will take into account a wide range of market scenarios. Knowing, for example, the portfolio hurdle rate needed to fund your important life goals can provide both the information required to dial in an appropriate level of portfolio risk and the confidence that you’re on the right track. You may find that it will be quite easy to achieve your goals, so you can worry less about market pullbacks and won’t need to take an extraordinary amount of investment risk to get there.

Reflect while it’s fresh. History is also a good teacher and can help blend the art and science of risk taking. “We’ve just been through a big market pullback, and while we’re not back to previous highs, markets are likely to recover,” says Underwood. “Is it time to ride the same roller coaster again, or should you find one that is designed to be less thrilling?” Make sure you don’t pass up the opportunity to reassess your feelings while the memories are still fresh. “A week after you ride, the thrill is gone,” he says.

If the drops, dips, and winding turns of our recent roller- coaster stock market make your head spin, you may be on the wrong ride. But don’t head for the hills. Remember that you can find a less thrilling ride, one that you will be comfortable revisiting. At a minimum, you should take this opportunity to reflect on your feelings to better learn the art of fine-tuning your risk tolerance.

On October 13, the Social Security Administration announced an 8.7 percent increase in Social Security benefits to account for rising inflation. This is the largest cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) since 1981 and amounts to an extra $146 a month for the average retiree, according to the Social Security Administration.  

Since 1975, Social Security benefits have been adjusted automatically based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which is a measure of price fluctuations in goods and services. In the third quarter of each year, the Social Security Administration compares the average CPI for July, August, and September to the same timeframe in the previous year and increases Social Security benefits accordingly.

The intention is for each year’s COLA to keep pace with each year’s average inflation so that Social Security recipients will have equivalent buying power despite price increases. Social Security is the single largest source of retirement income for most Americans.

This 8.7 percent COLA goes into effect with December 2022 benefits, which means most recipients can expect to receive the higher amount starting in January 2023. All recipients can expect to receive letters in December detailing their specific benefit rate for next year. You can verify your increase by logging into your account on the My Social Security website.

To understand more about how the 2022 COLA may affect your personal finances, talk to your financial advisor.

The Internal Revenue Service announced its annual update to dollar limitations for pension and other retirement plans for tax year 2023. Some of the retirement plan-related limitations are changing because the annual cost-of-living increase met the statutory threshold that triggers their adjustment. The table below provides a few highlights.

For more information, please contact your CAPTRUST Financial Advisor at 800.216.0645. Click here to download a copy of this table.