Friday, October 24, 2014

RIAA – Think Like a Pig

I spoke at the Retirement Income Industry Association Fall Conference in Charlotte yesterday. The title of my presentation was "Think Like a Pig" and the topic was how both the math and the mindset of retirees change after we leave the workforce.

I promised to provide a link to my PowerPoint slides on my blog today and here it is. The floor is always open for questions, whether you attended or not.

I thank RIIA for inviting me. I love public speaking. (And private speaking. And I sometimes talk in my sleep because there isn't enough time in a day to say everything I want to say.)

A few of the advisers at the conference admitted they were there because, given the title, they thought I would talk about barbecue.  I hate to disappoint, so here you go. My wife and I had dinner at Woodmill Smokehouse in Charlotte. It was outstanding.


  1. Good stuff Dirk. Good insights. I agree - with each passing day in retirement I become more aware of how much things have changed/reversed from when I was working both financially and in so many other ways. Proud to think like a pig. Brad

  2. What's your thinking about slide 25: "A retirees perspective is warped by 40 years of inflation"? Should the couple with $1 million in assets be comfortable taking their kids to Europe (or going themselves)?

    1. Best question of the week award!

      Take the trip. A mil ain't what it used to be, but it is more than 95% of your cohorts were able to save. I travel a lot and the experience is priceless. Your kids will never forget it.

      Of course, you'll have more to spend in retirement if you don't go to Europe, but that is true of every expense you have. You're still working, so you have less risk overall.

      Don't squander your life to protect against the chance that you'll both live to 95, but be prepared for that possibility.

      One important goal is to not outlive your savings. Another important goal is to live. Find a balance.

    2. Sorry for my lack of tech savvy but using Chrome and cannot find the link to the Powerpoint. Any suggestions? Thank you.

    3. Some have had a problem seeing that the word "here" in the phrase "link to my PowerPoint slides on my blog today and here" is a clickable link. If that is not the problem, email me at and I'll send it to you.

    4. Presentation and speaker notes nicely point out how/why accumulation differs from 'decumulation.'. Not a new idea but nicely supported and thank you for sharing.

      Wonder, though, there seems to be so much written about how to try to manage the investment side of one's balance sheet but so little (that I have seen) about how to determine and budget one's actual expense plans and adjust one's expense-base given one's balance sheet and cash flow sources (like Social Security, etc.). Would seem to me that for most people in the 50% of folks with retirement assets that having process for post-retirement expense level management will then also lead to more informed investment risk profiles being chosen.

    5. Sadly, it's a new idea to a lot more people than you would think. In fact, the association says that a major concern is advisers who don't shift gears. My concern is do-it-yourselfers who don't shift gears.

      I guess it's a little like arithmetic. The ideas are old but we have good reasons to continue teaching it.

      Regarding spending, I will be writing more on this topic in the next few weeks and, yes, managing spending is as critical as generating income. But a lot of work has been done on this topic. You could read Ken Steiner's post on Wade Pfau's blog at, for example, or this one written by Wade

      Sorry, you'll need to copy and paste these links into your browser.

      Thanks for writing.

    6. Thank you for the links. Ken's approach seems common sense and one people should be taught, but as you say:" Sadly, it's a new idea to a lot more people than you would think" ;)