Our guest on the podcast today is Emily Guy Birken. Emily’s the author of The Five Years Before You Retire. She also co-authored Stacked: Your Super-Serious Guide to Modern Money Management, with Joe Saul-Sehy. Other books include End Financial Stress Now, Making Social Security Work for You and Choose Your Retirement: Find The Right Path to Your New Adventure. Emily received her master’s degree in education from the Ohio State University and her undergraduate degree in English from Kenyon College.

Episode Highlights

00:00:00 Emily Guy Birken’s Path to Money and Retirement Writing

00:04:26 Why the Five Years Before Retirement Are Crucial and How Much Is “Enough” Savings

00:10:31 How Expectations Can Shape Happiness in Retirement

00:13:14 Key Moves for Preretirees to Cover Retirement Savings Shortfalls

00:15:58 Social Security: Benefits of Delaying and Advice for Young Workers

00:27:06 Budgets in Retirement and Irregular Expenses on a Fixed Income

00:33:14 Why Long‑Term‑Care Insurance Rarely Pays Off Today

00:36:10 Pre-Medicare Health Insurance Options

00:40:17 Early Mortgage Payoff vs. Investing in Retirement

00:42:26 How Writing About Retirement Changed Guy Birken’s Own Planning

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