Our guest on the podcast today is Emily Guy Birken. Emily’s the author ofThe Five Years Before You Retire. She also co-authoredStacked: Your Super-Serious Guide to Modern Money Management, with Joe Saul-Sehy. Other books includeEnd Financial Stress Now, Making Social Security Work for Youand 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.

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

If you have a comment or a guest idea, please email us at TheLongView@Morningstar.com.

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