Retirement Roadmap

How To Build a Purpose-Driven Retirement for 2026

• Mark Fricks • Season 3 • Episode 31

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How do you build a retirement that actually feels meaningful, not just mathematically correct?
In this episode of Retirement Roadmap, Mark Fricks and Evan Fricks break down why retirement planning isn’t only about "saving enough." It’s about aligning your money with what gives your life purpose in 2026 and beyond.

Drawing on decades of hands-on retirement planning experience, Mark and Evan explain how purpose, income planning, Social Security, healthcare costs, investments, and taxes all work together. When you shift from "What should I do?" to "What matters most to me?", your retirement decisions become clearer, calmer, and more intentional.

What you'll learn:

00:10 — Introduction & Purpose
01:06 — Rethinking Financial Success
03:05 — Step 1: Clarify Your Values
05:04 — Step 2: Prioritize Your Objectives
07:18 — Step 3: Define Your Legacy
10:24 — Step 4 & 5: Advisors + Family Conversations
12:58 — Steps 6 & 7: Annual Check-Ins & Red Flags
20:03 — Closing Thoughts for 2026

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Advisory services offered through MasterPlan Retirement Consultants, Inc., a Registered Investment Advisor in the state of Georgia. Insurance, tax and commodities services offered through Fricks and Associates, Inc. dba MasterPlan Retirement Consultants. The aforementioned are affiliated companies.

SPEAKER_00:

All matters discussed during this show are for informational purposes only. Its individual situation are fair, and the opinions expressed here may not apply to everyone. Materials presented are believed to be from reliable sources, but no representations can be made as to its factors. All ideas of information should be discussed in detail with one of our qualified representatives prior to implementation. Advisory services offered by Master Plan Retirement Consultants, a registered investment advisor in the state of Georgia. Mark Fricks and Master Plan Retirement Consultants are not affiliated with or endorsed by the Social Security Administration or any other government agency.

SPEAKER_01:

As we move towards the end of 2025, a lot of people are looking ahead and thinking about how to position themselves for the new year, financially, emotionally, even personally. During today's episode, we'll be drawing from a recent Kiplinger article titled Seven Practical Steps to Kick Off Your 2026 Financial Planning. It's a great piece because it goes beyond charts and numbers and focuses on something I believe in deeply, aligning your wealth with your life. For years, financial success has been measured by performance, that is by beating benchmarks, maximizing returns, or building a larger net worth. But real success isn't about accumulation alone. It's about how your money supports the kind of life you want to live. And we see this all the time. Mark and I, when we were working with families who spent years growing their wealth, but realize that the real question isn't how much do I have, it's what is this money really for? An example. There was a couple in their second marriage. Each had children from previous relationships. Their biggest concern wasn't taxes or investments, it was family harmony. They worried that after they were gone, their estate might unintentionally cause conflict or that assets might flow to the wrong heirs. So creating a retirement plan isn't just the technical design, it's the confidence you gain to finally stop worrying about the what-ifs and start focusing on enjoying these precious years and what truly matters to you. It comes back time and time again to purpose in life and in retirement. And when your wealth aligns with your purpose, Mark, your strategy becomes much more than financial, it becomes personal.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, I think that's the reason many years ago we began using uh the first page of our financial questionnaire our goals and feelings and and and concerns. And we break them up in the next two years, what are your goals? What are your concerns? The next five years, so forth and so on. Because we want to get down into the meaning of uh of of life, of retirement, of family. Uh I mean, money is just a tool. It is certainly not who we are, what we are, it shouldn't be anyway. Um and and you know, as a friend of mine used to draw circles, and it was the circles of of of kind of retirement. And one was wealth, one was spiritual. We we we need a spiritual side, whatever that may be for whoever's listening. There needs to be a health side. There needs to be like uh, I think the purpose may flow into the spiritual part, but there are these connecting circles that truly filled out someone's life. And as you know, we spent a lot of time foot uh talking with folks that are nearing retirement, uh entering retirement, uh, about what are you going to be doing when you wake up in the morning? What is your purpose? What is your your your design? But I think we're getting deeper than that today as well. Yeah. I just want to kind of introduce how that is the beginning of everything we do. What you know, what are you concerned about? What it is, the kids and the marriage from one marriage and the other marriage, and that comes out. Things like that come out.

SPEAKER_01:

Once you understand your purpose, too, it can make retirement look completely different. You know, you know, some people can change their entire outlook on what they want to do in retirement based on their purpose, and it doesn't always have to do with leaving work, is what retirement looks like for them. Maybe cutting back hours or moving into a different field. Um I mean, there are it looks different for every person, of course. But yes, step number one, okay. And we mentioned this, you mentioned this already with goals, clarify your values. Write down the principles that guide your decisions, whether family security, philanthropy, lifestyle goals, something else. This list becomes the filter or the foundation for every financial choice.

SPEAKER_02:

And that needs to be part of um the if it's a a married couple, them together. Right. Because it it it happens together. If it's a happy marriage, a good, solid marriage that needs to be planned accordingly. So many times folks come in, and again, they start sharing their goals or their concerns, and the other one looks at them and goes, I never knew that, or I'd never realized that. And so having them come together like that, and that's why folks will say, Well, can I come in without my spouse with the first few meetings? Well, I'm like, You really shouldn't. You can, but we're gonna be kind of resetting that. Yeah. You know, if you do. So you really need to if you're a team, you need to you need to keep it as a team through retirement.

SPEAKER_01:

And it doesn't mean you have to agree on everything or have the same goals, but you have to know each other where you are, and that's gonna inform your alignment and your planning.

SPEAKER_02:

And it's rare that it is the same goals. I mean, uh again, you know, different uh that's what I think that that's what makes a lot of marriages work, right? They're they're different, but yet they they bring those differences together. It does not need to stop at retirement.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. So once we've got that foundation of values, the second step would be to prioritize your objectives. So uh it's as simple as separating your must-haves from nice to have's, paying for children's education might be essential, um, and maybe a vacation home is extra bonus or something like that. Or vice versa. Or vice versa. That's total that's your personal uh priority. Um but ranking goals uh prevents competing priorities from derailing the plan.

SPEAKER_02:

Right. Uh again, it it's communication, it's sh being honest, sharing uh what is important, what that's not as important to me. And it's so funny, couples uh even uh together will agree on things that are totally different than the next couple we talked to as well. You know, some folks are like, uh you know, we want to leave as big of a legacy as we can for our kids. We want to give them what we didn't have. And the next couple's like, we want to use it up.

SPEAKER_01:

You know, we educated spent on the last day.

SPEAKER_02:

We educated them, we helped them all along the way, and now stand up and you know, uh put on your big boy and big girl pants or whatever and and get to work. And uh so and then a lot of times that's a combination. But that's just an example of how everybody has a different view of that, so that's why we dig down. We don't we don't assume anything. Yeah. Assume that, oh, this must be important to you. We want to ask and dig a little bit deeper.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, and you know, we this might be a good time to throw around you hear the word holistic retirement or the term holistic retirement thrown around a lot. And we are holistic retirement planners. Um, and that does inform the fact that when we are making our plans uh for our clients, we do have to include the entire comprehensive retirement picture uh from wealth and growth and income to uh tax strategy to estate and legacy planning. And part of the holistic discussion is you it it needs to be comprehensive and holistic because if you make a change in one area, it could ev inevitably affect another area. But for us it ev goes even further and it's about purpose. It's about what is the underlying foundation of all that? Like what is the point of everything? Yes, we need to live, we need to pay for our bills, we need to not outlive our money, but what is our purpose for the next third of our life? Or you know, tw 25% of our life, quarter of our life.

SPEAKER_02:

So Well, I think that's the reason I'm sorry to interrupt. I also think that's uh what what makes it so powerful to have that plan from a holistic approach is because it takes away a lot of the worry, uh, which allows us to true, you know, truly enjoy our purpose and and and the plans we've made. Um that's it, everything from a simple income plan, knowing where our income's coming from. That could be something as simple as understanding that if I pass away, I'm taken care of or the family's taken care of. If I'm alive, can't make decisions, I've got somebody to make decisions for me. If taxes go up, we have this plan. If my spouse dies, we have this plan. That's a that's a very high-level feeling of uh of just of just um calmness. Yeah. Um again, not having to worry about if the market goes down, I may not take my monthly amount out this month because I'll be digging into the principle or whatever it may be. So taking the worry out allows people, I think, to further pursue those goals and purposes.

SPEAKER_01:

Right. Um step number three, define your legacy. Look beyond the question of who will inherit your assets, who gets what, and consider how you want to be remembered. So do you want to create traditions, support charities, or establish trusts that last beyond your lifetime?

SPEAKER_02:

Again, that comes into uh almost uh, you know, there's a um uh we used to use this a lot, haven't used it as much lately, but uh they uh I think they call it an ethical will, and I may have brought this up a few episodes ago, but it's kind of a way of writing out what's important to you and what you know how you know what what your core beliefs are and and not that your the kids and grandkids may not have seen those, you living those out, but there are certain things that maybe they did know about your your upbringing or or what you truly believe in, what you've learned. Hey, I used to believe this, but now I've seen because of life this happening as well. So I think that might be something we want to introduce more and more.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I was you this whole topic has had me thinking about some of our earlier meetings in the client process, and the very first thing we discussed is retirement goals, hopes, dreams, fears, things like that. I think we should add a line. What is your purpose? That'll that'll that'll slow down the meeting process because that's a hard thing for to define for the case.

SPEAKER_02:

And we do kind of bring it up. We we talk about you you've got to establish what that is. Um we we see, and again, I think I brought this up before, but we see clients as they come in before retirement, and they we see them come again after retirement, and some of them are just glowing, they're just they're living their best life, others are like, you know, uh they they don't look older. They actually look older just within a year or so. Um maybe their health has deteriorated. And I think a lot of that is um health from a standpoint of or are they taking care of themselves or the uh exercising, walking, or whatever. But I think also the mental and the spiritual side and and all of that, again, it is it's so critical because you know, just like you know, most people my age, I've worked my whole life. Yeah, you know, I started when I was age 13, um uh selling Christmas cards door to door for those of you that are curious. So um and and and so that's it's so much is wrapped up into that. And and then, you know, started having children and and grandchildren, and and so that became a very important part as well. But it it's it ha it has to all come together from that standpoint. And I feel like I'm rambling a little bit here, uh, hope I'm not delivering a word salad, but it's hard to describe really what we talk about in those meetings from a purpose standpoint, but it is what drives you, you know. Um and sometimes it's family. And so you spend a lot of time with family, you you you do get togethers, you do retreats and things like that. Does that need to be all of it? Probably not, but many folks, that's that's a big part of it.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, yeah. Um, engage a holistic advisor. Now that sounds self-serving, you know what I just said, but truly we're gonna find one of it. Yeah. Um look for an advisor who goes beyond investment performance to address taxes, estate planning, insurance, and family dynamics. We talked about that holistic, comprehensive retirement plan. Um, and also ask how they incorporate well-being and values into the planning process. And and you know, again, that's what we just talked about. Um it's vital now. And the the the world uh again, it's 25 plus years of hopefully the golden years of your life. Um not only do you need to make sure that it's secure, but the peace of mind that comes from that, not only of from the security, but of we actually are making the most of these years. We're living the life that we've been working to build.

SPEAKER_02:

And and um many times, as you know, we'll we'll we'll encourage the parents to bring their children in, their adult child children. Because they're already involved from a standpoint of maybe being being the executor or the executrix, the trustee, maybe the agent on their financial power of attorney or whatever, but also they're part of the family. And many most of them are going to be inheriting some of this money. So having that family meeting of uh, and and we'll ask the parents, we'll ask the client how much can we share, how much financial can we share things. Some are like we're open book, others are like we don't want the numbers necessarily, we don't want them to think they're getting all this, but at the same time. Um but I think it it is an important meeting to have to uh really make sure that everybody's on the same page. Oh, that's what's important to to mom and dad. Oh, that's how they want us to handle this and things like that. I think it's just a a grown-up thing to do. Um I'm not saying you involve the grandchildren unless the parents are really old and the sure grandkids are getting up in in age as well. But I think that is a very important thing, and I I don't see very many, if at if any, holistic planners or advisors, period, doing something like that.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, that's the next point. I want to jump into that. But if you don't know where to find a holistic advisor, I know a couple that you can reach out to right now, Masterplan Retire, MasterplanRetire.com. That's our website. There is a schedule now button that will bring you directly to our calendar. Um that choose a time that works best for you. Uh we'll discuss your retirement hope, dreams, fears, run a series of reports for you, um, give you a it's completely complimentary, an opportunity to see where your strengths and weaknesses are in your own retirement. So again, that's masterplanretire.com or call us at the office 770-980-9262. So step number five is is exactly what you were alluding to. Now you've defined uh your purpose and and your goals and um your objectives, you've built these things up, defined your legacy. Now schedule a a family conversation. Bring your spouse or heirs into the discussion. Even a simple conversation about what matters most can ease tensions and set expectations in the future. And we've t talked about this a little bit before too, whether it's family movie night, and then maybe at the end you're uh ch hanging out, or maybe even at Thanksgiving, although that can already be a tension uh have uh some tension in the air. Um pizza night, game night, whatever, you know, schedule that time with your family. Um and it doesn't have to be super defined, but share how you feel about these sorts of things, like what your idea of your legacy would be with your loved ones, because when the time comes and they are looking at these documents, these estate documents, and trying to figure out all this stuff, they'll there will be a through line of, oh, dad really cared about this. That's why m moving things this way was so important to him. Let's make sure we're on the same page, and it really does bring your family together in a time that could be a little bit more um hectic, or I mean it's already a tough time.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, I think it's a uh I think it's a showing of love. I I really do. And to to share all this. And um, you know, it's hard in today's world. I mean, you've got one one kid and his wife living out in in Washington State, you've got another daughter and her husband living uh in in Maryland, and they're all over the place. And so that's why sometimes it's nice to bring them here to the office. We bring them in on a conference Zoom call, and you're able to see all the kids and you're able to discuss maybe some are in the office, some are out somewhere else. But also it gives um them someone like us to kind of guide the conversation. And and uh I I've never had one go south, by the way, you know, go go bad, but uh we can at least help guide and say, well, let's let's talk about this now. Yeah. Uh and this is important and things like that. So I think that's uh something else that um I think clients should take more advantage of.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, and you know, as their advisor, we are seeing more and more um they're bringing in their children, younger generations, because they're concerned about the legacy handoff. And we've had to do that more, we've been around 15 years, so we're seeing our earlier clients start to pass away and um their children becoming clients through that process, or um just making sure that things are handed off as smoothly as possible and we're kind of the quarterback until they're done and don't need us anymore. Um it's become a big part of of what we do now.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, and what's nice is a lot of them already have a trust in us because they've seen what we've done for mom and dad. Yeah, they might already have a relationship with us. Yeah, and and so in in I've there was a recent case where I'd met the daughter several several times, had not met the son. Um, they were a little bit contentious against each other. Um, but we were able to bring them together, and I think because the mom trusted us and the daughter trusted us, the son trusted us. And so we were able to give them the very best advice. They both now have their own plans. They've taken what what they've inherited from their mom and have we've put it to good work. Uh they both actually retired. That was I don't know how this would come out, but uh maybe their mom passing away, part of the gift was you can now retire because they were in their early 60s. Yeah. And so that was kind of a gift their mom gave them, was to be able to, because until that point, they were a long way away from retiring. Yeah. And so that was that was kind of neat to see.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, absolutely. Uh step number six. Check your alignment annually. Now, at least once a year, revisit your goals, compare them with your financial plan. Life events change, tax laws change, shifting priorities may require adjustments, and that's something that is almost our mandatory minimum with our clients. We have to at least, once they're through the planning process and we have a plan in place, we need to at least meet once a year because life happens. Obviously, they call us anytime they need us, but we've got a mandatory set in stone. This has to happen. Um, and it's super important. And it could be as simple as just a check-in, all the numbers, yeah, everything's looking good. This is where we're supposed to be. But sometimes it's like you have to really realign your focus a little bit.

SPEAKER_02:

Inevitably, there's almost always something that will happen during the course of a year that will change something. May not be a major change, it may just be that we paid the house off, so we don't need as much income coming in. Uh we've got a new grandbaby, want to make sure they get them uh in the will or trust or whatever. So sometimes it's a small thing, sometimes it's a big thing, like uh a major tax bill has been passed, you know. So it's almost always something that's changed, but even if there's not, it still feels good to kind of get back on uh back at base one and say, okay, we're set, we're good, we've had a good year, uh, we've made money in these areas. I want to tweak this area because that part of the economy is changing, shifting, technology, whatever, that portfolio is not working as well. So it's just a great time to pull all that together.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. Yeah. It is built to move with life's changes. It has to be.

SPEAKER_02:

Because life is not yeah, life is not linear, life's not set in stone, as we've learned by the time we reach retirement age, right? And so that's why we do have so many contingencies built in to our planning and the ability to change direction, whether it be a slight veer or whether it be a direct 90-degree turn. Yeah. Either way.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, absolutely. Uh step number seven, watch for red flags. You know, warning signs include strained family conversations. For instance, maybe you notice your kids feel really uncomfortable talking about money with you or don't want to think about the the that stage or things like that. Um, stress, which can undermine health or an inability to answer the question, what is this money for?

SPEAKER_02:

Right. And that that's one thing we do is we have um kind of a job assigned to each bucket of money. Right. Right, so to speak. So uh, you know, one account might be great for delivering income for the living, but it's not a great thing to inherit. So we're gonna spin that down. We're gonna make sure, I mean, there's something left, of course, is inherited, but that's designed to last the the lifetime of the parents. Whereas this one over here can be inherited tax-free or tax efficiently. That's a great legacy bucket type of thing. So every bucket has a job. Um, I'm even thinking about beginning to put the title of the job on each bucket. We're not doing that. We do, yes. Some some say, I want I want to know what that one's for, and we'll label it, you know, so we can do that. Um but it's uh that's so critical because as we tell folks when they're uh beginning the process with us, most of us, or most clients when they come to us, have one or two major buckets of money. And so those were accumulated over a lifetime of working. 401k, 403B, IRA, whatever. TSP.

SPEAKER_01:

Giant and and so giant tax-deferred buckets.

SPEAKER_02:

Typically, typically. And so those had one job, and that job was to grow. You put money in, hopefully your company put money in, over time the market grows. But in retirement, there are anywhere from a half dozen to a dozen or more jobs. And I'm not going to go through them all today. We're our time is short, but but we want each one, whether it be short-term income, long-term income, uh, again, legacy, tax-free growth, tax-free income, different variations of portfolios that grow differently in different markets, all with a specific job. So we start slicing that up almost like a pie and assigning each job. And it's that's one of the things I love doing besides interacting with clients and new prospects, is designing that and just seeing what it looks like. It's almost like a uh a Van Gogh painting, but much simpler because I'm more of a puzzle guy.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, yeah. Well, you can buy Van Gogh puzzles. That's true. I probably have somewhere along the line. But no, but that is the the one of the more interesting parts. I mean, the best part about this job uh that I've come to to realize is it's how relational it is, especially for like a financial industry. We've got a very relational job. We know our clients really well. We know things that they don't tell their children or you know, things like we get to know a lot, or even their hairdresser. Well, that's c that's cut that's a little close. I don't know, they probably tell their hairdresser. Um Yeah, we get really close to them and this is which we need to be because we are entering this relationship with the intention that we will walk with you for the rest of your life if that's your intention. And you know, our relationship is meant to be the long term because we're here to walk alongside you with that retirement plan. And so the cool thing that um I guess an aside to that is every plan is different. You know, we we have similar tools that we will use, and you know, some things might overlap here and there on the process to get from point A to point B. But everyone's plan is unique to them. Everyone has different strengths, everyone have just has different weaknesses, different needs, different wants. Um and the way that those puzzle pieces are cut, everyone's individually cut their own jigsaw. So figuring out how to fit them in um is really fun. That's a fun part of it, you know, relationally, and then it's it's got that kind of um puzzle piece created. Almost like a detective type solving the uh the equation, so to speak. Yeah, because inevitably too, we've been doing this, the company's been around 15 years, you've been doing it even longer. Um we've been doing this long enough that we've seen a lot of of things, a lot of different circumstances. We've learned a lot, but we're also constantly learning more because there's just so much out there. Um it keeps us on our toes a little bit.

SPEAKER_02:

And then it changes.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

You know, and um just like the Secure Act One, Secure Act Two, three times uh we've had three different required minimum distribution ages over the last uh five or seven years. Yeah. And so people come to us and say, oh, that's 70 and a half. No, oh what, 72? No, it's 73. Well, unless you're born in 1960 or later, not 75. And all these moving pieces, and just when you think, you know, I've got that nailed down, there's a change, or there's just a little quirk. You know, Congress is horrible, and I guess it's part of the negotiation process about just having these little odd quirks in the bills. Uh you know, why why is an IRA penalty free at 59 and a half? Why not 60? Why not 59? Why was it 50? Somebody said, I want 59, somebody said I want 60. Yeah. Let's say let's negotiate and do 59 and a half. But it's just those little quirks and and little hidden things that we find sometimes. It's like, you know, we've never come across that. Now we know it, now we can apply it. Very rare that it's going to come up, and when it does, we need to know it.

SPEAKER_01:

That's right. So, folks, as we move into 2026, this is the perfect time to redefine financial success in broader terms, not just wealth or performance, but confidence, family harmony, health, and fulfillment. When your financial strategies align with those principles, your wealth becomes a tool for living meaningfully, not just a measure of achievement.

SPEAKER_02:

Hey, thanks for joining us. We are out of time, but until we see each other again, remember land well and prosper. Take care.