You Didn't Know You Had It So Bad

This week has been a public health disaster for America.  Millions of adults across the country who went to bed healthy Sunday night found themselves Monday with high blood pressure and at higher risk for heart disease.  They didn’t all go to the doctor that day for a check-up or have an at-the-workplace blood pressure check as part of a national screening day.  No, Monday was the day the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology released new guidelines that define hypertension as pressure of 130 systolic over 80 diastolic, or higher.  The previous standard was 140/90.  The experts estimate that an additional 31 million adults in the U.S. are now classified as having high blood pressure. 

 

 The new standard is based largely on a 2015 study which showed that older adults aggressively aiming for a 120 systolic pressure reading rather than 140 cut their comparative risk of heart attack and stroke by one-third.

 

I freely acknowledge Americans need to improve their diets and get more exercise, both conservative means to lower blood pressure.  I also know cardiovascular disease remains the nation’s biggest killer.  But if this recommendation from the experts causes more stress for patients, is it worth it?  If to get down to the prescribed level a person has to take three, instead of one, medications, will they suffer new side effects like compromised kidney function?  Nephrologists are warning against that very thing.  What is a patient to do?

 

 But health care is not the only field where experts issue dire warnings and set standards that may be a stretch for many of their patients/clients.  I refer (as if you didn’t already guess) to financial planning.  I’ve listed here a few recommendations from “experts” that I think fall into that “maybe, but maybe not” category.  I believe financial planning is an intensely personal exercise, that it is not formulaic.  These recommendations may be appropriate for many or even most people; but just as you know your own body better than anyone else, so also you know your family history, your spending and saving habits, your goals, your dreams, your values, even your politics….everything that plays into how you approach and plan your financial future.  You must decide for yourself if any given piece of financial advice is really appropriate for you.

 

I offer no opinion on these recommendations in this posting.  For now they are purely illustrative of a point.  As one doctor told an interviewer, he’s not going to stress out his patient or himself trying to get that patient with a 180 systolic down to 120.  He’ll just do his best.  Take these in the same spirit, and don’t stress over them.

 

 You need to have at least a million dollars saved for retirement if you want to be financially secure.

 

 Cut up all your credit cards.

 

 You must save 15% of your earnings each year for retirement.  (It used to be 10%.)

 

 Social Security will not be there for you in retirement; do not count on that income.

 

You must have long-term care insurance.

 

You must have a Roth account as part of your retirement planning strategy.

 

You must plan to make your retirement savings last as if you’ll live to be 100.

 

You must own a home to build wealth.

 

Pay off all debt before you retire.

 

Don’t rush to pay off your house; it’s a great tax deduction.

 

Depressed?  Then you have some inkling of how those 31 million newly hypertensive Americans feel.  Just remember that doctors want to look like they’re contributing to longer and better lives, so they push more aggressive goals.  In the same vein, financial planners don’t want to be responsible for someone not living a grand and financially secure life, so they are going to push their own aggressive ideas and standards for you.  After all, if your client didn’t save a million dollars like you told him to, how can he blame you if he runs out of money when he’s 95?

 

 Happy Thanksgiving.  Until next time,

Roger

“Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise.”  “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God….for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.”  Psalm 100:4 and Philippians 4:6, 11 NIV®*

*Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®

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