Money is everything in retirement. It’s medical care. It’s insurance. It’s travel, philanthropy, housing, food. It’s life. I’m not saying you have to have a ton of money, but you do have to pay close attention to what you have.
Jim Kane, 75, pays attention.
An economist by training, Kane loves spreadsheets, projections, data and plans. He flooded me with information after we began a dialogue about a month ago. He’d contacted me about his personal formula for financial peace of mind. He calls it his balance sheet.
“When I was thinking of retiring, everyone talked about investments,” Kane said. “I knew that was important, but we turned that on its head. We set net worth goals to give us comfort and a sense of security. Then we let those goals guide our spending.”
It isn’t a radically different approach to money, but it is a disciplined one. It’s also a guide to his life.
