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Joe Anderson, CFP\xae and Alan Clopine, CPA summarize the highs and lows of 2016 in YMYW podcast episode 92, then talk about how to automate and increase your retirement savings, how to create a retirement lifestyle game plan, and steps to take if you plan on moving in retirement.\xa0 Original publish date December 31, 2016 (hour 1). Note that content may be outdated as rules and regulations have changed.

01:30 \u201cThis year, if you take away any lesson from this [past] year in 2016 when it comes to your investments\u2026is that it\u2019s very difficult for you to time the market.\u201d

04:52 \u201cThat\u2019s what investors need to do \u2013 they need to look at the long-term and not worry about the day-to-day, month-to-month, quarter-to-quarter because if you have the right investment allocation for you, then let that work.\u201d

11:23 \u201cEvaluate your Social Security claiming strategies because we know that you can start collecting as early as 62 but there are downsides there \u2013 your full retirement age, for most of you, is 66 unless you\u2019re born after 1953 and you can take it as late as age 70. Start thinking about Social Security before you even get there because that\u2019s potentially going to be a big chunk of income for you.\u201d

15:20 \u201cEvaluate your savings. If you have $500,000 in savings, you probably should plan not to take any more than about 4% per year. This is a rule of thumb \u2013 it\u2019s called the 4% rule\u2026 and doesn\u2019t work in all cases\u2026in fact, if you retire younger than 66, you probably don\u2019t want to take 4% because you\u2019re probably going to run out of money sooner.\u201d

22:35 \u201cPay yourself first \u2013 by that, you\u2019re saving first before you\u2019re spending, and the best way to do that is if you have a 401(k) or 403(b) at your work because it comes right out of your paycheck and you never miss it. Not all of you have 401(k)s, so in that case you\u2019ll have to open your own savings account.\u201d

26:06 \u201cUnderstand tax ramifications. This one is missed a lot because you may not even realize this but all the money that you\u2019ve saved into your 401(k) or your 403(b) or in many cases your IRAs \u2013 [when] that money comes out it\u2019s taxed at ordinary income rates which is the same rates you\u2019re used to paying right now.\u201d

33:03 \u201cGet serious about relocation plans. If you plan to move when you retire, find out how much you\u2019ll actually net for your house and how much it will cost to move to your new location.\u201d

34:30 \u201cIn some cases it may make sense to refinance your loan \u2013 do that while you\u2019re working because you need the income to qualify.\u201d