Marcia Mantell: Lasagna Style Income Planning

About Fun With Annuities Episode #117

Marcia Mantell is a breath of fresh financial air. She is a great example of living life in a glass-half-full manner. She is a 30-year expert on retirement and the most sought-after consultant in the U.S. for a financial advisor and planner. She knows her stuff.

Through her small business she started in 2005, Mantell Retirement Consulting, Inc., Marcia develops innovative retirement income planning workshops and programs that are both fun and engaging.  In addition, she is considered a retirement industry go-to person for Social Security and Medicare.  As I kidded her during the podcast, she has forgotten more than most financial advisors will ever know.

I loved every second of this podcast, but Marcia completely knocked me out with her incredible analogy of how retirement income planning is like making lasagna.  She had me at the word “lasagna” because that’s my favorite dish ever.  It’s worth your time just to hear that explanation and her views on cats and retirement.  Yes, she can pivot with the best of them.  I can’t teach IQ.

For nearly 30 years, Marcia’s day job has been helping the country’s foremost financial services firms and advisors increase their knowledge of complex retirement concepts and regulations.  As you will hear, she has the unique talent of turning the technical into the tangible and can translate challenging retirement concepts into everyday language.  This special skill not only educates but motivates everyday people to take the right steps to achieve that specific retirement they desire.  To me, Marcia is a retirement motivational speaker!

We also talked about her two books, What’s The Deal with Social Security for Women & What’s The Deal with Retirement Planning for Women, which are both quick reads full of factual diamonds.  Marcia also has one of the best retirement blogs, Boomer Retirement Briefs, that you should put on your favorites list.  Marcia is a busy woman/expert.

Marcia promised to make lasagna the next time I’m in the Boston area. We will discuss retirement income planning as I finish the pan. This was a great podcast, and Marcia will be a frequent guest on Fun With Annuities. Enjoy!

"Starting early is the key. If you miss 50, start wherever you are today. This is not a weekend project - it’s too hard and complicated. The best thing we can all do is take ownership, we have to understand social security to make good decisions, and we have to understand medicare." —  Marcia Mantell.

Brief Bio on Co-host: Marcia Mantell

For nearly 30 years, Marcia Mantell has helped the country’s foremost financial services firms and advisors increase their knowledge of complex retirement concepts and regulations, then turn the technical into the tangible. Her remarkable ability to translate challenging retirement concepts into everyday language educates and motivates real people to take the right steps to achieve the retirement they desire. Her blog focuses on how boomers are redefining retirement and other newsy info.

Through her small business, Mantell Retirement Consulting, Inc., (est. 2005), Marcia develops innovative retirement income planning workshops and programs, fun and engaging retirement education programs and seminars, and writes extensively as a guest columnist and content creator, and curator. She is a retirement industry go-to for Social Security and Medicare expert-level information. To access the books Marcia has written, CLICK HERE.

In this episode, The Annuity Man and Marcia Mantell discuss:

• Retirement planning is personal
• The uncomfortable “unexpected.”
• Who are the best financial advisors?
• Lasagna-style income planning

Key Takeaways:

• Friends and neighbors are not your friends when it comes to retirement decision-making. It’s all completely personal.
• If there’s anything that’s not unexpected, it’s that we know we are one day going to die. We just don’t like to talk about it; we don’t like to think about it.
• The best financial advisors are those that aren’t born from money. They understand what it’s like to come from a family that doesn’t have much, so they’ve been repeatedly taught in their youth to respect and value money.
• If you can make lasagna, you can also make a retirement plan. Retirement planning is a layered process; there has to be a plan in place, you can’t randomly do it, and there’s a myriad of ingredients.

Fun With Annuities®Podcast is hosted by America’s Annuity Agent®, Stan Haithcock, The Annuity Man®. Hear brutal annuity facts with no sales pitches from the top independent agent in the country, licensed in all 50 states. Author of 7 books, Stan dives deep on all annuity types and strategies. It’s fun, learning the contractual truths on how annuities actually work and if they’ll fit your personal retirement lifestyle.

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