Dennis is back from his adventures to the great Northwest. Guess what else is back? October deadlines. Yup. You heard us right. Here’s the list:

October 1, 2017

Deadline for self-employed persons or small employers to establish a SIMPLE IRA for the year 2017.

October 16, 2017

Final deadline to file individual tax returns for the year 2016 (Forms 1040, 1040A, 1040EZ).

Last day the IRS will accept an electronically filed tax return for the year 2016. If filing after October 15, you'll have to mail in your tax return for processing.

Final deadline to fund a SEP IRA or solo 401(k) for tax year 2016 if you requested an automatic extension of time to file. 

The headline read, “People in rich countries are dying of loneliness.” I couldn’t resist, I had to read it and I had to know why.  Turns out, this is a blurry issue without hard lines drawn between demographics.  Instead, it’s about emotional isolation.  We are living longer, moving away from our families, marrying less and living in a culture that promotes autonomy over community.  This is the perfect storm for loneliness.  In its wake is the higher risk of Alzheimer’s, depression, obesity and early death.

Think this is a problem just for single people? Think again. According to The New York Times, “It is not the same thing as being alone: 62.5 percent of older adults who reported being lonely in this new study were married.”

Grant Porteous, local therapist and life coach, joins me (Shea) in the studio today to talk about how to identify loneliness and cope with it. He says, "You need to look at your 401(k) but you also need to look at this … you need to look at your emotional health.”

I was born an old soul, preferring adult conversations over play dates with my peers. One conversation I remember my grandmother and mother having went like this: “Well, you know. They didn’t have a rainy day fund, so they lost everything.” In my five-year-old mind I couldn’t understand how a rainy day could be more expensive than a sunny one, but it sounded awful.

This literal interpretation has context today as we watch the devastation in Houston. It also has the intended metaphorical context when we look ahead into retirement. The unexpected storms of life take preparation and sometimes, despite what we have done, it’s not enough.

In this episode Dennis and Shea talk about the ways to protect your financial assets and documents should a disaster occur. We will also discuss how to be prepared for the unexpected health expenses that will more than likely happen while you’re in retirement.