On this episode of The Retirement Huddle podcast, Mark Howard explains how basketball is like financial planning and what they share in common.

Shot clock

In basketball, the shot clock is a big part of the game nowadays, but it wasn’t always there. The shot clock makes the game more exciting. Sometimes in financial planning, you have to make quick decisions, like an early retirement buyout package or handling an inheritance. Those are challenging decisions. Sometimes you don’t have a lot of time to make a decision and have to put a shot up.

Double dribble

Double dribbling is when you dribble, stop and start dribbling again, which is against the rules. In finance, some decisions have to be made hastily and you don’t always have a plan. This is especially true with Social Security and pensions. You need to explore all the options ahead of time so you’re not deciding at the last minute.

Personal fouls

Committing a foul or two is common and is part of the game, but if you commit too many you’re going to get disqualified. The same is true with investing. You’ll have some investments that don’t do well. Bad investments, small miscalculations here and there are not a big deal. But when those rack up, you can find yourself in retirement foul trouble.

Listen to the full episode or use the timestamps to jump to a specific section. Thanks for listening! We’ll be back for another show every other Thursday.

Today’s Rundown:

[1:48] – Shot clock

[4:35] – Double dribble

[7:05] – Personal fouls