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6 Habits of Happy Retirees

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6 habits of happy retirees. 

BLUF (Bottom Line Up Front):

I used to think this job was all about investments, rates of return, market volatility etc…Its not.  In a decade of helping people get into (and more importantly stay) in retirement I have noticed some common things my happiest retirees do like:

  • Eliminate the unexpected
  • Focus on their health
  • Outsource

You can skip my pontifications if you like to the 📽️👇.

I have conversations every day with people at every stage of their financial lives.

Encouraging young savers to forego that cup of coffee and invest the $14 it costs to get time and compounding interest on their side.

Talking my near-retirees through market ups (ok, mostly the downs.)

Checking in with my retirees about that stage of life that they worked, saved, and invested to reach.

Over hundreds of conversations I have discovered that the things people talk about change.

Younger investors are focused on the money, an “escape hatch”, and planning for growth, tax efficiency, and individual investments.  But underneath those conversations I pick out that what they are really worried about is:

“Am I doing the right thing”

“Am I on track”

“I am so busy I don’t have time for this (or know what I am doing)”

When I talk to my clients who are kicked back on a beach or visiting their grand kids on vacation I have discovered that the conversation has shifted from the dollars and cents.  Given the right tools, I have very few clients who live the retired life they want knowing the money will be there.

In talking to retirees all the time (getting a glimpse into where I will hopefully be…one day…) I like to find out some common themes around what makes the retired people happy.  I have noticed 6 things happy retirees have in common 📽️👇.

The basic theme among the most successful retirees are things that

  • Free up time
  • Free up head space
  • Decrease worry
  • Increase confidence

Watch the video below to learn about these habits and try and incorporate them into your overall financial plan.

Truth: You want to pay more taxes in 2024

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High income earners, you want to pay more taxes in 2024.

BLUF (Bottom Line Up Front) No matter how much you make, it may feel like you pay alot in taxes.  But a quick glance at our history tells a different story 📽️👇:

I recently drew up a financial plan for two amazing people.  Both were in the US Navy, were physician’s assistants, and were just generally the type of people I help on a daily basis.  I spent 20 years in the Marines, so we communicated well.

They were sitting on idle cash (like a lot of people, they didn’t know where to start investing, didn’t want to lose if the market tanked etc…) and combined they make around $500,000 per year.  They were also worried about taxes.

And…they aren’t my clients.

As with many times in my life, my lack of a filter and belief that people deserve the truth led me to give it to them straight.

One of the main things that people come to me for is tax planning.  Now reducing overall taxation is something that gets me out of bed in the morning.  But I had to tell them a couple truths:

  • There is no legal way to pay net zero in taxes today (like a lot of folks, they heard real estate is a magic get-out-of-taxes-free card)
  • You  want to pay more in taxes today.  

It doesn’t feel like it when you look at your paycheck but compared to where this country has been (and definately where we are headed), income taxes are near historic lows.

All of my tax planning surrounds one central theme: create tax free wealth, as mcuh as you can, as fast as you can, using whatever tools you can.

Some of those tools are known, some are less widely known but used by wealthy and high earning individuals alot.

  • Roth contributions
  • Roth conversions
  • Mega Roth conversions
  • Sec. 7702 plans
  • Qualified Opportunity Zone investments
  • Municipal bond investments 🤮

This quick video is a primer on why you want to pay as much income tax now so you can pay lesss overall.