Ready For Retirement
Ready For Retirement
The BEST Retirement Advice (From 909 Real Retirees)
What if the riskiest move isn’t retiring too early, but waiting so long your best years pass by? This episode unpacks the real regrets of 909 retirees and the practical steps they wish they’d taken sooner. Design purpose. Spend on what matters. Do it while health and energy are on your side.
Beat the “one more year” trap. Working longer can look safer on a spreadsheet, but life isn’t a spreadsheet. Learn how to prototype purpose before day one, shift your identity from saver to spender without guilt, and choose a retirement location that supports daily joy and long-term care needs.
Avoid the hidden tax hazards that derail cash flow. Understand RMDs, Social Security taxation/stacking, and Medicare IRMAA. Use Roth conversions and bracket smoothing to lower lifetime taxes and protect your spending plan.
Put relationships ahead of returns. Money gives options. Connection gives meaning. With simple guardrails and a clear plan, you can spend earlier and more intentionally on experiences, travel, and family, instead of hoarding for a “someday” that never comes.
Ready to align your retirement plan with the life you actually want to live? Listen as James gives you the framework and the nudge to start now.
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The strategies, case studies, and examples discussed may not be suitable for everyone. They are hypothetical and for illustrative and educational purposes only. They do not reflect actual client results and are not guarantees of future performance. All investments involve risk, including the potential loss of principal.
Comments reflect the views of individual users and do not necessarily represent the views of Root Financial. They are not verified, may not be accurate, and should not be considered testimonials or endorsements
Participation in the Retirement Planning Academy or Early Retirement Academy does not create an advisory relationship with Root Financial. These programs are educational in nature and are not a substitute for personalized financial advice. Advisory services are offered only under a written agreement with Root Financial.
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If you think your biggest regret in retirement is going to be spending too much, then I have news for you in today's video. We reached out to thousands of people to collect their responses about their biggest retirement regrets, and we heard back with wonderful feedback from 909 people. Some of the regrets that these people share have to do with finances, but many of them did not. It has to do with purpose, how you spend your time, unexpected costs, things of that nature. And in today's video, I'm going to share with you the real feedback we heard from 909 people, the regrets they have, and the advice they would have given to their younger selves so that you can take this and apply it as you prepare for your retirement. So here's the advice we receive from people who have actually done it, who have actually retired. The first piece is that working longer is not necessarily safer. How many of us have been caught up in that? We run projections. We see here's the impact of one more year of work, maxing out my 401k, one more year, paying into Social Security, one more year. And on paper, it has tremendous benefits. We see what that does to our long-term financial projections. But here's the thing that money is pointless if it's not helping us fund the type of life we want to fund. In that life that we want to fund, so much of it has the potential to pass us by if we're not able to appreciate the opportunity in front of us. In other words, I've seen far too many people work too long trying to maximize the financial side of things that life has passed them by. This was a common regret people shared, and therefore a common piece of advice is working longer isn't necessarily safer. Sure, there's positive financial benefits to it, but are you missing out on life by doing so? Are you missing out on your youth, your health, your vigor, your ability to do the things you actually want to do in retirement because you keep pushing retirement off? Some direct quotes we heard when we surveyed people is I wish I had retired earlier. I wish I'd spent more money on travel sooner. I wish I hadn't cut back my spending so much due to fear. Now, this is where a good financial plan comes into place. You do need to make sure you're not overspending, because that too would be a regret. But so many people are driven by fear in their planning. And they just thought that if I spend less or work longer or save more, that's magically gonna make my retirement that much better. That could not be further from the truth. Work as long as you need to work to prepare for what you need to do, but do not put off retirement if you're only doing that because you feel like next year you'll feel more comfortable. The following year you'll be more ready. There's not gonna be a magic feeling. And if you wait too long, too much of your greatest retirement years might pass you by. The second piece of advice that we heard from these people, these real retirees, was cultivate your purpose ahead of time. Don't just think that I'm gonna retire and life's magically going to turn into a vacation. I'm gonna travel, I'm gonna golf, I'm gonna sleep in. That might be fine for some period of time. And that might even be fine to continue doing on an ongoing basis if you also have things of purpose mixed into that. But here's the thing: you're not just gonna magically stumble in to your purpose. In the same way, you don't stumble into maintaining your health, you don't stumble in to saving well, you don't stumble in to doing good things on purpose. You're not gonna stumble into finding that purpose. So think about it, work through it, try different things. What is it that's truly gonna give you that sense of joy and satisfaction throughout your retirement? Retirement has the potential to be so incredibly good for so many people, but not if we're missing that purpose. What do we want to do? Who do we want to spend time with? What do we want to prioritize? What are the things we can do today that 20 years from now we'll look back upon and say that led and contributed to a meaningful, joy-filled retirement? Think about that before retiring. The challenge so many people shared is they were so focused on work and their responsibilities and saving and preparing and getting ready to retire, they forgot about what they actually wanted to be when they retired. In surveying retirees, they said this led to feelings of loneliness, of boredom. It was hard to transition from being a saver and a spender because they didn't understand what was next. So, yes, financially prepare for retirement, but also prepare mentally. What do you want to do and who do you want to be? And how can you start thinking about that in the same way you think about how much you need to have in your 401k, when you're gonna collect Social Security, what Roth conversions you're gonna implement along the way. If you're not doing both of these things, your retirement is not gonna be as joyful and meaningful as it otherwise could have been. The third piece of advice that retirees gave in this survey is that location matters. Location of where you actually retire to. So it doesn't mean you need to move. You don't need to be somewhere else when you retire. But here's what they meant by location. Yes, part of it was weather related. Some people wanted to avoid extreme hot or avoid extreme cold. Maybe they were in a certain location because work demanded of it. And now that they're retired, they can move elsewhere. But what about location of the things that matters? What do you want to do when you retire? Do you want to be near the lake? Do you want to be near an ocean? Do you want to be near the mountains? Do you want to be near your family, your friends, hospitals, healthcare networks? What are the things that actually matter to you? And how do you choose a location in retirement where you have access to all of that? Think about this especially as you age. You don't want to just think through the terms of where can I get the best medical care. That is going to be an increasing consideration. So can you choose a place where you're close to the people you love, you're close to the things you love doing, and you're close to the type of care that you might need, especially as you age, the place that you retire to, that location matters a lot. And we heard that directly from people who retired. The fourth piece of advice was watch out for tax spikes. So often people just assume they're going to be in a lower tax bracket in retirement, and those assumptions are confirmed their first couple of years of retirement. Maybe they retire in their 60s. In the first few years, their tax bracket isn't all that high. But they don't do any forward-looking planning. And then one day they wake up and required minimum distributions kick in. And that's on top of their social security benefit. And that's on top of their other income sources. And all of a sudden, these people that were in a lower tax bracket get whacked when they're forced to start taking money out of their accounts. So watch out for the impact of required minimum distributions. Another related thing to this is Irma surcharges. People are taking money out. They see, okay, I'm taking this from my IRA or my Roth IRA, my brokerage account, whatever it is. And then they get a bill from Medicare or their premiums go up. And they say, why are my premiums going up for Medicare? It's because their IRMA surcharges went up. Their modified adjusted gross income maybe stayed under certain thresholds for federal income taxes or state income taxes, but there's this other thing called IRMA, Medicare surcharges that people also have to be aware of. And your income also impacts that. So be aware of all the potential types of taxes that you might pay in retirement and make sure that you plan accordingly. Some of the specific things we heard on the survey are people saying, I wish I'd used the Roth IRA earlier. I wish I hadn't put too much into my traditional 401k. I was very surprised at the amount of taxes that I owed. I was very surprised by the RMD impact. So be aware of this. When you are retired, if you don't have a tax strategy to go along with your income strategy and overall retirement plan, you have some missing pieces. You have some gaps. So make sure that you're planning for those surprise tax hikes. The fifth piece of advice that these retirees gave was prioritize relationships over spreadsheets. There is this overwhelming sentiment that feeling that more money would magically lead to a happier retirement would magically solve any potential problems people might have. So it's easier. Put your head down, grind, work, save, invest. One day I'll wake up and everything will just work. Everything will just make sense. But that's not the case. The things that matter most have nothing to do with money. And to put it bluntly, it's your relationships. The quality of your retirement is largely going to be driven by the quality of your relationships. So if your only priority is getting the financial component of things dialed in for retirement, yes, that's important, but you're missing out on the bigger picture. I can't tell you how many people I've worked with that have had the perfect financial strategy. They have more than enough income to meet their needs. They've implemented the tax strategies to save lots of money over retirement, the perfect insurance is the perfect estate plan. Everything was good except for the relationships, except for things that mattered. So don't fall into that trap. The thing about money is it's so tangible, it's so easy to see, it's so easy to keep track of and have a scorecard for that you can optimize that. And it feels good. There's an immediate feedback loop that you are doing better. That's not the case with relationships. Relationships can start to quietly drift. And if you're not aware of it, one day you wake up and realize that you and your spouse are distant. You and your old friends don't maybe talk as much anymore. You and your children don't have the type of relationship you'd want to have. So yes, prepare financially, but also yes, prepare relationally, because those relationships are gonna be a crucial part of your retirement plan. Then finally, the last piece of advice that I wanted to share from this survey is people wish they had spent more. I know this ties in a little bit to the first piece of advice of don't wait too long to retire, but this part is don't wait too long to spend. Even once you retire doesn't mean you're automatically going to feel permission or feel safe or feel like it's okay to actually start spending money. Now, this feeling that people have is very much backed up by data, very much backed up by research. In fact, research shows that you're far more likely, assuming you only spend 4% of your portfolio, you're far more likely to have much more money at the end of your retirement than you do today, at the beginning of your retirement. The goal of life isn't to carry that money with us to the grave. The goal of life isn't to keep growing that portfolio over the course of our lifetime. That portfolio is simply a tool that allows us to do the things that we want to do. So spend freely, spend wisely, spend prudently, but identify those things you actually want to spend money on. What are the things you want to spend your time doing? What does matter most to you? What does your vision for a perfect life look like? And how do we use this portfolio to support all that? The piece though that trips people up is very difficult to do that. It's very difficult to go from a lifetime of saving money, maxing my 401k, putting money into IRAs, and also not to pull that money out of my account. Not to pull that money out of my account even when the market's going down. That doesn't feel good to a lot of people. So it's a habit that must be developed, but it's a habit that absolutely is crucial to your ability to actually live the type of retirement that you want to live. So don't wait too long to spend. It can be a difficult shift. And yes, have guardrails in place. Make sure you're not overspending, but I see far too many people who underspend because of fear. But if you have the plan, if you have the guidance, spending money is one of the best things that you can do to create the retirement you want to live. The overwhelming takeaway as we wrap up today, I saw very, very few responses of people saying, I just wish I had more money. The overwhelming sentiment that these retirees shared is they wish they started moving on these things sooner. Prioritizing relationships sooner, prioritizing retirement sooner, prioritize spending sooner. Don't let this be a one-day thing. Make this be a thing that you focus on right now. So the best time to take action on this is today. Whether you're 40, you're 50, you're 60, you're 70, it does not matter. The best thing you can do for your future is to start this planning today, start this intentionality today. If you need help with that, we can help. Root Financial, this is what we do all day, every day. We have a team of advisors helping people with just this. You can reach out to us. Link is in the show notes below. But regardless of who you're working with or not working with, take these principles to heart. Start doing these things today to create a better retirement for you, for your family, and for those around you.
