Retiring at 58 Wasn’t the Plan, Here’s Why He Did It Anyway (& You Should Too) | Retirement Reality

Sometimes retirement isn’t sparked by a countdown to a date, it’s triggered by a moment that makes you rethink everything.

For Shawn, that moment came with a serious health scare. After being misdiagnosed with a degenerative nerve condition, he was forced to confront a hard question: If time isn’t guaranteed, why keep postponing the life you want to live? 

In this episode of Retirement Reality, Shawn shares how that experience pushed him to take control of both his health and his finances, and ultimately retire just before his 58th birthday. He talks about the fear, the clarity that followed, and the gratitude that now defines his days.

Today, retirement looks like scuba diving with his daughter and friends, a 68-day road trip through 19 national parks, building a backyard pickleball court, volunteering, sleeping in when his body needs it, and designing each day without obligation. Financially, he explains how flexibility (not perfection) gave him the confidence to step away, and why having the right mix of accounts made early retirement possible.

Shawn’s story is a reminder that retirement isn’t about escaping work, it’s about creating space to live fully while your health and energy are still there.

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Shawn is not a client of Root Financial Partners, LLC and received no compensation for participating in this video. His statements reflect his own opinions and experience and are not indicative of any specific client’s experience and are not a guarantee of results. No cash or non-cash compensation was provided, and no material conflicts are known.

Advisory services are offered through Root Financial Partners, LLC, an SEC-registered investment adviser. This content is intended for informational and educational purposes only and should not be considered personalized investment, tax, or legal advice. Viewing this content does not create an advisory relationship. We do not provide tax preparation or legal services. Always consult an investment, tax or legal professional regarding your specific situation.

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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Ari Taublieb, CFP ®, MBA  is the Chief Growth Officer of Root Financial Partners and a Fiduciary Financial Planner specializing in helping clients retire early with confidence.

Transcript

Email Guides For Key Retirement Questions

SPEAKER_01 0:00

I hope you guys continue to enjoy these episodes with real guests sharing their stories, what resonates, what doesn't, and it helps bring clarity to you for your retirement. If you didn't hear on a previous episode I shared, you can always email me directly, ari at rootfinancial.com. My team responds to these messages. If you want more question, if you want more clarity, not more questions, because that wouldn't help anything. If you want more clarity on okay, how do I keep my healthcare low? How do I optimize my superhero account? How do I know if I should do Roth conversions? Well, you can just go ahead and email us and put in the subject line conversion if you have questions on Roth conversions when they make sense. And we'll send you a free guide in a roadmap so you can see, okay, does it make sense for you? And if so, when? How to think through that. Same thing with healthcare. Email the word healthcare, withdrawal strategies, email the word withdrawal. If you want a guide on, hey, what's what are all those questions or things that I want to make sure I don't forget before I retire? Email the word retire. So you can go ahead and do that once again. This isn't being posted, what I'm telling you right now on YouTube. So on YouTube, most people can just comment easily and then I can send them the guide. You're all listening on the podcast app right now. If you're listening to this, so you don't have a way of getting information other than going in the description of this episode, which of course you can do as well. But I want to make sure if you guys have questions, whether it's conversions, healthcare, whatever it may be, you can go ahead and email me directly. My team will go ahead and get you that guide as fast as we can, generally within 24 hours. And then, of course, more of these episodes with real people are on their way. Hopefully you guys enjoy. Thanks as always for supporting the show. One of those pieces of lingo is superhero accounts. Are you familiar with that term?

SPEAKER_00 1:42

Yeah. So it's funny you say that because that is one of the things that I can say more than anything, and and you in particular, that I took away from your YouTube. That superhero account has made the difference in me being able to retire early. If I did not have that, if I had just plowed all my money, yeah, right. That's the way I feel. Yay! Uh if I plowed all my money just into a 401k or an IRA, I wouldn't be talking to you right now. I'd still be on the horizon, like, okay, when can I retire? That has made all the difference.

The Health Diagnosis That Changed Time

SPEAKER_01 2:16

What I'm doing in this new show, Retirement Reality, is having heartfelt, candid conversations with people who have already retired so you can hear from them what worked well, what didn't, and everything in between. I hope you enjoy. And if you're retired and you want to personally come share your story on a future episode, there's a link right below this in the description of this episode where you can apply to be a guest. Now go enjoy the episode. Talk about a misdiagnosis being a blessing. Oh my gosh, I cannot wait for you all to hear this episode. My guest today might be the poster child for an early retirement. So articulate and just an awesome guy overall. Let's get to the episode. Enjoy. Sean, thank you for joining another episode of Retirement Reality. I asked my same guest the same question first every single time. And so that question is if there was one word you would use to describe your retirement so far, what would it be?

SPEAKER_00 3:09

Yeah, so I have thought about this as I have been watching all your interviews. And the first gentleman you had used my word, freedom, so I don't want to use that. So I'm gonna use another word that's really important to me, and that's gratitude. Gratitude. I feel extremely grateful for being able to retire and kind of finally live the life that I've been wanting to live.

SPEAKER_01 3:31

I cannot wait for this episode. This is gonna be a fun one. And for those of you who want to share your story on a future episode with me, you can go in the description of this episode and see exactly how you can apply to come on the show, just like Sean did. And Sean gave me a great story, and I asked, hey, why do you want to come on the show? You shared how you retired just before your 58th birthday and had quite the health story. So we're gonna get into all of that. Take me back, Sean, to before you retired. What was the transition like? If you don't mind explaining just kind of the health situation you went through and how you eventually decided to retire right before your 50th birthday.

Second Opinions And A Better Outcome

SPEAKER_00 4:10

Okay. Uh back at the end of 2018, I had a health issue and couldn't quite figure out what was going on. I had gone to a neurologist and they did a whole bunch of tests, including like a lumbar puncture, which was not pleasant. Um, and I got diagnosed with this thing called CIDP, which is chronic demyelinating polyneuropathy. Very long uh couple words for a condition where basically you experience numbness in your feet and your arms and and weakness in some of your muscles. So um as I got older and was looking into that um condition, I realized like this could be really bad, right? Like I might not be able to walk in my 60s or so, right? So it really played on my mind. And and one of the things that I did, besides starting a treatment regimen that I went through for about a year, is I started to really evaluate my life and try to figure out how I can retire as soon as possible to do all the things that I had always planned to do when I retire. Right. So um I went through about a year worth of treatment. And while I was going through that treatment, I had gone down the road of really a couple of things, looking into my finances, trying to figure out how quickly I can retire so I can start doing some of those things. And then also um, you know, trying to get my health in order, right? Because with that sort of diagnosis, the best thing you can do is really take care of yourself. So get in shape, lose some weight, all those things. And um, so I I really ran down the health and the finance rabbit hole, right? Uh finding guys like you and James on YouTube was a tremendous help. Uh, and then also just, you know, watching things and and learning things about my body that I never knew before. So it was interesting. Um one of the things that happened after going through all of these treatments, and they were called infusions, I V-I-G, which is uh something I had to do four days a month and it was all day long. Um after going through it for a year, I wasn't getting any better. And what had happened is I then went and got a second and a third opinion, and they told me I was misdiagnosed. So good and bad, bad, okay, I'm back at square one, let's try to figure this out. But the good is I don't have CIDP, right? So after going to a couple specialists, I found out I just have this thing called idiopathic neuropathy, which means that they just don't know why it's caused. But the really good news is I've been monitoring it very closely with my neurologist, and it doesn't seem to really have been progressing, maybe slightly, just a little bit. So he doesn't think I have to worry about the things I was worried about. And um, the great news out of all of this is it put me on the path to an early retirement that I was actually able to achieve. So, you know, sometimes you get bad news and it turns out to maybe be the best thing that could have happened to you. It's very strange.

Bucket List Living After Retiring

SPEAKER_01 7:13

Wow, that is quite the story. And Sean, I appreciate you sharing all of that. That is it sucks to go through that. And then hear, did I even have to go through that in you know, four days all day in a month? That is, I just can't even imagine what that felt like. So I appreciate you sharing that. I am very transparent on this show, and as you guys know, I am unable to go to the bathroom standing up. I have to sit down to use the bathroom. And doctors couldn't figure out. I was told I had MS, I had other doctors that said, hey, you just need to think more about it. I'm like, look, I know how to go to the bathroom. Okay, I think I can can do it. It's just, it's just not working. And so there are things that we go through in life that we have to just be honest and transparent about, and everyone's got their thing. So it sounds like switching gears a little bit from a positive note to a positive note, if you will, there were things that you just could not wait to get to. And that's what kind of made you start thinking about early retirement, looking at your finances. Do you mind sharing with us what are some of the things you've since been able to do and spend more time on that you couldn't when you were working?

SPEAKER_00 8:15

Sure. So I was able to uh tick off a couple bucket list things, right? So I went and got my scuba diving certification. Um, and I had gotten that a little while before, but now I'm actually using it. And I was able to get my daughter to get her certification. And now my best friend got his certification. And it's it's fantastic. Like we're all doing this thing that I've always wanted to do, but now I've got buddies, I've got dive buddies. So every time we talk about vacation, we're like, we're gonna dive next. Um, so that's been wonderful. I I got to do a 68-day trip in the spring um across country. So I do a thing called overlanding. I don't know if you've ever heard that term before, but it just means vehicle-based adventure. Okay. And sometimes it's very remote. Uh, so I was able to outfit my truck. I spent a couple of years doing that, and then basically just I visited 19 national parks in the course of 68 days. Wow. And it was just it was nice, it was great. That is amazing. Those are some of the things I've been able to do. Yeah, it it's it's been wonderful.

Career Backstory And Learning Money

SPEAKER_01 9:22

Guys, can we give Sean some love here for coming on? Look at the health journey you went to and then 19 national parks. I mean, that is awesome. So please, guys, go in the comments. Sean is being kind to share this story and experience. And if you're like, I want to be like Sean, I want to scuba dive, I want to go to national parks, I want more me time. That's why we make all these videos. So please give him some love. Now, Sean, I want to start to get into some of the details here. So, do you mind sharing with us what did you do for a living? You shared before we actually started recording. You said I spoke for a living. So I want to hear more about what you mean by that. And then, okay, now you retired. Financially, you said I started to look into it when the health stuff started to come up. I want to hear how did you determine, hey, it looks like I'm in a position to make this happen. So, do you mind sharing that?

SPEAKER_00 10:06

Sure. So I I spent about 30 years in the IT sales industry. So selling hardware, software solutions to customers. And then at the end of my career, the last eight or nine years, I transitioned into an account management role where I helped business partners build their business. Um, that was for me extremely um uh I'm searching for the word, so extremely fulfilling. I got to meet tremendous people along the way. I learned a tremendous amount about business. And um it was something that allowed me to do a lot of things that were a lot of fun, right? Being in sales, and then also, you know, be fortunate enough to make a decent living to be able to, you know, plan and retire early.

SPEAKER_01 10:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:54

So uh to answer the second part of your question is uh, you know, utilizing the internet and all of the online tools and and listening to people such as yourself and James, it was invaluable. Where before I really wasn't tuned into it. So I had a financial advisor and I would just tell him, okay, here are my goals kind of loosely. Can I make it? And you know, we'd have a quarterly review, and he's like, You're on track, you're you're gonna be okay to get where you want. But I never really dug into the details, right? And they always say the devil's in the details. So when when I got diagnosed and then COVID hit, suddenly I had all of this time because I used to travel tremendously. Then without traveling, I had 10 to 20 hours a week to dig into this financial thing. And I just I took the time to educate myself. So it it's it was a journey to to figure it out, but now I'm super, super confident in in my ability to reach my long-term goals. Love that.

Monthly Spending And The Retirement Smile

SPEAKER_01 11:55

Beautifully explained. I want to harp on the fact that you are not alone. I cannot tell all of you how often I hear someone says, Yeah, I have an advisor. They tell me twice a year I'm on track and I'm gonna be fine. It's like, hey, that's great. I need more than that. That that's not giving me the confidence to actually make this leap. I can't go in and tell my employer, I'm gonna quit. My advisor says I'm probably gonna be fine. So that's why we do all the tax and healthcare and withdrawal and estate. All of those things are so that you have true confidence without that little thing in the back of your head going, did I like forget something? So I love that you're feeling confident about this. Sean, are you open and please tell me whatever you don't want to share? Don't share. But people love hearing how much a real retiree is spending. And some people are spending$20,000 a month, some people are spending$3,000 a month. And I always say there's not a right or wrong. You just want to make sure you're spending what you want in retirement. Is there a general amount every month that you find, hey, as a household, we tend to spend this?

SPEAKER_00 12:54

Yeah. So I'm very in tune with the finances, right? So um I I run the household finances, and my wife is great. Like we always look at our our marriage as a partnership. She has areas and duties and she takes care of that, and I take care of some other stuff, and the finances is one of the things I do. So um roughly anywhere between nine and eleven thousand dollars, right? Because sometimes you'll have a month where you're up where maybe there was something that you had to repair that you weren't counting on, and sometimes it's a little less. So landing on that$10,000 per month is kind of where we are, and that's kind of what we had planned for. Now, I do live in New York, I live on Long Island, it's a high tax area. Um, when I decided, okay, I got to figure out how to retire early. My one of the first things I learned from watching guys like you and James is get your expenses down, understand your expenses, and try to eliminate your debt. And luckily, I was able to do that. So that$10,000 is not, there's no mortgage, but there's high taxes in New York. So that's kind of one of the reasons it's a little bit high. Uh, I don't think the national average is anywhere close to that. I know there's people who it's$20,000 a month, right? And there's people like I have relatives who live on$6,000 a month, right? And they're retired. So it I think it depends on where you live and your lifestyle. It really comes down to analyzing your expenses, I believe.

SPEAKER_01 14:18

You hit it right on the nail. And my data is from Great Neck, New York, so I'm very familiar. And I will tell everyone there's once again not a right or wrong. Your neighbor is gonna say, oh my gosh, how do you even spend 10,000 a month? It would just stay in my account. There's other people that go, so are you just like living on top ramen? And and there's not a right or wrong. Once again, I'm glad that you've determined what you want to spend. I would say the national average, when I looked up, it was in like the 4,500 to 5,000 range. But most of our clients, at least at Root, they're spending 8 to 12. That's the average. They want to make sure they're living their healthy life. Now, Sean, I want to ask, you may already be aware, but have you heard me talk about the retirement smile before? Absolutely. Okay. So that retirement smile is something I hope you take to heart because this is something that people will get that analysis paralysis on of, well, I don't know exactly how much I'm gonna spend. Maybe it's 10 a month, but what if I retire early and I've got my health and energy? Maybe I should spend more. What about when I'm in my 80s? I'm probably gonna be traveling less, but maybe I might be helping kids more. And so people go, I'm not gonna retire. I don't really know what I'm gonna spend. Do you mind shedding some light on how you're thinking about this concept of the retirement smile of spending more when we have health and energy and then maybe a little less and then more again? Or if you're going, no, I just know it's 10 a month and those priorities will shift, meaning today it's maybe more travel in the future, maybe it's more charitable giving or medical expenses. How are you thinking through that?

SPEAKER_00 15:48

Sure. So uh when I think about our monthly budget, I always think about like what's required, right? What's the bare minimum? And then what do I have that's kind of discretionary, right? So my vacation um fund is in there, it's discretionary, right? I personally allocate about$20,000 a year towards vacation, right? And then you have other discretionary things like how often do I want to go out to eat dinner with my wife and my friends? How often do we want to go see a movie? Things like that. So I have a baseline of what I know I'm gonna have to outlay every single month. And then I have the discretion, right? And I I approach it with adaptability. And that's that's the other word I was kind of struggling with, right? Adaptability, because I think a lot of people can retire as long as they're willing to be adaptable, right? Because if the market goes way up, fantastic. It's maybe you increase your spending a little bit. But if it goes down, maybe you pull it in a little bit, right? It's just like life, right? It's uh when you're feeling great, you might go out and run 10 miles. Maybe that day you're not feeling so good, so you're gonna only run four miles, right? So you gotta just be happy with it all, right? And that's that goes back to the gratitude part, right? Just gotta figure out what makes you happy and be grateful for for what you've got.

SPEAKER_01 17:04

I have a word for you, Sean. My word for you is reasonable. You're being so reasonable about this, which I love, because there are people that go, no matter what markets do, I'm spending 10 a month, that's what I want to spend. And I go, look, I want to be six foot five, okay? I'm five foot five. And uh, we just sometimes don't get what we want in life. But if we're willing to shift along the way, you can still have an amazing retirement. So I really appreciate you sharing that. If I were Sean to come, if I were to ask your wife, how has Sean changed since he retired? What do you think she'd say?

SPEAKER_00 17:37

Oh boy, uh, that's a great question. I don't think she would say I've slowed down at all. I I definitely have put my foot on the gas for certain things, right? Like my health. I try to get to the gym five, six days a week. And uh, as a result, I'm feeling much better. I'm eating better, um, I'm not drinking as much. Like when you're in IT sales, you go out a lot, you drink a lot, and when you're out with clients, it's a great time, but I think it takes a toll on your body sometimes, right? So in retirement, I'm able to eat what I want when I want, and regulate everything else in between, you know. So if uh I have a late night and I feel like sleeping till nine o'clock, like this morning, I slept till 9.15. Uh, that's not normal. That was never normal during work, right? I was always up at six. And even if I had a terrible night and I didn't sleep well, still had to get up at six. Now, if I don't sleep well, yeah, I'll just sleep until 10, you know? So um, yeah, uh like I said, adaptability. I think that's the key for me. I love that.

SPEAKER_01 18:38

Now, talk to me a little bit about how you told your employer you are retiring. Now, this, I don't get the sense, and I'm just trying to guess here. I don't get the sense it was causing a ton of anxiety to go and share, hey, I'm gonna retire now. But you never know, and I'll be wrong often where people go, no, you don't know. That was actually the hardest part. And there are a lot of people who watch and listen to this who go, that's the thing giving me the most anxiety. It's well, my team and my project, and I said I was gonna retire, but uh it's just not a good time. So, what was the actual logistical transition like?

SPEAKER_00 19:11

So that it took a lot of thought, right? Because you always want to be careful how you say things. You want people to realize in in my case, it wasn't about the job at all. Um, I really love my job. I I had a great time doing my job, but I just realized there's so many m other things I wanted to do, like travel and and undertake projects that I couldn't do while I was working. So I had a fantastic sales manager. Probably out of my career, I had seven different employers and and many, many different sales managers. And he was probably the best sales manager I had ever had. And he knew of my health issues and what I had was battling and all that. And when I went to him, he completely understood. Uh, in fact, I I went to him very early. I went to him like six months before. I said, Hey, at the end of the year, I'm gonna retire. And he was nothing but happy for me, right? He he was like, that's fantastic, good for you. And at that point, we had known each other for like seven or eight years. And uh it ended up after three months, I kind of got short timer's disease, where I realized like my head and my heart was not in the job anymore. And I don't think that was fair to them, and it wasn't fair to me either. So I went and had another conversation with them and said, Hey, I know I told you the end of the year, but you might have noticed my heart's not in it anymore, right? And he admitted, he he said, Yeah, you know, I kind of noticed that, you know. And I said, Well, I appreciate you like bearing with me while while maybe I wasn't performing at 100%, uh, but this is my decision to go a couple months early. And they were great. The whole company was great. I I, you know, I couldn't have asked for a better company to end my career with. Amazing.

Superhero Account And ACA Healthcare

SPEAKER_01 20:52

I don't know the exact quote, but your manager is reminding me of it. So I think it goes something like this. I could be butchering it, but bosses make you feel like they're important, leaders make you feel like you're important. And it sounds like that was the case here. And that's what we talk about when it comes to James Cannole, the founder of Root here. So um, that's what it sounds like. Now, let's talk a little bit about the finances more, if that's okay with you. So I will use a lot of lingo. One of those pieces of lingo is superhero accounts. Are you familiar with that term?

SPEAKER_00 21:26

Yeah. So it's funny you say that because that is one of the things that I can say more than anything, and and you in particular, that I took away from your YouTube. That superhero account has made the difference in me being able to retire early. If I did not have that, if I had just plowed all my money, yeah, right. That's the way I feel. Yay. Uh if I plowed all my money just into a 401k or an IRA, I wouldn't be talking to you right now. I'd still be on the horizon, like, okay, when can I retire? That has made all the difference. Like, and then the other thing that really has made a difference is your video on healthcare, right? So, how do you obtain health care while you're young before 65? And how do you use that superhero account, right? So, this is my first year on the Affordable Care Act. It has been, for me personally, fantastic. It's better than the insurance I had when I was working. I haven't had anything denied, and it's cost me less money than when I was working, which I can't believe. But it's the the ability to use that superhero account and structure your finances and your income has made that was the difference between me working more years or retiring early.

Why Tax Strategy Buys Life Time

SPEAKER_01 22:44

I mean, how powerful is that? That Sean, I am so glad to be talking to you because you don't have to be working right now. And here's the beauty. So someone once said, so, and I didn't, I wasn't taking there's no offense once this person said what I'm about to say. They said, Ari, so what do you just love this tax strategy stuff? Is that just what you wake up in the morning? I go, no. If you're smarter with numbers, you can have a better life. It is that simple. And you're a living example of someone who could have just kept maxed out a 401k and done what feels like the right thing, but you went, wait a second. If I do use this superhero account, considering I've already put a good amount in my 401k, I can choose how I create my income, then I can get a healthcare benefit, then I can look into doing all these other fancy tax strategies that I talk about. It can make it so you get more time with family and friends and prioritizing you. And that's what this is all about. So I love that you shared that. Let's talk um even I want to go earlier. So before you heard about superhero accounts, let's go to Sean at let's say 22. Who first told Sean about investing and 401ks? And were you the person that right when you got your first job said, Yep, I'm putting it into the 401k? Were you like, I started in my 40s? What was it like for you?

Starting Late And Building Real Savings

SPEAKER_00 23:56

Yeah, so I I I grew up, I went to college, I got a degree in uh electrical technology, uh, started working for a company that did IT systems, and and I was a breakfix repair guy, right? Their computer broke, I was the guy they sent to go fix it, right? Did that for a couple of years, and uh then my father, who was in uh his own business, was retiring, and he said, Hey, why don't you come work for me and then eventually you'll take over the business. And I went and I did that for five years. I was absolutely miserable, hated what I was doing, went to a Christmas party, ran into an old buddy, and he said, What are you doing? I said, uh, I told him I'm I'm in the dry cleaning business, right? He's like, Do you like it? And I'm like, I hate it. And he said, Well, why don't you come work for me in sales? And at that point, I thought sales was like, and no disrespect to to car salesmen, but I thought it was that sort of high pressure used car salesman guy. And I said, Man, I'm just not a sales guy. And he goes, Okay, just come to my office on Monday and talk. I want you to talk to three of my sales guys. So I did. I went and talked to three of his sales guys, and and it's a fun, I tell the story because I think it's hilarious. After I talked to him, I went back to his office and he goes, What do you think of those three guys? I said, Well, you know, Mike was really smart and Dave was brilliant. That guy, Brad, what a knucklehead. And he started laughing. He goes, You know how much money that knucklehead made last year? And he told me, and I'm like, sign me up. I'm in. I'm 100% in. So yeah, that that was the start of my sales career. Uh, but that was at 29 years old, right? And up till that point, I had no real savings, right? We had a savings account, me and my wife, and she had contributed to her IRA through her work, but I had nothing, right? Got into sales. The first year was a real struggle, didn't make much money. Second year, I started making a little money, started uh saving in a 401k because my company matched, right? And it wasn't until I turned to be about 35 I started making good money. And then I realized, like, I don't know what the heck I'm doing. I need a little assistance and guidance, right? And that's the first time I started working with a financial advisor who, to his credit, he did say, don't plow all your money into an IRA or a 401k. Let's set up a brokerage account because later on you're gonna thank me if you ever want to retire early. And that was back in 2006. So I had started at the time we just called it a broker brokerage account, but I love your terminology, the superhero account. And I tell my kids that all the time like, where's your superhero account? Where's it at? Um Yeah, so uh it wasn't until much later, and once I started listening to you, that I realized like this truly is a superhero account. You can do things with this that you couldn't do. Like, I have friends who are a little older than me who all they have is the 401k or the IRA, and they won't retire till 65 because they don't know how to pay for healthcare without it costing them too much money. Right. So everybody I meet who ever asked me how'd you do it, one of the first things out of my house out of my mouth is you've got to set up a superhero account.

SPEAKER_01 27:07

I love that. And Sean, the the fact that you use the phrase your your living terminology. Sorry if I'm cutting you off. For everyone who's listening, just so you know, we use this fancy software that's supposed to hopefully make us look better than if we were just on a Zoom call. But sometimes it will make it where it's hard to tell if one of us has stopped finishing. So we're not trying to interrupt each other. So apologies if it comes off that way. But Sean, very much appreciate you using the term. And please know I maybe I should trademark that or or whatever I'm supposed to do for that because I really feel like it is. Yeah. I honestly I should. It feels like the hack that so many people feel is wrong because it's like, what do you mean I'm not maxing out the 401k? Isn't that the right thing to do? And look, there's other times where I'll say, look, you have plenty in your superhero. Go get the tax deduction. You're in a high income year. I am married to nothing. I just want you to make the most money, retire whenever you want, and live a better life. So it's very simple from my perspective. Let's talk about, if you don't mind, the time of when you're retired versus the time of when your wife is planning to retire and how that factored into your decision. And if your wife is like so jealous because you sleep until 9 a.m., like what's that dynamic like?

SPEAKER_00 28:16

Sure. So my wife is still working. Uh we're the same age. We're both 58 years old. I'll be 59 in December, she'll be 59 in January. And she's been working part-time in a job in a local community college. She's a help desk supervisor, and it's only 12 hours a week. But for her, it's it's high stress. And I've been telling her since I retired, I said, please retire. Please. Like you, we're in great shape now, you can do it. But she isn't quite ready yet, and she wants to continue working. And and I'm still working on her, right? I always tell her, I'm a salesman, I'm you know, I'm gonna make it like that that drip of water on the rock. I'm gonna break you sooner or later. So uh she's she's working on it, and maybe next year she's gonna do it, and then we're gonna do a little more traveling. But um, you know, I always say, and since I've retired, people have come up to me, and and it's very strange sometimes because sometimes people will kind of justify to me why they're not retired. And my response is always, we're all on our own journey, we're all on our own path. Yours isn't right, and mine isn't right. We're both not wrong. We just it's just different. And that's that's the beauty of life, right? That we're all different. So uh, you know, I realize my wife is walking her own journey, and that's awesome.

Spouse Still Working And Identity Shifts

SPEAKER_01 29:31

Once again, you are such a reasonable guy, Sean. You are a cool guy. I like you a lot. Okay, I I feel like you're trying to, it's it's gonna happen. You're gonna use the Brad sales skills, if I'm using his name correctly, the knucklehead Brad. Those sales skills are gonna come in, and then your wife is gonna retire. But honestly, and I say it as a joke, obviously, but there are certain times where you'll look at it and go, Look, you're telling me you're stressed and financially we're in a good position. Let's retire. And she might hear that, meaning she's like listening, but she's not hearing it because the whole concept of retirement might be weird to her because she's going, Look, I have friends that are nowhere close to retiring. So it just feels weird. Or we don't even know what's in people's heads right now. So what I find is one of those things that can help break the barrier is by, and I'm not saying that you should do this by any means, but when we'll talk to our clients that are struggling to retire, not for financial reasons, but struggling for purpose or fulfillment or things like this, um, is to watch a documentary. And the documentary that I will often talk about, and I don't get a commission on this, is In and of Itself. So it's called In and Of Itself. It's a documentary and there's some magic as a part of it, but they talk about identity and who we are, and I think it does a really good job for people who are kind of on the fence of, yeah, I know my husband or wife keeps telling me we can retire, but you know, work is stressful, but I also don't really know if right now is the time. And what I find is people live in the I don't know phase. And the example that I'll often share here is I am awful to be around Sean when I am hangry. So hungry and angry, probably familiar with the term. Now, there's my wife says a worse term than hangry, okay? And that's when I am injured and I cannot play soccer. And she's like, You're worse than hangry. And then she goes, You need to go get your MRI. And the first time I got an MRI when I hurt my hip very badly, she was really stressed and I was really calm and she was confused. She's like, Shouldn't you be worried? You're getting the scan. I go, once I get the scan, I know the severity of the injury and I'll actually be at peace. And she's like, What if it's really bad? I go, well, then I'll get my physical therapy schedule and I know when I'm going to be back on the field. So a lot of people live in this I don't know phase of I don't know what I'm gonna do when I retire. I don't know how I'm going to wake up. What does a day look like? So my question to you, Sean, more of a comment, do you mind sharing what a day in the life of Sean looks like? What time are you waking up? You've already alluded to it a little bit, but what time are you waking up? Are you taking a nap? Um are you traveling large periods at a time? But like, what's a general day in the life as a retiree, Sean?

SPEAKER_00 32:12

So it the the time I actually wake up varies. Uh it might be six in the morning, it might be 7.30 or 8, right? It really depends on how I'm feeling, whether I slept well that night. And I I sleep in general pretty good. Every once in a while, I wake up. Like a couple nights ago, I woke up at two o'clock in the morning and I was just wide awake. I don't know why. I'm not stressed, I'm not working anymore. Uh financially things are good, so I'm not sure why I'm waking up. But now it doesn't bother me anymore. I'll go downstairs and I'll, you know, eat something, turn on the computer, watch some videos or something. Then when I'm feeling tired, I go to go to sleep. So long, long way to get around to what time I uh wake up in the morning. But um, it starts with coffee. Uh I'm a coffee guy, so I I think about the coffee I'm gonna drink the next morning when I go to bed every night. I don't know why, but I love coffee. And uh I sit and I read our local paper just to kind of catch up, see what's going on. I'll, you know, look at Instagram a little bit and text my buddy some funny stuff on Instagram, you know, and maybe I'll watch a video or two and then I'll get off my butt at maybe eight o'clock, right? And then I start looking for a project. Uh I'm a big project guy. Since I've retired, I have done more stuff on my house than I ever have because I love to fix stuff and and you know, make stuff. And in fact, I I just uh about two months ago I finished building a pickleball court in my yard. So now we're inviting friends over to play pickleball and that's been last. Yeah. So having a good time with that. Um, so yeah, it'll be some sort of project that I've got to work on. And I embrace work and projects. Um sometimes I volunteer. Um we have a local trout fish hatchery, and I go down there on Wednesdays and I put a couple hours in. So my days are varied, you know. I I and there they'll honestly there'll be some days where I'm like, I'm a little tired. I'm gonna sit on the couch all day long and watch, you know, uh a Netflix series or something, right? I don't put any constraints. The only thing I ever tell myself is I need to do one productive thing a day. And that's it. If I get that done, then I've kind of reached my goals. But more than likely, I'm doing much more than one productive thing a day. I try to do more.

A Day In Retirement With Projects

SPEAKER_01 34:23

Such a healthy outlook on this, Sean. You're like the poster child for an early retirement. Um, I would love to just learn a little bit more. I'm just personally very curious. I'd love to learn a little bit more. So people will say, I'm so scared to retire because I'm gonna be bored, or I'm so scared because of purpose. I don't know what it's gonna be. And I love that you're saying, hey, I don't put pressure on myself. Some days I'll play pickleball, other days I'll volunteer, other days I'll watch a Netflix series, which is great because I think some people will even feel bad saying it. And you're like, why feel bad? Like live your own path. What I want to know a little bit more about is how are you? I want to make sure I'm phrasing this well so I get the answer I'm I'm thinking about. How do you think you have changed since you've retired? And obviously, I can kind of tell, oh, I'm less stressed. Oh, I'm now able to do more of the things I want. But I'll hear a lot of people who say they retire and they're like, I just didn't know the stress I was truly under. Like, I'm a nicer person, or I'm this, or are you like, no, I'm I'm the same person just with time. Like, if you were to ask yourself, how have you changed? Has your personality shifted? What would you say to that?

SPEAKER_00 35:36

Boy, uh I think the one thing that that comes like clear and shining through to me is I'm trying to make myself available to more people for things. And what I mean by that is taking the time to help people outside of myself and maybe even my family. Um trying to be more present in the here and now, whether it's just talking to my wife or my children, or hanging with a friend, just trying to really appreciate everything, appreciate the time. There's a great quote by Anthony Bourdain that talks about like hanging out with friends and having a drink, and like you can't even describe accurately what that means to to somebody, right? They have to experience it, and you have to stop and recognize what an important moment in your life that is. So I'm trying to slow down and really appreciate that. And that's one of the mottos I've I've kind of adopted in my retirement is the tagline, always be grateful, A B G. And that's for me, that's been the key to my happiness, even from the time I got diagnosed, right? That was kind of kind of a blow. I've always been a very, very active guy. I snowboard, I play hockey, I I uh wakeboard, uh I surf, I do all these different things. And then suddenly it was like, wow, I might not be able to do that stuff much longer. And I just said, you know what? I'll figure it out. I'll find other things to make me happy, right? So being adaptable and just being grateful for everything. I've got a beautiful kid, beautiful wife. It's just like what more can I ask for?

SPEAKER_01 37:20

You are a role model to me, Sean, because I worry. Oh, what if I'm playing soccer and I get hurt and I can't play anymore? Like that has caused me concern, and I'm gonna try to have more of your outlook. So I cannot thank you enough for coming on the show. This has been amazing. I end the show the same way every time, which is I want you to talk to someone who's planning on retiring, let's just say in the next five years. What would you tell that person? I'm gonna go ahead and be quiet for the next one to two minutes. You could take 30 seconds, you could take five minutes, whatever you want, but I'll be sure I'll be quiet. Um, what would you tell someone who wants to retire early and it's coming up in the next few years?

Write The Plan And Final Takeaways

SPEAKER_00 38:00

Sure. I I would say formulate a plan, write it down. There's something about putting pen to paper or having a plan that's written down that you drive towards and you can tick off milestones that is so extremely powerful, I can't even explain it. You know, it's yeah, I used to use the example to my kids. Like, if I told you to drive from here to California, how would you do it? They'd be like, I get in my car and drive. I'm like, yeah, no, really, how would you do it? Tell me how would you plan that trip? Where you're gonna stop, where you're gonna eat, right? I said, Life is no different, right? Plan it out, have your milestones, where you're gonna stop and and what you want to reach, and then write it down on paper, right? Write down all of your dreams, no matter how big or so how small. And I and I've been lucky enough that when I started my sales career, I had some fantastic mentors who took me through this exact exercise. And I was able to do th some things in my life I never thought I'd be able to do. And I realized like having that plan is paramount. Um and then the other thing is really important is find out what really makes you happy. There there have been times in my life I thought buying a vacation home, this or that, would make me happy. And I I did some of those things. And I realized after a while, like that's not really making me any happier. Right? So you really have to analyze what makes you happy and then try to strive and very be very honest with yourself. Like just acquiring stuff and and stuff that might not make you happy. You you really got to figure out in internally what makes you happy. I think that's it. Amazing, Sean.

SPEAKER_01 39:35

You went from always be closing, just kidding, with that movie, to always be grateful. And this is just special. So appreciate you coming on the show. And Sean, um, we will I would love to do a follow-up episode with you in the future, but you're definitely up there for some of the guests of the year because you are one of my role models. So thank you again for the show.

SPEAKER_00 39:54

But you let me know, and and I'd be glad to jump on anytime you like.

SPEAKER_01 39:58

Sounds good. Thanks again, Sean. Thanks a lot, Ari. If you enjoyed this episode of Retirement Reality, check out how we help people retire with confidence. You can see we have an FAQ section on our website. If you just hover over the resources tab, you can go ahead and see this FAQ section here and learn everything about what it's like to work with us, including our personalized planning process, a quick overview of how everything works, do you have enough money to become a client? Where will your money be? Everything from tax planning to fees. We are extremely transparent and want to make sure that you're working with someone that resonates with you. Hopefully you enjoyed this episode. And if you once again want to be a guest on a future show so that you can share your story, you can see that in the link of this episode. Thanks. Thank you all, as always, for listening to the early retirement podcast. I love getting to host these shows and make different content for you guys every single week. I've not missed a single week in years, and that is because I love getting to do this. Now, please be smart about this before you actually execute any strategy that you see me talk about or hear me talk about, should I say, please talk to your financial advisor, your tax preparer, your estate attorney. Please be smart about this. None of this should be construed as financial advice. This is for fun, educational, informational purposes only. Once again, just quick disclaimer here, guys, please be smart about this. Appreciate you listening as always. And you can of course submit a question on my website, early retirementpodcast.com. If you, of course, want me to address a specific case study or topic. I will not promise I can get to it, but I respond to every single person. And if I find it will be helpful for a lot of people, I will absolutely make an episode on it. At the very least, give you some insight. That's it. Thanks, guys.