A Wiser Retirement®

302. What should I do five years before I retire?

• Wiser Wealth Management • Episode 302

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Retirement isn’t just a finish line, it’s a brand new chapter. In this episode of A Wiser Retirement® Podcast, Casey Smith and Financial Advisor Michaela Dowdy outline eight key things you should focus on starting five years before retirement. While more time is always better, the 3–5 year mark is when many people get serious. Here's how to make the most of it.

Related Podcast Episodes:
- Ep 276: How to Make Sure You're Ready for Retirement
- Ep 245: Strategies for Early Retirement and Long-Term Security

Related YouTube Videos:
- Investing for Income vs Growth in Retirement: Finding the Balance
- The 4% Rule in Retirement Isn’t for Everyone

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- Schedule a Complimentary Consultation: Discover how we can help you achieve financial freedom.
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This podcast was produced by Wiser Wealth Management. Thanks for listening!

Learning to Live in Retirement

Speaker 1

but it's also finding that social interaction that'll allow you to have, you know, a sense of community and a sense of even finding that purpose, and really I think a lot of that comes from you know, your hobbies.

Speaker 2

Welcome to Rise of Retirement Podcast. Are you curious about what to do five years before you retire? I'm Casey Smith. Today, I'm joined with our financial advisor, michaela Dowdy. Each week, we bring you practical advice on retirement, investing and planning for your financial future. Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast wherever you're listening. Let's get started. Hey, michaela.

Speaker 3

Hey.

Speaker 2

Casey, what to do five years prior to retirement is probably see a financial advisor.

Speaker 1

Yes.

Speaker 2

Um, as soon as I saw this title that they wanted to discuss today, I thought man, I think that's when a lot of people come in. It's like about five years prior. But you gotta be in here 10 years prior or even 15 years.

Speaker 1

Yes, but I do feel like the big time to come in is about that three to five year period. I think people are like, oh, I've got to go in and make sure everything's set up, but then a lot of times that's, you're pretty set at that point at the five year mark. It's pretty much. It is what it is. There's not a lot of fluctuation versus, you know, 15 years out, we out, we can make some adjustments and have a lot more flexibility there.

Speaker 2

Well, you've got a good list here. I'm excited to uh get get through the how many do we have?

Speaker 2

I think there's eight eight eight, uh, your eight things, you should be doing prior to five years prior to retirement. That's a really long title, um, all right, so I guess let's kind of start diving, diving into it. You know, retirement, retirement's a big retirement's a big transition for people, and I find that we meet with a lot of people who typically, you know, if you're coming to a wealth management firm, you probably got things kind of mostly figured out, or at least you've been a good saver, probably. Yes, management firm, you probably got things kind of mostly figured out, or at least you've been a good saver, probably. Um, but I think the the what I find myself saying the most to people is go live a life.

Speaker 1

Exactly. It's crazy. It's like we've been.

Speaker 2

I've been saving. You're just programmed to save it. Then you finally get to that day and they don't do anything. And so I sit here saying where is it you want to go? I always wanted to go to Paris. It's like well, go to Paris, book the ticket. Yeah, book the ticket. I don't know, I don't know, I don't know if we can afford that. And he's showing the projection to like this is how much money you have at 95.

Speaker 1

And you're probably not going to live to 95, but this is our standard projection.

Speaker 2

Yes, and they're like, oh, that's a lot of money. It's like, yeah, Like. I literally told somebody who's incapable of ever buying a new car this couple of weeks ago. I literally was in. They're literally incapable. They have three very old cars, very, very old cars. Don't need to have old cars. These are like 20 plus year old cars and I, I and kudos to. Honda and Toyota.

Speaker 3

They they last a long time.

Speaker 2

Uh, I literally said he goes. Well, it's hard to buy cars Cause I like a manual transit, uh, transmission. And I said, okay, we'll go buy a Porsche. A Porsche GTS has a manual, has a, has a, has a manual transmission. And his wife's like, oh my gosh, he would never buy a Porsche.

Speaker 1

And so I was like Surely Toyota has to have a manual somewhere.

Speaker 2

You would think I'm sure you'd custom order anything right. But no, I literally went to his plan and there's like a little Porsche a sports car and I put it in there and I put $350,000 in there, which he is incapable of doing. That I understand this, but I figured well, you can only, you can only go to the extreme in order to get him back to center Right. So, so I was like, I was like you can buy this Porsche and the needle didn't move.

Speaker 2

They still had like 99% probability of not running out of money Right. And the next week she sent me a. Uh, she sent me a, a message that said uh, well, it's not a Porsche, but we're gonna nickname it Porsche. It was like a 2022 or 23 Honda something amazing.

Speaker 1

Yeah, it was still had to like certify, warranty or something attached to it and for him like that.

Speaker 2

I'm sure he's like trying to figure out apple play.

Speaker 1

I don't know if he even has that, but it should typically, I feel like you would think um, but yeah, so that's what I find myself doing.

Speaker 2

um, and you know, a lot of uh, a lot of people that I work with have been at this firm for 15 to 20 years, so at this point, um, I can say things that are on the friend, the good friends spectrum, versus just having to be more of that, almost like friendship in a way like a nice advisor of a friendship in some ways. Right, exactly.

Speaker 1

But it is funny though, cause because that is so how it goes, where it's the clients that have, you know, the best success and you know have, overall, have just saved so well for retirement, because they're in such that saving mindset, right. When it comes down to hey, you should really be spending this money. You've worked so hard to save on the things that are important to you. It feels wrong, and if you apply.

Speaker 2

Yeah, it feels wrong to them but, then if you look at the last 10 years and the stock market's done so well, yes, that even what they're spending normally, you're getting double the amount back and rate of return sometimes triple the amount no, definitely no, that's, that's not every case.

Speaker 2

I mean, we still have to have those hard conversations that people have got, dial it back and think, think about your, your future. I mean that that still happens, but I I find that, at least in this season of review meetings, that seems to be what the most common theme is is go live a life go find something you want to do go go live a life.

Speaker 2

In this particular case, the gentleman is is dealing with some health issues and really can't leave the house because what he's on? He has no immune system, oh goodness. So he should be wearing a mask and you know, there's all kinds of perceptions of people who wear masks. Now, he's nothing political, it's literally just you know it's a major surgery and he can't be out. In fact, last year I think, he came to the office and just the trip here and back. Somehow he got sick.

Defining Your Retirement Vision

Speaker 2

Oh my goodness, yeah so probably one of us here without even knowing it being perfect, healthy people were carrying something he got. He got very sick, but he insists on coming in. But so I told him. I said I say go buy the Porsche, you don't have to be around anybody Right? No, you don be around anybody, right, you can drive to your heart's content. Drive to your heart's content, uh.

Speaker 2

But hopefully he'll do that in his Honda and get out of his uh, get out of his house. But, yes, all right. Well, let's um, we'll, we'll. We'll. Start with your list you've put together.

Speaker 1

Yes. So I mean, this really touches on essentially what we were talking about just a second ago, where really starting to define what that retirement or what your retirement will look like for you, is huge. So, you know, really trying to figure out OK, your last day of work comes around, well, what are you going to do with each day after that? Because the big thing that we see is, a lot of times, you know, people don't think of, well, what is my schedule going to be after retirement? And if you don't already have, you know, a thought process of I want to be involved in this organization in the community, or I want to be involved in this after, you know, retirement, or I want to focus more in on this volunteer opportunity that I've been a part of, but I want to be even more involved, um, or even, like, I want to go to the golf course and play golf with my buddies every single day, you know.

Speaker 2

Yeah, that sounds good to actually try to do it.

Speaker 1

True, maybe a couple of times a week, but it's really figuring out what is it that is going to fill your days. Now, I think also. That being said, I think a lot of times when we talk to retirees, it's either they're not doing that much or it's I'm doing so much. I have less time. I don't know how I ever worked.

Speaker 2

Yeah, I guess both ways.

Speaker 1

It goes both ways and you know those are both great for both people. So it just depends on what you want your retirement to look like. But it's going ahead and outlining that of understanding what is that for me, of what does retirement look like? Because if you don't know what you're anticipating for retirement, you can't really plan for retirement if you don't know what you're planning for Right.

Speaker 2

Yeah, finding your sense of purpose with airline pilots. I think that can be the you, your identity, especially for for males, your identity is what you do and who you are. Uh, and then so when that's not there anymore, then for, for a C-suite executives, the same thing you're used to kind of being catered to and and and kind of ruling the world, and you probably don't rule your home if you've been working that much over your, over your career?

Speaker 2

So, yeah, there's definitely some adjustments. I hear a lot of people say, well, I'm going to do some part-time work when I retire, I can never stop working, and I often translate that to mean that I have to have a sense of purpose. I need to be doing something. It's not because they can't afford to retire, it's just because they need to have to have that, that drive every day. So, uh, understanding what that looks like is very important.

Speaker 1

Yes, exactly, and I think it's really important, if you have, you know, a spouse or a partner that you're going into retirement with, to make sure you're both on the same page of what does retirement look like? Because I think oftentimes, sometimes it can be seen as oh well, you know so-and-so is going to retire this year, but it's like, well, what does that mean for you guys as a family?

Speaker 1

Is that are you both on the same path, and I think it's something too. When you're going through the planning process, we talk through expectations and concerns for retirement, but the big thing that is always kind of notated when we're going through it is you don't have to agree on everything on these. We know you're two different people, but it's also if you're not agreeing on those, then we do have to find that harmony of it too. So if one spouse is wanting to travel the world and go everywhere in retirement but one's wanting to stay home, well, where does that middle ground come to?

Speaker 2

I think the biggest one I've seen is the staggered retirement. So one person retires before the other and whenever, whenever the male retires before the female, I, I, I, it's like every time. It's like she doesn't know it. He goes yeah, I'm going to retire, probably next year, and she looks at him like what well, what am I supposed to do? I'm, I have to work five more years. So not being on the same page on that front is can be difficult, yeah, but but yes, communication in any marriage is a is a good thing to have.

Speaker 1

Yes, and you just want to make sure you have that shared vision for retirement, you know, and making sure that you're both just on that same page and want to achieve the same things out of retirement, even if it is a staggered retirement where one of you is working longer. That you know you can figure out. Well, what is the balance of that partnership now of you know, only one spouse is working, when we had two working before, or both of us are no longer working. What does that look like? And so you know, just figuring out how the home operates at that point can be very different.

Speaker 1

I think, even joking we kind of joke about it through the planning process too of are you going to have too much time together? And I think it is funny, even with like, especially, I think, our pilot families, it's like maybe, I mean, I'm gone, you know, 14 days out of the month sometimes, and now I'm going to be home all the time. How is that going to work? And so it, I mean some couples are like I can't believe that would even be on there, and then others are, oh, no, like we're actually concerned about that. So you know, even finding those boundaries with yourself of when do you need alone time? And you know just again, having those communication and open communication with any marriage is important or even any, just like long partnerships.

Speaker 1

I think you know even sometimes in retirement you've are on a second marriage or just second relationship in general. So overall they're just really talking openly with your spouse or partner is important. But then also going into the next point here is auditing your social network, which I love. This for the mental capacity that is so important. So there's just such a big like loneliness epidemic once you retire a lot of times and people don't prioritize finding that community and so then they just go through like a really kind of tough depression in some ways when they retire because they don't have the community that they had at work. You don't realize how much you enjoy your coworkers until you're not going to see them every day and or sometimes they help you retire because you're frustrated.

Speaker 1

But yes, exactly, but you're still getting that kind of you know conversation, even if it's you know, the water cooler talk or you know whatever it may be. And so it's now you know, figuring out, well, where am I going to get that social interaction that I used to get, you know, from work? And now I have to go find that myself, because it is very easy to become a recluse in retirement and just sit at home and do whatever hobby you want to do, and if that's what you want to do, that's perfectly fine. But it's also finding that social interaction that'll allow you to have, you know, a sense of community and a sense of even finding that purpose. And really I think a lot of that comes from you know your hobbies that you do.

Speaker 1

So you know, jokingly, everyone has, you know, pickleball on the brain, I think for all retirees, but you know whether it's having a pickleball club or even a book club, you're a big reader and just going to that a few times a week or once a week, however it may be. And then you know even just figuring out those kinds of hobbies to just fill your time and find your like minded community Right In that way. So yeah, and overall, you know, just looking at just those hobbies and figuring out what is important to you, and then how can you kind of build that community from there and I mean a lot of times you already, your friends likely already have similar kind of hobbies, and it's just kind of, you know, taking the launch or the leap to, you know, be a part of either a club or group or even start one yourself, if you have something you're passionate about and passionate about and want others to be a part of.

Building Social Networks After Work

Speaker 1

Before we jump back into the episode, do you know if you are ready to take off and launch into retirement? Get your pre-retirement checklist. A free guide from Wiser Wealth Management From cash flow to social security, we've got your countdown covered. Go to wiserinvestorcom slash guides to download your free guide today. Now let's get back to the episode. Next point is test driving your future lifestyle, which I find this one interesting. But I think this is really important if you're trying to move, especially in retirement, is making sure you know where you're moving and that you're going to actually enjoy where you're moving to.

Speaker 2

Yeah.

Speaker 1

Because going for a few days is one thing, but going for, you know.

Speaker 2

Yeah, you want to move to the beach, and then you, you, you move there, and then you realize that your neighbors are different every single week because you moved into a rental type community, yeah, that's kind of a surprise sometimes. Or you, you, you love the lake, but then you find out that you don't actually like living on a lake for some reason. I mean yeah that's, or definitely moving to a different city.

Speaker 2

Yeah, we tell people that anyway, maybe it's better to to rent before you moved into the city If you don't know anything about the city. No, definitely Same way in retirement, you, you want to make sure that you kind of dip your toe in the water and big changes.

Speaker 1

Yes, you just want to be certain before you start making any of those bigger moves, like you're saying, like purchasing a home or, you know, getting anything to establish there, before you've truly, you know, had the ability to use.

Speaker 2

people think about oh, I'm going to move out, I'm going to move on and live on. You know, 300 acres middle of nowhere, you got to think about healthcare. Yeah, like the people up in like blue Ridge and LLJ Georgia right now. They they they have to come down. They come to Jasper for probably emergencies Below that, anything major. They're probably coming to Atlanta.

Speaker 1

So you have to think about health care. Yes.

Speaker 2

And how that affects you. It kind of goes into our next point Evaluate your health and prioritize it.

Speaker 2

Yes, I'll say this. I went through a little health care a couple years ago and what I learned is there's like no VIP for like healthcare. You can get a primary, you can get a primary doctor that that doesn't have that many people, it doesn't have any patients and is really good and you can pay a little extra for that. But there's no like first-class economy, comfort plus for healthcare. Everyone's supposed to be the same because it's all first-class and it's not.

Speaker 2

Yes so so the best thing you can do is keep yourself out of healthcare. So, if young people are listening, do your exercises, eat well, because the best thing you do is not be a user of the system. Because the best thing you do is not be a user of the system.

Speaker 1

No, exactly that's the only solution. Have you seen those videos of the like 80, 90 year olds, like women that are like doing pull ups and like five minute long planks and all this stuff?

Speaker 2

No.

Speaker 1

Oh, my goodness, I'll just show it to you after we're done with this podcast, but it is insane.

Speaker 1

And so there's now all of these, you know, 20, 30 year olds that are like I've got to work out now so I can do that because I don't want to be the one that's like stuck on the couch or you know um immobile and not able to, you know, enjoy my life because my body has failed me or I failed my body, I guess, is more so the viewpoint there and it really is If you are a younger person, listening, if you can just set up those habits early, that's what's huge. And establishing those as early as possible, um, and just keeping with it even as life changes, I feel like is the tough part. Yes.

Speaker 2

It's like you have a routine and then something happens. Change it.

Speaker 1

Yes, then there's different phases of kids and what's happening, but yeah, Unless you're like Tiffany here in our office and just wake up at 3.30 in the morning to go get your workout in at 4 am 4 am burn.

Speaker 2

That's crazy. She does it seven days a week.

Speaker 1

I mean, she looks amazing If we go to a conference somewhere like.

Speaker 2

Evidently there's burns all across the country.

Speaker 1

Oh, can she just go into one she?

Speaker 2

can go into one, and she always says, yeah, I'm going to go to do this burn class, and I don't know if she actually does it or not, cause it's four o'clock in the morning and I'm not going to find out. But but yeah, she's, she's, she has a. I was about to say she's crazy. She has crazy good habits. How about that? She does she doesn't eat the sweets and yeah so it's impressive.

Speaker 1

It is impressive good for her. I'm proud that she is so disciplined. I love my sleep, though it's my problem. So, um, because she's still like I don't know how she does it.

Speaker 2

I genuinely don't but we can hold, we can have. I've asked her if she would do a podcast on creating, have healthy habits, things like that, but she, she has.

Speaker 1

I feel like if we had her and Shauna, it would be no like such a well, yeah, I forgot, you know yeah.

Speaker 2

Shauna's good at it too. But yeah she, Shauna, is an afternoon worker.

Test Driving Your Retirement Lifestyle

Speaker 1

Yes, they're like polar opposites no-transcript.

Speaker 2

You want to have one savings account. You want to have one high yield savings account.

Speaker 1

Exactly.

Speaker 2

People, people. You don't have to drive bank to bank anymore and and and have a different CD in each bank and it's all FDIC insured. And if it's SBIC insured, if it's in a brokerage account and if you're at one of the you know big three brokerage houses, I'm not concerned by anybody going out of business. So it just um. Some people say, oh, I want to diverse, I have to diversify. Diversification is not different uh accounts, it's what's in the account that matters for diversification. So declutter um can make things simple to manage in retirement.

Healthcare and Decluttering for Simplicity

Speaker 2

That that's important Um yeah, I think in your point here you also have even lifestyle stuff decluttering.

Speaker 1

Yes. Well, I think it's just important because at some point, inevitably, all of us are going to have to have, you know, someone who's a relative, or you know someone else is going to have to step into our life and eventually have to, either, you know, be our caretaker or you know someone else is going to have to step into our life and eventually have to, either you know, be our caretaker or, you know, eventually, when you know we're passing our assets down to others, they're going to have to inherit those, and so it's even, you know, just thinking of caring for your loved ones, of making sure that whoever's coming behind you really has even that ease of use, or that ease of you know.

Speaker 1

okay, well, mom and dad had all of their accounts at this institution and this is where you know they have all of their investments with this person and you know all of their checking and savings are at this you know bank, and then it's just very streamlined and it makes managing your estate so much simpler and all of that and then, especially if you're decluttering your home, I think this helps, even from a health perspective, of making sure that you don't have anything that's just like collecting dust and you know just overall germs and residue and mold and all the things of just making sure your home is cleaned and regularly taking out things that don't matter and that you're not using anymore and having the ability, even if it's I hate to say it, but even if it's hiring someone to say like, hey, I don't have the ability to clean my three-story house anymore, my, however much, um, if you've built a home you love but you've now gotten older, um, even if it's saying, hey, I need someone else that's going to come in and make sure that this is taken care of, and it's just something that's so important and so just making sure that everything's simplified for you and your loved ones, because that's just huge.

Speaker 2

A lot of the things that we do for people is people say I want to downsize and you start kind of working through what that looks like for them. Downsizing a house is it's not cheaper in most cases you're you sell your house, but you can pay more for the next house and that, and that's because so many people.

Speaker 2

There's such a high demand for these 55 plus type communities, so a lot of times it's cheaper to hire a good lawn service not the kid down the street, but someone who's actually going to plant the flowers and do all that. Hire a good housekeeper. It's cheaper to do that than it is to actually get up and move somewhere.

Speaker 1

Yes.

Speaker 2

Now you might have a situation where it's an older home, maybe there's more efficiencies in a newer home, or you just want to, and that's fine too. But yeah, moving, starting to downsize or consolidate or organize, is really what it comes down to get things organized make it easier to manage in retirement.

Speaker 1

Exactly.

Creating Your Bucket List and Legacy

Speaker 2

Number seven is probably my favorite. It's a uh you have here. It's called a startup bucket list. Uh, and that's where we started the the podcast with is telling all these people hey, go out and do something.

Speaker 1

Yeah, right.

Speaker 2

There's a. It's the strangest things that show up in my, in my Instagram feed, but there's this. There's this guy out Louisiana. His name's Chris Lynn. He, he's on a, he's on Instagram. I don't know what he does for a living. He reminds me of my brother-in-law, actually, uh, who grew up in Cordele, Georgia, but he, um, uh, his whole thing after every pod, every post he has, is he I'll get up your ass and go do something. Get off of your ass, go do something. Uh, that's all I said. So I would I would encourage this podcast to get off your rear end and go and go do something yes.

Speaker 2

Uh, go, go see something you hadn't seen before. Go, go, go, do something that brings joy. Um, uh. What I tell a lot of the clients I work with is I give you two weeks on the couch and after that you gotta have a purpose is what I usually say know, write down a list of things you want to do.

Speaker 2

Maybe you can do a lot of it pretty quickly, because what happens is it's like you're 60. You feel like you know you got some angst and pains, and I have. We both have the privilege of working with people all over the age spectrums, so we know that our 80 year olds aren't moving as much. Yes, right, we know that 60 year olds still think, well, we're going to do this sometime, yes, and then 70, 75, a lot of little health things come in. Sometimes you have a health scare about that age. So I'd say, make your list and why your feet can move, your knees don't hurt as much. That's when you wouldn't be climbing steps in Paris, exactly Because it's a lot harder to do that when, when, uh, you finally get there, if you've done planning, right Up until planning, you had the time or you had the money.

Speaker 2

You never had both after after you'd got the planning done right. And now you're retired. You should have the time and you should have the money. Exactly that's when you need to get you know get off your couch and go do something Next. You want to add to that.

Speaker 1

Well, I was going to say I think one of my favorite stories that you share frequently is the story of, you know, having clients that came in, they just didn't know what they wanted to do and you like sent them or they weren't going anywhere to travel. And you sent them just like a shoe box of postcards.

Speaker 2

You can't find postcards anymore. I can't find on Amazon anywhere. We didn't have buying a final old shoe box of postcards on eBay and we sent them a. We sent them a shoe box of postcards. So just pick a spot.

Speaker 1

I think they ended up going out West or something. Amazing Yellowstone or something like that. Yeah, but it's so important to have that list, though, put together and figuring out, you know, things that do make you excited for retirement.

Speaker 2

Uh, next one's also my favorite, if I can have two favorites, uh. Point number eight here is think about legacy and impact. It's like man, you know when, when we're dead and buried and gone like they, they think about us, uh, that day, and then may think about us a couple weeks later, but after that everything you've done just kind of fades away eventually do you know what your great-grandfather did?

Speaker 1

probably not my great well, I have one great grandfather that was alive for most of my life, or most of my life well, I'm just saying, but yeah, I'm just saying, even great, great grandfather, yeah, no like so so you, just you become that that weird picture in a in a photo album for people

Speaker 2

who still have those uh, photo, photo album, and you who still have those photo album and you're like I don't know who that is, and you have to look on the back of the card and go, oh, that that's uncle, so-and-so, or whatever, whatever, right. And I just say, how, how do you leave a lasting impact? And one it's. It's telling your family story, especially if you have a good story telling, telling your family story. I hope, I hope that from based on what we're building here, I hope that three generations down that my family is still talking about. Oh, there was this company called wiser wealth management.

Speaker 3

It's still here today, but are we were, you know, is this where it all started, for us.

Speaker 2

Yeah, I'm the first generation to do this. Prior generations have done this, but they didn't transfer well.

Speaker 1

Okay.

Speaker 2

Right, my great-grandfather had a plastics business and it did not transfer well, actually, when he passed away he went to the employees of the company.

Speaker 1

Oh, well, that's cool.

Speaker 2

So it all just kind of ended, you know, right, right there.

Speaker 1

Oh, interesting.

Speaker 2

So there there was some strife between two generations right.

Speaker 1

So they could. They couldn't get it to classic. Yeah, they couldn't get it. They couldn't get over the hump there, I guess.

Speaker 2

I don't know all the details, but, um, I'm not running a plastics company right now, um, but it's legacy is just so important. It's like what are we doing with our time? How can we impact the next generation? Maybe it's education. Maybe it's making sure your grandkids are going to school, but then your kids are telling the story hey, your grandparents paid for this education.

Speaker 3

You know it just a little.

Speaker 2

It could be little things like that, which sometimes that can be a big thing too, depending on where they go. But the point is is like what are you doing to make an impact on others? It doesn't have to be immediate family, cause we all have that weird uncle, we all have that weird whatever Right. But, it could. It could be um your volunteering your time and organization. It could be.

Speaker 2

It could be something um you know, maybe there's a plaque somewhere with your name on it, but but what do we? What are we doing to make uh to, to impact other people's lives? That that that's that's important. Um, that's kind of like the foundation of this whole firm. Quite honestly, is is headache because we work with so many people. Probably 25% of the people we meet with, as far as prospects go, really can't afford our services, but we kind of die. We dive into it for 45 minutes and try to solve the problem. Yes, right, or give them some, give them some uh, um, uh, give them some, some, some hope.

Speaker 2

That's what a lot of people need is just hope, right, yes, uh and so you want, you want to have a legacy such as that or you make up your own whatever is important to you, right.

Speaker 1

No, definitely, and it's just you know figuring out what do you want to be remembered for and what steps. I think I love the book that you had us read here on a mission Still one of my favorite things.

Speaker 2

Oh yeah, donald Miller's Hero and a Mission. If you're struggling with, like, what is my purpose? What am I trying to do? That is a great book to read.

Speaker 1

No, it's great. I'm so excited. We had our interns read it this summer and we're debriefing it tomorrow actually. So I'm excited to have that conversation with them.

Speaker 2

Do they read? A random walk down wall street too? Yes have they finished that. Oh, I should talk to him about that. Okay, there you go. We have a week left with our interns. I need to figure this out. You've done a great job, by the way. Uh, michaela was in. Uh, was basically the the mother for the interns? Uh, all summer long. So she designed helped design, mostly designed I used to. You know, alexa kind of worked together on that uh designing our intern program, so you did a great job with that.

Speaker 2

We've got one from Furman, one from uh Auburn. So, great, great summer for uh for them, and we've gotten a lot of projects knocked out, so kudos to you for that.

Speaker 1

So many projects. We came into the summer thinking they'd be good to get like 25 projects done. That we put in front of them and they have well exceeded that. I think they're at 60 now. I didn't even know we could have so many projects.

Speaker 2

They're going to. They're going to want full-time jobs.

Speaker 1

I know, I know, um, but going back to that book, it's just a great, great synopsis of figuring out well, what is my 10 year goal? What do I want to be remembered for? Like he has you or wants you to write your own eulogy, and I think that was so thought provoking for me, even just thinking through that of no, like actually the way if I were to be, you know, many years down the line and it you know someone standing there to say the words of, over my life, of what I exuded like what do I want that to be? Like what do I want those words? Because at the end of the day, it's not going to be.

Speaker 1

Oh, like Casey Smith met with a thousand some you know more than a thousand clients, but you know like it's not going to be your numerical you know um, or he had this much in AUM at Weiser Wealth Management. It's going to be he cared for his clients.

Speaker 2

Well, that's that's what um, uh, that's what actually was in our employee handbook is? Is that, um, at the end, nobody puts in our tombstone that we ran an efficient wealth management firm?

Speaker 3

No, they don't, or the best wealth management firm.

Speaker 2

Nobody cares at that point. It's about the lives that you touch. So, yeah, that's really important.

Speaker 1

It is, and it's just figuring out what are those small steps you can do today that eventually get you to living the life that you want to be remembered for, and I think he does a great job of putting that together in that book, so definitely a great thing to read if you're wanting to kind of figure out well, what legacy and impact do I want to have? Um, if you're someone that just you don't know what that is yet.

Speaker 2

So I think we've covered it very well. Um retirement is not an end, it's a beginning.

Speaker 2

So you have to prepare emotionally and mentally, socially, along with your financial planning, to set yourself up to be richer, more fulfilling, have a richer and more fulfilling retirement experience. I'm reading Michaela's words. Couldn't say it better than how Michaela put it in the notes here Are you ready to start mapping out your retirement lifestyle? You can schedule a consultation with our team to create a plan that aligns with your vision financially and beyond. Plan that aligns with your vision financially and beyond. Shana and Michaela are here ready to work with you. Thanks for listening to today's episode. If you're interested in learning more about Wiser Wealth Management and want to schedule a consultation, meet with one of our fiduciary financial advisors. You can do so by going to wiserinvestorcom or by clicking the link in the episode notes. Thanks again. We'll see you guys again next week.

Speaker 1

See you next week.

Final Thoughts and Recommendations

Speaker 3

Thanks for listening to a Wiser Retirement Podcast. We hope you enjoyed today's episode. Make sure to subscribe wherever you're listening. That way you don't miss any new episodes. We'd also appreciate if you could leave a rating and review. If you have any questions about anything that was discussed today, head to wiserinvestorcom and reach out. This podcast is strictly for informational purposes only and is not to be considered as investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any financial products, securities, digital assets or any other investment vehicles, or a basis to make any financial decisions. Wiser Wealth Management Incorporated is a registered investor advisor with the SEC. The host and or guests may personally own securities, digital assets or other investment vehicles mentioned. Thank you. Investments involve risk and, unless otherwise stated or not guaranteed, be sure to first consult with a qualified financial advisor, tax professional, insurance professional and or legal professional before implementing any strategy discussed herein. Past performance is not indicative of future performance.