Dr. Riley Moynes - Navigating The Four Phases Of Retirement

The first year after you stop working feels like a dream—then real life shows up. We map the true shape of retirement through four phases: the thrilling vacation year, the unexpected season of loss and being lost, the trial-and-error reset, and finally the reinvention that brings purpose back to the center. Drawing on insights from Dr. Riley Moynes, Tom Hegna, Dr. Wade Pfau, and years of client stories, we show why the nonfinancial side—routine, identity, relationships, and health—can make or break even the best-funded plan.

I walk through how decumulation planning turns savings into steady, tax-smart income, and why timing Social Security, coordinating withdrawals, and stress-testing healthcare costs matter more than chasing returns. We confront the surge in gray divorce with candid data and practical steps, from dividing assets and protecting Social Security to preparing for housing and legal expenses. We also unpack the emotional fallout—grief, anxiety, isolation—and the habits that rebuild meaning and community.

From the go-go to the slow-go and eventually the no-go years, the aim is a plan that funds life while life still feels full. That means clear cash flow for essentials, flexible savings for the fun, and long-term care strategies that protect dignity and family. You’ll leave with a realistic roadmap, sharper questions for your advisor, and a toolkit to rewire purpose as the years change. If you’re ready to design the next chapter with intention, hit play—and then share your phase, your worries, and your wins.

Enjoyed the conversation? Follow, rate, and share the show. For a free review and resources, call 866-780-7233 or visit Ozarksretirement.com and click Contact Us.

To learn more about Brad Pistole and the Ozark Retirement Group, please visit www.ozarksretirement.com 

Transcript

Welcome And Today’s Big Idea

SPEAKER_01 0:11

Welcome to State Money Radio with your host, Brad Pistol. Brad is a retirement income and tax planning certified professional, primarily serving clients in the Midwest, but he's sought after nationally for his expertise in helping people secure their retirement. Mr. Pistol is a licensed life insurance professional in approximately 20 different states, and he specializes in working with people who are near retirement and those who have already retired with wealth management, income planning, and asset protection strategies using life, health, long-term care, and annuity insurance products. And now, here to talk with you about securing your retirement, it's your host, Brad Pistol.

Phase One: The Vacation Year

Why Decumulation Planning Matters

Phase Two: Loss And Being Lost

The Rise Of Gray Divorce

Nonfinancial Risks In Retirement

Phase Three: Trial And Error

Phase Four: Reinvent And Rewire

Health, Long-Term Care, And Costs

Deep Dive: Gray Divorce Finances

SPEAKER_00 1:03

Well, hello everyone. Thank you so much for joining us today on Safe Money Radio. I want to shout out to all those listening in the Ozarks. You might be driving around or working in your shop or outdoing something today. And thank you for joining us on the radio. You might be listening to the podcast or listening to an app where you're somewhere all across this great country. We have clients in 20 different states. We have people who listen all over the nation. So thank you for joining us. It's been such an honor and a pleasure to talk to you every single week for 16 straight years now. And I will say this: today's topic is going to be one of those topics where you would probably think, oh, well, that sounds right up the alley for a retirement planning show, a financial planning show. But it's probably not going to be what you expect when I tell you the topic. We're going to be talking about the four phases of retirement from the opinion and the research of Dr. Riley Moynes. Now, he did a famous TED talk on this years ago. We're going to be tying in also some information from my good friend, world-renowned economist Tom Hegna. We're also going to be talking about research from my good friend Dr. Wade Fowl. They've both been guests on the show many times. We're going to be talking about Dr. Fowle's book, The Retirement Planning Guidebook. And here's the thing: as we talk about the four phases of retirement, most of you probably think about that day that's going to come one day, or maybe it's just started for you, and you have a cherry, pie in the sky picture of retirement planning. Here it is. When I finally stop working, when I retire, it's going to be one big long vacation. It's going to be a party. I'm going to do everything that I want to do, and every day is going to be joyfully, blissfully, wonderfully, fantastic. And in reality, having done this for two decades and worked with more than 2,000 clients, having watched my parents go through their retirement. My father has passed. He lived many years semi-retired. My mother is now retired fully. I've walked through it with my parents. I've walked through it with friends. But I've also walked through this with so many people, and so many of you have called into the show to talk to me about how retirement is not what you expected it to be. So there's going to be a lot of non-financial aspects to today's show. And I'm going to be talking about why the research of so many people with their PhDs say you need to be focused on the non-financial planning side as much as you do the financial planning side because this is where the majority of your retirement years are spent. So that's a good introduction, but let's strap on our belt buckles, let's dig in, here we go. According to Dr. Riley Moynes, the first phase of retirement is the vacation phase. Woohoo! It's the one we all want, right? You finish working. Every day is Saturday. You get to do all the things you want to do. My good friend Tom Hegna calls this the go-go years. This is when you go, go, go and do all the things you want to do, but you couldn't do because you were working 40 to 50 hours a week and you were raising your family. You had practices to attend, sporting events, PTA meetings, church events, and major life events. You know, birthday parties and all kinds of school events and everything under the sun, graduations, you name it, doctor's appointments, dentist appointments. So you just don't have the ability to go take those vacations and do the things you want to do. You are also busy building and saving for your future retirement years so that you could go take these vacations that happen and take place during phase one of retirement. Most of you probably had two to three weeks of vacation with your jobs if you were lucky. Maybe you had four to six, but most people almost never take them. You end up, I know I work with so many retirees. At the end of their working career, they cash in all these saved vacation days because they never take them. There just really isn't the time to participate in your wish list or your bucket list during your working years. Now here's the thing: the vacation phase and the go-go phase of retirement is when you finally get to do these things, but guess what? Even though you think this is going to last for years and years and years, Dr. Riley Moyne says the vacation phase, phase number one of retirement, lasts about 12 months. Now I want to say that again. You might have to pick yourself up off the floor, but he says the vacation phase, the honeymoon phase, if you will, lasts about 12 months. How did the honeymoon phase of your marriage last? How long? Now, if your spouse is sitting next to you, you better say, it's still going on, Brad. But realistically, how long is it? Six months, 12 months? That's how long the vacation phase lasts. And from a financial standpoint, this is a phase that you will probably spend the most amount of money in your retirement. Here's the key. If you're healthy, that's because you're going to travel more, you're going to take more vacations. Every single day is going to be like a Saturday. But if you're not healthy, you're going to spend the most money during the final phase of retirement and you're not going to like what you spend it on. But now we're going to be talking more about this later. Friends, both my son and I are retirement income certified professionals through the American College of Financial Services. I'm also one of the very first tax planning certified professionals in this country. Now, what does this mean? Well, it means that we're experts in making sure you never run out of money during your retirement years, and we make sure you keep as much of your own money in your own pocket and out of Uncle Sam's. We are decumulation experts. You see, you spend the first 40 years of your working career building and saving and accumulating money in your retirement accounts. But during your retirement years, it changes. You need a decumulation expert to help you navigate the best ways to take that money back out of your retirement accounts. Now, there are industry experts that we've had on the show many times, my good friends and colleagues, Dr. Wade Powell, Dr. Michael Finca, and Dr. David Blanchett, who will say something like this the distribution years are the most important years that you need to be preparing for. But most of us are focused on the accumulation years. In fact, most financial experts are focused on the accumulation phase of retirement planning. And they have very little expertise on the decumulation or distribution phase. America's IRA expert, my good friend Ed Slot, talks a lot about being prepared for the back nine of life. You see, the back nine is when you start taking the money back out of your retirement accounts, and you need income and tax planning experts to help you maximize these distributions. This is exactly what we specialize in for our clients all over this great country. Now, friends, if you would like to sit down with us and do a free financial review of your current plan, just give us a call. Our number's 866-780-7233. Now, maybe you're listening and you realize, hey, I don't even have a plan. I haven't even started. We're here to help you too. We'll help you build the best plan for you and your family in your own specific situation. We'll help you discover what your retirement income style is, and we will customize an income and distribution plan that will help you meet your goals, allowing you to live the retirement of your dreams. This is what we want. You can visit our website anytime. It's Ozarksretirement.com. And you can schedule an appointment right there directly on the website by just clicking on the contact us button that's on every page. You can also call us. Our number is 866-780-7233, and there's always someone standing by to take your call. Now, friends, on the show today, we're studying the four phases of retirement as shared by Dr. Riley Moines. And I will say this: if you missed the first section, we're going to have this as a podcast. You can go back and rewind and replay anytime, but we're going to do a quick recap at the beginning of each segment. So the first segment was the vacation phase of retirement. And contrary to belief until the way we dream, when we dream of retirement, we think it's going to last 10 to 15 years. The vacation phase, or what Tom Hegna would say the go-go phase, lasts about 12 months. Now, if you're really young and healthy and energetic, it might last three to five years, but Dr. Riley says it lasts for 12 months. And then comes phase two. Here's where the unexpected part of the show begins. Phase two of retirement, according to Dr. Riley Moynes, is the phase of loss and feeling lost. Now, what does he mean by this? Well, you see, once you retire and you go, go, go, and do the things you want to do and take the trips and take the vacations, which unless you have endless money, is going to be four or five or six vacations, and then you're going to want to take a deep breath and go, Well, what am I going to do now? And that's when the feeling of loss and being lost comes into play. Dr. Riley says, you lose your routine. You lose your sense of identity. You lose the relationships you built over several years at work. You lose the sense of purpose that was associated with your career and earning a living. And you lose power. You're no longer earning a living in the way that makes you feel. You're no longer leading and overseeing people. Now, Tom Hegna calls phase two of retirement the slow go years. That's because the go-go has slowed down, and now you're in a slower phase. And this does correlate with what Dr. Riley Moy says. In phase two, which would be the slow go years, the feeling of loss and being lost, this is what Dr. Riley Moyne says. This is when you experience the three Ds divorce, depression, and decline. Now you might be thinking right now, well, wow, Brad, this show's depressing. Why would you talk about that? I'm not going to get divorced. Well, I just want to share some realities with you. It's true, you might not experience divorce, but that might be because you're already divorced. Maybe you've already lost a spouse. Maybe you're going to go through things in a different way, but I will say this: there will be the feelings of loss and being lost. You will go through some depression and some decline. It happens naturally. And like I've said, and I'll repeat on the show, not only did I watch my father go through this before he passed away three years ago, I've watched thousands of clients go through this where retirement was not what they expected. They were so excited to retire. But then after they did, and much quicker than they thought, they started to go through some really strange things, some difficult things. So, Dr. Riley Moynes, again, he says you'll go through divorce, depression, decline. There's also death of a spouse, friends, loved ones. That brings upon some of the depression. So I want to talk about this for a few minutes, and when we get through the four phases, we're going to spend more time on this in the last couple of sessions. But here's what I want to do. I want to share some research from an article that Kendra Cherry wrote back in September of 2024. The title of this article was Why So Many Older Couples Are Falling Victim to the Gray Divorce Phenomenon. Now, if you're talking with me in person or if you're watching a video of mine, you know I have a solid white beard. And so when I say graying divorce, if someone's listening to me, they'll say, What'd you say? Gray, graying divorce? Yes, and I mean the color gray. People with gray hair. Let me give you some ideas, some examples. Bill and Melinda Gates, Hugh Jackman and Deborah Lee Jackman, Rhea Perlman and Danny DeVito. What do these couples have in common? They're all divorced after decades, decades, and decades of marriage. What is going on with this phenomenon? Well, a recent study from 2022 found that divorce rates among middle-aged and older adults has increased dramatically since 1970. Gray divorce was relatively uncommon in 1970 and grew only modestly until 1990. In 1990, 8.7% of marriages among people over age 50 ended in divorce. By 2019, that number had grown to 36%. The researchers also noted that people over the age of 65 are the only age group with growing divorce rates right now. In contrast, the divorce rate among adults in their 20s and 30s has actually declined in recent years, but not for those over the age of 65. It's the only age group with growing divorce rates. Friends, this is why I'm saying there is a very strong possibility that this one D of the D's that Dr. Riley talked about is something you might experience, even though you would never expect it. So why is this happening? Well, friends, I could easily do an entire show on just this one topic and this one subject, which is why I recently had certified financial planner Lindsay Lewis on the show. We talked about this. Now you can look this up on YouTube. Just type in Brad Pistol, Lindsay Lewis. She's the managing director and chair for the Center for Women and Financial Services at the American College, and it would be well worth your time to listen to it. But here are some of the top reasons why graying divorce for those above the age of 50 is so prevalent right now. The empty nest syndrome, financial issues, infidelity, health problems, growing apart, changing expectations, and societal changes. Now, we're gonna spend more time talking about this later in the show, like I said earlier, but before we do this, I want to ask you something. Has your current financial planning team ever talked to you about this stage of financial planning? Have they talked to you about the stage of loss and feeling lost? Have they ever talked to you about the challenges that you're gonna face after you retire? I've learned during my career, coming from three generations of financial planners, that most financial advisors only talk about the first phase of financial planning, the accumulation phase. It's what they hang their hat on. And they never get out of that phase because this is what they want you to know. I'll make you more than the other guy. That's what they hang their hat on. Accumulation, growth, returns. They have no real training or no skill regarding tax planning, distribution planning, or in advising you regarding the non-financial aspect of retirement. And friends, Dr. Wade Fowle writes a lot about this in his best-selling book, The Retirement Planning Guidebook. There's an entire chapter titled The Nonfinancial Aspects of Retirement Success. Dr. Fowl talks about the nonfinancial side and he says it's often more important than the financial side, which is backwards thinking, I know, but remember, he's one of the top researchers regarding financial planning in the world. If you don't prepare for the non financial side of your retirement years, you won't ever get to enjoy the financial side. For instance, if you ignore your physical, mental, and emotional health, your retirement years will be a complete struggle, and they will probably end much quicker than you wanted them to or expected them to. This is something we spend a lot of time focusing on with our clients. We want you to live a happy, healthy, blessed life. Friends, you can call us anytime at 866-780-7233 to find out exactly what we do for our clients. When you call in, just ask for a copy of my number one best-selling book, Bulletproof, the Safe and Secure Retirement Income Plan. And ask for my safe money kit that will show you exactly what we do for our clients all across this country. Our number again is 866-780-7233. And remember, there's always someone standing by to take your call. You can also go to our website at Ozarksretirement.com and just click on the contact us button. You can schedule your own financial consultation right there on the website. Now, friends, as we continue the show today, we've been talking about the four phases of retirement by Dr. Riley Moines. We've been talking about research from other key people who've been guests on the show. So let's repeat quickly. Phase number one is the vacation phase. Woo, we all love that phase. But it fizzles out very quickly. We run out of money, we run out of energy, and experts say it lasts one to two years. Then you move into phase two, the loss and being lost phase. This is where you realize you're losing your routine. You've lost your sense of identity. You've lost a lot of the relationships you built over the years at work. You lose the sense of purpose that comes with having a career and earning a living. You lose power. You're no longer earning money, which is an adrenaline rush. You're no longer leading and overseeing people, which is also very fulfilling in an adrenaline rush. Tom calls phase two of the retirement years the slogo years. The first phase is go, go, go. You travel, take vacations. Phase two is the slogo when things start to change and some depression starts to set in, some indecision regarding what am I going to do? Who am I? What about all these feelings of loss? You may go through a divorce, a death of a spouse. And then comes phase three. Dr. Riley Moyne says phase three is a phase of trial and error. It's a discovery phase. This is where you think, how can I make my life meaningful again? How can I contribute to those around me? This may be a period of time after a divorce or the loss of a spouse due to death or a prolonged illness, which is a life-changing event. And because you've experienced significant losses, this truly is a rediscovery period and time of life. You're going to have to learn a new routine. You'll have to find a new identity. You're going to build new relationships. You'll find a new purpose. You'll find new energy. And this can be a really difficult, but also satisfying stage of life as you start to figure these things out. It's a period of discovery when you start doing the things that you truly love to do and that you do really well. And this provides a lot of happiness and satisfaction. I want to ask you this. Have you thought much about what your retirement years will be like? Do you have a plan for the different things that you're going to get to do when you no longer work? Have you thought about what would happen to your schedule and your routine if you lost a spouse? Have you thought about the financial challenges that might come with the loss of a spouse when you lose a pension or a Social Security payment? Or maybe they were still working a job when you retired and now they're no longer here? Have you thought about what might happen when you experience the sense of purpose that you once had being lost and behind you now that your career has ended? Friends, it's very, very important to be thinking about these things now. You don't want this to sneak up on you. Remember, failing to plan is planning to fail. And that's why there is such an increase in today's world in depression, anxiety, and divorce for those who are over the age of 65. It's the only age group with an increasing, growing divorce rate. Both my son and I are retirement income certified professionals through the American College of Financial Services. I'm also a tax planning certified professional, and I want to tell you why this is important. We have very specific training in 18 different core areas of retirement planning, not just the accumulation phase, also the decumulation, the retirement phase, the end of life phase. And a large part of this training involves being focused on the non-financial aspects of retirement planning. My good friend, America's IRA expert Ed Slott, talks a lot about being prepared for the back nine of life. The back nine is when you go through major changes in your life and often you don't expect these changes. You need to be prepared for the challenges that can come with this. This is exactly what we specialize in for our clients, and we have clients all over this country. If you'd like to sit down with us and do a free financial review of your current plan, just call us anytime. It's 866-780-7233. Maybe you don't have a plan in place and you're just getting started. We can help you. We will help you discover your retirement income style, and we will customize an income distribution plan that will meet your goals, allowing you to do what we want you to do, and that's live the retirement of your dreams. You can visit our website anytime at Ozarksretirement.com, and you can directly schedule an appointment right there on the website. Just click on the contact us button, or you can contact us anytime at 866-780-7233. Remember, there is always someone standing by to take your call. Okay, friends, it's time to talk about phase four of retirement planning. Dr. Riley Moines had a famous TED talk where he talked about the four stages of retirement planning and the things that you're going to experience and go through. Now, the first one we all expect and we look forward to and we can't wait for number one, the vacation phase. Tom Hegna calls it the go-go years. But remember, this is only going to last one to two years. Second comes the feelings of loss. This is when we realize we've lost our routine, we've lost our identity, many of our relationships, our sense of purpose. We've talked about it a lot on the show. Then in phase number three, we go through a phase of trial and error. We discover new things. How to make our life meaningful again. If we lost a spouse due to death or divorce, we've lost a job, we've lost a career, we've lost our routine. This is when we figure out what it is we want to do with the rest of our lives, maybe new new habits, new hobbies, places we want to go, things we want to do, lives that we want to impact by giving back and sharing. And then we go into phase four. Phase four, the reinvent and rewire phase of life. This is where you discover your purpose. You find activities that provide meaning to you. You learn to squeeze all the juice out of retirement. This almost always involves service to others, helping out charities, maybe your church, helping out family members, being involved with your grandchildren. Dr. Riley even gives an example. I started laughing when I saw it because I can literally visualize people who do this locally where I'm at. He talks about a group of men who developed the old Coots Advice booth at the farmer's market, and this is what their sign says. This may not help you much, but it's free. I love it. Gather together at the farmer's market, have a booth, a bunch of old codgers, and they're going to say, come by and ask us anything you want. It may not be great advice, it may not help you much, but it's free. I love it. But it gives them meaning and purpose, something to look forward to, something to do. In phase four, you get to regain all of the losses that you experienced in phase two. You'll learn a new routine, you'll learn a new identity, you'll develop new relationships, you'll discover a new purpose. I talk a lot about this in my best-selling book, Bulletproof: The Safe and Secure Retirement Income Plan. Chapter eight is the most important chapter in the book. If you haven't read it, you can go to Amazon and get it. I made it very, very affordable. I think it's$6.5.99 to buy the audiobook so you can listen to it wherever you want to, download it on your phone. But you can call us anytime. I'll give you a hard copy of the book absolutely free if you live across the country. If you're local to the Ozarks, you can swing by our office anytime and say, I'm here to get Brad's book, and we'll hand it to you. But we want you to understand the most important part of life, and that's chapter eight in the book. Now, Tom Hegna talks about this last phase as the no-go phase. He talks about a time in life when things really slow down. You go from go-go to slow-go to no-go. And there are some dual sides to this last phase of life. You will discover new purposes, you will have new energy and things you're excited about, but often just simply because of our age in this stage, we will start to go through health issues. We're going to need the help of family and friends, maybe uh experts in the medical field. This is why it's so important to have long-term care and protection in place. And I want to ask you this is this something that you're thinking about? Do you have specific plans for the possibility of health issues? Do you have long-term care in place? Because I said earlier in the show, number one, the vacation phase will probably be the most expensive part because you're going to travel and do the things you never were able to do while you were working. If you're healthy, if you're not healthy, the last phase is going to be by far the most expensive phase. Because that's when all of the health issues take place and you're going to have a lot of medical bills. Friends, no one wants to go through asset spin down and Medicaid. Are you prepared for this? Because we specialize in this. We've watched far too many people lose everything they spent their whole life earning because they didn't have a plan in place. My son and I are both retirement income certified professionals through the American College of Financial Services. We have very specific training in 18 different core areas of retirement planning. And a large part of this involves the non-financial aspects of retirement planning. Ed slott talks a lot about being prepared for the back nine of life. This is when you go through these changes that we're talking about. It's when a lot of the health issues take place, and you need to be prepared for these challenges mentally and financially. This is exactly what we specialize in for our clients, and we have clients all over this country. Friends, if you'd like to sit down with us and do a free financial review of your current plan, just call us. Our number's 866-780-7233. Maybe you haven't even started. You don't have a plan in place. We can help you start from step one and walk you all the way through this process. We'll help you discover your retirement income style, and we'll customize an income distribution plan that will help you meet the goals for the rest of your life. And this will let you live with peace. It will help you live the retirement of your dreams. We don't want there to be any added stress during your golden years. Friends, you can always visit our website at Ozarksretirement.com and you can schedule an appointment directly there on the website. Just click on the contact us button. We'll get a notification right after you fill that out. You can also call 866-780-7233. There's always someone ready and waiting to take your call. And if you missed any earlier part of the show, remember you can always go to YouTube, Apple or Spotify, subscribe to the show, Brad Pistol, Safe Money Radio, and you can always rewind and replay. But this is what I want to do. I want to talk about what we talked about in phase two, which Is when you go through loss. And Dr. Riley talks about the D's that you go through. And we're going to be sharing more about that and covering it right now because there are so many people who experience these things. And the big one is divorce, something that we call graying divorce. Yeah, our hair's turned gray. Our body's not working the same way. Retirement years aren't quite what they expected. Both of us had working careers. We raised children. We went in lots of different directions. And then we find ourselves back in the same home with a lot of time on our hands. And after we take a few vacations, a lot of people find out, you know what? I don't love you the way I thought I loved you. We don't have as much in common as I thought we did. I don't really like spending time around you. And it is an unbelievable, fascinating phenomenon that's taking place right now. Of course, most people probably have their heads down in their phones, on their apps, on TikTok and Instagram and Facebook and Twitter and all the other things in this world that I simply refuse to waste any of my time on. But it is affecting families and relationships. So here's what I want to do. I want to spend two more sessions on this, and I want to talk about financial considerations to think about once you experience graying divorce. Because, friends, we have it happen every single week. I have more than 2,000 clients. One week this year in 2025, we received three notices, three days in a row, that families who are clients of ours were going through divorce. Three separate families, here were their ages. Upper 60s, early 70s, and early 80s. If you would have told me 15 years ago that I would experience a week in my business when I would find out that three different sets of clients were getting divorced and they were in their 60s, 70s, and 80s, I would have said, no way. But this is very, very common. And it can destroy you financially. So let's talk about it because this is a big reality in today's world. If you haven't gone through it, you know someone who has. I'll often say, if you and your spouse are blessed to be married more than 50 years like my parents were, God bless you. But I can guarantee you this a sibling of yours or a child of yours or a grandchild of yours or a friend of yours will have gone through it, many of them, because that's what statistics say today. It's important to note that divorce can have serious financial consequences for couples that end their marriages later in life. Gray divorce can be financially devastating to both parties. Often people are saving for a joint retirement. They're expecting income from both people. This will likely be split with a divorce, leaving people with far less income than they had anticipated. While divorce has economic impacts at any age, some considerations that are particularly significant for middle-aged and older adults include these things dividing your assets. This involves splitting up financial resources, possessions, and property that you've accumulated over the course of a marriage, and this can be over many, many years. This can include the shared home and any savings, investments, pensions, and other personal possessions. Laws about how these assets are divided vary by state, and we have people who listen to us all across the country. So you're gonna have to be savvy and learn the information that applies to you no matter where you live. This also includes retirement savings. Splitting retirement savings can affect how much each person has available to support themselves during their retirement years. It involves health care costs. Graying divorce can affect your health care and the expenses involved. One spouse may lose access to insurance benefits that were previously provided by their partner, which can be a significant concern for older adults with increased health concerns. Here's another big one. There are housing and legal expenses. Costs associated with divorce can include housing expenses, finding new places to live, apartments, homes, moving out of state. It can also involve and will involve legal fees. And friends, these things add up very quickly. Here's another thing. I see this every single day. Evidence indicates that a late life divorce has a major effect on an individual's financial situation and their well-being. For example, research has shown that gray divorcees have less financial security than their married or widowed peers. While both men and women take a significant financial hit after a divorce, evidence indicates that females are affected more, especially when it's a gray divorce that's involved. They will receive lower Social Security benefits, and often 25% of them will experience poverty. Men and women both feel the financial toil from a divorce, but the effect on women is much larger. One recent study found that women who divorce after the age of 50 experience a 45% drop in their standard of living, compared to men who only experience a 21% drop. On the society level, older couples who divorce can create major challenges for themselves, and it was already a challenge, especially when it comes to the housing market. Finding housing that's affordable, accessible, and safe for the needs of an aging population can be a particularly difficult challenge. Here's another big one. Loneliness. Loneliness is a major problem after separation from a lifelong partner. Social isolation happens all the time, and loneliness is linked to things that won't shock you. A higher risk for health problems, dementia, coronary artery disease, and stroke. Now, friends, I know this isn't a wonderful thing to talk about, but it is reality. And if you haven't experienced it, I can guarantee you you know someone who has. Maybe your parents have experienced it. Maybe friends have experienced this. But if you're listening and you've experienced the things that we're talking about on this show, we're here to help you. I've spent almost 20 years in this business and I've walked through a lot of divorce and a lot of death with my clients. Friends, I lost my own father who worked in this business with us. He had 52 years of history as a financial planner. My mother's been a widow for three years now. In fact, as I record this show, I'm remembering my father's birthday. He would have been 81 years old today. My mother is here today, and I will spend the next five days with her doing things that she loves to do. We're going to go to some craft fairs, I'm going to take her to Silver Dollar City, we're going to go out to Farm Fest, all different kinds of things. But this is because of the sense of loss that she has experienced and identity and financial security because of the loss of her spouse. I've also personally experienced divorce. Now, though it was many, many years ago, trust me, I can relate to what you're going through. I raised two children, 100% on my own, from ages 10 and 12 to now ages 27 and 30. I am now a papa to four beautiful grandchildren. So I want to say this to you today. No matter what your struggles are, you will make it through this phase of life. It won't be easy. You're going to need a good support system. You're going to need to surround yourself with people who have been through similar things and surround yourself with people who genuinely love you. And this is why I love what I do. I love helping clients navigate their retirement years so, so much. There's so much more to it than just focusing on money and making good returns inside your accounts. You need to be prepared for the non-financial side of retirement planning. This is the side of life that often sneaks up on you and catches you off guard, and it can bite you. We help our clients be prepared for these things before they ever happen. If you'd like to sit down with us and do a free financial review of your current plan, just give us a call. Our number's 866-780-7233. And if you don't have a plan at all, don't be embarrassed that you're just getting started. Just call us, we'll help you. You can visit our website at Ozarksretirement.com and you can schedule an appointment right there on the website. Just click on the contact us button that's at the top of every single page. Our number's 866-780-7233, and there's always someone standing by to take your call. Friends, on the show today, we've been talking about the different phases you will experience during your retirement years. Now, if you've never thought about retirement outside of this phase, you know, the phase that says, I'll get to do anything and everything I've always wanted to do, and it's going to be amazing all the time, then you might want to talk to someone who's been retired for five plus years. If you talk to them, you'll find out the things they've experienced, the financial and the non-financial things. They'll talk to you about the surprises they've experienced, especially if they've gone through a divorce, the death of a spouse, or the loss of their health, or the loss of their partner's health. On this show, we've spent some time today talking about the impact of graying divorce. This is something that has increased by more than 35% for retired couples over the age of 50 in recent years. We've been talking about the financial impact, but now let's wrap things up and talk about the emotional and psychological impact that these things can have on you. Graying divorce has profound emotional effects. It's a significant life change at any age, but this transition can be especially difficult if it happens later in life after a long-term marriage. Friends, you're going to experience things like grief and loss. It's normal for people to feel grief and loss once they let go of a shared connection and all the dreams and hopes they want shared together. This also includes family and grandchildren and routines, holidays, vacations. For some, the loss of what was once like the most significant relationship in their entire world can feel like the death of a loved one. You're going to experience stress, anxiety, and often depression. The mental health aspect of grand divorce is really important. Some people experience a sense of renewal and freedom once they let go of that relationship that no longer serves them or benefits them. But others, particularly those who didn't initiate the divorce, are left struggling with feelings of stress, anxiety, depression, and what in the world am I going to do? When a lifetime partnership ends, you've got to find a way to readjust and rethink what brings you meaning, purpose, and connection. You're going to experience the loss of identity. It's a major, major consequence from graying divorce. People are forced to grapple with changes to their sense of self, and they've got to find ways to redefine themselves outside of the marriage. A person's self-esteem and self-worth can also take a hit. They can be left struggling with feelings of inadequacy and rejection. As we talked about earlier, you're going to go through loneliness and isolation. Older adults are particularly at risk for loneliness, especially when they grow older, because they don't know what to do with themselves. Their whole sense of identity was wrapped up in that relationship. Some reports say that a third of all people over age 45 and one quarter of those over age 65 are considered socially isolated. And as you know, this is very unhealthy. So let's talk about that next. There are the health effects that are associated with growing divorce. There's a wide range of effects. In general, marriage is associated with better health and greater longevity. Married people tend to be healthier and live longer than unmarried counterparts. Now, while that might be the case generally, it doesn't mean that each individual marriage is good for a person's health. An unhealthy marriage can be a source of considerable stress and strife, which is associated with a long range of negative effects also. So we understand they're all different sides to this coin. In such circumstances, a low quality marriage may actually lead to worse health outcomes. But for people in unhealthy relationships, ending the marriage can be a positive health impact as long as you can deal with all the other negative effects. Now, I want to say this as we close. I realize this has been a very heavy topic today. No one likes to think about these type of things. Remember, at the beginning of the show, I said when you think about the ideal retirement years, you're probably most fixated on vacation. And it's the shortest phase of all the phases of retirement. But remember, the reason I'm sharing this because I love my listeners. I've been doing this with passion for a long time, 16 straight years on radio. Remember, I have more than 2,000 clients who are retired. I listen to their stories every day. I know all about illness, death, and divorce. I know how challenging and how fulfilling life can be during this stage of life. And I need you to remember this if you're listening right now. You're probably going to spend one third of your life in retirement. This could be 25 to 35 years. I recently met clients who retired at age 60 who are now in their 90s. Do you think they faced any challenges during those years? You better believe it. They could write a book about it. My good friend, who's been a guest on the show many times, Tom Hegna, describes these three phases in retirement the go-go years, the slogo years, and the no-go years. Dr. Riley Moyes describes them in four phases, and he goes into more detail than this. But if you missed any part of the show today, we covered all these phases. You can go back and listen as many times as you need to. I just want to say this and give you this advice today as we close. Enjoy your go-go years. Take a lot of vacations when you first retire. Experience all you've ever wanted to experience so you can live your life with no regrets. Be prepared for loss in phase two. It's going to happen. At some point, you're going to be faced with some very challenging times in life. Discover all that you can during phase three. Changes in your life will bring new opportunities. You need to look on the bright side and live with passion and grace for others. And finally, live like my father, Joe Pistol lived. Do the things that you're passionate about. Make those around you feel loved and spend part of every single day making someone else laugh and smile. Squeeze all the juice out of life that you can. Friends, I love spending this time with you each week. I've truly enjoyed the past 16 years talking to you every single week, and I hope and pray the things that we share will continue to make a difference in your lives and in the lives of those you love. If you ever need our help in any way, please contact us. You can reach us at Ozarksretirement.com. Just click on the contact us button to schedule a free consultation. You can also call us anytime. Our number is 866-780 SAFE. That's 866-780-7233, and there's always someone standing by to take your call. Well, I'm about out of time, and I would like to thank you for listening to Safe Money Radio. If you're serious about your financial future, give me a call, and together, we'll get your retirement savings on the fast track to accumulation while reducing exposure to market losses. Thanks for listening, and until next time at the same time, I'm Brad Pistol, reminding you to stay safe so you can step into a secure future.

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You've been listening to Safe Money Radio with your host, Brad Pistol. Find out how to contractually guarantee that your hard-earned money is safe while avoiding market loss so you can have the retirement that you deserve. Call Brad Pistol now for your complimentary safe money book and safe money information kit at 866-780. That's 866-780-7233. The preceding information does not represent tax, legal, or investment advice. Surrender charges apply to base contracts. Optional lifetime income benefit writers are used to calculate lifetime payments only and are not available for cash surrender or in a death benefit unless specified in the annuity contract. Fees may apply. Guarantees are based on the financial strength and claims paying ability of the insurance company. No information presented today should be acted upon without meeting with a qualified and licensed professional. Obviously, by calling us now, you are just taking the first step towards protecting your retirement. It's important that you read all insurance contract disclosures carefully before making a purchase decision. Rates and returns mentioned on this program are subject to change without notice.