The Idiots Guide
Sometimes it's about "ADULTING" enough for the day, and other times it's about Keeping a job, Feeding the family, Educating the kids, and Buying the stuff.
Most of us were taught how to read, write, and math good.
But never taught how to file taxes, change a tire, or cook a meal.
How in the world have we survived?
Well, have no fear, the Idiots are here to guide you.
We don't know much more about all the stuff but we might be just a little further down the road than you.
Make no mistake, most of our advice is more like don't try this at home.
Hope it helps!
The Idiots Guide
Redefining Your Home After Kids: Is It Ever Really an Empty Nest? Ep67 TIG
Ever wondered what happens when the kids finally leave the nest? Imagine turning that so-called midlife crisis into a golden opportunity for self-discovery and personal growth. Join us as we share personal stories and practical tips for embracing this newfound freedom without losing your sanity or your savings. From setting boundaries with boomerang kids to pursuing those long-forgotten hobbies, we promise to deliver insights wrapped in humor and honesty.
Think the "empty nest" is a one-time deal? Picture it more like an evolving "Airbnb nest" as your adult children navigate life's ups and downs, occasionally finding their way back home. We explore the delicate balance of supporting your kids during tough times like job losses, while ensuring you’re not enabling laziness. Through shared experiences, we highlight the importance of being a steadfast support network while still maintaining healthy boundaries.
Ready to tackle the financial realities of retirement? Whether you’re aiming for a modest life post-55 or dreaming of a travel-filled golden age, solid financial planning is key. We discuss the significance of continuing to save and invest as an empty nester, using accumulated wisdom to secure a stable future. For a light-hearted end, we sprinkle in some laughs with our "Jokes with Joe" segment, because who said financial planning can't be fun?
Today on the Idiot's Guide. All right, let's talk about empty nester time. The kids are grown or at least that's the rumor and the house is quieter and it's finally your time to shine. Or is it? Because just when you think you've emptied the nest, those little birdies sometimes come flapping right back in. So what does that mean for your finances and how do you handle this rounding the bend stage with your sanity and savings still intact? Today we're covering the big moments, the financial decisions that'll make or break these years, and why this stage can feel like a midlife crisis, but let's turn it into a midlife opportunity.
Speaker 1:I'm your host, adam Richardson, aka the Profit Hacker, and I'm joined by the man in charge, mr Joe Haslam. Welcome to the Idiot's Guide. So, the more that I think about this time of my life I'm not there yet, but it sounds like you might be there sooner than later, so I'm going to maybe like there's some things that we can talk about here, but I'm going to let you drive, since you're about to embrace this, you know, with open arms. No, you know, the reality is I was, I was trying to kind of put myself in those, those shoes, and I think that the age that my kids are right now. My, my oldest, would be by the time I hit, uh, 50, so, 50 years old, I'm 43. So you know, in seven years my son will be 25, or 20, 23. Okay, and then my other son will be 21. My daughter will be like 15 and terrible and a nightmare, and I'm excited. No, I'm not excited about that. So I won't be an empty nester yet at 50, but in in that, in that decade, I will be, hopefully, you know.
Speaker 1:But you know, like I've had the conversations with my oldest that he's like, yeah, you know, like when I graduate, um, like I I'm gonna, like I'm to have my, my, my, my, my girlfriend come in and like we're going to live in my room. And I was like, fat chance. You know, like sorry, but no, not. Like first off, you don't even have a door to your room. You have a curtain for a bedroom door, like we made a space in our house into your room, like that is what we did. There's no way I'm going to put two humans in that space, first and foremost. Second, go get a fricking place If you want to live together. You know, like you don't even have a driver's license, bro, start. Stop forward thinking that far until you do that first. Stop forward thinking that far until you do that first. Anyway, that's a different conversation, that's a now. But if I think about these years down the line, I pray that he's not as unintelligent of a kid anymore. He's probably still going to be there.
Speaker 2:Well, we went through that state. You know, in earlier videos we talked about how that's. We went through that state. You know, in earlier videos we talked about how that's where you learn to make mistakes.
Speaker 2:Yes, and you grow during that stage, yeah uh, but this you don't say things like, don't use words when those mistakes, like now we're talking about the parents in during that stage, and so it's, you know when, when you're in this you know 50 year old stage, you know this is the uh pre-retirement empty nester. This is that, um. You know it's now back to you just like it was when you were in your early 20s, but now you actually have experience and wisdom and money.
Speaker 1:That's true, yeah, like sometimes that can be a very, very bad combination.
Speaker 2:It can.
Speaker 1:I think you know your kids are leaving home, at least for the moment, and then you know you have a chance to kind of shift some of those priorities and really look at your yourself. Like you know, we emphasize a lot on past episodes Don't neglect the self-care. Now it's like self-care on steroids, like you can be like. Well, I want to take up whittling, why? Because I can. You know you're like I don't have a kid to going mom, mom, mom, mom, dad, dad dad dad, You're like, would you just find something to do please?
Speaker 2:I think someone is really looking forward to this stage of life. Can you tell so?
Speaker 1:my, my wife and I were. Our kids are at the age now where, like we can take a trip over a weekend and leave them with, you know, by themselves with enough junk food to survive on for at least a month, um and, and they'd be okay, like we, hopefully I still have people watching the house, like I did that like just the other weekend. We left for the weekend two nights and got home late that next night, so it was technically three nights. They have to self-manage, feed themselves, you know, make sure they clean up messes to a point, you know all that kind of stuff. And we came home and the house was not on fire. It was good. I think my, my oldest did, oldest did dishes. I was like, who are you?
Speaker 2:wow, it's not even your week see, that's it's advantage. Give you kids a little bit of responsibility and maybe they will learn so slowly but.
Speaker 1:But it's kind of getting a taste of that where, like, once it gets to this, it doesn't take as much planning then to go. Man, you want to go somewhere for the weekend. You're like, well, we don't have to, because we're like we're not getting away from anything at this point. We're just, you know, like I can mow the lawn and sit and whittle and do whatever I want because I can. I don't have mom. Mom, you know like it's wonderful.
Speaker 2:It sounds wonderful.
Speaker 1:Even when my daughter is that teenage year where she hates my guts and never wants to see me, that's down. That sounds super quiet to me. Like, right now, she's still very much like oh, I am always, like always there, you know. So, like she's, she still is very much about coming to see us and and doing all that check-in stuff. Yeah, my, my boys are both at that age where they're like will you like? Is it okay if I just disappear for 48 hours and you don't like I'll, I'll make sure I eat. I was like well, that's cool, as long as you shower, you know. Like I don't like you can eat. Great, I want you to do that too, but shower, that's more important to me.
Speaker 2:Like, teenager stink, but I love it. You know what I mean.
Speaker 2:Your house will definitely smell a lot nicer once you're, that's just right now, the only thing that helps is candles but one of the things that you run into when you get into this emptiness stage is you feel like you've been restricted for so long because you've been focusing on, you know, either work or kids or both, or all of the above, and your, your life has been so focused on this that suddenly there is this freedom now. If you remember, if you watched the video when we talked about early stages so the 18 to 25 stage it's the same thing. You suddenly have freedom and you suddenly have a job, and you have money and you go out and you blow it all, and the same thing can happen in this stage of life.
Speaker 1:I think. But you said something earlier where you also have wisdom. Yes, so you've experienced the like surprise you have a utility bill. You know you're like oh, I know that that's just a, it's a part of it's like a growth on the side of my body. Yes, and you're more used to that.
Speaker 2:But in this stage you're thinking, oh, let's go on vacation 10 times a year and we're going to do all this. And then you realize at the end of that year, oh, all our savings is gone.
Speaker 2:We can pay our normal bills, but all of our savings is gone. What happened to it all? Well, you did a whole lot of stuff that you probably shouldn't have done, and so it still requires a lot of planning Little too many European trips, exactly. You've got to make sure you're set. So you are wiser, you are more learned, but there are still a lot of pitfalls that you can fall into in this stage of life, and so it's really important that, now that the kids are out of the house and you have a little extra money and a little bit in savings and you've got this freedom, that you don't squander what you've built for so long, because, remember, you've still got a whole lot of life to go, and you've got kids that are suddenly on their own for the first time. How smart do you think they really are?
Speaker 1:I was telling my son this, I was like it's kind of that time where you are, you know, right now my son has a trip that they're going to like do for school. He's a junior in high school and it's a band orchestra thing and something like that and the ticket's like $1, for them to go do this. It's a really cool experience. I think it's San Francisco, they're going to go to Alcatraz, and so lots of cool experience stuff. But I'm like there's there's all these increments of fundraisers to be able to accomplish this.
Speaker 1:I was like, well, later, when he's an adult and his transmission breaks, it's me, so it's not. It's still like it's much more than 1200 bucks nowadays. But but it's also the fact that that isn't like okay, let's start a fundraiser, we're going to sell pizzas and cookies, and you know like no, it's like okay, how much room do I have on this card in order to cover the cost of that stupid freaking transmission that you know? I was like you will pay me back, son, but uh, it's the amount of emergency funds that actually isn't for my emergencies. Uh, is, is, is terrifying to me. Yep, because that's what I'm like.
Speaker 2:Oh man, I did that yeah, there are a lot of times in this stage of life where you're going to have to bail out your kids Because they're still learning. They're making mistakes. You cannot expect them to be 100% perfect you weren't, yeah and so it's important to think about this stage of life and be able to make sure that you're setting some of that money aside so that when your kids make a mistake, you're covered. That when your kids make a mistake, you're covered when they decide that they are going to squander all their money and can no longer pay rent, that they now have a place to go so that they don't live on the streets. During college, they're going to come home for three months in summer every year and they're going to want to make sure that they're eating all your food.
Speaker 1:Well, and I think, like right now it's it's really just kind of stepping back and going okay, how can I make this? Like I, I do want to consider my kids. I don't want to neglect that they are. They're still like beginner adults and trying to figure all that stuff out. And in the meantime, like I'm going to refine my golf game, I'm going to, you know, take up salsa dancing. I don't like dancing, so I'm probably not. Maybe swing dancing.
Speaker 1:I did do swing dancing lessons a few years back. That was fun. But, you know, take that cruise. That I, you know, we've been waiting to go on that kind of stuff. Those are, those are really good things. So it's, it's really, you know, making sure that your financial situation is geared toward more of a you centric, but but you also can't neglect the fact that those other emergency things that you you won't avoid, like they're coming and rather than just going. Well, I'm focusing on me right now. You know, best of luck to you. Like I won't let you be homeless. That's the, you know, that's the line I draw, that's I hope I'm a better parent than that.
Speaker 2:But you know, this stage in life is really the settle down. I mean, you've been grinding for so long. Now it's just settling down, kind of taking it easy. You don't have to work as hard. You're setting some more money aside for when your kids make mistakes, doing some more fun focusing on you. But you can't abandon the other long-term goals because you are shortly going to be retired, Right? So you want to make sure that all of your plans for retirement are safe. Potential for more health problems coming in at this stage. Your parents may be having health problems at this stage in life, so you've got to set some money aside for not just your kids' emergencies but your parents' emergencies, and so this is really a stage where it is very tempting to suddenly go out and have a ton of fun. But you've got to keep it still a little bit more balanced than that so that you are covered and safe for the long term.
Speaker 1:You know, in each one of our stages that we've talked about here, it's also taking a look at your financial situation, your budgeting, what you have as far as your plan that you operate on, and making sure that you're taking a look at that again. You're going back to it, going like I've paid this bill for the last five years, you know, and that's all it ever does, like that's it. Well, you know, maybe aggressively reducing debt because you have a little bit more income, you know that's freed up. If you have some debt that you still need to get rid of. Those sorts of things and honestly, most 50 year olds are probably still managing some level of debt that's okay, but it's. It's just a matter of going like how much am I focusing on this right now? If I can aggressively go after it, that means that later my situation is going to be better.
Speaker 1:Also looking at the long-term goals of that retirement, that legacy stuff, and planning forward, because it is nearly, it's soon, approaching. But hey, guys, if you're enjoying the content, don't forget to subscribe. Join our awesome community. It's quick, easy and you'll never miss out on the latest videos. Hit that subscribe button now and let's grow together. So this next part is really about kind of what we've been talking about. This is more emphasis on this, but it's the fact that it's not an empty nest, it's just a nest.
Speaker 2:It is only a temporarily empty nest that will occasionally refill and then empty, and then refill, and then empty, and then refill, and then.
Speaker 1:I think it's kind of like an Airbnb nest. You know like, yeah, like you have the, you know it's, it's, it's a revol like an Airbnb nest. You know, like you have the in and out, it's a revolving door of possibilities so they come back. You know like, there's lots of different things but there's different reasons why. I remember, you know, right before my 30s I turned 29, 30 years old I had to move back with my parents and it was a life situation in my life that merited this. I had my, my, my first born. He was one years old when, uh, or like it was about two and a half by this age, when we moved into the basement of my parents' house, back to my bedroom when I was a teenager, and it was a weird feeling, but it was one of those where it was like, you know, I was grateful that my parents were willing to catch me, even at that age, to go, like man they, that they could, you know, um, I didn't, I didn't want that to be the case, but my life circumstances kind of said that. Well, since then I've, you know, built a pretty decent life here in Utah, you know.
Speaker 1:But if it wasn't for that, you know, I look at other situations where, you know, each one of my siblings, for a period of time, have been back to there. So it's kind of like this it's not like you know, they, they leave and they never come back. It's they leave, then they come back, then they leave again, and then they you know it's it's this, they, they leave and they never come back. It's they leave, then they come back, then they leave again, and then they you know it's it's this uh, what is the world's slowest boomerang? You know, I just think of it as just like it's, it's, it's thrown out there and, oh wait, it's coming back eventually, Ah dang it.
Speaker 2:So and things happen, Um, you know, emotional things happen in life where it forces you back into your parents' home. Financial things happen that force you back into a parent's home, and these aren't because of anything that is inherently done wrong. Now there are situations where kids are just lazy. We're not talking necessarily about those situations because, you know, in my opinion, if you've got a lazy teen, you just kick them out.
Speaker 1:Well, and I think that's that's a, that's an element to to express is is you know, it's it's having a good boundary, that that you recognize. Look, if you have an emergency situation or a life that that merits them to come and recover something in your home, be that Absolutely. But if this person's like man, I can't seem to find a job that I like, you're like wow, that sucks. Yeah, you know, keep trying harder. You should just find a job.
Speaker 1:Like yeah, don't like, remove the I like and just go get money Like I don't care what it is at this point. That's your responsibility, it's not mine. Stay out of my house, yeah.
Speaker 2:You know, layoffs happen, you know, and that's not the responsibility of the of the child. I mean that that just happens, not the responsibility of the child. I mean that just happens. Businesses have financial issues and people get laid off. That happens. You know family issues, you know medical emergencies that necessitate them taking time off from work where they're not making any income and they've got to have a place to live, and so it's those kinds of things that are that come in through through no fault of kids, even, I mean, even if, uh, you've got a child who's very ambitious, who goes out and starts their own business. Not all businesses succeed and in those situations they may have put all their life savings into that, life savings being, you know, the first five years of their life.
Speaker 1:Uh, it's like being the first five years of their life.
Speaker 2:I think the phrase is like oh cute, yeah, and it doesn't succeed. Yeah, not all businesses succeed. That's one of the first things that you learn. But they tried, and so now they just need to refresh or reset so that they can get back on their feet, get back into the world and function again, can get back on their feet, get back into the world and function again.
Speaker 2:It's those kinds of situations where you know a parent who is understanding and knows what's really going on, you're going to be there for your children, you're going to help them and support them, and so these are the things that we're talking about. You know kids come back because you're their support network. You were their support network for the first 18 years of their life. You continue to be their support network, their first support network, and so it's important to plan for these things, to understand that, yeah, it happens, life happens. Now again, if they're just lazy and they just, oh, there's no good jobs out there that I really want to do, go work at McDonald's. Just kick them out the door. You just got to.
Speaker 1:See, I'm trying to tackle that right now because it's an easy age to do it. Now, you know, like my oldest, he wants a job and you know, like he has. It's weird because it's not like, oh, he wants a career job thing, like he has. It's weird because it's not like, oh, he wants a career job thing. But you know he, he wants to do something on a social media chat forum called discord. And I don't know the first thing about, like, I don't, I don't know enough about this. I know enough about discord to where I know he could do something on it. But it's, it's the fact of like what I don't know the application of Discord yet Like, I just know it does you can. It's just, it's that annoying to me to go like. I don't see that as a successful like, even pathway yet, because I just I haven't seen the evidence of it in these in mass.
Speaker 2:In essence, All I know of Discord is that it's a way to communicate with people that you know, creators that you like, or anything like that. So it's a community communication. So we have a Discord. This is not a segue. We have a Discord for our Patreon. This is not a segue. We have a discord for our patreon, and so if you join patreon, then you get access to our discord where you can communicate with us, talk about, you know, upcoming topics or anything like that. Literally not a segue, but hey, it fits. So you know, join our what is that website?
Speaker 1:patreoncom? Hpf underscore tig, or is it tig hpf? I have no idea.
Speaker 2:I think it's hpf underscore tig it'll be up on the screen or in the comments or in the description.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the editor will take care of that, but yeah, it's those kinds of things I mean I I was talking to. So yesterday was thanksgiving for us um, when we're recording this um and I had some friends over and uh, her, uh, my friend's little brother, we were talking about stuff and you know he really likes gaming and he loves computer science, you know, building computers, taking them apart, things like that. So we were talking about, you know, you know what kind of application would that have? And so we started talking about tournaments and um like gaming as a career which is a legitimate for career, a career for kids that are really good at gaming. Yeah, and so he's actually going to start looking into that um and seeing if he could start joining tournaments and other kinds of things like that where he can see how to make money on that.
Speaker 2:Because for gamers it's very much like sports, where you've got actual teams, you've got sponsors, you've got a whole world of possibility. And then when you retire from the gaming world, then you, you know you work as a consultant or whatever in the computer world, yeah and so. But the idea is you don't just, you know, you've got to push them to find something and you know that's where you know talking to about oh yeah, you know, look at this, it's something that you enjoy. So it's not about just lazy kids. You've got to get them out there. But again, talking about, in this stage of life, the empty nester, it is not really empty nest because life happens and your kids may come back home because of things that happen, but supporting them doesn't mean funding their life or their lifestyle.
Speaker 1:So you, you want to help encourage them, you want to help develop them, but it's it's helping them plan for their future and protect yours in the process of that. So you're not just losing your shorts because your kid shows up. You know, and they need your help. It's, it's, it's a both end, you know. But you don't want to enable them to just be dependent on your money to to come to the rescue all the time my kids at in their teenage years. They're like well, how else do I get stuff? You know you're like you're right right now, but later I'm going to make. Like when you have a job, it's go get a job like you want it. Go get it Like it ain't me, bro. So All right.
Speaker 1:Empty nesters or almost empty nesters, Joe, now that the kids are out, or maybe just mostly out, it is time to focus on you. Whether you're planning for retirement, dreaming of downsizing or just trying to figure out how to enjoy this next chapter without financial stress, we've got the perfect solution for you, Introducing Financial Empowerment Membership. It's designed to help you take control of your finances during this empty nest phase of your life and without you know. With expert advice, easy to use tools and a community of like-minded folks, you'll learn how to tackle everything from healthcare costs to travel funds and still have enough to spoil those grandkids or yourself along the way. Don't let your finances hold you back. Join the financial empowerment membership and turn these years into your best yet. Check out the link in our show notes to learn more and get started today.
Speaker 1:Now back to the show. Joe, All right, I love the fact that I get to say that it's so fun. Back to the show, which is funny, because I handle every segment. Yeah, okay, so we have this bill, we have this nest that we've we've worked so hard on building, and then, you know, we we talk about the fact that our kids come and start taking away from the emergency funds. So we have to do that and you know this is about those years where we're finding the whittling skills or taking up, you know, kayak lessons or whatever you want to do.
Speaker 1:I don't know. Like me, personally, I think I'll do fishing more. I don't know, We'll see, but I should do fishing more right now with my son. But you know, it is what it is. Retirement in this time of life is really on the horizon. You can see it if it's not already there, and really that's the time where you are focusing on enjoying the kind of the spoils of your labor, like the things, the fruits of your labor, in essence, and you know ensuring that. You know that long-term situation looks nice and comfortable and secure.
Speaker 2:Yeah, right, yeah. And I mean when you think about retirement and that's why it's important to think about retirement in this stage our next stage is going to be talking about retirement, the retirement stage. But at this stage you're really thinking about retirement. And when you start thinking about retirement and you realize, okay, the average lifespan. So if I live to be 100 years old, okay, now, that's not the average lifespan. I think the average lifespan right now is like 70 to 80. But if I live to be 100 years old and I retire at age 55, that means that I have to sustain myself for 45 years without an income. That's a lot of years. So if you look at how much you spent over the last 55 years of your life, but look at what your average annual expenses are, even without kids and everything like that, you're probably looking at a good maybe $30,000 a year, assuming your house is paid off and, uh, all these things are already done. Yeah, uh. So if you're looking at 30 000 a year for 45, years.
Speaker 1:even the dink like median income is still like, well, if you have a house, it's like $140,000. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's what I'm saying.
Speaker 2:If you're retired you're not doing anything. You have a paid-off house and that's all you have. You're looking at $30,000 a year. That is less than $3,000 a month to be able to plan for Right now. That's not groceries. Well, you also got kids I do, you're right. But you're looking at you're feeding two people, no other expenses.
Speaker 2:Your house is paid off, so you've just got utilities. Your cars are paid off, so you've just got gas occasionally, but you don't have to go to work, so you're not going anywhere. You're not taking any vacations because you're on a permanent vacation in retirement, and so there's $30,000 is the minimum. That's if there is a best case scenario and you are bored every day. If you want more than that, it's going to be more money. But you're looking at at least one and a half million dollars. One and a half million dollars if you retire at age 55 to be able to sustain you until you're 100. And that's without inflation, because after 45 years that's a lot of inflation. That money is going to, you know, windle pretty quick, yeah, and so that is. You need $1.5 million set aside by the time you're 55 if you want to retire then, and that's the bare minimum.
Speaker 1:Damn.
Speaker 2:So if you think about if you want to live a nicer lifestyle. So let's say $60,000 a year. That's reasonable. You know that's taking big vacations, that's living a good lifestyle, traveling, doing a lot of that fun stuff. $60,000 a year You're looking at $3 million over the next 45 years.
Speaker 1:$3 million Set aside in the bank at age 55, if that's when you retire, you were getting on my case earlier about how dark and depressing I was being, and right now you were really, really depressing.
Speaker 2:This is why it's so important to look at this Now. If you shorten that, I'm not going to live to 100. I'm just going to live to 80. Okay, we'll get into why that's a problem in a second. But if you plan, okay, 80 years old, so I'm 55. So that's just going to be another 25 years. Okay, so 25 years at $60,000, you are looking at, that's one and a half million dollars looking at, that's one and a half million dollars.
Speaker 1:So in order to live comfortably and retire by the time I'm 50, I have about, well, seven years left to work on this, but I have to make in the tune of, comfortably around 10 million. Then I'm good. Yeah, I should be all right Consistently, that that's not living a millionaire lifestyle, that's just I'm. I'm good until I'm a hundred and my wife is too, yep.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and that's the thing is. In this stage you're an empty nester. Don't just quit, don't just spend all your money. This is the time where you've got a little bit set aside. Now you're going to work for a little while to raise that level up significantly so that you've got that money set aside, so that you can retire, say when you're 60.
Speaker 1:Here's an interesting concept about that. I like this idea where you have this, you have the life experience, you have the financial experience, like you've been hit by all sorts of things, so you're not really surprised by much at this point. So with that wisdom, you get the discernment and then you know, all of a sudden you have the freedom of flexibility to really refine what you're doing and you are now a master at it. So use those mastermind techniques to really do this and like drive it home so that over the next 10 years you are banking and you're good, like you've had a lot of time to go a thousand different directions. And now you're like okay, I get to zero in for the next foreseeable season of my life through an empty nester, so that the distractions aren't there at night, I'm not struggling to get kids to bed. I'm like okay, at this hour at night I can work on this technique or this aspect of whatever my plan is, and man dude, like.
Speaker 1:But some people are like I'm a bus driver and I really enjoy that. That's what I'm doing, you know. You're like okay, you know, but hopefully they have some kind of retirement plan that you've put in place for those many years that you've been mastering bus driving right me. I'm an entrepreneur, so I'm like I can't not. I I think of this as like holy cow. That's like. I think of this as like holy cow. That's like going from like high school sports to college sports. When I'm like my kids are teenagers, when I'm an empty nester, I am a pro athlete right there. That is what that is is I'm using everything I have learned and I am putting it all in right there, because I know right now is the most opportune time for that to pay off.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I think the biggest takeaway is work as long as you can, live in this empty nester stage as long as you can before you retire. I'm not saying work 100 hours a week, I'm just talking about work as long as you can and then retire. Now one of the problems with a lot of people will plan on oh, I'm only going to live until I'm 80. Well, so they look at their retirement plan. They look at how much money they have. Okay, this will take me until I'm 80 years old. And then they get to 80 years old and they're still healthy and they're still going to live another 20 years and they're out of money. Yeah, and this is why you see a lot of older people coming back into the workforce, because they didn't plan on actually living longer.
Speaker 2:You have to plan, even though you may not get there.
Speaker 2:You have to plan on living to 100.
Speaker 2:If you get to 100 years old and you run out of money, that is the time where you can tell your kids now it's time for you to support me. That is perfectly acceptable. But you have to plan on 100 years old. You may not get there, but by planning for that, it makes sure that you have all of that time that you have enough money. Have all of that time that you have enough money, because the worst thing is when you get to 80 years old, you run out of money and you have to go try to get a job, and that is going to be so difficult. This empty nester stage is the time where you have to start thinking about how am I going to make sure that I have enough for that entire remainder of my life, because now it's back on you not just your fun, but on your future to make sure that you've got enough to be able to save, because there's no guarantee your kids are ever going to give you back the money that you spent on them.
Speaker 1:There's no guarantee that social security is going to be there when you're that age I can assure you they won't give you the money back, I mean, unless they make it to become like some pro athlete and they're like here. This is for all the stuff that I asked for.
Speaker 2:Maybe, yeah, you may be the lucky kid who raises a successful actor or actress and they pay for your house. I mean, who knows? But the vast majority they are probably not going to pay you back for all the money you spend on them. So you have to look at being able to sustain yourself during those entire retirement years, and this empty nester stage is the time to think about that. Make sure you're having fun too. This is the stage about you. So have fun, but plan for that retirement. Plan for that until you're age 100. Don't plan to just be 80. Plan to be 100. That's how you're going to be able to make sure that you have enough money throughout that entire phase. And you got to have a lot of money set aside. Yeah, plan on at least $3 million set aside in the bank to make sure you can sustain all of those years.
Speaker 1:And I think it's a good reality check to say what you explained. If I look at it with the perspective of what, if I lived to be 100, just to be comfortable, like maybe-ish, not including inflation, that's $3 million, or at least a million and a half to be like agonizingly comfortable.
Speaker 2:That's a good way of putting it agonizingly.
Speaker 1:You know, like, but but having that is when you said like, okay, if I'm 50 and I live to be a hundred or 55 and I'm living to be a hundred and I want to retire at 55, that's 45 years Like I'm not even 45 yet. So I'm like that's a lot of life that I've lived. I feel like I've lived, but yet I'm like that's not even where I'm at yet. If I'm thinking at that capacity, that's a good reality check to just go like man. I can't take that for granted in the sense of going man, to think like man. I get to retire at this age.
Speaker 1:Retirement takes a whole lot more than just simply sitting back and going well, I got a good, healthy 401k with this company here. You're like no, you know it's weird because I think about you know doing mortgages of years back and, uh, you know talking to people about their, their retirement 401k stuff and that kind of stuff, and they're like man, I've worked my life and now I have like five 500 K in there, you know, and you're like that's pretty good, that's awesome. Actually, you know, know, like most people are like that's respectable, but if I think that's not going to sustain me. That'll sustain me for 20 of those years, maybe, maybe, maybe, you know. And at 55 I'm going to get penalized for every year. I try to draw on that until I'm of a ripe age of like what?
Speaker 2:75 yeah, they keep changing the age, but yeah, around 75 so.
Speaker 1:So either way, like I've, it's, the odds are stacked against you. If you're trying to retire at that point, yep, like I, I like the idea of also going. Look, you have a whole pile of experience now. You're a pro athlete. Be one during those years, yeah, and you know that that future you is definitely going to be grateful for what you did right there, yeah.
Speaker 2:So this is an important stage to really start thinking about those kinds of things. Uh, planning for the future. Don't, don't retire too early, you know it's. It's a great time to just build that fund, build for the future, and just really take the opportunity to work it hard. You know, play hard. You know you don't have to again. If you want to retire early, semi-retire, don't fully retire, you know maybe.
Speaker 1:Well, we talk about the fact that you don't necessarily have to retire. Maybe, when we talk about the fact that you don't necessarily have to retire, it's just you're. You know, I I being being entrepreneurial minded it's a little bit different when we think about the idea of generating money. Isn't a nine to five, it is finding avenues to generate money does doesn't require our hours, it is is trying to make those things count. So that's kind of partially in a sense of retiring is, you know, a fruitful hobby, is a, is a benefit, Right?
Speaker 2:So, yeah, so during this phase, this is the time to really think about the future and make sure that you have enough for the long term. Yeah.
Speaker 1:So I think you know, reassess your financial goals, like making sure that they are, you know it's aligned with what your goal and purpose is going into the future. At this point You've earned it and keep in mind that you know your emptiness may not stay empty all the time, making sure that you have those appropriate boundaries in place so that you're not enabling somebody to just be a freeloader because you just pay for everything and they don't need to go get a job. You need to enable them to be responsible adults, because that will help them in their future as well. Then don't forget to plan the fun stuff in your life, the things that you know. Keep, keep your you know, keep your mentality, your, your mental health strong so that you have that rest. You have that in mind. But don't lose sight of the long, long-term vision of what you need to accomplish in your for your future. You know that that's something that you know. The future you obviously is going to continue to help where you grateful for what you've done here, even when that future you is on the horizon at this point.
Speaker 1:But you know, empty nester time isn't just about what you've done for others. It's about, you know, creating the life you've always wanted. So the most important thing is embrace that freedom. It feels good. Um, continue to make good choices, smart choices, but. But I think most importantly is enjoy the moments, enjoy everything, enjoy all those moments, even when you have that nest packed full of kids again. You know it's, it's, you know you're you're going to be chasing grandkids around and you know telling your kids you're like I, I retired from changing dirty diapers, so that's your responsibility if you're here. Oh, yeah, so anything else?
Speaker 2:No, I think he covered a lot of it. That's good. Well, time for jokes with Joe. All right, here we gookes with Joe. All right, here we go. Dad joke for this week. Okay, why do bees have sticky hair?
Speaker 1:I don't know, because they use honeycombs.
Speaker 2:Would you imagine using a comb covered in honey? That would make some really sticky hair.
Speaker 1:My daughter has long hair and so brushing her hair is a task. She absolutely hates it. Just the feeling like it pulls her hair. She does not look forward to it. I imagine with oh, it's, it's. She does not look forward to it. But uh, I imagine like oh, with just she's eight. So like every once in a while there's something in her hair and I'm like oh, honey, honey, oh, wow, go shower so yeah, so bees use honeycomb.
Speaker 2:That's cheesy.
Speaker 1:Yep, we've reached the end of our show for today. Thank you for listening, thank you for watching. Remember life's too short, so keep laughing, keep learning and remember idiots have way more fun Shaggy shoes.