Help Me Retire Podcast - Episode 41
When enough is enough
Show notes:
You spend your life trying to earn more money… save and accumulate more… so one day you’ll be able to retire…
But how will you know when you get there? How will you know when you finally have… enough?
This is the Help Me Retire Podcast… with your host… Mike Brown… Senior Wealth Advisor with Raymond James Financial Services… and head of Brown Family Wealth Advisors…
Mike is the best-selling author of Your Way to True Wealth: How to Make It Happen, Make It Last, and Make It Matter…
He and his team have been helping clients pursue their dreams of financial independence for the past 30 years… and in the Help Me Retire Podcast… he’ll share his best ideas with you…
And now… here’s Mike…
Time for a quick story?
Party on Shelter Island… near Hamptons on Long Island…
Hosted by billionaire hedge fund manager… for billionaires and other famous people…
Among guests… Kurt Vonnegut… another famous author, Joseph Heller…
Vonnegut says to Heller… Realize our host makes more money in single day than you earned from Catch 22 over its entire history?
Heller: “Yes, but I have something he will never have…”
“Enough”
Famous story from book by Jack Bogle… titled… Enough
You’re working… saving for retirement… always wondering… how much is enough?
Retired… always wondering… do I have enough… make it last?
Articles… talking about magic number… save this much by this age… how much do you need to retire?
There IS no number… even if there were… someone ELSE’s number… not yours…
Your life is different from everyone else’s… where live… what like to do… how long live… standard of living you’re comfortable in…
All unique to YOU…
There’s the beauty… only YOU get to decide how much is enough…
Seen people who can live on few thousand a month… simple, happy lives…
Others who can’t be happy unless $10,000 a month or more…
Neither is right or wrong… but person who needs $10,000… will need to save a lot more money than one who needs few thousand… simple math…
But for them… worth it to work longer… save more… to be able to afford what they want rest of life to look like…
Enough… different for each of us…
Mistake people make… thinking that…
Enough means having million dollars… or 10 million… some random number they read online…
Enough means having more than someone else… houses… cars… money…
Enough means their investments have to beat S&P 500 every year…
Artificial goalposts… when you give someone else power to set goalposts for you… also giving them power to move goalposts…
Good chance you’ll never get there…
Wrote book a few years ago… Your Way to True Wealth… spent lot of pages talking about concept of… enough…
Wealth isn’t about having million dollars… or 10 million…
Retirement not about stopping work for rest of your life…
True Wealth… reaching point where no longer HAVE to work for money…
Doesn’t mean you have to stop…
Just means work becomes CHOICE rather than NECESSITY…
Let me tell you… work gets lot more fun at that point…
True Wealth says… I now have enough income… from whatever source… (Social Security… pension… dividends…) to support lifestyle I HAVE CHOSEN…
And I have portfolio large enough to create the income I need to supplement other income I’m getting…
Saved enough over years… so now money is earning as much or more than you are…
You’re not doing the heavy lifting… your money is…
You’ve lived on less than you earned while working… put that extra money to work… reinvested dividends… dollar-cost averaged… compounded your wealth…
So that if and when you CHOOSE to stop working… investments will start paying you…
Continue to for the rest of your life…
To get there… several things you must decide…
First… what’s retirement going to look like? What’s True Wealth going to mean FOR YOU?
Next… what’s that lifestyle going to cost? Get back to that word again… how much income is ENOUGH to do what you want to do?
Third step… add up what you’ll be getting from Social Security… pensions…
And finally… see how much investment income you can expect each year… figure out if it’s going to make up the difference…
If still a gap… two ways to go…
Can decide… live on little less… worth it to have freedom to stop working…
Or… keep working/saving a little bit longer… worth it to live way you want to live for rest of your life…
Really a third option… nice option… discover you already have enough… and then decide to KEEP working for as long as you like… simply because it’s what you love to do!
So, do this for me…
Stop using someone else’s definition of financial success…
Not retiring at certain age…
Not having certain amount money…
Not beating S&P every year… it’s about knowing what rate of return YOU need… and designing portfolio aimed at that…
Get your arms around the concept of “enough”…
If you know how you want to live… how much it costs…
Know you’ll have enough income to support that lifestyle for rest of your life…
Then, you’re there… that’s enough…
Go beyond that… up to you… but make it YOUR decision… not someone else’s…
If this makes sense to you… do something about it… regardless of your age or financial situation…
Decide what enough is… set that goal… and then work backwards… what’s it going to take… and for how long… to get there…
Sit down and make a plan… even if you think you’re already there… get some help with this…
And then commit to that plan… don’t let the markets… or politics… or the new car in your next door neighbor’s driveway distract you from it…
True Wealth… having ENOUGH… means being able to live life on your own terms…
And trust me… and the hundreds of people we’ve worked with who’ve done this… there’s nothing like waking up every morning... knowing… I’ve got enough.
Securities offered through Raymond James Financial Services, Inc., member FINRA/SIPC.
Investment advisory services are offered through Raymond James Financial Services Advisors, Inc. Brown Family Wealth Advisors is not a registered broker/dealer and is independent of Raymond James Financial Services.
Any opinions are those of Mike Brown and Brown Family Wealth Advisors and not necessarily those of Raymond James. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and is not a recommendation. There is no guarantee that these statements or opinions will prove to be correct. Investing involves risk, and you may incur a profit or a loss regardless of the strategy selected, including diversification and rebalancing. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Prior to making an investment decision, please consult with your financial advisor about your individual situation.
