![\"Businessman](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1783578983_78_0x0.jpg\")
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Businessman holding black alarm clock with clockwise countdown from work to retirement.<\/p>\n
getty<\/p>\n
It\u2019s 2016, 5am in the morning. I\u2019m about to get in freezing cold water to start my first ever Sprint Triathlon. I had never done one before nor do I want to do one again. It\u2019s not my type of training. But this time was different. This was the \u201cStan-the-Man\u201d sprint triathlon in honor of Stan Ware, a client of mine for over 10 years, battling cancer. Stan, a business owner, ate clean and healthy, lifted weights religiously, did everything he could to keep in the best of shape. It was truly impressive. But cancer doesn\u2019t care about any of that. During this race he was there to watch the hundreds of people there to support him from a wheelchair. A few weeks later, he passed away. Age 56. <\/p>\n
Had he built a successful business? Yes. Did he have enough saved up for retirement to retire early? Yes. Year after year we would meet and run the numbers again and again and yes, he was work-optional at that point but didn\u2019t retire. Now, his widow, all the money needed for peace and security and travel and bucket list fulfillment, but no one to enjoy it with. <\/p>\n
I have close to a dozen of these stories I could tell you. Cancer, heart attack, Covid, brain aneurysm. The closest to hit home is my father-in-law. Worked at UPS for 40 years. He was 60 years old and was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer the same month he turned 60, and the same month he retired. We spent his birthday party and retirement party in the hospital with him while he was on emergency chemotherapy. <\/p>\n
I used to think my life\u2019s mission was to help people save for retirement, manage money, and make sure they don\u2019t run out of money. But now it\u2019s changed to making sure I show everyone I possibly can… the earliest they can become \u201cWork-Optional.\u201d<\/p>\n
What is \u201cwork-optional\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n Let me tell you another story about Jon. Jon was a neighbor of mine. In 10 years of living next to him I never mentioned what I did. We were just friends. One day he called me and said, \u201cMan, this is a small world. One of my close friends who I work with just retired at 55. When I told him I needed his financial advisor\u2019s name and number, he gave me yours.\u201d Crazy small world, right? The next week I went and met with Jon, and he went on and on about how much he hated work and didn\u2019t like his new younger boss. We ran through his numbers, painted a picture, and boom… He could have retired that day if he wanted to. I said, \u201cJon, from this point on you are \u2018work-optional.\u2019\u201d That means, you can keep working if you want, but you don\u2019t have to. A few weeks later I saw his wife, and she gave me a great big hug and said, \u201cMy husband is a new man after meeting with you.\u201d I said, \u201cIt wasn\u2019t anything I did, I\u2019m just a math guy, it\u2019s just math. Nothing I did, that\u2019s all you and Jon.\u201d When I saw Jon, I asked him what changed and he said, \u201cI\u2019m still working, but the monkey is off my back, I\u2019m not worried one bit about what my boss says anymore, if he wants to fire me, he can, I know I\u2019ll be good.\u201d Now I didn\u2019t convince Jon to retire that day and in fact, he is still working. But at least I can sleep at night knowing that he knows he can retire a lot sooner than he ever planned on. <\/p>\n It\u2019s just a coincidence that Jon worked at Boeing and people have used a study Boeing came out with that showed people who retired sooner actually lived longer. Now, that has been debunked. This really isn\u2019t my job to run through a bunch of statistical averages and convince you when you should or shouldn\u2019t retire. My purpose is to have you go sit down with someone ASAP and know when you can be \u201cwork-optional.\u201d<\/p>\n Why do people hold on so long… <\/strong><\/p>\n I can\u2019t tell you the exact reason, but if I had my guess, it\u2019s because we are just used to \u201cNorms\u201d. <\/p>\n Well, Medicare starts at 65 so I don\u2019t want to have that expense so I\u2019m waiting till 65.<\/p>\n My Social Security statement says Full Retirement age is 67 so that\u2019s when I will retire.<\/p>\n I can\u2019t touch my IRA or 401k without penalty till I\u2019m 59 \u00bd so that\u2019s when I will retire. <\/p>\n I have heard of the 4% rule and when I do the math it just doesn\u2019t make sense.<\/p>\n I read somewhere you need X amount of dollars to retire comfortably. <\/p>\n I still have kids at home. <\/p>\n I have heard it all, and I\u2019m not saying these aren\u2019t valid things to consider. I\u2019m just saying that you owe it to yourself to see if any of these apply to your situation. Because in my opinion, I think the number 1 reason why people work so long is… they have never seen if they could retire ahead of schedule or not. You see, in my world, I really can\u2019t use the word \u201cGuarantee\u201d much. But in this case, I will… I can Guarantee there isn\u2019t a one-size-fits-all plan\/strategy that fits for everyone. 18 years and hundreds of retirement\/distribution plans later, I can say that I have not seen anyone in the exact same position as anyone else. <\/p>\n Well, where do I start? <\/p>\n Knowledge. Start with knowledge and education first. Here are a few things to consider. <\/p>\n If you were to ask me what the hardest part about being a financial planner has been… I\u2019d say… teaching an old dog new tricks… meaning you take someone that has been a big-time saver their whole life, has all this money and more, and try to get them to really spend what it would take to get their account remotely to zero… Not a chance. <\/p>\n Most people don\u2019t have bad investments; they just have uncoordinated retirement plans. <\/p>\n What is the plan when the market goes down right when you retire? Or we go through one of those not so abnormal lost decades? Because the market has been on a tear the last 10 years. I hope it continues to go up and up forever. But that just isn\u2019t realistic. So, what\u2019s the plan? How much do you want to spend now vs later? Should you be considering Roth conversions and if they make sense or not for you? And if so, which assets do you place in those Roths? I talked to a guy who for the past 10 years has had unbelievable returns. I said, why are you looking to go anywhere else… He said, my current investments are good for one thing and one thing only… growth. But I am looking for income. And growth is good until it\u2019s not, and when I need income and money, I am looking for something different. This guy got it. It\u2019s not about having the best returns, it\u2019s about mitigating risk. Most people are told you must pick one or the other, and that is just simply not true. In retirement you want your investments to look more like a championship sports team. A good offense and a great defense. Because to win championships or to have a peaceful and successful retirement\u2026 you need both. <\/p>\n Retirement is not an algorithm, and neither should your plan be. <\/p>\n There is one thing that all retirees have in common. Change. The plan on day 1 in retirement is not the plan a year later, or 5 years or 10 years later. There are a lot of moving parts. It is very complex. Take one path changes this and that. Take another, well this or that might not make much sense. Your goals change, your plans change, your dreams change, your family dynamic changes, your zip code changes, your health changes, markets change. Change will be constant. The solution isn\u2019t finding an investment or a strategy; it\u2019s about finding a person who helps you with these complex ever-changing paths look and feel simple. It\u2019s the person that\u2019s going to be in your corner, that helps you vet options, that guides or helps you see around corners. My goal is that if someone asks my client the \u201cvalue of working with an advisor,\u201d if I do my job right, I am hoping they say\u2026 priceless. <\/p>\n\n
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