Early Retirement - Financial Freedom (Investing, Tax Planning, Retirement Strategy, Personal Finance)

5 Fun Activities Often Overlooked In Retirement

• Ari Taublieb, CFP®, MBA • Episode 207

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What if retirement was more than just relaxing and managing your finances? Imagine creating a life filled with purpose and joy that aligns perfectly with your passions and goals. Join me, Ari Taublieb, on the Early Retirement Podcast as we explore how to plan a meaningful retirement. We'll discuss how to balance financial security with personal fulfillment, ensuring that your retirement years are not just financially stable but also deeply satisfying. Tune in to learn about the changes in spending patterns retirees experience and how to plan for them, all while keeping an eye on activities that bring genuine joy.

From a retiree mastering the art of barbecuing to others combining reading with exercise, this episode is packed with inspiring stories and practical advice. Discover how challenging tasks and artistic pursuits can make your retirement exciting. Whether you're considering traveling across the U.S., indulging in world travel, or adopting low-impact exercises like swimming, there's something here for everyone. Don't miss this episode, where we'll share heartfelt stories and actionable tips to help you craft a retirement that's not just about the numbers but about truly living your best life.

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Ari Taublieb, CFP ®, MBA is the Vice President of Root Financial Partners and a Fiduciary Financial Planner specializing in helping clients retire early with confidence.

Speaker 1:

Many of you are just waiting for the financial green light to retire and you're like I'm good to go, I've got my list, I'm going to travel, I'm going to exercise, I'm going to spend time with friends. Others of you are like, look, I think I know what I want to do a little bit. Maybe I volunteer, maybe I travel, but I don't really know what I'm going to do for purpose and fulfillment. And that is something we take very seriously here, and the reason for that is because too many people come to me and go like this you know, I think I could get away with spending $6,000 a month in retirement, or even $5,000 a month, and I go. I know, but retirement's not about getting away with something, it's about going. How much would you love to spend and when are you in a position to do that for the rest of your life? And how are you going to have purpose and fulfillment? Because the first five years are very different than the next 10 years and 15 and 20. So we have exercises and resources to help clients optimize their purpose side, because the purpose needs to connect to the taxes and the withdrawal and the investments and the insurance, because you're probably going to spend way more the first few years in your retirement, then maybe you spend a little less. Then maybe you spend more when you want to do more charitable giving or help a legacy, you know, whatever it is, it doesn't tend to be a linear thing where you're going to spend $8,000 a month, every month, in retirement. No, you're going to spend more and then less, and then more and less, and that needs to be connected to your whole financial strategy. So today is just a fun episode. I'm going to give you five often overlooked activities in retirement. These are given by my clients who have retired early, and so it might give you one new idea to think about. It might give you two. It might not give you any, but it might be fun to hear about. So if you're the type of person that's like, look, I've got my long list of things. I just need to financially make sure if I convert the right amount and withdraw from the right account, I'm in a good spot to make it all happen, this might not be the episode for you. If you're like no, I want to hear how do people think about purpose and fulfillment if I've worked a job for 30 years and now I just don't know exactly what I'm going to want to do. Is my spouse going to want me around? I've kind of been gone for 20 years. I mean, I've been around, but not all day, every day, and so I want to think through how your clients think about that. That's what I'm going to be sharing today.

Speaker 1:

So, if you don't already know, my name is Ari Taublieb. I'm a certified financial planner, host of this podcast, the Taublieb. I'm a certified financial planner host of this podcast, the Early Retirement Podcast, and I'm the vice president at Root Financial Partners. Now I am making this content forever on the podcast apps. So if you're listening while working out or doing something else fun, it's fun for me to hear. So, of course, shoot me a note on my website, earlyretirementpodcastcom. Or if you're watching on YouTube, please drop a comment if you find any of these videos or types of resources are helpful. This is your channel, this is your podcast. It's really not mine. I get to make the videos and do the podcast and it's fun for me, but I want to make the most helpful content. I don't believe in fluff content, and my example of this is as follows.

Speaker 1:

So I went to a doctor. Many of you know this story, but it was a few months back and I said, doc, that sounded great. I think you think that sounded great. I don't know what you just said, so could you just try again? And he's like, okay. So he starts explaining to me the lab that the pills are made in that he's gonna give to me. I said, doc, that's too much I give to me. I said, doc, that's too much, I don't need to know, I don't care what lab it was made in, just explain to me why I need this pill or why I don't. And that's how I try to convey my information, where I don't want to go too much into the weeds or I'm telling you what lab the pill was made in. I want you to know why you might want to take this pill or not, but I want to make sure I'm also not just like look, trust me, take it. So there's levels to this, and my fiance is an educator who's critiquing me consistently in a kind way on the way I deliver information. So always trying to improve for you guys.

Speaker 1:

So here are the five activities that are often overlooked once again, by my clients. Number one is seeing the US. Two, I'm trying to think Maybe three clients last week were like I can't wait to travel and we're going to this big international travel. And I said, hey, if that's what you're excited to do, be my guest, as long as financially you're in a spot to do it. But tell me what that looks like.

Speaker 1:

And some of them were like, oh, we just haven't traveled because we've been living in Ohio for the last 30 years and sometimes we go down to Mexico when it's warm, but you know, outside of that we're really not big travel people, so we just cannot wait to see the world. I'm like awesome, go do it. Other people are like, yeah, I think I wanna do big international travel. And then the spouse will say something like hey, we have traveled around everywhere. I feel like we haven't even explored our backyard and sometimes I feel like there's tons of awesome stuff around us we haven't even looked at. So whether it's getting in an RV or some sort of camper or just truly driving around and staying at different hotels or motels or whatever that travel experience looks like to you, it's certainly worth seeing the US.

Speaker 1:

So I'm going to encourage you if you have thought through travel and retirement. Yes, selfishly, I want someone to never run the risk of running out of money, but I also want to make sure they are enjoying their whole retirement, and so I encourage you, rather than kind of go yeah, I think I'm going to travel in retirement and putting a budget of $25,000 a year for that, I'd encourage you to really think through it more intentionally. Hey, maybe we're going to do two international trips this year, and that's going to be 5,000 each, and then we're going to do domestic trips, but more often, so probably looking at 15,000. The difference of 15 versus 25 is significant, and I want you to ask yourself how long might you want to do that? I don't need you to have the exact answer, and you couldn't if you tried, because you might find you love traveling for six weeks, not forever and now travel is not a big part of your retirement. I have someone that could not wait to go to Hawaii. They actually put a down payment before they started working with me on an investment property in Hawaii. They loved it for two months, not forever. They sold it big financial hit. So just want to make sure we're not making any big drastic moves and buying properties and countries that we might not end up being in for a while, and I want to make sure you're thinking through retirement in an intentional way. So if you want to consider looking at the US and the beautiful traveling here, that is something I would encourage, because my clients have told me hey, I was all set for this big, fancy international travel and I like it, but I also feel like I haven't explored what's in our backyard.

Speaker 1:

That's number one. Number two this is a client that was a teacher for 25 years and then ended up moving to a different line of work and now is volunteering and her feedback to me and she knows who she is because she's listening to this, I'm sure, and you'll send me a note later going yeah, you use my example. She volunteers with a friend and she does not like volunteering if she's not with her friend. Now, the reason for that is when they do the type of volunteering that they do, which is working with children who have disabilities, they like learning from each other they go to lunch afterwards. It's a whole day, so it used to be an activity that she's like you know, I feel like I should do it. I want more purpose in retirement. Now it's got purpose and it's got fun and she's like look, I need my friends to be able to retire so I can hang with them and do activities. So talking to friends about volunteering is something worth considering.

Speaker 1:

Number three I have an engineer, a client who is an engineer for 25 years, focusing specifically on how do I ensure roads are built properly, and I'm like, ok, that is a job I could never do and I'm very grateful for, because every time I'm driving and I'm in LA, the freeways are wild here and I'm like, hey, are you the one that makes this all happen? They're like not in LA, but that's what we do. I go. Well, kudos to you.

Speaker 1:

So this person is going to culinary school now. Yep, they're in culinary school. Their average age of this culinary school is 23 and they are 57 and they love it. They're like, to be honest, ari, if everyone was my age, I don't think I would love it, because I just think quickly, and I'm not saying other people that are older don't think I would love it, because I just think quickly and I'm not saying other people that are older don't think quickly. But they told me once again, not coming from me, coming from them. They said, ari, I like being around younger people, more energetic, more thoughts. They just think differently and it's honestly just, it's stimulating and that's what I like about it.

Speaker 1:

So this person chose to go to a culinary school, as if they're literally going to do that for their career. But they specifically want to do barbecuing and even the way I said that clearly you can tell I don't eat a lot of barbecue. So they just want to get really good at making sure family and friends know that they're the best and they're competing with a neighbor and they're in two different culinary schools. And they're competing with a neighbor and they're in two different culinary schools. So this person retired and they're like I need a new difficult task because I'm not into woodworking like some of my friends and I don't really want to garden. So he's like I just need some other task. That's going to be difficult, but there's also an art to it, and so culinary school was something we had discussed and he's like I think I'm going to do it. So something to think about, going back and learning a new skill, and it can be taking one cooking class or it can be enrolling in culinary school and paying full tuition, like this person is doing. So different ways to enjoy retirement, but hopefully a few interesting and new thoughts.

Speaker 1:

Number four this is a common one, but I'm just going to mention it anyway which is reading, reading and exercising. I have a client that goes to the gym and they're reading on the exercise bike. I couldn't do that personally, I get dizzy and it's just like I've tried. It's not my thing, but they love doing it. So they're like look, I love reading and they read for like four hours, going really slow on the exercise bike. And I know that because they tell me they go slow. I'm not being mean here and they want to read and they're like but I kind of like moving a little bit. So I asked them hey, what about like a rocking chair or something like that? They go all right, I like the exercise bike, that is my thing. I'm in the gym for hours, I get into my little zone, they move their exercise bike into a different part of the gym and they've made a deal with the front desk. So getting creative with the retirement is why I wanted to bring this up.

Speaker 1:

Reading, exercising For some people like me, I go on airplane mode and I exercise hard for 45 minutes. That's what I like to do. Other people they want to do it in a leisurely fashion where it's four hours, maybe there's music or a podcast or and yeah, I just want you to really think about, okay, what might true relaxation or exercise look like. Some of you are like, nope, I want to exercise the way you're doing it. Others of you go no. I kind of like this approach. I never considered going slow, but just for a longer period of time and kind of finding the zone, so everyone gets to do what they want to do. I'm just trying to give you new ideas. So if reading is something that you haven't been able to spend a lot of time on and there's so many books you can't wait to get to be my guest you can also do an audio book.

Speaker 1:

I have one client that doesn't do ultra marathons, but it's like one tier below that. They're going to make fun of me after this Cause. They're going to be like how do you not remember the name of what I do? But, trust me, I just I don't remember and I'll be the first to tell you I don't remember. So I'm sure it's awesome. So, with this person, that's what they like to do and they're running and they're doing audio books and that's their style.

Speaker 1:

So find your style is what I'm trying to say. There's not a perfect way. It's not you read, or you exercise, or you travel, cause those are all things I just. I just said travel number one, volunteer, new and reading. But within those I just gave two or three examples inside of each, and that's what this is about. It's about finding what does that really meaningful and purpose version look like for you? I have one client that is about to travel around the world for six months in a boat and they're like we think we want to do this, but we don't really know. So what if we're out there and after a month we're seasick or we don't like it, or we have more anxiety because we're not even near our children and we want to see them more often, like they don't even know what's going to come, but they're trying it.

Speaker 1:

And so I want you to be trying lots of things that earlier in your retirement so you can find out when do you want? What do you want, excuse me, to do for the rest of your retirement. That will make you very fulfilled In the same way. I'm really lucky. It took me a few years, but then I found a career I really love doing. I was always in the financial industry, but not this specific sector. I don't really feel fulfillment in the way I'm doing it. Then I got very fortunate and I found a way of doing so, and some people find that at 40. Some people find that right when they get out of school. To me it was a little bit of time, but I still found it earlier than most and I'm grateful for that. So the earlier you can find what you love doing in retirement, the better. And the number five this was kind of combination. So it is exercising, but specifically low impact exercises.

Speaker 1:

I have a client that does swimming more than anything else and they're a big hiker. So I'm like hey, I don't hear that often. Normally. I hear someone loves hiking, or they love swimming, and they're like I love hiking, but swimming has low impact on my body and it feels really good and I sleep really well. So I personally use a sauna before I go to sleep, not every night, but probably two or three nights a week and I love doing it. This person is like look, I love swimming, not because the act of it is so fun, but it allows me to hike and I sleep really well at night.

Speaker 1:

So if swimming is something you haven't considered. Just a thought. There Now lots of different activities. I'm just giving you five overlooked things, or nuance, if you will, when it comes to activities in a retirement. So just trying to give you some new things that you might have not considered.

Speaker 1:

My hope is you take one nugget, or two nuggets away from each of these episodes. That's it for this episode and, if this has been helpful, once again, I hope that you leave a review or drop a comment on YouTube. If you find that you're looking for specific topics, meaning help me save on taxes. Should I do charitable giving? What should my withdrawal strategy be? Plenty of different videos and case studies on those topics. Make sure to check those out on YouTube or on the podcast app.

Speaker 1:

If you're looking for one-on-one guidance, I have that option after you go through the academy. If you want to speak to me about your financial goals, I also have an option of truly just doing it on your own and then all the way up to working with excuse me one of my advisors long-term. That was an unfortunate timing of a burp, so apologies for that. You're getting the raw, authentic content here. So that is it for this episode. See you guys next time. Thank you for listening to another episode of the Early Retirement Show. If you have a question that you want answered in a future episode, you can always go to my website, earlyretirementpodcastcom. That's earlyretirementpodcastcom, and you can go ahead and submit a question that I'll look to answer in a future episode. Thank you all for listening. Please do rate it, review it and share it with someone who you think would benefit from this information. If there's anyone out there that you know, I certainly appreciate it and I will see you all each week.