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

Ex-Silicon Valley Retiree Reveals Why You Should Retire EARLY | Retirement Reality

• Ari Taublieb, CFP®, MBA • Episode 299

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Ex-silicon valley guest turned Scuba Diver shares the truth behind retiring early!

Hope you enjoy the insights shared!

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Suzi is not a client of Root Financial Partners, LLC and received no compensation for participating in this video. His statements reflect his own opinions and experience and are not indicative of any specific client’s experience and are not a guarantee of results. No cash or non-cash compensation was provided, and no material conflicts are known.

Advisory services are offered through Root Financial Partners, LLC, an SEC-registered investment adviser. This content is intended for informational and educational purposes only and should not be considered personalized investment, tax, or legal advice. Viewing this content does not create an advisory relationship. We do not provide tax preparation or legal services. Always consult an investment, tax or legal professional regarding your specific situation.

The strategies, case studies, and examples discussed may not be suitable for everyone. They are hypothetical and for illustrative and educational purposes only. They do not reflect actual client results and are not guarantees of future performance. All investments involve risk, including the potential loss of principal.

Comments reflect the views of individual users and do not necessarily represent the views of Root Financial. They are not verified, may not be accurate, and should not be considered testimonials or endorsements

Participation in the Retirement Planning Academy or Early Retirement Academy does not create an advisory relationship with Root Financial. These programs are educational in nature and are not a substitute for personalized financial advice. Advisory services are offered only under a written agreement with Root Financial.

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


SPEAKER_02:

I posted my first podcast episode December 19th, 2020, and we are in 2026. And because it's been over five years, I thought I would change it up a little bit. Not entirely with the style, but you've heard a lot from me on tax strategy, on healthcare, on things that hopefully you're no longer worrying about that was causing you a lot of anxiety when it comes to retirement, such as, have I saved enough? Do I actually know what I'm gonna do when I retire? How am I gonna make sure I don't ever run out of money? And is my asset allocation correct? And everything in between. Over the next month, you're gonna hear from real retirees. These are interviews that I held. They are live on my YouTube channel right now, but many of you have shared, hey, that's great. I prefer listening on the podcast app. It's just easier for me. I listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify or Google or wherever it is that you listen, and you'll tell me it's just easier when you're going on a run, when you're doing chores, whatever it is you like to do when you listen to podcasts. I know personally, I listen to podcasts when I'm in the car and when I'm doing my warm-up for my workouts. So if you're like me and you're like it's just easier to turn it on on the podcast app, over the next month you're going to hear from real retirees. And this is not going to take over my style entirely unless you guys go, oh my gosh, this is so entertaining and the quality content here. Hopefully you do feel that way. But I'm also going to stick with my traditional kind of let's call it five to fifteen minute. Sometimes I know that becomes 20 or 25 minutes, where I'm just going over whatever it is that I feel would be helpful for you guys, or what you tell me would be helpful for you. I am posting on Instagram almost every day. I'm on TikTok. I'm on YouTube. I'm on where else am I? I don't know where I am. But those are the places that I traditionally am posting. And I'm laughing because it feels like nowadays you've got to be everywhere all the time. What I will say is it's all fun for me because I make content that I feel resonates most for all of you based off what you tell me. So thank you in advance. If you have left a review on this show, I really appreciate it. It's fun to read those and see if it has helped. If you are commenting on YouTube, thank you for doing that. I hope that the content resonates, and I hope it always will. This, once again, is not my show, it is yours. I want you to retire early with confidence, aka really know when work truly becomes optional. That's my ultimate goal. So if you enjoy what you do, great, keep doing it. But you don't feel, oh my gosh, am I forced to be here? So over the next month, you're gonna hear from real retirees. They are going to be longer episodes. If you enjoy this style, send me an email, Ari at rootfinancialpartners.com. If you hate this style and you go, you know what, those guests are great, but I prefer the 10-15 minute, which you often say becomes 30 minutes. If you prefer those styles, awesome. I'll do more of that. Ultimately, you are just getting the best content you're looking for. As a reminder, I post every day on YouTube, so that's where I post the majority of my content. If you enjoy listening on the podcast app, once again, it's not gonna stop here. I'm over five years in, and I hope to do the next 50 years. So, with that being said, I hope you enjoy this month's episode of podcast with real retirees. These selfishly were so fun to record because all the stories are so different. And I thought, quite honestly, when I started this podcast, how different would it be? When I started the series, excuse me, where I interview retirees. And I talked to a friend who had told me, What they're all gonna say a similar thing. I want to retire and have purpose, I want to make sure I don't run out of money. And I said, No, I I believe you, but I think everyone does have a unique story, and I think it gets deeper, but maybe I'm wrong. And I thought that because I talked to my clients who are awesome people and tell me great stories. Now, what I found is it's beyond what I ever could have imagined, and I hope you guys truly hear from the variety of people I talk to. I talk to single people, I talk to people who want to die with zero. I want I talk to people who there's couples and they both view money very differently. And most of the time there's one person who spearheads the finances and they talk about how they got their spouse involved, but not in a nagging way of like, come on, let's talk about 401ks. But hey, what do you really want to spend your time doing? There have been multiple people from different sectors. I've had so many people come on who are in the IT department. I've had people come on who are in public service. It's just so fun to get to talk to different people. So if you listen to this and you go, wow, I'm retired or I want to retire, I have a story I want to share. You can apply to be a guest just like those that you're about to hear from. And with that being said, the longest intro of all time. Let's stop this so you can finally listen to the actual episode. Enjoy this month, January of 2026 episodes where you hear from real retirees. I hope you have as much fun listening as I had recording. Enjoy.

SPEAKER_00:

I mean, I went through a lot of try and quit and try and quit and try and quit. So I think about these folks who say, you better have something to retire to. And my philosophy was, oh no, I don't want to retire to anything. I want to figure it out as I go along. I mean, right?

SPEAKER_02:

What I'm doing in this new show, Retirement Reality, is having heartfelt, candid conversations with people who have already retired so you can hear from them what worked well, what didn't, and everything in between. I hope you enjoy. And if you're retired and you want to personally come share your story on a future episode, there's a link right below this in the description of this episode where you can apply to be a guest. Now go enjoy the episode. One of my favorite episodes yet, my guest is a scuba diving lover, hiked the Appalachian Mountains on her own, traveled around the United States right after she retired with her husband, but talks about openly that they have different goals in retirement, that they don't perfectly overlap, but they intersect, and that her goal is to make sure she lives her best life and she's not going to get in the way of her husband. They have tons of fun together. They are now spending their time doing different activities, and she was working in cybersecurity along with her husband, and she was initially divorced, has an amazing story as how she got to the position that she's in. Some call my guest today the firewall fox, the cybersecurity expert. She is also a scuba diving lover. Over 50 dives since she's retired. She's 62, her husband's 59. We get a little cameo from the husband in this episode, and there are so many nuggets. You are going to love this episode. She tells you everything in terms of how she struggled with her own alcoholism and what she did to overcome it. And she was so honest, so transparent, and that's what I love about this show. Enjoy. Susie, thank you for joining me on another episode of Retirement Reality. We talked a little bit before we started recording, and you were already telling me how you have these different phases of retirement and that you love it. And we're excited to get into that. I ask all my guests the same first question, which is if you had to choose one word to describe retirement so far, what would it be?

SPEAKER_00:

Um stress-free.

SPEAKER_02:

Oh, I like that. Debatable two-word, but we're gonna count it as one.

SPEAKER_00:

The the stress just flows off. It's just gone. It's just gone.

SPEAKER_02:

Talk to us about that.

SPEAKER_00:

So I worked hard. You know, I worked uh my whole life. Um, I did cybersecurity. I did um and when I retired, it was sort of a last-minute thing. It was COVID. And suddenly I'm gonna have to talk to people about what they're not not doing or not doing with their firewalls remotely. And I thought, there is no way they're gonna listen to me through a computer screen when I'm not in their faces saying this is important. So my husband and I talked, and we decided to uh it was time to retire. I I retired for six months before, and then I drove him insane for six months, telling him how how wonderful it was, and then he retired too. So so the first stage was um that feeling of it doesn't matter what I do, I won't get fired, like you, like you, like you mentioned before. Um, I I swear I slept for six months. I was tired to the point where my husband's like, should you should shower every once in a while. I mean, I was literally like decompressing, you know. Um, and that was kind of the first one. And I was like totally against setting an alarm. I was totally against nothing goes on the calendar, you know, I have no commitments. I know, you know, I do whatever I want, whenever I want, every day is is mine, you know. And and then I come but you come but kind of come back to life and go, I need a little structure. There needs to be some structure, you know. And um, you know, we kind of started to figure out, you know, what was our day gonna look like. And and then he turned to me one day and he said, Isn't it time for you to go on a trip? Because we never saw each other. We saw each other one day a week. I was on the road all the time. So we hopped in the car and did a three-month road trip around the country, kind of got to know each other again, um, came back. Um, I went through the stage, another stage, and this is especially I think because we don't we don't have a pension, is that, oh crap, will I run out of money stage? And then you're like, oh, my new job is figure out how to make the money last. And yes, we had a financial advisor, but it's not the same. It's not the same. It's it's not holistic, first of all. Um then you get through that, and then there's the whole thing about um, oh, I can't do this, you know, I I can't take this trip because I only have, you know, I I can't take that many days off work. Oh crap, I don't work anymore. I mean, the it's it's like this mind shift that your mind has to go through. And and then, and then finally, you know, I think a big one was for somebody like me, um, was giving myself permission to quit things and not feel bad about them. Like I decided I'm gonna hike the Appalachian Trail, the whole thing. It's one, you know, three month hike. And I get into about two weeks of it and I say, no, I really do like my showers. And and I felt this terrible sort of, are you quitting? You're quitting? We don't quit. You can't quit, you know, because in in in work life, you can't quit, right? You have to go and to say, oh, it's okay. And then I tried to be an extra on, you know, movies because they film a lot in Atlanta. I did it one one time and I said, Nope, quitting this. I mean, I went through a lot of try and quit and try and quit and try and quit. So I think about these folks who say, and I'm four years in, four years retired. There's folks who say, you better have something to retire to. And my philosophy was, oh no, I don't want to retire to anything. I want to figure it out as I go along. I mean, right? My entire life has been live where the job is, move where the job goes, you know, raise the kids, you know, college, you know, all this stuff. And all of a sudden we're like, where do you want to live? I don't know. We can live anywhere we want. What do you want to do? I don't know. We can do anything we want. I mean, you gotta have that, I think. If I had set up a part-time job or even volunteer, which I do volunteer, I I work the I work the elections, which is a thankless job. Um, you know, and um, but uh I had to have that freedom time, you know?

SPEAKER_02:

I love this. I love this already. I want to go back a little bit to before you retired because you had mentioned in the second phase there, and we're gonna touch on a lot of what you just said, because so many people want to learn about oh my gosh, three months around the country, what RV did you pick? How did you do it? We'll go through that. But I want to go before that because interestingly to me, you said, well, the second phase of retirement is we don't have a pension, so the financial thing that kind of became our job. How do we make sure we don't run out? Had you run projections before you retired to make sure, hey, we're totally gonna be fine, or was it more of, hey, we're having doubts, should we rerun the numbers?

SPEAKER_00:

Um, we had run the numbers, um, and they we we worked, we both worked in IT and in cybersecurity. We worked for a startup in our last 10 years. So in our last 10 years, lots of stock, you know, and um we don't we aren't big spenders because I think we never really made big money until that last 10 years. So that last 10 years, it suddenly um boosted us up into to a level that we're able to really have a good time, you know, give ourselves permission to have a good time. We already had a a financial advisor who said it was it was okay. You know, we she's run the number. Every time we go, she runs the same, the same software, the same numbers, the same this, the same that. Um, and one time she told me, well, you're gonna have to move from midtown Atlanta. And I was like, Well, that's not happening, you know. We live in midtown. It's a little one-bedroom condo, just the two of us. Um, so we, yes, we had run the numbers. Um, we had not planned to retire early. It wasn't until COVID. COVID is what caused us to say, we're done.

SPEAKER_02:

You know, and how old were you when you retired?

SPEAKER_00:

Well, I was 55, 58, and my husband was 55. And he's always proud that he's younger than me.

SPEAKER_02:

So I like that. What was the biggest hesitancy? So COVID hit. Obviously, job stuff changed. But when you finally said, you know what, maybe I'm gonna do it now, what prompted that decision? Was it I can't do it anymore in terms of I just cannot work in this environment of COVID and being virtual? Was it, you know what, there's things I want to explore, so I don't really care. I'm gonna make them numbers work. How were you actually looking at it?

SPEAKER_00:

Well, it was sort of a I'm not it was sort of a I don't really care. We'll make the numbers work with a pretty good confidence that we could, especially when when I found you guys and I started realizing um how to, you know, how to make how to do everything. We're doing fine. We're doing fine. I'm uh we've learned to to spend what we you know more than we would have had it not been for that last job. But I grew up in a family had that had pensions. Everybody gets a pension. You get a pension, you get a pension. I mean, everybody gets pensions, right? There's no I I have no pension. My husband has a minor, very minor, not not it's not even gonna go up for inflation thing from something ages ago. Doesn't really, doesn't really help. But we, you know, we it really did help that COVID hit. COVID was absolute. I would literally go to a company who had been compromised, big company. I worked with huge companies, you know, global companies, and I'd go in and I'd say, you know, reserve this room, this this uh conference room. We're gonna be in there together for five days straight. The router guys, firewall guys, the security operations folks, everybody, everybody. And I'm gonna show you the product that you buy from our company, which is a firewall, and I'm gonna show you what you're doing right, what you're doing wrong, and it's gonna take a week. And then I realized, how am I gonna do this over a Zoom? You know, they're they're not gonna pay attention. It's not the same. Everybody has a second job and they're doing the second job on the side. And I just told my husband, it's funny because most people say, Oh, all of a sudden you get to work from home. Wow, isn't that great? And I said, Oh, hell no. So I called, yeah, I called my boss and I said, talk to my husband, and I said, Call my boss and I said, I'm I'm giving you my notice. And a lot of people did. That was a big, you know, that you know, COVID. A lot of people re I think a lot of us who I never assumed I would retire young, neither one of us did. We did not expect to retire till we were literally 65.

SPEAKER_02:

Wow, let's talk about quitting because I like the way you were phrasing that earlier. There's a culture here of, hey, I'm the first in the office, I'm the last to leave, isn't that great? Hey, you should be proud of me. I didn't spend time with family, but that's weird, right? So the fact that you're going, look, I I am I a quitter because I like to shower, like I like that level of transparency. Did you feel like a quitter when you left your job? Because it doesn't sound like you had that hesitancy.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, I I was um so when I left home at 18 to go to college, it was assumed you will go to college. We have no money for you. Figure it out yourself. Okay, uh, you know, and so I co-opt. I was a co-op for IBM. I went to Georgia Tech to put myself through school. I never had thank you. I never had the um, you know, anybody to fall back on. And then I got married. That one didn't work out. I was able to get out of that marriage. It took me eight months to literally find a job after having two kids, find a job, get the job, earn the money, enough to put down on a on a you know, on a two-bedroom apartment that I can move into because of nobody I had no no family that could give me anything, right? So I'm totally, I am what's between me, my children, and the street. That's always been the way I felt my whole career. And it did not matter how well I did. It didn't matter how well I did. It didn't matter if the money grew. That was still that feeling of um, you know, I'm I have to be the best. I have to do well, I can never fail, I can never quit. You see what I mean? I married my second husband, who I call my second and final husband because he's truly wonderful. He's 20, we're 24 years married now. So very happy, very happy. But uh, it was sort of that feeling of um, and and I actually went to therapy for it, you know, um, about you know, how do I be less hard on myself and always feel this fear of, you know, when am I gonna have to have to live on the streets, which is ludicrous when you look back at it. You know, I I was, you know, I was in IT back before there was internet, you know. I was a contract for the Air Force, did um intranet before internet, you know. I always say TCP IP is my second language, you know. They call me the firewall fox, you know. I mean, so but it doesn't matter. So it's what's in your head. And um, so yeah, there's that feeling of you must succeed. You must succeed. And now you stop working and you go, like I signed up for an art class right after I stopped, you know, soon after I stopped working. And I uh she says, Okay, now we're gonna be drawing leaves, I think it was. And she said, now for homework. And I looked at her and I said, I'm retired, I don't do homework. I said, I don't do homework. I said, I'm not taking this class. And she looked at me, she goes, You're newly retired, right? I said, Yeah. She goes, come back in a few years and you can do it over when you're ready. So I like that. Yeah, I don't do I don't do homework, you know.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, in all seriousness, Susie, you are you are awesome. The fact that you went through what you went through in life and you have come to where you are now. I mean, I can see that you have that confidence. It's kind of oozing off of you right now. And I can see what's cool about doing these calls sometimes, Susie. It depends where the person I'm talking to has their camera, but your shoulders are relaxed right now. I'll talk to certain people who are. I'm not worried about retirement. It's all been great so far. And you're like, okay, well, it's not there yet, which is okay. The fact that you're openly talking. Yeah, I went to therapy because I was really good at stuff. Like that's that's an odd thing to even say, but it's true. So I want to talk a little bit about that, and then I want to get to the travel because everyone wants to hear, okay, what's it really like on the road? How many people cannot wait to retire? They're gonna go to the RV and do it for a year, and then it's not a year, and then they want to know what it's really like. So talking about therapy, when did you decide to start that? Was it while you were working, and how long did you do it for?

SPEAKER_00:

So, okay, we're gonna be very honest, right? Okay, so what comes with a high stress um Silicon Valley job because I my company was in Silicon Valley. I I I became an alcoholic. Now there's there's some transparent fee for you.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Um, we drank a lot. Uh I I worked, I was constantly out at headquarters, I was constantly with big companies, I was constantly at dinner with big companies. Um, I was a woman in a man's world. Um, I drank, I drank them under the table, and then it suddenly became an issue. And and it was not a problem with the company and I would say it was only lasting maybe three years. But um but I went to rehab which was and halfway through rehab I said to the rehab people, I said this is the this is the longest vacation I've ever had and and they looked at me and they said it's rehab. I said really because you make my meals you don't let me cook. I all I do is talk about myself and you know I was like this is great you know I was in San Diego you know yeah and um and then I come back and part of coming back is you have to go to therapy and um you have to go to AA for a while and all that kind of stuff. So this is it's been I'm thinking six years since I I think something like that anyway since I've been sober but um but anyway so I come back and I go to my therapist and I had said you know sign me up for something they won't let you leave you don't leave um rehab until you have a therapist lined up and I said I won't find me somebody I can walk to I live in midtown Atlanta walk every we can walk everywhere and I thought you know I know she's not going to work out or he or he because you know it takes forever to find a good therapist right oh my God she was perfect. She was perfect. She looks at me and she goes well she goes basically you um ruminate about the past and you catastrophize about the future and then she sent me home and she said this week every time you find yourself catastrophizing about the future write it down write it down and then she'd made me think about what would really happen if I lost my job or what would really you know happen if they were like oh Susie you think you're so good at your work but we just figured out you're really not you know or whatever just stupid she made me she made me look at things in a realistic way. And then when it was time to stop working I was like I mean it was just suddenly it was just not a problem. Just not a problem.

SPEAKER_02:

That's a m first of all cannot thank you enough for sharing. I went to therapy when I was about to get married. I went look I love this person but I'm supposed to say forever how do I know forever forever is a very long time. I mean how could anyone say forever? And then we talked about it and it wasn't one of those things that you can pro-con to the nth degree and you know I married now a month and hopefully for the last time but in life she said look you really just don't know you can say forever and you could do your best but you don't know and that I felt the weight come off me. Oh my god so I don't have to know everything so I'm with you they're so good they're so good they really they a good therapist there's nothing like professionals um I I know right right and not they're not groc okay groc is a therapist yeah yeah let's talk about the traveling because this is something so many people I'll get so many different messages especially for people who are like wow I know that I'm gonna love it and they'll say it as if they know the future like I know I'm gonna love it. Why would I possibly ever set anything else up when I'm gonna travel the next six years and I know my spouse is going to love it equally. I mean I know I've never talked to them about it but I just know it. So talk to me a little bit about traveling and how you and your spouse maybe view retirement differently.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah okay so so the first that first trip we had decided you know we we were I literally was on the road that's the reason we lived in Midtown was so because I flew so much that I could hop on the subway you know one hop to anywhere you know Delta um and so we hadn't been we hadn't spent a lot of time together you can you can make a guest appearance if you ever want to honey yeah if he wants to he's watching me um so I said why don't we leave everybody meaning my children who live an hour away my my mother who lives around you know every everybody and let's let's let's go drive around the country for three months and he said only if we buy a Tesla and I said because it helps us drive right yeah so you're thinking we did an RV right I literally right I literally had so many Hilton points that we traveled for three months we didn't start paying for lodging for three quarters of the trip. I used up all my Hilton points and we now since then we've slept in the car sometimes I our car we have a model wise so we've got room in the back for a twin mattress and you know we took a random trip to SpaceX one time and like 20 hour drive and slept at a you know whatever you want to say a quick hello this is him the legend now he's gone he's heading he's heading out soon so um okay real quick on this Susie are are you seeing national parks are you going to museums like what are you doing on this trip well a lot of the national parks because at that time COVID was just you know still kind of during COVID we had just retired six months previously something like that and so um we had a few places that we had to actually you know um get reservations for because of COVID. Otherwise we winged it a bit I mean we kind of knew generally the direction and we basically did a circle um but yeah we went to Yosemite we went to Glacier we went to what's that one up in uh Washington state we went there Rainier no the other one um the huge one Olympic Olympic yeah national park we went to the Badlands we went to the Grand Canyon but in between we'd stop and we we we hit a couple of family members did our laundry which is you know a good thing um but it was it was amazing and we he says he'll do another one with me but only a month and then we got back and I got this letter from Georgia Tech that said hey we're doing a trip to uh Antarctica and I was initially I was like I can't take the main days off and I was like wait I don't work anymore and that that takes a couple of years it really it really does and and then I said to my husband I said you know I think I'd like to go to Antarctica and he said I have no interest in going to Antarctica and I remember thinking this feels like that moment where you say is our is our retirement going to be what we want or is it going to be what I want what you want and sometimes what we want and I said I think I'm gonna go anyway and he said why don't you take your dad and we had a fabulous time so we do things I scuba dive now I scuba dive I'm like in love with it I used to scuba dive in the 80s we both play competitive pinball though he's the one that's really good at it he's he's 415th or so in the c in the in the whole world in in pinball oh my I'm a runner I'm a hiker what else honey I anyway I I'm the active one right I I I work out I'll show you this although I have a big bruise this is not from hit this from scuba diving but check that out look at that that's gonna be the thumbnail right there this this is 62 oh my because at 60 I said when I hit 60 I was like crap I'm 60 you know and I was like what's the one thing I can't buy a new one of and that's my body right so I said I'm I think I I want to work with a trainer which was a big thing because they're not cheap right three days a week 45 minutes and I always tell them I can do anything for 45 minutes. I like that you know and and it it's brought me back to life I've lost 40 pounds. You saw the two pictures I sent I sent you two headshots very different. Yeah the before and the after I mean just the stress level like you said the stress level the shoulders are down yeah I so we we we found we have both have bucket lists they overlap they don't go like this at all not not in the least and we're both fine with it it it it works I mean I don't know what to tell you it's the best time of my life best time I've been to we we did a lot of big trips big trips come first right it seems like you just want to leave the country so we did the Australia which is why I got certified as a scuba diver because I wanted to if I was gonna go I wanted to do the Greyberry reef. We did Iceland whatever now we settle back and we're like okay trips around the country every trip I look at overseas I'm like how many dive trips could I get out of that money instead of you know a Viking cruise or whatever.

SPEAKER_02:

So yeah now it's more about yeah our life is we're exhausting to be with we're busy all the time I love it. I mean not only are you saying you're not bored the fact that literally Susie you're like this is the best time of my life everyone is always saying yeah retirement could work for me but honestly right now this is you know I'm I'm younger so I feel better and you're saying well when you have way more time to prioritize yourself you'll feel way better and I think you literally may have just alleviated like thousands of people's anxiety by just saying like look me and my spouse like it's it's how could we possibly like every single thing the same that is just unrealistic. It's but you're willing to have that conversation Susie and that's what's hard for people because I'll have people tell me financially I know I can retire I'm just too scared what my boss will say and I'll say is that the only reason you're not retiring they'll say look I know what you're thinking right now which is that's a little silly but you just don't get it. And I'll say you're right I don't get it. Please let's explore that because I hope what people are hearing right now is what you just said. I mean in bounds of excitement and the fact that you have found this new purpose of diving where it's not just going on the Viking cruise.

SPEAKER_00:

Nothing wrong with that but nothing and I've done I've done a few but yeah this is this is fun. I'm and being with the penguins down there in in Antarctica was amazing with my 82 year old dad I mean he he had already had cancer he'd already had half a lung removed and his doctor said oh he's a he's a West Point graduate from the 60. He's there his doctor was like oh absolutely you can go to Antarctica you know talk about why I love this stuff.

SPEAKER_02:

I mean when you get to share more time like imagine COVID didn't happen and you're still working Susie that's an experience you would have not had with your dad and that is when we say good luck quantifying the impact of good planning like the sign of a good financial plan is a great life. That's how we look at it.

SPEAKER_00:

Right so I know I've heard this from you a million times.

SPEAKER_02:

I love I I absolutely when I found you guys I mean it changed my life you know the fear goes away the fear goes away you know yeah well I appreciate it Susie if it's okay I'd love to hear what I know your day looks different based off where you are in the world, what you're doing but sounds like three days a week you're at least working out the trainer people love hearing what's a day in the life of a retiree. You might think okay it's not that exciting but people want to know what time you wake up what you're eating is it coffee is it 30 minutes with the spouse? Do you wake up at the same time? Lunch are you hitting a nap?

SPEAKER_00:

All the deets we want to hear it well so I would say so my Monday Wednesday Friday workouts um I I've told him they're fair my my one days Monday Wednesdays and Fridays are kind of laid back so I always say 10 sounds great but whatever whatever works for you because he has a lot of clients around here he comes to my building I'm in a condo building in this in my midtown cool I'll never own a house again. And he and so I wake up whenever I wake up which tends to be about 6 a.m I would say by 6 30 or so coffee's made my husband's still asleep um and I have a a morning call with my two sisters and my brother who by the way are all retired.

SPEAKER_01:

No way.

SPEAKER_00:

So we have a sibling call that's actually over WhatsApp every morning and we chit chat about whatever and see how everybody's dogs are doing or whatever. We have no dogs because we're too on the road. We're we're we like to say we can at any point we can hop up and just and just go. But we you know we have our little siblings call yeah and um you know with occasional breaks to refill the coffee and then um I do my walk with the trainer and I haven't eaten yet I don't eat till after I work out because I'm I'm on keto I so I don't do uh I don't do carbs you know so I don't have to eat as much because I'm always pretty full with fat. That's how you got that yes it is yes absolutely yeah the other one's just as big oh that's awesome. Uh and then on Tuesday so then so there's that and then I might uh I don't know we I I probably play in tournaments pinball tournaments to at least twice a week in the those are evening things. I have a big park uh right next to this is Piedmont Park so I'll go there a lot of times I'll be working on my laptop which by the way I had to buy my own laptop because I've already always been provided one so after you stop working suddenly I had to buy a laptop and I realized you know so I I so I own you know I owned a laptop which I it it sounds funny but seriously I mean there you're always given them by your company so yeah um I'm always working on something like right now I I've been putting together along with Rock actually um a spreadsheet a scuba diving scuba diving trip checklist so that I never forget what I need to pack for which trip and you know it's it's kind of funny it's like my skills don't go away I just you should have seen the spreadsheet even though it was we were somewhat um on our trip around the country I still kind of had the different places where I thought we might stay. Now I wouldn't call to say hey have you got a room until we were a couple of nights away from a place but I still had the spreadsheet and back then there weren't as many superchargers so I also had sort of that worked out now it now test superchargers are everywhere you know um so all of that. So I still I love working on my or I'll be working on the the the app I bought from you guys you know I'll be working on that playing around with numbers or I'm working through your I've already done uh James's thing I'm now working through your thing for 80% off uh yeah you know kind of getting but I find myself because I just got back from I just got back from uh a week in um Rowatan where I went diving with 12 girls of which I knew none of them when I get I went it was a wonderful time we had a wonderful time yeah I also hiked the Appalachian Trail on my own but I went when everyone goes so I I wasn't by myself but I went by myself and my husband's always like are you gonna be safe? What have you done to make sure you're safe you know he's always but he he he's not gonna hold me back ever and I'm never gonna hold him back. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_02:

I mean we both worked our whole lives you know for for the opportunity to be here now you know and this this is it this is what you know if you had told me it was going to be this great well if I hadn't worked my whole life I wouldn't appreciate it as much you know right right yeah you're a rock star Susie okay let's talk because you said one thing that sparked my interest you said I'll never own a home again and we have a lot of people who watch the videos that go well I just sleep better at night owning a home I just could never rent I could never well no I'm not renting because a motion oh excuse me we're not renting own yeah condo sorry explain your current housing situation it's a condo so I own it but I don't have a yard I have a pool but I don't maintain it I have a gym I don't maintain it I have a concierge I can drop off w do whatever you know and uh my front yard is Piedmont Park in Atlanta the largest park in Atlanta which has absolutely everything so you know I have people who do my packages sorry to interrupt there Susie is it safe to say it's nice not having the maintenance yes yes is that the main driver because you own your condo no mortgage correct uh well um I I have a 1.9% interest rate on my mortgage I'm letting it out I'm letting it go until uh 31 because it's so low the interest rate is so low. So 31 yeah that's a hard one to pay down and there there are people that say look I know maybe I should just pay the minimum, invest the rest, but I I just I want to have no more debt there's people that feel that strongly there's other people that go look this is as close to free money as it possibly could be and there's not a right or wrong but when you said I'll never own a home again what really prompted that statement?

SPEAKER_00:

Well my my house so when I got the great job with the Silicon Valley startup right I had been working for the Air Force for forever making you know you don't make a ton of money with the as a contractor um in Montgomery Alabama. We both worked for the Air Force that's where we met my husband and I so um I started traveling from Montgomery and we had a 2800 square foot beautiful home which we paid 1600 for in Montgomery Alabama that we raised our children in. Yeah right nothing but beautiful it was all brick beautiful stone fireplace tall ceilings I mean you know big yard well I was never home I mean I it took me I mean I had to travel first he my husband driving to the airport dropped me off I'd fly to Atlanta I'd fly somewhere I mean I was I was gone I was like home like half a day a week and as soon as and then my company offered him a job and as soon as they did he you know he he said yes and then we rented this place and then we approached once we got rid of the house in Montgomery um we left behind 90% of our stuff I mean we it's you don't need anything what do you need really you know I'm I'm all about experiences so every time I go out shop the way you're looking you see do you see that painting behind me that's I painted that in retirement. Oh my god no you didn't yeah yes I did in retirement but it wasn't part of the homework right you did that in class no that was a different no that was that was YouTube I I used YouTube as my but like everything you put I have a beautiful I was thinking of that vase right there which I absolutely love but you go out and you're like because they have part they have a lot of uh festivals here in in uh Piedmont Park and and I'll say oh I really love that and now because I have such a small place it's like where would that go? What would it replace?

SPEAKER_02:

You know everything I love the way you look at retirement. The way you look at all of this Susie is so cool. You are honest I just cannot thank you enough. Here's how I like to end these shows if there's anything else you want to share please this is your space but what I find people love ending the show with is basically talking to someone who wants to retire early and you basically get to say anything. So I go silent for the next minute to two minutes and you're basically going to talk to someone I'm gonna be silent and that you can make them up they can be like a coworker right now who you think's probably still working and you can imagine yourself talking to them. It could be younger you before you retired. I wish you would have thought about this or I'm gonna give you credit because you said this and you followed up with this. So I'm gonna go silent now and I'm gonna let you talk to someone who is going to retire in the future.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay you're you're probably you've you feel very important at work. You are a critical asset. But trust me you walk away they will go on you are not a necessity to make your job work. They will go on. Might take four people to replace you but they they'll figure out a way if I had it to do over um I would have I would have probably prioritized my health more however in all reality when I meet people that um are working and and they say wow you look great for 62 and I'm thinking I have time I have time when you're working you probably won't have time but I return to LinkedIn and I look at what everybody's saying and talking about and I I just feel this disconnect. And I did go back and do one project for my company and because I had retired and I had turned it off I just I didn't have the passion. It it it it was gone I was fine and I didn't care. I didn't care and I think that's you know I got caught Calls from people that was said, Susie, where are you really working? Who did you really go to work for? Because we know you didn't leave. And I was like, oh no, yes, I did. I'm gone. I'm I'm never working again. And you you will love it. There is, yes, you will, you will, we will fight with that. Who am I now? Am I important now? I don't feel like I'm somebody anymore. Um, and that takes time. And there will be that time that you have to kind of work through that in your head. It's almost like body dysmorphia, but it's like brain dysmorphia or worth dysmorphia or something. And you will have to work with it. But once you get out on the other side, it's um it's like you're a kid again, but with money and time and nobody to tell you what to do. And and it's just um, you know, I could I do this for 40 more years just like I'm doing now? Absolutely. Do I plan to? Absolutely. I have my dad's genes. He was on Antarctica at 82, and by God, I'm gonna my thing is gonna say she fell off a mountain as she was hiking it. That's how I'm going.

SPEAKER_02:

So do just do it.

SPEAKER_00:

You will not regret it.

SPEAKER_02:

It's like you're a kid again with money. That with money is so good, Susie.

SPEAKER_00:

It is true. I mean, look at me. I'm I'm scuba diving. Yeah, I'm going to Bon Air over. Oh, it you have no you have you, young person, have no idea. It is amazing. It is truly amazing. You'll get there. You know, I and what would I say to a young person? Remember the educate yourself on money because I wasn't educated on money. I got lucky in my last 10 years. I they were like, we need somebody who really knows firewalls, and you know, oh, Susie's firewall fox, you know, you need to hire her. And and I got lucky, but I also got lucky in that every time, every time our you know, the stock would mature, they'd say, What are you doing with your stock, Susie? I just bought a car. I'm like, nothing. I'm holding on to it. Nothing. But I was old enough then. I didn't need it, right? I we were living a certain lifestyle, and so it just kind of grew, you know, and and we were we were lucky and the company did well, but I would educate myself on money way earlier.

SPEAKER_02:

Do you think if you had worked for the company the first 10 years and you were raising your kids in Montgomery, that if you had stock, you would have bought a car or a house instead?

SPEAKER_00:

Or put or put the kids through college differently. I mean, we did put the kids through school, but um I I think that we would have elevated our living style. The younger we were, the more we would have uh adjusted to that to that increase. You you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Um and we did okay with the Air Force. We did okay, and it was two of us, you know, two two incomes. But um you know, I we did we just cut we just got lucky. I mean, we're both very smart. We're we're both very smart and we're both very dedicated workers, so there's that. But uh, you know, no, you you go to a startup and it does well or it doesn't do well.

SPEAKER_02:

Right. And and well, Susie, you do make your own luck, so you should give yourself some credit there. And this has been such a fun episode. I cannot thank you enough for being willing to come on and share. Guys, that was this episode of retirement reality with Susie. Thanks, Susie. If you enjoyed this episode of Retirement Reality, check out how we help people retire with confidence. You can see we have an FAQ section on our website. If you just hover over the resources tab, you can go ahead and see this FAQ section here and learn everything about what it's like to work with us, including our personalized planning process, a quick overview of how everything works, do you have enough money to become a client? Where will your money be? Everything from tax planning to fees. We are extremely transparent and want to make sure that you're working with someone that resonates with you. Hopefully, you enjoyed this episode. And if you once again want to be a guest on a future show so that you can share your story, you can see that in the link of this episode. Thanks. Thank you all, as always, for listening to the early retirement podcast. I love getting to host these shows and make different content for you guys every single week. I've not missed a single week in years, and that is because I love getting to do this. Now, please be smart about this before you actually execute any strategy that you see me talk about or hear me talk about, should I say, please talk to your financial advisor, your tax preparer, your estate attorney. Please be smart about this. None of this should be construed as financial advice. This is for fun, educational, informational purposes only. Once again, just quick disclaimer here, guys, please be smart about this. Appreciate you listening as always. And you can, of course, submit a question on my website, early retirementpodcast.com. If you, of course, want me to address a specific case study or topic. I will not promise I can get to it, but I respond to every single person. And if I find it will be helpful for a lot of people, I will absolutely make an episode on it. At the very least, give you some insight. That's it. Thanks, guys.