Why I Want To Work Part-Time In Retirement | Road to Retirement

Retirement feels different when you’re close enough to see the real fears and trade-offs. Hana is just a few years away from stepping out of active duty, and she shares what it’s like to stand in that in-between space—excited for a slower pace, but still navigating purpose, parenting, and the question of “am I actually ready?”

She talks about dreaming of morning pickleball, the frugal roots that shaped her money habits, and how starting to invest later than she planned didn’t stop her from getting ahead. She also opens up about slow travel, building up her “superhero account” for early retirement, and carrying purpose into the next chapter by doing a small amount of meaningful work instead of going fully idle.

Hana also reflects on the financial and emotional lessons that came from her divorce—and why honest money conversations matter more than most people admit.
If you’re preparing for retirement and feeling hopeful, anxious, or somewhere in the middle, Hana’s story is a reminder that you’re not behind. You’re just human. And there’s a thoughtful, steady way forward.

--

Hana 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.

Create Your Custom Early Retirement Strategy Here

Get access to the same software I use for my clients and join the Early Retirement Academy here

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.

Transcript

Knowing Your Earliest Retirement Date

SPEAKER_03 0:00

Welcome back to the Early Retirement Podcast. I want all of you to know the earliest time you can retire. Doesn't mean you actually need to retire. In fact, most people think when I say, hey, you're in a position to retire, that people just do. That doesn't happen that often. Most of the time, people go, wow, that's great to know. I'm going to keep working another year for my team so I don't just leave them high and dry. Or I've got this project. Or I don't know what I'm going to do yet in retirement. But it's really nice going to work knowing I don't actually have to be here. If I have a bad day, if politics change, I have the ability to do what I want to do, which is spend my time on whatever it is I want to do. And that's once again where I want all of you to live. I don't want you in that I don't know phase. Many of you have heard this before, but I'm a soccer player, and my wife says I'm worse than hangry when I'm injured. If you don't know hangry, that's hungry and angry. A very dangerous combination. And she used to think right when I get my MRI, I'm going to be even worse than that. Why? Because I'm going to see the severity of my injury. But the truth is I relax. And I relax even if the injury is bad, because now I know the truth. I have a plan. Got it. I might have to do six months of physical therapy or a year to get back on the field. But I know what I need to do in order to once again play soccer, which is the goal in this case. I want all of you to know, wow, what if markets went down right when I retired? Or what if tax brackets change? Or what if my health changes? Or what if I live longer? Or what if, what if, what if, wow, I still see that I would be in a position if I were to make the following changes. Great, I still want to retire. So if you're wondering, okay, what do I need to know before I retire? Once again, guys, you can email me the word retire in the subject line, and I will respond back with a free guide. It's a checklist to make sure you don't forget anything. If you want to build your own plan, just make sure to put in the subject line the word optimize, and then I'll send you the software that I use to build financial plans. And then finally, we love to help people retire early. So you can go to our website, rootfinancial.com, and that's when people are like, wow, I get I need to be financially educated on all retirement topics, but I don't want to actually be the one in charge of implementing it because I want to be enjoying my retirement. And it's our job to make sure we're helping you get the most true value out of what you've worked so hard for. So many people just keep working until 60, 65, thinking, you know what, that's what I gotta do. That's what my parents did, but that that's not the reality. The reality is there's so many of you who listen to this podcast who go, Wow, maybe I could retire earlier, but don't take action on it. And we want to show you, hey, here's when it could be possible. And we're not just gonna sugarcoat it, we're not gonna blow smoke, we're gonna show, hey, here's the reality based on your situation, how much you could spend, here's what's reasonable. So it might surprise you, but it also might be a little bit of tough love. And we believe in being transparent. So hopefully the podcast resonates. I do all of this for you guys for free, and I love getting to do it. So thank you in advance for letting me record these episodes, or else it just feels like I'm talking to outer space. So appreciate you guys emailing me for these free guides. That's a long intro. Let's get to the episode. 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. That is because I love getting to this. Obviously, this would be one of those. 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 prayer, your state attorney, please be smart about this. None of this should be construed as financial. This is for fun and educational informational purposes. Shutting it up and then going abroad. Appreciate you listening as always. You can of course submit a question on my website or something. That's an idea. That's one of the ideas. Yeah. This year's road to retirement. I will comment to it. And if I find it will be helpful for a lot of people close to all of it, some people at the very least give you some. Other people are 10 years out. So there's a wide range of people, and all of these different people are going to help you retire early from them kindly sharing their story. Now, if you haven't seen it already, I have another series here called Retirement Reality, where people who have already retired will share here's what worked, here's what's actually been more difficult than I thought, and so much more. Today's episode is a road to retirement. So if you're on your way to retirement, this episode might resonate even more. Enjoy.

Road To Retirement Series And Guest

SPEAKER_03 4:15

This is my new series, Road to Retirement. And my first guest today is Hanna, who is so honest and transparent about sharing what her divorce really looked like and how much she wants to spend in retirement, how she loves pickleball and what she wants to do in retirement in terms of traveling. And it's that slow travel. It's not just spending a few days. But what makes her story interesting is she doesn't want to stop work entirely. She just wants it to look different. I hope you gain insights from what she's open to sharing and see how this might impact how you're planning for your retirement. Hana, thank you for joining an episode of Road to Retirement. These are always fun for me because we get to hear from people who are like a lot of the viewers who are excited to retire one day. Maybe there's some fears around how am I going to pay for healthcare or what am I going to actually do in retirement? But it's one thing to hear from me. It's another thing to hear from someone who's actually living it. So I ask all my guests the same question first. What are you most excited to do once you retire?

SPEAKER_00 5:11

Um, play pickleball.

SPEAKER_03 5:15

Are we talking daily?

SPEAKER_00 5:17

Uh ideally, yes. Yes. In the morning. So that's uh where I have my most energy. Normally now when I work, I have to play in the evenings. So I'm looking forward to playing pickleball whenever I want to.

SPEAKER_03 5:31

Okay, I like that. I haven't had that answer yet. Normally I'll hear be active, but I like that level of specificity.

SPEAKER_00 5:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 5:37

Now, how did you first get into pickleball? Was it a COVID thing? Was it a friend?

SPEAKER_00 5:42

Uh, you know, I played a long time, I want to say like 10 years ago with my dad. He just took me to the courts and I kind of I don't know, it didn't stick at that time. I never played again after that. But then uh one of my son's friends' dad is a pickleball coach, and he said, Hey, come out here, we're gonna play indoors. You know, it was the winter time, and for whatever reason, it just it stuck. Like I I glommed onto it pretty quickly.

SPEAKER_03 6:11

Okay, now one thing you didn't pick it up in the trend era when everyone was like, it's cool to do. So you were already introduced, maybe it didn't stick, and now you're all in. Now I play soccer six days a week. The doctor tells me, my is like, all right, you should play less. It's you know gonna be better, less on your joints. I'm like, yeah, I like doing it, so I'm going to do it. And he's like, Well, I recommend you play maybe two or three times a week. I'm like, I don't think you know how much I like doing this. All right. Um, are you in that phase or how are you thinking about it?

SPEAKER_00 6:42

Yeah, I mean, I had a little bit of like paresthesia in my arm, probably from like overuse, and the doctor was like, You should probably cut down. And I was like, Yeah, I don't think so. Like, just stretch, you know, it'll go away. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 6:56

So you're like me in that way. Okay, now we have a lot of fun topics we'll get to discuss today. But as everyone knows, you know, at first when I started recording these interviews, my other show, Retirement Reality, where I talk to retirees at the beginning before my first interview, I had like 30 questions. I got to get to these, and then I'd get to like question two. I'd get so lost in the interview because I'm just so curious naturally. And that's what today is like. So for those of you listening going, this isn't like a conversion episode or how to m optimize healthcare subsidies. That's not what these episodes are. These are the non-financial side where naturally finances come up, but really exploring, okay, how does someone think about retirement who's approaching it, whether they're 15 years away or a month away. So,

Pickleball Dreams And Retirement Timeline

SPEAKER_03 7:37

Hana, do you have a retirement date that you're planning on? How are you thinking about the timing?

SPEAKER_00 7:43

Um, yeah, I mean, I've gone through many different um iterations of my retirement plan. I'm thinking, so I'm active duty. Um, and so I have uh at least about four years left on my obligation. Um my plan is probably to exit at that point. Um I need to do 10 years to get my son to give my son the GI Bill. And so um probably do four years, and I'm thinking of going to the reserves. Um, because I really I I love being active duty. Um, just don't really want to do it full time as a as a parent. Um want a little more flexibility in my time. So I'm thinking about the reserves to kind of keep one foot in the door as well as to get health care, you know, through the reserves, and then you can also get a pension as well. Um so I it's about a four to five year time frame um that I'm thinking about sort of going like semi-retirement.

SPEAKER_03 8:44

Okay. Thank you first of all for your service. Without you, I could not do anything I do. I want to learn more about okay, so four or five years in terms of getting you to daily pickleball, potentially in the mornings and not just afternoons, finances naturally will be a part of retirement, a big part of can I even afford it?

SPEAKER_01 9:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 9:04

Did you first start saving for retirement in the traditional way of I got my first job and I've got a 401k that a neighbor or coworker told me about, and I went all in? Was it, you know what, I actually feel like I started later and I just am now trying to catch up, which by the way I tell everyone the best time to start is yesterday and there's really no such thing as behind. Who taught you about finances? Would love to hear that.

SPEAKER_00 9:29

Um, yeah, I feel like I started kind of late. Um, and I think part of that was because uh I was just in school for a really long time. So I didn't really have like my first salary. I was like an intern and a fellow, you know, so I didn't have my first real salary until my late 20s um when I had my like 401k and contributions and um matching and all of that. So um so I started investing at 29, which I feel like is kind of later, you know. Um and I just I just sort of self-taught, kind of stumbled upon investing. Um but my but I grew up with a very frugal family, you know, um immigrants, you know, um my my parents actually kind of early retired. I had an aunt who early retired, and I didn't know I didn't know really what that meant. I wasn't thinking about retirement at that time. But um in retrospect, I had like models of people who weren't working till 65, who weren't, you know, still paying off their mortgage or in debt. I I just grew up in a very frugal family. Nobody taught me, but I think I just kind of absorbed it growing up.

SPEAKER_03 10:47

By the way, first of all, thank you for once again for sharing. I had someone on my show, and maybe it was a few weeks ago now, but they had started saving at 37. And they're like, oh my gosh, what's the even point of starting now? And they retired at 54. And so there's no such thing as too late. It just depends how much you want to spend and what life looks like. And by the way, there's so many people that will follow, for example, Dave Ramsey's baby steps and get out of debt, and then eventually they go, Well, I feel like I'm behind. But the truth is everyone starts somewhere. And I have people that will blow your mind who have $10 million that are more stressed than people with $2 million. And you're like, well, that math doesn't math. The reason for that is they feel like there's more to screw up, there's more that they could squander. There's just more issues where they're like, you know what? Oddly, if I had less money, but it was enough, it would make things simpler. Now I feel bad not selecting first class because I know I should, but maybe I should just be donating more money. So in a weird way, sometimes having too much can create more problems, obviously to a point.

Starting Late And Setting A Number

SPEAKER_03 11:48

Sure. Let's talk a little bit about just kind of monthly spending to the degree you're comfortable. Certain people will say, you know what, Ari, I'm not a big spender. If I spent like $20,000 a month, I'd be fine in retirement. I'm like, not a big spender. Okay. Um, $20,000 a month to some people is I don't even know how I'd spend that. And to other people, it's like, I can see you laughing, but other people are like, $20,000 a month, I told you I want to enjoy my retirement. What am I gonna do with that? And yes, I will literally get those responses. Let's pretend I forced you to retire tomorrow, which I'm not gonna do. But if I forced you, meaning you've but you still get health care for your son and you can play pickleball in the mornings, how much would you need, just generally, every month, so you feel like you could live comfortably?

SPEAKER_00 12:33

Um, if healthcare was covered, like I didn't have to factor in healthcare. Um I I of course I I've looked at those numbers. Um, probably about 6,000 a month, I would say.

SPEAKER_03 12:46

Okay. So let's just say six months, 72,000 a year. That's excluding buying new cars or taking trips. So you said pickleball is one thing you're excited to, but let's add on a few of these other things. Because what I don't want people to make the mistake of, which I hope you don't do, is the following, ready? So they go, I don't want to retire early and spend too much too soon, and then potentially run out of money. So I'm not gonna like take trips or buy new cars because it's just like, what if markets go down? What if I get unlucky? And I'll say those are rational thoughts. But the other risk is you're 75 or 85 with way too much money, wishing you spent more when you had your health.

SPEAKER_01 13:22

Right.

SPEAKER_03 13:23

So let's talk first five years, just to keep it simple for our, and obviously we're dreaming here, but truly, if you could take all the trips you wanted to take to the degree you want to take them. So this is beyond that, you know, $6,000 a month. This is just trips. What would those trips look like? Have you thought about that at all?

SPEAKER_00 13:43

Yeah, I mean, I've thought about um like living abroad like half of the year and then spending the other half. Um, obviously, this would be when I'm an empty nester, you know. My son will, you know, he'll be in college or, you know, be living away from home at that point. Um, but I sort of think about like just having like a small condo that's like completely paid off in a low cost of living area, and you know, just uh shutting it up and then going abroad three to six months out of the year, um, Airbnb, and then you know, coming back for the rest of the year. So that's an idea, that's one of the ideas, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 14:26

Okay, well, we might get into a few of the others, but I'm very curious because certain people will say, I'm gonna travel in retirement. I'll say, What does that look like? They'll go, you know, three days, national park, then home the rest of the year. I go, okay, well, that's very different from spending three months or six months. What are, and you might think, come on, does someone want to hear this? Trust me, they do. And guys, in the comments, you can give Hana some love here. They're like, Yes, I'm planning my trips. Where are you thinking about going and why these countries over any other country?

SPEAKER_00 14:55

Um, I I mean, I would love to go to Southeast Asia. Um, I went to Thailand once um several years ago. I had a great time, so I would love to explore um other parts of Southeast Asia like Vietnam. Um, I I really want to eat the food. I mean, that's that's the primary reason. And it's um it's it's low cost to travel, you know, to certain countries. And so I'm almost I'm kind of also thinking like my expenses would be like really low if I travel to you know certain areas. Um I like the idea of slow travel. Um, I did uh I went on a tour of Europe um where it was like a like a guided tour and it was great, but I realized like, oh, it's it's a little exhausting for me to like go, go, go changing hotels like every day, every two days. And so this idea of kind of like slow travel, like stay in an Airbnb for several weeks or maybe even a month in an area and just kind of take your time and explore. Um, I don't know, I just think that would be really fun.

SPEAKER_03 16:03

I love that you tried that out, meaning you went to Europe and you went, yep, that's not for me, having okay, well, it's been six hours, get ready next. Oh, either way, we don't do late checkout and the time difference. No, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:15

We were on the bus at like 8 a.m. Yeah. Oh, yeah, hard past. Yeah.

Slow Travel And Purpose After Work

SPEAKER_03 16:20

Okay, let's, and this might not be something worrying you at all, but it worries more people than you think. The purpose side of things. Let's fast forward and say you're in Thailand and you're there for three weeks. What does a day look like? Obviously, there's time to explore and things, but does the sense of like, like I'm not getting the vibe that you're worried about being bored, which is cool, but it's something a lot of people worry about. It's okay, great, I'm in Thailand. Okay, I visited the five places I wanted to go to. Now I don't have my friends or my community back home. I'm not getting the sense that's worrying you though. Am I wrong?

SPEAKER_00 16:55

Yeah, that's a good question. I mean, yeah, I've never had the luxury of even considering like going abroad somewhere for, you know, that long or for a vacation that long. Um, so I guess I haven't really thought it through, but I am a I mean, I am a planner. So I I think if we, you know, if I was going there for a month, I would definitely plan out, have at least have an idea of what I was gonna do for that long.

SPEAKER_03 17:23

Do you find your job today, and I know I'm going all over the place, but I can't help myself, do you find your job today brings purpose and fulfillment?

SPEAKER_00 17:31

It does. I mean, I'm in the mental health field. Um, and so it, you know, it's a helping profession, and that's that's what makes me feel good. Um, you know, obviously being in a helping profession full-time, it it sort of has its um drawbacks as well, you know, in terms of just sort of kind of emotionally taking things out of you, that type of thing. But it's not something that I just want to stop doing in retirement or you know, quit forever, anything like that. I still plan to keep my license. Um, I hope to um continue to practice or volunteer services. I mean, I I feel like there's a lot that I can do with that in retirement as well.

SPEAKER_03 18:15

Now I love that you said that. Not just because the fact of what I'm about to bring up, I promise. But this is something that so many people, I mean, you literally just said what I wish I could tell every single person, which is when you retire, imagine I said you're not allowed to help anyone else. I mean, you can talk to people, but you cannot help them. You might feel a sense of identity that's gone and you might miss it to some degree. Yeah. Now, if you could potentially work a little less, what I find is people go, well, that would be nice. I don't want to work to the degree I'm working. But in retirement, there's two big things I focus on. Number one is that purpose side of things. And if you could still practice, even if it's volunteering, not even making money. I imagine if you could do that two or three hours in a day and then go travel and play pickleball. I mean, does that sound more of like a dream life?

SPEAKER_00 19:02

Yeah, it does.

SPEAKER_03 19:03

You can literally see it on your face. You're beaming. Now, the second thing I want to bring up, and this is on the financial side. I had someone reach out, and I know a lot of you are like, Ari, I've heard this story 12 million times. I apologize, but it's important. So they reached out and they said, Ari, you know, I made a lot of income. I go, I know. They go, no, like a lot of income. I go, I know. Okay, you want to tell the world? Like, I already know how much you make. And they're like, okay, well, I just want to make sure you know, like, if I'm about to retire, I'm gonna be like giving this up. And the amount of income they had coming in was $375,000 a year, which is significant. Yeah. And they said, You're gonna be upset with me. And I learned a lesson here because I was a bad advisor. This was in my early years. And I said, Okay, I don't know why I might be upset, but tell me. He goes, Well, I think I'm gonna take this part-time job that really doesn't pay a lot. I think I'm gonna really enjoy it, but you said I'm fine. The reason I'm kind of hesitant to tell you is it's only $20,000 a year. And I was smiling. And he said, Well, you're really confusing me now because I was making $375, and I'm making $20,000 and your smile's like almost bigger now. I go, You've got it all wrong. How much do you want to spend in retirement? And they said about $100,000 a year. I said, You bringing in $20,000 is $20,000 less that I need to send you from your multi-million dollar portfolio, which means that will compound much faster. So you think bringing in a little bit of income compared to what you were making before is like not a big deal. It's a huge deal. It's way less that you need to take, which means other assets, your million dollars that could get 10%, that's a hundred thousand. Well, I'm taking less from that every single year. So I said, how long do you think you would do it if you truly could do it the way you wanted? And he said, honestly, not forever, but like pretty close to forever. I said, Well, your retirement's looking very different and you don't need to work as long as you think. Now, if I would have asked at the very beginning of our meetings initially, if you were to work part-time, is that something that you think you would enjoy for the long term? Do you want to plan on it? And he was like, Look, I'm gonna do something. In this case, and obviously I haven't done a full financial plan with you, Hanna, but pretend you were my client for a second. If you were thinking I can't retire, I mean, five years, healthcare is just gonna cost $10 trillion. Well, if you knew that you were gonna do something in terms of the consulting space or part-time, there would be a reason to consider retiring earlier if you knew I'm gonna want to be abroad. I know it's 75% less to live overseas. Now, if you were the person that was like, I'm not sure if I'm gonna like it, and then you came back and didn't have consulting work, what you don't want to do is put pressure on yourself to go get a job you don't want again. But these are things that really change the needle. And so it comes down to one word trade-offs. That's what retirement's all about. What trade-offs are most important to you? So if I were to just hypothetically say, Hana, you're gonna still work, but it's gonna be three days a week in retirement, quasi-retirement, and it's gonna be three hours a day, um, three days a week. You can still play pickleball and visit wherever you want. And that means theoretically, Medically, you could stop working tomorrow. Would you be like, oh, I would, I would take that deal. Or would you be like, uh, the thought of me having to bring in income? I still don't really want that. I'd rather just it would all be bonus. How would you look at that?

SPEAKER_00 22:14

Oh no. I I mean that would be the ideal schedule for sure. Yeah. I I don't mind, I don't mind working. Um, I just don't want to do it full time at some point. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 22:26

And this is so like let's people say, Ari, why do you bring up these examples so much? I go, okay, well, let's pretend we we ran some more scenarios, which I like doing. And I like doing it, I overdo it because I just believe more knowledge is more power. And the reason I love math is you can just have a better life if you're good with math. So now let's pretend we've run some scenarios and you found out you could retire two years earlier than you thought. And if you had to come out of pocket for healthcare, you'd still be fine. Okay. Well, that would be very telling. Would you still work? You already said it. You're like, I like what I do. I would just do it differently. So I want everyone to know like when can you start to really prioritize? However, there's other life stuff that comes up. For example, your son. Um, you don't have to say, but is he in high school, middle school?

SPEAKER_00 23:11

Uh he's nine, so he's in elementary school.

SPEAKER_03 23:13

Okay. So uh college. No, just kidding. Okay, so he's nine years old. So even if financially, I said, Hannah you're good. You could retire and start traveling tomorrow. You'd be like, Well, I have a son at home. So it just doesn't make sense. So there's life stuff, and it's the weird reason sometimes I'll tell someone, I go, You're on track for retirement, but you shouldn't retire. They'll go, what do you mean? I go, Yeah, your finances look good, but your life it's still at home. It doesn't make sense to do these things yet. So what

Joy Versus Security In Saving

SPEAKER_03 23:40

can we do today? Well, we can save, we can make sure that we're still spending. And this is a theme that I would love to explore with you. And it's a theme I've brought up recently, the theme of joy versus security. And there's a lot of people that will say, I don't know my job, it doesn't feel that secure. I'm gonna save every dollar. I'm gonna max out my 401k or my TSP or whatever that may be. There's other people that go, look, I I know I should retire, but honestly, I work so hard today. And, you know, my son, he's got it, he needs private lessons and this and this and this, that it becomes really difficult to save. How do you approach saving today?

SPEAKER_00 24:16

Um yeah, I so I feel like I'm much more balanced now. Um I think once you your income it you know hits a certain level, you can balance it more in terms of, you know, I've I've maxed out my you know, TSP and Roth every year. And obviously when I was making less, um it that that your budget's a little bit tighter. Um, but you know, I've been in the field for a while now. And so there's room to still max out all my retirement accounts and save in a brokerage and uh you know take vacations, you know, with my son. Um whereas before I wasn't um I had a hard time spending money, actually. Like that was difficult for me. And so now I feel like I'm at a point where now I have a travel fund now. So I have money that I put in for travel, which I never had before.

SPEAKER_03 25:15

Why do you think it was hard to spend money?

SPEAKER_00 25:18

I think it's probably part of my upbringing, you know. Um just if it wasn't like a need, then you probably shouldn't do it. That was sort of the message I think I got. Like, you know, wants are luxury, you know, they're wasteful. Like it should always be about like needs, like practicality, that type of thing. So it took me, it took me some time to kind of undo that mentality um and prioritize other things like convenience and time and quality over money.

SPEAKER_03 25:54

Yeah. There's certain things money really can't change in life, and we all say it. There's certain things that, you know, health above all, and these are common things. But, you know, I made the mistake of oversaving. When I got my first job, I heard about a 401k and then there was a max. And I'm like, if I don't max it out, I'm behind. I've got to max it out. I'm a maxer outer.

SPEAKER_01 26:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 26:12

And I was like not eating lunch to max out my 401k because I was on a small income. Yeah, it's very dumb. So then there's then I went, okay, well, maybe if I just do the Roth IRA and some 401k, that's like good enough. And then I thought, well, if my income rises over time, then I can do more. And so it's a weird thing of I don't want to sacrifice quality of life, but what I just heard is you're really not. It sounds like today you can save and do your TSP, add extra to the brokerage, and still do, you know, comfortable spending today. Is that safe to say?

SPEAKER_00 26:43

Yeah, yeah, it is. Um, and it helps to have knowing that, you know, the GI Bill, like my son's college will be covered. And then he's got a 529, which I actually feel like I kind of overshot with that a little bit. I mean, every time he got cash for his birthday or Christmas, like I just stuffed it in there. And I don't contribute to that anymore because it'll it's just sort of set. It's like coasting right now.

SPEAKER_03 27:10

You're a good mom for doing that. Um, did you hear that about the 529 to Roth IRA transfer?

SPEAKER_00 27:16

Of course.

SPEAKER_03 27:17

Okay, so you're like, oh, give me give me a tougher question. But these are awesome tools that for those who don't know, if you overfund it, you go, oh, I'm screwed, and I don't have another child I'm gonna give it to or a cousin. Can I just like do I just have to pay crazy taxes? What do I do? No, there's now rules and things that you can follow. And if you do that right, you can move money to a Roth IRA for your child, and it does not feel like you totally wasted the money. So I love that you're already

The Brokerage Freedom Account Strategy

SPEAKER_03 27:42

on that. Let's talk a little bit about my favorite account. Do you want to guess what that is?

SPEAKER_00 27:47

The superhero.

SPEAKER_03 27:48

The superhero. Now, this is my favorite account for many reasons, but you already knew about the superhero account, guys. I promise we didn't do that little spiel right before we got on here. Hanukin attest.

SPEAKER_00 28:01

Yeah, I watch your show. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 28:04

Thank you. Um, how do you approach that superhero account? Is there a certain amount every month you try to get in there? How did you first hear about it?

SPEAKER_00 28:14

Yeah, it wasn't until recently I realized it was like a superhero account. Um, so it was, you know, I I maxed out my TSP, maxed out my Roth. Um, I'm not a huge fan of cash. I mean, I have cash, but it feels like, you know, like you don't make a lot of money off of cash. Um, so it was kind of like, well, I'll just open a brokerage and just stick in extra money there, I guess. Um, because you know, my son's stuff was all taken care of too. Um so I just, yeah, I just kind of like actually what what it was was I had sold my house before I moved. And so the the money that I made from that house, I just put in a brokerage account. Um, I didn't really think about what it was for. I just was just like, well, I'm not gonna keep it in cash and then invest it. Um and then it was until recently, you know, watching YouTube videos, um you know, and hearing content like the brokerage account is really like your freedom account, you know, because it's not um there's no barriers in terms of like accessing it early. You can contribute as much as you want. And so I I I have now I'm I'm you know trying to put as much as I can in there because that's gonna be my bridge account from uh, you know, say I kind of fully retire at 50, from 50 to 59. That's sort of my plan is to sort of tap into that and let my invest, you know, retirement accounts grow until I can access them at 59 and a half.

SPEAKER_03 29:52

Incredible. You're like the poster child of an early retirement, by the way. And some people go, did she say 50? Yes, there are people that retire at 50 in their 40s who really are not worried so much about the purpose side. Now, there are a lot of people, and you're wondering why I'm gonna connect the dots here, I'm sure, but there's a lot of people going at 50, who am I gonna hang out with? Oh my, my friends are still working. And they're gonna ask you, So, Hannah, are you retired? And you're gonna say yes, and maybe you'll feel a little sense of jealousy. Maybe you'll say, Um, I'm still actually working, just uh a whole lot more comfortable than the way you're working. No, you won't say that. But um, this superhero account is really the magic that I find makes this happen comfortably for a few reasons. The first is it can act like a Roth IRA. And most people go, no, how could that possibly be? Well, if you're strategic about how you pull income, you could realize 0% in gains. So it's essentially you're put money in, it grows, you pay taxes along the way and dividends and interest. But when you take money out, generally people think, well, I have to pay taxes. Well, Hana, you're in a great spot because if you sold a home and put, let's say, 200,000 into a superhero account, that's your cost basis. So if that 200 goes to 250, you can pull from that, live off of that. And so why am I bringing this up? It's always nice to have healthcare coverage from an employer for whatever reason, but there's a lot of people that worry unnecessarily. So pretend you're watching this and you're not HANA. You're like, well, I'm not gonna have that luxury of healthcare. College won't be funded for my child. That does not mean you cannot retire early. And I'll see a lot of you guys cheat yourself. You go, oh, well, I don't have HANA situation, so I have to work till I'm 60. It is not that way. That is not how it works. Don't cheat yourself. Make sure you're planning well. But a superhero account, which I have so many videos on why I truly love this, is uh a magical thing that too many people will think, well, I should max out my 401k. Well, if you already have a good amount there or you want to retire earlier, this is definitely something to look into.

Prenups And The Real Cost Of Divorce

SPEAKER_03 31:48

Now, Hana, I'm curious because, and I like that you haven't beat yourself up in any way, even if you said, yeah, maybe 29 is a little late to start saving. The way I like to end these shows is by letting you talk to younger you. If you don't want to talk to younger you, you can talk to someone who wants to retire in five years or just a coworker in your head. But it's to tell them what you wish you knew now. That can be, hey, like you deserve to spend more and you know, enjoy it. That can be, you know what, maybe life didn't pan out exactly how we thought, but here's where you are now. And so it's almost like there's more people than you think who are watching this who are thinking to themselves, you know what, I'm gonna be in a position to retire early one day. And I want to make sure I don't make mistakes that I could have avoided. So luckily, I haven't really heard many mistakes. I think you've done a great job. I think you're probably in a better spot than you even think. Obviously, I don't know. And I say I'm the meanest advisor here on YouTube, but I'm not. I'm just very honest because I don't want you mad at me if you're 80 with $10 trillion going, why didn't you tell me I could have played pickleball earlier? But I also don't want you to run out of money and there's a balance there. So if you were to tell me I'm guaranteeing that I'm going to go and live overseas and love it, I'd be like, well, maybe we try it first. So there are definitely things I'm thinking about, but I'm gonna shut the heck up for the next minute or so, and you get to talk to, in this case, it can be younger you or a coworker, and just give them tips from someone who is on track to retire early.

SPEAKER_00 33:19

Uh yeah, well, I think the the probably most common advice is right, start as early as you can. Um this is probably very unromantic, but I think pe more people should sign prenups, you know. Uh I think it's you know, marriage is a legal agreement. And even if you don't have that much going in, um, I think it's good to sort of like have those parameters outlined um in case things don't work out and have conversations about money with your, you know, to be spouse. Uh, I think that's probably very underrated, you know, uh money conversations. And um, you know, save but enjoy, you know, travel more. I wish I'd have traveled more when I was younger. Um because it probably would have been cheaper, right? Like I've been more open to staying in hostels and um, you know, having very little with me versus now I'm, you know, I'm I'm not staying in hostels at my age, right? So um, yeah, so I I would say those things.

SPEAKER_03 34:31

Hana, you're absolutely right. I do think prenups are not discussed enough. I have a quick fun story for you, but if you're open to sharing, because you prompted this, I would love to hear if this is something that you personally experience and to the degree you're comfortable talking about it, because it does seem that it impacted you. I will say I have a prenup with my now wife, and I'm three months in, so by no means a veteran. Congrats. But one of the things, thank you, that prompted this was we watch, and some of you guys are gonna cringe right now, we watch Love is Blind. Not every season, okay, but it's it's some cheesy reality TV. And there's an episode where um the man approaches the woman and says, I think we should get a prenup. And she says, Oh, so you don't trust me. And I think that's a very common misconception. And it's what really prompted our conversation in detail. Meaning, we always knew me and my wife were going to get a prenup, but this what prompted us to go, oh, it's not about trust. It's truly a financial agreement. And so if you're comfortable sharing, I'd love to hear how this maybe impacted your life.

SPEAKER_00 35:35

Um, yeah. So, you know, when I got married, uh it was the very beginning of my career. I just finished all my studies. Um, so I didn't have much. I mean, I probably had like $16,000 to my name. Um, my spouse at the time, you know, had a little bit more than me, but you know, we we just didn't have much. And so um I don't know, you know, I think just a prenup, you think, is for people who have just lots and lots of money, you know, lots at stake. Um, and actually I don't I don't know if a prenup is necessary for everyone, but um I do think it is worth sort of exploring again, kind of outlining parameters in case things don't work out, having those important conversations about money. Um, and so you know, after the divorce, um probably lost about a hundred thousand dollars in the divorce. Um, so that was um that was a big chunk of change. I think I probably maybe would have hit my retirement goal sooner, you know, had had I had I still have that money like invested. Um, but you know, it it is what it is. I mean, it didn't significantly, I mean, I'm still pretty young on track to retire early. So it didn't significantly change, you know, anything. But uh, you know, it it it was it's a lot of money that could have been compounding um over this time.

SPEAKER_03 37:03

Yeah. I appreciate you sharing that. And if you relate to HANA because you've been through an experience like that, please thank Hana for sharing that in the comments below. There's also a postnup that often doesn't get discussed at all. So if you're listening to this and you're like, okay, well, I I didn't get a prenup with my partner, but maybe I should get a postnup. Is it too late? I mean, I'm by no means a therapist, and Hana, you'll know more than I will. But if you're not able to speak about money with your partner, good luck. Okay. Like if you say prenup and they go, okay, so maybe we're not gonna work out, wasn't meant to be. Now, obviously, by no means I really know what I'm talking about, but I talk to a lot of people who retire and they're like, well, my spouse has different goals than me. So maybe we shouldn't be together anymore. I go, no two people have the same goals. You want to make sure that ultimately what you feel is fair. And so, Hanna, whether it's the $100,000, I don't know you personally. We've only started speaking for 35, 40 minutes now. But I imagine, yes, the hundred thousand bothered you, but probably what bothered more is it just didn't maybe feel fair. And maybe you felt you deserve more. And that can sometimes be more frustrating. And I've personally experienced it not through this, but there was a job I was at that I felt I was not paid fairly at. And if I was paid more, but they said, you know what, we just don't value you or whatever, I might feel like, yeah, I'm being paid well, but I don't really feel it from the company. Versus there's other companies that go too far that go, we just think you're the greatest. And you're like, well, then why are you paying me so little? And they're like, don't worry, it's just the company. You're like, well, that's kind of fishy too. But there's a balance there, and we all want to be heard and feel fair at the end of the day. So thank you, Hannah, for sharing

Listener Questions And Closing Notes

SPEAKER_03 38:40

that. Thank you for coming on the show. And you're gonna help more people than you think. So if you guys enjoyed this episode, please let me know in the comments here, and maybe we'll do a follow-up with you, Hanna, when you're retired.

SPEAKER_00 38:51

Awesome. Thank you.

SPEAKER_03 38:53

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.