How To Retire: What To Do With Your Time And Money
Summary: We spent years accumulating money for retirement, but when we finally get there, it’s all about decumulation, counting down your money. Learn how to retire and what to do with your time and money.<br> We talk a lot about <a href="https://www.listenmoneymatters.com/mr-money-mustache/">early retirement</a>, but today we’re talking to someone who’s living it. J. David Stein retired at 46 and had since launched his successful podcast, Money for the Rest of Us.<br> Retirement is a Dirty Word<br> If you’re fairly young and tell people you’re retired, two things will happen. They’ll be jealous and maybe even resentful, or they’ll feel sorry for you, sure that you’re bored and unhappy and will come up with all sorts of projects you should work start.<br> As it turns out, retirement in the conventional sense of it isn’t so good for you either. Retirement is ranked #10 on the list of the <a href="https://www.stress.org/holmes-rahe-stress-inventory/">43 most stressful life events.</a> Below is how the <a href="https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/is-retirement-good-for-health-or-bad-for-it-201212105625">Harvard School of Public Health</a> described retirement;<br> “A life course transition involving environmental changes that reshape health behaviors, social interactions, and psycho-social stresses” that also brings shifts in identity and preferences. In other words, moving from work to no work comes with a boatload of other changes.”<br> Work provides a lot of benefits that we overlook. Work gives us a purpose, a reason to get out of the house, a routine, and social interaction. We can forget all of those pluses when all we can think about is how aggravating the commute is or how much we hate getting up in the morning.<br> Don’t believe it? Just look at Andy Rooney. He retired from 60 Minutes on October 2, 2011, and died on November 4, 2011.<br> Or Keith Richards. Look at the guy. The only thing keeping him alive for the past 30 years is the fact that the Stones still tour.<br> Redefine Work<br> If you’re going to retire at 46 like J. David did or 35 or even 60, you are going to want to find something to fill your time.<br> The average life expectancy in the US for a woman is 81, for a man, 76.<br> If you retire even in your 60’s, that’s a long time to play golf or sit on the porch in a rocking chair yelling at the neighborhood kids for playing on your lawn. It does not work that you dislike (mostly), it’s the lack of freedom.<br> The same day J. David retired, he launched his first post-retirement project. It wasn’t his last, and it took a few tries to get it right. J. David got it right with Money for the Rest of Us.<br> After the first year, the show was bringing in $55,000. It now makes significantly more than that and requires only 25-30 hours a week of his time.<br> You don’t have to make a ton of money with whatever project you decide to take on in your retirement or any money at all. Money isn’t the point. The point has a purpose, having a routine, having something to discuss with other people.<br> No one wants to hear about your backswing or whatever golfers talk about.<br> How To Retire<br> Decumulation means spending down the money you’ve saved for retirement. The second those paychecks stop coming in, you realize, shit, this is it. Whatever I have now, I have to make it last.<br> There are a lot of strategies for retirement that are supposed to make sure you don’t run out of money. We’ve talked a lot about the <a href="https://www.listenmoneymatters.com/4-rule/">4% rule</a>, and we like it for its simplicity.<br> You can withdraw 4% of the money you have invested to live on each year. So if you have $500,000, you can spend $20,000 a year and theoretically never run out of money.<br> Theoretically might be a problem though.<br>
