November 4, 2024 • 17 mins
Ever wondered what truly makes for a happy retirement? Join us as we welcome back Shawn Maloney, the visionary behind Retire Wise, who shares insights from the Retire Happy Framework. This insightful episode offers more than just financial advice, diving deep into the core elements that shape a fulfilled retirement. From ensuring financial security—or the "happy factor"—to emphasizing the essence of health, both physical and mental.
We also venture into the realms of purpose, passion, and generosity as indispensable facets of a rewarding retirement. Discover how pursuing activities that spark joy and bringing meaning to your life, whether through travel, family bonds, or community service, can dramatically enhance overall well-being. We delve into the profound psychological benefits of giving back, illustrating how fulfillment often stems more from giving than receiving. Tune in for a comprehensive exploration of how to craft a retirement that's not only financially secure but also full of purpose and joy.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
North Atlanta, where local businesses and neighbors
come together.
Here's your host, stacey Risley.
Hello friends and neighbors,welcome to North Atlanta's Good
Neighbor Podcast.
Today we have Sean Maloney herewith us.
He is the owner and founder ofRetireWise, he is our expert
contributor to North BuckheadNeighbors Magazine and he is
(00:24):
here today.
He's back with us today todiscuss his most recent article
in our October issues, which isin the title of that is what
Makes Up a Happy Retirement.
So welcome, sean, so happy tohave you back.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
Thanks, stacey, glad to be back.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
And what an important topic.
You know all of us want toretire happy.
You know I love that.
That is kind of your business'stagline.
You know retire happy.
So, what does that look like?
What makes up a happyretirement?
And you know, we'll go aheadand do a little intro on the
(01:03):
article.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
Yeah, no, I appreciate that we have a we,
you know, back when we firststarted this whole thing.
We've kind of morphed this into.
We built what's called what wecall the retire happy framework,
because there's a lot ofdifferent components that go
into, you know, your retirement.
It's there's financial aspects,there's non-financial aspects,
and everybody's plan andeverybody's you know what their
definition of happy is or whattheir definition of retirement
(01:23):
is is different.
So what makes one person happyor fulfilled is different from
another person, and so we justput together this framework that
helps us plan out, you know,with people and really get to
know them and hone in on whatthat fulfilling retirement looks
like.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Yeah Well, and the first thing of that, I think, is
probably the most thought ofyou know, the first thing that
you mentioned in your article,which is just financial security
and the foundation of the peaceof mind that you know that that
provides you having thatfinancial security.
So go ahead and touch on that.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
Yeah, I mean, that's the first cornerstone.
I mean, when everybody thinksabout retirement outside of
thinking of, hey, I don't haveto work anymore, but really what
you're doing and retirementplan is you're replacing your
paycheck.
How's your nest egg going togenerate your paycheck?
And I call this the happyfactor.
Really it's the foundation.
You have these needs, wants andwishes.
And the needs part is the corefoundation.
(02:20):
Right, how am I going to pay mybills, my daily, month to month
, I mean my month to monthexpenses, all that kind of stuff
.
And if you can cover thatportion of it, then you have
that peace of mind and you canrelax.
And unfortunately, there's justtoo many people, even though
we're one of the wealthiestcountries in the world, there's
too many people that retirewithout a plan or without enough
money to even know how they'repaying their bills.
(02:41):
So we're going to tackle thatfirst.
That's the cornerstone, that'syour happy factor is to get that
monthly needs.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
Then once that's covered, then you move on to
some of the other areas to fillout the plan.
Yeah, and that is first andforemost that you can't retire
happy if you can't pay yourbills, so you have to have have
that, that plan in in place.
Um, the next thing that youtalked about, and this is, I
think, so important for all ofus to remember, um is is help.
(03:14):
You know you call that the truewealth and gosh, that really
resonates with me, um.
So so talk about that, becausewe, we can't predict what our
health is going to be, you know,so it's yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
No, there's a couple of things to that right.
I mean the health side of it isthe whole mind, it's a mindset
thing, so it's both physical andmental right.
So the physical side of beinghealthy, being, you know staying
active, so your body's healthyand you know nutrition and all
that side of it, the physicalside, the nutrition side,
keeping your body young, thatenables you to continue to enjoy
(03:50):
the things you enjoy doing.
And then there's the mentalaspects of it of keeping your
mind sharp, you know stayingactive, keep your mind sharp.
Whether that's doing, I don'tknow, it could be doing
different events, doing sportingthings or something simple as
sitting down and doing puzzlesand those kind of things, but
keeping your mind sharp, youknow.
And playing all those thingstogether.
Because there is a factor whenpeople retire, like they get
(04:12):
excited for the first year andthen they don't.
What am I going to do now?
What am I going to do to occupymy time?
And unfortunately thatsometimes causes people to get a
little depressed and they justdon't do much.
And so be active physically,mentally, and that can turn into
some of the things we're goingto talk about next is on the
social side of things that canall interact together.
(04:34):
Yeah, we always ask people whatdo you want to do in retirement?
What's your why, you know?
Just don't sit around.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
You mentioned.
You know that sometimes peopletend to get a little depressed,
they don't kind of know what todo with themselves.
And that really resonated withme because my dad was, you know
he was a workaholic.
I mean, he was very, verydriven, worked very, very hard
and due to health reasons he hadto take early retirement.
(05:03):
You know he had a pretty majorstroke.
I had totally unexpected.
Thank goodness he had beenprepared, you know, for the
financial aspect of it.
You know for the most part and,but but he was not mentally
prepared for it at all.
You know he was not.
(05:23):
He thought he was workinganother 10 years.
You know he had no idea that hewas about to stop and and he
did get depressed, you know, andand and it's just you know and
it did.
I think.
You know he fortunately was anavid reader and was able, you
know, to do that and to keep hismind sharp, and he's still
(05:43):
super sharp today.
But yeah, definitely need tocontinue to key, especially if
you do have a, you know, acognitively demanding job, you
know if you're if you're havingto solve problems all day, every
day, and then you go to doingnothing, that isn't going to
make for a good, healthy life.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
We spend so much of our life working.
We wake up, we go to workthat's what defines your day and
then, all of a sudden, you haveall this time on your hands.
You're like what am?
Speaker 2 (06:17):
I going to do now.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
There's a wealth of opportunities to you know, to do
different things Go.
I mean, it doesn't have to costmoney necessarily, either,
right, just stuff that occupiesyour time, that makes you happy,
or you know, whatever that maylook like.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
Yeah, well, and the next thing you talked about and
this is crucial, I know ismeaningful relationships.
You know you talked about that.
You know relationships beingthe cornerstone of happiness,
and get into a psychologicaldebate on this?
I agree, not a debate, itwouldn't be a discussion.
But, yeah, the people in yourlives, the relationships you
(06:52):
have in your life, are thecornerstone of happiness.
But I don't think a lot ofpeople associate that with
retirement per se.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
So yeah, I mean there , there again, you know you go
to work and you have quoterelationships at work and these
people that you know.
You may or may not know themoutside of work, but you know
family and friends and you knowthere's been a whole bunch of
even studies done that show theimportance of relationships, not
just in retirement butthroughout your life.
(07:21):
But then, when you factor onthe fact that you've got this
major milestone change and theway you're living your life has
now changed in retirementfiguring out what that looks
like, where you want to spendyour time, who you want to spend
your time with, what does thatlook like when you retire?
Now you have more time on yourhands.
Who are you going to spend itwith, and whether that's friends
(07:42):
or loved ones or grandbabies orwhatever that may be.
But there's a clear, proven linkbetween people's joy and
fulfillment tied torelationships and that also
helps the depression side ofthings as well.
If you're, if you haverelationships and you don't feel
like you're alone, even if youhave a spouse, you can still
(08:04):
feel that way, right, right, soit's very important.
So the cool thing is all thatcan kind of play together, right
the health, the meaningfulrelationships and all that can
tie together, because you can doactivities that combine those
two things Right.
Yeah, that can tie together,because you can do activities
that combine those two thingsRight.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
Yeah, absolutely For sure, especially if you, if you
do have a spouse and you'vespent all that time together and
now it's a great opportunityfor you to be able to do some of
the things that you've alwayswanted to do.
And again, like you said, itdoesn't have to be things that
are expensive or really eat intoyour retirement funds, you know
(08:40):
, but doesn't have to be thingsthat are expensive or really eat
into your retirement funds, youknow.
But we're talking about whatmakes you, what makes up a happy
retirement, and these aredefinitely elements to that.
So the next thing was was, youknow, purpose and passion, the
key to fulfillment.
Goodness, I'm going to stumbleover that word.
Purpose and passion, the key tofulfillment.
This is big to me.
(09:02):
If I'm not feeling fulfilledand I don't feel like I'm making
a difference, you know, evenI'm not in retirement, but it
definitely affects me Like I.
You know I've changed careersdue to this.
You know a key part you know,have changed careers due to this
, you know I mean, that's a keypart, you know so.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
Yeah, I mean you look at your work and you're like to
your point.
You have people that willchange careers because it's it
doesn't make them happy orthey're not fulfilled in what
they're doing.
And then you go to hitretirement.
Okay, now you don't.
You don't have your workingyears, but now you have like we
mentioned earlier, you have time.
So one thing we always askpeople, before you ever even get
to the financial stuff and allthis other topics, we ask them
(09:42):
what do you want to do?
What's your retirement?
Why?
What do you want to do?
What's going to be your purpose?
What have you always wanted todo?
Whether that's some people, weget answers all over the place.
It could be whether you want totravel, whether you want to
spend time with your family,whether you want to volunteer in
the community, serve on acharity, go on a mission trip,
(10:02):
whatever that may be, you know,but just whatever brings you joy
and a sense of purpose.
And of course, that ties rightback into the way I love all the
way this works is it?
Again?
That part ties back into theother pieces the health, the
mental stability, the mental youknow thing, the relationships
tie all into that.
You know, defining what you'regoing to get fulfillment from
(10:24):
and really thinking about it,and people oftentimes have to
stop and think.
You know really what thatreally means for them and it
gives you that sense of purpose.
That's how we're wiredAbsolutely.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
And I love the last one that you talked about and
what a, what a an appropriatetime of of of year for for this
piece is.
You know, generosity and thejoy of giving back.
You know, and that's kind ofties with that purpose and
fulfill.
You know, you know purpose andpassion and fulfillment, but
(10:55):
let's talk about that and this,and there really is a
psychological component to this,like it is data to to back this
up the joy of giving back andgiving does bring you joy.
Speaker 1 (11:08):
You know, absolutely.
So, like when people say the old, of course, the old saying, you
know it's better to give thanreceive, but there's, like you
said, there's definitely,there's definitely, you know,
mental factors that go into that.
That's that's kind of proven it.
It's most people get when theyreally truly ask themselves and
answer it.
You know, you get morefulfillment out of giving versus
(11:31):
receiving.
You know, and being able to nowwhether it's your time.
It doesn't necessarily have tobe money either, right, it can
be all kinds of things.
Yes, money's one aspect, but itcould be volunteering somewhere
.
We had all these naturaldisasters happen.
It could be going out to one ofthose communities and helping
clean up or help rebuild.
It could be volunteeringsomewhere.
But that's an act of generosityas well.
(11:52):
Your time, talents andtreasures, right, absolutely All
things that you're generouswith, and that goes back into
the fulfillment as well, right's?
I think we are truly designedby God to be generous people,
right, and, and that's wired inour nature Some people, you know
, some of us, will disguise thata little bit, but when you
actually do give, it feelsreally good.
(12:13):
Yeah, you made an impact onsomeone else's life, brought a
smile or joy to someone else'slife, and that just makes you
feel good, not that you do itfor selfish reasons, but 360,
right, absolutely, and I have toclarify earlier I said I
changed careers because I wasn'tfeeling fulfilled.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
I had been a teacher for nearly 20 years, felt very
fulfilled in that role and thenwent into medical sales briefly
before COVID hit and the medicalsales was financially rewarding
but the fulfillment piece wasnot there.
But you know that's as ateacher and I taught the
students who were really needy.
(12:52):
You know they needed me a lotand the joy I got out of that
you know.
Just knowing that I was helpingpeople, I was molding lives
every single day, you know.
And then to go into selling,you know, non-essential medical
equipment, it was a big changeand it was like I couldn't
(13:12):
believe how much it affected.
You know the other aspects ofmy life.
You know the money was nice andthe financial security you know
that that provided was nice butit wasn't enough, you know.
So all and I pass off to you,sean, for for you know, I think
most people when they'rethinking about a financial
advisor, you know, retirementcounselor I'm not using the
(13:39):
right word Retirement wealthadvisor whatever.
But I think that most peoplelike a lot they're they're so
money, they only are seeing thenumbers, they are only seeing
the dollar signs and I reallyappreciate and applaud you for
(14:00):
for writing an article that doestalk about things that aren't
money specific, and I think thatthat should for listeners.
You guys.
Sean is not someone who's goingto be pressuring you into what
you need to do with your moneywhen he's writing expert
articles.
That four of the five keys thathe's talking about are are all
(14:23):
really just uplifting positivethings that are important in
life and it doesn't all revolvearound those dollar signs.
So just want to throw that inthere, sean, seriously and well,
and it makes you, you would besuper approachable.
You know, as far as talking,when people know that that's not
(14:44):
all, that you're driven by, youknow, and that you're not only
going to be, you know, talking,looking at the, the, the balance
on their accounts and want toknow exactly what money they
have, and you know it's lessintimidating.
I think some of us who mayquite be where we want to be for
retirement, are hesitant to toseek that guidance.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
you know, and you're a great one to get that from,
because you do have such anobviously huge heart to go along
, along, appreciate that andit's one of those things people
have a fear of talking about it,or, and you know, whether some
people feel embarrassed orthey're not ready or whatever it
is, and it doesn't matter, Ithink.
(15:27):
You know, I tell everybody itdoesn't matter how much money
you have or how much money youdon't have, or how old you are.
Everybody needs a plan.
Right and the start just get toa starting point and go from
there.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
Yeah, absolutely.
Well, is there anything elsethat you would like to touch on
before we wrap this up?
Speaker 1 (15:47):
No, I really appreciate the kind words.
I appreciate you having me on.
Hopefully this is beneficial topeople.
We love providing for lack ofbetter terms holistic planning
for everybody, like you said.
It's just not finances, that'sa part of it, but there's so
much more too that goes into theplanning and, uh, we like to
kind of do those holistic plansand make sure that you know you
have, you've thought of allthose things.
(16:08):
Not that we're necessarilygoing to execute all that stuff
with you, because that's yourpersonal life, but we want to
get people thinking about allthose different things, uh, and
then we're there alongside tohelp make sure that they can
actually perform those thingsand have the ability, you know,
from a financial standpoint todo it.
But we love, love gettingpeople aligned for their future.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
I love that terminology because yours really
is a holistic approach, youknow, to to retirement and to
retiring happy, you know, andand there's a lot more to
happiness than just money, youknow, and you clearly, and you
clearly get that and that's rare, I think, for someone in your
field.
Is where I was stumbling on mywords earlier.
Maybe it's not so rare, but Idon't see it much.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
Right, well, I appreciate that.
Speaker 2 (16:54):
Well, sean, it's been great having you on again.
Sean is with retire wise.
Um, I encourage you to reachout.
If you don't have a plan foryour retirement, you know Sean
is with RetireWise.
I encourage you to reach out.
If you don't have a plan foryour retirement, you know Sean
is there and ready to help.
So thanks again for being on,sean.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
Thanks, Stacey.
Y'all have a great day.
Speaker 2 (17:13):
You too.
Well, that's all for today'sepisode, Atlanta.
I'm Stacey Risley with the GoodNeighbor Podcast.
Thanks for listening and forsupporting the local businesses
and nonprofits of our greatcommunity.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
Thanks for listening to the Good Neighbor podcast
North Atlanta.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses, visit
gnpnorthatlantacom.
That's gnpnorthatlantacom.
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
North Atlanta, where local businesses and neighbors
come together.
Here's your host, stacey Risley.
Hello friends and neighbors,welcome to North Atlanta's Good
Neighbor Podcast.
Today we have Sean Maloney herewith us.
He is the owner and founder ofRetireWise, he is our expert
contributor to North BuckheadNeighbors Magazine and he is
(00:24):
here today.
He's back with us today todiscuss his most recent article
in our October issues, which isin the title of that is what
Makes Up a Happy Retirement.
So welcome, sean, so happy tohave you back.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
Thanks, stacey, glad to be back.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
And what an important topic.
You know all of us want toretire happy.
You know I love that.
That is kind of your business'stagline.
You know retire happy.
So, what does that look like?
What makes up a happyretirement?
And you know, we'll go aheadand do a little intro on the
(01:03):
article.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
Yeah, no, I appreciate that we have a we,
you know, back when we firststarted this whole thing.
We've kind of morphed this into.
We built what's called what wecall the retire happy framework,
because there's a lot ofdifferent components that go
into, you know, your retirement.
It's there's financial aspects,there's non-financial aspects,
and everybody's plan andeverybody's you know what their
definition of happy is or whattheir definition of retirement
(01:23):
is is different.
So what makes one person happyor fulfilled is different from
another person, and so we justput together this framework that
helps us plan out, you know,with people and really get to
know them and hone in on whatthat fulfilling retirement looks
like.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Yeah Well, and the first thing of that, I think, is
probably the most thought ofyou know, the first thing that
you mentioned in your article,which is just financial security
and the foundation of the peaceof mind that you know that that
provides you having thatfinancial security.
So go ahead and touch on that.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
Yeah, I mean, that's the first cornerstone.
I mean, when everybody thinksabout retirement outside of
thinking of, hey, I don't haveto work anymore, but really what
you're doing and retirementplan is you're replacing your
paycheck.
How's your nest egg going togenerate your paycheck?
And I call this the happyfactor.
Really it's the foundation.
You have these needs, wants andwishes.
And the needs part is the corefoundation.
(02:20):
Right, how am I going to pay mybills, my daily, month to month
, I mean my month to monthexpenses, all that kind of stuff
.
And if you can cover thatportion of it, then you have
that peace of mind and you canrelax.
And unfortunately, there's justtoo many people, even though
we're one of the wealthiestcountries in the world, there's
too many people that retirewithout a plan or without enough
money to even know how they'repaying their bills.
(02:41):
So we're going to tackle thatfirst.
That's the cornerstone, that'syour happy factor is to get that
monthly needs.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
Then once that's covered, then you move on to
some of the other areas to fillout the plan.
Yeah, and that is first andforemost that you can't retire
happy if you can't pay yourbills, so you have to have have
that, that plan in in place.
Um, the next thing that youtalked about, and this is, I
think, so important for all ofus to remember, um is is help.
(03:14):
You know you call that the truewealth and gosh, that really
resonates with me, um.
So so talk about that, becausewe, we can't predict what our
health is going to be, you know,so it's yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
No, there's a couple of things to that right.
I mean the health side of it isthe whole mind, it's a mindset
thing, so it's both physical andmental right.
So the physical side of beinghealthy, being, you know staying
active, so your body's healthyand you know nutrition and all
that side of it, the physicalside, the nutrition side,
keeping your body young, thatenables you to continue to enjoy
(03:50):
the things you enjoy doing.
And then there's the mentalaspects of it of keeping your
mind sharp, you know stayingactive, keep your mind sharp.
Whether that's doing, I don'tknow, it could be doing
different events, doing sportingthings or something simple as
sitting down and doing puzzlesand those kind of things, but
keeping your mind sharp, youknow.
And playing all those thingstogether.
Because there is a factor whenpeople retire, like they get
(04:12):
excited for the first year andthen they don't.
What am I going to do now?
What am I going to do to occupymy time?
And unfortunately thatsometimes causes people to get a
little depressed and they justdon't do much.
And so be active physically,mentally, and that can turn into
some of the things we're goingto talk about next is on the
social side of things that canall interact together.
(04:34):
Yeah, we always ask people whatdo you want to do in retirement?
What's your why, you know?
Just don't sit around.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
You mentioned.
You know that sometimes peopletend to get a little depressed,
they don't kind of know what todo with themselves.
And that really resonated withme because my dad was, you know
he was a workaholic.
I mean, he was very, verydriven, worked very, very hard
and due to health reasons he hadto take early retirement.
(05:03):
You know he had a pretty majorstroke.
I had totally unexpected.
Thank goodness he had beenprepared, you know, for the
financial aspect of it.
You know for the most part and,but but he was not mentally
prepared for it at all.
You know he was not.
(05:23):
He thought he was workinganother 10 years.
You know he had no idea that hewas about to stop and and he
did get depressed, you know, andand and it's just you know and
it did.
I think.
You know he fortunately was anavid reader and was able, you
know, to do that and to keep hismind sharp, and he's still
(05:43):
super sharp today.
But yeah, definitely need tocontinue to key, especially if
you do have a, you know, acognitively demanding job, you
know if you're if you're havingto solve problems all day, every
day, and then you go to doingnothing, that isn't going to
make for a good, healthy life.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
We spend so much of our life working.
We wake up, we go to workthat's what defines your day and
then, all of a sudden, you haveall this time on your hands.
You're like what am?
Speaker 2 (06:17):
I going to do now.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
There's a wealth of opportunities to you know, to do
different things Go.
I mean, it doesn't have to costmoney necessarily, either,
right, just stuff that occupiesyour time, that makes you happy,
or you know, whatever that maylook like.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
Yeah, well, and the next thing you talked about and
this is crucial, I know ismeaningful relationships.
You know you talked about that.
You know relationships beingthe cornerstone of happiness,
and get into a psychologicaldebate on this?
I agree, not a debate, itwouldn't be a discussion.
But, yeah, the people in yourlives, the relationships you
(06:52):
have in your life, are thecornerstone of happiness.
But I don't think a lot ofpeople associate that with
retirement per se.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
So yeah, I mean there , there again, you know you go
to work and you have quoterelationships at work and these
people that you know.
You may or may not know themoutside of work, but you know
family and friends and you knowthere's been a whole bunch of
even studies done that show theimportance of relationships, not
just in retirement butthroughout your life.
(07:21):
But then, when you factor onthe fact that you've got this
major milestone change and theway you're living your life has
now changed in retirementfiguring out what that looks
like, where you want to spendyour time, who you want to spend
your time with, what does thatlook like when you retire?
Now you have more time on yourhands.
Who are you going to spend itwith, and whether that's friends
(07:42):
or loved ones or grandbabies orwhatever that may be.
But there's a clear, proven linkbetween people's joy and
fulfillment tied torelationships and that also
helps the depression side ofthings as well.
If you're, if you haverelationships and you don't feel
like you're alone, even if youhave a spouse, you can still
(08:04):
feel that way, right, right, soit's very important.
So the cool thing is all thatcan kind of play together, right
the health, the meaningfulrelationships and all that can
tie together, because you can doactivities that combine those
two things Right.
Yeah, that can tie together,because you can do activities
that combine those two thingsRight.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
Yeah, absolutely For sure, especially if you, if you
do have a spouse and you'vespent all that time together and
now it's a great opportunityfor you to be able to do some of
the things that you've alwayswanted to do.
And again, like you said, itdoesn't have to be things that
are expensive or really eat intoyour retirement funds, you know
(08:40):
, but doesn't have to be thingsthat are expensive or really eat
into your retirement funds, youknow.
But we're talking about whatmakes you, what makes up a happy
retirement, and these aredefinitely elements to that.
So the next thing was was, youknow, purpose and passion, the
key to fulfillment.
Goodness, I'm going to stumbleover that word.
Purpose and passion, the key tofulfillment.
This is big to me.
(09:02):
If I'm not feeling fulfilledand I don't feel like I'm making
a difference, you know, evenI'm not in retirement, but it
definitely affects me Like I.
You know I've changed careersdue to this.
You know a key part you know,have changed careers due to this
, you know I mean, that's a keypart, you know so.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
Yeah, I mean you look at your work and you're like to
your point.
You have people that willchange careers because it's it
doesn't make them happy orthey're not fulfilled in what
they're doing.
And then you go to hitretirement.
Okay, now you don't.
You don't have your workingyears, but now you have like we
mentioned earlier, you have time.
So one thing we always askpeople, before you ever even get
to the financial stuff and allthis other topics, we ask them
(09:42):
what do you want to do?
What's your retirement?
Why?
What do you want to do?
What's going to be your purpose?
What have you always wanted todo?
Whether that's some people, weget answers all over the place.
It could be whether you want totravel, whether you want to
spend time with your family,whether you want to volunteer in
the community, serve on acharity, go on a mission trip,
(10:02):
whatever that may be, you know,but just whatever brings you joy
and a sense of purpose.
And of course, that ties rightback into the way I love all the
way this works is it?
Again?
That part ties back into theother pieces the health, the
mental stability, the mental youknow thing, the relationships
tie all into that.
You know, defining what you'regoing to get fulfillment from
(10:24):
and really thinking about it,and people oftentimes have to
stop and think.
You know really what thatreally means for them and it
gives you that sense of purpose.
That's how we're wiredAbsolutely.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
And I love the last one that you talked about and
what a, what a an appropriatetime of of of year for for this
piece is.
You know, generosity and thejoy of giving back.
You know, and that's kind ofties with that purpose and
fulfill.
You know, you know purpose andpassion and fulfillment, but
(10:55):
let's talk about that and this,and there really is a
psychological component to this,like it is data to to back this
up the joy of giving back andgiving does bring you joy.
Speaker 1 (11:08):
You know, absolutely.
So, like when people say the old, of course, the old saying, you
know it's better to give thanreceive, but there's, like you
said, there's definitely,there's definitely, you know,
mental factors that go into that.
That's that's kind of proven it.
It's most people get when theyreally truly ask themselves and
answer it.
You know, you get morefulfillment out of giving versus
(11:31):
receiving.
You know, and being able to nowwhether it's your time.
It doesn't necessarily have tobe money either, right, it can
be all kinds of things.
Yes, money's one aspect, but itcould be volunteering somewhere
.
We had all these naturaldisasters happen.
It could be going out to one ofthose communities and helping
clean up or help rebuild.
It could be volunteeringsomewhere.
But that's an act of generosityas well.
(11:52):
Your time, talents andtreasures, right, absolutely All
things that you're generouswith, and that goes back into
the fulfillment as well, right's?
I think we are truly designedby God to be generous people,
right, and, and that's wired inour nature Some people, you know
, some of us, will disguise thata little bit, but when you
actually do give, it feelsreally good.
(12:13):
Yeah, you made an impact onsomeone else's life, brought a
smile or joy to someone else'slife, and that just makes you
feel good, not that you do itfor selfish reasons, but 360,
right, absolutely, and I have toclarify earlier I said I
changed careers because I wasn'tfeeling fulfilled.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
I had been a teacher for nearly 20 years, felt very
fulfilled in that role and thenwent into medical sales briefly
before COVID hit and the medicalsales was financially rewarding
but the fulfillment piece wasnot there.
But you know that's as ateacher and I taught the
students who were really needy.
(12:52):
You know they needed me a lotand the joy I got out of that
you know.
Just knowing that I was helpingpeople, I was molding lives
every single day, you know.
And then to go into selling,you know, non-essential medical
equipment, it was a big changeand it was like I couldn't
(13:12):
believe how much it affected.
You know the other aspects ofmy life.
You know the money was nice andthe financial security you know
that that provided was nice butit wasn't enough, you know.
So all and I pass off to you,sean, for for you know, I think
most people when they'rethinking about a financial
advisor, you know, retirementcounselor I'm not using the
(13:39):
right word Retirement wealthadvisor whatever.
But I think that most peoplelike a lot they're they're so
money, they only are seeing thenumbers, they are only seeing
the dollar signs and I reallyappreciate and applaud you for
(14:00):
for writing an article that doestalk about things that aren't
money specific, and I think thatthat should for listeners.
You guys.
Sean is not someone who's goingto be pressuring you into what
you need to do with your moneywhen he's writing expert
articles.
That four of the five keys thathe's talking about are are all
(14:23):
really just uplifting positivethings that are important in
life and it doesn't all revolvearound those dollar signs.
So just want to throw that inthere, sean, seriously and well,
and it makes you, you would besuper approachable.
You know, as far as talking,when people know that that's not
(14:44):
all, that you're driven by, youknow, and that you're not only
going to be, you know, talking,looking at the, the, the balance
on their accounts and want toknow exactly what money they
have, and you know it's lessintimidating.
I think some of us who mayquite be where we want to be for
retirement, are hesitant to toseek that guidance.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
you know, and you're a great one to get that from,
because you do have such anobviously huge heart to go along
, along, appreciate that andit's one of those things people
have a fear of talking about it,or, and you know, whether some
people feel embarrassed orthey're not ready or whatever it
is, and it doesn't matter, Ithink.
(15:27):
You know, I tell everybody itdoesn't matter how much money
you have or how much money youdon't have, or how old you are.
Everybody needs a plan.
Right and the start just get toa starting point and go from
there.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
Yeah, absolutely.
Well, is there anything elsethat you would like to touch on
before we wrap this up?
Speaker 1 (15:47):
No, I really appreciate the kind words.
I appreciate you having me on.
Hopefully this is beneficial topeople.
We love providing for lack ofbetter terms holistic planning
for everybody, like you said.
It's just not finances, that'sa part of it, but there's so
much more too that goes into theplanning and, uh, we like to
kind of do those holistic plansand make sure that you know you
have, you've thought of allthose things.
(16:08):
Not that we're necessarilygoing to execute all that stuff
with you, because that's yourpersonal life, but we want to
get people thinking about allthose different things, uh, and
then we're there alongside tohelp make sure that they can
actually perform those thingsand have the ability, you know,
from a financial standpoint todo it.
But we love, love gettingpeople aligned for their future.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
I love that terminology because yours really
is a holistic approach, youknow, to to retirement and to
retiring happy, you know, andand there's a lot more to
happiness than just money, youknow, and you clearly, and you
clearly get that and that's rare, I think, for someone in your
field.
Is where I was stumbling on mywords earlier.
Maybe it's not so rare, but Idon't see it much.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
Right, well, I appreciate that.
Speaker 2 (16:54):
Well, sean, it's been great having you on again.
Sean is with retire wise.
Um, I encourage you to reachout.
If you don't have a plan foryour retirement, you know Sean
is with RetireWise.
I encourage you to reach out.
If you don't have a plan foryour retirement, you know Sean
is there and ready to help.
So thanks again for being on,sean.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
Thanks, Stacey.
Y'all have a great day.
Speaker 2 (17:13):
You too.
Well, that's all for today'sepisode, Atlanta.
I'm Stacey Risley with the GoodNeighbor Podcast.
Thanks for listening and forsupporting the local businesses
and nonprofits of our greatcommunity.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
Thanks for listening to the Good Neighbor podcast
North Atlanta.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses, visit
gnpnorthatlantacom.
That's gnpnorthatlantacom.
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