December 24, 2025 • 36 mins
Christian thought he was ready for retirement. He just didn’t realize how heavy the weight had been until he finally set it down.
After more than 30 years in a high-stress, always-on role at a global chemical company, Christian retired and discovered something he didn’t expect: the stress didn’t disappear all at once. It slowly melted away, like taking off a 30-pound jacket he didn’t even realize he’d been wearing.
In this episode of Retirement Reality, Christian shares what the first 18 months of retirement have really felt like, both different and deeply liberating. He opens up about realizing work had become optional years before he actually left, navigating the mental shift from “always on” to fully unplugged, and why retirement gave him permission to finally live healthier and slower.
But the heart of this conversation isn’t spreadsheets or withdrawal strategies. It’s about priorities. Christian reflects on watching his father delay retirement, losing his mother too soon, and making a conscious decision not to repeat that pattern. For him, retirement became less about maximizing wealth and more about maximizing time with his wife — cooking together, spending unstructured days side by side, and building a life rooted in presence instead of pressure.
If you’re financially prepared but emotionally unsure, Christian’s story offers a steady, honest look at what actually happens after you step away, and why the freedom on the other side often feels lighter than you imagined.
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Christian 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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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_01 (00:00):
You know, all that you talk about when you retire,
like the stress just falls away.
And for me, it did.
And you don't realize how muchstress you're under until
actually, you know, you're done.
And it's like, and even thentoo, it's like it's not like the
all the stress likeautomatically lifts off your
shoulders.
It basically something it'slike, it took a few weeks for me
(00:22):
to go ahead and finally realize.
I'm like, wow, I don't have toget up at 6 a.m.
anymore.
I don't have to respond toemails at 11:30 at night because
my colleague in Asia Pacific ishaving a problem.
It's it was great to go aheadand not be able to have to worry
about that anymore.
SPEAKER_00 (00:37):
What if retirement feels less like a number and
more like taking off a 30-poundjacket you forgot you were
wearing?
Today you'll hear fromChristian, who spent 30 years on
call 24-7 and had no idea howstressed he was until he retired
and that stress alleviated.
So if you've ever wondered whatthe first 18 months of
retirement actually feel like,liberating, different, maybe
even a little bit surprising,this episode's for you.
(00:58):
Thank you for joining me today,Christian.
How long have you been retiredfor now?
SPEAKER_01 (01:02):
I've been retired now, about 18 months.
I retired in March of 2024.
SPEAKER_00 (01:07):
And what did you do for work prior to retiring?
SPEAKER_01 (01:10):
Uh I worked for a major chemical manufacturing
company.
I worked in the regulatorydepartment as a system
specialist to help uh generateand process documents needed to
ship chemicals globally.
SPEAKER_00 (01:21):
All right.
So a career there, 18 months ofretirement.
If you could describe thesefirst 18 months of retirement in
one word, what would you use?
SPEAKER_01 (01:31):
Uh different is um something I would go ahead and
uh use as a word, obviously.
Um retirement for me was I wasfully prepared to go into it.
I was ready to retire.
Uh, but it never, like life, itnever works out exactly as you
think it's going to go ahead andwork out.
(01:52):
So I'm gonna say different isone word, but also liberating is
also another word I would use.
And that was the word I wasgoing to pick until you phrased
the question that way.
And I'm like, yeah, it's beendifferent for sure.
SPEAKER_00 (02:05):
Okay.
I'll want let's double-clickinto both those.
Different and liberating.
Starting with different,different than what you expected
it to be, different from yourworking years, different in some
other sense.
SPEAKER_01 (02:16):
Uh just different and just in how I felt after I
was done working.
It's like for over 30 years umworking in the industry that I
work in and doing the work thatI did, I was on call pretty much
24-7.
Uh I worked for a globalcompany, and it was like there's
very few hours a day whereessentially there's any
(02:38):
downtime.
And if there was an issue or aproblem, um, you know, it needed
to be addressed right away, orelse we couldn't, you know, ship
our products.
And so it needed to be takencare of right away.
And then after I retired, it waslike, you know, all that you
talk about when you retire, likethe stress just falls away.
And for me, it did.
(02:58):
And you don't realize how muchstress you're under until
actually, you know, you're done.
And it's like, and even thentoo, it's like it's not like the
all the stress likeautomatically lifts off your
shoulders.
It's basically something it'slike, it took a few weeks for me
to go ahead and finally realize.
I'm like, wow, I don't have toget up at 6 a.m.
anymore.
I don't have to respond toemails at 11:30 at night because
(03:22):
my colleague in Asia Pacific ishaving a problem.
It's it was great to go aheadand not be able to have to worry
about that.
SPEAKER_00 (03:30):
I hear that quite a bit, and I want to hear it in
your words of people saying, Ihad no idea how stressed I
actually was until I retired andthat stress started to
dissipate.
What what was the moment whereyou realized, oh my goodness, I
didn't even realize how muchstress I was under?
Was there was there somethingthat hit you?
Like, what did that feel likefor you to realize?
(03:53):
I have that epiphany that thestress is starting to fade away.
SPEAKER_01 (03:58):
Just the way I felt physically, honestly.
It was like I always felt whenyou're working, it's like, you
know, there's stuff you have todo, you need to do to get done.
You're always, you know, I needto always be on.
And so once I got off, it waskind of like I didn't feel the
need to go ahead and have to dothings.
Even the stuff I wanted to dofor a hobby, like my hobbies.
(04:20):
It's like, you know, when you'reworking, you try to go ahead and
fit in your hobbies in the timewhen you you're working and
around family stuff and whateverelse you got going on.
Now even with the hobbies, it'skind of like, well no, I don't
have to do this particular thingnow because you know, I'm not
gonna be required to really beanywhere tomorrow or the next
(04:43):
day or in the next week.
And it just basically physicallyyou just feel different.
And then like a lot of time whenyou're dealing with stress, you
do things that you know honestlyaren't the best for you.
It's like, you know, you may eattoo much, you may drink too
much, and then honestly, afteryou know, I retired and all the
stress was gone, it was like,you know, I don't feel like
(05:05):
doing those things that werehelping me cope with the stress
because the stress is gone, andI can actually focus now on
trying to you know live a littlebit healthier and live a little
bit cleaner and just be you knowat peace with myself, which was
something when you're working,especially in a high stress
environment, and everyone'sdepending upon you, it's you
(05:25):
know really hard to go ahead andyou know just you know, it's
hard to turn it off.
And you know, once you retired,it's like you just didn't turn
it off, you just pulled the plugentirely, so it's like it's
completely gone.
And so it's like and then youjust realize that's like man, I
didn't have any idea that howmuch stress I was under.
(05:46):
And now it's gone.
You're just free.
SPEAKER_00 (05:51):
Yeah.
Yeah, a related question, and Iagree fully with what you just
said of the we're people, wenaturally cope.
Is it eating too much, is itdrinking too much?
Like, what do we do to try tofind that elusive peat that
maybe we can't find there'sheavy stress, heavy deadlines,
heavy responsibilities on us?
To what extent did that play arole in your decision to retire?
(06:12):
Did you feel yourself saying, Ijust can't get there, I'm doing
things I don't want to do, orwas that totally separate from
your decision to retire?
SPEAKER_01 (06:21):
That was completely separate because I had a clear
indication actually back in 2017that I wanted to retire.
So I took a long time gettingready to actually go ahead and
retire.
And I think I kind of mentionedpreviously, you don't realize
how much stress you're underuntil actually after the stress
is gone.
It's kind of like walking aroundwith like a 30-pound jacket on.
(06:44):
It's like you walk around with ajacket on for a long time.
It's like after a while you failto notice it's there.
You're just carrying it.
And once you realize I'm like,oh, I can just take this thing
off, you know, you're like,well, I feel a lot better now.
It's like, you know, grantedthat stress probably
strengthened me to some things,but honestly, it's like it was
(07:05):
still weighing you down.
But honestly, it's like mydecision to retire was
completely separate from that.
It's like I had a, even thoughmy job was a lot of stress, it
was a great job.
I was very blessed and veryfortunate to work for the
company I've worked for.
Um, I had a great team, a greatteam of people who I've worked
with.
And when I told them I was gonnago ahead and retire, everyone
(07:27):
was excited, everyone was veryhappy for me.
It's not like what you hearabout some people saying, like,
oh, don't tell them you're gonnaretire because they'll just, you
know, they'll leave you off andthey'll not let you have your
benefits and whatnot.
My place was not like that atall.
They really just, you know, theyappreciated me, and I
appreciated them, theyappreciated everything I did,
and it allowed me to go aheadand have a very long transition
(07:50):
from worker to retiree.
And it was about and it made meat peace where essentially once
I left, I knew everything wouldbe fine.
It's like, you know, I everyonewas trained, everyone out of the
new take care of stuff that Iwas doing previously, and I had
no concerns about it at all.
SPEAKER_00 (08:07):
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Let's go through that transitiona bit.
I'm gonna start with thefinancial side and then kind of
the emotional side.
At what point did you actuallystart?
Yeah, everyone knows at somepoint they're probably gonna
retire.
But a lot of people, there'sthis, I want to retire, I know I
want to do something, but forwhatever reason, they don't
bring themselves to do thatfirst piece, which is create a
plan.
Just create a can I do this?
(08:28):
Do I have the the assets, theincome, the whatever?
When did you start the financialplanning piece, even if it's
just back of the napkin numbers?
SPEAKER_01 (08:38):
Uh well, I've always been very diligent about
tracking my finances.
I've no, I've tracked myfinances for over 30 years,
probably much ever sinceprobably right right around the
time I got married.
And you know, my wife was great,we're always on the same page
financially, we alwayscoordinated well.
And honestly, it was I mentionedbefore 2017.
(09:00):
In 2016, uh my dad unfortunatelypassed away.
And so, and it took about a yearor so of going through
everything for the assets of thestate to go ahead and be um you
know settled.
And then, you know, at that timeafter everything was all said
and done, and I had all theeverything kind of settled, and
(09:22):
even before that, I was taking alook at the numbers at the time,
and this was in 2017, so it'slike I'd been through the 2008
crash and everything, and wentthrough all that.
But looking at the numbers, Iwas looking at the numbers, I'm
like, wow, it's like I actuallyhave enough now to where it's
like work is optional.
(09:43):
And that was back in 2017, and Iwas like, well, now I can go
ahead and actually startplanning ahead for it to go
ahead and you know make surethat when I do get to the age I
want to retire, you know, I'mreally fully ready and ready to
go.
And then I kind of shift it towhere it's like, okay, I got
enough, so let me go ahead andstructure it to where
(10:04):
essentially when I'm ready toretire, all the other pieces are
in place to go ahead and makesure I have to actually, you
know, pay myself uh regularincome.
SPEAKER_00 (10:15):
So so you have been tracking the financial piece to
some extent from the early yearsof work, and that wasn't
anything new.
But 2017 is when you you realizeI'm at a point where work is
optional.
2024 is when you actuallyretired, so full seven years
later.
Was that seven years because yousaid you did enjoy a large part
(10:37):
of what you did for work, or wasthat because even though you're
financially ready, there was thewhat do I do in retirement, the
psychological side of it?
SPEAKER_01 (10:45):
Uh well, I wasn't really too worried about what I
was gonna do in retirement.
Um, one thing nice about thecompany that I've worked for is
if you retired at or a littlebit after 55 but before 65, they
gave you additional benefits togo ahead.
And really the main thing was ithelped cover health care, where
essentially they provide aservice, they'll fund you
(11:07):
healthcare, and actually mycompany actually does give me a
subsidy to help pay forhealthcare, which is you know,
when you're retired, is one ofyour major expenses that you're
gonna have to go ahead and dealwith.
And so I very much decided atthat time I was like, well, I'm
gonna go ahead and wait till 55because not only do I get this
benefit, but then also then too,you know, I my 401k at my work,
(11:30):
and I knew then I could use therule of 55 to pull into those,
pull off all those ads as assetsto go ahead and you know provide
income.
And so that's why I kind ofdecided to go ahead and wait
until I was 55.
But when actually when Irealized it, it was like, even
though I was ready in 2017, itwas like, you know, it was like
I kind of mentioned this to mywife, it's like, you know,
(11:50):
because we had that number, youknow, everyone has their number
in their head that they talkedabout, and they said, like,
well, if you get to this point,it's like we don't have to work
anymore.
And then I told my wife, well,we're actually at our number.
She's like, Really?
And she's like, Yeah.
And I'm like, well, we mighthave to rethink the number.
I'm like, well, if you know,hey, we talked about this, and
so you know, we're there andactually now we're actually at
(12:12):
that number and we're you knowway past that initial number and
we're doing pretty well.
SPEAKER_00 (12:17):
Yeah.
I I'm interested in that pieceright there.
So you hit your number, you andyour wife had the conversation
where they are, and then part ofthat conversation was, well, do
we move the number?
What was that simply because itfelt safer to have a larger
number?
Was it because, okay, now wehave to budget in for some
buffer or merge, and if thingsdon't go well, was it what led
(12:38):
to the pushing back of that?
SPEAKER_01 (12:40):
Well, it's like if anything else, when essentially
when you get to a big point inyour life, you're kind of
thinking it's like, oh gosh, weworked so hard to get here when
we're finally here.
And it kind of relates into theone more year syndrome.
It's like everyone thinks like,oh, I'm there, but if I do a
little bit more, you know, I cando more stuff later on in life.
(13:01):
And you know, I've always beenthe guys who's run ran the
numbers and I looked at all thestuff, and so I always knew we
were going to be in a good shapeno matter what.
And so, but you know, a lot oftimes, you know, you have you
know, your partner who areessentially it's like, you know,
they may not be into as much ofnumbers as you are, and you
(13:24):
know, it's just something towhere, you know, once we talked
about it, and then once Ifinally said we started going
over it, and we actually do workwith a uh another financial you
know um service, and we actuallywork with produciary for a
while.
Um basically ran the numbers,and it's like, yeah,
(13:46):
everything's good.
And once they go ahead and theysee it's like, no, it's just not
you explaining numbers, but youactually have a third party
explain how the numbers look,it's like every it's it look
it's like more comforting.
SPEAKER_00 (13:55):
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
There is that extra layer ofcomfort there to know you're not
just at your number, but you'rea bit beyond your number and
have some outside validation forthat.
Um, so that happened in 2017.
Fast forward 2024.
You enjoyed those years, youenjoyed your work, but also it's
taking a heavy toll on you touse your words.
There's a 30-pound jacket youwere wearing that you just
(14:16):
didn't even fully appreciate thefact that it was weighing on you
that heavily.
Liberation was the second wordthat you used to describe
retirement.
Walk us through that, what thatwas like.
What what was day one ofretirement like for you?
SPEAKER_01 (14:30):
Uh well, unfortunately, when you retire,
it's like even though you're nolonger working, you still have
stuff to do.
It's because when I retired,it's like, well, number one,
when you retire, it's like,well, you don't have healthcare
anymore, so you have to gethealth care.
So I had to go ahead and we hadto work on that.
Um, I actually my job actuallyhad a pension, and so I had to
(14:52):
decide what to go ahead and dowith that, and I had to go ahead
and do all that administrativestuff, and then actually had to
go ahead and it's like, well,you know, I retired in March.
It's like, and I'm no longerpulling the no, I was gonna get
one more paycheck.
I have to go ahead and decide,like, okay, how much money do I
want to pull out of myretirement funds or out of my
brokerage account to go aheadand pay for you know the
(15:13):
remainder of the year.
And so there's still the goal togo ahead and do.
So all that stuff is all thatstuff is going on.
It's like, you know, I felt likeI was like, I kind of changed
it.
I think you and Ari mentionedbefore where essentially it's
like if you're not working witha financial advisor, you get to
become a financial advisoryourself because you're managing
all your money on your own.
(15:34):
And so I was just started doingthat stuff, and then once that
took about three, it took abouta month before you finally got
everything kind of like donethat needed to get done.
And then after that, basicallyit's like, okay, I can actually
just, you know, let me sit onthe couch for a while and then
relax.
And so it was probably like amonth after I retired, and it's
like, okay, it's like it startedlike selling in that I no longer
(15:58):
have to be, you know, on thebicycle every single day, you
know, you know, riding around.
SPEAKER_00 (16:03):
Mm-hmm.
And what was that feeling like?
So was it just simply the theweightlessness of the jackets
gone and you feel free, or diduh do you remember feeling any
other emotions or feelingsaround that?
SPEAKER_01 (16:16):
I just I just really really felt essentially it's
like like I said when I wasworking, it's like you always
get you feel the need to dosomething.
It's like you know, you'retrying to get to the next goal,
you know, trying to get to evenwhether it be you know
personally, you know,financially, or spiritually, or
something else you have to godo.
And then I got to the pointwhere it's like you know, I
(16:36):
don't have to do anything.
It's like if I just want to havea day where it's like I just
want to get up and read or watchTV or you know, go for a walk,
go to the gym, do something.
It's like I had completefreedom.
It's like my day was like youknow, completely open.
(16:57):
And it wasn't something thathappens like it's not like a
switch that goes off, it's agradual transition.
And honestly, it's like I'veonly been retired about 18
months.
Honestly, I think I'm stilltransitioning.
They always talk about thevacation phase, and it's like,
okay, it's like I'm still kindof going through the tail end of
the vacation phase, and I'mthinking I'm getting to the next
point of it.
But I just felt that essentiallyafter about a month or so, it's
(17:20):
like it was something, it's likeit's kind of like letting the
air out of the balloons slowly.
It's like it's not a big pop,it's just like something you
feel slowly over time, and youstart to feel really just kind
of like lighter overall, notjust physically, but also
spiritually, because it's likeyou don't have this, you know,
like I said, you don't have that30-pound jacket weighing you
down.
SPEAKER_00 (17:42):
So, what does life look like now?
You don't have that 30-poundjacket weighing you down, you
you you know, you took some timeto get the actual mechanics in
order of where am I pullingmoney from, getting health
insurance set up, getting thepension, that stuff.
You know, and you're you youplayed financial advisor for
that month to get everythingdone.
And now you're at the pointwhere there's still things that
you have to do.
There's still financialdecisions to be made, but
they're more or less uh maybesomewhat on autopilot at this
(18:06):
point, with the time that isfreed up.
What does life look like?
SPEAKER_01 (18:12):
Uh honestly, it just gives me time to spend.
Actually, it gives me a lot moretime to spend with my wife,
which I really love.
Is like because my wife left theworkforce a few years ago to
start a new career as a writer.
And so she works from home,which is great.
And you know, we're always youknow around each other.
We like being around each other,and we just get to hang out.
(18:32):
And I think that's really likemy favorite thing to do.
It's just, you know, you know,you talk about redating your
spouse, and it's like, you know,me and my wife have always been
very close.
We've been we were together allthe time.
We love being around each other.
And you know, a lot of times wehave some days where essentially
it's like, you know, what do youwant to do today?
And she'll be like, Well, Idon't know what you want to do.
It's like, well, I don't knowwhat you want to do.
(18:53):
And she's like, Well, I gotthese few things I gotta go
ahead and do.
I'm like, okay, that's fine.
And then, you know, we'll be athome, and like she'll be off
doing her thing, and I'll be youknow, somewhere else in the
house doing my thing.
But then we come together, likewe cook dinner together almost
every single night.
And it's you know, that's onething I really love about being
retired, is just you know, beingaround her uh more often than
(19:16):
not.
Because that was something thatwas kind of lacking when I was
working, because I'd be eventhough like during the pandemic,
it was like I got two weeks offbecause the country was shut
down.
But since my industry wasdeclared essential, I had I got
called back to work two weeksafter the pandemic hit, and I
(19:37):
needed to go ahead, and eventhough I work remotely, I still
need to go back in the office acouple of days a week, and then
that was just, you know, again,another thing of stress,
especially during the pandemic.
But now it gets just we just getto hang out, you know, all the
time.
And I think that's really my byfar my favorite thing.
SPEAKER_00 (19:55):
Yeah, uh let's let's talk about that.
How has your relationship withyour wife changed?
Given you said, Yeah, we'veAlways loved hanging out with
each other, but we just don'thave that freedom and that time.
And now being retired, you do.
What does your relationship withyour wife look like today that
maybe you didn't have theability to have it look like
while you were working?
SPEAKER_01 (20:13):
Um well it was always good.
And uh, but you know, she justno, she loves I love being
around her, she loves beingaround me, and just that just
being in that presence.
And I was gonna go ahead andrelate that to a different story
that I had, because um my dad,um I was first introduced to the
concept of retirement when I was18, because my parents had me
(20:35):
when they were in their late30s.
And so by the time I'm ready togo to high ready to go to
college, um, you know, my dad'sin his mid-50s along with my
mom.
And so basically he kept ontelling me, like, you know, once
you go to college, I'm gonnaretire.
I'm like, okay, dad, that soundsgreat.
And you know, he could dowhatever the heck he wanted.
And then after I went tocollege, he's basically said,
like, well, I'm gonna wait untilyour younger sister goes to
(20:55):
college, who's three yearsbehind me.
And I'm like, okay, dad, that'sfine, whatever, do what you're
gonna go there.
And then he kept on pushing itoff, pushing it off, and pushing
it off.
And I never really found out,you know, why.
And it was and andunfortunately, you know, at this
time, you know, my mother wasalso very ill.
She suffered from moratoriumarthritis, and um, she was you
(21:18):
know very sick.
By the time I was in highschool, she had trouble walking
around.
By the time I got married, um,she was in a wheelchair pretty
much 24-7.
She couldn't get around on herown.
And then she passed away like ayear after got married.
And I just thought about that,and then one of the reasons I
wanted to retire early and spendtime with my wife is because I
saw my dad, who basically, eventhough my mother was ill, hit
(21:41):
all this time in between thetime when you know I went, he
said he could when he said hecould retire and before she
passed.
And it's it seems to me likethat would seem like an enormous
time to waste not being with theone person that you love more
than anything on this planet.
So I really kind of learned fromthat, and I didn't want to
(22:03):
repeat that, especially when Irealized I got to the point
where it's like, you know, workis optional, work is great, but
it's not the most importantthing.
The relationship you have withthe people you love in your life
is by far the most importantthing that you'll ever have.
It's like that's the thing thatkeeps you whole.
And so I wanted to make surethat you know I maintain that.
(22:24):
And I always like, you know,people always say like, you
know, you struggle with youridentity after you retire.
It's like, I work my job wassomething I did, but it's not
who I am.
You know, no, no, my goal waslike, number one, I want to be
the best husband in the world.
That's like my primary goal.
And being with my wife and justbeing around her and making sure
(22:45):
she does everything she wants togo ahead and do and that she's
happy and fulfilled.
That's my main goal in why I sothat's why uh number one, why I
wanted to retire early and spendtime with her, but also why what
happened with my dad.
It's like I want to make sure Ididn't repeat.
Um, I don't think it was amistake, but I don't think it
was the best choice.
SPEAKER_00 (23:04):
Yeah.
Well, thank you for sharingthat, Christian.
It reminds me, you know, it's umI sent out an email to clients
maybe a year ago.
I forget exactly when, butsomething along the lines of,
hey, what's what's one thingthat you've always wanted to
spend money on, but could, youknow, you've never done it.
And the responses were great.
It was like, hey, I want to gosee a Yankees game at Yankee
Stadium, or I want to go um, youknow, whitewater rafting with my
(23:28):
grandchildren, or I want to, itwas typically things that
weren't super expensive, justthings that have been on the
to-do list forever.
And then one client inparticular, she sent me an
email.
She said, Hey, I've always hadthis dream.
My husband and I always had thisdream of you know taking a train
to Alaska and doing these epicthings along the way.
Unfortunately, he passed beforewe were actually able to do some
(23:50):
of this.
And I remember that hit me oflike, hey, we always financial
plan means so much about thethings we want to do, the trips
we want to take, and it's soeasy to keep pushing it off,
pushing it off, pushing it off.
Kind of these things areimportant to us, but they never
feel urgent.
And sometimes we don't get thechance to do the important
because we never took the stepto retire or to make them happen
(24:11):
or to, you know, you fill in theblank.
So I appreciate you sharing thatbecause it's that same sentiment
of I didn't want to push off thethings that are most important
to my life because I couldalways justify working one more
year.
I can always justify maxing outmy 401k another year, I could
always justify paying the SocialSecurity one more year, I could
always justify one more bonus,but at what cost?
(24:31):
And what you didn't want to fallprey to was, well, the cost not
having my wife in this case, orthe cost not having my health
with my wife, or whatever thecase might be.
So um I think that's a reallyimportant thing for people to
realize as we get so locked intoour financial goals and what we
want to do in the future that wefail to appreciate not
(24:52):
everything we have today isgoing to be there tomorrow.
Our health, our spouse, ourfamily, finance, whatever the
case might be.
So thank you for sharing that.
Um going back so a year and ahalf or so of retirement now.
Do you, and I think you alreadystarted to address that, you
know, people talk about thehoneymoon phase and it feels
(25:13):
like a vacation at first, andyou start to feel I'm like,
okay, I'm drifting, I don't knowwhat I am, who I am, what I want
to do.
I think you already said, okay,it might not work.
It's so much more than that.
But do you ever feel a sense ofwhat next?
What do I want to do?
Kind of bored, or is that notsomething that ever crosses your
mind?
SPEAKER_01 (25:32):
Um, not yet, anyway.
Actually, I'm waiting for theday where it comes across where
it's like I'm sitting around andI'm like, I'm really bored.
And I just haven't hit that yet.
And so I'm waiting for that day,and it's like, and actually
before I retired, my wifediscussed, like, well, when you
retire, you can, you know, do A,B, and C.
And I'm like, okay, and I'mstill I'm working on A, a little
(25:54):
bit on B, some a little bit onC.
And so I have options uh, youknow, to keep me busy.
And so I haven't gotten to thepoint yet to where it's like,
you know, I got to the pointwhere essentially it's like, you
know, I get up and it's like,you know, I don't have anything
to do today, which is like,which is not me at all.
I'm always gonna find somethingto go ahead and do, even if it's
(26:15):
something that's like, well, youknow, no, the bathroom is even
to be twenty, so okay, I'll goclaim the bathroom.
It's like I'm gonna go ahead andfind something that gave me uh
busy or at least inner, youknow, occupied for a while.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (26:28):
Yeah, yeah, very cool.
Um, being a year and a half innow, if you could talk to
Christian two years ago, youknow, the version of Christian
that was thinking aboutretirement, having an idea what
he was gonna do, what would youtell him is the same as what he
expected versus what would youtell him is gonna be different
than what he expected?
SPEAKER_01 (26:47):
Um that's kind of an interesting question because
really it's like when I waspreparing to retire it, I was
really keep trying to keepmyself educated um on what to
expect.
And so basically I would goahead and tell him it's like no,
when you basically if I I wentto myself and it was two years
ago, I would basically I wouldbe in the midst of probably
(27:10):
setting up all the trainingprograms I needed to go ahead
and do to get everyone trainedbecause we had to hire like
three people to do my job.
I would just basically tellthem, like, listen, once you get
once you get there, you're gonnafeel so much better.
It's you know, you're gonna feelhealthier, you're gonna feel you
know not as tired as you werepreviously, and just stick with
(27:31):
it.
It's like, you know, it's gonnabe great.
Just you know, keep on going.
And it's like, and I'd be like,okay, thanks.
And I'll give myself an odd lookand then you and then you walk
away.
SPEAKER_00 (27:44):
Yes, it's stick with it.
It's gonna be great.
I think that sticking with itand a theme I hear in talking to
people is you don't always knowexactly what it's gonna look
like.
But if you keep trying newthings and if you keep whether
it's cleaning the bathroom orit's going on a date with your
wife, or it's taking a new, justkeep doing things, and you're
gonna find that thing thatbrings you uh a lot of adventure
(28:05):
or joy or contentment orwhatever it might be.
Um, you I know even I I thinkyou mentioned like you read a
lot or you watch a lot, like youyou prepared for this, it sounds
like, where it wasn't justsomething you randomly stepped
into without thought to what arethe finances gonna look like,
what's life gonna look like?
What guidance would you give tothat person who maybe on the
(28:25):
financial side, this I'vewatched a hundred YouTube
videos, I've listened to ahundred podcasts, I know how
much I need to have in myportfolio, I know what tax
strategies to do, I know whereto pull money from first.
That's not my problem.
My problem is I don't knowwhat's on the other side.
I just want to hear someonewho's there, tell me what I
should be thinking about or whatI should start doing to prepare
for the maybe the psychologicalshift or the emotional shift.
(28:46):
Any words of wisdom based onyour experiences or those of
others you've you've talked tothat you might share?
SPEAKER_01 (28:52):
Yeah, it's kind of uh weird you mentioned that
because it was funny becauseright when I was getting to
retire, I had another co-workerwho I work with, she's on my
team, and she was about my age,maybe a little bit younger, and
she wanted to talk aboutretirement because she was ready
to retire.
Her husband wasn't.
Her husband was basically, hedidn't want to retire, he didn't
(29:13):
want to talk about it.
And I would go ahead and say,like, once you got the financial
thing kind of pinned down, it'slike really then you have to go
ahead and explore what you wantto do.
It's like, and that's where it'slike, you know, once you educate
yourself on the financial partof it, then you need to really
kind of like explore the lifepart of it, you know, what you
(29:33):
want to go ahead and and do.
It's like, and everyone's youknow, choice is going to be
different.
It's like for me, it's like Iwant to make sure I spend more
time with my wife.
And there are a lot of peopleout there where, you know, they
have, you know, they're married,but they have children and they
have grandkids.
They want to spend a lot of timewith the grandkids.
And it's they always say you goahead and should have like like
(29:55):
like three or four things, youknow, outside of you know family
stuff to go ahead and do to helpkeep yourself, you know,
occupied.
And so really just like, youknow, think about something you
love doing.
It's like often I also I oftenthink about my former director
because he's was my age and hesaid he's gonna retire 50.
And he's a fisherman, so I'mlike, I know exactly what this
(30:18):
guy's gonna be doing once heretires.
He's gonna be spending a lot oftime fishing and will probably
be going on some pretty badassfishing trips uh pretty
everywhere from like Alaska tothe Florida coast to go ahead
and catch whatever he can catch.
And so I know I'm so I'm notworried about him, you know, at
all.
But you know, ideally it's likeif you're so tied up with your
(30:39):
work identity that you can'treally get away from it, then
it's like, well, maybe you don'tyou know quit working, maybe you
go part-time or you get like adifferent job which is less
stressed.
It's like because some people,it's like I know some people
will go ahead and they worked upuntil you know their 70s.
Like a lot of people in mycompany, it's like once you got
in, you like you really didn'tleave.
(30:59):
You kind of like stood there,stay there in the entire time.
And so I would go ahead and sayto people are like, if you're
thinking about retiring and thefinancial thing's kind of like
pinned down, you have to goahead and realize the amount of
freedom that gives you.
And then if you have freedom togo ahead and do pretty much
whatever you want, you know, ifit's something to where it's
like, well, I always wanted tolearn how to play piano, like,
(31:20):
okay, well, now you can.
It's like maybe I always want tolearn how to speak Spanish.
I'm like, okay, go ahead and dothat.
Just find something to you knowkeep yourself occupied.
And I would just go ahead andsay, you know, you know, find
something that you, you know,love doing, or something that
you find interesting.
And if you try one thing andit's like, well, I did this for
(31:40):
a while, it's not really workingout, it's okay to quit.
You know, go ahead and dosomething else.
It's like that's somethingthat's um something my mother
taught me like when I was likeseven.
It's like I remember she was,you know, my parents were very
insistent that everyone in thefamily learn to play a musical
instrument.
And so I tried like three orfour different ones.
I remember one day I'm like, youknow, I was learning to play the
drums.
(32:01):
And I just you know wasn'tgetting it, I wasn't having a
good time, and it was justreally just a drain.
And then basically I was like, Iwas getting upset about myself
because I was like, I wasn'tdoing as well as I could, and
you know, and then my mom said,like, you know what, that's
okay, just quit.
We'll find something else.
And then eventually, yearslater, I found a musical
instrument that I did like, andI actually wound up playing that
(32:21):
for a long time, which was good.
And so I would just say, youknow, get you know, no, find
something that you're interestedin and give it a try.
If you know, you know, like likea lot of people play pickleball,
it's like the big thing forretirees.
It's like if you want to playpickleball, great, play
pickleball.
If you don't want to playpickleball, you don't have to.
There's other things you can goahead and play.
You can play golf, you can playtennis, you can do something
(32:43):
else.
I would just get I would justsay, you know, find something
that you know interests you andyou know just give it a try.
SPEAKER_00 (32:53):
Try new things, don't be afraid to quit.
Lesson from Christian.
I'm gonna add two things justbased upon what I'm hearing you
say.
One is I what I'm hearing yousay, and what I hear a lot of
people, people who have aneasier time transitioning to
retirement, it's typicallybecause they haven't placed
their whole identity in whatthey did for work.
You said very clearly, myidentity was not what I did for
(33:14):
work.
So I think that transition waswas easier because you had other
things that were your identitynot that.
So you didn't feel like you werelosing a giant portion of
yourself.
The last thing is you, becauseof your experience with your mom
and dad, you saw very clearlythere is something that I value
more than anything else, andthat is my wife, and I'm not
(33:34):
gonna let this anything get inthe way of my potential ability
to spend the best years of mylife with her, uninhibited from
the demands of work, theresponsibilities of work.
So try new things, I'm hearingyou say, as much as you can.
Don't place your identity inwork, place it in other things.
And then three, understandwhat's important.
And don't let something that'simportant shift to the wayside
(33:58):
because there's other things infront of you, like making more
money or promoting that or doingother things that aren't
actually uh the true things thatyou value.
So lots of important lessons, Ithink, here in your experience.
Christian, any final words umthat that you would want to
leave listeners with who arewanting to retire, maybe even
retire early?
Any any final words of wisdomthat you might want to share
(34:20):
with them?
SPEAKER_01 (34:21):
Uh final words of wisdom.
Obviously, if you're planning onretiring, whether it be early or
what's called them called ontime, uh, do your homework.
Like there's so much resourcesout there.
YouTube is a great resource.
I'm a big YouTube live.
I'm a visual learner, and so Ilearn a lot by watching.
But if you're not, like there'sbooks and other forms of
(34:46):
education out there.
You know, there are no placeslocal colleges will have
seminars every once in a while.
Do your homework, get yourselfeducated, not only about
retirement, but have a goodfinancial education as a base
before you lead into retirement.
And that will go ahead and giveyou your base on the financial
side of it.
As far as the other side of it,is you know, make sure you have
(35:11):
something that you love, whetherit be a person or a thing or
your dog, and just think aboutall the time, all the great
things you can go ahead and do.
That's gonna be great with them.
And I want to go ahead and say,who anyone else is watching
this, if you're thinking aboutretirement and you're gonna be
retiring soon, or if you areretired, I wish you the best on
(35:34):
your retirement journey.
I think it is by far for me thebest stage of life because you
get the go ahead and doeverything that you want to do,
and you're completely free to goahead and explore anything you
want to explore at this point.
So a seven-year-old kid insideof me basically is out now in
(35:55):
this 56-year-old guy.
And so I would just say I hopeeveryone on their retirement
journey has a blast.
SPEAKER_00 (36:05):
Love it.
Well, thank you, Christian.
Thank you for sharing yourexperiences and wisdom and
stories of your retirementjourney.
Thank you for sharing with allof us.
Appreciate you coming on theshow to do so.
You know, all that you talk about when you retire,
like the stress just falls away.
And for me, it did.
And you don't realize how muchstress you're under until
actually, you know, you're done.
And it's like, and even thentoo, it's like it's not like the
all the stress likeautomatically lifts off your
shoulders.
It basically something it'slike, it took a few weeks for me
(00:22):
to go ahead and finally realize.
I'm like, wow, I don't have toget up at 6 a.m.
anymore.
I don't have to respond toemails at 11:30 at night because
my colleague in Asia Pacific ishaving a problem.
It's it was great to go aheadand not be able to have to worry
about that anymore.
SPEAKER_00 (00:37):
What if retirement feels less like a number and
more like taking off a 30-poundjacket you forgot you were
wearing?
Today you'll hear fromChristian, who spent 30 years on
call 24-7 and had no idea howstressed he was until he retired
and that stress alleviated.
So if you've ever wondered whatthe first 18 months of
retirement actually feel like,liberating, different, maybe
even a little bit surprising,this episode's for you.
(00:58):
Thank you for joining me today,Christian.
How long have you been retiredfor now?
SPEAKER_01 (01:02):
I've been retired now, about 18 months.
I retired in March of 2024.
SPEAKER_00 (01:07):
And what did you do for work prior to retiring?
SPEAKER_01 (01:10):
Uh I worked for a major chemical manufacturing
company.
I worked in the regulatorydepartment as a system
specialist to help uh generateand process documents needed to
ship chemicals globally.
SPEAKER_00 (01:21):
All right.
So a career there, 18 months ofretirement.
If you could describe thesefirst 18 months of retirement in
one word, what would you use?
SPEAKER_01 (01:31):
Uh different is um something I would go ahead and
uh use as a word, obviously.
Um retirement for me was I wasfully prepared to go into it.
I was ready to retire.
Uh, but it never, like life, itnever works out exactly as you
think it's going to go ahead andwork out.
(01:52):
So I'm gonna say different isone word, but also liberating is
also another word I would use.
And that was the word I wasgoing to pick until you phrased
the question that way.
And I'm like, yeah, it's beendifferent for sure.
SPEAKER_00 (02:05):
Okay.
I'll want let's double-clickinto both those.
Different and liberating.
Starting with different,different than what you expected
it to be, different from yourworking years, different in some
other sense.
SPEAKER_01 (02:16):
Uh just different and just in how I felt after I
was done working.
It's like for over 30 years umworking in the industry that I
work in and doing the work thatI did, I was on call pretty much
24-7.
Uh I worked for a globalcompany, and it was like there's
very few hours a day whereessentially there's any
(02:38):
downtime.
And if there was an issue or aproblem, um, you know, it needed
to be addressed right away, orelse we couldn't, you know, ship
our products.
And so it needed to be takencare of right away.
And then after I retired, it waslike, you know, all that you
talk about when you retire, likethe stress just falls away.
And for me, it did.
(02:58):
And you don't realize how muchstress you're under until
actually, you know, you're done.
And it's like, and even thentoo, it's like it's not like the
all the stress likeautomatically lifts off your
shoulders.
It's basically something it'slike, it took a few weeks for me
to go ahead and finally realize.
I'm like, wow, I don't have toget up at 6 a.m.
anymore.
I don't have to respond toemails at 11:30 at night because
(03:22):
my colleague in Asia Pacific ishaving a problem.
It's it was great to go aheadand not be able to have to worry
about that.
SPEAKER_00 (03:30):
I hear that quite a bit, and I want to hear it in
your words of people saying, Ihad no idea how stressed I
actually was until I retired andthat stress started to
dissipate.
What what was the moment whereyou realized, oh my goodness, I
didn't even realize how muchstress I was under?
Was there was there somethingthat hit you?
Like, what did that feel likefor you to realize?
(03:53):
I have that epiphany that thestress is starting to fade away.
SPEAKER_01 (03:58):
Just the way I felt physically, honestly.
It was like I always felt whenyou're working, it's like, you
know, there's stuff you have todo, you need to do to get done.
You're always, you know, I needto always be on.
And so once I got off, it waskind of like I didn't feel the
need to go ahead and have to dothings.
Even the stuff I wanted to dofor a hobby, like my hobbies.
(04:20):
It's like, you know, when you'reworking, you try to go ahead and
fit in your hobbies in the timewhen you you're working and
around family stuff and whateverelse you got going on.
Now even with the hobbies, it'skind of like, well no, I don't
have to do this particular thingnow because you know, I'm not
gonna be required to really beanywhere tomorrow or the next
(04:43):
day or in the next week.
And it just basically physicallyyou just feel different.
And then like a lot of time whenyou're dealing with stress, you
do things that you know honestlyaren't the best for you.
It's like, you know, you may eattoo much, you may drink too
much, and then honestly, afteryou know, I retired and all the
stress was gone, it was like,you know, I don't feel like
(05:05):
doing those things that werehelping me cope with the stress
because the stress is gone, andI can actually focus now on
trying to you know live a littlebit healthier and live a little
bit cleaner and just be you knowat peace with myself, which was
something when you're working,especially in a high stress
environment, and everyone'sdepending upon you, it's you
(05:25):
know really hard to go ahead andyou know just you know, it's
hard to turn it off.
And you know, once you retired,it's like you just didn't turn
it off, you just pulled the plugentirely, so it's like it's
completely gone.
And so it's like and then youjust realize that's like man, I
didn't have any idea that howmuch stress I was under.
(05:46):
And now it's gone.
You're just free.
SPEAKER_00 (05:51):
Yeah.
Yeah, a related question, and Iagree fully with what you just
said of the we're people, wenaturally cope.
Is it eating too much, is itdrinking too much?
Like, what do we do to try tofind that elusive peat that
maybe we can't find there'sheavy stress, heavy deadlines,
heavy responsibilities on us?
To what extent did that play arole in your decision to retire?
(06:12):
Did you feel yourself saying, Ijust can't get there, I'm doing
things I don't want to do, orwas that totally separate from
your decision to retire?
SPEAKER_01 (06:21):
That was completely separate because I had a clear
indication actually back in 2017that I wanted to retire.
So I took a long time gettingready to actually go ahead and
retire.
And I think I kind of mentionedpreviously, you don't realize
how much stress you're underuntil actually after the stress
is gone.
It's kind of like walking aroundwith like a 30-pound jacket on.
(06:44):
It's like you walk around with ajacket on for a long time.
It's like after a while you failto notice it's there.
You're just carrying it.
And once you realize I'm like,oh, I can just take this thing
off, you know, you're like,well, I feel a lot better now.
It's like, you know, grantedthat stress probably
strengthened me to some things,but honestly, it's like it was
(07:05):
still weighing you down.
But honestly, it's like mydecision to retire was
completely separate from that.
It's like I had a, even thoughmy job was a lot of stress, it
was a great job.
I was very blessed and veryfortunate to work for the
company I've worked for.
Um, I had a great team, a greatteam of people who I've worked
with.
And when I told them I was gonnago ahead and retire, everyone
(07:27):
was excited, everyone was veryhappy for me.
It's not like what you hearabout some people saying, like,
oh, don't tell them you're gonnaretire because they'll just, you
know, they'll leave you off andthey'll not let you have your
benefits and whatnot.
My place was not like that atall.
They really just, you know, theyappreciated me, and I
appreciated them, theyappreciated everything I did,
and it allowed me to go aheadand have a very long transition
(07:50):
from worker to retiree.
And it was about and it made meat peace where essentially once
I left, I knew everything wouldbe fine.
It's like, you know, I everyonewas trained, everyone out of the
new take care of stuff that Iwas doing previously, and I had
no concerns about it at all.
SPEAKER_00 (08:07):
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Let's go through that transitiona bit.
I'm gonna start with thefinancial side and then kind of
the emotional side.
At what point did you actuallystart?
Yeah, everyone knows at somepoint they're probably gonna
retire.
But a lot of people, there'sthis, I want to retire, I know I
want to do something, but forwhatever reason, they don't
bring themselves to do thatfirst piece, which is create a
plan.
Just create a can I do this?
(08:28):
Do I have the the assets, theincome, the whatever?
When did you start the financialplanning piece, even if it's
just back of the napkin numbers?
SPEAKER_01 (08:38):
Uh well, I've always been very diligent about
tracking my finances.
I've no, I've tracked myfinances for over 30 years,
probably much ever sinceprobably right right around the
time I got married.
And you know, my wife was great,we're always on the same page
financially, we alwayscoordinated well.
And honestly, it was I mentionedbefore 2017.
(09:00):
In 2016, uh my dad unfortunatelypassed away.
And so, and it took about a yearor so of going through
everything for the assets of thestate to go ahead and be um you
know settled.
And then, you know, at that timeafter everything was all said
and done, and I had all theeverything kind of settled, and
(09:22):
even before that, I was taking alook at the numbers at the time,
and this was in 2017, so it'slike I'd been through the 2008
crash and everything, and wentthrough all that.
But looking at the numbers, Iwas looking at the numbers, I'm
like, wow, it's like I actuallyhave enough now to where it's
like work is optional.
(09:43):
And that was back in 2017, and Iwas like, well, now I can go
ahead and actually startplanning ahead for it to go
ahead and you know make surethat when I do get to the age I
want to retire, you know, I'mreally fully ready and ready to
go.
And then I kind of shift it towhere it's like, okay, I got
enough, so let me go ahead andstructure it to where
(10:04):
essentially when I'm ready toretire, all the other pieces are
in place to go ahead and makesure I have to actually, you
know, pay myself uh regularincome.
SPEAKER_00 (10:15):
So so you have been tracking the financial piece to
some extent from the early yearsof work, and that wasn't
anything new.
But 2017 is when you you realizeI'm at a point where work is
optional.
2024 is when you actuallyretired, so full seven years
later.
Was that seven years because yousaid you did enjoy a large part
(10:37):
of what you did for work, or wasthat because even though you're
financially ready, there was thewhat do I do in retirement, the
psychological side of it?
SPEAKER_01 (10:45):
Uh well, I wasn't really too worried about what I
was gonna do in retirement.
Um, one thing nice about thecompany that I've worked for is
if you retired at or a littlebit after 55 but before 65, they
gave you additional benefits togo ahead.
And really the main thing was ithelped cover health care, where
essentially they provide aservice, they'll fund you
(11:07):
healthcare, and actually mycompany actually does give me a
subsidy to help pay forhealthcare, which is you know,
when you're retired, is one ofyour major expenses that you're
gonna have to go ahead and dealwith.
And so I very much decided atthat time I was like, well, I'm
gonna go ahead and wait till 55because not only do I get this
benefit, but then also then too,you know, I my 401k at my work,
(11:30):
and I knew then I could use therule of 55 to pull into those,
pull off all those ads as assetsto go ahead and you know provide
income.
And so that's why I kind ofdecided to go ahead and wait
until I was 55.
But when actually when Irealized it, it was like, even
though I was ready in 2017, itwas like, you know, it was like
I kind of mentioned this to mywife, it's like, you know,
(11:50):
because we had that number, youknow, everyone has their number
in their head that they talkedabout, and they said, like,
well, if you get to this point,it's like we don't have to work
anymore.
And then I told my wife, well,we're actually at our number.
She's like, Really?
And she's like, Yeah.
And I'm like, well, we mighthave to rethink the number.
I'm like, well, if you know,hey, we talked about this, and
so you know, we're there andactually now we're actually at
(12:12):
that number and we're you knowway past that initial number and
we're doing pretty well.
SPEAKER_00 (12:17):
Yeah.
I I'm interested in that pieceright there.
So you hit your number, you andyour wife had the conversation
where they are, and then part ofthat conversation was, well, do
we move the number?
What was that simply because itfelt safer to have a larger
number?
Was it because, okay, now wehave to budget in for some
buffer or merge, and if thingsdon't go well, was it what led
(12:38):
to the pushing back of that?
SPEAKER_01 (12:40):
Well, it's like if anything else, when essentially
when you get to a big point inyour life, you're kind of
thinking it's like, oh gosh, weworked so hard to get here when
we're finally here.
And it kind of relates into theone more year syndrome.
It's like everyone thinks like,oh, I'm there, but if I do a
little bit more, you know, I cando more stuff later on in life.
(13:01):
And you know, I've always beenthe guys who's run ran the
numbers and I looked at all thestuff, and so I always knew we
were going to be in a good shapeno matter what.
And so, but you know, a lot oftimes, you know, you have you
know, your partner who areessentially it's like, you know,
they may not be into as much ofnumbers as you are, and you
(13:24):
know, it's just something towhere, you know, once we talked
about it, and then once Ifinally said we started going
over it, and we actually do workwith a uh another financial you
know um service, and we actuallywork with produciary for a
while.
Um basically ran the numbers,and it's like, yeah,
(13:46):
everything's good.
And once they go ahead and theysee it's like, no, it's just not
you explaining numbers, but youactually have a third party
explain how the numbers look,it's like every it's it look
it's like more comforting.
SPEAKER_00 (13:55):
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
There is that extra layer ofcomfort there to know you're not
just at your number, but you'rea bit beyond your number and
have some outside validation forthat.
Um, so that happened in 2017.
Fast forward 2024.
You enjoyed those years, youenjoyed your work, but also it's
taking a heavy toll on you touse your words.
There's a 30-pound jacket youwere wearing that you just
(14:16):
didn't even fully appreciate thefact that it was weighing on you
that heavily.
Liberation was the second wordthat you used to describe
retirement.
Walk us through that, what thatwas like.
What what was day one ofretirement like for you?
SPEAKER_01 (14:30):
Uh well, unfortunately, when you retire,
it's like even though you're nolonger working, you still have
stuff to do.
It's because when I retired,it's like, well, number one,
when you retire, it's like,well, you don't have healthcare
anymore, so you have to gethealth care.
So I had to go ahead and we hadto work on that.
Um, I actually my job actuallyhad a pension, and so I had to
(14:52):
decide what to go ahead and dowith that, and I had to go ahead
and do all that administrativestuff, and then actually had to
go ahead and it's like, well,you know, I retired in March.
It's like, and I'm no longerpulling the no, I was gonna get
one more paycheck.
I have to go ahead and decide,like, okay, how much money do I
want to pull out of myretirement funds or out of my
brokerage account to go aheadand pay for you know the
(15:13):
remainder of the year.
And so there's still the goal togo ahead and do.
So all that stuff is all thatstuff is going on.
It's like, you know, I felt likeI was like, I kind of changed
it.
I think you and Ari mentionedbefore where essentially it's
like if you're not working witha financial advisor, you get to
become a financial advisoryourself because you're managing
all your money on your own.
(15:34):
And so I was just started doingthat stuff, and then once that
took about three, it took abouta month before you finally got
everything kind of like donethat needed to get done.
And then after that, basicallyit's like, okay, I can actually
just, you know, let me sit onthe couch for a while and then
relax.
And so it was probably like amonth after I retired, and it's
like, okay, it's like it startedlike selling in that I no longer
(15:58):
have to be, you know, on thebicycle every single day, you
know, you know, riding around.
SPEAKER_00 (16:03):
Mm-hmm.
And what was that feeling like?
So was it just simply the theweightlessness of the jackets
gone and you feel free, or diduh do you remember feeling any
other emotions or feelingsaround that?
SPEAKER_01 (16:16):
I just I just really really felt essentially it's
like like I said when I wasworking, it's like you always
get you feel the need to dosomething.
It's like you know, you'retrying to get to the next goal,
you know, trying to get to evenwhether it be you know
personally, you know,financially, or spiritually, or
something else you have to godo.
And then I got to the pointwhere it's like you know, I
(16:36):
don't have to do anything.
It's like if I just want to havea day where it's like I just
want to get up and read or watchTV or you know, go for a walk,
go to the gym, do something.
It's like I had completefreedom.
It's like my day was like youknow, completely open.
(16:57):
And it wasn't something thathappens like it's not like a
switch that goes off, it's agradual transition.
And honestly, it's like I'veonly been retired about 18
months.
Honestly, I think I'm stilltransitioning.
They always talk about thevacation phase, and it's like,
okay, it's like I'm still kindof going through the tail end of
the vacation phase, and I'mthinking I'm getting to the next
point of it.
But I just felt that essentiallyafter about a month or so, it's
(17:20):
like it was something, it's likeit's kind of like letting the
air out of the balloons slowly.
It's like it's not a big pop,it's just like something you
feel slowly over time, and youstart to feel really just kind
of like lighter overall, notjust physically, but also
spiritually, because it's likeyou don't have this, you know,
like I said, you don't have that30-pound jacket weighing you
down.
SPEAKER_00 (17:42):
So, what does life look like now?
You don't have that 30-poundjacket weighing you down, you
you you know, you took some timeto get the actual mechanics in
order of where am I pullingmoney from, getting health
insurance set up, getting thepension, that stuff.
You know, and you're you youplayed financial advisor for
that month to get everythingdone.
And now you're at the pointwhere there's still things that
you have to do.
There's still financialdecisions to be made, but
they're more or less uh maybesomewhat on autopilot at this
(18:06):
point, with the time that isfreed up.
What does life look like?
SPEAKER_01 (18:12):
Uh honestly, it just gives me time to spend.
Actually, it gives me a lot moretime to spend with my wife,
which I really love.
Is like because my wife left theworkforce a few years ago to
start a new career as a writer.
And so she works from home,which is great.
And you know, we're always youknow around each other.
We like being around each other,and we just get to hang out.
(18:32):
And I think that's really likemy favorite thing to do.
It's just, you know, you know,you talk about redating your
spouse, and it's like, you know,me and my wife have always been
very close.
We've been we were together allthe time.
We love being around each other.
And you know, a lot of times wehave some days where essentially
it's like, you know, what do youwant to do today?
And she'll be like, Well, Idon't know what you want to do.
It's like, well, I don't knowwhat you want to do.
(18:53):
And she's like, Well, I gotthese few things I gotta go
ahead and do.
I'm like, okay, that's fine.
And then, you know, we'll be athome, and like she'll be off
doing her thing, and I'll be youknow, somewhere else in the
house doing my thing.
But then we come together, likewe cook dinner together almost
every single night.
And it's you know, that's onething I really love about being
retired, is just you know, beingaround her uh more often than
(19:16):
not.
Because that was something thatwas kind of lacking when I was
working, because I'd be eventhough like during the pandemic,
it was like I got two weeks offbecause the country was shut
down.
But since my industry wasdeclared essential, I had I got
called back to work two weeksafter the pandemic hit, and I
(19:37):
needed to go ahead, and eventhough I work remotely, I still
need to go back in the office acouple of days a week, and then
that was just, you know, again,another thing of stress,
especially during the pandemic.
But now it gets just we just getto hang out, you know, all the
time.
And I think that's really my byfar my favorite thing.
SPEAKER_00 (19:55):
Yeah, uh let's let's talk about that.
How has your relationship withyour wife changed?
Given you said, Yeah, we'veAlways loved hanging out with
each other, but we just don'thave that freedom and that time.
And now being retired, you do.
What does your relationship withyour wife look like today that
maybe you didn't have theability to have it look like
while you were working?
SPEAKER_01 (20:13):
Um well it was always good.
And uh, but you know, she justno, she loves I love being
around her, she loves beingaround me, and just that just
being in that presence.
And I was gonna go ahead andrelate that to a different story
that I had, because um my dad,um I was first introduced to the
concept of retirement when I was18, because my parents had me
(20:35):
when they were in their late30s.
And so by the time I'm ready togo to high ready to go to
college, um, you know, my dad'sin his mid-50s along with my
mom.
And so basically he kept ontelling me, like, you know, once
you go to college, I'm gonnaretire.
I'm like, okay, dad, that soundsgreat.
And you know, he could dowhatever the heck he wanted.
And then after I went tocollege, he's basically said,
like, well, I'm gonna wait untilyour younger sister goes to
(20:55):
college, who's three yearsbehind me.
And I'm like, okay, dad, that'sfine, whatever, do what you're
gonna go there.
And then he kept on pushing itoff, pushing it off, and pushing
it off.
And I never really found out,you know, why.
And it was and andunfortunately, you know, at this
time, you know, my mother wasalso very ill.
She suffered from moratoriumarthritis, and um, she was you
(21:18):
know very sick.
By the time I was in highschool, she had trouble walking
around.
By the time I got married, um,she was in a wheelchair pretty
much 24-7.
She couldn't get around on herown.
And then she passed away like ayear after got married.
And I just thought about that,and then one of the reasons I
wanted to retire early and spendtime with my wife is because I
saw my dad, who basically, eventhough my mother was ill, hit
(21:41):
all this time in between thetime when you know I went, he
said he could when he said hecould retire and before she
passed.
And it's it seems to me likethat would seem like an enormous
time to waste not being with theone person that you love more
than anything on this planet.
So I really kind of learned fromthat, and I didn't want to
(22:03):
repeat that, especially when Irealized I got to the point
where it's like, you know, workis optional, work is great, but
it's not the most importantthing.
The relationship you have withthe people you love in your life
is by far the most importantthing that you'll ever have.
It's like that's the thing thatkeeps you whole.
And so I wanted to make surethat you know I maintain that.
(22:24):
And I always like, you know,people always say like, you
know, you struggle with youridentity after you retire.
It's like, I work my job wassomething I did, but it's not
who I am.
You know, no, no, my goal waslike, number one, I want to be
the best husband in the world.
That's like my primary goal.
And being with my wife and justbeing around her and making sure
(22:45):
she does everything she wants togo ahead and do and that she's
happy and fulfilled.
That's my main goal in why I sothat's why uh number one, why I
wanted to retire early and spendtime with her, but also why what
happened with my dad.
It's like I want to make sure Ididn't repeat.
Um, I don't think it was amistake, but I don't think it
was the best choice.
SPEAKER_00 (23:04):
Yeah.
Well, thank you for sharingthat, Christian.
It reminds me, you know, it's umI sent out an email to clients
maybe a year ago.
I forget exactly when, butsomething along the lines of,
hey, what's what's one thingthat you've always wanted to
spend money on, but could, youknow, you've never done it.
And the responses were great.
It was like, hey, I want to gosee a Yankees game at Yankee
Stadium, or I want to go um, youknow, whitewater rafting with my
(23:28):
grandchildren, or I want to, itwas typically things that
weren't super expensive, justthings that have been on the
to-do list forever.
And then one client inparticular, she sent me an
email.
She said, Hey, I've always hadthis dream.
My husband and I always had thisdream of you know taking a train
to Alaska and doing these epicthings along the way.
Unfortunately, he passed beforewe were actually able to do some
(23:50):
of this.
And I remember that hit me oflike, hey, we always financial
plan means so much about thethings we want to do, the trips
we want to take, and it's soeasy to keep pushing it off,
pushing it off, pushing it off.
Kind of these things areimportant to us, but they never
feel urgent.
And sometimes we don't get thechance to do the important
because we never took the stepto retire or to make them happen
(24:11):
or to, you know, you fill in theblank.
So I appreciate you sharing thatbecause it's that same sentiment
of I didn't want to push off thethings that are most important
to my life because I couldalways justify working one more
year.
I can always justify maxing outmy 401k another year, I could
always justify paying the SocialSecurity one more year, I could
always justify one more bonus,but at what cost?
(24:31):
And what you didn't want to fallprey to was, well, the cost not
having my wife in this case, orthe cost not having my health
with my wife, or whatever thecase might be.
So um I think that's a reallyimportant thing for people to
realize as we get so locked intoour financial goals and what we
want to do in the future that wefail to appreciate not
(24:52):
everything we have today isgoing to be there tomorrow.
Our health, our spouse, ourfamily, finance, whatever the
case might be.
So thank you for sharing that.
Um going back so a year and ahalf or so of retirement now.
Do you, and I think you alreadystarted to address that, you
know, people talk about thehoneymoon phase and it feels
(25:13):
like a vacation at first, andyou start to feel I'm like,
okay, I'm drifting, I don't knowwhat I am, who I am, what I want
to do.
I think you already said, okay,it might not work.
It's so much more than that.
But do you ever feel a sense ofwhat next?
What do I want to do?
Kind of bored, or is that notsomething that ever crosses your
mind?
SPEAKER_01 (25:32):
Um, not yet, anyway.
Actually, I'm waiting for theday where it comes across where
it's like I'm sitting around andI'm like, I'm really bored.
And I just haven't hit that yet.
And so I'm waiting for that day,and it's like, and actually
before I retired, my wifediscussed, like, well, when you
retire, you can, you know, do A,B, and C.
And I'm like, okay, and I'mstill I'm working on A, a little
(25:54):
bit on B, some a little bit onC.
And so I have options uh, youknow, to keep me busy.
And so I haven't gotten to thepoint yet to where it's like,
you know, I got to the pointwhere essentially it's like, you
know, I get up and it's like,you know, I don't have anything
to do today, which is like,which is not me at all.
I'm always gonna find somethingto go ahead and do, even if it's
(26:15):
something that's like, well, youknow, no, the bathroom is even
to be twenty, so okay, I'll goclaim the bathroom.
It's like I'm gonna go ahead andfind something that gave me uh
busy or at least inner, youknow, occupied for a while.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (26:28):
Yeah, yeah, very cool.
Um, being a year and a half innow, if you could talk to
Christian two years ago, youknow, the version of Christian
that was thinking aboutretirement, having an idea what
he was gonna do, what would youtell him is the same as what he
expected versus what would youtell him is gonna be different
than what he expected?
SPEAKER_01 (26:47):
Um that's kind of an interesting question because
really it's like when I waspreparing to retire it, I was
really keep trying to keepmyself educated um on what to
expect.
And so basically I would goahead and tell him it's like no,
when you basically if I I wentto myself and it was two years
ago, I would basically I wouldbe in the midst of probably
(27:10):
setting up all the trainingprograms I needed to go ahead
and do to get everyone trainedbecause we had to hire like
three people to do my job.
I would just basically tellthem, like, listen, once you get
once you get there, you're gonnafeel so much better.
It's you know, you're gonna feelhealthier, you're gonna feel you
know not as tired as you werepreviously, and just stick with
(27:31):
it.
It's like, you know, it's gonnabe great.
Just you know, keep on going.
And it's like, and I'd be like,okay, thanks.
And I'll give myself an odd lookand then you and then you walk
away.
SPEAKER_00 (27:44):
Yes, it's stick with it.
It's gonna be great.
I think that sticking with itand a theme I hear in talking to
people is you don't always knowexactly what it's gonna look
like.
But if you keep trying newthings and if you keep whether
it's cleaning the bathroom orit's going on a date with your
wife, or it's taking a new, justkeep doing things, and you're
gonna find that thing thatbrings you uh a lot of adventure
(28:05):
or joy or contentment orwhatever it might be.
Um, you I know even I I thinkyou mentioned like you read a
lot or you watch a lot, like youyou prepared for this, it sounds
like, where it wasn't justsomething you randomly stepped
into without thought to what arethe finances gonna look like,
what's life gonna look like?
What guidance would you give tothat person who maybe on the
(28:25):
financial side, this I'vewatched a hundred YouTube
videos, I've listened to ahundred podcasts, I know how
much I need to have in myportfolio, I know what tax
strategies to do, I know whereto pull money from first.
That's not my problem.
My problem is I don't knowwhat's on the other side.
I just want to hear someonewho's there, tell me what I
should be thinking about or whatI should start doing to prepare
for the maybe the psychologicalshift or the emotional shift.
(28:46):
Any words of wisdom based onyour experiences or those of
others you've you've talked tothat you might share?
SPEAKER_01 (28:52):
Yeah, it's kind of uh weird you mentioned that
because it was funny becauseright when I was getting to
retire, I had another co-workerwho I work with, she's on my
team, and she was about my age,maybe a little bit younger, and
she wanted to talk aboutretirement because she was ready
to retire.
Her husband wasn't.
Her husband was basically, hedidn't want to retire, he didn't
(29:13):
want to talk about it.
And I would go ahead and say,like, once you got the financial
thing kind of pinned down, it'slike really then you have to go
ahead and explore what you wantto do.
It's like, and that's where it'slike, you know, once you educate
yourself on the financial partof it, then you need to really
kind of like explore the lifepart of it, you know, what you
(29:33):
want to go ahead and and do.
It's like, and everyone's youknow, choice is going to be
different.
It's like for me, it's like Iwant to make sure I spend more
time with my wife.
And there are a lot of peopleout there where, you know, they
have, you know, they're married,but they have children and they
have grandkids.
They want to spend a lot of timewith the grandkids.
And it's they always say you goahead and should have like like
(29:55):
like three or four things, youknow, outside of you know family
stuff to go ahead and do to helpkeep yourself, you know,
occupied.
And so really just like, youknow, think about something you
love doing.
It's like often I also I oftenthink about my former director
because he's was my age and hesaid he's gonna retire 50.
And he's a fisherman, so I'mlike, I know exactly what this
(30:18):
guy's gonna be doing once heretires.
He's gonna be spending a lot oftime fishing and will probably
be going on some pretty badassfishing trips uh pretty
everywhere from like Alaska tothe Florida coast to go ahead
and catch whatever he can catch.
And so I know I'm so I'm notworried about him, you know, at
all.
But you know, ideally it's likeif you're so tied up with your
(30:39):
work identity that you can'treally get away from it, then
it's like, well, maybe you don'tyou know quit working, maybe you
go part-time or you get like adifferent job which is less
stressed.
It's like because some people,it's like I know some people
will go ahead and they worked upuntil you know their 70s.
Like a lot of people in mycompany, it's like once you got
in, you like you really didn'tleave.
(30:59):
You kind of like stood there,stay there in the entire time.
And so I would go ahead and sayto people are like, if you're
thinking about retiring and thefinancial thing's kind of like
pinned down, you have to goahead and realize the amount of
freedom that gives you.
And then if you have freedom togo ahead and do pretty much
whatever you want, you know, ifit's something to where it's
like, well, I always wanted tolearn how to play piano, like,
(31:20):
okay, well, now you can.
It's like maybe I always want tolearn how to speak Spanish.
I'm like, okay, go ahead and dothat.
Just find something to you knowkeep yourself occupied.
And I would just go ahead andsay, you know, you know, find
something that you, you know,love doing, or something that
you find interesting.
And if you try one thing andit's like, well, I did this for
(31:40):
a while, it's not really workingout, it's okay to quit.
You know, go ahead and dosomething else.
It's like that's somethingthat's um something my mother
taught me like when I was likeseven.
It's like I remember she was,you know, my parents were very
insistent that everyone in thefamily learn to play a musical
instrument.
And so I tried like three orfour different ones.
I remember one day I'm like, youknow, I was learning to play the
drums.
(32:01):
And I just you know wasn'tgetting it, I wasn't having a
good time, and it was justreally just a drain.
And then basically I was like, Iwas getting upset about myself
because I was like, I wasn'tdoing as well as I could, and
you know, and then my mom said,like, you know what, that's
okay, just quit.
We'll find something else.
And then eventually, yearslater, I found a musical
instrument that I did like, andI actually wound up playing that
(32:21):
for a long time, which was good.
And so I would just say, youknow, get you know, no, find
something that you're interestedin and give it a try.
If you know, you know, like likea lot of people play pickleball,
it's like the big thing forretirees.
It's like if you want to playpickleball, great, play
pickleball.
If you don't want to playpickleball, you don't have to.
There's other things you can goahead and play.
You can play golf, you can playtennis, you can do something
(32:43):
else.
I would just get I would justsay, you know, find something
that you know interests you andyou know just give it a try.
SPEAKER_00 (32:53):
Try new things, don't be afraid to quit.
Lesson from Christian.
I'm gonna add two things justbased upon what I'm hearing you
say.
One is I what I'm hearing yousay, and what I hear a lot of
people, people who have aneasier time transitioning to
retirement, it's typicallybecause they haven't placed
their whole identity in whatthey did for work.
You said very clearly, myidentity was not what I did for
(33:14):
work.
So I think that transition waswas easier because you had other
things that were your identitynot that.
So you didn't feel like you werelosing a giant portion of
yourself.
The last thing is you, becauseof your experience with your mom
and dad, you saw very clearlythere is something that I value
more than anything else, andthat is my wife, and I'm not
(33:34):
gonna let this anything get inthe way of my potential ability
to spend the best years of mylife with her, uninhibited from
the demands of work, theresponsibilities of work.
So try new things, I'm hearingyou say, as much as you can.
Don't place your identity inwork, place it in other things.
And then three, understandwhat's important.
And don't let something that'simportant shift to the wayside
(33:58):
because there's other things infront of you, like making more
money or promoting that or doingother things that aren't
actually uh the true things thatyou value.
So lots of important lessons, Ithink, here in your experience.
Christian, any final words umthat that you would want to
leave listeners with who arewanting to retire, maybe even
retire early?
Any any final words of wisdomthat you might want to share
(34:20):
with them?
SPEAKER_01 (34:21):
Uh final words of wisdom.
Obviously, if you're planning onretiring, whether it be early or
what's called them called ontime, uh, do your homework.
Like there's so much resourcesout there.
YouTube is a great resource.
I'm a big YouTube live.
I'm a visual learner, and so Ilearn a lot by watching.
But if you're not, like there'sbooks and other forms of
(34:46):
education out there.
You know, there are no placeslocal colleges will have
seminars every once in a while.
Do your homework, get yourselfeducated, not only about
retirement, but have a goodfinancial education as a base
before you lead into retirement.
And that will go ahead and giveyou your base on the financial
side of it.
As far as the other side of it,is you know, make sure you have
(35:11):
something that you love, whetherit be a person or a thing or
your dog, and just think aboutall the time, all the great
things you can go ahead and do.
That's gonna be great with them.
And I want to go ahead and say,who anyone else is watching
this, if you're thinking aboutretirement and you're gonna be
retiring soon, or if you areretired, I wish you the best on
(35:34):
your retirement journey.
I think it is by far for me thebest stage of life because you
get the go ahead and doeverything that you want to do,
and you're completely free to goahead and explore anything you
want to explore at this point.
So a seven-year-old kid insideof me basically is out now in
(35:55):
this 56-year-old guy.
And so I would just say I hopeeveryone on their retirement
journey has a blast.
SPEAKER_00 (36:05):
Love it.
Well, thank you, Christian.
Thank you for sharing yourexperiences and wisdom and
stories of your retirementjourney.
Thank you for sharing with allof us.
Appreciate you coming on theshow to do so.
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