September 27, 2025 • 18 mins
Ever wish your 80-year-old self could give you a nudge today? After years working with clients in their 70s and 80s, three lessons rise to the top: treat wealth as money, time, and health, know your financial independence number, and prioritize what money can’t buy while you still can.
In your 50s–60s, many people hit a rare “sweet spot” where financial security, free time, and decent health overlap. Too many keep grinding until that window closes. A clear FI plan turns work from mandatory to optional, so choices reflect values instead of fear. And the biggest ROI isn’t from another spreadsheet. It comes from a fit body, a calm mind, rich relationships, and purposeful use of time.
Cognitive health compounds. So do habits. Mental challenge, movement, and social connection strengthen the brain; chronic stress and self-doubt erode it. Don’t wait for retirement to start living. Money can be rebuilt. Health and relationships are harder to regain.
What would your older self tell you right now?
Drop a comment so others can learn from your playbook.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 0 (00:00):
If you could sit down with your future self, decades
older, much wiser what advice doyou think you would give you?
Well, it's impossible to tell.
We're not there, of course, butwhat we can do is we can learn
those same lessons that peopledecades ahead of us would give
to themselves in our exactsituation.
And that's exactly what we'regoing to do today.
What I'm going to do is I'mgoing to take the lessons that
(00:20):
clients of mine in their 70s and80s would have shared with
their younger selves, their50-year-old, 60-year-old selves,
to say how can you go back?
What would I do if I could goback to make the most of that
time in my life?
And one of these lessons inparticular hit me personally a
bit hard, because I realizedthis is something I need to be
much better at.
And what I started to realizeis well, I thought these were
going to be retirement lessons.
(00:41):
They're so much bigger thanthat.
These are life lessons that,yes, they're geared towards
people in their 50s and 60s, butthey're universal in the sense
that anyone at any age can gaintremendous wisdom by paying
close attention to this advicethat's being shared.
So there's three key lessonsthat I've distilled from
listening to clients far aheadof me and even far ahead of many
of you.
If you're in your 50s and 60slistening to this and to start
(01:03):
to set the stage for that advicelooks like it starts with
understanding that there'sdifferent types of wealth.
Don't think of wealth just inthe sense of money.
Start by thinking throughwealth in the sense of there's
financial wealth, there's timewealth and there's health wealth
.
There's others.
Let's focus on these three Tostart with.
Let's look at financial.
We think this is all there isas we're growing our portfolios,
preparing for retirement.
The more money I have, thebetter off I'm going to be, and
(01:25):
to an extent that could be true.
But that's just financialwealth.
Think of your 401k balance.
Think of your bank accountbalance, think of your total net
worth.
That's financial wealth andthat's what so much retirement
planning is focused on.
But we also have to think oftime wealth.
Think of Warren Buffett.
Warren Buffett's 95 years oldand he's worth $150 billion.
Would you trade places withWarren Buffett?
(01:46):
Probably not.
It doesn't matter how muchmoney you have.
If your time remaining on thisplanet is not that long, there's
not much you can do with it Now.
He's had a long, wonderful life, but would you trade places
with him?
At this point today, the answeris probably no.
Well, what about health?
There's a common saying ahealthy man has a thousand
desires, but a sick man just one.
So what can we take from thatquote?
(02:08):
Well, let's use WarrenBuffett's net worth again.
Would you take that net worthif you live the rest of your
life in chronic pain, If you aretoo sick to get out of bed and
to be mobile and to do thethings that you wanna do?
Probably not.
So, yes, financial wealth is apillar of a successful
retirement, but not if we're notpaying equal attention to our
time wealth, to our healthwealth, and how do we optimize
(02:29):
for those?
So here's the first piece ofadvice that clients in their 70s
and 80s would give tothemselves back in their 50s or
even early 60s, they wouldencourage their younger selves
to think equally as hard abouttheir time remaining in their
health as much as they did abouttheir financial wealth.
If you're in your 50s and 60s,chances are good, retirement's
on the horizon and what you'rethinking through is social
(02:50):
security strategies, taxoptimization strategies, how
much money do I need to retire?
And that becomes a core focus,and I think we all fall into
this trap.
I think that, in general, if wethink of finances, if we think
of time, if we think of health,early on in your life you have
two of those things, but not thethird.
Early on in life, you'veprobably got a lot of time and
you've got a lot of health, butyou probably don't have a whole
lot of money.
Then you get to middle lifeMaybe you have the money, maybe
(03:12):
you have your health, but youdon't have a whole lot of time.
I think about this mid-careerI've got a family, I've got a
growing business of my time.
Maybe all my time goes into thebusiness and goes into being
present and spending time withmy wife and my two children.
There's not a lot of timeoutside of that.
This is a very busy time inlife.
Now let's fast forward to maybewhere many of you are
approaching in this video.
(03:33):
You maybe have your financesand orders, you have financial
wealth, you maybe even have yourtime wealth.
You have your time back.
You're no longer raisingchildren, you have the ability
to do what you want with yourtime, but your health is
potentially starting todeteriorate.
So what do we do with all this?
Well, what we do with all thisis we recognize this and we
recognize that we have theopportunity to carve out this
(03:54):
time in our lives.
We have the opportunity,typically in our fifties and
sixties, to say we might be in aposition where we have our
financial wealth, we might be ina position where we have the
financial independence to createthat time wealth of actually
having the time to do what wewant to do and we are in that
position, before aging andchronic disease potentially
starts to kick in, to say Iactually have my health, I have
(04:14):
my vitality.
Make sure you take fulladvantage of that.
That is the first thing thepeople in their seventies and
eighties would tell you is thisis that time in your life where
you might have all three ofthese types of wealth.
Do not squander it, do not takeadvantage of it.
And the thing I would add tothat as a financial advisor is
you need to create that time inyour life.
I have so many clients I'veworked with so many people where
(04:36):
they had their head down.
They were working, they weregrinding, they had time, they
had health, but they sacrificedit because they always thought
they needed more.
They always thought they neededto grow their portfolio, to
keep working, to get that nextbonus, to get that next
promotion.
And one day they woke uprealizing the last five to 10
years of life had passed them byand that five to 10 years was
the sweet spot.
That was a time where theycould have enjoyed their time,
(04:59):
their money and their health,but because they were so focused
on the financial side, theycouldn't take that step back and
optimize for the other factors.
So don't make that same mistake.
That's likely the thing yourfuture self would look back upon
and tell you to take advantageof.
Take advantage of the timewhere you can enjoy all three of
these.
And that actually ties directlyin to the second piece of
advice that your 80-year-oldself would give you today, and
(05:21):
that's make sure you have a planfor financial independence.
Why did so many of my clientssquander that time?
They kept focusing on thefinancial, they kept growing
their financial resources and,in doing so, sacrificed time and
health along the way.
They did so because, prior toworking together, they did not
have that plan.
They didn't understand whenwill I be in a position to be
financially independent?
(05:41):
When can I take my foot off thegas a little bit and really
just enjoy what I'm doing atwork, with friendships, with my
family, with the things that Iwant to do.
If you don't have that firstpiece, if you don't have that
financial piece in place, youdon't maybe have the freedom to
prioritize health or time to theextent that you would if you
knew you were there.
Once you reach that financialindependence number.
(06:02):
It's one of my favorite thingswhen I've worked with clients
they're burned out.
They don't like work.
This is something they cannotwait to get out of.
And then we run a plan and wesay you know what.
You're actually there today.
If we do these things, if weinvest this way, if we put money
in these accounts, you couldactually be done working today
and maintain this lifestyle.
And you know what happened whenwe did that All of a sudden,
work felt a lot different.
(06:22):
There was no longer the urgencyor the need to be out of there,
because they could take a deepbreath and they could say I
don't need this anymore, so Icould take work for the good
parts of it.
I can go to work fully, knowingthat if I'm let go, if they no
longer need me, that's okay andthat alleviation of the stress
and the burden of feeling I needthis to accomplish my goals
(06:43):
started to dissipate.
And when that dissipated, whatthey're able to do is continue
to enjoy their financial freedom, but they can more fully step
into prioritizing their time,their health, the other things
that they wanted to do.
All of that started with afinancial plan.
So the financial plan is notthe be all end all, but it is
the thing that we can do todaywith our financial resources to
enable the parts of our livesthat actually matter.
(07:04):
So the people in their 70s and80s they wish they had done that
sooner.
Even if they're not financiallyindependent, right when they
run the plan, it gives them aclear path from where they are
today to where they need to be.
So start with that.
If you don't have a financialplan, get one.
Work with a financial advisor.
If you're not already doing so.
We are financial advisors.
If you want to reach out to ushere at Root, there is a link to
our website in the descriptionhere.
(07:25):
You can call us, you can reachout to us.
If you're not ready to workwith a financial advisor, you
can get access to the RetirementPlanning Academy.
Below Link is also in theresources, where we walk you
through the process we gothrough with clients and even
get access to the software weuse with clients to help them
understand when they will befinancially independent and what
their life can look like inretirement.
But make sure you have a plan,not just to say I'm going to
(07:47):
continue maxing accounts, I'mgoing to continue saving, I'm
going to continue investing, butwhat are you saving and maxing
and investing for?
What's the point at whichyou're financially independent
so that you can start livinglife on your terms?
And then here's a third pieceof advice your 80-year-old self
would give you today and this isprobably the advice that your
80-year-old self would scream atyou if they could to say this
(08:07):
is really the message I want youto hear.
And the message is this pursuethe things that money can't buy
Now.
Pursue the things that moneycan't buy Now.
I know I just talked abouthaving a financial plan, having
a financial independence plan.
It's not because that's the beall, end all and once you have
that, life is all of a suddengood.
It's not the case at all.
But once you have that, that'sreally the beginning, that's the
starting point of now you canfully live life on your terms.
(08:32):
Here's a quote that I love andthink about a lot from Naval A
fit body, a calm mind and ahouse full of love.
These things cannot be bought.
They must be earned Now.
I love that because, yes, wejust talked about the financial
strategy, but the financialstrategy just sets you up so
that you have full control ofyour time.
You have full access to theresources needed so you can
pursue those things, so you canpursue the things that money
(08:53):
can't buy a house full of love,a fit body, a calm mind no
amount of money can buy that.
But a plan can allow you tohave your freedom, have your
independence from needing togive all of your time and energy
and effort to the workplace.
So you can start doing thesethings Now.
Hopefully, you don't wait to doall these things until you have
the financial plan in place.
(09:13):
Hopefully, these are thingsyou're pursuing your whole life,
but it is far easier to do thiswhen you have full control over
your time and what you do withit.
So pursue relationships, pursuehealth, pursue purpose.
And I know what many of you arethinking.
If you're still watching thisvideo, you're probably the
individual that has done a goodjob of saving, a good job of
investing, but you're feelinglike there's something more.
You're feeling like justbecause you have the financial
(09:35):
resources doesn't mean you'reautomatically in a spot where
life is perfect.
Now here's a concept I want tointroduce I think will help, and
it's the concept ofneuroplasticity.
And this concept,neuroplasticity the reason this
is so important is it's thebrain's ability to adapt, to
change, in relation to learningnew things, to having new
experiences, and we typicallythink that, yeah, that makes
(09:56):
sense for someone who's in their20s and 30s.
Your brain's changing so much.
You're going to a new school,you're learning new things,
you're learning a new job,you're learning how to be a
parent, you're learning how tobe married All of those things.
You're constantly learning howto adapt.
But by the time I'm in my 50sand 60s, I kind of am who I am.
You're not going to.
We fall into this trap ofthinking that who I am is who
(10:22):
I'm going to be for the rest ofmy life and we start to think
that who we are, the way ourbrains are literally wired,
cannot be changed.
But the science says the exactopposite the more you invest in
learning, the more you invest innew experiences, the more new
things you try, even if youdon't like them.
Each of those things will allowyour brain to grow, and the
(10:42):
more your brain grows, the moreyou'll be able to realize the
things that you do want to spendtime on, the broader your
vision of what retirement couldbe will become.
And I have this conversationall the time with people who are
financially prepared to retirebut they don't know what they're
going to do.
I have no idea what I'm goingto do.
I don't like my job, but I'mgoing to be bored without it, so
I'm going to keep working.
Well, that's because we haven'texercised this muscle, we
(11:03):
haven't exercised our brain tothe extent that we're learning
new things, trying new things,and as we do that, maybe these
first things we try we don'tenjoy, but the more we try them,
the more it opens up our mindto other things, the more it
trains our brain to startlooking for different things
that we will enjoy, the better,the more mentally stimulating
our whole lives will be as wetry new things.
(11:24):
So just a few tips on thatbefore we wrap up here.
Number one is mental challengeslead to brain growth.
Now, is this crossword puzzles?
Is this Sudoku?
Is this learning a new language?
Yes, yes and yes.
All of the above Push yourself,continue to stretch your brain.
It's not just something thatcan be a fun activity to pass
the time.
It is literally something thatcan be a fun activity to pass
(11:49):
the time.
It is literally something thatwill grow your brain, that will
develop new physical connectionswithin your brain and continue
to expand what your mind thinksis possible.
The second thing physicalactivity is going to boost your
brain's flexibility.
We typically think there's athinking side of what we do and
there's a physical side of whatwe do.
Those things are sointerconnected.
Have you ever wondered whyyou're more creative after going
on a walk?
Have you ever wondered whyyou're more creative after going
on a walk?
Have you ever wondered why youthink differently after you just
did a difficult exercise?
(12:09):
There's a deep connectionbetween physical activity and
the vitality of our brain.
So go on a walk, perform astrenuous workout, go take a
dance class, whatever it is.
Those are the things that aregoing to increase the
neuroplasticity of your mind andhelp you expand once again,
broaden the horizons of what youcould potentially do in
retirement to make it the mostpurposeful, meaningful,
(12:30):
enjoyable time that you've everhad.
Couple more things Socialconnections, equal cognitive
health.
So many, so many, so manystudies show the link between
the quality of yourrelationships, the social
connections that you have tolongevity to the enjoyment that
you're actually gonna have inretirement.
These are things that stretchyour brain, these are things
that stimulate your brain.
So maintain those socialconnections.
(12:51):
This doesn't mean if you go toevery single party you have to
do every single thing thatexists.
But the importance ofmaintaining connections, whether
with a small group of friendsor a big group of friends, does
not matter.
You know it works for you.
But I cannot overstate enoughthe importance of maintaining
those social connections todeveloping the type of
retirement experience your80-year-old self is going to
(13:11):
look back at you and say, pleasedo this, please develop these
relationships.
It will make all the differencein the next 10, 20 plus years
of your life.
The better your socialconnections, the more healthy
your brain will be, the moreenjoyable your retirement
experience.
Now, on the flip side, what'sgoing to inhibit the
neuroplasticity of your brain?
Well, number one chronic stress.
Ie maintaining a stressful job,even when you don't need to
(13:35):
maintain it, because financiallyyou're good to go, but you
don't know what's next.
Not only are you putting offthe inevitable.
Not only are you putting offwhat could be a really wonderful
retirement, but the longer youstay in that stressful job,
especially if you don't need it,it's actually inhibiting your
brain's ability to think aboutwhat's next, to expand its
horizons, to do new, fun things.
So keep that in mind.
Number two is a lack ofstimulation.
(13:57):
This is very much like a muscleIf you don't use it, you lose
it.
You don't use it, you lose it.
So the more we put off tryingnew things, the more we stay in
our routine and doing the samething over and over and over,
the less our brain's ability toadapt, to try new things and to
expand what's possible.
The third is negativeself-beliefs.
The more we tell ourselves I'mtoo old to try new things, this
(14:17):
is just the way things are,there's nothing else to life
outside of this, the more thatbecomes a self-fulfilling
prophecy.
So if you tell yourself thatyou're going to believe it,
you're going to act as if,versus if you tell yourself this
is something.
This is the season of my lifewhere I'm going to try new
things.
I'm going to go out and gainthat confidence, gain that skill
, gain that fullness andrichness of life.
(14:38):
That, too is going to become aself-fulfilling prophecy.
So so the key theme here isreframe how you think about
retirement.
Too many people see retirementas just a time of rest and of
leisure.
Of course there's going to berest, of course there's going to
(14:58):
be leisure, but if that's theonly thing you have in mind,
retirement's going to beunfulfilling.
Instead, think of it as a timeof growth.
Think of a time as purpose,where you get to pursue what's
most important to you and youget to create the retirement you
dream of.
So some practical challenges Gojoin a class.
This can be class on photography.
This can be a class on singing,on dancing, on anything.
Go volunteer.
(15:19):
Go do something to help others.
Go do something to help use theskills that you've gained over
the course of your lifetime andapply those in helping someone
else.
Travel somewhere unfamiliar.
Don't go to the same spotyou've always gone to because
you know it and it's safe.
Go somewhere new, learnsomething new, be part of a new
experience.
Start practicing meditation,start practicing memory
improvement.
(15:39):
Just do new things.
Some of these you're gonna love, others you won't.
But the whole point of thisisn't trying to get right to
find the thing that you loveit's to develop that skills set
of.
I'm the type of person thattries new things and that, by
itself, develops a confidence,develops a neuroplasticity,
develops the ability for you tobe more open-minded and to
experience the things you wantto in your retirement years.
(16:02):
Now my final piece of advice,before we wrap this video and
this might be the most importantpiece of advice is don't wait
until retirement to startprioritizing your health and
prioritizing your relationships.
A few years ago, I began workingwith this lady and she was just
the sweetest, most wonderfulperson, just an incredible
person.
I always enjoyed our meetings.
I enjoyed connecting, not justbecause we talked about fun
(16:22):
planning stuff, but because Ienjoyed her as a person.
She spent her whole life savingand investing and she did a
tremendous job of maxing out her401k, preparing for retirement,
and we got to the point whereshe finally retired, was able to
do this, and she passed awaywithin the first 12 months of
retirement, so she didn't evenmake it past her mid-60s.
What would her 70-year-old self80-year-old self if she had
(16:44):
made it long had told her backwhen she was in her 50s and her
60s?
She probably would have saidinvest in your health in the
same way you invest in your 401k.
She did such a good job If sheactually prioritized
relationships.
She prioritized the financialaspect of retirement, but she
did not prioritize her health,and because her health was not
prioritized, she didn't live tobe able to enjoy all that she
(17:05):
would work so hard for over thecourse of her lifetime.
So these are the two things youmust invest in now.
I don't care if you're 20.
I don't care if you're 70.
Invest in your health, investin your relationships.
Those are two things that, justlike your 401k, is going to
compound over time.
These are two fundamentalaspects of anyone's not just
retirement plan, but their life,their ability to enjoy what
they have is your health in yourrelationships.
(17:27):
Do not neglect those, becauseonce those are gone, you cannot
get them back.
So this advice, of course, isn'tjust about retirement, it's
about life.
How do you live life in such away that you align your money,
you align your talents, yourskills, your resources in such a
way to move you closer to thetype of life that you want to
live?
Yes, that has tie-ins toretirement planning, but at the
(17:47):
end of the day, it's about howdo we live the types of lives
that we're going to be glad wedid.
One great way to do so is takeadvice from people in their 70s
and 80s, even if that meansthink of yourself as a 70 or 80
year old, and what would thatperson tell you today?
Take that advice, heed thatadvice, act on that advice.
Thank you for watching Now.
If you are that person thatsays I wish I could tell my 40
(18:10):
year old-old self, my50-year-old self, one piece of
advice, drop it in the comments.
We'd love to hear from you allwhat you think that advice is,
so we can all learn from eachother.
Thank you.
If you could sit down with your future self, decades
older, much wiser what advice doyou think you would give you?
Well, it's impossible to tell.
We're not there, of course, butwhat we can do is we can learn
those same lessons that peopledecades ahead of us would give
to themselves in our exactsituation.
And that's exactly what we'regoing to do today.
What I'm going to do is I'mgoing to take the lessons that
(00:20):
clients of mine in their 70s and80s would have shared with
their younger selves, their50-year-old, 60-year-old selves,
to say how can you go back?
What would I do if I could goback to make the most of that
time in my life?
And one of these lessons inparticular hit me personally a
bit hard, because I realizedthis is something I need to be
much better at.
And what I started to realizeis well, I thought these were
going to be retirement lessons.
(00:41):
They're so much bigger thanthat.
These are life lessons that,yes, they're geared towards
people in their 50s and 60s, butthey're universal in the sense
that anyone at any age can gaintremendous wisdom by paying
close attention to this advicethat's being shared.
So there's three key lessonsthat I've distilled from
listening to clients far aheadof me and even far ahead of many
of you.
If you're in your 50s and 60slistening to this and to start
(01:03):
to set the stage for that advicelooks like it starts with
understanding that there'sdifferent types of wealth.
Don't think of wealth just inthe sense of money.
Start by thinking throughwealth in the sense of there's
financial wealth, there's timewealth and there's health wealth
.
There's others.
Let's focus on these three Tostart with.
Let's look at financial.
We think this is all there isas we're growing our portfolios,
preparing for retirement.
The more money I have, thebetter off I'm going to be, and
(01:25):
to an extent that could be true.
But that's just financialwealth.
Think of your 401k balance.
Think of your bank accountbalance, think of your total net
worth.
That's financial wealth andthat's what so much retirement
planning is focused on.
But we also have to think oftime wealth.
Think of Warren Buffett.
Warren Buffett's 95 years oldand he's worth $150 billion.
Would you trade places withWarren Buffett?
(01:46):
Probably not.
It doesn't matter how muchmoney you have.
If your time remaining on thisplanet is not that long, there's
not much you can do with it Now.
He's had a long, wonderful life, but would you trade places
with him?
At this point today, the answeris probably no.
Well, what about health?
There's a common saying ahealthy man has a thousand
desires, but a sick man just one.
So what can we take from thatquote?
(02:08):
Well, let's use WarrenBuffett's net worth again.
Would you take that net worthif you live the rest of your
life in chronic pain, If you aretoo sick to get out of bed and
to be mobile and to do thethings that you wanna do?
Probably not.
So, yes, financial wealth is apillar of a successful
retirement, but not if we're notpaying equal attention to our
time wealth, to our healthwealth, and how do we optimize
(02:29):
for those?
So here's the first piece ofadvice that clients in their 70s
and 80s would give tothemselves back in their 50s or
even early 60s, they wouldencourage their younger selves
to think equally as hard abouttheir time remaining in their
health as much as they did abouttheir financial wealth.
If you're in your 50s and 60s,chances are good, retirement's
on the horizon and what you'rethinking through is social
(02:50):
security strategies, taxoptimization strategies, how
much money do I need to retire?
And that becomes a core focus,and I think we all fall into
this trap.
I think that, in general, if wethink of finances, if we think
of time, if we think of health,early on in your life you have
two of those things, but not thethird.
Early on in life, you'veprobably got a lot of time and
you've got a lot of health, butyou probably don't have a whole
lot of money.
Then you get to middle lifeMaybe you have the money, maybe
(03:12):
you have your health, but youdon't have a whole lot of time.
I think about this mid-careerI've got a family, I've got a
growing business of my time.
Maybe all my time goes into thebusiness and goes into being
present and spending time withmy wife and my two children.
There's not a lot of timeoutside of that.
This is a very busy time inlife.
Now let's fast forward to maybewhere many of you are
approaching in this video.
(03:33):
You maybe have your financesand orders, you have financial
wealth, you maybe even have yourtime wealth.
You have your time back.
You're no longer raisingchildren, you have the ability
to do what you want with yourtime, but your health is
potentially starting todeteriorate.
So what do we do with all this?
Well, what we do with all thisis we recognize this and we
recognize that we have theopportunity to carve out this
(03:54):
time in our lives.
We have the opportunity,typically in our fifties and
sixties, to say we might be in aposition where we have our
financial wealth, we might be ina position where we have the
financial independence to createthat time wealth of actually
having the time to do what wewant to do and we are in that
position, before aging andchronic disease potentially
starts to kick in, to say Iactually have my health, I have
(04:14):
my vitality.
Make sure you take fulladvantage of that.
That is the first thing thepeople in their seventies and
eighties would tell you is thisis that time in your life where
you might have all three ofthese types of wealth.
Do not squander it, do not takeadvantage of it.
And the thing I would add tothat as a financial advisor is
you need to create that time inyour life.
I have so many clients I'veworked with so many people where
(04:36):
they had their head down.
They were working, they weregrinding, they had time, they
had health, but they sacrificedit because they always thought
they needed more.
They always thought they neededto grow their portfolio, to
keep working, to get that nextbonus, to get that next
promotion.
And one day they woke uprealizing the last five to 10
years of life had passed them byand that five to 10 years was
the sweet spot.
That was a time where theycould have enjoyed their time,
(04:59):
their money and their health,but because they were so focused
on the financial side, theycouldn't take that step back and
optimize for the other factors.
So don't make that same mistake.
That's likely the thing yourfuture self would look back upon
and tell you to take advantageof.
Take advantage of the timewhere you can enjoy all three of
these.
And that actually ties directlyin to the second piece of
advice that your 80-year-oldself would give you today, and
(05:21):
that's make sure you have a planfor financial independence.
Why did so many of my clientssquander that time?
They kept focusing on thefinancial, they kept growing
their financial resources and,in doing so, sacrificed time and
health along the way.
They did so because, prior toworking together, they did not
have that plan.
They didn't understand whenwill I be in a position to be
financially independent?
(05:41):
When can I take my foot off thegas a little bit and really
just enjoy what I'm doing atwork, with friendships, with my
family, with the things that Iwant to do.
If you don't have that firstpiece, if you don't have that
financial piece in place, youdon't maybe have the freedom to
prioritize health or time to theextent that you would if you
knew you were there.
Once you reach that financialindependence number.
(06:02):
It's one of my favorite thingswhen I've worked with clients
they're burned out.
They don't like work.
This is something they cannotwait to get out of.
And then we run a plan and wesay you know what.
You're actually there today.
If we do these things, if weinvest this way, if we put money
in these accounts, you couldactually be done working today
and maintain this lifestyle.
And you know what happened whenwe did that All of a sudden,
work felt a lot different.
(06:22):
There was no longer the urgencyor the need to be out of there,
because they could take a deepbreath and they could say I
don't need this anymore, so Icould take work for the good
parts of it.
I can go to work fully, knowingthat if I'm let go, if they no
longer need me, that's okay andthat alleviation of the stress
and the burden of feeling I needthis to accomplish my goals
(06:43):
started to dissipate.
And when that dissipated, whatthey're able to do is continue
to enjoy their financial freedom, but they can more fully step
into prioritizing their time,their health, the other things
that they wanted to do.
All of that started with afinancial plan.
So the financial plan is notthe be all end all, but it is
the thing that we can do todaywith our financial resources to
enable the parts of our livesthat actually matter.
(07:04):
So the people in their 70s and80s they wish they had done that
sooner.
Even if they're not financiallyindependent, right when they
run the plan, it gives them aclear path from where they are
today to where they need to be.
So start with that.
If you don't have a financialplan, get one.
Work with a financial advisor.
If you're not already doing so.
We are financial advisors.
If you want to reach out to ushere at Root, there is a link to
our website in the descriptionhere.
(07:25):
You can call us, you can reachout to us.
If you're not ready to workwith a financial advisor, you
can get access to the RetirementPlanning Academy.
Below Link is also in theresources, where we walk you
through the process we gothrough with clients and even
get access to the software weuse with clients to help them
understand when they will befinancially independent and what
their life can look like inretirement.
But make sure you have a plan,not just to say I'm going to
(07:47):
continue maxing accounts, I'mgoing to continue saving, I'm
going to continue investing, butwhat are you saving and maxing
and investing for?
What's the point at whichyou're financially independent
so that you can start livinglife on your terms?
And then here's a third pieceof advice your 80-year-old self
would give you today and this isprobably the advice that your
80-year-old self would scream atyou if they could to say this
(08:07):
is really the message I want youto hear.
And the message is this pursuethe things that money can't buy
Now.
Pursue the things that moneycan't buy Now.
I know I just talked abouthaving a financial plan, having
a financial independence plan.
It's not because that's the beall, end all and once you have
that, life is all of a suddengood.
It's not the case at all.
But once you have that, that'sreally the beginning, that's the
starting point of now you canfully live life on your terms.
(08:32):
Here's a quote that I love andthink about a lot from Naval A
fit body, a calm mind and ahouse full of love.
These things cannot be bought.
They must be earned Now.
I love that because, yes, wejust talked about the financial
strategy, but the financialstrategy just sets you up so
that you have full control ofyour time.
You have full access to theresources needed so you can
pursue those things, so you canpursue the things that money
(08:53):
can't buy a house full of love,a fit body, a calm mind no
amount of money can buy that.
But a plan can allow you tohave your freedom, have your
independence from needing togive all of your time and energy
and effort to the workplace.
So you can start doing thesethings Now.
Hopefully, you don't wait to doall these things until you have
the financial plan in place.
(09:13):
Hopefully, these are thingsyou're pursuing your whole life,
but it is far easier to do thiswhen you have full control over
your time and what you do withit.
So pursue relationships, pursuehealth, pursue purpose.
And I know what many of you arethinking.
If you're still watching thisvideo, you're probably the
individual that has done a goodjob of saving, a good job of
investing, but you're feelinglike there's something more.
You're feeling like justbecause you have the financial
(09:35):
resources doesn't mean you'reautomatically in a spot where
life is perfect.
Now here's a concept I want tointroduce I think will help, and
it's the concept ofneuroplasticity.
And this concept,neuroplasticity the reason this
is so important is it's thebrain's ability to adapt, to
change, in relation to learningnew things, to having new
experiences, and we typicallythink that, yeah, that makes
(09:56):
sense for someone who's in their20s and 30s.
Your brain's changing so much.
You're going to a new school,you're learning new things,
you're learning a new job,you're learning how to be a
parent, you're learning how tobe married All of those things.
You're constantly learning howto adapt.
But by the time I'm in my 50sand 60s, I kind of am who I am.
You're not going to.
We fall into this trap ofthinking that who I am is who
(10:22):
I'm going to be for the rest ofmy life and we start to think
that who we are, the way ourbrains are literally wired,
cannot be changed.
But the science says the exactopposite the more you invest in
learning, the more you invest innew experiences, the more new
things you try, even if youdon't like them.
Each of those things will allowyour brain to grow, and the
(10:42):
more your brain grows, the moreyou'll be able to realize the
things that you do want to spendtime on, the broader your
vision of what retirement couldbe will become.
And I have this conversationall the time with people who are
financially prepared to retirebut they don't know what they're
going to do.
I have no idea what I'm goingto do.
I don't like my job, but I'mgoing to be bored without it, so
I'm going to keep working.
Well, that's because we haven'texercised this muscle, we
(11:03):
haven't exercised our brain tothe extent that we're learning
new things, trying new things,and as we do that, maybe these
first things we try we don'tenjoy, but the more we try them,
the more it opens up our mindto other things, the more it
trains our brain to startlooking for different things
that we will enjoy, the better,the more mentally stimulating
our whole lives will be as wetry new things.
(11:24):
So just a few tips on thatbefore we wrap up here.
Number one is mental challengeslead to brain growth.
Now, is this crossword puzzles?
Is this Sudoku?
Is this learning a new language?
Yes, yes and yes.
All of the above Push yourself,continue to stretch your brain.
It's not just something thatcan be a fun activity to pass
the time.
It is literally something thatcan be a fun activity to pass
(11:49):
the time.
It is literally something thatwill grow your brain, that will
develop new physical connectionswithin your brain and continue
to expand what your mind thinksis possible.
The second thing physicalactivity is going to boost your
brain's flexibility.
We typically think there's athinking side of what we do and
there's a physical side of whatwe do.
Those things are sointerconnected.
Have you ever wondered whyyou're more creative after going
on a walk?
Have you ever wondered whyyou're more creative after going
on a walk?
Have you ever wondered why youthink differently after you just
did a difficult exercise?
(12:09):
There's a deep connectionbetween physical activity and
the vitality of our brain.
So go on a walk, perform astrenuous workout, go take a
dance class, whatever it is.
Those are the things that aregoing to increase the
neuroplasticity of your mind andhelp you expand once again,
broaden the horizons of what youcould potentially do in
retirement to make it the mostpurposeful, meaningful,
(12:30):
enjoyable time that you've everhad.
Couple more things Socialconnections, equal cognitive
health.
So many, so many, so manystudies show the link between
the quality of yourrelationships, the social
connections that you have tolongevity to the enjoyment that
you're actually gonna have inretirement.
These are things that stretchyour brain, these are things
that stimulate your brain.
So maintain those socialconnections.
(12:51):
This doesn't mean if you go toevery single party you have to
do every single thing thatexists.
But the importance ofmaintaining connections, whether
with a small group of friendsor a big group of friends, does
not matter.
You know it works for you.
But I cannot overstate enoughthe importance of maintaining
those social connections todeveloping the type of
retirement experience your80-year-old self is going to
(13:11):
look back at you and say, pleasedo this, please develop these
relationships.
It will make all the differencein the next 10, 20 plus years
of your life.
The better your socialconnections, the more healthy
your brain will be, the moreenjoyable your retirement
experience.
Now, on the flip side, what'sgoing to inhibit the
neuroplasticity of your brain?
Well, number one chronic stress.
Ie maintaining a stressful job,even when you don't need to
(13:35):
maintain it, because financiallyyou're good to go, but you
don't know what's next.
Not only are you putting offthe inevitable.
Not only are you putting offwhat could be a really wonderful
retirement, but the longer youstay in that stressful job,
especially if you don't need it,it's actually inhibiting your
brain's ability to think aboutwhat's next, to expand its
horizons, to do new, fun things.
So keep that in mind.
Number two is a lack ofstimulation.
(13:57):
This is very much like a muscleIf you don't use it, you lose
it.
You don't use it, you lose it.
So the more we put off tryingnew things, the more we stay in
our routine and doing the samething over and over and over,
the less our brain's ability toadapt, to try new things and to
expand what's possible.
The third is negativeself-beliefs.
The more we tell ourselves I'mtoo old to try new things, this
(14:17):
is just the way things are,there's nothing else to life
outside of this, the more thatbecomes a self-fulfilling
prophecy.
So if you tell yourself thatyou're going to believe it,
you're going to act as if,versus if you tell yourself this
is something.
This is the season of my lifewhere I'm going to try new
things.
I'm going to go out and gainthat confidence, gain that skill
, gain that fullness andrichness of life.
(14:38):
That, too is going to become aself-fulfilling prophecy.
So so the key theme here isreframe how you think about
retirement.
Too many people see retirementas just a time of rest and of
leisure.
Of course there's going to berest, of course there's going to
(14:58):
be leisure, but if that's theonly thing you have in mind,
retirement's going to beunfulfilling.
Instead, think of it as a timeof growth.
Think of a time as purpose,where you get to pursue what's
most important to you and youget to create the retirement you
dream of.
So some practical challenges Gojoin a class.
This can be class on photography.
This can be a class on singing,on dancing, on anything.
Go volunteer.
(15:19):
Go do something to help others.
Go do something to help use theskills that you've gained over
the course of your lifetime andapply those in helping someone
else.
Travel somewhere unfamiliar.
Don't go to the same spotyou've always gone to because
you know it and it's safe.
Go somewhere new, learnsomething new, be part of a new
experience.
Start practicing meditation,start practicing memory
improvement.
(15:39):
Just do new things.
Some of these you're gonna love, others you won't.
But the whole point of thisisn't trying to get right to
find the thing that you loveit's to develop that skills set
of.
I'm the type of person thattries new things and that, by
itself, develops a confidence,develops a neuroplasticity,
develops the ability for you tobe more open-minded and to
experience the things you wantto in your retirement years.
(16:02):
Now my final piece of advice,before we wrap this video and
this might be the most importantpiece of advice is don't wait
until retirement to startprioritizing your health and
prioritizing your relationships.
A few years ago, I began workingwith this lady and she was just
the sweetest, most wonderfulperson, just an incredible
person.
I always enjoyed our meetings.
I enjoyed connecting, not justbecause we talked about fun
(16:22):
planning stuff, but because Ienjoyed her as a person.
She spent her whole life savingand investing and she did a
tremendous job of maxing out her401k, preparing for retirement,
and we got to the point whereshe finally retired, was able to
do this, and she passed awaywithin the first 12 months of
retirement, so she didn't evenmake it past her mid-60s.
What would her 70-year-old self80-year-old self if she had
(16:44):
made it long had told her backwhen she was in her 50s and her
60s?
She probably would have saidinvest in your health in the
same way you invest in your 401k.
She did such a good job If sheactually prioritized
relationships.
She prioritized the financialaspect of retirement, but she
did not prioritize her health,and because her health was not
prioritized, she didn't live tobe able to enjoy all that she
(17:05):
would work so hard for over thecourse of her lifetime.
So these are the two things youmust invest in now.
I don't care if you're 20.
I don't care if you're 70.
Invest in your health, investin your relationships.
Those are two things that, justlike your 401k, is going to
compound over time.
These are two fundamentalaspects of anyone's not just
retirement plan, but their life,their ability to enjoy what
they have is your health in yourrelationships.
(17:27):
Do not neglect those, becauseonce those are gone, you cannot
get them back.
So this advice, of course, isn'tjust about retirement, it's
about life.
How do you live life in such away that you align your money,
you align your talents, yourskills, your resources in such a
way to move you closer to thetype of life that you want to
live?
Yes, that has tie-ins toretirement planning, but at the
(17:47):
end of the day, it's about howdo we live the types of lives
that we're going to be glad wedid.
One great way to do so is takeadvice from people in their 70s
and 80s, even if that meansthink of yourself as a 70 or 80
year old, and what would thatperson tell you today?
Take that advice, heed thatadvice, act on that advice.
Thank you for watching Now.
If you are that person thatsays I wish I could tell my 40
(18:10):
year old-old self, my50-year-old self, one piece of
advice, drop it in the comments.
We'd love to hear from you allwhat you think that advice is,
so we can all learn from eachother.
Thank you.
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