The #1 Way to Ruin Your Retirement (Most People Do This)

Can a children’s poem change how you think about retirement? In this episode, we unpack the hidden wisdom in Shel Silverstein’s “Smart” and how it reflects a common retirement planning mistake: trading time and well-being for wealth you may no longer need.

We explore why it’s hard to step away from accumulation mode—even after reaching financial independence—and how this mindset can cost you more than it earns. The real risk isn’t running out of money. It’s not recognizing when you have enough.

Learn how a clear, personalized financial plan can help you shift focus from growing wealth to living well. Discover how to align your money with what matters most.

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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

Speaker 1 (00:00):
One of the most important lessons I've ever
learned about financial planningactually came from a children's
story.
We all know Shel Silverstein.
He wrote the book the GivingTree, a book beloved by many.
He also wrote a poem calledSmart.
I'm going to read this poem toyou and I'm going to show you
how one of the most importantlessons you can learn or you can
realize about financialplanning comes straight from
this poem.
It goes like this my dad gaveme one dollar bill because I'm

(00:22):
his smartest son, and I swappedit for two shiny quarters,
because two is more than one.
And then I took the quartersand traded them to Lou For three
dimes.
I guess he didn't know thatthree is more than two.
Just then along came old blindBates and just because he can't
see, he gave me four nickels formy three dimes, and four is
more than three.
And then I took the nickels toHiram Coombs down at the seed

(00:58):
feed store.
Now it's a cute poem, it's afun poem.
We read this and this little boyof course doesn't understand
that value doesn't come from theamount of something, it comes
from the intrinsic worth ofsomething.
Now we read that and think howcute.
But that boy is all of us.
That boy in his mind is tradingfor more of something, for more
of something that he perceivesto be valuable, and what he

(01:21):
perceives to be valuable issimply that it's more what?
And what he perceives to bevaluable is simply that it's
more.
What he doesn't realize is theintrinsic value of what he's
trading is worth less and lessevery single time that he does
it.
So here's the planningapplication for all of us.
As we approach our retirementyears, we're typically in our
higher income earning years.
We're typically at that pointwhere we're making meaningful
progress in terms of increasingour portfolio balance,

(01:42):
increasing our net worth,increasing that thing that we
perceive to be most valuable,and that thing is very valuable
that portfolio, that income.
That's what enables us to dothe things that we want to do.
But here's the pitfall I seefar too many people fall into.
They get to that point wherethey've reached the point at
which they could be financiallyindependent, yet they keep
working, and what they end updoing is they end up trading

(02:04):
things that are more valuable,but for things that are less
valuable.
And what I mean by that isevery single year you keep
working, every dollar you keepsaving after the point of
financial independence.
In many cases this isn't always, but in many cases you're
trading something far morevaluable.
To get that, you're tradingyour time, you're trading your
health, you're trading yourability to pour into the

(02:24):
relationships that you have Now.
I know these aren't necessarilymutually exclusive, but I've
seen time and time and timeagain people who, once they are
in those ending stages, thoselatter stages of their working
years, it's so difficult forthem to step away.
They're earning a lot, they'repaying more to Social Security,
they're maxing out their 401k.
It's difficult to get out ofthat and, just to be clear, you

(02:55):
probably shouldn't get out ofthat if you're not yet
financially independent, if youdon't yet have enough of a
portfolio to support what youwant to do in your retirement
years.
But just like that boy, we tradethese things time, health,
relationships, these things thatthe older we get, the more
valuable they become.
We're not guaranteed health forthe rest of our life.
Let's not trade it away.
We're not guaranteed any amountof time at any point in our
lives, but certainly the olderwe get, the less and less time
we have left remaining on thisearth.
What about those relationships?
What about those experiences,these things that, by nature,

(03:17):
the older we get, the less andless and less than we're going
to have, and the less of themthat we're going to have, the
more valuable they become.
We trade those in exchange fordollars, like this little boy
who goes from $1 to two quarters, to three dimes, to four
nickels, to five pennies, soproud of himself for what he did
.
That's us.
We continue to build, wecontinue to get more of
something that is increasinglyless value over time, and we

(03:40):
exchange the thing that's a truevalue.
So what can we do to preventthat?
Well, number one, create afinancial plan.
The reason you plan is, yes, tooptimize the financial
resources that you have.
This is everything to do, fromyour investments to your tax
strategy, to your estate plan,to your retirement strategy, to
withdrawal rate.
All these things should beoptimized with the right
financial strategy.
But if that's all you're doing,you're missing the bigger

(04:02):
picture.
Don't just optimize them.
Optimize them so they can fullysupport the life that you want
to live.
You can do the things that youwant to do.
You can prioritize your health,your relationships, your travel
, your adventure, whatever abeautiful life looks like for
you.
Do that Now.
If you're that person who'smaybe watched dozens of these
videos, hundreds of these videos, and you still don't feel
totally confident in yourfinancial plan?
Reach out to us at Root.

(04:23):
We are financial advisors.
This is exactly what we do forour clients all day, every day.
If you're not ready to workwith a financial advisor, click
on the link below the RetirementPlanning Academy.
It's your chance.
It's a guided process to helpyou create your own financial
plan, and it comes with some ofthe software that we actually
use for our clients here at Root.
But whatever you do, if youdon't already have a financial
plan, create one.

(04:43):
A financial plan is going togive you that sense.
It's going to give you thatclarity you need to understand
can I actually step away?
When is that time?
If it's not now, what canretirement look like?
And once you have thatframework, then you can answer
the bigger questions of what doyou want to do with your life?
What do you want to do toensure that your retirement is
as meaningful and as special asit possibly can be?
And then the second thing youcan do is identify what you

(05:06):
really treasure, what you reallyvalue.
Now, really, this should bestep one, because a financial
plan should be constructedaround those things that you
value and that you treasure.
That being said, sometimes it'seasier to start with a financial
plan.
You have no idea what you caneven dream about.
You have no idea.
Can I dream big?
What do I need to do?
What does retirementpotentially look like?
And sometimes a financialstrategy gives you some clarity.

(05:27):
It helps you understand.
This is what you canrealistically spend without
running out of money.
It does help you to understandthose things and then you can
work backwards and understandingwhat do I want things to look
like between myself and myspouse, if I'm married, with my
children, with my friends, withmy community, with my health,
with my sense of adventure,activities, hobbies, whatever it
is.
This should be a reflection ofwhat's most important to you.

(05:50):
The goal is to be able to lookback on your life one day and
not say that you accumulatedtons and tons and tons of
pennies, like this little boydid, but you had what really
mattered.
You had that true value, andyour financial plan should not
exist in isolation.
Your financial plan should existto support that vision.
So when you can have a veryclear understanding of what it
is you want to do and why it'simportant to you and what that

(06:12):
looks like for you to pursue it.
The financial plan is one ofthe most powerful things you can
do to actually enable thatlifestyle.
So, as we look back on thisstory, don't just look at this
story and think of the cutelittle boy who had no idea where
value really lied.
Look at that little boy and sayhow can I learn from him, how
can I not be him, so that I canensure I'm pursuing the things

(06:33):
that are actually valuable, notjust the things that are more,
not just the things that areeasy to track and keep score of,
such as a larger and largerportfolio balance.
Once again, I'm James Canole,founder of Root Financial, and

(06:53):
if you're interested in seeinghow we help our clients at Root
Financial get the most out oflife with their money, be sure
to visit us atwwwrootfinancialpartnerscom.