The Dirty Little SECRETS Of Retirement

Retirement is not all wine and roses. Here are 8 dirty little secrets about retirement.

Hi, my name is Duane. After a career in the music industry, I retired early at 59 in 2021 with just over $500K. Soon thereafter, the stock market (and my investment portfolio) tanked. This is my early retirement journey.

***I AM NOT A LICENSED FINANCIAL ADVISOR OR RETIREMENT PLANNER. THIS CHANNEL IS MEANT TO PROVIDE GENERAL INFORMATION ONLY THAT MAY INTEREST YOU. PLEASE CHECK WITH A PROFESSIONAL BEFORE ACTING ON ANY OF THE OPINIONS STATED ON THIS CHANNEL***

If you received some good info from this video, feel free to buy me a coffee!

[bigwaidave]

I know it’s not for everybody, but at the age of 59 six years ago, I left the United States and moved to Thailand. Today, no mortgage no credit card debt no car payments.. I live on the 30th floor of a modern high-rise overlooking the city and I pay $750. my annual health insurance premium is $1200. Bangkok has world-class international hospitals and a world-class, clean and efficient best transit system. The people are friendly the weather is great and the food is very tasty.. best decision I ever made. Oh… and no US politics. 👍

[boiledeggs]

Learn to live below your means. It takes a lot of worry out of your life.

[Mary-tjqx]

Here’s another dirty little secret. There are a lot of people out there whose retirement plan is to meet a lonely retiree who will support them. Maybe someone widowed or divorced and lonely because they have always shared their life with another person. I’m not a retiree but I’ve met several people over the last several years who fit this description, both men and women here. Here’s how you spot them. If someone describes a retirement lifestyle they want to live but they haven’t done what’s required to provide that for themselves, then it follows that they expect someone else to provide that for them. Just make sure it’s not you.

[Jfhelwig]

Retirement is so much easier with zero debt

[bruceeigsti]

We will retire next feb at 63 with about 450k but no debt is the key

[bigbossman]

Some people go through their entire lives living above their means and without any planning and end up retiring on little more than social security . I have friends that have made good money during their working years and live in a thirty year old mobile home and drive an old vehicle with 200k miles. How did they end up this way.. divorces, cigarettes and lottery tickets. People can end up being their own worst enemy.

[michelebonnett]

Keepin' it real - that's you, Duane! Thank you for this one, your principles are aligned with Dave Ramsey's, I'm so glad and grateful we found your channel. You're a Blessing to all Americans and the World! I mean it. Xoxo

[johnfallon]

I use 2 credit cards, have 5. Never use Debit Card- Never, Pay Cards off fully each month 😊

[noreenn]

Thanks Duane. Saving like crazy, fingers crossed I can retire before the No Go years kick in!

[monsterpig]

Inflation and taxes is the one thing I always overlook. Thank you Duane.

[roburb]

If you're carrying that much CC debt in to retirement, you more than likely don't have much to an estate. When it comes to parents, you're free and clear unless you're cosigned with them. Outside of my wife I will not cosign for anyone - not even my mother.

[sharidworkin-jwrn]

“Plan plan plan so you don’t have to move move move” LOL😂 love it

[ryanwilliams]

40 now, and everything is paid for. Fortunately, I had a college economics teacher who taught me a lesson when I was 18 years old. That lesson was: you can't buy something else for every purchase you make. Having multiple sources of income is prudent, as is living within your means. I have a 13-year-old vehicle because it is all I need, I like it, and I can do whatever I want with it. My net worth is $900k, and I can pay my bills without stress, but I don't live like I have that. I have no complaints.

[ebhoehl]

Good to see you this afternoon. Thanks for the info. I've told my sons that they should prepare for me and my wife to move in some day. I'm not wanting to do that but you never know.

[philipem]

Social Security was never meant to cover my expenses? But it does with a good chunk left over every month. And my check is pretty close to average.

A million bucks? Ha! I did it with $143, 000 and an unemployment check. I took a chance because my choices suddenly were very limited. I share my experience hoping it may stimulate some creative thinking about your situation.

In December 2007 the property market began to fail. Home values fell off a cliff, dropping 30%; by 2009 the stock market was down 57%. I lost the equity in my two rental homes in another state and half my retirement investments. I had planned to work another 7–8 years and save substantially more. I was laid off near the end of 2008 with no jobs in sight. I was 59.

In other words my retirement plans completely blew up. I had lost over $500K in actual and planned retirement assets.

After a year looking for work I decided to reduce my cost of living while I waited for the world to change. Yes I could not live in San Francisco any longer. I had always planned to relocate in retirement anyway. I figured I could live at least a few years on that IRA and then there might be jobs, and for sure I'd be into early Social Security.

I moved into one rental. Fifteen years later I’m still there. A cost saving initiative turned into experimental retirement, then just plain retirement. When a job did finally appear, I decided to not work.

In the first few years I had to be very careful with what I had. I have always lived frugally and below my means. By taking minimal withdrawals from my IRAs over time and stretching a tiny pension and UI, I got the mortgage paid off on the house I lived in. Fortunately my strategy had always been to live in the rentals and sell them as owner occupied and keep the equity tax free – so I only bought places I would like to live in. I used online tax calculators to ensure that I wouldn't be taxed or at last to minimize the amount of taxes I'd pay each year. A few times I took withdrawals in December and in January to slide the distribution into two tax years.

I applied for a HELOC when I paid off the mortgage and took SS at 62. I short sold the other house after waiting as long as I could; but it was cash flow negative and I decided to cut my losses and live with the consequences. It helped that so many other people were doing the same. I use the HELOC as an emergency fund and to control cash flow without draining the IRA and taking tax hits on large withdrawals. It was very low cost and gives me great peace of mind. Well no mortgage and no debt add a lot to that.

A new car? I drive a nineteen year old Toyota that is absolutely reliable and runs like a top; I spend less than $1000 a year on transportation. I eat the best food, the house costs me about $800 a month for HOA, Prop tax, utilities and a maintenance reserve. I get VA Healthcare (the BEST!); I have VA copays and premiums for Medicare B. I'm saving up for a trip to Spain this year.

I live a very comfortable life in a home I enjoy and have money left over from my SS check every month. And that’s financial paradise btw. Knowing that I can handle anything that comes at me is an amazing sense of well-being. My IRA is bigger than when I retired and will likely go to my grandchildren because I don't need it. I didn’t think I had enough but in the end I did.

So my advice is be flexible and creative about what you think you need and what you want and how to get there. Be sure to enjoy whatever you have and realize it's a change in lifestyle … so change. I would not take back those seven years of early retirement for anything.

[nonamehawg]

If I can't live with 500-k and 2-k a month on Social security with ZERO DEBT, then I am DOOMED!!!

[mickster]

Love that high desert landscape!🏜️ Good thoughts as usual Duane!

[jwal]

Another thought provoking video . . . Thanks for helping everyone think about a “bigger picture”!

[khumminapumphrey]

Great video as always. I will be 59 in June and planning to retire in December this year. You are helping me with my planning. Thank you.

[ronlight]

Beautiful looking green screen you’ve got behind you there, much better than usual. ;-)