4 Uncomfortable Retirement Truths You Need To Hear

Hey guys, I hope you found the video useful! As a reminder, please be mindful of scammers in the comments posing as me. I will never ask you to contact me directly. The only way you can get in touch with me is through my website or the links in the description of the video. I try to remove the comments whenever I see them, but they're endless! With the advent of AI and Deep Fakes, it's only a matter of time before scammers start creating fake content posing as people like me. So again, this channel on YouTube is the only place I post content. Not TikTok or Instagram.

I've always wanted to put $300K into the stock market but i need an approach that will align with my risk tolerance and financial goals to secure our future..

The concept of mini-retirement changed my life. I'm no longer waiting for some retirement paradise when I'm 65. It helps to know how to fund the lifestyle. You know, making money while you sip that piña colada by the beach does help. I wouldn't have been able to do it otherwise.

I'm a 52yrs Director in a Tech company and I consider myself a high income earner at $350,000 per annum, I have a retirement account account but i still want to explore opportunities for short term gains before i start working less in few years.

I retired last year aged 63 (Far too late) It's amazing how little you can live on month to month. I keep healthy by gyming three times a week. If you lose your health you lose everything!

I was born in 1956 and due to retire at 60, which would have worked out well, as I’d agreed with my husband to have his mother live with us, independent but under our watchful eye. Then 6 years before retirement was due my wait to retire doubled overnight to 12 years, thanks to the government; our plans flew out the window. I finally retired at Christmas 2022 aged 66, exhausted and no longer feeling up to enjoying the lifestyle we’d both planned; the following Spring I was diagnosed with cancer. My husband had to find a care home for his mother, and is now looking after me. If you get the chance of early retirement, and can afford to take it - do so; like James says, we don’t know when we’re going to die.

I took early retirement at 55 in November and #3 is very true for me. After working for 35 years with a regular income, it's been a struggle to switch from "earning" to "spending". I've not yet accessed my pension but I'll do so in the new tax year. It will feel strange dipping into the pot that I've worked so long / hard to build. Having said that, I'm loving retirement and being able to do what I want, when I want. No more hours spent in endless meetings...I don't miss work at all. I have plenty of hobbies and interests so no problem filling my time.

I retired at 57, 6 years ago. The key message I would communicate to others is don't delay retirement if you have the financial wherewithal to do so. Too often I have seen many people delay retirement and then experience health issues which constrain the very things they wanted to do post-retirement. Moreover, the most significant benefit of retirement for me is that I no longer have to deal with people I do not want to. That has proved to be the ultimate blessing.

So true, gone from bottom 10% of earners to top 10%, worked hard, lived frugally, saved well, retired comfortably and now struggling with that 'tight' mindset and allowing myself to spend and enjoy.

Its frightening how accurate your critique is. Working so hard through life to accumlate wealth to just then never realise your dreams due to poor health brought on by poor or excessive work choices! Great video.

Over saver and under spender here. In fact, just chatted with my therapist about my issue with excessively delayed gratification. I referenced the experiment in which children were presented with a marshmallow and told that if they could wait five minutes, they would have two marshmallows instead. Expectedly, most children ate their marshmallow almost immediately. I told my therapist that I would be the child who saved all the marshmallow but never got to have it. As soon as I said that out loud, I had a moment of profound realization. P.S.: someone I admire tells me that she saves 1/3 of her marshmallows and eats 2/3 of them.

I am 60 and have just retired. It did take a while to get into the mindset of being a spender rather than i saver. I finally persuaded myself by accepting this argument, that being you need to balance health, time and money. If you get any of the 3 out of balance, it will have a large impact. I am healthy at the minute but, of course that can change in a heartbeat ( literally ). I have 20 years or so left, after this time my spending will slow either because of my health or my partner may not be well or still here. I dont have a massive pension but the state will help at 67, therefore I am enjoying time and the odd extra holiday. Being an unemployed pensioner is not too bad! Regards, Bill

I retired at 56yrs (2009) and had a wonderful 5 years doing essentially nothing out in SE Asia. But (having met a very wonderful woman) we ended up back in the UK. I could have stayed retired but decided to find a job - now 3 days a week. Surprisingly, even though I am now well beyond retirement age, my employer is more than happy for me to continue working for them as long as I can. They are very accommodating when it comes to time off / holidays. I find the 'exercise' and camaraderie that working gives improves one outlook on health. 😄And health to me is far more important than money. I can still do 10,000 steps easily, others I've known over the years, sadly not. The only downside, and it is one reason I came down to 3 days working was to try and get out of the 40% tax bracket. Giving the Government 40% of my earnings isn't something I embrace.😒

This is absolutely on point for me. Coming up for my 60th, with a very good sized DC fund I'm very scared of the future and the reality of walking away from a well paid technical job that I enjoy. I also know there won't be any going back to such a position. It is very hard to look away from the scarcity mindset especially if like me, you've endured a relatively poor and uncertain childhood. It is so hard to stop working when the employer pays very well and even with that nice fund, I'll be looking at 1/3 or 1/4 of my previous salary pre tax. However taxes, and the fact I put every spare £ into my pension probably mean the disparity won't be anything like so great and an IFA has validated that I have enough. Nevertheless that doesn't make it much easier. Another aspect is the loss of status and fear of loneliness, and frankly the realisation I'm 60 and not 30... All scary stuff. Far easier to stay at work and pretend it isnt happening. Except it is.

I think I embody this. I’m a chartered accountant and have worked in finance for pensions and investment companies all my life. I’m now aged 53 and have saved very well with a view to retiring at 55-57. I have no DB schemes but understand the tax rules, know all about investment funds and how to measure their risk and reward. I have my own cash flow model with all my expenses detailed and how I expect to tax efficiently withdraw my money. I know what I’m doing right? However, even I have sought the advice of a qualified financial planner to give me some additional comfort over my plans. I can’t help thinking that if I needed this, what on earth is it like for the average punter. Having said that a lot of our chat was about what I will do in retirement and when I will do it. It was a great exercise to force me think about the reality and not just a spreadsheet of numbers.

Was this video based on my Dad? We’ve given up trying to convince him to retire and instead, look to learn from the way he’s approaching things to make sure we don’t fall into the same pitfalls. “What would I do with my time if I didn’t work”, financial insecurity in childhood, concentrating on saving and tax efficiency while spending no time on his own self care. All absolutely spot on. If you have any success helping to change the mindsets of your clients with overcoming these barriers it would be great to hear them.

I worked in financial services for nearly 40 so I have some experience of understanding & meeting clients needs. I’m very selective about what I spend my time listening to on You Tube, but I always watch James’s content and love his clear, informative, pragmatic and undramatic messages. In my opinion a good Financial Adviser is priceless as they can help you avoid making the kind of poor judgements we’re instinctively inclined to make. My father planned incredibly well for his retirement but died 6 months before he could start to enjoy it! I was determined not to repeat this so have been semi retired for the past 2 years, from age 55. I can’t describe how liberating not working 50-60 hrs per week is. I think one of the big issues is that the word retirement is still very emotive for many people. Perhaps we need a better way to describe this period in people’s lives?

Excellent as usual James. Thank you. That was nailed on. I’m 57 in June and retired at 54 1/2. Been through and still going through these mixed emotions. But extremely happy overall.

DB v's DC Pension arrangements & transitioning from a saver to a spender. You can't buy time back so understand the go-go years by NOT retiring too late. Your health is your wealth. All very relevant to me! Having been in Corporate life for 48 years working - originally in a DB pension scheme and now my own DC scheme I recognise everything James is saying here - there's a whole education that needs to happen in the working world that is not happening and that is around all aspects of pensions and retirement. In the last 2 years I have learnt extensively on these aspects in this video - learnt a very great deal from James's YouTube videos and some other YouTubers as well on all aspects of retiring. Do not underestimate the mindset shift required to retire - one has to get educated - I did. Thank you James.

Really interesting and I agree with everything you say. Health and a purpose are vital in life. My wife has recently retired after many years working in palliative care in a hospice and the number one thing that people said to her on their death bed was that they wished they hadn’t worked so hard and so long and had spent more time with their family.