7 POWERFUL "Non Money" Financial Levers Used in Retirement 

One thing folks forget when they retire is that many times they are retiring “from” a bad situation instead of “to” a good situation. I really enjoy your videos and you’ve brought this up before but I think many people miss that. Five years ago at age 62 I was able to retire from a job that allowed me to be a great provider but which I hated. Like many guys I immediately started to spend my days at the golf course suddenly free from the drudgery of work. After 90 days I found that I missed “work” but not enough to go back to my old work. I could have been a Consultant etc. and then it hit me that a major reason I liked golf was just being in the park like setting of the golf course. I then got a part-time job at our local muni-course. Now five years later I work full-time and I am studying to become a Certified Greenskeeper and plan to work at this new career until I am 82 and gain a second 20 year pension. I am in way better health and really I have all the benefits of working without the stress I use to have. Now I had to stop being somebody who was “important” and I know of no other guys I use to work with who where able to do that. In the last five years most of my old colleagues hung on to their status by continuing to work and ruined their health many actually died. Many fully retired to come out to the golf course and act like they are still important which leads those around them to snicker behind their backs at the grumpy old irrelevant men they have become. But while I am no longer important; I have found something else which is happiness. So “retirement” was wonderful for me because now I can afford to work at a job I enjoy vs. one that maximized my earning potential. It’s a horrible way to live being nothing more than an “important provider” but one many men get stuck in once they are married with kids. I was lucky and got to “retire” from my old life, still meet my financial responsibilities but at the same time get to be me again!

The local thrift store had a beautiful roll top desk, but it was priced above my comfort level, so I passed. The next week it was still there but marked down. I still passed. The next next week it was still there marked down to my comfort level. It is now sitting in my study. It is beautiful.

I just retired today. I'm loving it so far!

I suffer from the Spendies. Always have. Then I found myself drowning in debt and had to sell my car because I didn't have the cash to make a payment on my Visa card. You know what? Paying down that debt gave me a rush that spending never did! Same with saving once I had the debt gone. I look forward to reviewing my net worth and setting my fiscal plan at the start of each year.

With lots of time in retirement, I’ve monitored my finances daily. I never had the time or need to do this while working. Dopamine release is tied to seeing that nearly every day I’m able to save some of my fixed income stream. Thus I’m rewarded for every non-spend decision I make. And I know the consequences of my spend decisions in advance of reaching into my wallet.

I would add getting in the best shape of your life. I've lost 25 pounds since I retired. Half way to my goal of losing 50 pounds.

Love your videos, Sir! Holy Schmidt should be required viewing in every classroom in America - keep up the great work! PS: I am still 8 months away from retirement, but started doing my own lawn care ... I save $60 bucks a week, have a great tan, and the satisfaction of a job well done. It's my new dopamine delivery system!

All great videos. I am in unofficial retirement after 30 years in the Navy as a Family Physician. I am running for the Florida House this year.

Nice video! I often tell people "Learn to be Handy" ESPECIALLY if you own a home. Will literally save you tens of thousands over the decades. And with nearly everything you can think of being taught on RU-vid....no excuses!!

Most people think keeping a budget is restricting your life, but they need to know that is part of the budget, instead of spending with abandon and having no money left at the end of the month (or week). At the end/beginning of the month I go over my budget and see where I spent and what I need to tweak. Several things vary wildly from month to month and those are the things that I focus on when I am "out spending". i.e. food, gifts, fuel, random services that I should be doing at home (like washing the car) or 'window shopping'. Hanging onto the receipts and logging them in is the only other thing I have to do throughout the month. I just quit my job, and hopefully this is the 'real' retirement date... Following a budget for a few years now, I can do this without fear of running out of money. 5 years ago I would never even considered it, as I had so much debt and no idea where all my money was going, I only knew I was always close to the line. I have used the ynab and every dollar apps and I prefer every dollar.

Holy Man you have changed my life with this one. Studying the Kama Sutra really helped with my Education and not to mention Trimming the Bushes. A Holy Day Indeed. Thanks

Another aspect of education is "what can you teach?" My parents both took advantage of the Elderhostel movement to become teachers. Mom taught music appreciation classes (and ESL with another outlet), both extentions of her post-college career. Dad taught woodworking and other hobbies that he had aquired to augment his life as a minister. They shared a class in travel planning before there was an internet to do that for you. They collected retirement income teaching what they loved. What skills can you share with others?

Good ideas Geoff. When I think I want something at Amazon, I'll click the buy button. Then I leave the site and come back in a day or two and look at what I put in the trolley. Many times I wonder why I wanted that. I remove the item and do something else with my time. Having a nearly full house of stuff is another incentive not to add more.

Jeff, thank you very much for all the great videos, I always learn so much from you.

Retired 20 years ago at 45. #1 Absolutely. I like DIY, learning. Love gardening and have created a Japanese style garden in my front here in Phoenix. Not so easy in this climate. I walk 2.5 one way to food shop instead of driving. I love the walk, healthy and saves on fuel and my car will last many years.

Very useful info. I find It somewhat ironic that in in retirement though i have less money than when i was working i have less money worries because i can pay attention to how i am using my monies. Keep Up the great videos

Thank you again Geoff! Yes, I’m am just pre-retirement and doing the DIY thing a bit now but now (to save $$) but will definitely do more when the “time” element increases.

Love your videos because they are such common sense. You use easy to understand language and real everyday circumstances. Thank you. Btw…I’ve never played a game of golf and I don’t plan to so I’m already money ahead. Lol

We have been do-it-yourselfers for our 50 year marriage. But now the yard work, bush pruning, woodchip spreading, mowing, etc. must be done by a lawn service, due to our bad backs, heart problems, etc. This also includes changing tires, changing oil in the car, painting, etc. So services are costing us more in retirement.

I used a plain XL spreadsheet to make a budget that also allows me to incorporate updates to income and outflow. It lets me calculate for expected and unexpected costs, decide how much free cash I can spend in a given time frame, and I track my various retirement accounts. I update values every 2 weeks as I calculate my available cash for those two weeks. Then I stick to this budget. It’s worked for me preretirement and works as I enter retirement.

I think my spending in retirement will actually be greater than my current spending. I'm only spending about 50 percent of my take home pay. I think for a couple years I will have much more travel expense. But likely this will scale down over time. Other than travel, the rest of my expenses should be reasonable, and I plan to spend a lot of time hanging out at the library and working on programming projects. LOL. What a wild lifestyle.

Enjoyed your RU-vid channel and thanks to you I am learning a lot thank you and unlike a lot of people doing the same thing you speak Very well and at a prefect rate not too fast and not too slow thank you again keep up the great work 😀

Another great video, however I like combining your last two items. I set up an annual budget spreadsheet (no additional cost) using the numbers from the previous year as my starting point then I record each month data as the months finish. In this way I see how I did by line item and totals which let me know if the month is in the black or red and if I need to make any adjustments. I think that the importance is being able to look at the comparison over several months to see if I am falling into any bad habits or were my beginning estimates off and need correcting. Also if you have a spreadsheet program it is not hard to setup and customize for your needs. Just a thought.

Yes to Ynab! Brilliant, intuitive and powefully designed to address ALL your money goals and concerns...highly recommend it!

As always, thought provoking ideas and excellent suggestions. Love your channel. Please know you are appreciated!

I have added watching this channel to my list. I use Intuit’s Mint for budgeting as I’m too cheap to pay for a budgeting tool.

You can write out all your expenses on paper and direct your money to be in line with your income. You don’t need to pay 14.99 to teach you that but thanks for the information it might help those who do not know how to budget.

Thanks Mr Schmidt

Best info on RU-vid.

Thanks Geoff. My handicap is 18, if that gives you any idea of my current skill level. Living in a golf course community in SoFL doesn’t help but, its a great excuse to grab a refreshment on the 19th hole.

Well that would be impossible to do considering I'm in my late 50s and I'm more interested in investments that could set me up for retirement in my 60s, my goal is at least $2million.

I like the arm...leg...both slide.

Your comments on hobbies are very relevant. My wife has a lot of extra yarn.... I do not care. My ex-wife was only happy with new jewelry. Also, my current wife and I like to travel - but WOW - the prices are very high for travel now. Costs are going up and investments are going down.....

Wonderful video!

Do you have advice for retirees who are facing very frightening rising apartment rents? Was planning to move to Florida and rents there are skyrocketing. Apartment rents on L.I. seem like science fiction or a very bad dream. Your help would be tremendously appreciated. In a scary quandary here.

Another great video. Thank you.

Retired three years ago, living large🍺🍺

I am using Every Dollar the Ramsey budgeting tool and it is free! Really helped me to stay on track with my money. I have been using it for over a year now and I am seeing my savings grow! I highly recommend it.

DIY / TIME example, last week car maintenance was due. One of their "specials" that I needed, engine air filter & installation $55. Thought, what?? Checked RU-vid for how to replace. Checked sites for how much one cost. Then day of appt, called their parts dept, was it in stock and price. Told $29. So during service write up, he wanted to do "the special". I said that's ok, I'd checked with parts dept today, and it was only $29 and felt I could probably figure out how to do it. So he offered to get it from parts and add it to the bill. OK. At end, when I picked up, he said he had his tech go ahead and install, and showed me the dirty old one. So just saying, during these weird times when whatever it is, they want to up sell and make up for lost income during the "slow down", plus the inflation card, whether or not cost them more, they want to pass it off as higher due to inflation.... just say no! And watch the price magically drop. ($25 labor for 25 seconds filter swap ... fuggedaboudit!!)

Thanks Geoff!

Sometimes I satisfy the urge to spend by buying a 1oz silver coin, there are some really good looking ones out there.

I agree with all you said in this vid, #4 is right up my alley tho. Me an the wife will spend on bulk items or pay yearly fees, rather than monthly as in car insurance, homeowners, etc,etc. We alway try an get a deal when making major purchases, but we do our homework an wait at least 24 hrs, but more like a week or more before making any purchases, but that just us. An talk about budgeting, we are now saving 1/6 of our monthly income, for JIC. on a side note did you ever obtain a copy of that book I told you about ? Thx for the vid

In addition to reviewing bank statements, one should also review credit card statements. For convenience and cash back incentives, we use multiple credit cards for many expenses. Rarely do we right a check or use a debit card. And cash is not common for us either. The key is that we never carry a credit balance -- they all get paid off every month. So, for me I look at every charge and evaluate both it's necessity and whether it is legitimate. Several times I have found errant charges and even fraudulent ones.

I usually cancel the auto-renew after the first day. Like last month I inadvertently got Amazon Prime by some mistake in how I ordered. It is a good service and pays for itself from most people. For me it is just about a break-even deal and I don't need it. So I cancelled it effective the end of the 30 day free trial. I figured they tricked me into taking it so I would use it for a month for free and opt out effective at the end of the trial period. But my step-son and brotherinlaw both use Amazon all the time and for them it is a bargain to have prime. And that is great because both of their households are higher volume customers who shop for a whole family. I also cancelled auto-renew on my Microsoft support and help line. When it is about to run out they will send me a notice and often a discount to renew. Auto-renew favors the seller almost always in my view.

Thank you

Geoff, how confident are you that these App's are safe. Meaning, it is very unlikely that someone would be able to get into your personal information. I use an old fashioned Excel spreadsheet and I keep up with it monthly. I record every transaction and keep close tabs on it, but it is very labor intensive.

good job thanks

thanks

Is there a budget program that you can recommend?

I wonder if the money I already have at 58 is just enough and I am missing out on early retirement. I have a wonderful $19k a month rental income I am still actively growing without debt net maybe $14k a month. In the works, acquired but not rehabbed, will add $6k-$7k to that in the next couple years partly funded through a six figure remote IT job. With no kids, two modest paid houses (one near the beach), I wonder if I should just retire. I keep thinking a few thousand more a month is a ton of money. I started this journey wanting $3k a month to supplement SSI. Feeling blessed. Maybe 62 is good enough or maybe I am just being greedy. I don't need $14k a month, but maybe half to live the life I want. I wonder if I am being silly still working. Life is good to have options.

Question if I may... I am now 62 and I have worked for more than 35 years. If I collect now, I can get 1000 dollars. If I wait till I am 67 which is my full retirement age before collecting but I don't work at all, will my social security be higher? Thanks.

Stopping all auto renewals is necessary. Auto renewals most often renews at a higher rate. Let it get close to running out and TELEPHONE the company. Beat them up and you WILL probably get a much better rate. XM radio, magazines, Internet, pest control, alarm system, car insurance etc. Etc.

I define "spendees" as "payday mentality"

Stock market getting destroyed, inflation high, not a good scenario for many retirees.

Our quality of life has been diminished by our government.

Schmidt your age is showing, review your checking account. Get current, review your visa/mc every month. Otherwise, everything is great content.