14 Years of Advising $3M+ Retirees in 18 Minutes

50 Comments

1. 3 million 14 years ago is like 5 million now with inflation the past 14 years. Plus you had 14 years of the greatest bull in history. So reading this now 5 million is abundant! And will your portfolio have a bull for the next 14????

2. You try to leave an inheritance and the beneficiaries just blow it so enjoy it. You earned it!!

3. Single or married, necessities vs lifestyle plan budget. Are you DYI or do you give away 1.5% of your wealth to someone else to “manage”. These are important factors. I have a little over 500k. I’m single everything is in well diversified retirement accounts where dividends pay for necessities. Growth index funds for everything else. I retired at 59. Don’t overthink it. Just know what you need to maintain your current lifestyle. 3mill is a joke.

4. I wish I had a bigger balance.

5. That's a lot of great advice. The most important things in people's lives are relationships. First with God and then with family then with other people. That's true before retirement but once work and other distractions go away it becomes more apparent and people who have not prioritized relationships first are often very frustrated and bored in retirement

6. Your advice to your clients is just get use to living with volatility? 🤣

7. Good information Nick! Thanks

8. 5:00 Pure gold. (CFP adviser, here)

9. its not that difficult tbh and depends on your lifestyle, savings, and debt. No need for a financial planner to help them move this to that to cover this or that… if you can just sell your home, rent and live simply and keep the mind and body engaged. no fancy material things

10. 17min of nothing. BTW, tax is not an April event, is a quarterly event. Leverage part of the portfolio on trading derivatives and there is no bad years. Every year becomes a good year.

11. Smart

12. Why in the hell someone couldn't retire with three million in the bank is beyond me !

13. My wife and I retired Jan 2026. At 53, 46. Our income went down due to not having a full time job. But we still have as much income as we did with our jobs. Passive income is the key.

14. F the stock market. F bonds. F crypto. My portfolio is 90% smoking hot wife. 10% real estate. Been in real estate since 1985. Im good.

15. I have just barely crossed into the abundant level and in my case, I am more anxious than ever because when I was broke there wasn't much to worry about, I'm broke, and because of those two things I didn't look into wealth topics very deeply. Now that I have a few dollars I have spent much more time trying to figure things out and what I see is inflation running rampant, devaluing my now fixed income purchasing power, and stories abound how the Gov't is coming for anyone with a few dollars saved to cover their own mismanagement, and while I have money now, that money has to allow me to pay car insurance, electricity, property taxes, AND EAT, for the next 30 to 40 years. A hundred thousand a year now will, in 35 years, be like having $25k or $30k so in the future we will most likely be needing $300k to just get by. If you have $3M, $300k only gets you 10 years so, ya, I am scared sh!4 -less.

16. Very thoughtful. I agree with all

17. Thanks for sharing. But healthcare alone costs $30-40k per year for a couple, until you get Medicare, at least here in CA.

18. Sir, you look very professorial and wise but speak utter nonsense. You talk a lot but say very little. Complete waste of time. Luckily I watched it at 2X speed.

19. So basically, you’re admitting that you were getting paid all those years for less than chapter advice. I had two advisors over the years just because I’m so lazy alone I so much in my life myself anything about it, but I lost a lot of money because they did not know how to help me to ask a team my sense of this rather than just go by some Deb feeling. The last straw was hearing that my own advisor was using a very conservative thinking or deciding things about her own portfolio. Branson, we’re both at a retirement age, but even within retirement, if you have a portion of your portfolio that you’re not gonna need for five or 10 years, that needs to be in equities because those are the only investments that helped to combat inflation. I’ve moved everything into my own management so I am getting some help from a woman in her early 40s, who did used to be an advisor and who was able to manage things so that she and her husband are both now retired. They don’t have children and it’s a modest income, but it’s working very well for them and she’s gonna help me simplify my portfolio and gear towards me and my age. Of course I’m not close to $3 million but I don’t have to be. The one thing that was very interesting to me to find out is it does take mental energy to manage money once you’ve made it. For me it was always how do I get it and I thought once I did that everything would be easy. It’s easier than not having money, but you still have to pay attention to some grade or at least pay attention enough to set things up and then let them ride.

20. I enjoyed this video! A great book to consider the other aspects of retirement is Right Place Right Time by Ryan Fredrick.

21. grew up poor as did my wife. we saved and worked multiple jobs SAVED A LOT. Now enjoying life. i retired early at 47. I suggest most of you do the same

22. Retired in my 40’s 11 years ago. My million+ net worth has more than doubled since then. I am tracking for $7m by the time I start collecting social security. Kids colleges were fully paid for. Now my passion is family time, vacations, and giving back. I volunteer at an animal shelter and I am on the board of directors for another charity. 14 countries visited in the last 11 years. 5 more trips lined up for the next 3 so far. Now the part some people may not believe: I still work about 15 hours a week at a very social job I love. It’s not a money thing it’s a social thing. My net worth is growing faster than I can spend it now. Often times tens of thousands in days. Invest early and often. If in doubt get a Vanguard brokerage account and start automatically investing in the VOO S&P fund. Historically one of the top performing funds ever. You can thank me later.

23. The irony is that you work your entire life to build up a huge pile of assets. Then you figure out they really aren't that important.

24. Structure, Identity, Community and Purpose. I imagine that’s what a lot of us had in our working careers. It’s a big hole to fill when it’s over. Could explain the restless one.

25. if your retirement is all roth, can you just ignore the tax portion? taxes will be zero, correct?

26. Only a small percentage of Americans retire with over 1 million dollars saved.

27. Man proposes, God disposes.

28. Found out taxes were way less than I expected, health care costs went way down, food cost stayed about the same, housing costs went way down, even property tax went down (that was a real surprise). The real key to retirement is having a paid off house (not a condo or a house with an HOA), and investing wisely so your cash flow is consistent so that you can live off income generated rather than spending down your nest egg. Been retired over 20 years but only about 8 under Medicare and in our area with a HMO my cost for my wife went from $1100 a month to under $100, the savings there pay all of my housing cost.

29. Great video and perspective, but it's important to remember that the vast majority of people don’t walk into retirement with $3 million-plus in the bank.
    ​At the end of the day, a successful retirement isn't just about a massive portfolio balance—it’s entirely about living within your means, starting early, and avoiding the trap of lifestyle creep. Too many people spend their working years living right at their maximum net income, which is an absolute setup for disaster later in life.
    ​True financial security comes from planning ahead so that you can comfortably live on less than your combined Social Security, pension, and modest investments—while also factoring in future medical expenses. Someone with a modest savings account who has planned well, stayed disciplined, and kept their expenses low can easily have a much more peaceful and secure retirement than someone with millions who lives wildly beyond their means. It all comes down to personal responsibility and choices made consistently over time.

30. Join a church or charity. Anything that isn’t explicitly self- centered will fill that void far more than golf or TV

31. Looking at all my friends who have gotten rich — thru selling their businesses or inheritance — they are all MUCH more stressed about money than I am or they were before. It’s stupidity to accumulate all this money. It’s greedy, isolating, alienating, and does NOT provide a sense of safety. Community is more important than money, 100% of the time.

32. That is the dilemma. Saving and investing to guarantee wealth for the future versus spending money to enjoy life now. Stay healthy now and draw from the portfolio in the future and still have something to pass on to the next generation.

33. Why am I watching this I only have 300k in the super 🤣

34. I thought we had 3 mill combined but wiffy who has a separate portfolio saved over 1 million more , then that, i had no idea she had. She just smiled at me and stated what you didnt think I saved my monies! retirement has just changed

35. How much does age come into play vs. Money saved?

36. Glad I found you!

37. helping the kids lol. tell them to at least try. there is no reason for them to not be successful! (well poor parenting would make them slugs and need help) lol

38. Boomers are smarter than this. You have lined up with the wrong people !!

39. Very good video! But I don't have 3M! But I do have a pension, keep up the good work!

40. As soon as I heard "Starting w/ 3 million" I knew there was no reason to listen.

41. My goodness, these 18 minutes should have been 3 or 4.

42. I’m two years away from retirement and my portfolio is around $850,000. The recent market drops have made me question whether I’m positioned correctly for the future.

43. I think the most important piece of this video is his recommendation to create a purposeful life during retirement. Four months before I retired, I found two non-profit organizations to volunteer with. After I retired and started volunteering, I felt productive and useful. It has been satisfying every week since I left the work world.

44. I've been retired for a couple years now. When my partner retires, we're considering moving to another country, maybe Portugal/Azores. America is half-full of ignorant, selfish dicks now and has become quite unpleasant in some places. I keep waiting for things to change, but I only have so many years left to wait:)

45. I don't use money managers or tax planers

46. Really enjoyed your video. I am a newly retired MD, having been a psychiatrist for 35 + years, mainly taking care of veterans. You are the first you tube person I listened to that attends to the psychology of retirement, not just the financial side. I would always tell my patients, the name of the game is coping and feeling positive about yourself, life will always be a challenge, either working or in retirement as I am learning.

47. Focus on decumulation strategies. A good FIA with a lifetime income benefit and imparement multiplier if you need long term care is a great strategy. Your own pension plan for life.

48. All of you YouTube money people give the same basic advice that any responsible parent gives their kid: do things in moderation

49. Thank you for a great video. Sitting here in Brisbane Australia, 57 yo pondering our own retirement. I love your perspective and a new angle to look at things. New subscriber here 👍

50. At 13.20. “A plan can fund a retirement but it can’t furnish one”. Brilliant nugget. 👍😎