If “someday” is your plan, this conversation might change your calendar. In this episode, we dig into a number that stopped us cold, the average health expectancy in the U.S. (not life expectancy) is about 63, which puts a deadline on all the bucket-list logic we tend to attach to retirement. We’re joined in-studio by David Bach, bestselling author of The Automatic Millionaire and The Latte Factor, who’s in the middle of updating his most popular book (over two million copies sold) and calling it his last big launch as he heads into retirement. Together, we wrestle with a problem our listeners know well, what happens when you’ve built the habit of saving, investing, optimizing, and then feel weirdly unable to spend. We talk mini retirements, the psychology of “spend and enjoy,” and why waiting to touch retirement money can be its own kind of risk. Key Takeaways Think about retirement as a series of deliberate mini retirements, not one finish line you might reach with less energy than you expected. If you’re a dedicated saver, build a plan for the “spend and enjoy” phase so you do not accidentally optimize away the years you wanted freedom for. Run the numbers on “small” spending habits, not to guilt yourself, but to see which choices actually buy future optionality. Treat withdrawals, benefits, and deadlines as part of the strategy, not a paperwork problem you’ll deal with later. If your finances feel out of reach, anchor yourself with a simple projection and one automated action, momentum beats motivation. Resources and Links David Bach’s website: http://davidbach.com/ David Bach’s book: The Automatic Millionaire (updated edition) https://amzn.to/4q9ULxm The Latte Factor https://amzn.to/48ASp4H Smart Women Finish Rich https://amzn.to/4pB5u43 Chapters (4:50) Radical sabbaticals, Florence and rethinking retirement (9:10) Health scares, widowhood stats and enjoying life earlier (11:00) Updating The Automatic Millionaire for 24 million millionaires (15:30) Social Security strategy, RMD parties and claiming earlier (31:30) The latte factor, avocado toast and 10 dollar decisions (33:00) How 10 or 20 dollars a day grows over decades (34:20) Oprah behind the scenes, bricks of cash and an audience gasp (47:10) Tiffany Aliche, 75,000 dollars of debt and other success stories (54:25) A 53,000 dollar income couple who retired as multimillionaires (1:25:40) Careers in advising, hiring trends and women advisors (1:28:37) Social Security taxes, new ideas and an eight year tax window (1:41:27) Remembering the “why,” values based choices and using money well _______________ Subscribe via Apple Podcasts: https://affordanything.com/applepodcasts Full show notes for the episode: https://affordanything.com/episode Get our show notes in your inbox: https://affordanything.com/shownotes Follow us! IG: https://instagram.com/paulapant Twitter: https://twitter.com/affordanything FB: https://facebook.com/affordanything Community: https://affordanything.com/community