Mistake number 10 of 10 for saving for retirement. In this episode, I'm addressing
the question. What mistakes do people make when saving for retirement? There are all
kinds of mistakes that I've witnessed people make when saving or preparing for retirement.
So that hopefully, they do not outlive their money. I have selected the top 10 biggest mistakes
and I would encourage that you watch all 10 episodes so that you understand how to
avoid the mistake or correct it before it's too late. But this is mistake number 10. Are you ready?
So, I'm Doug Andrew, what do I know? Well, I've been helping people optimize their financial assets
and minimize taxes preparing for a comfortable retirement. So that they do not outlive their money
and I've been doing this for more than four and a half decades. I've been blessed and honored in my
lifetime to have a written authored at 12 books and at the end of this episode, I would like to
gift you one of my best sellers it's called the laser fund how to diversify and create the
foundation for a tax-free retirement. Because that single book will help you correct the 10 mistakes
in this series. Now, this particular episode is the 10th mistake and some people when I share it go,
"Really?". that's a mistake people make all too often. So, are you ready? This mistake
is where retirees think that retirement is just for a time to sit back relax and
coast and just sort of take it easy the rest of their life. In other words, I just want to relax
and enjoy retirement and then they're shocked about what happens. Oft times when I have
live audiences come to intensive training we call them clarity retreats or at retirement planning.
Which is something totally different than maybe what you did for retirement. It's amazing how many
people share with me stories of how they had been planning to retire sit back and relax. I remember
one master electrician for over 30 years that he was my client I could ask him on any given day.
How long until he retired and he would quote how many years months and days until he retired and he and
his wife had been waiting to retire. She was a secretary at a high school for the principal and
he was a master electrician and they had been talking about and preparing for retirement for
more than 30 years that I knew them. It was about 35 years and guess what happened? Within 90 days of
him retiring and her retiring she passed away with a massive heart attack and they never dreamed that
one of them would graduate earlier than the other, okay. It blew him away. He was so lonely and he had
scrimped sacrificed a saved and put off smelling the roses so to speak for 35 years
and within 90 days of retiring his sweet companion more than 50 years was gone. I could tell you the
rest of the story because he was so lonely he got remarried and she tried to take him for all
of his money and succeeded in taking 50% of it. Very sad story. I've seen this play out many many times.
The first thing I want you to understand is that you need to smell the roses as you go. You should
save. You should be disciplined. But in my very first best-selling book called missed fortune.
I called it missed fortune because of the fortunes people miss out on when they simply don't know
what they don't know. They don't understand the myths about money and how to dispel those myths
and there was a couple I talk about in the book that always told their children through the years,
"We can't go to Disneyland, can't afford it. We can't do this can't do that and so forth", and so
the children they had five children and they were so disciplined. They were so meticulous. They just
scrimped and saved and they worked 70 hours a week each day. They were almost strangers to
each other. They basically told their kids, "Nope, can't afford it...",
and the kids grew up thinking I can't afford. It was so sad because when they approached
retirement finally at age 70 and both of them lived over age 95. But for 25 years they were like
strangers under their own roof because they never invested time building memories. So, it's like that
old song cats in the cradle and silver spoon. When they finally retired she was into quilting and
he was into going out on hikes and going down rivers and some of the wilds of the western states
and they never seemed to get along. Because they never had been talking to each other much
during the 40 years or more that they worked. Their children had learned to work...
and they would come in and express frustration. "Golly Doug, we're trying to get our children to
come and visit us." One lived on the east coast, one lived in the southwest, one lived in the northwest,
and other one was close by and then they had a special needs a child and they couldn't get
their children to come and visit. Let alone their grandchildren and every time they would call and
say, "Hey, we'll pay for your airfare. We'll have you come out", it was like the song cats in the cradle.
"Oh, you know, things are are really tight. The kids have got the flu."
Sure nice talking to you and they would always say, "Sorry, you know, you trained us well mom and dad",
and so all of the money they had accumulated was for naught. They had never spent more than about
thirty thousand a year so they're very frugal. But they could have spent a hundred thousand a year
with where I had their money and they would have never depleted that nest egg if they lived to be
120 and I thought they were going to. But what was it all for? So, if you're accumulating money and you
don't use it for memories and if you don't smell the roses as you go. There's a fine balance between
living life as you go and then saving for the future so that you build memories in case maybe
one of you doesn't make it very long like my first story. But you want to make sure that if you make
yourself necessary. Now, one thing, I will tip my hat. She made hundreds if not thousands of quilts.
She made herself necessary every day until dementia got the best of her. But folks if
you're not in motion. If you're not making yourself necessary. If you're not oxygenating your brain
that is the number one cause of dementia and that leads to Alzheimer's. Are people who
stop being in motion. Stay in motion make yourself necessary and as you do that you will live longer
and you will have the health. Instead of just sitting back because if all you do is sit back
and you do not make yourself necessary you will likely pass away in seven to ten years or you will
lack mobility and you will drain out all of your resources with long-term care in a nursing home
or with possible in-home care or going to a facility, where others can help, take care of you.
So, to be honest with you stay in motion. Make yourself necessary. Make it so that you enjoy
life as you're saving for the future and you balance that with setting aside enough money.
So that you don't outlive your money but use it to travel. To take your kids and grandkids on family
vacations with a purpose. I'm 69 my favorite week of the year's grandpa's camp where we bring our
grandchildren the 12-year-olds and older for the first four days and we talk teenage talk. This is
my wife and we love grandpa's camp their parents are not there. Then we have the four-year-olds to
eleven-year-olds come and join the older ones and they help facilitate. We do all kinds of activities
but it's the secret of staying in motion, adding value, recording, volunteering. I serve on a board of
directors for teenage suicide prevention. I spend hours with many volunteers who will give their
time and their talents to causes to make sure that their physical body is fit but
their mental capacity stays fit. Otherwise, what was it all for? So this is why I talk about at
retirement planning and re-defining yourself at retirement. If this is resonating with you and
you can think of somebody who ought to watch this episode. Share it, post a comment, click like.
subscribe to this three-dimensional wealth YouTube channel. Because I have over 500 educational videos
and I don't want you to miss out. I want to gift you a copy of my most recent best-selling book
the laser fund. So stay with me here, another moment or two while I sort of connect the dots as I talk
about this 10th mistake. When I share it again a lot of people go, "Really? That's the top 10 mistakes
that people make?". Yeah. Watch all of them in this series but this is number 10. This is where people
just somehow they stopped doing what they were doing. They don't make themselves necessary and
guess what happens? They just start to go down down and turn into survivors. I have a little bell graph
in my third book which became a new york times in wall street journal number one bestseller it was
called the last chance millionaire and in there this little bell curve talks about strivers. These
are people who are striving to save money for the future but often they will always have too much
month left at the end of their money because they don't know how to discipline themselves to save.
Now, I'm assuming you're a saver. So then you have a strivers and those are the
financial jellyfish that are told to act their wage and cut up your credit cards. They borrow
to consume instead of conserve. The arrivers learn to live on less than what they earn
and they begin to learn the three miracles of wealth accumulation compound interest,
tax-free accumulation and safe positive leverage. The ability to own and control assets with very little
or none of your money tied up or at risk in those assets. You can learn about these three marbles or
miracles of wealth accumulation in the book I'm going to gift you. The difference between arrivers
and thrivers. Thrivers repeat the process it's not just a one-off. They learn to repeat the process
if they get into a rental income real estate. It's not just one rental property they buy another and
another and another and another. If they set up my favorite vehicle the laser fund many of them end
up with 16 or 17 laser funds. They keep repeating the process. But all too often when people approach
retirement they hunker down and they stop doing what they used to do to stay healthy and this is
the mistake. Because they get down into a survivor mentality. I just want to make sure I don't outlive
my money and they hunker down and just survive and guess what happens? When they get into the survivor
mindset. Their health dives, their money dives, and they do outlive their money. But they're usually
dead sooner than later if they have no purpose in life. They forgot to make themselves necessary. They
thought of retirement as this time to coast. So, I want you to be an arriver and a thriver. Don't get
caught up in the survivor or diver mentality where your health mental physical and your wealth dives,
empower yourself. That's why every single book I've written talks about how to do that. So,
my final plea to you is to watch all 10 videos in this series of the 10 biggest mistakes people make
when saving for retirement and you're going to learn about taxes and inflation
and following the herd, putting money in IRAs and 401ks. But the 10th mistake don't just think
of retirement as a time to coast and sit back or you will likely not live very long
because you are not in motion adding value in the world which is the secret to longevity. So,
I implore you go to laserfund.com or click on the link below contribute a nominal amount towards the
shipping and handling. I'll cover the rest of that expense and I'll send out a copy of this 300 page
book to you. There's options there if you like to listen and learn and watch and learn. But
this is actually two books in one. This side the white covered side has all the charts and
graphs and explanations of how to diversify and create the foundation for a tax-free
retirement. But if you like to learn by stories and examples you flip it over and read this side
and there's 12 chapters here with 62 actual client stories and you will learn about these 10 mistakes
that I've addressed in this series. How to avoid them or how to correct them before it's too late
and my favorite strategy or vehicle is called the laser fund. So here is to your brighter future.