Money Matters With Wes Moss

For a lot of people, what they want and what they expect can be two very different things. This may include those in their 30s and 40s who want to be able to retire but don't expect they'll be able to.   Dr. Jennice Vilhauer is a psychologist, author, and the developer of Future Directed Therapy. On today's Retire Sooner, she lends her expertise around activating a future-connected mindset to explain ways people can help themselves work toward what they want in life. Wes and Dr. Vilhauer go over depression's effect on thinking about the future, exercises in flipping negative thinking to positive, and the importance of mindfulness. Wes says that more than anyone he's ever met, Dr. Vilhauer has sold him on mindful meditation and discusses her best-selling book, "Think Forward to Thrive: How to Use the Mind's Power of Anticipation to Transcend Your Past and Transform Your Life." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today on Retire Sooner, we're revisiting one of our most popular topics of the year: five reasons why someone may want to retire as soon as they can! Wes talks through catalysts for retiring, dives into the retirement transition, and shares comments from listeners regarding their retirement. He also reveals financial checkpoints of happy retirees and provides his insights on retiring happy. Disclosure: This is provided as a resource for informational purposes and is not to be viewed as investment advice or recommendations. This information is being presented without consideration of the investment objectives, risk tolerance, or financial circumstances of any specific investor and might not be suitable for all investors. The mention of any company is provided to you for informational purposes and as an example only and is not to be considered investment advice or recommendation or an endorsement of any particular company. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Investing involves risk, including

One of the top real estate agents in the US, best-selling author, entrepreneur, and Georgia Bulldog, Bonneau Ansley does it all. On Retire Sooner, he sits down with Wes Moss to tell his story of success. From building houses and developing to becoming an agent and buying an international luxury real estate network, Ansley has followed his passion to achieve massive success. Along the way he's weathered literal fire, overcome the 2008 economic crisis, turned his dyslexia and attention-deficit disorder to his advantage, and unlocked the housing market power of the COVID-19 pandemic's work-from-home movement. Wes also brings up Ansley's book, podcast, and the top places Ansley would love to live himself. They wrap up the episode with why Atlanta is still an amazing place to live and move to. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Retire Sooner Team is taking a break this week to celebrate the Independence Day holiday. Next week Wes will be talking real estate with one of the top agents in the country, Bonneau Ansley. In the meantime, listen to your favorite Retire Sooner episodes at wesmoss.com/podcast or your favorite podcast platform. Stay tuned for more episodes with tips on living a happy and fulfilling retirement. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the field of neuroscience, it’s easy to ask questions. This week's Retire Sooner guest, Michael Platt, is known for developing innovative ways to find the answers. A professor of Brain Science for Business at the esteemed Wharton School, Platt joins Wes Moss to talk about the brain science of loneliness and some ways one can improve the health of your personal connections to help nurture your happiness later in life. They look at what types of data trigger our brains for marketing, business, and interpersonal purposes. Platt also explains why our social circles may get smaller as we get older, and why maintaining long or deep friendships may be harder for men than women. He also notes how the big social move to Zoom because of the COVID-19 pandemic has affected our abilities to connect with each other, as well as the long-term and gender-related effects of social media. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this special episode of Retire Sooner, Wes Moss shares ten of his favorite lessons learned from previous Retire Sooner podcast guests! He recaps topics such as second-act careers, wealth accumulation, and legacy planning. Wes also delves into what he learned from previous Retire Sooner guests about the importance of belonging to a community, finding purpose, and trying new things as adults. He digs into insights from guests such as travel writer Don George, author Mitch Albom, and financial expert Bill Danko. Join Wes to look back on these key lessons on how to retire happy and make the most of life's adventures! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In difficult conversations, do you notice you or your conversant trying to "win" the discussion instead of listening to each other's perspectives? Today on Retire Sooner, Wes Moss is joined by Douglas Stone, author, speaker, and lecturer on negotiation at Harvard Law School, to talk about navigating difficult conversations. Whether the subject of the conversation is financial, medical, or an interpersonal conflict, there are some discussions that can feel awkward, tense, or become argumentative. Stone explores some ways that can be effective to start such conversations, engage empathy around the emotions and identities tied into them, and reach a mutually understood outcome. Wes also brings up blind spots we can all have in the way we talk to others and what we can do about them. They also explain productive ways to receive feedback and wrap up the episode with how liberating it can be to accept your own limitations with other people. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A-list actor Matthew McConaughey is not only a beloved American talent, but an excellent speaker. His 2015 speech to University of Texas graduates is a prime and popular example, and one that Wes Moss found especially inspiring. While McConaughey's speech was targeted to fresh graduates starting their life and career journeys, Wes found much of the advice applicable to prepping for an early retirement, planning for your financial future, and being a better investor. So, in today's episode of Retire Sooner, Wes outlines the twelve insights he gleaned from this famous speech and how they can apply to your own financial life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If there's ever a concern about whether a partner is financially cheating or fudging the numbers on finances, you better hope Tracy Coenen is busy doing something else! Author of three books on fraud and embezzlement with more than 500 forensic accounting engagements completed, Tracy Coenen has spent more than 25 years investigating fraud. In this Retire Sooner episode, she joins Wes Moss to discuss forensic accounting and dig into signs that your spouse may be financially cheating on you. Tracy regales many examples she's seen of marital and divorce-related financial fraud and how she uses investment records, tax returns, bank statements, and even behavioral changes and social media to find the truth. She also shares her insights on how to have potentially difficult money conversations with your partner so that you both remain informed about marital finances. Tracy also shares how couples can use utilize resources such as her Red Flag Assessment and online Marriage, Divorce, and Post-Divorce Money Guides to

Do the dollars in your wallet seem to be wilting as prices increase? In this episode, Wes Moss and Retire Sooner producer Mallory Boggs discuss the worth of a dollar and price volatility at every level of purchase power. Whether you noticed price increases for a bottle of soda or a new car, we’re all experiencing the impact of rising costs. First, Wes shares insights about the most recent Consumer Price Index (CPI) numbers, though he notes that those differ from what investors should consider looking at right now. Next, he explains the US economy’s inflation, deflation, and avenues for capital once you've saved enough emergency cash. Finally, Wes and Mallory wrap up the episode with a few final thoughts and good news for investors. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Discover. Assimilate. Rewire. Expand. These are the four tenets of George Jerijan's DARE Method™ of teaching retirees to embrace passion, prosperity, and purpose. A retirement and mindset coach, Emmy award winning producer, and multi-industry author, Jerijan joins Wes Moss in this Retire Sooner episode to talk about how attracting your purpose rather than chasing the dollar can lead to a happier retirement. Based on his own experiences with health scares, semi-retiring, and surveying retirement-age concerns, Jerijan explains how he's living the life he truly desires now and aims to help retirees find their own new beginnings. Wes concludes the episode agreeing that it's not just money, but intangibles like mindset, that guides the mission of the Retire Sooner podcast to help people retire sooner. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In today's episode, Wes Moss shares his watch experience of the film Air with Retire Sooner producer, Mallory Boggs. Air is the new movie directed by and starring Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Viola Davis, and others that depicts Nike signing Michael Jordan to one of the most lucrative shoe deals of all time in 1984. Wes and Mallory discuss the film's relation to fantasy football, Warren Buffett's concept of the American Tailwind, and how one corporate idea can create a billion-dollar company. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Do you know why you make the financial decisions you do? On today's Retire Sooner episode, associate professor of Practice and Financial Psychology at Creighton University and director of the Financial Psychology Institute®, Ted Klontz, joins Wes Moss to discuss our subconscious beliefs about money that control behavior. Klontz explains the importance and assessment of Money Scripts®, beliefs that are rooted in our childhood that ultimately shape our financial health. They go on to discuss the mindset around saving, the practice of exquisite listening, and the advantage of curiosity over judgment when it comes to your relationship with money. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why might famed businessman and investor Warren Buffett respond, “I don’t care,” when asked about a recession? Today on Retire Sooner, Wes Moss dives into the Buffett mindset of sticking to your principles in long-term investing decisions and looking toward economic growth. In doing so, he discusses one investing planning strategy that could be essential to the journey of retiring sooner: investing in companies versus stocks. Taking Federal Reserve forecasts for 2023 into consideration, many companies can still survive, thrive, and have great returns. The episode concludes with the inspiration that having even a bit of the Buffett mindset may help you retire sooner than you think! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today on Retire Sooner, Wes Moss sits down with the three-time winner of Atlanta’s Best Divorce Attorney, Aaron Thomas, also the founder of Prenups.com. As Aaron and Prenups.com will tell you, prenups are not just planning or anticipating for marital failure. He explains that they're more of a set of rules for how your money, kids, and assets are treated during marriage and divorce. Wes and Aaron go over the differences in prenup rules in Georgia versus other states, as well as the "first paycheck rule," the cost of divorce, how having a prenup in place can help keep it down, and how to approach a prenup conversation. This episode concludes with a few interesting marriage statistics such as: On average, the happiest Retirees On The Block spend more time discussing finances with their partners (based on research for the book “You Can Retire Sooner Thank You Think”). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the aftermath of two big banks collapsing, it's no surprise that some investors may feel uneasy about the state of their retirement savings. In this episode, Wes Moss gives details to explain if and how these bank failures impact your retirement journey. He provides insights into how the banking system works, walks through the history and current state of the FDIC, and the common perception that it's safer to use bigger banks versus regional or community banks. Additionally, he delves into the mismatch between interest rates and short-term US Treasury bonds and how you can invest your funds wisely to secure a respectable yield. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What do economists and philosophers have in common? It’s not a trick question, but rather a debatable topic that Wes Moss and today’s guest, Paul Blaschko could discuss until the end of time! Paul Blaschko is the professor for the University of Notre Dame's most popular undergraduate class on philosophy. Wes and Paul dive deep into the philosophy versus theology schism and how Aristotle could be in the happy retiree camp. They also discuss Paul's "good life method" and the importance of good conversations. As this episode concludes, Paul shares some ways that people approaching retirement or later stages in life can continue improving their happiness and virtues and be comfortable with leisure for leisure's sake. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There are seven fundamental habits that many self-made millionaires have in common, and today’s guest best-selling co-author of "The Millionaire Next Door," affluence expert and educator Dr. Bill Danko, explains. In this episode, Dr. Danko sits down with Wes to explain his research and findings on the most common traits among those who have accumulated wealth and how they did it. Dr. Danko also goes over what frugality can accomplish, the role of marketing in American consumer behavior, and occupations that may help you retire sooner. They also discuss the dynamics between being versus feeling versus looking wealthy and how happiness, giving, and gratitude fold into that idea. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What does your digital footprint say about what you want? Data scientist, author of best-seller "Everybody Lies," and speaker Seth Stephens-Davidowitz sits down with Wes Moss to talk about how data can reveal societal and personal trends in desires, psychology, wealth building, and more. This includes when you become a sports fan, who you seek out for romantic partners and how you present yourself to them, and what activities are ranked as the happiest to do. Seth explains how he went from just reviewing data to using it to make his life decisions, and gives examples of how listening to his own data has made a difference for him. As for what data he encourages retirees to pay attention to, listen in to learn! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Purpose + passion + fun = core pursuits! When it comes to living a happy retirement, the more passions a retiree has, the better. But, on the other hand, our research shows that unhappy retirees tend to have less than two core pursuits driving their post-work life. So, how can you discover your core pursuits as part of your happy retirement plan? This episode will help you revisit ways to find core pursuits and what they can mean for you. In honor of March Madness, we've compiled a Core Pursuits Bracket to square off sixty-four "hobbies on steroids" to see what kind of core pursuit is championed for the happiest retirees on the block. Would you choose gardening versus pickleball or skydiving versus pottery? Voting is still open, so make your selections on the Retire Sooner social media pages! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices