You've got more than money.

You've got your host, your personal financial adviser.

Megan, smell in the wings.

As our financial correspondent, she'll shortly be bringing you some of the most interesting questions you'll hear certainly this evening, maybe this week, maybe in the entire month that you find yourself in.

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Because more than money is exactly not just the type of questions, but the type of answers that we give you.

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Indeed.

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I think most financial advisors do a reasonably good job.

We have lots of fine, fine competitors around the country that do very, very nicely.

One of the things I think that might set more than money apart is that we, in our spirit of more than money, we we spend a fair amount of time and effort helping organizations that we believe need our assistance.

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So let's get to work.

Let's let's answer a question this evening.

Where do we start?

Sounds good.

Our first email isn't really a question, but I think we can definitely help them still.

This one says for the first few days of retirement, I felt like I'd finally escaped.

I'd wake up without an alarm, sip my coffee, and stare at the walls of a home that was almost entirely mine.

After 40 years, I'd finally crossed.

Crossed the finish line.

On paper, I was the ultimate success story.

But then the identity loss set in my realized the freedom I traded my youth for now feels like a hollow sentence.

I realized that without my job title, I didn't know who I was.

My kids are adults.

They are caught in their own rat race.

They call on Sundays out of duty and visit on holidays for a few hours.

I've become a gray area in their schedule, a box they check before rushing back to their lives to fight the social isolation.

I joined a gym.

I spend hours there every morning doing functional fitness and walking on treadmills just to be near the sound of human voices.

But the second I pull back into my driveway, the real world turns gray again.

The days are senseless and repetitive.

I spent my entire life planning, but I forgot to plan for a life worth living.

I stayed in a soul crushing career just to ensure this fixed income and this zip code.

I missed the travel and the hobbies I actually cared about because I was terrified of inflation and mortgage debt.

It is the bitterness of a successful retirement.

I have a house that is almost paid off, but it's just a pile of bricks.

I'm a stranger to myself because I never found an encore career or a passion outside of a cubicle.

I traded 40 years of my soul for financial security, and now that I have it, I realized I'm just a tenant in a very expensive, very lonely cage.

Do you have any advice, Gene?

Yeah I do.

It's going to require some work and it's going to require.

The term I like to use is reframing.

Scott Adams wrote a book a number of years back, and I don't remember the exact title, but I believe it was reframing or how to reframe is how you think about something you think about in a certain way.

Hey, if I have to run across campus, it's I'm going to be sweaty.

I'm unhappy.

I'm going to be tired as opposed to, gosh, one of my closest friends.

She'll run eight or 9 or 10 miles for fun.

For fun.

Because the reframing of the idea of of running from a dreary, dreary, sad existence into something that's joyful is is how you approach it mentally.

It's how you frame it in your mind.

You have constructed a mental framework about your retirement that, to be perfectly honest, I don't.

I understand completely why you would be depressed because you are framed basically every part of your life around I in my opinion.

Forgive me if I'm off base.

I don't think I am.

You've surrounded around the financial elements.

I have a house.

I have a retirement.

I'm well, I'm successful.

I was I was an employee, I was a title, I was, I was, I was goodness.

I think that that the constancy in your life has been.

You're looking in the mirror about I and using that analogy.

How about looking through a window to the world?

How about looking, not standing on a treadmill, hoping that you'll catch a conversation of someone so you don't feel social isolation?

Isolation?

How about having a conversation with someone?

Don't go to a treadmill, which is a isolationist activity.

Join a health club.

Join a health class.

Take some yoga.

Have a conversation.

More importantly.

More importantly, in my opinion, find a way to to distract your vision away from me, me, me to someone to serving someone.

The most successful retirees.

Dreadful word.

Most successful seniors in their retirement years are the ones that.

Goodness.

When you say, how are you finding retirement?

They say, I don't know how I ever worked.

I don't know how I had time to work.

I am so busy.

I am doing so many things.

It might be their church.

The church becomes their hub.

They get social interaction.

They get to serve.

They get to assist other people.

They get to focus outside of themselves, something bigger than themselves.

It might be folds of honor.

It might be PBS where your, your, your volunteering might be Girl Scouts.

Boy Scouts.

There are thousands of ways to serve others, to serve others, and almost inevitably, almost inevitably reframe.

You're thinking away from how sad.

Am I owe me or my my kids only call once a week.

How much more interesting would it be if your kids called every Sunday and you weren't home because you were in church in the morning, and then you helped with youth group in the afternoon, and then you were planting flowers at a local park, maybe habitat for humanity.

You're building houses for folks who desperately need houses.

Goodness, the answers are legion.

You're focusing on the wrong part of your life spectrum.

You're looking inside.

You should be looking outside.

That's my opinion.

I am blessed, I admit that I have.

I have found one of those rare scenarios in life talked about reframing.

People go, oh, retirement 55.

That's successful retirement now more almost 20 years past that age, I'm thinking, why would I ever retire?

I'm in the time of my life I get to be on TV and serve people that I will never meet, but I can change their lives.

I get to go to an office and serve people that I do get to meet who over many, many years have become dear friends.

Dear friends.

And interestingly enough, based on my conversation earlier, we often my clients and I, we team up and we help organizations that do wonderful work.

It just it's glorious because we're looking outside ourselves.

We're serving the word.

Service has gotten a bad rap in recent memory, and what a shame that is.

If putting aside scripture, which I'm an abject amateur at, can't quote for beans, but I understand the concept.

Somewhere in there, the idea of being a servant was actually held up as the way to be number one.

Be a servant.

Find ways to serve.

Stop looking at yourself.

Start looking out the window, not in the mirror, and reframe your thinking to every single morning.

How can I serve?

Hopefully that helped a little bit.

And God bless.

God bless.

Thanks.

Where to next?

Well, piggybacking off of that, we have a report here to kind of tie up this retirement discussion.

This one says staying put in your home is a popular retirement strategy.

But Suze Orman warns that there are hidden costs that grow with age.

What are your thoughts on that?

Jeanne.

Sue Sousa's.

Interesting lady.

Been around a very long time, has made many, many statements that you, if you take them at face value, you say, I don't have a clue why she would say that.

If you look a little deeper, you might discover that there's some self-serving going on here.

There's a hey, look at me kind of an approach.

She is a marketing wizard, there's no question about that.

And part of her wizardry is to make statements that are so bold and in many cases, so inappropriate that people go, oh, and they have to talk about it.

And whether you say Suze, which is I think how she pronounces her name are Susie Orman.

I think when she first arrived on the scene 40 years ago, 45 years ago, she was Susie, I think.

Now, Sue's bottom line is this is the kind of statement that a lot of people go, wait a second, I thought I wanted to stay in my house.

I thought I wanted to age in place.

The popular retirement strategy of owning your own home has hidden costs.

If you are, what's the word?

Not very analytical or not very thoughtful.

And you hear her say that the conclusion you might draw is that we should sell our house and maybe rent sell our house, buy into a Karch.

So our house and it starts with sell our house because according to Suze, it may be a trap.

Well, interestingly enough, we canceled several seasons ago on this very show.

A couple who had decided they were about to decide to sell their home because of this kind of thought process, and rent because they didn't want the ever increasing real estate taxes, maintenance, etc.. And when we had that discussion and I suggested to them that maybe they're missing a small piece of the picture when they think that renting means that they will avoid increases in real estate taxes, insurance, and maintenance, not only will they not avoid those increases, they will either pay those increases with their increased rent, or they will be evicted as opposed to your home where you can actually build equity.

And maybe at some point many of you are already there, have your home paid off.

So even though the real estate taxes, insurance, and maintenance might continue to grow, you have no more monthly payment.

You have no more quote unquote rent.

Of course you do.

You still have expenses, but you have expenses when you're renting.

So it's a dramatic phrase.

It's intended to get attention.

It's intended.

Look how different I am.

One of the things that you must keep in mind when people give you financial advice is what do they have guiding them?

So when you're talking to a financial advisor who truly is a financial advisor, registered investment advisor, a fiduciary, I have the legal, moral, ethical obligation to give you information that's in your best interest.

Not my best interest, not the best interest of me selling more books, not to best interest in me selling you something else on my website, whomever that may be.

But I must give you information.

It's in your best interest.

Someone who's an author, somebody who puts out seminars, etcetera, etcetera, who has opinions, has no legal obligation to do that.

None whatsoever.

By the way, neither does your brother in law or the guy that talks at work on break.

They may have opinions, but they have no legal, ethical, moral obligation to give you advice that's in your best interest.

And to be perfectly blunt, even if they have that obligation, I don't think they could meet it.

They're just not equipped.

Who?

Susan.

Susie, whichever.

We disagree.

Is there somebody I can agree with?

Anybody.

We'll see this.

This next person isn't quite ready for retirement, but they want to start getting ready.

They say I'm 55 and I want to quit work in the next decade.

Wondering, should I cut costs now with solar panels and an electric vehicle so that retirement is cheaper?

Thanks for your advice.

What a show!

My head hurts.

We still have a long way to go.

55 getting ready for retirement I like it.

I like the thought process.

I like how you're approaching this plenty of time and advance.

Too many people go, hey, saw your show.

Really like it.

I'm 64.

I'd like to retire next year at 65.

I've saved 40 grand and I want to live on 100,000 bucks.

Okay, lovely speaking to you.

But you need medication, or you need to get off your medication or some combination of you above.

You waited too long to make those kind of choices.

This individual is doing the exact opposite.

Fantastic.

Looking ahead, what kinds of things might he or she do?

Yes, he or she do.

So that retirement becomes as comfortable as it can be, as manageable as it can be.

Now, having said that, having thumbs up.

Two thumbs up.

Yeah, two thumbs up.

My granddaughter would go one.

Yeah, two thumbs up.

Electric vehicle and solar panels.

I can't get behind that.

Those decisions for two reasons.

Number one, you're 55.

If you're going to be part of H, you get 45 years to go.

The thought that you're going to buy an EV today and that it's going to have an appreciable impact for decades to come on your financial picture or your retirement is foolish.

So stop that idea.

The idea of solar panels is slightly different in that the technology theoretically could benefit you.

For 20 years now, I've looked at many, many different solar proposals, and I've yet to find one that made me excited.

I've found proposals at over 20 years, returns the original investment and might turn a bit of a profit.

My fear for that particular piece of technology, particularly as we enter the age of AI, is that that technology will evolve rapidly.

Goodness, what technology would we have had?

Oh, CDs, compact discs 20 years ago, 20 years ago, everybody, stacks of them.

You would have in your car, you'd have boxes or you'd have cases of that.

When was the last time you saw a compact disc other than your garage or your basement?

The technology has blown past that.

Gosh, when we originally started using home computers, all of the software came on multiple hard disks in some floppy.

Yeah, that was even the earlier.

Now there are no disks.

Everything's in the cloud.

So I my, my fear is that you will find that you will invest a tremendous amount of money now with little or no real financial advantage as you go into your retirement.

So think about things that may have longer and more accurately positive financial projections and impacts on your retirement.

I don't think these two things really qualify.

Thanks very much.

Next question from megs.

Our next question says I am 62 years old and I have never been married.

I have no siblings and both of my parents have passed away.

I got started with investing while I was still at business school some 40 years ago.

That portfolio has now grown into the multi-millionaires.

I've named my high school as my sole beneficiary at my two brokerages, just in case anything happens to me.

But I'm wondering, is there anyone besides distant relatives that I can name as an executor and durable power of attorney in the event I become incapacitated?

Since I'm a loner, I don't really have any close friends either.

God forbid, should I find someone to marry just for the purpose of taking care of me in my twilight years?

Thanks for your advice, Jean.

I'm so proud of Megan.

She read that last line without actually laughing.

Should he marry a nurse in his senior years?

Oh and goodness, I take this question at face value.

I believe this gentleman to be sincere.

I think that's a sincere question.

It's a sad question, but it's a sincere question.

We'll leave that for last.

The fact that this gentleman is in this position relatively early in his life might be a little different, a little, a little unusual.

Early 60s, really not close to a lot of people.

He has a fair amount of money.

Hey, who can be his executor?

Who can be his power of attorney?

Those are things we're going to address first.

They're a little unusual because of his age.

Now, fast forward ten, 15, 20 years, and, you know people in your life that are like this, you know, it may be you.

Hey, I'm 84.

My closest friends of all past or my closest friends are no longer in a position where I believe that when I pass, they're still going to be there and or they're not in a position.

Maybe they've been an executor in the past and they know it's no fun whatsoever.

So they're reluctant or they've said flat out, we're not going to do it.

So it's not an unusual question.

It's just the timing.

And that's one of the reasons why I wanted to air this on our show is because, not because his situation is typical, but because his question is very, very common.

Not not half of our clients are in that position, but I'll bet a third a large percentage of hey, I don't my my, maybe my kids are grown, maybe I didn't have children.

My friends are gone.

I don't have close relatives.

How does this work?

Well, as you might expect, the legal community and the banking, the financial community have developed over many, many years.

Organizations that can meet these needs in the in the old days when some of us were growing up or getting older, growing up, every bank was the First National Bank and trust.

Bank and trust in lots of small towns had their own banks because the banker was the guy that you played basketball with or baseball or their football with.

And the trust department was very active because literally you were talking to someone you trusted.

And as the world changed and mobility became far more prevalent, the bank trust not really.

So national trust companies came into being.

And there are some magnificent organizations, magnificent companies that can fill the needs that you're requesting.

They will be paid, of course, as they should be.

Otherwise, if you depart without naming someone, it will go into the courts.

The courts will name an attorney that you've never met, have no interest in whatsoever, and that attorney will be paid substantially and will hopefully carry out your wishes.

But who knows?

And the same thing happens if you should lose your health, if you have not yet made those arrangements for a durable power of attorney or a medical directive, the proper documents and a complete estate planning package, then the courts will step in.

They will name a guardian for you, who will be paid a substantial sum of money, and whether they are responsive to your needs or not, precisely or not so precisely, is a literally roll of a dice.

So you get to decide.

You can interview, of course, as many organizations trust companies is the generic term as you wish to get a firm handle on.

I like these folks.

I like how they handle themselves.

The reality, of course, is because they are corporations, they're going to last for hopefully decades and decades and decades, so that at 62 you can start being comfortable, have some peace of mind that whomever you suggest, if I suggest my best friend and two years from now he departs, I've got to start over with a corporation.

They have basically an eternal lifetime.

It will be different people, but they'll be following the same guidance, the same value systems.

So that's how you should look.

Should you marry a nurse?

No.

Goodness gracious.

No.

Should you evolve?

Sure.

You've got 40 years, triple H, 40 years, and you've got capital you can work with.

Don't be hiring someone with the expectation with, hey, if I marry you, you'll have to take care of me.

How about going out and taking care of some other folks?

Kind of reminds me of the answer I gave to the first question.

Where, if you're looking, hey, who's going to take care of me?

How about focusing more on who you can take care of?

And maybe if you do it right, your high schools won't end up with anything because you'll find ways to serve people and care for people and give away money and support organizations and get out there and be alive.

Use your resources now to be alive.

I think that's a better way to go.

My opinion and no, don't go marrying a nurse, a bad idea.

It's a bad.

That's a bad idea.

A good idea would be if you followed us on a regular basis.

We encourage you to send us your questions, Gene, and ask MTM, because selfishly, you make our show very interesting.

My answers are rather pedestrian, dull and ho hum.

But your questions are fantastic and that allows us to have some real texture, some real dynamic to our show.

Thank you so very much.

And if of course you have a question or just would like to receive our email, ask for it.

It's just that easy.

Gene and ask MTM Jeanie and ask MTM.

You get your question answered, maybe even become a star of a future show.

Folks, thanks for being part of our show this evening.

If you would return next week would do me a great honor for the next edition of More Than Money.