7 Things Smart Retirees Never Keep After 65

[00:00:00]You spent your whole life acquiring, building, buying, saving, collecting, adding one thing after another because that is what you were supposed to do.

[00:00:08]But here is something the smartest retirees understand that almost nobody talks about. After 65, the game flips completely. The people who keep the most of their money are not the ones who hold on to everything. They are the ones who quietly let go of the things that are draining them, the costly products, the quiet baggage, the so-called assets that are secretly bleeding them dry and in some cases feeding the IRS year after year. There are seven things in particular that smart retirees tend to get rid of after 65. And if you're still holding on to them, they could be costing you far more than you realize.

[00:00:39]Here is what makes this so important.

[00:00:41]Some of the things on this list look like assets. They feel like wealth. They sit on your statement or in your garage and you think of them as part of what you have built.

[00:00:50]But a few of them are quietly working against you, costing you in fees, in taxes, and lost growth, or in pure risk every single year you keep them. And the cruelest part is that nobody ever tells you to let them go because there is usually someone making money by convincing you to hold on.

[00:01:05]So today, I'm going to walk you through the seven things the smartest retirees quietly shed after 65 and exactly why letting go of each one can leave you with more money, less stress, and a lot less exposure to the taxman.

[00:01:17]Now let me be fair right up front because I never want to be heavy-handed.

[00:01:21]A couple of the things on this list can genuinely make sense for a small number of people in the right situation. This is not about blanket rules. It is about asking the honest question, do I still need this or is it just quietly costing me? That question alone can save you a great deal. This applies to you whether you are already retired, just about to be, or simply helping someone you love take a clear-eyed look at what they are holding. Because the money you keep is just as important as the money you made.

[00:01:46]And before we go further, a quick but important note. I am not a lawyer, I'm not a CPA, and I am not your financial advisor. Everything here is for for purposes only. My job is to help you understand the rules and ask better questions, not to give you personal advice for your exact situation.

[00:02:02]If that sounds fair, do me one small favor.

[00:02:05]Tap the like button because it genuinely helps this channel reach other retirees who are quietly holding on to things that are costing them. And if you have not subscribed, take 1 second and subscribe because this is exactly the kind of thing nobody tells you until the money is already gone.

[00:02:19]All right. Let us go through the seven.

[00:02:22]Number one, a big pile of idle cash. Let us start with one that feels like the safest thing in the world, which is exactly why it is so dangerous.

[00:02:29]A large pile of cash just sitting in a checking account or savings account earning almost nothing.

[00:02:35]Now, having an emergency cushion is smart. Everyone needs one. But many retirees keep far more than that. Tens of thousands, sometimes much more, parked and doing nothing because cash feels safe.

[00:02:45]Here's the problem. The cash is not safe at all. It is quietly shrinking every single year because the cost of everything keeps rising while your pile stays the same.

[00:02:54]In real terms and what it can actually buy, that money is losing value the entire time it sits there. And here's the part that ties straight back to the taxman, the part almost nobody thinks about.

[00:03:04]If that cash is sitting somewhere actually earning a bit of interest, that interest is taxable income. And it does not just get taxed on its own. It stacks on top of everything else and it can drag more of your social security into being taxable and it can even push you toward higher Medicare costs. So, an enormous pile of idle cash manages to do the worst of both worlds.

[00:03:23]The part earning nothing is eaten by rising prices and the part earning something can quietly raise your taxes.

[00:03:28]Smart retirees keep the sensible cushion and put the rest to work in a way that actually fits their plan instead of letting a giant pile of cash slowly bleed value and invite the taxman at the same time. Let me make this concrete.

[00:03:39]Picture two retirees, each with the same comfortable nest egg. The first keeps a very large slice of it, far more than any emergency could need, sitting in a plain savings account because the stock market makes him nervous and cash feels solid. Year after year, that pile does not grow while the cost of his groceries, his insurance, and his utilities climb steadily.

[00:03:58]After a decade, the number in the account looks the same, but it quietly buys noticeably less than it did.

[00:04:04]The second retiree keeps a sensible cushion, enough to sleep well, and puts the rest to work in a steady, balanced way that fits her age. Over those 10 same years, her money at least has a chance to keep pace with rising prices.

[00:04:15]Same starting point, but one of them slowly went backwards simply by standing still. That is the hidden cost of a giant cash pile. It does not feel like a loss because the number never drops, but the slow erosion is real, and over a long retirement, it can quietly cost a fortune in spending power, all while feeling like the safe choice.

[00:04:33]Let me ask you something right now, and answer honestly in your own head.

[00:04:36]Are you holding far more cash than you would actually need for an emergency, just sitting there because it feels safe? If yes, type the word yes in the comments.

[00:04:44]If your cash is right-sized to a real cushion, type no. I read these, and I think a lot of people are about to realize they have been sitting on more idle cash than they ever needed.

[00:04:54]Number two, a high-fee annuity. This is one of the most oversold products aimed at retirees, and it is one of the smartest ones look at very, very carefully. An annuity is a contract with an insurance company, and the idea sounds wonderful.

[00:05:07]Hand over lump sum, get a guaranteed income.

[00:05:10]But here is what the sales pitch tends to leave out. Many of these products, especially the complicated ones, carry some of the highest fees in the entire financial world. There are the upfront commissions, which is exactly why they get pushed so hard, and there are ongoing charges that quietly come out of your money year after year.

[00:05:26]And if you ever want to get out, there are often steep surrender charges that lock you in for years. And here is the tax thing that most people never hear about. When the money eventually comes out of many of these products, the gains are taxed as ordinary income, the least favorable kind, rather than at the gentler rates that other investments can enjoy. So, you can end up paying the highest fees and the highest kind of tax on the very same product. Now, I will be fair. A simple, low-cost version can fit a few people who truly want a guaranteed income and understand exactly what they're giving up.

[00:05:57]But, the expensive, complicated ones are a different story, and the smartest retirees either avoid them or take a hard look at whether the high-fee product they already own is quietly dragging them down. If you have one, the honest move is to find out exactly what it costs you each year because that number often shocks people.

[00:06:13]Let me show you how this plays out in real life. Imagine someone nearing retirement who was sold a complicated annuity with a wonderful-sounding pitch, guaranteed income, never lose a dime.

[00:06:23]What is not spelled out clearly is that a hefty chunk went to commission, that there are layers of annual charges quietly eating at the balance, and that if she needs her own money back in the first several years, a steep surrender charge takes a painful bite. A few years in, she looks closely, perhaps with an advisor who earns nothing from selling her anything, and discovers just how much those charges have cost her. The income she was promised turns out to be modest once all the fees are accounted for and far less flexible than she imagined. Now, compare that to a retiree who kept his money in a simple, low-cost mix and drew from it on his own terms.

[00:06:55]He kept control, kept flexibility, kept the fees in his own pocket. The lesson is not that every annuity is bad. It is that the expensive, complicated ones are built to benefit the seller first, and the smartest retirees insist on knowing exactly what they are paying before they ever hand over a lump sum. Number three, a life insurance policy you no longer need.

[00:07:15]Now, this one is delicate, so let me be careful and clear. There is a kind of life insurance that builds up a cash value over time, and it is often sold as a clever way to both protect your family and build wealth at the same time. The trouble is, these policies tend to carry high costs, and for a great many people, the original reason for the policy fades away as the years go by.

[00:07:34]Think about why most people buy life insurance in the first place. It is usually to protect the people who depend on their income while the children are still young, while there is a mortgage to cover, while the spouse would struggle without that paycheck.

[00:07:46]But by the time you are past 65, very often those reasons are gone. The children are grown and independent. The mortgage may be handled. There may be enough set aside that no one is left in trouble.

[00:07:56]So here is the honest question the smartest retirees ask.

[00:08:00]Is this policy still protecting someone who genuinely needs it, or am I paying high premiums every year for protection I no longer need on a product that is quietly expensive?

[00:08:08]For some people, there is still a real reason to keep it, and that is perfectly valid. But for many, that costly policy is just draining money every month out of habit. Money that could be doing something far more useful for them while they are alive.

[00:08:20]The point is not to blindly cancel anything. The point is to stop paying year after year for something whose job is already done.

[00:08:28]Let me make this concrete. Think of a couple in their late 60s who have been faithfully paying premiums on a cash value policy for decades.

[00:08:36]When they bought it, they had young children, a large mortgage, and a single income that the whole family leaned on.

[00:08:41]Back then, that protection made real sense. But look at them now. The children are grown, working, and independent. The mortgage is gone. They have savings and steady retirement income, and if one of them were no longer here, the other would be financially secure.

[00:08:54]Yet the premiums keep going out the door every single month, often a significant sum, for a policy whose original purpose has quietly expired.

[00:09:03]When they finally sit down and ask what that policy is actually doing for them today, many couples in this exact situation realize they have been paying for years out of pure habit.

[00:09:12]For some families, there is still a genuine reason to keep coverage, and that is perfectly fine. But the honest question is whether the money would do more for them now while they are alive to enjoy it than it does sitting inside an expensive policy nobody truly needs anymore.

[00:09:26]Number four, a timeshare. This one is almost universal among the things smart retirees let go of, and for good reason.

[00:09:34]A timeshare feels like an asset. You bought it, you own a piece of it, you have the paperwork.

[00:09:39]But, ask anyone who has actually tried to sell one.

[00:09:42]They are notoriously, painfully difficult to get rid of.

[00:09:45]And they very often have almost no resale value, sometimes none at all.

[00:09:49]Meanwhile, the fees never stop. Year after year, the maintenance fees arrive, and they tend to rise over time, whether you use the place or not.

[00:09:57]So, you have something that is extremely hard to sell, that may be worth almost nothing, and that keeps charging you every single year for the privilege of owning it. That is not an asset. That is a recurring bill wearing the costume of an asset. And here is what makes it especially draining in retirement. Those fees are coming straight out of your fixed income every year, often for a place you visit rarely or not at all.

[00:10:17]The smartest retirees recognize that the money already spent is gone, and what matters now is stopping the ongoing bleed. And getting out of a timeshare can take some effort, and you have to be careful of the many scams that prey on people trying to exit one, but freeing yourself from those endless rising fees is very often worth it. Holding onto it out of guilt for what you paid only guarantees you keep paying year after year for something that gives you almost nothing back. Let me make this real.

[00:10:43]Picture a retiree who bought a timeshare 20 years ago full of good intentions about annual family trips.

[00:10:49]For a while, they used it, but the children grew up, schedules scattered, and the visits dwindled to almost nothing. The one thing that never dwindled was the bill. Every year like clockwork, the maintenance fee arrives, and over the years, it has crept higher and higher. He looks into selling it, and is stunned to find there are almost no buyers. And the ones who exist will pay next to nothing.

[00:11:08]Meanwhile, companies circle, promising to help him exit for a large upfront fee, many of them outright scams preying on exactly his frustration. So, he keeps paying year after year for a place he no longer visits, because getting out feels too hard. This is the trap in miniature.

[00:11:23]The money he spent at the start is gone and cannot be recovered. The only real decision left is whether to keep feeding the yearly bill, or to do the work carefully and without falling for an exit scam, to finally stop the bleed for good. Number five, a giant position in a single stock. Now, let us talk about one that can look like a wonderful success story right up until the moment it becomes a disaster.

[00:11:43]Many people, especially those who worked for a company for decades, end up with an enormous chunk of their wealth tied up in that one company's stock. Or they fell in love with one particular investment that did well and let it grow into a huge slice of everything they own. It feels great when that stock is climbing. But, here's the danger the smartest retirees understand.

[00:12:02]When one company holds a giant portion of your future, your entire retirement is riding on the fortunes of that single business.

[00:12:08]If it stumbles, and even great companies stumble, it can take a frightening amount of your life savings down with it at exactly the age when you no longer have years of paychecks to recover. And there's a tax wrinkle that traps people here. So, let me explain it honestly.

[00:12:21]Often that big position has grown so much that selling it would mean a large taxable gain, and so people freeze holding on simply to avoid the tax bill.

[00:12:29]But, that is letting the tax tail wag the dog. Refusing to reduce a dangerously concentrated position purely to dodge taxes is how people end up watching a huge piece of their savings evaporate. The smartest retirees work out a sensible, gradual way to spread that risk out, managing the tax impact along the way, rather than betting their whole retirement on one company because selling felt expensive. Concentration builds wealth. Diversification is what protects it once you have it. Let me make this concrete because it is one of the most painful mistakes there is.

[00:12:59]Picture a man who spent 30 years at one company and accumulated a large pile of its stock along the way.

[00:13:04]He is proud of it, emotionally attached to it, and it has grown into well over half of everything he owns. For years it climbed and he felt wealthy and validated. But, his entire retirement now rests on the fortunes of that single business. Then, imagine the company hits a rough stretch, as even great companies sometimes do, and the stock falls hard.

[00:13:21]Suddenly, a huge portion of his life savings has evaporated at exactly the age when he has no decades of paychecks left to rebuild.

[00:13:28]Now contrast him with a retiree who, years earlier, recognized the danger and gradually trimmed her concentrated position, spreading the money across many holdings, and carefully managing the tax along the way. When the storm hit one sector, she barely felt it. The difference was not luck. It was that one of them treated a single stock as a trophy to clutch, and the other treated it as a risk to manage. After 65, protecting what you have matters more than betting on what one company might do next. And here is the honest, balanced way the smartest retirees handle the tax problem that keeps so many people frozen.

[00:14:00]They do not dump the whole position in a single year and trigger one enormous tax bill. Instead, they unwind it gradually, trimming a sensible amount each year, leaning on their lower income years, and spreading the gains across time so the tax stays manageable.

[00:14:14]Some also use a portion of those shares for charitable giving, or coordinate the sales with the rest of their plan.

[00:14:19]The point is that being trapped by taxes is almost always a failure of planning, not an unbreakable rule. With a thoughtful, multi-year approach, nearly anyone can reduce a dangerous concentration without getting hammered all at once. Clutching a risky position purely out of fear of the tax bill is how a proud success story can quietly turn into a retirement-ending mistake.

[00:14:39]Before we get to the last two, let me pause for just a moment because if you want to take a clear-eyed look at your own situation and what you might be holding on to, I have something that can help. I put together a resource called the Retiree's AI Research Guide.

[00:14:51]It walks you through how to research your own retirement and tax questions step-by-step so you can take an honest inventory of what you own, what it is costing you, and what the tax impact of changing it might be before you ever sit down with a professional.

[00:15:04]You can find it over at kevinretires.shop.

[00:15:07]Let me be completely clear about what it is and what it is not. It does not replace a good accountant or financial advisor, and it is not meant to. It is simply a tool to help you walk into those conversations as the most informed person in the room, instead of nodding along to things you do not fully understand. The link is in the description if you want it.

[00:15:24]All right. The last two are the ones people resist the most and they matter just as much. Number six, high interest debt.

[00:15:31]This one might seem obvious and yet it is astonishing how many people carry it straight into retirement, often quietly, often with a sense of shame that keeps them from dealing with it.

[00:15:41]I'm talking about a balance on a high interest credit card or a store card, the kind of debt that charges punishing rates month after month.

[00:15:47]Here is why this belongs on a list of things to let go of, framed exactly the way the smartest retirees see it.

[00:15:54]A balance like that is the one thing on your statement that is the opposite of an asset. It is a guaranteed loss. Every single month it takes a chunk of your fixed income and hands it over in interest for nothing in return.

[00:16:04]There is no investment anywhere that reliably pays you what a high interest card is reliably charging you. So while everyone else is out chasing a few extra percent of return on their investments, the smartest retirees know that wiping out a high interest balance is one of the most powerful guaranteed financial moves they can make. Paying off a card that charges a punishing rate is like earning that rate risk-free instantly.

[00:16:26]It frees up your monthly income, it lowers your stress, and it stops the quiet bleed that drags on everything else.

[00:16:32]Carrying that kind of debt into your retirement years, when your income is fixed and your time to recover is shorter, is one of the heaviest weights you can shed. Letting it go is not just smart, it is freeing in every sense of the word. Let me put the real shape of it on the table without the actual figures.

[00:16:47]Imagine a retiree carrying a balance on a high interest card, telling herself she will pay it down eventually while she simultaneously frets over squeezing a little more return out of her investments. Here is the cruel math.

[00:16:59]The rate that card charges her is almost certainly far higher than anything her investments can reliably earn. So every month she loses more to that interest than she could ever hope to gain on the other side.

[00:17:09]She is, in effect, running up a down escalator. Now, picture her making the opposite choice, attacking that balance first and wiping it out. The moment it is gone, she gets an instant guaranteed return equal to the punishing rate she was paying with zero risk and zero market guesswork. Her monthly income suddenly has more room to breathe. This is why the smartest retirees treat high interest debt as the very first thing to eliminate. Chasing investment returns while carrying that kind of balance is like trying to fill a bucket with a hole in the bottom.

[00:17:38]You plug the hole first. And there is a freeing, almost emotional side to this one that the smartest retirees mention again and again.

[00:17:46]High interest debt does not only drain money, it sits on your mind, a low hum of stress that follows you into what should be the most relaxed years of your life. Clearing it does something no spreadsheet can fully capture. It lifts a weight off your shoulders, it lets you sleep easier, and it hands you back a sense of control over your own money.

[00:18:03]So, while the math alone already makes wiping out that balance the smartest guaranteed move there is, the piece of mind it buys is very often worth even more.

[00:18:12]That combination, a guaranteed return and genuine relief at the same time, is exactly why the smartest retirees put this one near the very top of the list.

[00:18:20]Number seven, an investment mix you never updated. And here is the last one, the one that hides in plain sight because it does not feel like a thing you're keeping at all. It is the investment mix you set up years ago back when you were working and then simply never changed. Think about it. When you were in your working years, with decades ahead of you and a paycheck rolling in, it often made sense to take more risk, to be aggressive, because if the market dropped, you had years and steady income to ride it out. But that same aggressive mix, carried unchanged into your 60s and beyond, can be genuinely dangerous because now your situation is completely different. You are living off this money, you no longer have a paycheck to replace what a downturn takes, and a steep drop in the wrong years, right around when you start drawing on it, can do lasting damage that you never fully recover from.

[00:19:05]The opposite mistake is just as real.

[00:19:08]Some people, scared by the markets, drift the other way and end up with almost everything sitting too safe, too conservative, earning so little that rising prices slowly erode it, which is the very problem we talked about with idle cash. Either way, the issue is the same. They set a mix once and never revisited it as their life changed. The smartest retirees treat their investment mix as something that should shift as they age, dialing the risk to fit the stage of life they're actually in now, not the one they were in 20 years ago.

[00:19:36]Keeping a working years portfolio long after your working years are over is one of the quietest and most common mistakes there is.

[00:19:42]Letting go of it, and right-sizing your risk for today is one of the smartest.

[00:19:46]Let me make this concrete. Picture a retiree who built a bold, stock-heavy portfolio in his 40s, when he had decades ahead and a steady paycheck to weather any storm. That was the right call then.

[00:19:56]But now he is 67, living off that very money, and he never changed a thing.

[00:20:00]Then a sharp downturn arrives in the first years of his retirement, just as he is pulling money out to live on.

[00:20:05]Because he is selling investments while they are down to cover his expenses, the damage locks in, and the portfolio may never fully recover. A danger that is far more punishing early in retirement than later on. Now picture his neighbor, the same age, who gradually dialed back her risk as she approached retirement, holding a steadier mix designed for the stage of life she's actually in.

[00:20:25]When the same downturn hits, she has calmer, more stable holdings to draw from, and can let the riskier part recover in peace. Same market, two very different outcomes decided years earlier by whether they bothered to update the plan.

[00:20:37]Your investment mix is not something you set once and forget. It is something the smartest retirees revisit as their life changes, so a single bad stretch at the wrong moment cannot undo everything.

[00:20:47]Let me ask you the second honest question of this video.

[00:20:50]When was the last time you actually looked at how your investments are divided up, and asked whether it still fits the stage of life you are in now?

[00:20:57]If it has been years, type yes or no in the comments. If you review it regularly, type no. There is no judgment at all. Most people set it once and never look again, which is exactly why this one catches so many.

[00:21:08]And if this is making you think, do me a favor and tap that like button one more time. Because this is precisely the kind of honest inventory nobody encourages you to do.

[00:21:17]Let me pull this together with a simple picture.

[00:21:19]Imagine two people retiring the very same year with the very same amount saved. The first holds on to all of it, the giant cash pile, the expensive annuity, the life insurance policy he no longer needs, the timeshare he never visits, the single stock he's attached to, the credit card balance he keeps meaning to deal with, and the aggressive portfolio he set up decades ago. None of it feels like a problem, so he does nothing. Year after year, fees, taxes, lost growth, and risk quietly chip away at him from seven directions at once.

[00:21:48]The second retiree takes one honest afternoon to look at everything she owns and asks of each piece, "Is this still serving me?" She right-sizes her cash, sheds the costly products she does not need, frees herself from the timeshare, spreads her risk, clears her high-interest debt, and updates her mix.

[00:22:03]She did not earn an extra dime to do it.

[00:22:05]She simply stopped the leaks. 10 years on, the gap between those two retirements is enormous, and almost all of it came down to a willingness to let go.

[00:22:14]Let me bring this all together because I want the thread to be clear. Notice what all seven of these have in common. Every one of them is something that feels like it belongs, something you hold on to out of habit or comfort or guilt or fear while it quietly costs you. The idle cash that feels safe but shrinks, the high-fee annuity that promises security but charges a fortune, the life insurance policy whose job is already done, the timeshare that is really just a rising bill, the single stock that feels like a winner but is a giant risk, the high-interest debt that is a guaranteed loss, and the old investment mix that no longer fits your life. None of them announces itself as a problem. And that is exactly why the smartest retirees go looking for them on purpose and let them go.

[00:22:56]And before the checklist, notice the thread running through several of these because it is the one the taxman quietly most. The idle cash that throws off taxable interest, the annuity whose gains come out as ordinary income, the concentrated stock that has grown into a tax trap. Over and over, the things you hold on to out of comfort do not just cost you in fees and in risk. They quietly feed your tax bill, dragging more of your social security into the net, and nudging your Medicare costs higher.

[00:23:23]That is what makes letting them go so powerful. You're not only cutting fees and lowering risk, you're shrinking the very income that the IRS uses against you. Trimming the excess is, in a very real sense, one of the most effective ways to quietly starve the tax man year after year for the rest of your retirement. And let me say something reassuring here because a list like this can feel a little overwhelming, even guilt-inducing, if you recognize several of these in your own life. Please do not take it that way. Recognizing one of these is not a failure. It is the first and hardest step toward fixing it.

[00:23:56]Almost everyone holds on to at least one or two of these things because the whole system is designed to keep you holding.

[00:24:02]There is a salesperson behind the annuity, a resort behind the timeshare, a card company behind the balance, and plain inertia behind everything else.

[00:24:09]The fact that you're even thinking about this honestly puts you ahead of most.

[00:24:13]You do not have to fix all seven tomorrow. You simply have to start one honest question at a time, and each one you address leaves you a little lighter and a little richer for the rest of your retirement.

[00:24:23]So, here is your simple checklist for the seven things to stop holding on to them after 65.

[00:24:27]One, right-size your cash.

[00:24:30]Keep a sensible emergency cushion, and stop letting a giant idle pile shrink with rising prices while its interest quietly raises your taxes.

[00:24:38]Two, scrutinize any high-fee annuity.

[00:24:40]Find out exactly what it costs you every year, and be honest about whether the expensive version is still worth it.

[00:24:46]Three, re-examine a costly life insurance policy. If no one depends on your income anymore, ask whether you are paying high premiums for protection you no longer need. Four, free yourself from a timeshare.

[00:24:58]The money you paid is gone, but the rising yearly fees do not have to keep coming.

[00:25:03]Five, reduce a dangerously concentrated single stock. Spread the risk out sensibly, managing the taxes along the way, instead of betting your retirement on one company.

[00:25:12]Six, wipe out high interest debt.

[00:25:15]It is the one thing on your statement that is a guaranteed loss, and paying it off is like earning that rate risk-free.

[00:25:20]Seven, update your investment mix. Make sure your risk fits the stage of life you are in now, not the one you were in decades ago. And above all, take an honest inventory, ideally with a professional, of everything you're holding, and ask the simple question of each one, "Is this still serving me, or is it quietly costing me?" If this opened your eyes today, here's what I would love for you to do. Tap the like button, so more retirees take this honest look at what they are holding. And if you are not subscribed yet, subscribe right now, because the next thing the smartest retirees do differently is already on its way, and I want you to hear it here first.

[00:25:54]If you want to take that clear-eyed inventory of your own situation, go grab the Retiree's AI Research Guide over at kevinretires.shop.

[00:26:01]It walks you through how to research your own retirement and tax questions, so you can ask the right things before you ever sit down with a professional.

[00:26:09]And again, to be completely clear, it does not replace a good accountant or financial advisor, and it is not meant to. It is simply a tool to help you understand the moving parts and walk in informed instead of in the dark.

[00:26:20]The link is waiting for you in the description. Take care of yourself, and remember this, the wealth you keep in retirement is not just about what you earned. It is about what you stopped letting drain away. The smartest retirees are not the ones holding on to everything. They are the ones brave enough to let go of what no longer serves them. Take that honest look, let go of the quiet baggage, and keep more of what is truly yours.

[00:26:42]Start with just one of the seven this week, whichever one you felt a flicker of recognition about as you listened.

[00:26:47]Find out what it is truly costing you, ask whether it is still serving you, take the first small step to let it go.

[00:26:52]You do not need permission, and you do not need to do it all at once. You just need to begin because the lighter you travel through retirement, the further your money goes, the more freely you get to live. I will see you in the next one.