---
title: 'How to Build a Financial Plan (By Age)'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=3zQeLAI12GI'
video_id: '3zQeLAI12GI'
date: 2026-08-04
duration_sec: 2217
---

# How to Build a Financial Plan (By Age)

> Source: [How to Build a Financial Plan (By Age)](https://youtube.com/watch?v=3zQeLAI12GI)

## Summary

In this video, financial advisors Brian and Bo from The Money Guy Show provide a comprehensive guide to building a financial plan tailored to each decade of life, from your 20s through your 50s and beyond. They break down the six core areas of financial planning—financial management, estate planning, retirement planning, investment planning, tax planning, and risk management—and explain which areas deserve the most focus at each age. The video emphasizes the importance of starting early, maintaining a high savings rate, and adapting your strategy as your life and finances become more complex.

### Key Points

- **Six Core Areas of Financial Planning** [00:43] — The six areas are financial management (budgeting and cash flow), estate planning, retirement planning, investment planning, tax planning, and risk management. The focus on each area varies by age and stage of life.
- **Career Choice Data** [01:36] — One in four young adults can't find jobs in their desired career paths, and 62% of college graduates are not working in their intended careers. In contrast, 67% of the advisors' millionaire clients work in their field of study, highlighting the importance of choosing a career path wisely.
- **Live on Less Than You Make** [03:20] — The fundamental discipline of financial success is living on less than you make. Save first, then spend, not the other way around.
- **Debt in Your 20s** [04:01] — People in their 20s typically carry around $20,000 in total debt, often student loans. Debt can be a ball and chain, so be mindful of it and plan your career to manage it.
- **Risk Management in Your 20s** [05:33] — Start with the financial order of operations: cover your highest insurance deductible with liquid cash, have health and property insurance, and build emergency reserves (3-6 months of expenses). 37% of adults can't cover a $400 emergency, and 67% of bankruptcies are due to medical bills.
- **Investment Planning in Your 20s** [08:17] — Understand the wealth multiplier: a dollar deferred today can multiply over time. For a 20-year-old, every dollar can grow to $88 by retirement; for a 30-year-old, $23; for a 40-year-old, $7. To become a millionaire by retirement, a 20-year-old needs to save $95/month, a 30-year-old $340/month, and a 40-year-old over $1,000/month.
- **Target Retirement Index Funds** [10:04] — For beginners, target retirement index funds are simple: you only decide how much to save and when you'll retire. The fund automatically adjusts asset allocation as you age.
- **The Messy Middle: Your 30s** [11:55] — In your 30s, you face the 'messy middle' with many competing priorities. Focus on estate planning (wills, beneficiaries), risk management (life and disability insurance, umbrella insurance), and continue investing. A fully funded emergency fund becomes non-negotiable.
- **Estate Planning in Your 30s** [13:32] — If you have kids, you need a will. Only 24% of Americans have a will. Also, update beneficiaries on retirement accounts and life insurance after major life events. Have hard conversations about guardianship, executors, and trustees.
- **Risk Management in Your 30s** [15:39] — Protect others who depend on your income. Consider term life insurance and disability insurance. Umbrella insurance provides extra liability protection at low cost.
- **Investment Planning in Your 30s** [17:59] — Aim for a 25% savings rate. This is the last chance to achieve normal retirement with a normal savings rate. If you've been saving, you may graduate from target date funds to more tax-efficient strategies.
- **Tax Planning in Your 30s** [19:21] — Decide between Roth and traditional contributions based on your marginal tax rate. If your combined federal and state rate is below 25%, Roth is likely better; above 30%, consider pre-tax; between 25-30%, it's nuanced. Reassess annually.
- **Your 40s: Top of the Mountain** [21:16] — Your 40s are a fork in the road—either celebrate success or panic about being behind. Focus on tax planning, retirement planning, and consider Roth conversions and tax-loss harvesting.
- **Three Tax Buckets** [23:23] — Build your pre-tax bucket (401k, traditional IRA), tax-free bucket (Roth, HSA), and taxable bucket. The right mix depends on when you'll need the money and your future tax situation.
- **Roth Conversion Case Study** [24:48] — A couple in their 50s with a large pre-tax balance faced a tax bomb at RMD age. By doing Roth conversions, they could save almost $3.5 million in assets and pay $1.3 million less in taxes.
- **Tax-Loss Harvesting** [26:19] — Use market downturns to lock in losses, which can offset gains and reduce taxes. This is a powerful tool for taxable accounts.
- **Retirement Planning in Your 40s** [27:12] — Check if you're on track for retirement. For a 40-year-old, $1 can still grow to $7. If behind, consider increasing savings or reducing expenses. Use the financial order of operations as a guide.
- **Your 50s and Beyond: Celebrate or Panic** [30:46] — In your 50s, the stakes are higher. Update estate documents (wills, trusts, powers of attorney), stress-test your retirement plan, and adjust your investment strategy to match your risk capacity, not just risk tolerance.
- **Estate Planning in Your 50s** [31:41] — Update your estate plan to reflect your current assets and family situation. Consider legacy planning, such as leaving assets to children or charities, and understand the tax implications for beneficiaries.
- **Stress-Test Your Retirement Plan** [33:48] — Before leaving the workforce, ensure your plan can withstand market downturns and unexpected expenses. Measure twice, cut once.
- **Investment Strategy in Your 50s** [34:31] — Reassess your asset allocation and location. Ensure your portfolio risk matches your risk capacity, not just your tolerance. Avoid being caught off guard by a downturn in your 70s.

### Conclusion

Building a financial plan is a lifelong process that evolves with each decade. By focusing on the right areas at the right time—starting with a strong foundation in your 20s, managing complexity in your 30s and 40s, and fine-tuning in your 50s—you can achieve financial independence and live your best life. The key is to start early, save consistently, and seek professional guidance when complexity arises.

## Transcript

you what to do with your next dollar, but what do you do about things like life insurance, deeper tax strategy, and even estate planning? >> Ron, I am so excited because today we're going to walk through how to build a
financial plan including the specific areas that you should focus on based on >> So, I'm Ron, he's Bo, and we're financial advisors here to fill in the missing gaps in your wealth building plan. And with that, let's dive right
in. >> [music] >> So, Ron, when it comes to financial planning, there are really sort of six you're studying for the CFP or coming into the industry. Generally speaking,
those areas are financial management, which is like budgeting and cash flow, estate planning, retirement planning, investment planning, tax planning, and risk management. But, what's interesting is even though these six areas sort of
permeate a well-rounded, well-thought-out financial plan, what you want to focus on at each stage and in each decade varies based on where you that's exactly what we're going to walk through today. Based on where you are,
what age you are, what should you be focusing on if you're going to build your very own financial plan? >> So, we're wild and crazy enough financial advisors that we decided let's go ahead and look at each decade. With
that, let's get into the 20s. >> So, when we're talking about building a do for you is the shovel >> you use in your income cuz you're going to build 10,000 hours of becoming an expert at something, and we want to kind
There's some data points, Bo, that I think give a lot of context, and I want people to pay attention to this. One in four young adults can't find jobs in their desired career paths. If you lay that over the fact that, listen to this,
that 62% of college graduates are not working in their intended careers after finishing school. Now, >> Meaning like the career that would align with the major that they got at college.
>> find jobs in the careers that they went and chose. They also, 62% are not working in those careers. And then you overlay that with our millionaire clients and we found out it's just the opposite. 67% of our clients actually
work in their field of study. So, what I'm telling you is measure twice, cut once. Make sure you pay attention to what you're actually choosing to study field is. >> Yeah, so focus on the education that
you're building. But, there's also these emotional and behavioral things that happen for folks in their 20s. A lot of folks, they want to look rich and look successful and want all the trappings of what they think sound financial
decisions are. But, they often try to skip steps. They try to do those things before they actually should. So, when we think about the 20s, we think about, to be focusing on? Where should you focus your attention?
In sort of this wheel of financial planning, we really want you focusing on flow and budgeting. We want you focusing on risk management and we want you focusing on investment planning. And let's sort of dive into each one of
these cuz I think Brian, maybe the most important one is the financial piece. >> Well, of course, once you get that job, hopefully going to be now be your career. It's going to go beyond job and
You're never going to have financial success unless you can live on less than you make. I mean, that is the basic ingredient of discipline. You got to get that right. >> And we want you to spend after you've
saved, not save after you spend. So often, people get that twisted and when you get to the end of the pay cycle, end of the month, end of the whatever time, over. So, if you can master living on less than you make, you're already ahead
thing we want you to recognize is that debt in your 20s, well, debt anytime can be dangerous, but it can be especially dangerous in your 20s cuz it is literally a ball and chain you are going to carry throughout the rest of your
>> Yeah, and and just look at this stat. People in their 20s typically carry in around $20,000 in total debt. Now, look, to your defense, a lot of that's student loan debt. It's back to that whole thing, begin with the end in mind. Think
you're going to be working, what you're going to be doing so you can be smart even with that college debt and the student loans so that they're actually >> And then the other thing we want you to do in your 20s, it's okay to be frugal.
You likely just came out of a season in life in college where you were able to live on a $20 bill for 2 and 1/2 weeks. Remember those tactics. Remember those techniques. And the more frugal you can be, the smaller your footprint can be in
your 20s, the more margin you're going to have to be able to build a bright is it only takes just a very little bit to go a very, very long way. >> Both of us, I would say, started our careers and our journeys as tightwads.
Very lean and tight with the money. But as we as we've had more and more success, we've become bougier and bougier with hotels, how things have to be. Guys, take advantage of when you're young. You really do have the tolerance
fake it until you make it by trying to look and flex when but you know, build in the discipline of saving and investing. It's okay to embrace, you
know, getting roommates. It's okay to embrace when you travel to do it on the cheap, but dazzle your basic life. Create memories, but do it in a very >> Now, another thing we also want you focusing on in your 20s is risk
management. And oftentimes we think, "I'm young. I'm invincible. Nothing's happens to other folks. No one who's ever been in a financial emergency planned on being in that financial emergency. So, we actually
Brian. You know the thing of money? We actually have the financial order of it is you should do with your next dollar. And the very first thing we want building, how you're saving, how you're thinking about this, is we want you to
have your highest insurance deductible covered, whether that's your auto insurance, health insurance, homeowners, whatever that may be for you, we want liquid cash available. >> Well, a lot of you are like, "Why Why do
I want to go out there and make my money start working for me." But, consider know, let you really have some perspective and context. 37% of adults in cash. >> They'd like go into debt or sell
>> look at this. Close to 67% of people who file for bankruptcy blame that on medical bills as the primary cause. So, that's why step one of the financial order of operations have your highest insurance deductible
covered. So, that way you don't let an emergency derail you before you even get >> And in order to have an insurance deductible, it means that you need to have insurance in place. Far too often, we see folks in their 20s out there
swimming naked, not covering their selves and their property the way they should. So, make sure that you have appropriate and fitting health insurance and property insurance for the assets you have, whether that be the stuff in
your rental, whether that be your automobile, make sure you're adequately automobile, make sure you're adequately insured against those low probability, >> catching on this risk management. They're all interconnected with the
highest deductible being step one of the financial order of operations, health and property insurance for those catastrophic things. But, then step four emergency reserves, cuz this is the margin, this is the layer of protection
you're trying to figure out my 3 months, 6 months, we've got you covered. If you think about this, if you have high job security, that's going to make it where months. But if you're worried, hey, anytime this company could downsize, I
might be looking for a new job, you probably want to boost up and have a little more protection. If there's two of you working in your household, that gives you a little bit closer to 3 months. If you are the sole breadwinner,
let's act accordingly and boost up those emergency reserves. Pay attention to these things so you can figure out am I 3 months, am I 6 months. We've got you deeper on this. >> All right, so you've handled the cash
risk management. Now let's talk about the exciting part. What should you be thinking from an investment perspective in your 20s? And one of the things is uh that we think is so interesting is people try to overcomplicate this. They
should make it way harder than it has to be. But if you're in your 20s and you can just understand the idea of a wealth multiplier, of the thought that if I just have $1 deferred today, that $1 can multiply through time for me, it will
consuming. It will change the way that you think about saving. It's why we talk all the time here at Bound Wealth, here at The Money Guy Show, about the wealth >> Yeah, this is one cuz look, there's going to be so much temptation when
you're young and in your 20s. Go out there and live your best life. We we even react to content like that all the time. And I'm always I'm on the rooftop screaming, "Guys, yes, it's true. You're young, but you're a literally a
billionaire of time. Act accordingly because look how much easier it is to build wealth if you'll just do a little bit. I'm not even It's not a heavy lift. It's a small light lift. For a 20-year-old, every dollar can grow to
$88. For a 30-year-old, it's 23. For 40-year-old, seven. And what that means for you, the power of starting early, if you're trying to become a millionaire by the time you retire, for a 20-year-old, it's $95 a month. For a
30-year-old, it's $340 a month. That's like four times harder. Bo, what happens when you wait until you're 40? What happens there? It's you have to save over a thousand dollars a month to get that same rate. It's ten times harder
early. If you would have started at 20 years old. So, the earlier you can start, the easier the path is. So, again, don't overcomplicate. Okay, well to invest. I want to invest, but I don't know the first thing about stocks. I
of that stuff. That's okay. When you're first starting out, maybe consider something like a target retirement index fund where all you really have to decide are two things. How much can I save and when do I think I'll need the money?
What year do I think I'll retire? If you can answer those two questions, you can >> Well, and I think in the beginning a lot of people they they cuz there's so much think that they have to become an expert. You don't. The the the index
version that the super cheap index variety version of target index funds, they make it so simple because your savings rate is so much more important >> Yeah, and the way they work, the way that a target retirement index fund
it's going to be very aggressive. It's going to hold a higher percentage of equities, a lower percent of conservative assets. But, as you age, as you get into your 30s, 40s, 50s, and so on, it will naturally allocate for you.
So, it removes you having to make those decisions. So, if you can just focus on money and then how much can I save, it is almost at in your 20s, you almost have to try to screw up building wealth.
billionaire of time, so we obviously want you saving as much as you can. But, if you need additional perspective just to kind of give yourself something to shoot for, we do have a great resource. If you go to moneyguy.com/resources,
how much should you save? This is going to unlock and answer a lot of your to go outside of normal. If you want to retire at 45, 50, 55, we got you
savings rate needs to be. If you want to do traditional, but maybe you got a later start, we got you covered on that. Go check out this great resource.
that's the 20s. Now, let's talk about the 30s. This is often the decade where we talk about it being the messy middle. You have a thousand different things directions, and you don't have a ton of discretionary money, and you have even
less discretionary time. And so, one of the questions you're trying to figure out is are all of my arrows aligned? Is everything that I want to be doing moving in the right direction, or am I scattered all over the place?
because and I I I like to give a little explanation. This is we sounds like a because [clears throat] of all the chaos you're dealing with, but that promise trying to figure out not only are you short on time, but you're short on
resources cuz man oh man is the mortgage, the kids, everything is just pulling at you. You really are feeling like you're going in all directions. So, you have to kind of This is why you have to prioritize. Are we focusing our
>> And you have to make sure that you're not falling prey to the other things up with the Joneses or like lifestyle creep. So, in your 30s, what are the areas you should be focusing on when you think about building your financial
>> It's busy. >> about estate planning. We also want you continue to think about risk management. Investments are still going to be a big planning and the way you think about your tax return will likely change as
>> Look, when we were when we were writing this show, it's easy every decade to just list all six and go, but then we'd have this friend forever show. So, for 30s, just shows you this is a very busy
the estate planning, I'll just say what nobody wants to talk about. Guys, if you got kids, you got to have a will in place because if you think it's hard to talk to your spouse about what happens if y'all both died at the same time
because it's going to be weird about her sister or your brother who you want to raise the kids. Guys, think about if you're not here to be in the middle of that. So, y'all get together, have those conversations. You need a will if you
said that. >> Yeah, it's one of these it's a pretty sobering stat that right now 24% of Americans said they had a will in 2025. that don't. >> 76% three out of four people do not have
have something that says, "If something happens to me, if something happens to to the kids. And this is who we want to manage the money. And this is Those are think they're hard for you to have, imagine how much harder they're to have
they are to have if you're not here. So, make sure that you have that in place. can do from an estate planning standpoint is just make sure that your beneficiaries are updated. As you get married, as you have kids, as your life
circumstances change, it's really really easy on your 401Ks, on your IRAs, on your life insurance. Make sure that the beneficiary you want listed is the those accounts. >> And then I alluded to this earlier. Have
those hard conversations. If you know, guardianship is what I was talking about with you have to tell what happens to the kids if you're not here. Executor, who's going to actually handle things if you're not here. Trustees, a lot of you
financial mutants, you're going to need to want to have trust in your estate documents that come to life if you're not here to make your wishes known. charge of that when you're not here. And by the way, don't let it be a surprise
that if you died prematurely they find out, "Oh my gosh, I'm a trustee or an lottery. You need to involve these people to make sure they're even willing to serve you just in case. >> When it comes to your 30s your your risk
protecting yourself also changes cuz likely it's not just you that you need to protect. In your 20s we wanted you to focus on health insurance and property insurance. But now in your 30s it's likely that other people are depending
you have people that are depending on your income or your ability to provide resources, you carry adequate insurance. Whether that be life insurance to insure insurance to protect you and your loved ones in the event that you were to
see us say you need to have life and disability insurance. I I was talking to in their 30s last night and I found out they had all these whole life policies got a lot of things in the messy middle that are pulling at you. We love term
research cuz remember you're trying to protect your family members if you prematurely leave while they're counting on your income. Term insurance gives you a lot of bang for the buck for a set period of time that hopefully in the
background you're building wealth so that when that term period, that 20 years, 30 years goes away, hopefully at that time you can self insure because background. >> We also want you at this stage to have a
fully funded emergency fund. In your 20s it was aspirational. Hey, we want you to shoot for having three to six months of living expenses in liquid cash. In your 30s it becomes a non-negotiable cuz this is the time of life where if the messy
middle causes you to become derailed, it can have devastating consequences not just for you but also for your loved ones. So make sure that you have a fully funded and adequate six-month or three-month of living expenses emergency
fund in place during this decade. >> And then we put on another one here is a simple and it's so cheap. If you talk to your property and casualty agent, this just protects you in case, you know, if you if you need some additional coverage
for like I I I still have the story of the child who got off the school bus, threw a rock, hit another student, and it got It was really ugly, and it was It was the umbrella insurance that stepped in and saved the day. So, if
enough liability protection and other things for my car, for my homeowner? You insurance. >> From an investment planning standpoint, not a whole lot changes in your 30s from your 20s other than the burden of making
sure you're doing it right. We said again, 25% was what we want you shooting become a non-negotiable because in your you've not started saving up, this is your last chance where you can have a
{quote} normal savings rate and still reach a normal retirement. Anytime past this, you're going to have to make some more aggressive decisions to be able to >> Yeah, and this is one, you know, look, we liked index target retirement funds
in this beginning of your journey is because they were so simple. You You save and when do I need it?" It does the rest of the heavy lift. It will be in your If you're a financial mutant and you started in your 20s, by the time you
get in your late 30s, you go, "Wait, wow, I have reached multiple six figures here. Maybe I ought to be a little more tax strategic with how I'm managing this money." There's a good chance you're graduating past target date funds at
want you to lose focus of the most important thing. Now, in your 30s, if you were saving through your 20s, the rate of return is starting to have a decent impact. Your pot of money making 8, 9, 10% can be material, but don't
lose the plot. Even at this stage, your savings rate is exponentially more make sure that your savings rate is keeping up with both your lifestyle and thank you. >> Let's talk about tax planning. This is
another very important part of financial planning is that in your early 20s, the Roth tax-free growth probably was spectacular for you. It was an easy choice. But when you get to your 30s, you start making higher higher income,
your tax rate start going higher and higher. You There's a good chance you where you take the deduction now and then hopefully have opportunities to do you're trying to figure out, am I a Roth person? Am I traditional? We have a
great resource driven by the tax efficiency on how much you make on what >> Yeah, if you are someone who's in a lower tax bracket, you add up your marginal federal, marginal state, and it's below 25%, there's a really good
you add up your marginal federal rate and your marginal state rate, and it's above 30%, then you might want to consider pre-tax because the current year tax savings is so valuable. If you're between 25% and 30%, it becomes a
you're between 25% and 30%, it becomes a little more nuanced based on your age, your account structure, and your financial goals. You should reassess this annually to make sure that your money is going into the right and most
>> So, a lot of you are like, what did what did they just say? This is why it's okay that you might be your life that you chose simplicity. Starts getting complex because of your success. Consider hiring a professional
even on the tax planning side, and I think that that can go a long way. mistakes on your tax return, to think, "Oh, well, I used to do this on TurboTax on April 14th. Why can't I still do it
that way?" And and and perhaps you can, but as complexity finds you, man, is it nice to have that second set of eyes, that other person who can step in and completing things the way that they're supposed to be done. And if you have a
really good tax preparer, they will also likely bring to light things you didn't make your tax life a little more efficient. >> Bo, this one um sadly you're closer to this than I am
now at this point is let's talk about 40s, top of the mountain. This is one celebrate your past successes and what you've done right or you might have a >> Yeah, it's a bit of a fork in the road. There's going to be either positives or
might be getting sentimental and you might be thinking about all the things that you've learned and all the wisdom you can't wait to share or you might be mistake with my job? Is it not actually a career? How is my marriage going?
things that you're going to have to be thinking about in your 40s and it's really more of a mental exercise than the focus areas from building a financial plan in your 40s,
that are going to get the most attention. It's likely going to be tax planning which is still going to be a big big idea, same as it was in the 30s, but now retirement which used to be a far off goal is now getting closer and
>> Yeah, let's talk about the tax planning first. This is where to this even when we were closing out the 30s is that you tried to create this simple financial life to create success, but that success that you've been
chasing and as you're getting closer and closer to it, man oh man is your life getting complex and you start thinking about man, I need to be confident in my tax returns because look as much returns are more
complicated, remember you always should be scared of the IRS. There's you know, thing that happens they just cut your power off. If you don't pay your taxes, they can literally lock you up. I mean the federal government has access to
guns, they have access to control your will and and if you make bad decisions, act accordingly. That's why I'm very honest and always tell people be careful when you're making assertions on your tax planning. Don't make
there can be lots of consequences from it. >> Another thing in your 40s, you know, often we think about how much taxes I'm this year's tax bill, but now that retirement is becoming
closer, more near to you, one of the things we want you thinking about is are you actually building your three buckets the right way? When it comes to building generally have three distinct tax buckets. We have our pre-tax bucket,
which is our employer-sponsored plans on the 401k, 403b, 457, traditional IRAs. We have our tax-free bucket, that's anything with Roth on it, that's HSAs. Well, depending on when you actually plan on exiting the workforce, when you
actually plan on using these dollars, will affect how you build up these buckets. So, if you've not begun thinking about this by your 40s, we want make a real difference in how you access these dollars in financial independence.
in step seven of the financial order of operations. Look, if you take an active role, just don't let the tax, you know, tail wag the entire dog because we see people all of a sudden, they become seven-figure
millionaires. And that sounds great on paper until you realize holy cow, I I I've got to actually use this money at some point. And we we actually recently, you know, if you think about planning for Roth conversions, we we've done
enough making of millionaires where we've shown people you are not just on a passive role through your financial life. The choices you make and the timing of when you do things can have a huge, I'm talking seven-figure impact on
what turns out in your financial life. >> Yeah, that's exactly what was true for with them. Uh the name of the episode is Vanlife Millionaires Are Leaving Millions on the table. And what we showed them is that they had built up a
really respectable, really healthy pot of assets, and they were going to be independent. But, when we actually forecasted their income tax situation out into retirement, once they hit required minimum distribution age at 75,
a tax bomb blew up in them. When they were so used to being in the 12% marginal tax bracket, now all of a sudden they blow up into the 32% marginal tax bracket later on in life. And so we said, "Hey, do you recognize
if we do a little bit of planning, and we start shifting some of that tax focus now, we could potentially do Roth conversions now that you're retired between now and the time that you hit RMD age, and we could save you from ever
crossing into that 30-plus percent tax bracket?" And if we did that, there's a good chance that you would actually end up with almost $3.5 million more in assets, and you would pay almost $1.3 million
less in taxes just by thinking through how to do this in those years from retirement and financial independence out until you get to RMD age. Small
thoughts when it comes to tax planning, can have huge impacts on the economic >> definitely powerful, but a lot of our audience is saying, "Yeah, but I'm not to be thinking about Roth conversions." That doesn't mean you shouldn't think
about at least tax loss harvesting, understanding what that is. As you're on way, we seem to we have a lot of geopolitical chaos in the world right now. We also have markets hitting all-time highs, but then a additional
volatility because of the things that are just going on in the world. If you don't understand that, hey, you once again can take an active role, and when the markets are going down, or you created a losses, and you have losses on
your portfolio, you don't have to just sit there and just hope, and and and and use hope as the component that they're going to come back. You can actually use it as a powerful tool to lock in losses to help you propel prepare and propel
your assets as they grow and recover, that you can actually use those losses legal way. >> I love it. And then we already mentioned this, but as you get into your 40s, retirement is on the near horizon. And
so one of the things we want you thinking through is, man, do I need to start hyper saving if I'm behind? We know that the wealth multiplier suggests that for a 40-year-old, $1 still has the ability to turn into seven by the time
you retire. So you still have some juice in your dollars. But how can you know if you are ahead of the curve, on the curve, behind the curve, if you've not actually spot-checked where you are? Am I in the place that I need to be? And do
me? How much money am I going to have when I get to retirement based on my to access that money? Am I going to have Am I going to have other sources of income like social security or those sorts of things? Do I need to begin
pulling some levers? Do I need to figure out how do I increase my income or how do I decrease my expenses? If you've not done this work in your 40s, you're not going to know how comfortable or uncomfortable you should be feeling
as you get into your 50s and 60s. >> And and at least look, we tried to help you. The easy answer is is make sure you follow the foo the foo because it's foo-ish is definitely foolish. I I screwed that
it's definitely And and by the way, I'll I'll go ahead and add another one. You >> What happens, Brian? >> Oof. So okay, there's all the dad jokes seriously, know be empowered to know what to do
with your next dollar. And this is also one of those things where lay out the groundwork on what to do with your next dollar, but this stuff really does start getting complex cuz more than likely in your 40s, you're now
millionaire crosses that threshold somewhere between ages 47 to 49. It's going to be a lot of their retirement They're going to have taxable accounts. You're going to try to start figuring
out how do I navigate this and you just don't know what you don't know. It's okay if you want to talk to a professional so you just don't get screwed up because you've all never done this before because hopefully if you
hundreds if not thousands of times and they can help you navigate these >> And look, this isn't a scare tactic, but one of the things that can happen and we've seen this happen is that if you don't have someone in your corner, if
you don't have someone to kind of bounce the ideas off of, it becomes very easy to outsmart yourself. Oh, okay. Well, I was doing this index fund thing and I but man, now that I have seven figures, now that I'm an accredited investor.
private placements or now I need to expand my real estate portfolio or now I need to fill in the blank of the over complicated, perhaps unnecessary thing doing. If you can have that professional, that fiduciary in your
corner, it will likely protect you from falling into some of the traps that other folks in this season and stage of life often fall into. >> we gave a few examples, but I I I think about like the the view for life.
based upon what's happened over the last 10 to 15 years, you've been incredibly figure out what how do I get out of this conveyor belt of goodness that I've been in, but still land the plane into my retirement. I think about the people who
reach success and they think the sexy sizzle is the dumb doctor deal. You This is what rich people are supposed to do. And then I even I even get into the the standpoint that everybody who's done everything just
right, you just don't know what you don't know and it's okay to ask for is that we all think that we can be confident, we can do this. Protect you live your best life and own your time that much sooner.
>> So now as we get into the 50s and beyond Brian, we said that the 40s are sort of it like positives that we're reflecting on or are there negatives? I think what happens in the 50s is that even gets amped up even higher. Now it becomes,
okay, am I celebrating good job, life well lived or am I panicking? Holy cow, I have kicked the can down the road and now I have to answer for it. And I think a lot of people in your 50s is where that really begins to take shape.
thinking about celebrate or panic, I want you to make the most of each of your decades and have memory building as I talked about earlier bedazzling your basic life. But this is the time where there's still some key areas we need to
planning and what your legacy going to be and retirement planning just kind of making sure that you've crossed the T's, dotted the I's and you're exactly where >> Yeah, when it comes to estate planning odds are that if you did what you were
sorts of things early on in life, it was different. There were probably less zeros in your portfolio and less human beings or certainly much younger human beings that you were trying to plan for.
Now as you get into your 50s and beyond, you're in this next season of life, the documents that made sense for you back then are likely not going to be the same So make sure that you are updating your wills, your trusts, your power of
attorneys, your health care directives so that your loved ones know exactly what your wishes are as you continue to move along in your financial journey. >> Well, I mean as part of that consider your your legacy as you're trying to
do it all when I'm dead. You know, wouldn't it be nice if I can help the kids out now? Um, how should I structure the assets? As I as I've shared earlier, having a child that's um special needs, there's different things written in the
tax policy that IRAs beneficiaries, specifically Roth IRAs, can have some additional stretch options. So, you need to understand what your legacy and what intersect so you can structure and build it the right way. And this is also still
only are going to have financial implications, but also relationship stuff. And that's why we've created the estate planning ultimate guide so you can kind of start navigating these things right now to know what are my
wishes, how do I know that I'm building the right structure that represents what that I built over these decades. on the website we've poured a ton of time, effort, and attention to. You can
go to moneyguy.com/guide/estateplanning or you can just go to moneyguy.com you through, okay, what is estate planning? Okay, based on my season and stage, what should I be thinking about? What are some deliverables that will be
it. Just cuz it's complicated, just cuz it might be difficult, doesn't mean that it doesn't require your attention. We've tried to put resources out there to make it as easy and as helpful as possible. This is not something you've put any
attention to yet, it's certainly something you should likely be thinking planning. Um we want you to actually check and recheck and stress test your retirement plan because this is one guys where, you
know, once you leave the workforce, that threat come across that threshold, it's definitely want to measure twice, cut once. So, so don't sleep on that. I mean, we even in today's, we did a Q&A show, it was a 65-year-old who was
trading. This is the type of stuff you need somebody to kind of help you figure >> Yeah, we want you also thinking through, you know, does the investment strategy that I had in my 20s, 30s, and 40s still match where I am today? And that's
likely not the case. We want you now checking go ahead am I well diversified? What is my asset allocation like, and what is my asset location look like? Have I adjusted how much cash do I have to account for this new season or new
to account for this new season or new stage phase of life that I'm moving into? We want to make sure that you've thought through your portfolio risk. Based on the portfolio that I have in place, does it match not just my risk
tolerance, how much can I handle, but does it also match my risk capacity? How much risk should I be taking on so that my plan does not blow up? You want to begin making those decisions in your 50s, in your 60s as you're leading up to
financial independence. What you don't want to do is get into your 70s, hit that downturn, hit that 2008, hit that 2022 and say, "Oh, no. I did not have >> All this leads to all roads lead to complexity due to success. It's okay to
that's the that's the thing is that I I think about you know, what's funny is this is probably a few months ago. I had a client they've been with me for a quite a while and they're like, "Ron, I don't know. I've I've you know, I'm
had some things going on in his job and he's like, "Maybe I can just manage You have been with me for the last two decades. Now is where we're about to start doing the social security planning, the stress testing the plan,
the Irma, all those type of things and strategies. This is when you think that you can do it on your own? No. I look, your journey. That's why we create so much free content is that I want you. If
40s and you're trying to just get motivated and you want to make sure you're making the right decisions, just go to moneyguy.com/resources. But I know for a fact that if you have built success, the complexity that comes
from that, we add value on that and that's why we I love that we get to do making a millionaire. That's why we've been creating content since 2006 is because we know that there's a better way to do money and I want to invite
you. We'll leave the porch light on for you. Go look at our become a client questions so you don't have to have doubts, you don't have to have fear in retirement, you can live your best life and own your time that much sooner. I'm
your host Brian joined by Mr. Bo. Money Guy team, out.