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Early retirement is surprisingly simple.
In this fourth session of the Financial Mentor podcast, Doug Nordman reveals in plain language how he did it – so you can too.
What is particularly important to note about Doug's ideas is how consistent they are with the other “early retirement success stories” in this podcast despite his unusual path to early retirement.
In other words, while most financial success stories are about entrepreneurs and business owners who strike it big, Doug achieved financial independence as a U.S. Navy nuclear submariner. No bestselling author, dot-com millionaire, entrepreneurial success story that listeners can't duplicate. Just a simple 20 year career in the military with a pension. The principles are easily duplicated by anyone.
Doug followed a traditional savings and investment strategy coupled with the generous U.S. military pension system (treated as a lifetime, inflation adjusting annuity) to secure his financial future. You can do the same.
More specifically, in this episode Doug reveals:
- Why your path to financial independence may be unique to you, but the principles you'll follow are generally the same as everyone else.
- How the concept of “bridging” works so you can retire sooner with fewer assets.
- Why rental real estate should be locally owned in all but the rarest cases.
- The connection between happiness with the frugal lifestyle and valuing experiences over stuff.
- Why cash flow is king and asset accumulation is a second class citizen in the early retirement game.
- How to make a dream lifestyle affordable.
- How to get international diversification that manages currency risk from a U.S. centric portfolio.
- Why bonds have no role in a retiree's portfolio and which assets to replace bonds with (you might be surprised!).
- How to improve your portfolio performance by ignoring CNBC and The Wall Street Journal.
- Why Warren Buffett has lived in the same house for decades and you should too.
- The dangers of commingling social needs with investment strategy.
- The three biggest investment mistakes and the lessons Doug learned (the hard way).
- The seductive illusion that new retirees feel toward active investing and how to solve it.
- The delusion that retirement is just self-entertainment and the critical role that contribution plays in a retiree's happiness equation.
- Why time is your most valuable asset – not your money or net worth.
Resources and Links Mentioned in this Session Include:
- Doug's site is http://the-military-guide.com
- Wade Pfau's research on annuities vs. bonds in an optimal retirement portfolio is here.
- Malcolm Gladwell's book Outliers: The Story of Success was mistakenly cited during the interview but is a great read nonetheless.
- Dan Pink's book Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us is what Doug was talking about when he discussed the importance of autonomy in happiness.
- My retirement calculator is here.
- My book teaching how much money you need to retire is on Amazon.
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Anybody can learn to build a secure retirement -- and you don't need a financial advisor.
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Great interview Todd and Doug!
1) I imagined Doug’s voice to be much higher-pitched and squeaky, since he’s a former Nuke 🙂
2) Scary insight on out-of-area Landlording- I’ve got a few out-of-state properties… guess I’ve been lucky so far.
3) Todd, would love to hear some specifics on where you think there is value added in Actively Managed Funds. I’m mostly passive index/ETF right now.
GubMints Yes, I will never own out of town real estate again. Count yourself lucky.
Regarding the active strategies, I will be teaching an entire course on the subject this winter (hopefully starting January or February 2014) so stay tuned to the newsletter where it will be announced. Should be really powerful material. I’ve been teaching 1-on1 clients this material for years and they love it.
Financialmentor GubMints
Todd –
Great- Looking forward to it!
Thx for this blog interview. I speak to teens thinking about going to military frequently and some of them consider themselves potential careerists. It is good to be able to provide them with an honest financial perspective that relates to them.
hintshuh Glad it was helpful. Yes, that military pension is a valuable asset and must by taken into account when planning that career option.