Retire Sooner with Wes Moss

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

In the field of neuroscience, it’s easy to ask questions. This week's Retire Sooner guest, Michael Platt, is known for developing innovative ways to find the answers. A professor of Brain Science for Business at the esteemed Wharton School, Platt joins Wes Moss to talk about the brain science of loneliness and some ways one can improve the health of your personal connections to help nurture your h...

On this special episode of Retire Sooner, Wes Moss shares ten of his favorite lessons learned from previous Retire Sooner podcast guests! He recaps topics such as second-act careers, wealth accumulation, and legacy planning. Wes also delves into what he learned from previous Retire Sooner guests about the importance of belonging to a community, finding purpose, and trying new things as adults. He...

In difficult conversations, do you notice you or your conversant trying to "win" the discussion instead of listening to each other's perspectives? Today on Retire Sooner, Wes Moss is joined by Douglas Stone, author, speaker, and lecturer on negotiation at Harvard Law School, to talk about navigating difficult conversations. Whether the subject of the conversation is financial, medical, or an inter...

A-list actor Matthew McConaughey is not only a beloved American talent, but an excellent speaker. His 2015 speech to University of Texas graduates is a prime and popular example, and one that Wes Moss found especially inspiring. While McConaughey's speech was targeted to fresh graduates starting their life and career journeys, Wes found much of the advice applicable to prepping for an early retire...

If there's ever a concern about whether a partner is financially cheating or fudging the numbers on finances, you better hope Tracy Coenen is busy doing something else! Author of three books on fraud and embezzlement with more than 500 forensic accounting engagements completed, Tracy Coenen has spent more than 25 years investigating fraud. In this Retire Sooner episode, she joins Wes Moss to discu...

Do the dollars in your wallet seem to be wilting as prices increase? In this episode, Wes Moss and Retire Sooner producer Mallory Boggs discuss the worth of a dollar and price volatility at every level of purchase power. Whether you noticed price increases for a bottle of soda or a new car, we’re all experiencing the impact of rising costs. First, Wes shares insights about the most recent Consumer...

Discover. Assimilate. Rewire. Expand. These are the four tenets of George Jerijan's DARE Method™ of teaching retirees to embrace passion, prosperity, and purpose. A retirement and mindset coach, Emmy award winning producer, and multi-industry author, Jerijan joins Wes Moss in this Retire Sooner episode to talk about how attracting your purpose rather than chasing the dollar can lead to a happier r...

In today's episode, Wes Moss shares his watch experience of the film Air with Retire Sooner producer, Mallory Boggs. Air is the new movie directed by and starring Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Viola Davis, and others that depicts Nike signing Michael Jordan to one of the most lucrative shoe deals of all time in 1984. Wes and Mallory discuss the film's relation to fantasy football, Warren Buffett's conc...

Do you know why you make the financial decisions you do? On today's Retire Sooner episode, associate professor of Practice and Financial Psychology at Creighton University and director of the Financial Psychology Institute®, Ted Klontz, joins Wes Moss to discuss our subconscious beliefs about money that control behavior. Klontz explains the importance and assessment of Money Scripts®, beliefs that...

Why might famed businessman and investor Warren Buffett respond, “I don’t care,” when asked about a recession? Today on Retire Sooner, Wes Moss dives into the Buffett mindset of sticking to your principles in long-term investing decisions and looking toward economic growth. In doing so, he discusses one investing planning strategy that could be essential to the journey of retiring sooner: investin...

Today on Retire Sooner, Wes Moss sits down with the three-time winner of Atlanta’s Best Divorce Attorney, Aaron Thomas, also the founder of Prenups.com. As Aaron and Prenups.com will tell you, prenups are not just planning or anticipating for marital failure. He explains that they're more of a set of rules for how your money, kids, and assets are treated during marriage and divorce. Wes and Aaron...

In the aftermath of two big banks collapsing, it's no surprise that some investors may feel uneasy about the state of their retirement savings. In this episode, Wes Moss gives details to explain if and how these bank failures impact your retirement journey. He provides insights into how the banking system works, walks through the history and current state of the FDIC, and the common perception tha...

What do economists and philosophers have in common? It’s not a trick question, but rather a debatable topic that Wes Moss and today’s guest, Paul Blaschko could discuss until the end of time! Paul Blaschko is the professor for the University of Notre Dame's most popular undergraduate class on philosophy. Wes and Paul dive deep into the philosophy versus theology schism and how Aristotle could be i...

There are seven fundamental habits that many self-made millionaires have in common, and today’s guest best-selling co-author of "The Millionaire Next Door," affluence expert and educator Dr. Bill Danko, explains. In this episode, Dr. Danko sits down with Wes to explain his research and findings on the most common traits among those who have accumulated wealth and how they did it. Dr. Danko also go...

What does your digital footprint say about what you want? Data scientist, author of best-seller "Everybody Lies," and speaker Seth Stephens-Davidowitz sits down with Wes Moss to talk about how data can reveal societal and personal trends in desires, psychology, wealth building, and more. This includes when you become a sports fan, who you seek out for romantic partners and how you present yourself...

Purpose + passion + fun = core pursuits! When it comes to living a happy retirement, the more passions a retiree has, the better. But, on the other hand, our research shows that unhappy retirees tend to have less than two core pursuits driving their post-work life. So, how can you discover your core pursuits as part of your happy retirement plan? This episode will help you revisit ways to find cor...

The finance industry has innovated exponentially in recent decades, but are there some innovations that investors find more helpful than others? In this episode of Retire Sooner, Wes is joined by renowned economist and author of the highly influential book on investing, "A Random Walk Down Wall Street," Burton Malkiel. They dive deep into investing insights for yourself and your family's future an...

In this episode, Wes and Retire Sooner producer Mallory Boggs go over Warren Buffett's "secret sauce" published in the Berkshire Hathaway 2022 Year In Review. They talk about how investing is not easy. While browsing through Buffett's rate-of-returns, Wes explains how Buffet's big numbers can equate to a more manageable scale that the average American can work with. He also assures that while Buff...

If Hollywood made a movie about your life, who would they cast to play you? Today's Retire Sooner guest is Los Angeles Times columnist and four-time Pulitzer Prize finalist, Steve Lopez. In Steve's case, Iron Man himself, Robert Downey Jr., plays Steve in the film adaptation of his best-selling nonfiction book, The Soloist. Wes and Steve talk about the story behind the story, as well as how Steve...

Can there be progress without pain? The last 50 years have been a rollercoaster in the financial world and the world at large. In this episode, Wes gives a snapshot of key events from decades passed that had a significant impact on both the financial and cultural zeitgeist, including the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet, despite every war, conflict, or struggle, Wes emphasizes the positive de...

This Valentine's Day, let's talk about something near and dear to Wes's heart: Dividends! What does it take to be wealthy in America? In this episode, Wes and Retire Sooner producer Mallory Boggs take a look at statistics from a new wealth survey showing what level of earner is considered "wealthy" in this day and age. They also discuss dividend investing, show what a balanced portfolio could look...

In this episode, guest Kathleen Rehl shares her expertise and experience with widowdom. Widely featured writer and author of the multi-award-winning book, Moving Forward on Your Own: A Financial Guidebook for Widows, Kathleen is a leading authority on financial challenges that widows face with over 17 years of personal finance advice. Wes and Kathleen discuss grief, growth, and grace in widowhood,...

Find out what helps Wes sleep well at night! In this episode, Wes and Retire Sooner producer Mallory Boggs offer some of their top tips for retirement life. They discuss ideal timeframes to claim Social Security benefits, the advantages of not overspending on your kids and grandkids, a quick way to determine if your pension passes the 6% test, and it never being too late to be a rockstar (or star...

In this podcast episode, Wes is joined by Emily Esfahani Smith, she is the author of the book, ”The Power of Meaning”, and she delivered a TED talk called “There’s More to Life Than Being Happy”. Emily introduces her approach to finding meaning in life which she argues is more important than happiness. She suggests everyone examine and strengthen 4 pillars in their life: belonging, purpose, transc...