Why the Five Years Before Retirement Are Critical

Munger and Buffett have both achieved an incredible feat with Berkshire. They've turned thousands to billions, and have made a lot of people wealthy in the process. I really saw the potential of the stock market by reading Berkshire's annual letters. I recently sold my $674k apartment in the Bel Air area and I'm hoping to throw it into the stock market. I just don't want to lose everything.

Retirees who struggle to meet their basic needs are the ones who could not accumulate enough money during their active years to meet their needs. Retirement choices determines a lot of things, my parents both spent same number of years in the medical profession, my mom was investing through a financial advisor while my dad through the 401k. On retirement, my mom retired with about $5million, while my dad retired with roughly $3.8million.

Crashes 1987, 1990, 2000, downturn 2008, pandemic 2020 now high food prices and skyrocketing rents, insurance, hoa. Anyone who can manage to retire deserves it!

Great advice , be debt free in retirement, and as early as you can! It is life changing!

I like the casual look better! Makes it feel like I’m talking to a friend.

I kept telling myself I'm retiring in 5 years. That went on for 40 years. At the age of 59, I finally pulled the trigger 😊

I am in my early 60s and retired at 53. Lots of people gave me pushback because they had difficulty grasping the concept of not working if you don’t have to. I looked at my life as stages. I earned everything I have now through a lot of hard work, but I owe it to myself to “stop and smell the roses” in my final stage of life. In my case I left the country after I retired and live in Latin America. It allowed me to get away from all the negative things happening in America while appreciating my new environment. I have yet to meet anyone who regrets retirement.

Great video. I retired after nearly 30 years on active duty in the Navy in 2021. I am a physician and worked an additional year before I realized that the Navy had exhausted me. I stopped working and slowly began volunteering and using the GI Bill to attain a certificate in writing from the University of Iowa in 2025. A book will also be coming out in 2025. Some of the proceeds will go to charity. God bless.

I was seriously thinking about retirement, having become fed up with my job and being of "that age." Turned out that the company helped my decision along by offering early retirement (to what I called "old-growth" employees). They had no idea I was already planning to leave, and fortunately, the offer came at the right time - though I did wait a bit to respond so they didn't think that I'd already decided months earlier!

You dress better on vacation than I do at work, no explanation needed.

Invest in the financial markets before retiring by diversifying across assets, allocating a small portion of your portfolio, staying updated on market trends, and considering long-term holding to balance risk and growth

Love the casual look, great video, thanks so much

2 years out. I maintain a parallel retirement budget to confirm I’m on track.

Getting home maintenance projects done like the roof. Luckily we have Amish in our area that do great and reasonably priced work.

You are well respected by us and are such a great advisor and helpful to our lives and future. The casual look like your vacation clothes are classy looking and actually more in tune with todays business attire and perfectly acceptable all the time if you so chose. Thank you again for all that you do!

In the railroad industry, I was told to make my last five years my best years in terms of pay. Railroad Retirement determines the size of your pension payments based on your best 60 months (5 years). Thankfully, my last five (of 37) were indeed my best paying years with each year earning me more pay until I retired at age 60 at my full pension.

Thank you, I appreciate this as a Gen X. Retirement reality will be approaching faster than we can imagine.

Casual looks good on you and is a nice change! Hope you are enjoying vacation! Lots of good points in this video. I retired 2.5 years ago and my husband retired a year after me. Haven’t used any retirement money yet. Though I am working PT as a school nurse now. It is actually my fun job as I love the kids and it keeps me young! Money from that income gets stashed for all our house/car insurances and property tax.

Our expenses are not going down. Mortgage is paid off yet property taxes are going up due to price of the house rising and homeowner's insurance in NJ went up to $3,500 from under $2,000. All other expenses are rising with inflation.

Love the new background, I get a beach house vibe, enjoy your vacation!