If you could sit down with your future self, decades older, much wiser what advice do you think you would give you?

Well, it's impossible to tell.

We're not there, of course, but what we can do is we can learn those same lessons that people decades ahead of us would give to themselves in our exact situation.

And that's exactly what we're going to do today.

What I'm going to do is I'm going to take the lessons that clients of mine in their 70s and 80s would have shared with their younger selves, their 50-year-old, 60-year-old selves, to say how can you go back?

What would I do if I could go back to make the most of that time in my life?

And one of these lessons in particular hit me personally a bit hard, because I realized this is something I need to be much better at.

And what I started to realize is well, I thought these were going to be retirement lessons.

They're so much bigger than that.

These are life lessons that, yes, they're geared towards people in their 50s and 60s, but they're universal in the sense that anyone at any age can gain tremendous wisdom by paying close attention to this advice that's being shared.

So there's three key lessons that I've distilled from listening to clients far ahead of me and even far ahead of many of you.

If you're in your 50s and 60s listening to this and to start to set the stage for that advice looks like it starts with understanding that there's different types of wealth.

Don't think of wealth just in the sense of money.

Start by thinking through wealth in the sense of there's financial wealth, there's time wealth and there's health wealth.

There's others.

Let's focus on these three To start with.

Let's look at financial.

We think this is all there is as we're growing our portfolios, preparing for retirement.

The more money I have, the better off I'm going to be, and to an extent that could be true.

But that's just financial wealth.

Think of your 401k balance.

Think of your bank account balance, think of your total net worth.

That's financial wealth and that's what so much retirement planning is focused on.

But we also have to think of time wealth.

Think of Warren Buffett.

Warren Buffett's 95 years old and he's worth $150 billion.

Would you trade places with Warren Buffett?

Probably not.

It doesn't matter how much money you have.

If your time remaining on this planet is not that long, there's not much you can do with it Now.

He's had a long, wonderful life, but would you trade places with him?

At this point today, the answer is probably no.

Well, what about health?

There's a common saying a healthy man has a thousand desires, but a sick man just one.

So what can we take from that quote?

Well, let's use Warren Buffett's net worth again.

Would you take that net worth if you live the rest of your life in chronic pain, If you are too sick to get out of bed and to be mobile and to do the things that you wanna do?

Probably not.

So, yes, financial wealth is a pillar of a successful retirement, but not if we're not paying equal attention to our time wealth, to our health wealth, and how do we optimize for those?

So here's the first piece of advice that clients in their 70s and 80s would give to themselves back in their 50s or even early 60s, they would encourage their younger selves to think equally as hard about their time remaining in their health as much as they did about their financial wealth.

If you're in your 50s and 60s, chances are good, retirement's on the horizon and what you're thinking through is social security strategies, tax optimization strategies, how much money do I need to retire?

And that becomes a core focus, and I think we all fall into this trap.

I think that, in general, if we think of finances, if we think of time, if we think of health, early on in your life you have two of those things, but not the third.

Early on in life, you've probably got a lot of time and you've got a lot of health, but you probably don't have a whole lot of money.

Then you get to middle life Maybe you have the money, maybe you have your health, but you don't have a whole lot of time.

I think about this mid-career I've got a family, I've got a growing business of my time.

Maybe all my time goes into the business and goes into being present and spending time with my wife and my two children.

There's not a lot of time outside of that.

This is a very busy time in life.

Now let's fast forward to maybe where many of you are approaching in this video.

You maybe have your finances and orders, you have financial wealth, you maybe even have your time wealth.

You have your time back.

You're no longer raising children, you have the ability to do what you want with your time, but your health is potentially starting to deteriorate.

So what do we do with all this?

Well, what we do with all this is we recognize this and we recognize that we have the opportunity to carve out this time in our lives.

We have the opportunity, typically in our fifties and sixties, to say we might be in a position where we have our financial wealth, we might be in a position where we have the financial independence to create that time wealth of actually having the time to do what we want to do and we are in that position, before aging and chronic disease potentially starts to kick in, to say I actually have my health, I have my vitality.

Make sure you take full advantage of that.

That is the first thing the people in their seventies and eighties would tell you is this is that time in your life where you might have all three of these types of wealth.

Do not squander it, do not take advantage of it.

And the thing I would add to that as a financial advisor is you need to create that time in your life.

I have so many clients I've worked with so many people where they had their head down.

They were working, they were grinding, they had time, they had health, but they sacrificed it because they always thought they needed more.

They always thought they needed to grow their portfolio, to keep working, to get that next bonus, to get that next promotion.

And one day they woke up realizing the last five to 10 years of life had passed them by and that five to 10 years was the sweet spot.

That was a time where they could have enjoyed their time, their money and their health, but because they were so focused on the financial side, they couldn't take that step back and optimize for the other factors.

So don't make that same mistake.

That's likely the thing your future self would look back upon and tell you to take advantage of.

Take advantage of the time where you can enjoy all three of these.

And that actually ties directly in to the second piece of advice that your 80-year-old self would give you today, and that's make sure you have a plan for financial independence.

Why did so many of my clients squander that time?

They kept focusing on the financial, they kept growing their financial resources and, in doing so, sacrificed time and health along the way.

They did so because, prior to working together, they did not have that plan.

They didn't understand when will I be in a position to be financially independent?

When can I take my foot off the gas a little bit and really just enjoy what I'm doing at work, with friendships, with my family, with the things that I want to do.

If you don't have that first piece, if you don't have that financial piece in place, you don't maybe have the freedom to prioritize health or time to the extent that you would if you knew you were there.

Once you reach that financial independence number.

It's one of my favorite things when I've worked with clients they're burned out.

They don't like work.

This is something they cannot wait to get out of.

And then we run a plan and we say you know what.

You're actually there today.

If we do these things, if we invest this way, if we put money in these accounts, you could actually be done working today and maintain this lifestyle.

And you know what happened when we did that All of a sudden, work felt a lot different.

There was no longer the urgency or the need to be out of there, because they could take a deep breath and they could say I don't need this anymore, so I could take work for the good parts of it.

I can go to work fully, knowing that if I'm let go, if they no longer need me, that's okay and that alleviation of the stress and the burden of feeling I need this to accomplish my goals started to dissipate.

And when that dissipated, what they're able to do is continue to enjoy their financial freedom, but they can more fully step into prioritizing their time, their health, the other things that they wanted to do.

All of that started with a financial plan.

So the financial plan is not the be all end all, but it is the thing that we can do today with our financial resources to enable the parts of our lives that actually matter.

So the people in their 70s and 80s they wish they had done that sooner.

Even if they're not financially independent, right when they run the plan, it gives them a clear path from where they are today to where they need to be.

So start with that.

If you don't have a financial plan, get one.

Work with a financial advisor.

If you're not already doing so.

We are financial advisors.

If you want to reach out to us here at Root, there is a link to our website in the description here.

You can call us, you can reach out to us.

If you're not ready to work with a financial advisor, you can get access to the Retirement Planning Academy.

Below Link is also in the resources, where we walk you through the process we go through with clients and even get access to the software we use with clients to help them understand when they will be financially independent and what their life can look like in retirement.

But make sure you have a plan, not just to say I'm going to continue maxing accounts, I'm going to continue saving, I'm going to continue investing, but what are you saving and maxing and investing for?

What's the point at which you're financially independent so that you can start living life on your terms?

And then here's a third piece of advice your 80-year-old self would give you today and this is probably the advice that your 80-year-old self would scream at you if they could to say this is really the message I want you to hear.

And the message is this pursue the things that money can't buy Now.

Pursue the things that money can't buy Now.

I know I just talked about having a financial plan, having a financial independence plan.

It's not because that's the be all, end all and once you have that, life is all of a sudden good.

It's not the case at all.

But once you have that, that's really the beginning, that's the starting point of now you can fully live life on your terms.

Here's a quote that I love and think about a lot from Naval A fit body, a calm mind and a house full of love.

These things cannot be bought.

They must be earned Now.

I love that because, yes, we just talked about the financial strategy, but the financial strategy just sets you up so that you have full control of your time.

You have full access to the resources needed so you can pursue those things, so you can pursue the things that money can't buy a house full of love, a fit body, a calm mind no amount of money can buy that.

But a plan can allow you to have your freedom, have your independence from needing to give all of your time and energy and effort to the workplace.

So you can start doing these things Now.

Hopefully, you don't wait to do all these things until you have the financial plan in place.

Hopefully, these are things you're pursuing your whole life, but it is far easier to do this when you have full control over your time and what you do with it.

So pursue relationships, pursue health, pursue purpose.

And I know what many of you are thinking.

If you're still watching this video, you're probably the individual that has done a good job of saving, a good job of investing, but you're feeling like there's something more.

You're feeling like just because you have the financial resources doesn't mean you're automatically in a spot where life is perfect.

Now here's a concept I want to introduce I think will help, and it's the concept of neuroplasticity.

And this concept, neuroplasticity the reason this is so important is it's the brain's ability to adapt, to change, in relation to learning new things, to having new experiences, and we typically think that, yeah, that makes sense for someone who's in their 20s and 30s.

Your brain's changing so much.

You're going to a new school, you're learning new things, you're learning a new job, you're learning how to be a parent, you're learning how to be married All of those things.

You're constantly learning how to adapt.

But by the time I'm in my 50s and 60s, I kind of am who I am.

You're not going to.

We fall into this trap of thinking that who I am is who I'm going to be for the rest of my life and we start to think that who we are, the way our brains are literally wired, cannot be changed.

But the science says the exact opposite the more you invest in learning, the more you invest in new experiences, the more new things you try, even if you don't like them.

Each of those things will allow your brain to grow, and the more your brain grows, the more you'll be able to realize the things that you do want to spend time on, the broader your vision of what retirement could be will become.

And I have this conversation all the time with people who are financially prepared to retire but they don't know what they're going to do.

I have no idea what I'm going to do.

I don't like my job, but I'm going to be bored without it, so I'm going to keep working.

Well, that's because we haven't exercised this muscle, we haven't exercised our brain to the extent that we're learning new things, trying new things, and as we do that, maybe these first things we try we don't enjoy, but the more we try them, the more it opens up our mind to other things, the more it trains our brain to start looking for different things that we will enjoy, the better, the more mentally stimulating our whole lives will be as we try new things.

So just a few tips on that before we wrap up here.

Number one is mental challenges lead to brain growth.

Now, is this crossword puzzles?

Is this Sudoku?

Is this learning a new language?

Yes, yes and yes.

All of the above Push yourself, continue to stretch your brain.

It's not just something that can be a fun activity to pass the time.

It is literally something that can be a fun activity to pass the time.

It is literally something that will grow your brain, that will develop new physical connections within your brain and continue to expand what your mind thinks is possible.

The second thing physical activity is going to boost your brain's flexibility.

We typically think there's a thinking side of what we do and there's a physical side of what we do.

Those things are so interconnected.

Have you ever wondered why you're more creative after going on a walk?

Have you ever wondered why you're more creative after going on a walk?

Have you ever wondered why you think differently after you just did a difficult exercise?

There's a deep connection between physical activity and the vitality of our brain.

So go on a walk, perform a strenuous workout, go take a dance class, whatever it is.

Those are the things that are going to increase the neuroplasticity of your mind and help you expand once again, broaden the horizons of what you could potentially do in retirement to make it the most purposeful, meaningful, enjoyable time that you've ever had.

Couple more things Social connections, equal cognitive health.

So many, so many, so many studies show the link between the quality of your relationships, the social connections that you have to longevity to the enjoyment that you're actually gonna have in retirement.

These are things that stretch your brain, these are things that stimulate your brain.

So maintain those social connections.

This doesn't mean if you go to every single party you have to do every single thing that exists.

But the importance of maintaining connections, whether with a small group of friends or a big group of friends, does not matter.

You know it works for you.

But I cannot overstate enough the importance of maintaining those social connections to developing the type of retirement experience your 80-year-old self is going to look back at you and say, please do this, please develop these relationships.

It will make all the difference in the next 10, 20 plus years of your life.

The better your social connections, the more healthy your brain will be, the more enjoyable your retirement experience.

Now, on the flip side, what's going to inhibit the neuroplasticity of your brain?

Well, number one chronic stress.

Ie maintaining a stressful job, even when you don't need to maintain it, because financially you're good to go, but you don't know what's next.

Not only are you putting off the inevitable.

Not only are you putting off what could be a really wonderful retirement, but the longer you stay in that stressful job, especially if you don't need it, it's actually inhibiting your brain's ability to think about what's next, to expand its horizons, to do new, fun things.

So keep that in mind.

Number two is a lack of stimulation.

This is very much like a muscle If you don't use it, you lose it.

You don't use it, you lose it.

So the more we put off trying new things, the more we stay in our routine and doing the same thing over and over and over, the less our brain's ability to adapt, to try new things and to expand what's possible.

The third is negative self-beliefs.

The more we tell ourselves I'm too old to try new things, this is just the way things are, there's nothing else to life outside of this, the more that becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

So if you tell yourself that you're going to believe it, you're going to act as if, versus if you tell yourself this is something.

This is the season of my life where I'm going to try new things.

I'm going to go out and gain that confidence, gain that skill, gain that fullness and richness of life.

That, too is going to become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

So so the key theme here is reframe how you think about retirement.

Too many people see retirement as just a time of rest and of leisure.

Of course there's going to be rest, of course there's going to be leisure, but if that's the only thing you have in mind, retirement's going to be unfulfilling.

Instead, think of it as a time of growth.

Think of a time as purpose, where you get to pursue what's most important to you and you get to create the retirement you dream of.

So some practical challenges Go join a class.

This can be class on photography.

This can be a class on singing, on dancing, on anything.

Go volunteer.

Go do something to help others.

Go do something to help use the skills that you've gained over the course of your lifetime and apply those in helping someone else.

Travel somewhere unfamiliar.

Don't go to the same spot you've always gone to because you know it and it's safe.

Go somewhere new, learn something new, be part of a new experience.

Start practicing meditation, start practicing memory improvement.

Just do new things.

Some of these you're gonna love, others you won't.

But the whole point of this isn't trying to get right to find the thing that you love it's to develop that skills set of.

I'm the type of person that tries new things and that, by itself, develops a confidence, develops a neuroplasticity, develops the ability for you to be more open-minded and to experience the things you want to in your retirement years.

Now my final piece of advice, before we wrap this video and this might be the most important piece of advice is don't wait until retirement to start prioritizing your health and prioritizing your relationships.

A few years ago, I began working with this lady and she was just the sweetest, most wonderful person, just an incredible person.

I always enjoyed our meetings.

I enjoyed connecting, not just because we talked about fun planning stuff, but because I enjoyed her as a person.

She spent her whole life saving and investing and she did a tremendous job of maxing out her 401k, preparing for retirement, and we got to the point where she finally retired, was able to do this, and she passed away within the first 12 months of retirement, so she didn't even make it past her mid-60s.

What would her 70-year-old self 80-year-old self if she had made it long had told her back when she was in her 50s and her 60s?

She probably would have said invest in your health in the same way you invest in your 401k.

She did such a good job If she actually prioritized relationships.

She prioritized the financial aspect of retirement, but she did not prioritize her health, and because her health was not prioritized, she didn't live to be able to enjoy all that she would work so hard for over the course of her lifetime.

So these are the two things you must invest in now.

I don't care if you're 20.

I don't care if you're 70.

Invest in your health, invest in your relationships.

Those are two things that, just like your 401k, is going to compound over time.

These are two fundamental aspects of anyone's not just retirement plan, but their life, their ability to enjoy what they have is your health in your relationships.

Do not neglect those, because once those are gone, you cannot get them back.

So this advice, of course, isn't just about retirement, it's about life.

How do you live life in such a way that you align your money, you align your talents, your skills, your resources in such a way to move you closer to the type of life that you want to live?

Yes, that has tie-ins to retirement planning, but at the end of the day, it's about how do we live the types of lives that we're going to be glad we did.

One great way to do so is take advice from people in their 70s and 80s, even if that means think of yourself as a 70 or 80 year old, and what would that person tell you today?

Take that advice, heed that advice, act on that advice.

Thank you for watching Now.

If you are that person that says I wish I could tell my 40 year old-old self, my 50-year-old self, one piece of advice, drop it in the comments.

We'd love to hear from you all what you think that advice is, so we can all learn from each other.

Thank you.