What the Happiest Retirees Know

10 Habits for a Healthy, Secure, and Joyful Life

By: Wes Moss

Narrated by: Christopher Douyard

Length: 6 hrs and 37 mins

Publisher's summary

What does it take to have a truly happy retirement? Is it money? An active social life? A long-lasting marriage - or maybe a new one? Finance expert, author, and radio host Wes Moss asked more than 2,000 of the nation's happiest retirees to find out - and their answers may surprise you. Through a series of revealing surveys, Moss noticed a pattern of distinct, recognizable habits that the happiest retirees shared, from the simplest of lifestyle choices to the smartest of financial strategies. These are the kinds of habits anyone can develop - the perfect road map to a healthy, secure, and joyful retirement - sooner.

Whether you're already retired or just starting to make plans, these 10 simple actions and attitudes can make a profound difference in every aspect of your life. The book is packed with hard-won wisdom and invaluable advice on how to make little changes now that will have the biggest impact later. It's filled with proven ways to develop smarter habits with:

• Money (“Think river, not reservoir.”)
• Family (“Get your kids off your payroll.”)
• Housing (“Live mortgage-free.”)
• Investing (“Be a tomorrow investor.”)
• Spending (“Be pound wise - so you can be penny foolish.”)
• And much more

With these 10 transformational habits, you can stop obsessing over money, stay socially connected, and start enjoying your new life - as the happiest retiree on the block.

©2022 Wes Moss (P)2021 McGraw Hill-Ascent Audio

Great

Solid practical advice on how to max out retirement- from a happiness standpoint, enjoyed very much

Actual Data

At least this one is based on interviews with real retirees. It does give you something concrete to strive for and hope at the same time. It’s worth a listen.

Great book

This book really resonated with me! Easy for me to understand and apply. Also reinforced that what I have been doing is good and I am on the right track!!

Amazing

I was impressed by the content and the delivery. The author was encouraging to us near retirees and those just starting to think about retirement. The narrator was perfect for this subject matter. Felt like he was truly speaking with the author’s “voice.” Great read/listen!

Invaluable Retirement Info

I wish I had this info 30 years ago but I will implement it today!
it's a Must Read for everyone!

Math base from financial tools for retirement

Love well research back up with math and presentation of simple formulas that apply to retirement!

Lots of correlations assumed to be causation

To be clear, overall I still would recommend this book because it discusses a lot of things worth considering. Love the emphasis on happiness over just the financial advice.

That said Wes uses phrases like “the numbers don’t lie” and talks about his survey research with way more authority than I think is warranted. There is a LOT of portraying correlation as a causation. Sometimes it’s very obvious but Wes seems to portray his *interpretation* as “what the data says”. This wouldn’t be so bad if the analysis wasn’t so naive. If you’re looking for nuance, you’re not gonna find it here.

I also found his financial advice somewhat cavalier for true early retirees- using models that are 30 year models that wouldn’t apply well to those truly retiring extra early- in their 40s and 50s. I would recommend the online ERN series for a deep analysis and an eye opening why Wes’s approach here is very naive/cavalier in those circumstances. That said, his advice is probably fine for those at the official retirement age or close.

Overall, I’m a bit disappointed given the emphasis on “research”. There’s no clear methodology, and very simplistic analysis. It also mostly just looks like compiled survey data largely from his clients- so it’s also a skewed group. As I said- I still recommend the book though for the emphasis on happiness, which is something I think a lot of us miss.

Too much useless dribble

I’m only on chapter three and wow. This book is filled with too much useless dribble about nothing related to the subject. The data, when presented, is good information but it could have been an article in Money or Kiplinger vs. a book.

Good info but repetitive & prosthelytizing

If you've read his other book "You Can Retire Sooner Than You Think" then skip this one. It's basically a rehash of the first book with more anecdotal stories.

Definitely did not love the chapter on religious faith. Telling folks who are atheist to reconsider going to church because "god is good" is pretty unappealing. And then starting the next chapter asking if non-believers "rage-skipped" the previous chapter was wholly unnecessary.

Also some contradictions - if you're familiar with Moss he states pretty frequently that he doesn't believe in skipping the latte to save for retirement because you should be enjoying your life while you save, but then he proceeds to tell you to do just that in this book and claims the latte habit will cost a million dollars over your lifetime. He tries to reconcile the two at the end by saying something along the lines of 'do it if you need to' but it comes off clunky and insincere.

TLDR: his first book was better.

Not all chapters are available

Concepts and suggestions are repeated in chapters. Not all chapters are available. Would have liked to have had access to all the chapters.