Brian Dress, CFADirector of Research, Investment Advisor, Left Brain Wealth Management, LLC · Wealth Strategy for Corporate Executives & High-Net-Worth Investors | Concentrated Stock & Equity Compensation Planning | Director of Research | CFA | Left Brain Wealth Management

The One Investment Most Executives Miss

22 Aug 2025 · 1 min

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In this brief dialogue, two speakers discuss common financial mistakes that high‑earning professionals make as they approach retirement. They stress the importance of "paying yourself first"—setting aside savings before discretionary spending—and argue that the term "saver" is outdated, urging a shift to an "investor" mindset that puts surplus income to work for compound growth. The conversation highlights lifestyle creep as a major pitfall, warning that increasing expenses to match rising income erodes the ability to benefit from compound interest, ultimately reducing the retirement nest egg. The speakers present these points as actionable advice for executives earning $400k‑$600k+ annually.

Chapters

Yeah. So the most successful people when they move toward retirement are the people who didn't live paycheck to paycheck when they're making $400,000, $500,000, $600,000 a year or whatever the number is. You know, like you said, paying yourself first, which means, that means I'm taking money out to save before I spend it on anything else. And that's definitely good advice that has worked well for a lot of our clients. A lot of our clients are really good savers. And now that they've got a lot to show for it, which is a really nice nest egg moving into retirement.
So, and we should actually say investors. Yeah, the word savers is kind of passé a little bit. It kind of denotes, you know, getting a toaster for opening the passbook account or something. You're right. But you're right, I get your point. These people are not spending everything they earn. There's something left over, and that leftover You know, those investors have discipline enough to actually invest those extra funds that then earns a return that compounds, that leads to a bigger bucket of money that they can draw on later in life.
Yeah, I guess we could almost say, Nolan, that this mistake that people make is lifestyle creep, but it's also not taking advantage of compound interest. And that's definitely something we want all you investors out there to take advantage of. So that's number 4, lifestyle creep. Don't be a lifestyle creep.
Or creeper. Don't be a lass, y'all. Creeper.