153. ​​Planning on Living the Second 50 Years of Your Life

A lot of people come in with the mindset that they have a clock. I'm on my way down, I'm on my way out. My parents died at 80 or 85. So we do talk a lot about that because as most advisors are doing now, we're realizing we have to get people thinking about longevity. Once you start having them talk about longevity, then they're like, I don't want to live that long. I don't want to live and lose my mind or get feeble. So then it becomes about quality of life, right? So we, we try to combine the, the conversation into, number one, you need to get rid of that clock and think longer for yourself. Number two, stop worrying about maximizing growth and start thinking about income and wealth preservation. This is what it's going to be and this is what you're going to need from there. Number three, we also better start thinking about new purpose and opportunity, expansion. During this time, you're going to be bored, you know, and you're going to start wasting your wisdom and your wealth, in my view. That's what I've seen if we, if we don't have something else that lights you up and gets you up in the morning.

So what exactly is your plan for the second 50 years of your life? You might be in the first 50 right now. Maybe you've already crossed into the second 50. Who knows? You're the, you're the watcher, you're the listener. You'll tell us. But planning for the second 50 years of your life is extremely important. And most people don't even think about what is necessary. What goes into that. Today we have someone who I think is an expert on that topic, and that's Kathleen Adams. She's a CFP, and she's about to release her first book, Second 50. Achieve financial confidence, Increase Opportunity and Leverage Vitality. She's been in the financial planning business for well over 20 years, and she has worked with tons of people all over the United States around this mindset of what needs to happen going into the second 50 years of your life. So we're going to have a really fun conversation today. Kathleen, I'm so grateful to have you with us.

Thank you. I'm, I'm honored to be here. Thank you for having me.

Kathleen, what inspired you to focus on second 50?

So second 50, there are multiple inspirations that helped me get this started, but I would say it's started with my dad and the way he behaved in his second 50. How I'm feeling in my second 50. And then the majority of clients and people that were attracted to us, it turns out, are in their second 50. And what the reason we named things second 50 is, I believe second half is wrong. I believe that many people are going to live past their second 50. So we better start thinking, planning and investing differently to experience the best out of that.

And when you describe, you know, vitality, that's also so important because the, the old adage of retirement and that whole, you know, people slowing down physically, mentally, et cetera. You know, one thing that, and again, credit to we, we're all familiar with Dan Sullivan and the Strategic Coach methodology. And Dan says, look, don't become low hanging fruit for gravity. Gravity wants to pull you down. And so continue to be vital, continue to be active, continue to be in service to other people. And we find conversations now are really shifting toward that. People are really embracing that philosophy to say, I'm not really quite sure I want to slow down 100%. Yeah, I want to find things that keep me active. And what I really loved about what I read on your website and your approach and how you go about that and helping people to think differently. Preserving wealth. Wealth in our view isn't really about money. I mean that, that, you know, in the context of the word, people hear that and they go, oh yeah, I've, I've worked hard to accumulate wealth in my business or whatever it is that my profession, you know, helped me to achieve. But wealth is about so much more than just money.

Right. And you hit the nail on the head there because in my view, in second 50, the term wealth is going to change to income, it's going to change to cash flow. So this is what we're all going to strive to have. If you have millions of dollars in your home and real estate, how is that going to equate to supporting your lifestyle when your business income stops? Right. So yes, wealth preservation, income, cash flow are key to second 50.

And what do you see in the before and after? You know, like in terms of what a prospective client's thinking is around their second 50 versus what trajectory they're on after engaging with you and your team members and taking really progressive step forward to approaching it differently.

Sure. So a lot of people come in with the mindset that they have a clock. I'm on my way down, I'm on my way out. My parents died at 80 or 85. So we do talk a lot about that because as most advisors are doing now, we're realizing we have to get people thinking about longevity. Once you Start having them talk about longevity. Then they're like, I don't want to live that long. I don't want to live and lose my mind or get feeble. So then it becomes about quality of life, right? So we, we try to combine the conversation into, number one, you need to get rid of that clock and think longer for yourself. Number two, stop worrying about maximizing growth and start thinking about income and wealth preservation. This is what it's going to be and this is what you're going to need from there. Number three, we also better start thinking about new purpose and opportunity, expansion. During this time, you're going to be bored, you know, and you're going to start wasting your wisdom and your wealth, in my view. That's what I've seen. If we, if we don't have something else that lights you up and gets.

You up in the morning, wasting your.

Wisdom and your wealth. That's a, that's an interesting mouthful. And I love the way that that kind of rolls up the tongue. It's a scary thing that you, you, as the moment it's put in front of you, it's like, wow, I would hate to see that happen to me. I don't want that to be my story. How would I change that story? So it brings up the question of how can I do something differently? And the fact that you're having conversations with people around that I think is very important. And I remember when you and I spoke previously, you talked a lot about working in the business community with entrepreneurs, people who had, maybe had an exit from their business or know, whatever. They, they transition some of their business growth and revenues into other holdings like real estate, et cetera, and they're kind of phasing, you know, why again, winding down out of the thing that was their primary focus and purpose. And they're, they're maybe operating a little bit like a rudderless ship, and they're looking for where they can direct that, that energy, that driving energy that helped them grow a profitable business to begin with. So as you're having conversations with people like that, what are you finding? What's, what's connecting with them and getting them activated, to really become aware that they can have a really powerful and productive second fit.

Richard, you encapsulated that perfectly. That's exactly what, how I feel. I, I believe that where it starts is that a lot of times once they leave what they're doing, they're disconnected. And as we both know, all of us know here, we love having a community. So the disconnection tends to that. That sort of isolation takes away from feeling like you're going to do something else with your life. And you know what the media is like. They're depicting all my boomer cohorts as walking on the beach, playing with grandkids, traveling, golfing. I'm not saying that's wrong, but it certainly isn't inspiring you to do something bigger.

Right.

So the idea is that if we could get some of the boomer brains in the room together, small communities, sharing a few ideas, some especially with like minded themes, because I talk to so many people and I'm sensing some of the themes, I just believe that would genuinely light a spark. And you know, whenever we get back from our quarterly thinking about your thinking days.

You feel better because you've been brainstorming with other people. I think that's missing for second 50 people when they've left what they're doing. Also, I think for a lot of us, our circle of friends, people and family are often not big thinkers. And I'm speaking from personal experience as well. So it is important that you find some new communities. And that's another thing 2nd50 is helping to do for people.

And I would say in addition to that, helping to connect folks like that with.

Folks who are younger and who, who are, who are seeking mentorship and guidance and you know, good counsel from people who have so much life experience, not just personally, but professionally, and could really serve as a source of inspiration for younger people. And again, just thinking of, you know, what Dan Sullivan talked about, Richard, we were having a discussion about this when he was describing how he maintains relationships with people who, and he does that intentionally to connect with people who are younger and to, to understand where their thinking is at and what their aspirations are and what new intuitive services or entrepreneurial ventures they're wanting to, to get involved in. And, and then you can bring your experience to serve as inspiration to those people. And so I, I agree with everything that you're saying. And the other thing that I really liked about what you have on your website and we're going to put a link to your website so that listeners and viewers can go there, but is that you also work with resource partners and so you're very careful in selecting other experts who are going to bring additional value to the process. Could you expand a little bit on that for us and how that serves people much better?

Absolutely. And that's one of the reasons why I love being independent in my field because we wanted the ability to pick the most appropriate, the best Resources we possibly could. There is no way people like me, planners can do this alone. And so we want to have people around us that we thoroughly trust. And we know they have a tremendous expertise in a certain area. And you've got to know that. You've got to stay in your lane. But we do help coordinate all of that because we're always sitting there. How does this particular piece fit into the life of my client right now? Right. You know what you were saying about mentoring and things, the reverse is fantastic too. So I feel that if we could put those second 50 and younger people together, they can also reverse mentor the second 50. And you know where. I know where I'm lacking on that front because I run to my adult children all the time to do things for me. But I think there's, there's just so much power that could come if this boomer this large, they're the largest, wealthiest, most highly educated group to ever move into this timeframe. So imagine what we could do if we could reinspire some of those. We could get em financially confident, feeling a little healthier, and bring them together with younger people. That could be a, a really big boost for the, the country and the world in my.

Agreed, absolutely. And we need more of that, a lot more of that. Because the tendency is, oh, well, you know, Billy's up there in age now. Let's not pester him or bother him. He's worked hard to achieve retirement. Where, you know, Billy is saying, hey, I'm more accessible and more available than I've ever been. Let, let me be helpful to you, you know, and so it's in the game. Coach, put me in the game. Exactly, exactly. And one of the expressions that comes up with us, that we utilize with the general public when we're speaking at events and things is that, you know, getting a membership at a gym and working out there are two completely different things. And so when you're working with a planner, you know, the, the planning element versus executing to that plan are two completely different things. And so I imagine that you. There are people that you most love to serve and they, they ideally possess certain optimum mindsets. And what, what are those? So what are the optimum mindsets of the people that you most love to serve?

Honestly, it's really just being open. So if they have an open mindset, they don't have to, to believe in or want to follow. All of the things that get me excited about the second 50. I'm just asking, could you sit down and be open to the conversation And I think a lot of people are, you know, we are. We're not our parents, we're not our grandparents. What did Jimmy Buffett say? We're the, we're the people our parents warned us about.

Yeah. But we do get stuck in our paradigms. So if somebody comes in the door and they're open, I think that's the first step. And the other thing is we're well aware they do not need to come in and get overwhelmed with information and massive pages of planning and processing, et cetera. It's really, you know, they're coming in, they want some clarity, they want a roadmap, and they want to know what at least the next three steps are that they need to take. And then you just redo that. You know, you have to keep doing that. You do that every year. But that's the other thing. If they're coming in and like you said, they're willing to execute, they're going to listen, happy to have feedback and work with them. Definitely want to know what they want most, then we're going to work really well together.

And I like that. It's three steps. It's manageable. Here are the next three things that you need to go and do, versus here are 722 things we need get achieved in the next two days.

And here's the book on how you do it. Because I'm going to give you 200 pages.

Exactly.

Yeah. No, doesn't work.

Curious. As you're, as you're having these conversations, is there the idea of intergenerational conversations? You're meeting with people, they're in this phase again. Maybe they sold a business, they've done well for themselves, and they're probably set up in such a way where they're probably going to have a, a pretty comfortable or reasonably comfortable retirement or maybe an exceptionally comfortable retirement, if that's the. Because that's what they've been trained on and they're recognizing now that the idea of retirement may be that they're there. They're at that stage. Isn't all it's cracked up to be. Are you finding that they want to try to integrate or bring in more cohesive conversations with their, their children, their grandchildren? Do they want to incorporate more of a financial mindset in some way with the family members? Is that something that you're discovering through the conversations you're having?

Well, yes, definitely. They, they are worried, especially the, the people with considerable wealth, that they, you know, you just need to give them enough so they can launch. But not enough so that they never want to do anything and they worry about that. So those are conversations that we have all the time. I think I've seen one too many times where the parents would love to have this, the next generation coming into the business, or maybe they brought them in and it's not working out so well. Rather than having an open end conversation about, you know, how can we best support you but utilize the wealth you're going to have wisely. So those are actually really fun conversations. We enjoy working with the family. I have a younger business partner who's male, so it's always great to bring him in because he instantly relates, you know, to that generation. But the same principles apply. And the parents, I think if the children see the parents doing amazing things with their lives as they age, they will also start to feel that purpose and that zest as well.

Absolutely, absolutely. And one of the things that came up as we were just sharing a brief conversation before, you know, recording the show, it reminded me of something that our late mentor, R. Nelson Nash often said. And God rest his soul, you know, we miss him, we think about him every single day. And we're blessed beyond the definition of good fortune to be mentored by him for so many years. And he always was a proponent of there's no such thing as having arrived in knowledge. There's always something new to learn. And if you have that ability to receive inspiration, to learn something new, your life just tends to be that much better and that much more fulfilling and gratifying. And you, you had mentioned to us prior to the beginning of the show and you said, hey, I just wanted to let you know I, I read some material and I've been doing some research on this, this infinite banking concept in this process of becoming your own banker. And if that comes up in our interview, I'd like to say a few words about it. And so I just thought I would proactively bring that up and give you an opportunity to share whatever is on your mind.

Sure. And again, I'm not on here to give anyone investment advice. This is just my opinion from my learning. I was so grateful to read that book and watch that show. Anybody that would do that, you would have to see the incredible practical wisdom involved in there. Because the infinite banking system, just to thinking about, I won't go into depth on how it all works, but suffice it to say, if you don't have to go to the bank to get a loan for your car, if you could finance some of your business operations or equipment. If I could have financed the last two transitions of my business through his system, that would have been amazing. And I'm going to say this is. I. I'm disappointed that in CFP land, which is the certified financial planner is the big deal for us. Right. Also, even in I'm a certified private wealth advisor and I went to advanced education with the University of Chicago, I still didn't get the knowledge I got from reading that book. So that's another way we could look at keeping your mind open. Right. Just because it wasn't a part of something I've always been doing doesn't mean it can't be an incredibly useful tool and concept to consider going forward. And that's what I want people to think about for their second 50 going forward. Let's not be afraid. Let's investigate. And we're going to have to change with the times. The times have changed, you know, so. So don't think that the skills that got you out of Egypt are going to get you to the promised land. We. We need to be thinking differently.

So that is such great wisdom. And coincidentally, one of Nelson's, he referred to them as golden rules, of which there were six that he shared with us often. And his fifth golden rule is to rethink your thinking. And so such great wisdom to share. And speaking of books, so your book will be coming out, and what's the key message that you want readers to take away from your book?

Kind of what we said in the beginning, don't waste your wisdom and your wealth. So there's three things, and the first is financial confidence. That's what we have to focus on, because nobody wants to do anything unless they feel financially comfortable. Right, Right. Which is where Nelson's philosophy comes in. But he. Yeah, so financial confidence is key, and really that means having an income that you won't outlive. And that's the linchpin. But the second one, opportunity expansion, as we just discussed, without a new idea, a new purpose, some novelty, we're going to fall into routines. We're not going to feel the excitement and the joy, in my view, that we had in our first 50. I want people to kind of fall in love with their second 50 instead of focusing on what's gone from the first 50. And there'll be a lot of ways to do that. And then the third is vitality. Because if you're going to do all these things, if you get confident and you have some money and you want to explore new things, you've got to show up with health and energy. And I belong to Dan's group where we're working with the lifetime extender. So I plan to bring out all of the resources, the things that are in play right now that people could be using to improve their life, even just a little thing like an expanded blood test. So I want to make sure that through the book, people know that they could have access to a lot more information.

Most definitely. And I'll share with you too. This is, it just brings up. You've got to really take advantage of those sorts of things. There's an interview recently where the. The fellow who. And this completely unrelated of course, but relevant to what you just said about lifetime extension, the fellow who runs the ufc D. Dana.

Dana White.

He was in an interview where he talked about being invited to take some additional blood profile work. And they identified basically that if he had continued down the path that he was on, thinking that he was physically fit and appearing that way, he had no idea that there was some underlying issues going on in his blood work that he would have expected to perhaps only live for about another 10 year window. And so through identifying that proactively and then getting the right who's to help him address what he needs to address, he. He just looks like a completely different human being now in terms of how he's taking care of himself and how he's eating his body and how he's keeping mentally sharp. And so it's just one example of many where like you said, if you, if you know that these things are available to you, you should really take full advantage of them because certain things can be identified that you can address long before they become irreparable.

Totally right.

So important.

It's so important. It's so frustrating because we're not going to get it from our traditional medical resources.

Exactly right.

But these things, they're not scary, they're not woo woo medicine. They're here. You just have to write a check most of the time to take advantage. Insurance is not going to cover an amazing blood test called Inside Tracker. And that's one of them. So that's my thing too. Why I would bring it into planning is if you want to open the door, take advantage and just tiptoe in. You don't have to do everything at once, change your diet and go through a whole new supplement routine. But if you want to do something and maybe explore how you might be able to help yourself and you're willing to write a check, let's write it into your plan and say you Know what? Let's allocate these dollars towards feeling better and looking better. Looking better. Jason, it's like, this is. Boomers want that, you know?

Yeah, of course.

Our hair. We want to. Of course, these things are here too, so.

Of course. Yeah. That is such good wisdom. And inside tracker, by the way. I can attest firsthand experience. It's just amazing process. And I'm actually going to Naples in February or to attend a clinic that Dan recommended where you literally spend an entire day and a half or so being examined head to toe, inside out. And there's a whole concierge group of medical professionals who review all of those findings and help you set a course for maximizing your longevity, maximizing your health and wellness and. And so on. And I'm good for you.

It's so awesome that you're getting to do this. This is why people under 50 need to be aware, too.

Yeah. People who.

Of all ages. And I'm still trying to talk my husband into going to that clinic.

I. I'm. I'm really looking forward to it, honestly, because I'd rather be as proactive as I can be. And again, you know, we all recognize, you know, Dan and, um, just the impact that he's had on all of us, professionally and personally. And so, yeah, this is really good. And looking forward to the book sincerely. Like, looking forward. I don't know if you can tell. I kind of like to read.

Yeah.

I know.

So, you know, very much looking forward to that, but have a great conversation.

Rich. Well, you know, Kathleen, I'm. I'm so excited with what you're sharing, your message and how you've. You've chosen to go out and do something different for the people that need something different done. I think that's a good way of looking at it. And by the virtue of the ideas you've shared just in. In. In connecting these. This boomer generation into deeper conversations where they can be inspired for creating more value for the world. More. More. The only outcome that's possible with that is more. More value for the world. So, you know, you may not, you know, when you show up on the call today, of course, you're in your office, and sure, it's a busy workday. You didn't wear a cape to work, and so you may not think of yourself, of course, as a hero, but when you go and create change the way that you're doing in an environment where change is possible so you can inspire more and more people to do bigger and bigger things, you're kind of showing up like a hero. So our question for you really would be is who most do you want to be a hero to?

I do want to be a hero to the second 50 group. I'm happy to help anyone. And of course, I love having the younger generations involved because I think they will be. But I think my group, my boomer group, they need to come out of their shells and they need to live life again. And I think because we have been changing the world our entire lives, right, Boomers had this big wave of people. Most of the time, positive change has happened with us, and I think we could solve problems. I think we could have fun. I think we could create again. It could be pretty awesome. And I'd love to have collaborators. So anyone who's interested in helping to get the second 50 movement going, I would welcome a conversation. You know, any. Any ideas? Anybody want to send me some ideas or some people? I'd love it.

Count us in. Count us in. We want to help share that good guidance so that, as you put it perfectly, folks are not wasting their wisdom or their wealth. And so we. We just want to take this opportunity to sincerely thank you again. And we did have Richard experienced a power outage, which delayed the. The start time of the show. And so we would love.

It was only 15 minutes before we got started, and I had to transfer to someone else's home to get set.

Up, but, oh, I said, I'm so glad it was you, Richard, not me.

The ability to correct and continue is one of the things that we're graced with in this wonderful world.

And we'd love to have you back when the book is released. And I can assure you I'm going to read it. We'd love to have you back and just extend the interview if. If you're okay with that, because we know our listeners and our viewers are going to get a lot of value, especially the demographic that. That we love to serve. And so we'd love to have you back. And for all of our viewers and listeners, if you're on the YouTubes, you will have just seen a playlist show up, and the reason it showed up is that it's for you. We encourage you to continue your journey of learning. Go ahead and click through to the next video and keep learning and keep progressing. And for everyone listening on your favorite podcast platform, make the rest of your week outstanding. Thanks for tuning in, Kathleen. It was such a pleasure. Thanks so much for being with us.

Thank you both very much.