In this episode of the Construction Disruption podcast, Todd Miller of Isaiah Industries is joined by co-host Ryan Bell and special guest Shawn Maloney, President and Founder of RetireWise. The discussion delves into the complexities of retirement planning. Shawn shares his personal journey, the inception of RetireWise, and its 'Retire Happy' framework designed to ensure a secure and fulfilling retirement. They explore the unique financial planning needs of business owners, the impact of irregular income patterns, and changes in retirement planning, given the evolving economic landscape. Shawn also shares success stories, the importance of starting early, and practical steps for those who haven’t started planning for retirement yet.
Timestamps
00:00 Meet the Hosts: Todd Miller and Ryan Bell
00:15 Kicking Off with Jokes
00:59 Introducing the Challenge Words
01:24 Diving into Retirement Planning
01:49 Guest Introduction: Sean Maloney of RetireWise
02:20 Shawn’s Journey to Founding RetireWise
04:42 RetireWise's Unique Approach
07:04 Challenges for Business Owners
09:59 Adapting to Irregular Income
11:26 Changes in Retirement Planning
13:22 Impact of New Administration
14:45 Taxing Social Security
16:11 The Joy of Helping People
17:16 Creating a Retirement Plan
17:58 Practical Steps for Young Savers
20:04 Engaging RetireWise Services
21:13 The Priority Retirement Podcast
24:05 Rapid Fire Questions
28:26 Final Thoughts and Contact Information
Connect with Shawn Online
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shawn-maloney-retire-wise/
Website: https://www.retirewisepro.com/
Email: shawnmaloney@retirewisepro.com
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This episode was produced by Isaiah Industries, Inc.
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I'm Todd Miller of Isaiah Industries, manufacturer of specialty
Todd Miller:metal roofing and other building materials, and today my co host on the
Todd Miller:show is the illustrious, the infamous, Mr.
Todd Miller:Ryan Bell.
Todd Miller:How are you doing today, Ryan?
Ryan Bell:Hey Todd, I'm doing well.
Ryan Bell:How are you?
Todd Miller:Doing well.
Todd Miller:I've got a question for you.
Ryan Bell:Okay.
Todd Miller:Why did the tomato blush?
Todd Miller:Oh, he's thinking.
Todd Miller:He's heard
Ryan Bell:I think I have, but I have no idea.
Todd Miller:Because it saw the salad dressing.
Todd Miller:Ha ha.
Ryan Bell:good one.
Ryan Bell:I have one for you
Todd Miller:Ka ching.
Todd Miller:Okay, what you got?
Ryan Bell:Why do people who live in Greece hate waking up at dawn?
Todd Miller:So I'm now thinking it has to have something to do
Todd Miller:with Dawn dishwashing detergent.
Todd Miller:Oh, I don't know.
Todd Miller:What is it?
Ryan Bell:Well, Dawn is tough on Greece.
Todd Miller:Grease.
Todd Miller:Oh, geez.
Todd Miller:Good one.
Todd Miller:Good one.
Todd Miller:Well, very good.
Todd Miller:Are we ready to delve into today's show?
Ryan Bell:Yes.
Ryan Bell:Let's get started.
Todd Miller:So I will remind our listeners we are doing challenge words
Todd Miller:on this episode where each Ryan and I and also our guest yet to be named, um,
Todd Miller:has accepted a challenge word that we are challenged to work into the conversation.
Todd Miller:So you, the audience can be listening for any peculiar
Todd Miller:words or phrases we might use.
Todd Miller:And at the end, we will tell you whether or not you guessed our
Todd Miller:challenge word, or maybe we just won't even be able to work them in at all.
Todd Miller:I don't know.
Todd Miller:Let's go.
Todd Miller:So, today we're going to delve into something that, for most folks, is
Todd Miller:hopefully inevitable, retirement.
Todd Miller:You may be young enough that you think retirement is so far off in
Todd Miller:the distance, or you may be closer to that age and maybe you're starting
Todd Miller:to give it some serious thought.
Todd Miller:Whatever your situation is, retirement, I hope, is going to be in your future,
Todd Miller:so let's discuss how it might impact you and how you can prepare for it.
Todd Miller:To that end, we are thrilled to have Shawn Maloney as our guest today.
Todd Miller:Shawn is the president and founder of RetireWise, a company dedicated to helping
Todd Miller:individuals and families navigate the complexities of retirement planning.
Todd Miller:With a wealth of experience and a mission to empower people for their financial
Todd Miller:futures, Shawn brings unique perspectives and practical advice to the table today.
Todd Miller:So Shawn, welcome to Construction Disruption.
Shawn Maloney:Hey guys, appreciate you having me on.
Shawn Maloney:Glad to be here.
Todd Miller:Very good.
Todd Miller:Well, tell us a little bit about your personal journey and, um,
Todd Miller:how it influenced you to start RetireWise, uh, back, I think, in
Todd Miller:January 2020, just about five years
Shawn Maloney:Yeah, no, I appreciate it.
Shawn Maloney:Yeah, it's been an interesting journey, right?
Shawn Maloney:We, um, I, uh, graduated from college, got, you know, the typical
Shawn Maloney:finance degrees, all that kind of jazz, um, got a job with a firm.
Shawn Maloney:Um, and it wasn't quite what I ended up wanting it to be.
Shawn Maloney:I'm going to get back to that in just a second in this story, right?
Shawn Maloney:Um, life happens.
Shawn Maloney:My dad was getting transferred.
Shawn Maloney:I ended up having to take a job doing other things.
Shawn Maloney:Right?
Shawn Maloney:So go on for a few years.
Shawn Maloney:I was still in the financial space.
Shawn Maloney:Um, but later on, I was able to find myself, uh, back into
Shawn Maloney:the realm where I wanted to be.
Shawn Maloney:But if I go really far back, it all starts back.
Shawn Maloney:Believe it or not, back in the eighth grade, when I was doing this stock
Shawn Maloney:market game, um, back then, you know, before the internet, you didn't actually
Shawn Maloney:use paper and, you know, tracked it.
Shawn Maloney:And that got me hooked.
Shawn Maloney:Um, and then, so I made my way through my career and, uh, you know, I kind of found
Shawn Maloney:my, that purpose really young at a young age and it was really driven by that.
Shawn Maloney:Um, and I found my way into working with some firms that, um, you
Shawn Maloney:know, really fit my style better.
Shawn Maloney:That first firm I worked for was more of the big wall street side
Shawn Maloney:that kind of told you what to do with quotas and all that kind of jazz.
Shawn Maloney:And then, uh, so I did that.
Shawn Maloney:I've been doing it for, you know, over 20 years and then founded my company in 2020,
Shawn Maloney:really from the standpoint of wanting to focus in on retirement planning.
Shawn Maloney:Um, and what we really shifted our, our, our whole focus back in 2000, after 2008.
Shawn Maloney:When everything went haywire, right?
Shawn Maloney:And people, um, you know, we're not prepared for that.
Shawn Maloney:And we're devastated with the retirement.
Shawn Maloney:So we're very passionate about making sure people are prepared.
Shawn Maloney:Uh, can wave through those things.
Shawn Maloney:Don't find themselves in a conundrum with retirement.
Todd Miller:Very good.
Todd Miller:Interesting.
Todd Miller:Cool stuff.
Todd Miller:Well, tell us a little bit about your typical client.
Todd Miller:And I, I know you're based in Atlanta.
Todd Miller:Are you working with clients from all over or focused more there locally?
Todd Miller:Tell us a bit about that.
Shawn Maloney:Yeah, we work with everybody.
Shawn Maloney:Um, obviously we're located in, uh, northeast, uh, northeast of Atlanta.
Shawn Maloney:Um, we love working with people local, but we do have clients all over the country.
Shawn Maloney:Um, we do things virtually and remote.
Shawn Maloney:Um, that's not a problem at all.
Shawn Maloney:Um, but, uh, we are, you know, our typical clientele, um, is really, really all
Shawn Maloney:over the board from age and geographic.
Todd Miller:Well, give us an overview of what RetireWise does and, you know, how
Todd Miller:do you kind of differentiate yourselves from other financial planners out there?
Shawn Maloney:Yeah.
Shawn Maloney:You know, for us, um, we built a piece called our frameworks called
Shawn Maloney:the retire happy framework, right?
Shawn Maloney:We all want to retire happy, right?
Todd Miller:There you go.
Shawn Maloney:I want to retire miserable.
Shawn Maloney:I don't know about you guys, but it's
Todd Miller:people are going to retire miserable no matter what, but, you know.
Shawn Maloney:Well, you know, if you become that old curmudgeon, then, you
Shawn Maloney:know, that kind of stuff, I don't know.
Shawn Maloney:That's beyond my scope of services,
Todd Miller:There you go.
Shawn Maloney:but you know, you work hard your whole life.
Shawn Maloney:We want you to be happy.
Shawn Maloney:We want you to enjoy it.
Shawn Maloney:And so we built this framework where, yes, we dive in the financials and all
Shawn Maloney:that, but it's just not about financials.
Shawn Maloney:We want to.
Shawn Maloney:Get to know you a little bit, figure out what your retirement, why is what you
Shawn Maloney:want to do, and then build a plan and fund it around that, um, you know, and
Shawn Maloney:see how far down that plan we can get.
Shawn Maloney:If there's gaps, we'll figure out how to fill those.
Shawn Maloney:Um, but we start with, and what I call the base happy factor is if you break
Shawn Maloney:everything down into needs, wants, and wishes, if you can cover that needs
Shawn Maloney:category, that's the peace of mind.
Shawn Maloney:That's, you know, the sleep well factor at night, your bills are paid,
Shawn Maloney:you know, housing, food, utilities, even the, some of the fun stuff.
Shawn Maloney:Your base monthly expenses, right?
Shawn Maloney:If we can do that and get you that, that's the happy factor.
Shawn Maloney:And then we'll move on to the wants and wishes, those kinds of things.
Shawn Maloney:Um, but so we built this framework kind of going through that process and it's
Shawn Maloney:really all built on math and science as far as it will, of course, tied
Shawn Maloney:to the, what you want to do and the personal side of things, but the way
Shawn Maloney:the models come together, as far as how we plan, um, you know, it's a lot of
Shawn Maloney:thought went through it really tied back to even people that, uh, Nobel prize
Shawn Maloney:winners and, and, um, PhDs in economics and finance have put together concepts
Shawn Maloney:around retirement planning that we kind of follow and mesh them all together.
Todd Miller:So it kind of sounds like retire happy makes you guys
Todd Miller:kind of the samurai, samurai of financial planners or something.
Todd Miller:I like this.
Shawn Maloney:man.
Shawn Maloney:We bring out the nunchucks.
Todd Miller:You got the secret sauce there.
Todd Miller:That's great.
Todd Miller:So we, we believe when we know that a lot of our audience members
Todd Miller:here on construction disruption AEC space or maybe something else.
Todd Miller:But.
Todd Miller:Um, I'm just kind of curious.
Todd Miller:How does that seem to impact, um, your client's approach to retirement?
Todd Miller:Do you find that business owners typically are less prepared for, for
Todd Miller:retirement financially or, or more repaired or more prepared, or maybe
Todd Miller:no different than everyone else?
Shawn Maloney:Yeah, it's a great question.
Shawn Maloney:And we do have quite a few business owners and, you know, the first, my
Shawn Maloney:gut reaction to that is, is that most.
Shawn Maloney:Business owners are less prepared because they're concentrated on their business.
Shawn Maloney:And as a business owner myself, of course, I'm in the retirement space.
Shawn Maloney:I'm doing that.
Shawn Maloney:But I could, you know, I can empathize because you're so concentrated
Shawn Maloney:on your business and getting that running and moving forward.
Shawn Maloney:A lot of times you're not thinking about things down the road for yourselves or
Shawn Maloney:what we get a lot is business owners come to us and, you know, they're,
Shawn Maloney:they're getting closer to retirement.
Shawn Maloney:And this is kind of true for everybody that when you think about it, you
Shawn Maloney:know, everybody has that old crap moment where, you know, your kids are
Shawn Maloney:graduated from high school or college.
Shawn Maloney:You have your 1st grand baby or whatever it is.
Shawn Maloney:You have that life moment.
Shawn Maloney:They go, wait, I got to start turning the attention to me and what my future holds.
Shawn Maloney:Business owners are no different.
Shawn Maloney:Um, sometimes they catch on that a little bit later.
Shawn Maloney:But the way I look at it is, you know, it's never too late to start.
Shawn Maloney:Everybody deserves a plan.
Shawn Maloney:Let's figure out where you're at.
Shawn Maloney:I would encourage business owners, though, when you start a business.
Shawn Maloney:Um, or if you're just hearing this now and you have a business, just, just pause
Shawn Maloney:for a minute and start thinking about that because there are action items and
Shawn Maloney:plans and things you can do, whether, you know, however, big or small it may
Shawn Maloney:be, um, to get that started for you.
Shawn Maloney:Um, and it, you know, it could be an array of different things, just
Shawn Maloney:like everybody's retirement plan is, uh, not a 1 size fits all.
Shawn Maloney:Everybody's business, um, you know, is a little bit different and, you
Shawn Maloney:know, we can help you figure that out.
Todd Miller:You know, I think a lot of business owners sometimes will just
Todd Miller:assume, well, someday I'll sell my business and that will fund my retirement.
Todd Miller:But I've seen so many people go down that path and for whatever reason,
Todd Miller:when they go to sell their business, they find out it isn't worth nearly
Todd Miller:what they had hoped it would be worth.
Todd Miller:And, uh, so it kind of leaves them in a bad spot.
Todd Miller:So, uh, it sounds like, you know, you're, you're happy to help someone with a
Todd Miller:plan no matter their age or, or life.
Todd Miller:point.
Todd Miller:But gosh, if they come to you earlier, you can probably get them a whole
Todd Miller:lot better prepared, I suspect.
Shawn Maloney:Yeah, it makes it easier, you know, and this financial
Shawn Maloney:plan and retirement plan is 1 of those things that everybody kind of
Shawn Maloney:says, yeah, yeah, I got to do that.
Shawn Maloney:I'll get to that.
Shawn Maloney:I got to do that.
Shawn Maloney:And it keeps on getting kicked down the road.
Shawn Maloney:Right?
Shawn Maloney:Um, yeah, if you can start, they'll, you know, of course, if you can start
Shawn Maloney:earlier, the easier it is, because it's last, not as sacrificial.
Shawn Maloney:I should say, if you start earlier, right?
Shawn Maloney:You don't have to put away as much to get to that goal.
Shawn Maloney:But if you waited a little bit.
Shawn Maloney:Yeah.
Shawn Maloney:Uh, you know, start don't matter.
Shawn Maloney:Don't be embarrassed about where you're at.
Shawn Maloney:Just let's start, let's figure it out and how to get there.
Shawn Maloney:But, uh, for the younger generation out there, if you're listening, yeah, make
Shawn Maloney:it easier on yourself and life happens.
Shawn Maloney:You're going to put a plan in place.
Shawn Maloney:Life's going to happen.
Shawn Maloney:We're going to pivot and adjust.
Shawn Maloney:Uh, but then you get back up on it.
Todd Miller:Yeah.
Todd Miller:Makes a lot of sense.
Todd Miller:You know, something I think is kind of interesting.
Todd Miller:A lot of times folks who are in the construction industry, I mean,
Todd Miller:maybe they're a contractor or maybe they're even on the design end of
Todd Miller:things, but a lot of times they sort of have irregular income patterns.
Todd Miller:I mean, you know, you may go through a.
Todd Miller:period of time where, you know, the cash is just rolling in and
Todd Miller:then you go through a tight time.
Todd Miller:Um, what tips would you have for them with retirement planning if
Todd Miller:they do have that pretty sort of irregular up and down, uh, income?
Shawn Maloney:Yeah, that's a great question.
Shawn Maloney:And it really is.
Shawn Maloney:You still got to have a plan and it's all into the tracking of it in the mindset.
Shawn Maloney:So you want to have a plan in those months or those periods of time where you're
Shawn Maloney:not putting as much aside, you know, you track that and figure out, you know,
Shawn Maloney:how much you need to catch up later on.
Shawn Maloney:But the biggest thing is not getting discouraged in it.
Shawn Maloney:Um, you know, the plan could be adjusted and it can be
Shawn Maloney:reworked, but you don't want it.
Shawn Maloney:It doesn't mean that you have to totally go off the with it.
Shawn Maloney:The preservation, right?
Shawn Maloney:You don't have to totally change your plans.
Shawn Maloney:Let's keep toward the eye on the goal.
Shawn Maloney:Don't get discouraged.
Shawn Maloney:We'll, we'll just track that.
Shawn Maloney:And remember during the good times to replenish that, just like if
Shawn Maloney:you're a person that has, uh, an emergency savings and you have to
Shawn Maloney:dip into it to go fix the car or your dishwasher just blew up, right?
Shawn Maloney:Well, you want to replenish that emergency fund.
Shawn Maloney:I don't want to do the same concept with your retirement plan.
Shawn Maloney:It is, um, let's keep tabs on it and see if we can't replenish it if we can.
Todd Miller:Very interesting.
Todd Miller:I know that over the years, there have been a lot of.
Todd Miller:Um, what are some of the ways that you have seen retirement planning change over
Todd Miller:the years with sort of, you know, changing programs are out there, changing economic
Todd Miller:landscape, um, even changes in culture.
Todd Miller:I mean, do you find that people maybe are starting to think
Todd Miller:differently about it than they used to with different generations?
Todd Miller:I'm, I'm just curious.
Shawn Maloney:No, for sure.
Shawn Maloney:And I tell people all the time, look, retirement planning today is not what
Shawn Maloney:it was for our parents or grandparents.
Shawn Maloney:You know, it's a little bit different.
Shawn Maloney:Um, 1 of the biggest reasons is, you know, no longer companies offering
Shawn Maloney:pensions, um, only about 7 percent of companies offer a pension when, you
Shawn Maloney:know, when you start with them and then the ones that do have a pension, about
Shawn Maloney:50 percent of them are underfunded.
Shawn Maloney:Um, that's a whole nother story for another day that you
Shawn Maloney:want to make sure we look at.
Shawn Maloney:But, you want So it's not, it used to be, Hey, you got social security,
Shawn Maloney:you had a pension and maybe a little bit of savings that, you know,
Shawn Maloney:supplemented that a little bit.
Shawn Maloney:Um, that, but nowadays, you know, pensions now shifted to 401ks, um,
Shawn Maloney:which puts the onus back on us as, as individuals to plan our own retirement.
Shawn Maloney:Right.
Shawn Maloney:Back in the day, you just retired and went, Hey, great.
Shawn Maloney:I'm going to take my pension pay, pay, uh, payment, my social security payment.
Shawn Maloney:There was nothing to plan, but you know, now, uh, yes, the money's going
Shawn Maloney:into the 401k and other vehicles.
Shawn Maloney:Uh, but then you got to, here's the key is you got to figure out
Shawn Maloney:how to use that after you retire.
Shawn Maloney:Right?
Shawn Maloney:How are you going to regenerate that paycheck?
Shawn Maloney:Biggest thing is, you know, not only do you have to diversify your portfolio,
Shawn Maloney:it's, it's not just, Hey, I'm not going to put all my money in 1 stock.
Shawn Maloney:It's there's different types of retirement investment vehicles
Shawn Maloney:that all serve a different risk.
Shawn Maloney:Uh, and that has evolved over the years.
Shawn Maloney:There's newer things.
Shawn Maloney:There's different strategies, especially from what our parents
Shawn Maloney:and grandparents were doing.
Todd Miller:Yeah, very interesting.
Todd Miller:Um, well, probably the day before.
Todd Miller:So people will start hearing this podcast when we release it.
Todd Miller:Our country would have embarked on an administration
Todd Miller:change at the federal level.
Todd Miller:I'm just kind of curious, any crystal ball ideas on the impact
Todd Miller:that the new administration might have on retirement planning?
Shawn Maloney:Yeah.
Shawn Maloney:You know, those crystal balls are
Todd Miller:Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
Todd Miller:They are in my business, too.
Shawn Maloney:I wish I had that crystal ball, but it does have an impact, right?
Shawn Maloney:We keep an eye on anything that affects the economy and the markets and certainly
Shawn Maloney:the political environment, um, and the policies that are put in place do that.
Shawn Maloney:Um, you know, with the administration coming in there, um.
Shawn Maloney:Yeah.
Shawn Maloney:You're probably going to see a little more focus on, you know, uh,
Shawn Maloney:economy and financial structure.
Shawn Maloney:Um, those kind of things yet to be seen what, uh, they're
Shawn Maloney:going to be able to implement.
Shawn Maloney:There's a lot of ideas being thrown around.
Shawn Maloney:Um, there's also a lot of ideas being thrown around that, you
Shawn Maloney:know, I think are far fetched.
Shawn Maloney:Um, it'd be great, but you have to pay for it somehow, right?
Shawn Maloney:We're going to be in a little wait and see.
Shawn Maloney:Anytime we have a change in administration, there's a little bit of,
Shawn Maloney:um, a little bit of turbulence, you know.
Shawn Maloney:But overall, I'm positive on the outlook, um, you know, of where
Shawn Maloney:the new administration can take us from a financial standpoint.
Shawn Maloney:But there could be changes, right?
Shawn Maloney:There are some proposals out there that could affect our retirement planning.
Shawn Maloney:Um, and we've got to keep an eye on that.
Shawn Maloney:Of course, we're going to keep everybody up to date when
Shawn Maloney:those things come to fruition.
Shawn Maloney:But Overall, I'm in a positive light with it.
Todd Miller:Sure.
Todd Miller:Good.
Todd Miller:Um, you know, I think one of the things I heard about was the possibility
Todd Miller:of no longer taxing Social Security.
Todd Miller:Was that, but, but on the other hand, most folks, by the time you're
Todd Miller:drawing Social Security, you're in a pretty low tax bracket anyway, so
Todd Miller:is it really as great as it sounds?
Shawn Maloney:Well, you know what?
Shawn Maloney:It's great that you bring that up because taxes in retirement are a huge roadblock
Shawn Maloney:or a huge speed bump for people, right?
Shawn Maloney:And there's a retirement tax time bomb.
Shawn Maloney:I mean, if you don't plan for it, right, you could really get hit up, whether
Shawn Maloney:it's taxes on your social security, that a lot of people don't even think your
Shawn Maloney:social security benefits can be taxed.
Shawn Maloney:Um, or required RMDs or required minimum distributions requiring you to take
Shawn Maloney:money out that throws you in a different tax bracket, there's a lot of different
Shawn Maloney:things that we need to plan for.
Shawn Maloney:Um, and the Social Security tax, it's very interesting.
Shawn Maloney:I would love if they could do that.
Shawn Maloney:Here's the thing.
Shawn Maloney:Uh, let's we got to, they got to fix Social Security 1st, right?
Shawn Maloney:Because if they don't tax Social Security, that just put Social Security further
Shawn Maloney:down the path of being insolvent.
Todd Miller:sure.
Shawn Maloney:Right.
Shawn Maloney:So we got to fix their security before they can even do that.
Shawn Maloney:Um, and there's some proposals out there to fix social security.
Shawn Maloney:They're not on the floor, but they're in the committees.
Shawn Maloney:Um, you know, so we're not too, too worried about it, but there
Shawn Maloney:is going to be some adjustments.
Shawn Maloney:I can tell you that.
Todd Miller:Yeah, interesting.
Todd Miller:Um, any success stories come to mind as far as someone who benefited from
Todd Miller:RetireWise's approach and your help?
Shawn Maloney:Yeah.
Shawn Maloney:You know, this is where, uh, where it gets into.
Shawn Maloney:I love doing what we do.
Shawn Maloney:We're blessed to be able to help and serve people.
Shawn Maloney:Um, and while we're so passionate, is that the biggest thing I enjoy.
Shawn Maloney:And I'll tell you an exact story is, uh, when a couple comes in and they
Shawn Maloney:don't think they have enough, they're kind of worried about where they're at.
Shawn Maloney:Um, that, you know, they're not going to have enough for retirement and
Shawn Maloney:they're not really sure what to do.
Shawn Maloney:Um, we had a couple, well, I'll just tell you 1 recently, um, they came to
Shawn Maloney:1 of our classes that we teach came in and they saw us, um, and you can just
Shawn Maloney:kind of see they were tense about it.
Shawn Maloney:Um, and when you're talking to them, um.
Shawn Maloney:You know, they were just really worried about where they were going to end up and
Shawn Maloney:what they were going to be able to do.
Shawn Maloney:And they wanted to do a lot of different things.
Shawn Maloney:I mean, of course, provide for themselves, but they also wanted to have a little
Shawn Maloney:bit of fun and do some charity work and those kind of things, but they
Shawn Maloney:really didn't think it was possible.
Shawn Maloney:And.
Shawn Maloney:I love the look that comes over their face and their shoulders go down and
Shawn Maloney:they get relaxed when you tell them they're going to be okay, right?
Shawn Maloney:They had a, they had accounts that were all over the place at several
Shawn Maloney:different accounts from different employers, different savings, all
Shawn Maloney:these different things all over the board, but they didn't have a plan.
Shawn Maloney:Right.
Shawn Maloney:And here's the thing, guys, is you got to have not just the accumulation,
Shawn Maloney:you got to have a drawdown place.
Shawn Maloney:We put a drawdown plan in place for them that really laid out a
Shawn Maloney:roadmap to how they're going to spend that money in retirement or
Shawn Maloney:in where it's going to come from.
Shawn Maloney:And here's the thing is most people.
Shawn Maloney:Well, I don't say most people, but a lot of people don't have to have as much as
Shawn Maloney:you may think you have to need, right?
Shawn Maloney:It really depends on a lot of different circumstances, but they came in not
Shawn Maloney:thinking they had enough came off out of the office after obviously a meeting
Shawn Maloney:or 2, putting the plans together, having that happy factor and that
Shawn Maloney:peace of mind that, hey, they're gonna be able to enjoy their retirement.
Shawn Maloney:Um, you know, it's really about sometimes it's just about organizing
Shawn Maloney:it and planning it out the right way.
Todd Miller:So, let's say we have a listener out there who has
Todd Miller:done absolutely nothing so far.
Todd Miller:And, you know, maybe they are younger.
Todd Miller:Let's say they're in their early 30s or something.
Todd Miller:Um, you know, other than enlisting the help of your firm.
Todd Miller:You know, what are some practical steps that they could take right now
Todd Miller:to improve their retirement outlook?
Shawn Maloney:Yeah.
Shawn Maloney:I mean, obviously 1st thing is start.
Todd Miller:Sure.
Shawn Maloney:Right?
Shawn Maloney:But you want to get back to being disciplined on a, on a
Shawn Maloney:monthly, um, uh, you know, setting aside money on a monthly basis.
Shawn Maloney:If you're not participating in your 401k start right now.
Shawn Maloney:Take advantage of the, of the matches.
Shawn Maloney:If you have a 401k at your company, we're, I love 401ks because it encourages
Shawn Maloney:people to, um, uh, to save for retirement and take advantage of the match.
Shawn Maloney:That's free money, free returns.
Shawn Maloney:But I also recommend people don't put more into your 401k than what
Shawn Maloney:the company's matching, um, because you can take that money and do much
Shawn Maloney:better elsewhere outside of the 401k.
Shawn Maloney:We can explain that for days, but because you got more options, more flexibility.
Shawn Maloney:But 1st step is take, make sure you're taking advantage
Shawn Maloney:of what's available to you.
Shawn Maloney:The other thing is a lot of people don't like to budget and I'm not here to tell
Shawn Maloney:you, you have to be a, you know, a guru on budgeting and be all strict about it,
Shawn Maloney:but do it at least for a little while to track your expenses, to figure out.
Shawn Maloney:How much can you set aside?
Shawn Maloney:Right?
Shawn Maloney:A lot of people don't they get a paycheck and they just spend the
Shawn Maloney:money and they have money left and they just go on to the next month.
Shawn Maloney:Of course, I love budgeting, but at the same time, track what you're
Shawn Maloney:spent where you're spending is good.
Shawn Maloney:If you don't think you have enough, we'll track it for a few months.
Shawn Maloney:And see where your discretionary spending going, and then let's
Shawn Maloney:weigh the opportunity cost, right?
Shawn Maloney:Okay.
Shawn Maloney:Is buying the 6 things of Starbucks every week, you know, worth it?
Shawn Maloney:Or is it worth to put a few bucks in your retirement account?
Shawn Maloney:What's the opportunity cost of not saving for retirement?
Shawn Maloney:Right?
Shawn Maloney:Go into it with that mindset.
Shawn Maloney:Enjoy life by all means.
Shawn Maloney:Don't, you know, but.
Shawn Maloney:Also see where, see where you can really carve out a little
Shawn Maloney:bit to save aside if you're not,
Todd Miller:Yeah, makes a lot of sense.
Todd Miller:Good advice.
Todd Miller:So, let's say someone does want to engage, uh, RetireWise to help them out.
Todd Miller:Um, what does that look like for them to get started with you folks?
Shawn Maloney:yeah.
Shawn Maloney:So we set up, we have a free consultation.
Shawn Maloney:Um, you set up a meeting with us.
Shawn Maloney:We just get to know you, you get to know us a little bit, learn about you
Shawn Maloney:and what you want to do in retirement, what, where you're currently at,
Shawn Maloney:you got, you know, we'll tell you about us and, and how we do things.
Shawn Maloney:See if it's a fit for you, um, and a fit for us.
Shawn Maloney:And then, um, we will do that first initial analysis and we'll
Shawn Maloney:even give you the first pass at a plan, all part of the consultation.
Shawn Maloney:Um, we're firmly believe in, you know, we about people being educated
Shawn Maloney:with the right retirement planning and we're and we love what we do.
Shawn Maloney:And we're confident in how we build plans that we hope that you
Shawn Maloney:choose to move forward with us.
Shawn Maloney:But it's a simple process through that free consultation.
Shawn Maloney:We build a plan and see if it works for you.
Shawn Maloney:And then we'll decide, you know, see what the next steps are after that.
Shawn Maloney:We try to do the heavy lifting.
Shawn Maloney:Um, you know, a lot, a lot of people don't like talking about their money and,
Shawn Maloney:and they're, they're buried in all that kind of stuff, but we try to make it easy
Shawn Maloney:and I tell people, look, if we weren't friends before you came to work with us,
Shawn Maloney:we're going to be friends afterwards.
Shawn Maloney:We're going to get to know you, um, do, do that journey with you.
Todd Miller:Well, I love that.
Todd Miller:Good stuff.
Todd Miller:Now, I know that in your spare time, I'm sure you've got tons
Todd Miller:of that, you also have a podcast.
Todd Miller:Um, tell us a little bit about your show and what you do there.
Shawn Maloney:Yeah, I appreciate that.
Shawn Maloney:So my podcast is called the priority retirement.
Shawn Maloney:It's named after my book.
Shawn Maloney:That's also the priority retirement.
Shawn Maloney:Um, and we named it that just for that fact that that fact of priority, uh, so
Shawn Maloney:many people, as we discussed earlier, put off planning for retirement, or
Shawn Maloney:I'm going to get to it another day.
Shawn Maloney:Like we talked about, let's make it a priority because you know,
Shawn Maloney:what make making it a priority and planning and putting a little bit
Shawn Maloney:of time into you, uh, is going to.
Shawn Maloney:Okay.
Shawn Maloney:You know, investing in your future to have a solid 20, 30 years of
Shawn Maloney:retirement that you can enjoy.
Shawn Maloney:So let's make it a priority.
Shawn Maloney:Let's, uh, you know, we all work, um, you know, so we can enjoy that retirement.
Shawn Maloney:Let's put the right plan in place to do it.
Shawn Maloney:So on that podcast, you know, we have all kinds of guests on from, uh, colleagues
Shawn Maloney:in the industry to other planners, to state planners, Medicare people.
Shawn Maloney:Um, sometimes we just have clients on the talk about, you know, their experiences
Shawn Maloney:or people that aren't clients that are just talking about their retirement.
Shawn Maloney:So pretty well rounded just to kind of get different flavors and talk through.
Shawn Maloney:What is retirement plan?
Todd Miller:Well, I think that's fascinating and, you know, we all get
Todd Miller:inspired or get ideas or, you know, whatever by listening to other stories.
Todd Miller:So, I love that and that's a power of podcasting for sure.
Shawn Maloney:Yes, sir.
Todd Miller:So, your book, The Priority of Retirement, um, if someone's
Todd Miller:interested in that, how can they get it?
Todd Miller:Amazon, or can they buy it through your website, or how
Todd Miller:can they most easily get it?
Shawn Maloney:Yeah, the easiest way is it's it's on Amazon.
Shawn Maloney:Just search for the priority retirement.
Shawn Maloney:It's out there.
Shawn Maloney:You can get it paperback hardback audio book.
Shawn Maloney:Kindle all that jazz out there.
Shawn Maloney:It's easy to find.
Todd Miller:Oh, great.
Todd Miller:Very good.
Todd Miller:Well, we encourage folks to do that.
Todd Miller:Well, Gosh, you've been a great guest, been a good discussion.
Todd Miller:We're thankful for the time today.
Todd Miller:Um, we're close to wrapping up kind of what we call the business
Todd Miller:end of things, anything we haven't covered today that you'd sure
Todd Miller:like to share with our audience.
Shawn Maloney:I appreciate that.
Shawn Maloney:You know, it's my biggest message.
Shawn Maloney:Everybody is is, um, you know.
Shawn Maloney:Get started, but the biggest thing is what I alluded to earlier is, uh,
Shawn Maloney:only about 10 percent of Americans have a true retirement plan.
Shawn Maloney:A lot of times you ask, there was a Harvard study done and it
Shawn Maloney:asked people thousands of people that had a retirement plan.
Shawn Maloney:And they said, yes, well, okay.
Shawn Maloney:When they asked the next question, they dug into what they had was an account.
Shawn Maloney:They didn't have a plan.
Shawn Maloney:Right?
Shawn Maloney:And then if you dug a little bit deeper into it, they had an accumulation plan.
Shawn Maloney:I'm setting aside X amount of month, um, or whatever.
Shawn Maloney:Sure.
Shawn Maloney:But only 10 percent of people actually had that drawdown distribution plan.
Shawn Maloney:That's where the magic happens.
Shawn Maloney:That's where, what makes your retirement, the happy piece that gives you the peace
Shawn Maloney:of mind, um, you know, is you gotta have that drawdown phase accounted for.
Shawn Maloney:That's what we love to do.
Shawn Maloney:I encourage people, whether you work with us or anybody else is
Shawn Maloney:get that drawdown plan in place.
Shawn Maloney:Um, so you can have that happy retirement, a
Todd Miller:Great.
Todd Miller:I love it.
Todd Miller:Well, thank you again.
Todd Miller:Before we close out, um, I have to ask you if you're willing to participate in
Todd Miller:what we call our rapid fire questions.
Todd Miller:So, uh, Shawn, these are seven questions.
Todd Miller:Some may be serious.
Todd Miller:Some may be a little less serious.
Todd Miller:All you have to do is give a response.
Todd Miller:Are you up to the challenge of rapid fire, having no idea
Todd Miller:what we're about to ask you?
Shawn Maloney:little scared, but let's do it.
Todd Miller:Okay.
Todd Miller:Well, we can alternate asking questions, Ryan, would you like to ask the first one?
Ryan Bell:I would love to question number one.
Ryan Bell:What is a product or service you've acquired?
Ryan Bell:Recently, that was kind of a real game changer for you.
Shawn Maloney:Product or service.
Shawn Maloney:Um, you know, we really started expanding, uh, Services holistic stances.
Shawn Maloney:We have always factored in a state planning because that's
Shawn Maloney:really part of the equation.
Shawn Maloney:But now we have tools and partners that make that process
Shawn Maloney:so much even smoother for people.
Shawn Maloney:Um, and it just makes for a more well rounded relationship
Shawn Maloney:in 1 stop shop for people.
Todd Miller:Love it.
Todd Miller:Good stuff.
Todd Miller:So, you told us earlier that the eighth grade, Shawn, was involved
Todd Miller:in this, um, stock market game.
Todd Miller:And I remember doing that in middle school also, so I was right there with you.
Todd Miller:Um, but I'm curious, go back a few years before that.
Todd Miller:What did the eight year old Shawn Maloney want to be when he grew up?
Shawn Maloney:I love that question.
Shawn Maloney:Uh, in fact, in part of my bio, I talk about even at the young
Shawn Maloney:age of kindergarten, I remember going out and grabbing my mom
Shawn Maloney:and dad's junk mail, right.
Shawn Maloney:And playing office, right.
Shawn Maloney:I mean, I was, I mean, I went outside and played like a normal
Shawn Maloney:kid, but I was probably a little geeky as well, where I played office.
Shawn Maloney:I always wanted to be a business owner, right.
Shawn Maloney:I always wanted to be that businessman.
Shawn Maloney:Uh, and then in the eighth grade, the whole stock thing
Shawn Maloney:came around with the finances.
Shawn Maloney:Oh, let's put those two together.
Todd Miller:Oh, that's cool.
Todd Miller:That's cool.
Todd Miller:Yeah, you just reminded me of something that's not quite like that
Todd Miller:But similar I did as a child too that I haven't thought about in ages.
Todd Miller:So good stuff.
Ryan Bell:Next question.
Ryan Bell:Um, would you rather have the ability to see 10 minutes into the
Ryan Bell:future or 10 years into the future?
Shawn Maloney:Wow, that's a deep question.
Shawn Maloney:Um, you know what?
Shawn Maloney:Uh, probably 10 minutes.
Shawn Maloney:You know what?
Shawn Maloney:Because, you know, we're going to live our life.
Shawn Maloney:Life's a journey.
Shawn Maloney:Um, we're walking our journey and, and, um, you know, God
Shawn Maloney:has a purpose for us all.
Shawn Maloney:And we're going to get there one way or the other.
Shawn Maloney:Um, we're just going to live it one step at a time.
Shawn Maloney:So I'm just,
Todd Miller:Great answer Okay, next question.
Todd Miller:This one's a little more silly.
Todd Miller:Would you rather be chronically underdressed or chronically
Todd Miller:overdressed for the occasion?
Shawn Maloney:well, from an embarrassment factor,
Shawn Maloney:uh, probably overdressed.
Shawn Maloney:Uh, while I like to be more casual, um, I don't like to be embarrassed either.
Shawn Maloney:So I'll go with the overdressed
Todd Miller:My wife and I attended a wedding recently, and I had never
Todd Miller:been to a wedding before where it said this, but it said formal attire.
Todd Miller:And I'm like, I don't really know what that means.
Todd Miller:I don't have a lot of formal attire in my closet these days.
Todd Miller:So I lived for several months very nervous that I was going to show
Todd Miller:up entirely inappropriately dressed but in the end it all worked out.
Ryan Bell:Next question.
Ryan Bell:Are you an early bird or a night owl?
Shawn Maloney:both.
Shawn Maloney:But more early bird early riser.
Shawn Maloney:I used to be more of a late, late owl.
Shawn Maloney:Now I'm getting older and get tired quicker.
Shawn Maloney:So I'm going to go with early.
Todd Miller:Man I fall asleep on the couch about 7 o'clock every night anymore.
Todd Miller:Crazy.
Todd Miller:Okay, next to last question.
Todd Miller:What is the strangest food you have ever eaten?
Shawn Maloney:I don't know, probably just venturing off into some, uh, different
Shawn Maloney:kinds of seafoods and stuff like octopus
Todd Miller:Mm hmm.
Shawn Maloney:of, uh, I mean, I like a lot of different
Shawn Maloney:things, but I'll go with that.
Shawn Maloney:That's probably didn't want to try that, but I was like, okay, I can try it once.
Todd Miller:There you go.
Ryan Bell:Okay.
Ryan Bell:Final question.
Ryan Bell:Pivoting here a little bit into something more serious.
Ryan Bell:What would you like to be remembered for at the end of your days on earth?
Shawn Maloney:Wow.
Shawn Maloney:That's deep.
Ryan Bell:Yeah,
Shawn Maloney:You know, um, It really just being someone that was willing to
Shawn Maloney:serve and help, help others, um, and, and be willing to do that with a smile
Shawn Maloney:on their face and not expecting anything in return, um, just service oriented.
Todd Miller:Servant leadership.
Todd Miller:I love it.
Todd Miller:Good stuff.
Todd Miller:Well, thank you, Shawn.
Todd Miller:This has been great.
Todd Miller:Thank you for your time today.
Todd Miller:For anyone who wants to get in touch with you or, you know, perhaps learn more about
Todd Miller:RetireWise and what you folks do, what are some of the best ways for them to do that?
Shawn Maloney:Yeah, easiest things probably got to the website.
Shawn Maloney:It's retire wise pro dot com.
Shawn Maloney:Uh, we're actually in the middle of redoing the website.
Shawn Maloney:So check it out now and then check it out in a few weeks.
Shawn Maloney:It's going to be all new.
Shawn Maloney:Give you a surprise.
Shawn Maloney:So retire wise pro dot com hit us up.
Shawn Maloney:Uh, you can email me at Shawn Maloney at retire wise pro, but
Shawn Maloney:you can just go to the website.
Shawn Maloney:You can find our social links there, email, phone calls, all that kind of.
Todd Miller:Very cool.
Todd Miller:And we will put that information in the show notes as
Shawn Maloney:Thank you.
Todd Miller:So, I think we all got in our challenge words, didn't we?
Todd Miller:Shawn, your word was
Shawn Maloney:Conundrum.
Todd Miller:and you got it in there, didn't you?
Shawn Maloney:Yes, sir.
Todd Miller:Yeah, I thought so.
Todd Miller:Okay.
Todd Miller:And Ryan, you saved it for the last minute.
Todd Miller:You had us on the edge
Ryan Bell:always do.
Ryan Bell:My word was pivot.
Todd Miller:You got pivoted there.
Todd Miller:And I had samurai, which I stumbled when I said it.
Todd Miller:I thought, oh, that's a dead giveaway when you stumble when
Todd Miller:you're saying it, but anyway.
Ryan Bell:I think you still pulled it off.
Shawn Maloney:We'll give you credit.
Todd Miller:Thank you.
Todd Miller:I appreciate your grace.
Todd Miller:That's for sure.
Todd Miller:Well, thank you again, Shawn.
Todd Miller:It's been a pleasure.
Todd Miller:We enjoyed having you on the show.
Shawn Maloney:Thank you for having me.
Todd Miller:And thank you to our audience for tuning into this
Todd Miller:episode of Construction Disruption with Shawn Maloney of RetireWise.
Todd Miller:Please watch for future episodes of our podcast.
Todd Miller:We always have great guests.
Todd Miller:Don't forget to leave a review for us.
Todd Miller:We love those thumbs up.
Todd Miller:Until the next time we're together, though, keep on disrupting.
Todd Miller:Keep on challenging things in your world, looking for better ways of doing things.
Todd Miller:And don't forget to have a positive impact on everyone you encounter.
Todd Miller:Make them smile.
Todd Miller:And encourage them.
Todd Miller:So God bless and take care.
Todd Miller:This is Isaiah industry signing off until the next episode
Todd Miller:of construction disruption.