One of the major topics we hope to help our listeners with is retirement planning, and today we have a really informative and illuminating conversation with a true expert in the field, Don Ezra. His approach is typified by his focus on retirement and happiness, and their important intersection, subjects he has broached in his many published books, notably Life Two, and Happiness. Don is a self-professed financial nerd, so you know that he will fit right in on this podcast! His advice is relatable and easy to understand, a result of working on his own retirement along the way. Don is an actuary by trade and helped establish Russell Investments Canada in 1984, through which he worked on many huge pension funds across the world, endowing him with amazing expertise in the space. In our conversation, Don gives us such a wide-ranging view of his approach, and the amazing conglomeration of ideas he has amassed on the subject of better retirement, or as he likes to call it, graduation from full-time employment! He breaks things down in easy and catchy ways, giving us some fundamental questions that can help initially guide the retiree, around purpose, action, and money. From there he talks about the seven asset classes of your life's abundance portfolio, needs versus wants, and even finds a spot to comment on the strengths and weakness of the FIRE philosophy. So for all this and much more, join us on the Rational Reminder today! Timestamps: 0:00 - 2:08 - Intro - Don Ezra! 2:09 - 3:44 How did you feel once you retired? 3:45 - 4:41 Freedom and retirement 4:42 - 7:12 U-curve of happiness 7:13 - 8:23 Scary questions to answer before retirement 8:24 - 9:46 Why do you think people worry so much about outliving their money? 9:47 - 11:15 Feeling certain about a retirement income stream 11:16 - 12:39 Sequence of return risk to investors as they head into retirement 12:40 - 16:25 How do you explain to them the variability of outcomes? 16:26 - 18:16 How do you estimate how long you're going to live? 18:17 - 20:34 Insights about mix of stocks and bonds 20:35 - 23:07 Does it still make sense to have bonds in the portfolio? 23:08 - 26:02 How do you approach generating retirement income in your own portfolio? 26:03 - 26:03 How important do you think it is for retirees to be flexible in the amounts that they're spending each year? 27:04 - 28:25 Would you start shaving off once if you're in year three and spending down the cash buffer? 28:26 - 30:33 Should retirees consider annuities and if so, when? 30:34 - 32:04 Is inflation a bigger risk for a retiree than it is for somebody who's still working? 32:05 - 37:47 Are you suggesting that costs for retirees don't increase as much because the basket of services they're using get cheaper as they get older? 37:48 - 40:38 What assumptions do you yourself use for planning purposes? 43:06 - 46:26Can you talk about what you learned through working with pensions? 46:27- 46:26How do you and your experience suggest people figure out what to do with their time? 50:44 - 54:16 Can you talk about the seven asset classes of your life's abundance portfolio? 54:17 - 56:29 What are your thoughts on FIRE? 56:30 - 1:01:50 What a good conversation with your financial advisor should look like 1:01:51 - 1:03:59 do you think people are too conservative in thinking about what they may truly find joyful in retirement? 1:04:00 - 1:08:23 How do you think people should talk about money with their adult children? 1:08:24 - End How do you define success in your life? Books From Today’s Episode: Life Two — https://amzn.to/2T0jEBx Happiness — https://amzn.to/3gYtFav How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free — https://amzn.to/3qnbcsv Victory Lap Retirement — https://amzn.to/3gTO5Bm Retirement Heaven or Hell — https://amzn.to/3qnbaAT The Seven Stages of Money Maturity — https://amzn.to/2UmLzfd Stumbling on Happiness — https://amzn.to/2SsKgLm Links From Today’s Episode: Rational Reminder on iTunes — https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-rational-reminder-podcast/id1426530582. Rational Reminder Website — https://rationalreminder.ca/ Follow us on Twitter - https://twitter.com/RationalRemind Follow us on Instagram - @rationalreminder Benjamin on Twitter — https://twitter.com/benjaminwfelix Cameron on Twitter — https://twitter.com/CameronPassmore Don Ezra — https://donezra.com/ Russell Investments Canada — https://russellinvestments.com/ca Longevity Illustrator — longevityillustrator.org