Client walks in. 68 years old. $2.8M net worth.
House is paid off. Worth $950K.
She's living on $38K a year from Social Security.
Tell me how that makes sense.
She brings coupons to restaurants. Buys the cheapest everything.
"I'm not taking money from my retirement accounts. I need that for emergencies."
What emergency costs $2.8M? You're denying yourself basic comforts at 68. You haven't visited your grandkids in Phoenix in 2 years. Your emergency fund has an emergency fund.
She fought me for 8 months.
"My parents taught me never to touch principal."
Your parents also retired with a pension and died at 74.
We finally got her to take distributions last year.
$120K annually from her portfolio. Still only a 4.3% withdrawal rate.
Now she's flying to Phoenix quarterly. Took her grandkids to Disney. And stopped agonizing over every $12 purchase.
She spent 3 years being miserable with $2.8M in the bank.
You don't get a prize for dying with the most money.