04.21.26 Ask An Advisor With Wes Moss

The Clark Howard Podcast

Clark Howard

Business, Investing, Entrepreneurship

4.6 • 5.2K Ratings

🗓️ 21 April 2026

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Why Successful People Struggle With Retirement & What’s Going On With the Economy? In this episode, Wes tackles the psychological hurdle that many high-achievers face when they finally reach the "Retirement Green Zone." After decades of using hard work, discipline, and ambition to build a nest egg, it can be incredibly difficult to simply turn that drive off. Wes discusses the "ambition guilt" that many retirees feel when they pursue creative hobbies or passions that don’t generate a paycheck. Rather than viewing this transition as "lowering" your ambition, Wes argues that the key to a happy retirement is rechanneling that legendary work ethic into areas that feed your soul instead of your bank account. Also, it can feel like we’re in a confusing state of the 2026 economy, where record-breaking corporate data seems at odds with the reality on the ground. While U.S. company profits soared by 26% in late 2025 and nominal GDP has grown significantly since 2019, many consumers are still feeling the weight of high prices. Wes explains how we are living in a "K-shaped" economy and breaks down what these disparities mean for your wallet and how to navigate an environment where productivity is higher than ever, but the benefits aren't being shared equally. Mentioned on the show: How I Became Less Ambitious—and Happier—in Retirement Pension vs Lump Sum Calculator - Clark Howard Plus, Christa shares your #AskWes questions and Wes gives his take. All this and more on the April 21, 2026, Ask an Advisor episode of the Clark Howard podcast. Submit your questions at clark.com/ask. We hope you enjoy our weekly Ask An Advisor episodes. Let us know what you think in the comments! Learn more about Wes: BOOKS BY WES MOSS Wes Moss, CFP® Wes Moss - Clark.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:47.9	We're back with another episode of Ask an Advisor on the Clark Howard show. I'm Krista Dibias.
0:56.9	And I'm here with Wes Moss. Hi, Krista.
1:02.7	Hello, Wes. Today on the show, we're going to talk about a couple of things. One is,
1:08.1	Wes, I know you've studied what makes someone happy in retirement, but a lot of people get to retirement and they're suddenly unhappy. And you're going to share with
1:11.1	us one of those reasons and how we can avoid that. Yeah, sometimes what can get us to the financial
1:16.5	side of retirement freedom keeps us from having retirement happiness. And later, gosh,
1:23.1	I feel like we're getting so many mixed messages all the time about the economy, what's really going
1:28.4	on, you know, and you're going to sort of lay out for us what your opinion is and what you're
1:34.0	seeing and how you... Mix messages is the right way to put it. Yes. And of course, we're going to
1:39.3	take your questions. You can submit your questions at clark.com slash ask and indicate if your question is for west,
1:46.9	please. Let's start with this. I think of this topic as figuring out a way to re-channel your
1:54.3	ambition because I talk about getting to these retirement green zones. I mean, we know in America
	...

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