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Your Money Guide on the Side

5 Ways to Invest (And Spend) $2 Million

Your Money Guide on the Side

Tyler Gardner

Business, Education, Entrepreneurship, Investing, How To

4.92.4K Ratings

🗓️ 2 February 2026

⏱️ 42 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

A massive thank you to those who make this show possible! Facet: Every January we obsess over physical health. But what about your financial health? If you're ready to actually get a plan instead of just hoping for the best, Facet pairs you with CFP® professionals who build personalized strategies for a flat fee. Head to facet.com/tyler to get $250 into your brokerage account when you invest $5,000 in your first 90 days, plus waived enrollment fees for new annual members. Fabric: If anyone relies on your paycheck, term life insurance isn't optional—it's the safety net that catches them if you're not there. Fabric by Gerber Life lets you apply online in ten minutes with no health exam, and a million dollars in coverage often costs less than a dollar a day. Head to meetfabric.com/tyler to get covered before you finish your coffee—policies issued by Western-Southern Life Assurance Company, not available in certain states, prices subject to underwriting. And now on to the show notes! Saving money for retirement gets all the attention. Spending that money intelligently is the hard part. In this episode, Tyler tackles the part of retirement no one really teaches: how to draw down your money without running out, losing sleep, or overpaying in taxes. Accumulation is mostly math and discipline. Decumulation is judgment, flexibility, and understanding tradeoffs. This is a practical walkthrough of dynamic retirement income strategies — not rigid rules — and why the approach your parents used probably doesn’t work anymore. In this episode, Tyler breaks down: Why retirement drawdown is harder than saving — and why there’s no single “right” rule The three main income strategies in retirement: selling growth assets, living off dividends, and fixed income How the 4% rule actually works — and why it shouldn’t be followed blindly The pros and cons of dividend-focused portfolios, including tax implications When bonds, ladders, and annuities can make sense as income stabilizers Why inflation is the silent risk most retirees underestimate The most tax-efficient order to withdraw from accounts How Roth conversions, low tax brackets, and timing can save real money Along the way, Tyler explains why flexibility beats optimization, why peace of mind matters as much as returns, and why most retirees end up using a blend of all three strategies, not just one. This episode isn’t about squeezing every last dollar out of your portfolio. It’s about making your money last long enough to enjoy it — and knowing how to adapt as markets, taxes, and life change. If you’re approaching retirement, thinking about early retirement, or just want to understand how the endgame actually works, this episode gives you a solid framework to start from. And if the show has been helpful, leaving a quick review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify genuinely helps. As always, hope this gives you something worth thinking about this week.

Transcript

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0:00.0

The goal isn't to die with the most money.

0:03.0

The goal is to have enough to do awesome stuff for as long as you want and are able.

0:07.6

Some people optimize for maximum wealth.

0:10.3

Some people optimize for maximum spending.

0:12.9

The right answer is somewhere in the middle, and it's different for everyone.

0:18.8

Hello, friends. This is Tyler Gardner, welcoming you to another episode of your

0:23.1

money guide on the side, where it is my job to simplify what seems complex, add nuance to what

0:28.9

seems simple, and learn from and alongside some of the brightest minds in money, finance, and

0:34.8

investing. So let's get started and get you one step closer to where you need to be.

0:40.9

Welcome back, my friends, to the show, where we talk about money like actual humans, not

0:45.7

like finance textbooks written by robots who've never experienced joy.

0:51.0

I'm your host, and today we're tackling a question I've gotten approximately 47 times

0:55.5

in the last three days.

0:58.2

Okay, I saved all this money for retirement, or I have all this money at 40.

1:02.9

Now, how the heck do I spend it or draw it down in as optimal of a way as possible?

1:09.3

So I, A, don't run out of money, and B, can find some way

1:14.5

to stick it to Uncle Sam after years of being taxed on Badang Paycheck, aka find a way

1:20.9

to pay less in taxes and be slightly more tax efficient. Great question. I get it all the time.

1:26.9

Because here's what very few folks

1:29.5

talk about between yelling at you to max out your 401k in your 30s and then skimping on coffee

1:35.5

and joy in your 40s. Accumulating wealth is actually the easy part. I'm not saying we can all

1:42.2

do it. I'm not saying we can all be millionaires overnight.

...

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