Gear vs. Stuff with Michael Easter

Retirement Answer Man

Roger Whitney, CFP®, CIMA®, RMA, CPWA®

Lifeplanning, Retirementplanning, Financialplanning, Saving, Careerplanning, Self-improvement, Education, Retirementpodcast, Investing, Business, Investmentmanagement, Retirement

4.7 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 11 December 2024

⏱️ 39 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this episode, Roger discusses the impact of our relationship with "stuff" on our retirement journey. With the holiday season upon us, we're all about giving and receiving, but how does this accumulation affect us long-term? Michael Easter, author of The Comfort Crisis and Scarcity Brain, joins the conversation and shares insights on distinguishing between gear and stuff. Michael shares insights on the psychological and societal influences driving consumption and offers practical tips for making more mindful purchasing decisions. We also address listener questions on topics like the tax implications of campaign promises and master limited partnerships. Tune in for a thought-provoking discussion that might just change the way you view your possessions and retirement planning.

OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN

[01:00] Our relationship with stuff can have second and third order consequences in retirement
[01:50] How watching the Buy Now documentary inspired Roger to think about possessions
[03:10] The impact of clutter on retirement

GEAR VS. STUFF CHAT WITH MICHAEL EASTER

[05:40] How the amount of items in the average home has changed over time and why
[07:36] Michael Easter defines gear and stuff
[09:39] Humans evolved to get as much information as possible
[12:00] Managing gear vs. stuff in holiday shopping
[12:45] How ecommerce platforms have taken features from casinos to help speed purchases
[14:25] Strategies to reduce needless purchases
[19:50] Roger’s plan for gifts this year

LISTENER QUESTIONS

[23:45] David’s comment on verse and versus
[24:55] Mary on how to ask better questions
[26:26] Armand asks why we aren’t discussing potential elimination of income tax on Social Security
[30:41] Todd has a question about master limited partnership stocks

SMART SPRINT

[38:00] Be aware of your purchases this holiday season - are you buying gear or stuff?

Resources Mentioned In This Episode

Michael Easter

Cal Newport

Books: The Comfort Crisis and Scarcity Brain by Michael Easter

Netflix documentary Buy Now

Six-Shot Saturday

Transcript

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0:00.0	The show is a proud member of the Retirement Podcast Network.
0:07.3	The more you have, the more you are occupied.
0:11.6	The less you have, the more free you are.
0:15.8	Mother Teresa.
0:21.6	Hey there. Welcome to The Retirement Answer Man show. Hey there.
0:22.6	Welcome to The Retirement Answer Man show.
0:24.8	The show dedicated to helping you not just survive retirement, but to have the confidence
0:29.6	because you're doing the work to lean in and rock retirement.
0:35.2	It is the holiday season and you are going to be receiving and giving a lot of
0:42.2	stuff. It's a fun time of year to show your appreciation and thankfulness to others and to give.
0:50.0	But our relationship with stuff can have second and third order consequences, not just in our life,
0:57.3	but in our retirement.
0:58.4	And to talk about this today, I'm bringing on friend and awesome author, Michael Easter,
1:05.2	to talk about the difference between gear and stuff to maybe inform our holiday giving, and that's sort of the acute stage we're in now,
1:15.2	but also I want to connect the dots between how it can impact our retirement.
1:21.5	In addition to that, we're going to answer some of your questions.
1:25.3	So let's get this party started.
1:31.0	I think... answer some of your questions. So let's get this party started. I had talked about this topic of stuff before. It's been on my mind personally, so maybe that's
1:39.5	why I'm thinking about it. And I just recently watched a Netflix documentary called Buy Now talking about modern
1:48.1	commerce and how in many ways were manipulated psychologically to consume more and how that's not
1:55.3	healthy for us, the world, or the environment. A lot of dots being connected there that have been front
2:02.5	and center for me. So I wanted to bring on Michael Easter, author of The Comfort Crisis and
	...

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