“I’m 54. My advisor said fully funding my 401(k) won't make a big difference. Is he right?”

HerMoney with Jean Chatzky

Jean Chatzky Her Money

Investing, Business

4.7 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 27 March 2026

⏱️ 31 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

When was the last time you felt truly in control of your time? Not your calendar, not your to-do list…your time? If the answer is "I can't remember," this episode is for you. Jean Chatzy is joined by Andy Hill, AFC, founder of Marriage, Kids, and Money, and author of Own Your Time: 10 Financial Steps to Put Your Family First and Escape the Corporate Grind. Together, they tackle your most pressing mailbag questions about the real tension so many of us are feeling right now: how do you balance saving aggressively for the future with actually enjoying your life today? In this episode: A 41-year-old high earner wants to know what to do with extra money beyond maxing out her accounts A 54-year-old asks whether her financial advisor is right that fully funding her 401 (k) won't make much difference. A 52-year-old is stretched thin between her career and caring for her aging mom and wonders: Is it financially irresponsible to step back during her peak-earning years? Andy also shares how he and his wife hit their Coast FIRE number, redesigned their lives around a 20-hour workweek, and what the first move looks like if you want to do the same. Ready to make your money work harder so you don't have to? Join InvestingFixx and learn how to build a portfolio that buys back your time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	The world moves fast. Your workday? Even faster. Pitching products, drafting reports,
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0:30.1	McGriddles, a new McDonald's breakfast. So it's maple syrup infused. It's sweet, then it's
0:35.8	savory, because the sausage, you know, and the cheese
0:38.3	and the egg. Oh, it's got the golden archie stamped on it too. Make that make sense.
0:42.6	It's hard to put into words, but...
0:44.3	Until 11 a.m., subject to availability, fees apply to delivery orders while stocks last.
0:52.2	Hey everybody, it's Gene Chatsky. Welcome to Her Money and let me ask you all something.
0:58.1	What was the last time you felt like you were truly in control of your time? Not your calendar,
1:05.7	not your to-do list, your time. It has been such a long time for me that this show, I know we're doing
1:15.3	it for all of you, but I got to say this feels like a whole lot of me search because lately
1:21.5	I am feeling as if my schedule is running me.
1:27.9	And I'm definitely not the only one because the questions coming into our mailbag
1:32.0	are not just rates of return questions.
1:35.7	They're not just Roth conversion questions, though we appreciate all of those.
1:41.1	They are about something deeper.
1:49.6	They're about whether you should try to put some more money into that 401k or maybe ease up a little bit. Whether stepping back at work will derail
1:57.2	your retirement or maybe not. And how to balance your peak earning years with caregiving,
2:06.4	with burnout, with the very real desire for breathing room. In other words, how do you use your money
2:12.7	to create more freedom, not tomorrow, but right now. That is what we're talking about today.
	...

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