Process Over Panic: Building a Great Life with Dr. Meir Statman

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

🗓️ 14 May 2025

⏱️ 84 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

It’s a super-sized episode today—and for good reason. We spend the bulk of the show in a deep, insightful conversation with Dr. Meir Statman, a leading voice in behavioral finance. I also walk you through the four non-financial pillars of retirement: mindset, energy, passions, and relationships. We'll talk about how to manage what you can control—and how to respond when life throws you the stuff you can’t. Plus, we answer a few of your questions. There’s a lot here, but it’s worth every minute. Let’s get to it.

SUMMARY OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN

(00:00) This podcast is dedicated to helping you survive retirement with confidence
(00:34) Today on the show we are going to focus on the non-financial realm as we continue talking about process and things we can control versus what we can’t control.

ROCKIN RETIREMENT IN THE WILD

(02:14) Roger shares an anonymous message from a listener about her husband retiring and the confidence they have built in their retirement.

PRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT

(04:50) Sometimes in retirement planning, we tend to overemphasize the financial side of things and forget about the rest of our lives.
(06:23) Roger identifies controllables and non-controllables within the non-financial pillars of retirement.
(14:50) Roger talks about some examples of people who focused on things that they could control and found success.
(16:19) Roger says that the Rock Retirement Club has been a source of inspiration for him.

INTERVIEW WITH MEIR STATMAN

(18:13) Roger introduces Meir Statman, author of A Wealth of Wellbeing.
(19:34) Roger asks what motivated Dr. Statman to write his latest book.
(22:10) Dr. Statman talks about his relationship with Nobel Prize winner, Harry Markowitz
(25:57) Roger talks about behavioral finance and what it means from his perspective.
(30:02) We talk about financial wellbeing but you also need to focus on life wellbeing.
(31:06) Dr. Statman discusses a u-curve in life wellbeing.
(37:25) Roger and Dr. Statman talk about accepting who you are.
(39:30) Dr. Statman talks about the components of wellbeing.
(41:49) Roger asks about social capital in retirement.
(49:00) Starting a conversation is really important, Meir says
(51:19) What is cultural capital?
(57:32) Developing social, cultural, and personal capital becomes harder as you get older.
(01:01:38) What is personal capital?

LISTENER QUESTIONS

(01:04:42) Listener Brian sends a question about generating his retirement paycheck.
(01:17:52) Another listener named Brian asks about investing in annuities.

SMART SPRINT

(01:22:20) In the next seven days, before you get out of bed, smile and tell yourself it is going to be a great day!

BONUS

(01:22:48) Roger reads from his grandfather’s WWII journal.

REFERENCES

BOOKS

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	About 10 years ago, I started doing something daily that has literally changed my life.
0:05.2	Every morning before I get out of bed, I smile and I say, I'm going to have a great day.
0:11.9	There will be challenges, but it's still going to be great.
0:15.5	And you know what?
0:16.4	It works.
0:22.2	Welcome to the show dedicated to helping you not just survive retirement, but to have the
0:26.2	confidence to lean in and rock it because you're focused on the right things.
0:32.7	Seriously, man, it works.
0:34.8	Today on the show, we are going to focus on the non-financial realm as we continue this focus on
0:41.9	process and distinguishing between the things we can control and the things we can't control.
0:48.2	I'm going to go through the four non-financial pillars that we focus on.
0:53.1	In addition to that, we're going to have a legend in the
0:56.8	behavioral finance space, Dr. Meyer Statman, author of A Wealth of Well-Bean, this is a guy that you
1:04.2	should listen to if you want to rock retirement. He's going to share his thoughts on what they've
1:10.7	identified as the things that
1:12.2	help people have a great life. Now, last week, we didn't get to any of your questions. So we're
1:17.2	going to answer some of your questions today as well. We'll answer one on using the 72T strategy.
1:24.0	That's the substantially equal periodic payments technique for getting money out of IRAs
1:29.9	prior to 59 and a half. I'm actually going to, in addition to answering the question today,
1:34.4	I'm going to share a video walking through the basics so you understand the concept
1:39.5	in the case that it might be applicable to you. We'll share that video in our weekly
1:44.9	noodle email. You can sign up for the noodle email, which is a recap of the show, as well
	...

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