Are you truly ready to retire or are these financial habits holding you back?

Ralph
00:00:00

Imagine finally reaching retirement age, only to realize that your financial habits have been holding you back from the peaceful and fulfilling life you always dreamed of. Well today, we're diving deep into the common pitfalls that can sabotage your retirement dreams and I'm going to provide practical, faith based steps to help you overcome them.

If you're worried about outliving your savings, struggling with overspending, or relying too heavily on debt, this episode is for you. Are you truly ready to retire or are these financial habits holding you back?

That's what we're going to talk about on today's show. So stay with us as we explore how to prepare for a stress free retirement and ensure your golden years are truly golden.

Podcast Announcer
00:00:40

In a world where crushing debt keeps you trapped, where living paycheck to paycheck has become your new normal, and where the dream of retirement seems impossibly out of reach, there's hope. Join financial evangelist Ralph Estep Jr. A man who's walked through the fire of financial failure and emerged stronger on the other side.

Welcome to Ask Ralph, the show where real world experience meets biblical truth to break the bondage of financial despair.

Get ready to take control of your money, break free from the financial stress and align your resources with God's purpose for your life. This is Ask Ralph with Ralph Estep Jr.

Ralph
00:01:17

Well, thank you so much for joining me today. I am Ralph, your financial evangelist, and I am thrilled you've taken time to be with me. Today, we're tackling a crucial topic that impacts many of us and that's retirement readiness. And I promise you, you're going to find tremendous value in what we discuss today, so let's get started. Yesterday we discussed an essential topic and that is what happens to your debt when you're no longer here. Yes, it was one of those difficult discussions to have, but we explored the importance of planning for your loved one's financial wellbeing well after you're gone. So if you missed it, I'm going to encourage you to go check it out.

You can do that at askralph.com. It's a topic that can bring peace of mind to you and your family  even in those most difficult times. But now let's get to today's topic, which is so very important.

Today's listener question comes to us from Linda and Linda this was a great question. Well, let me get right to it. Says this. "Ralph, I'm nearing retirement, but I'm terrified that I won't have enough saved. I've always struggled with overspending and have some debt that I can't seem to shake. I want to enjoy my retirement, but I'm worried about outliving my savings.

Every time I think about it, I feel a knot in my stomach. I've worked so hard all my life, and I don't want to spend my golden years stressed about money. Can you help me figure out how to break these habits and prepare for a peaceful retirement? I really need your guidance."

Linda, I just want to start by thanking you so much for that heartfelt question. And your fears about retirement are incredibly common. I hear these every day, every day in my practice on our live show, I hear these things and I completely understand that anxiety. It's that anxiety over uncertainty about your financial future.

Because if you think about it, a lot of people get really hung up on this because you know, that well of money coming in is going to dry up and you're going to be living on your savings. And the truth of the matter is those things that you struggle with before you retire are the same things that many of us struggle with, overspending and debt.

It can feel overwhelming, especially as you start to prepare for retirement. But Linda, I want to start by telling you this. There is hope. I've helped many clients overcome these challenges, and we can work together to find a solution that works for you. I'm going to start that process today because listen, Linda, I understand it.

You've worked hard your whole life and you truly deserve to enjoy your retirement without the burden of financial stress. So I am going to lay out some practical steps that address these issues and ensure that your golden years truly are golden.

Now before I get to answering Linda's question, I just want to remind you that you can submit your questions just like Linda by going to justaskralph.com. The truth is your questions really fuel the show and I love answering them. It's the heart of what we do here on the show and it's my goal. It's my mission to provide you with guidance you need to achieve financial peace.

And that's what we're really talking about today.

Well Linda, let's take a moment and ground ourselves in scripture. I found a Bible verse that directly speaks and relates to your topic today, and I've used this on the show many times, but it is so appropriate for your question today, Linda, and it comes to us from the book of Proverbs chapter 21 verse 5, and it says this.

"The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty." And if you think about it, Linda, this verse reminds us that careful planning, that retirement planning, that getting ready for retirement and that diligence are essential for financial success both before retirement and after retirement.

So as we prepare for retirement, it is absolutely crucial to be thoughtful and to be intentional with our financial decisions. And that is exactly what we're going to talk about on today's show.

So today I want to start with my gratitude statement. I am truly grateful for this opportunity to help people like you, Linda.

I help people navigate their financial challenges. And this is the blessing. The Lord has given me the experience and he's given me understanding to guide others through these difficult times. And these are not easy situations. And I am so very thankful for the chance to make a difference in people's lives.

That's why I do what I do. That's why I turn on this microphone. That's why I turn on this camera. That's why I plan these shows. And it is truly a privilege to be able to share my knowledge and help others find that financial peace.

Well Linda, let's get right into your question.
And the truth is this, Linda. Retirement is a dream for most of us. I would even venture to say many of us, it's a time to finally relax and it's a time to enjoy the fruits of all the labor we put into it. But the unfortunate side, Linda, I know this is what I feel in your letter is sometimes retirement is filled with uncertainty and it's filled with stress and that uncertainty and that stress comes from that fear of not being prepared.

And one of the things, or a couple of things you mentioned, Linda, was that you mentioned struggling with overspending and you mentioned struggling with debt. Well, I'm going to share some stories with you today and I'm going to give you some encouragement and I'm going to give you some practical things that I've learned over my years of working in public accounting that I think are going to resonate with you.

Let me start by telling you about a client I once worked with named John. His name's not John, but as you know, I always use somebody else's name because I don't like to share individual information. So let's get back to John. Now, John was this successful business owner and he was really good at what he did.

He built a thriving company. He started from the ground and he built this thing up. So he was in the normal process of things. He was approaching retirement and he started to think about his financial habits and he started to question whether those financial habits were going to hold him back first planning for retirement and then living an engaged retirement where he wouldn't run out of money.

And here's the problem. See, John was one of these guys that had a tendency to overspend it. And Linda, if you're like me, you can probably associate with John. Hey, there are times in my life, my wife will say to me, Ralph, did you really need to buy that? And John was one of these guys just like me, he would overspend on luxury items.

He always had to have that new car and he had the new clothing and he had the new tech gadgets kind of hits home for me a little bit. And with that he had accumulated significant debt. So not only was he apt to overspend, but to pay for these things, he would accumulate debt because he always wanted to have that cash ready in his business that he could use it for his business.

And John started to see that clock ticking and that age was increasing. And he started to think about, Hey, you know, what am I going to do when my retirement hits and I don't have enough saved and I've still got these debt payments to make. So one day out of the blue, John goes to me, he schedules an appointment and he comes in and sits down with me.

And I hadn't met John before. He seemed like a pretty nice guy. He sat down and I could still remember he had this, he had this feeling of uncertainty. He was very bashful, I guess is the right word to use. He was sort of timid. And I looked across the desk and I said, John, it's going to be all right. I mean, I never met this guy before.

I said, John, it's going to be all right. He goes, Oh man, that's what I needed to hear today. You could see he was stressed. He was uncertain about his future. And I said, John, what's going on? And he says, Ralph, he says, I've been so successful building this business. He said, but you know what? I like to work hard, but I like to play hard too.

And I said, John, listen, I can understand it, man. I have made some financial bonehead decisions in my life that have made me, you know, have to go backwards in my financial, you know, my financial plans at times. But I sat down with him like I do with every client, we made an assessment. We said, okay, John, Where are you right now?

It wasn't the judgment time. It wasn't what I'll call the judgment zone. It was just putting pen to paper and here's what you have. Here are your debts. Here are your assets. So we just started with that process. That's what I do when I work with clients, Linda, I do that same thing with everybody that comes in.

And the first thing I noticed with John is we identified some areas we could cut back on spending. I said, John, listen, if you really want to prepare for retirement, you're going to have to start living with that mindset now. One of the things that John didn't have, and it amazes me a little bit, but you'd be surprised Linda, how many people don't have these things.

And that's a detailed budget. He didn't have any priority. He didn't have any intentionality to his spending. So one of the first things we did, we did that 30 day challenge where he wrote down every single thing he spent for 30 days. He came back and sat with me and we just had this eye opening discussion about, he said to me, John, he said, Ralph, I didn't realize how much I eat out.

I didn't realize the little luxury items that added up here and there, the deliveries from Amazon and all those things. And then he said, you know, when I put pen to paper and I looked at this credit card and I looked at this credit card and I looked at this loan, he didn't realize all the debt that he had accumulated and how much he was spending a month just on the interest alone.

So one of the other things we did, once we created that budget for him, we created that intentional spending plan. We also got into a debt repayment plan because I wanted to focus on him finding retirement with little or no debt. Now in his particular case, we focused on paying off the the highest interest loans first.

And that's one of the, one of the ways I think it really makes the best sense to do. So that was the starting point. It was really an eyeopening discussion for John. And Linda, I'm going to encourage you and everyone else listening, start there, start to assess, do that financial assessment of where you are.

And that would have been the whole story. But one of the interesting things is when John was sitting there with me, he said, Ralph, I see you've got this podcast and it says Christian finance. He goes, I don't understand the connection. And John was a guy that was raised in a Christian family, but it wasn't something he sort of held close.

It was something he kind of kept inside of himself. You know, he didn't really talk about it. But his real transformation,the time that he really saw transformation is when he started to focus those financial habits through that Christian lens. And that's one of the things that I say to people that I meet with all the time.

It's one thing for me to tell you, Hey, you should do these things so that you have a secure retirement or you should do these things because of this or because of that. But when we can bring those things to you under that Christian lens, it really does make it impactful because then it's about character.

It's about why. And John finally realized that his overspending was driven by this desire to keep up with others. And so many of us, so many of us, I'm sure Linda, you feel this way at times. I know I felt this way at times. We're trying to keep up with the person down the street or the person in our Facebook group or the person we see on social media or the person or the people we see at churches, folks around us.

We just kind of make sure we, Oh wait, they got the latest gadget. I got to have the latest gadget. And there's also this deep seated fear. And John had this. He had this fear of not having enough. And when he finally was able to break through, you know, I share with him, I said, John, do me a favor. Listen. And for the next couple of days, I want you to focus on listening to my podcast.

I said, because one of the things I do in there, and if you're listening to the show, I hope you're feeling this too. And that is, I bring those two worlds together. I bring that faith and that finance together because that is crucial to finding success. But one of the main components of that, and John reached this point and it was so beautiful to watch it.
He began to practice what we call contentment. John started to say, you know what, Ralph, it's interesting. I was at the mall and they had this new gadget. I remember what it was at the time, something to do with his Apple watch or iPhone or something. And he said, I started thinking about, do I really need this?

Or could I use this money for savings? Could I use this money to pay off some of that debt? And he found one of the most beautiful things in the world. He started finding joy in what he had, rather than what he didn't. And listen to me, if you take away nothing else from today's show, find that contentment, start to express that gratitude.

I talk about that at the beginning of every show. What are we grateful for today? Because there is joy in embracing what we already have and stop worrying about what we didn't have. One of the other things that John did, and this one was truly a life and an absolute transformation for him. He embraced the concept of stewardship.

He never really thought about that. He said, Ralph, I see this word all the time bantered around. I don't know what stewardship really means. And I said it to him and he was kind of taken aback when I said it, John, I said, stewardship in its basic terms means this. What you have is not yours. And he looked at me like Ralph, he almost like he was going to fight me.

He's like, I've worked so hard for what I have. You don't understand the blood, the sweat, the tears, and the sleepless nights and everything I've poured back into that. And I quietly said to him, I said, John, I said, I get it, but you need to understand it's not yours. And he kind of stood there, kind of sat there like bewildered.

He's like, you know, what are you talking about? And I said, it's really simple. I said, everything you have came from God. And the idea of stewardship is that you now have a responsibility to manage it wisely. Kind of looked at me like, Ralph, you've lost your mind. I've worked so hard. Look at these things that have, I said, John, none of it's yours.

And honestly at the time, I think he's like, yeah, Ralph, that sounds good. Let's get to the end of the appointment. I got work to do. But over time, and it just didn't happen overnight, but over time when he would come in and I would meet with him, he became what we call a monthly client. I helped him with his business.

And over time he started to really embrace that stewardship. One of the things he said to me, and I always tell people to start there, start by praying, say God, show me the way that you will have for me. Show me what you want from me. And like I said, with John, it didn't happen overnight. It didn't happen to me overnight.

And Linda, I promise you, it's probably not going to happen to you overnight. But over time, and I'm going to give you some steps of how to get there, but over time, you'll be able to break those bad financial habits because that's what you're going to have to do. You're going to have to break habits that have held you back.

And you might be thinking, Ralph, man, that's going to be tough. Yes, this is not easy work. But if you want to truly find that peace, you want to find that contentment and stop worrying about, are you going to outlive your money in retirement, you're going to have to get to breaking those bad financial habits because the next step to this is something else John was able to embrace.

He was able to find fulfillment in serving others. And that those monies that he was saving, he was pouring those back into his church. He was pouring it back into missionaries and he saw this positive impact that he was able to make. And he finally said to me, he said, Ralph, I finally get it. The stewardship, it's not mine. This is beautiful. I can help others. He says, I love seeing those people's faces when I'm able to assist them. When I'm able to use money that I could have squandered away on a new car, I could have squandered away on a vacation that my wife and I really didn't need.

He says, I can impact those people. I know John has taken mission trips. He's gone to third world countries. And at this point, John just recently retired and he's enjoying his retirement. Is he living high on the hog? Absolutely not. You would be shocked that this guy who knew nothing about anything but luxury is now one of the most modest living dudes I've ever met, but he is one of the happiest guys I've ever met as well.

And he said to me, not too long, he says, Ralph, I am living a stress free retirement and I don't have that uncertainty and I don't have that fear of what's coming next. So Linda and everyone else listening to me, you can have that same transformation. You can have that same change, that same change in dynamic that John went through.

So you might be saying, Ralph, I'm ready. Where do I buy? Sign me up. Well, let me get to it right now.

Now, and the things I want to talk about today, Linda, are not, they're not rocket science. They're not things you have to have a degree from MIT to understand.

They are really simple things, but it's in the simple things that we're able to find that transformation. The first thing. You listen to me, you know I say this all the time. Number one thing you've got to do is track your expenses. Whether that's using a budgeting app, a spreadsheet. I don't really care how you do it, but you've got to monitor your spending and you've got to identify areas where you can cut back.

It's a thing I say on the show all the time. John learned this. Linda, you need to learn this too. What gets measured gets done because once you start to track these things, and I have seen this over the years, working with clients, once they see where their money's really going, see, you don't see it on a day to day basis.

You don't see it on a purchase by purchase basis. But when you get to that end of 30 days, and this was such an eye opener for John he says, Ralph, I never realized how much money my wife and I spend on eating out. I never realized how much money we spend on little $9, $10 things here and there and how much money we spend on having Amazon. And none of those things are bad. Don't misunderstand me. None of those things are bad, but you've got to develop that clear picture of where your money is going so that you can make those changes. Hear me on this one, start there. Track your expenses, track every single dollar that goes through.

Once you do that, this is the second point to this. You've got to create a budget. Now, a lot of people say, Oh, Ralph, here goes Ralph with his budget talk again. And yes, I talk about it all the time because again, it's that intentionality. It's that intentional spending plan. Well, once you've figured out where your money's going, now it's time to create that budget that prioritizes those things.

I did a show the other day about how to get past those needs versus wants and how to cover those essential expenses. But you've got to do that first. You've got to start with those essential expenses, and then you can talk about discretionary spending, but until you understand your income sources, until you understand those essential expenses, you can't get to that discretionary spending.

And this budget, it's not like I've said before, I did laugh about and I said this, but it's not like Moses bringing down these stones of the 10 commandments. These things are not etched in rock. You don't take a chisel to them. This is a living document. It's going to have to adjust because things happen.

So understand that from the beginning. So start by tracking your expenses and then create a budget and make it a living document that is flowing with what's going on in your life. So those are the first two things. Third thing, and this is hard for a lot of people. It's hard for me. Trust me. I get it, Linda. Avoid impulsive purchases. I talked about this on my live show last week with Craig and Craig joins us on Tuesdays now. He's a professor down at Louisiana Tech and he's been a great addition to the show. So if you're not catching it, I'm going to encourage you to check it out. It's every Tuesday at 1 PM Eastern time. It's really simple to get there. You just go to askralphpodcast.com/live and that'll take you right to our YouTube channel. And on that YouTube channel, right in front of me will be our live show. So I'm encouraging you to check it out. But we talked about this on the show the other day. Before making any purchase, and one of the things that Craig mentioned. Him and his wife do this, they put it in the shopping cart. It's really easy to do when you're doing online shopping. Find what you want, pay attention to that, put it in a shopping cart, and then set a timer for 24, 48, 36 hours. And then ask yourself during that time, do I truly need this?

Can I afford to buy this? And then ask the bigger question. And John started to ask this question, my buddy, Mark, who does another podcast, Practical Prepping and by the way, I'm just going to throw a shout out to Mark. He is celebrating his 500 episode. And I just say, Hey, hats off, Mark. Great job, you and Chris are doing.

But check that out at practicalprepping.info. Anyway, getting back to what we're saying. Mark said this to me the other day too. He says, Ralph, he says, sometimes you squash me, step on my toes. I said, well, Mark that's not me. That's the Holy Spirit. But anyway, as you're thinking about making these impulsive purchases, ask yourself if this purchase aligns with your longterm financial goals.

Does it align with your faith? This is the thing that John started to ask himself. He would say, you know what? I really need to put more money in my retirement plan. I really need to pay off debts. Well, if I make the decision to do this, then I'm not going to be able to put that money away. I'm not going to be able to pay off those debts.

So avoid those impulse purchases. Maybe you set a limit. Hey, anything over a hundred dollars automatically gets through this discernment maker, whatever you want to call it, or you wait 24, 48 hours. It depends on you. So that's the third thing. First thing, track your expenses. Second, create that intentional spending plan.

Third, avoid impulse purchases. And Linda, we're preparing you for retirement, but this happens well before retirement. Next thing. And this one is mission critical. You got to prioritize paying off debt. You do not want to go into retirement with a lot of debt. I met with a client the other day. And this is a sad story.

This client is in their early seventies and they just refinanced their house to a 30 year mortgage. Now I'm not judging them. Don't misunderstand me, but that financial decision speaks volumes about what they've done to get there. You've got to focus on paying off debt. Now, I'm not saying that you can't have a mortgage.

I'm not saying you can't have a car loan. Those are some of the debts that I would say are okay debts to have, but make sure they're things that you can afford to pay. But you got to focus on paying down high interest debt first, create a debt repayment plan as part of that intentional spending plan. It needs to be as strong as that budget.

And then what I want you to do is I want you to celebrate each small victory as you pay off your debts. But don't celebrate them by going and buying something and running up more debt. That would be ridiculous. But as you prepare for retirement, prioritize paying off debt. And then when you get into retirement, you really got to ask yourself this question.
Do I really want to go into debt for this? Do I really need to go into debt for this? So that's the next step. Then I'm going to go back to an old favorite of mine. And this one is also very important as you move into retirement, as you plan for that retirement and that is establish an emergency fund.

You might be saying, Ralph, wait a second. Here he goes talking about those emergency funds again. But this is even more important in retirement. Hey, when you're working, you can get through some tough situations because you've got money coming in. You can work extra hours. Maybe you can pick up some overtime.

You can pick up a shift here or there. Maybe you find a little side job to do, but having that emergency fund in retirement is huge because it'll help you cover those unexpected expenses. And guess what? Unexpected expenses are going to happen. I was meeting with a client yesterday. We were talking about what was going on in her world and she was telling me, Hey, I never realized how much we were going to spend on medical expenses in retirement.

Her husband needed to have new hearing aids. He needed to have some dental work. Next thing you know, they're $10,000 in the hole in medical expenses. Those things weren't expected, but one of the things you don't want to do is you don't want to be constantly dipping into your retirement savings to cover those things.

You don't want to be adding more debt. You don't want to be taking distributions from your retirement plan that you've sketched out for that longterm income that you're going to need. So again, I'm going to reiterate, aim to save three to six months worth of living expenses. If you're going into retirement, this is one of the big things I think that will sabotage your retirement.

And I'm going to make a broad and a very bold statement. If you don't have at least six months of living expenses saved, you should not be retiring. And you're going to say, Ralph, that sounds very judgmental, but listen, this is from my years of experience. If you don't have at least six months of your living expenses, Look at your budget, all those critical, those essential expenses and the discretionary expenses that you want to spend.
If you don't have at least six months of that, then don't retire. It's not time to retire. Now, as part of that, after you establish that emergency fund, you got to start planning for predictable expenses. A lot of people call these things sinking funds, and this is a way to budget for larger annual expenses.

Like a car or maybe insurance that you have that annual insurance payment or maybe spending for the holidays. One of the best ways to handle that is to start setting aside a small amount each month to cover these costs, when they arise. It's basically a savings account, but you're building up to that rather than taking the money out.

You're building to it. So for example, and when I worked in the credit union, we used to have a lot of people that did what we call the Christmas club. And it was real simple. They would start in February or March. Usually January was too soon after the holiday, but they would start in February, March and we would sit down with them and say, okay, what do you need to have saved by the time you start spending for the holidays, you know, Christmas gifts and travel.

And we would say, okay, well I need to have $500. Fantastic. All right. So you need to be setting aside for the next 10 months, $50 a month. You put it into that fund. That's your Christmas fund. And then by the time you get to the Christmas season, you're ready to start spending. I think that one is so critical.

That's a skill that you should start to build up now because it will be a skill that you will definitely use in retirement. When I talk to retired clients, one of the things they tell me all the time over and over again is Ralph, part of our budget is we put money into these funds we call it. A lot of them use budget software.

They use some kind of online tracking device. And they say, we put this much from our social security month goes into this fund. And this much goes in, it's kind of like the envelope system of the way people manage their finances. But this one is crucial. Last on my list. And this is one, a lot of people overlook.

It's a place that a lot of people want to scrimp and save, but get professional guidance. A year, two years, even five years before you plan to retire, reach out to someone. You can reach out to me. I'm going to talk to you later and show about how to do that. And let's put together a retirement plan, not a plan from the standpoint of have these investments, but a retirement plan of what this is going to look like.

What are the things I need to do to prepare for that? Maybe you're struggling with debt. If you're struggling with debt, now is the time to start to work on that. You don't want to wait till you're a month before retirement to say, you know what, Ralph, I think it's about time I started thinking about extinguishing some of this debt.

That's not the time to do it. Find that advisor, find those credit counselors because sometimes, and trust me, when you're in the middle of it, you don't see it as much. You get those blinders on. Having an outside perspective can make a huge difference. So Linda, these are pretty easy steps. Like I said, these aren't rocket science.

They're not easy to implement, but they're easy to understand. So that's where it's going to start. And Linda and everyone else, listen, I truly believe this. If you can take these steps, if you can start to implement tracking your expenses, developing that budget, planning for those expected things, cutting down on that debt, meeting with people to help you,

you can break that cycle of overspending. You can break that cycle of debt. You can get yourself out of that mentality and get yourself physically fit. I did a show about that the other day, physically fit for financial fitness, but you can get to it. And what does that mean? It looks like a piece of retirement.

It means that you're not worrying every time something happens around the house. When the hot water heater goes out, you're not thinking, Oh, how are we going to fix this? Cause you've got that emergency fund or you've got this vacation coming up and you've got that, that's what we call the sinking fund.

You've planned for that. That is so very critical. And the same thing that John learned, this is the big thing you've got to focus on. Because in the end, it's not just about accumulating wealth. I've said it on the show time and time again, I can show you how to be a very wealthy scoundrel, but that's not the secret sauce.

That's not what's going to lead to fulfillment. John figured it out. I figured it out. You get to a point. And if you're listening to me, listen a little more close. If you think that that next, you know, exotic vacation or that sports car, or that flashy watch or whatever that looks like for you is going to lead you to fulfillment,

guess what my friend, its not going to. It will give you that little dopamine high and you'll feel great for a little bit, but you are going to remain empty. So just remember that it's not about accumulating wealth. It's about finding fulfillment in Christ, finding that contentment, finding that feeling of inner peace and living life with a purpose.

It's all about that purpose driven life. I heard that thrown around. But that is really what it is. Now I want to share some testimonials with you today because these are ways that listeners have been impacted by the show. I'm starting to share these on the show because I think it's so very critical, Linda and others that you see that these things do work and you put them into practice, they do work. And I've got a couple of these and I want to share them right now. The first one was from Gisella and she writes this. "Dear Ralph, thank you for your wisdom and practical advice. Your show has been a lifeline for me as I navigate financial challenges. I now have a plan and I feel hopeful about the future.
I've learned the importance of tracking my expenses and creating a budget. This has helped me identify where I can cut back and save more for retirement." See, and Gisella learned this. Her key success point and hear me on this one was tracking expenses and creating a budget because that will help you save and get prepared for retirement.

So Gisella, thank you so much for sharing that. And I got or this note from Bruce. Bruce wrote this. He says, "Ralph, your show has been a blessing to me. I've implemented your advice and I've seen immediate improvements in my financial situation by avoiding those impulsive purchases and sticking to my budget.

I've been able to pay off some of my debt and feel more in control of my finances." And Bruce, isn't that the beauty of it? It's that feeling of being in control. You're avoiding those impulsive purchases. You're sticking to that budget. So Bruce, the key success points for you, avoiding those impulsive purchases and sticking to that budget because it let you pay off that debt and Bruce, thank you so much for sharing that.

Here's another one from Emily. Emily writes this. She says, "Thank you, Ralph, for your guidance. I've always struggled with overspending, but your show has helped me see the importance of contentment. I've started to find joy in what I have rather than what I don't. This has made a huge difference in my spending habits and has helped me save more for retirement."

And Emily, I say, good job. Well done. You're embracing that stewardship. You're finding that joy. You're finding that contentment and see you said it, you nailed it. Practicing contentment can help you save more for retirement because you don't have that urge. You don't have that desire to keep spending to keep up with the highlight film of what you see on social media.

Here's one from Bryce. Bryce wrote this. He says, "Ralph, your show has been incredibly helpful. I've learned the importance of having an emergency fund. Knowing that I have money set aside for those unexpected expenses has given me peace of mind and has helped me avoid dipping into my retirement savings."

And see Bryce, you nailed it. Having that emergency fund can give you that peace of mind. And like you said, it helps you avoid dipping into your retirement savings. I got one more. This one's from Maria and Maria writes this. She says, "Thank you, Ralph, for your practical advice. I've started to plan for predictable expenses by creating those sinking funds you mentioned on a previous show.

So this has helped me budget for those large annual expenses and has prevented me from going into debt. Your show has been a game changer for me."
Maria, thank you. That humbles me because that's why I do what I do. Because like you said, creating that sinking fund, setting aside that money on a monthly basis and building that budget will help you stay out of debt because you're planning. You're planning.
That's the key to this whole thing.

Now as you know, every day when I record the show, I also write a blog post. So if you want to go a little deeper, be sure to check out our daily blog. You can do that at askralphpodcast.com/blog. There I'm going to give you additional resources and insights.
I'm going to show you where I came up with all the information for today's show, because it's all about getting to a point of enjoying and embracing that journey to financial freedom. So I really encourage you to check it out. You can share that with other people as well.

Well, now let's get to our reflection questions because we want to sit and ponder what we've talked about today. I want to take a moment to just reflect on those things so that we can really embrace these things. Let's start off with the first one. Number one, and this is what I call identifying your challenges.

What are the primary financial habits holding you back from a peaceful retirement? Linda, you mentioned them. That debt. That overspending. John had that concern about wanting to be, you know, he tried to find that content. He was doing those things to keep spending money that, that impulsive spending. So ask yourself today, reflect on this, meditate on this.

What are the primary financial habits holding you back from a peaceful retirement? Think about all the things that people share today about the decisions they made and how they found peace in that. Second thing. It's all about practicing contentment. So ask yourself this question. How can you practice contentment and find joy in what you have?

And listen to me on this. Find joy in what you have, what God has already given you rather than that constant focus on what you don't have. How do you find that contentment? How do you get to that point? Like John and many other clients and people who have written into the show have said, how do I get to that?

And finally, you listen to my show, you know I say this all the time. You got to take action. So ask yourself, this is the most critical reflection question of today. Write this down. Focus on this one. What practical steps can you take today? Not tomorrow, not the next day, not next week, not next month.

What can you take today? What are the things you can do today to break that cycle of overspending and get out of debt? Because it's all about action. Hey, intentions are great. But intentions aren't going to get you where you need to be.

Now, if you find value in what we do, I want to ask you to please consider supporting the show because your support allows us to reach more people with this message of hope and help them navigate their financial challenges.

You can go support the show by going to askralphpodcast.com/support. And I truly see this as a partnership. And you might say, Ralph, why? Well your partnership enables us to impact others. It enables us to impact people like those who have written in today, Maria and Bryce and Gisella. We're able to reach more people.

We're able to help people who are dealing with the same issues that we discussed today. So please consider supporting the show. Again you do that at askralphpodcast.com/support. And also, another huge thing you can do as we try to grow our audiences, we try to reach more people to help them understand what contentment looks like, tell them, understand how to find that financial peace.

Share the show with somebody. Share this show with somebody you know that might be retiring or might thinking about retiring. Maybe you know, they're struggling. Maybe you've got a child or you've got an aunt or an uncle or a niece or nephew, somebody who's struggling. Just send them a simple text and say, Hey, I found a way to get you past that struggle you're in.

Just send them askralph.com and say, just check out this guy's website, check out his blog post, check out his show, check out his YouTube videos, whatever that looks like for you because here's a little story. This is the truth. It is an absolute truth. It is our obligation, it is our duty as Christians, this is why I do what I do to reach out to others and help them. Christ himself said, when you helped the least of mine, you helped me. I can only hope that when I meet my maker at the end, when he finally says, Ralph, your journey here is done. I will be able to say, man, I've impacted people. You have the capacity to do that same thing today.

If you're listening right now, you can have a positive impact. You don't have to have experience like me. You just need to share the show with somebody. So I'm going to encourage you to do that.

Well, let me sum it up because I covered a lot today. I just want to give you a few key takeaways from today's discussion. First one is this. Careful planning. Remember this. Retirement readiness requires careful planning and diligence. Create a retirement plan. Like I talked about, reach out to me if you'd like. That includes determining your needs, setting a budget and developing an investment strategy.

It is so important that you plan. You got to work on overcoming spending too. So track those expenses, create that budget, avoid those impulsive purchases, and prioritize paying debts off. And finally, the reason I do this show is focus on that Christian perspective. Find ways to practice contentment, practice that stewardship.

And I didn't talk a lot about it today, but you know, I talk about this all the time. Practice that generosity. And maybe for you being generous and just sharing some of this information with somebody, sharing the show with somebody supporting the show and find fulfillment in serving others and using your resources wisely.
It will make all the difference.

So Linda, as I get ready to close today, I just want to remind you, you do not have to walk this path alone. If you're listening, Linda, or whoever else is listening, if you're feeling overwhelmed and uncertain about your retirement, I encourage you to do something really simple.

Just go to askralph.com. When you get there at the top of the screen, you'll see a button that says, book a call with Ralph and do that. Start that process. And together we can create a personalized plan that will address your concerns. I'll help you to build that momentum and set you on that path to financial peace of mind, whether that be while you're still working or in retirement.

And it's real simple, but you've got to make the first step. So take that first step today, go to askralph.com and simply click on that book a call with Ralph and let's work together to ensure your retirement is a time of joy and fulfillment.

All right. Well, I want to give you a one more section here today, and that is our mailbags.

One of the things I mentioned the last few days, I just want to share a couple of comments. We got some comments earlier, but these were a couple more that came in right as I was getting ready to record today. So I just want to share these with you because these are from listeners who found hope and guidance through the show.

This one's from Bella. It says, "Dear Ralph, thank you for your wisdom and practical advice. Your show has been a lifeline for me as I navigate financial challenges. I now have a plan and I feel hopeful about the future." That was from Bella. So thank you, Bella. This one's from Stewart. It says, "Ralph, your show has been a blessing to me.

I've implemented your advice and seen immediate improvements in my financial situation. Thank you for your dedication and support." And that was signed Stewart. And I say, Stewart, thank you for your dedication and for your supporting the show and if you have a testimonial or this show is impacting you, I truly want to hear from you.

Listen to me right now. I don't care about anything else. I want to hear from you because your stories and your feedback keep me going. They inspire me. They help me do this show every day. They help me to build content that is impactful and I'm going to give you my email address. I want you to send me an email to say, Hey Ralph, here's how the show's impacting me.

Here's how the show's helped me. If you're struggling with something, just say, Ralph, here's the things I'm struggling with. You do that by going to ralph@askralph.com. That's my email address. It comes directly to me. Nobody's going to look at it but me. Just send it to ralph@askralph.com. I encourage you to do that.

Now, tomorrow we're going to be discussing another sensitive topic, and this one is going to be another emotional one. I sort of been on this emotional themed rollercoaster lately, and if you've been through divorce, this one is going to be for you. Or if you know somebody who's going through divorce, I'm going to answer this question and that is, does divorce have to be painful?

Now you might be saying, Ralph, where are you going with that one? I'm going to talk specifically about avoiding financial and tax traps, because a lot of people, they get past the emotional side, they get past that, but they don't think about the emotional, excuse me, don't think about the financial and the tax issues that are going along with that in divorce.

So I'm going to cover those things today because listen, working through divorce, I've been through it. It is a challenging thing, but I can help you navigate that with grace and financial wisdom. Well, I just want to thank you for joining me today. Remember my passion is to help you achieve financial success.

I want you to live out your dreams. I want you to grow in your faith. And I know together, working together, we can master your finances from that Christian perspective. So as I always end the show, I want to encourage you today. Linda, everyone else listen, stay financially savvy and may God bless you abundantly.

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