Today on Retire Sooner, Wes Moss sits down with the three-time winner of Atlanta’s Best Divorce Attorney, Aaron Thomas, also the founder of Prenups.com.

As Aaron and Prenups.com will tell you, prenups are not just planning or anticipating for marital failure. He explains that they're more of a set of rules for how your money, kids, and assets are treated during marriage and divorce.

Wes and Aaron go over the differences in prenup rules in Georgia versus other states, as well as the "first paycheck rule," the cost of divorce, how having a prenup in place can help keep it down, and how to approach a prenup conversation.

This episode concludes with a few interesting marriage statistics such as: On average, the happiest Retirees On The Block spend more time discussing finances with their partners (based on research for the book “You Can Retire Sooner Thank You Think”).

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In the aftermath of two big banks collapsing, it's no surprise that some investors may feel uneasy about the state of their retirement savings. In this episode, Wes Moss gives details to explain if and how these bank failures impact your retirement journey. He provides insights into how the banking system works, walks through the history and current state of the FDIC, and the common perception that it's safer to use bigger banks versus regional or community banks. Additionally, he delves into the mismatch between interest rates and short-term US Treasury bonds and how you can invest your funds wisely to secure a respectable yield.

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What do economists and philosophers have in common?

It’s not a trick question, but rather a debatable topic that Wes Moss and today’s guest, Paul Blaschko could discuss until the end of time! Paul Blaschko is the professor for the University of Notre Dame's most popular undergraduate class on philosophy.

Wes and Paul dive deep into the philosophy versus theology schism and how Aristotle could be in the happy retiree camp. They also discuss Paul's "good life method" and the importance of good conversations.

As this episode concludes, Paul shares some ways that people approaching retirement or later stages in life can continue improving their happiness and virtues and be comfortable with leisure for leisure's sake.

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There are seven fundamental habits that many self-made millionaires have in common, and today’s guest best-selling co-author of "The Millionaire Next Door," affluence expert and educator Dr. Bill Danko, explains.

In this episode, Dr. Danko sits down with Wes to explain his research and findings on the most common traits among those who have accumulated wealth and how they did it. Dr. Danko also goes over what frugality can accomplish, the role of marketing in American consumer behavior, and occupations that may help you retire sooner. They also discuss the dynamics between being versus feeling versus looking wealthy and how happiness, giving, and gratitude fold into that idea.

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What does your digital footprint say about what you want?

Data scientist, author of best-seller "Everybody Lies," and speaker Seth Stephens-Davidowitz sits down with Wes Moss to talk about how data can reveal societal and personal trends in desires, psychology, wealth building, and more. This includes when you become a sports fan, who you seek out for romantic partners and how you present yourself to them, and what activities are ranked as the happiest to do. Seth explains how he went from just reviewing data to using it to make his life decisions, and gives examples of how listening to his own data has made a difference for him. As for what data he encourages retirees to pay attention to, listen in to learn!

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Purpose + passion + fun = core pursuits!

When it comes to living a happy retirement, the more passions a retiree has, the better. But, on the other hand, our research shows that unhappy retirees tend to have less than two core pursuits driving their post-work life. So, how can you discover your core pursuits as part of your happy retirement plan? This episode will help you revisit ways to find core pursuits and what they can mean for you.

In honor of March Madness, we've compiled a Core Pursuits Bracket to square off sixty-four "hobbies on steroids" to see what kind of core pursuit is championed for the happiest retirees on the block. Would you choose gardening versus pickleball or skydiving versus pottery? Voting is still open, so make your selections on the Retire Sooner social media pages!

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The finance industry has innovated exponentially in recent decades, but are there some innovations that investors find more helpful than others?

In this episode of Retire Sooner, Wes is joined by renowned economist and author of the highly influential book on investing, "A Random Walk Down Wall Street," Burton Malkiel. They dive deep into investing insights for yourself and your family's future and discuss various investment types. In addition, Wes and Burton address multiple ways to handle emotions and expectations during market volatility and how there's no one rule for how retirees should organize their finances.

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In this episode, Wes and Retire Sooner producer Mallory Boggs go over Warren Buffett's "secret sauce" published in the Berkshire Hathaway 2022 Year In Review. They talk about how investing is not easy.

While browsing through Buffett's rate-of-returns, Wes explains how Buffet's big numbers can equate to a more manageable scale that the average American can work with. He also assures that while Buffett is a special case of investing success, the mogul's lesson that the big wins tend to overshadow the little losses can be applicable to all who invest in stocks. The takeaway? Happy retirees aren't just savers, they're investors, too.

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If Hollywood made a movie about your life, who would they cast to play you? Today's Retire Sooner guest is Los Angeles Times columnist and four-time Pulitzer Prize finalist, Steve Lopez. In Steve's case, Iron Man himself, Robert Downey Jr., plays Steve in the film adaptation of his best-selling nonfiction book, The Soloist. Wes and Steve talk about the story behind the story, as well as how Steve fell in love with Los Angeles and the fateful accident that got Steve thinking about retirement for his latest book, Independence Day.

As they dig deeper into the book and discussion around retirement, Steve addresses the importance of structure and planning in retirement, six classifications of happy retirees, and why women can be better at retirement planning than men. Steve later relates advice Mel Brooks and Norman Lear gave him about purpose and passion. Finally, Wes wraps up the episode by asking Steve about his future plans for retirement and core pursuits.

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Can there be progress without pain? The last 50 years have been a rollercoaster in the financial world and the world at large.

In this episode, Wes gives a snapshot of key events from decades passed that had a significant impact on both the financial and cultural zeitgeist, including the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet, despite every war, conflict, or struggle, Wes emphasizes the positive developments that keep him (and happy retirees) rationally optimistic. "Tomorrow" can always be somewhere good and great!

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