Hey, it's Louis.

Today we're talking about the part of retirement planning that makes most of us want to check out and tune into what's happening on General Hospital.

👀 IN TODAY'S STASH

🌳 THE SHADE

If you've ever pulled up a retirement calculator and immediately closed the tab, you're not alone.

Grab some shade for a minute cause the math out there is a kick in the pants, especially when you started late.

Most of the expert talk is geared to youngsters or people who've been saving for decades. That ain't us and it’s hard to apply that advice to our situation.

So today we're going to start with where we’re at. That's where every good plan begins.

🌰 THE NUT

We need to address that stinky aardvark in the room.

Planning for retirement is a scary mofo, especially if you started late.

Let's face it, a retirement account looks way different if you've been contributing to it for 15 years compared to 5.

Your outlook on retirement is different too. If you're 45 and have 15 years of savings behind you, you might feel pretty good.

On the other hand, if you're 45 and have been saving for 5 years, you may be prone to bouts of sobbing and cursing.

I've had some really grim nights just budgeting for next month, and now I'm supposed to nail one 15 years out? Planning a budget from the day I retire till the day I kick it? When's that going to be... 78? 90? 143? Who am I, fucken Nostradamus?

Now add taxes into that voodoo cocktail. Cause let's face it, there's never going to be a day when Uncle Sam isn't rooting around your couch for spare change.

But what's the rate going to be? 15%? 25%?

And what is inflation going to do 15 to 30 years down the road? Will it go down and help you out, or blow up and screw you sideways?

Holy sheep shit! No wonder it feels like you need a team of NASA mathematicians to plan your retirement.

And here's the thing.

That feeling? That wall of impossible math staring back at you? I know it well, my brother. I've stood in front of walls like that before.

A few years back, I was working my way through a physics degree. Not fresh out of high school with a meal plan and a dorm room. I'm talking full-time job, alarm at 6 a.m., work till 6, class in between, then do it again.

Somewhere in my junior year, the job that made the whole thing possible disappeared. Laid off. Just like that.

I remember telling my wife the degree was probably done. Where was I going to find another job willing to let the FNG duck out for classes in the middle of the day?

I started looking at online programs, researching where my credits might transfer, making peace with the idea that this was just... over.

Then one evening my wife and I were doing a HIIT workout in the living room. Jumping jacks, pushups, running in place. You get the sweaty gist.

And somewhere in the middle of all that; heart pumping, sweating, feeling sorry for myself… it hit me.

No plan. No solution. Just raw, unfiltered determination:

I'm gonna do it anyway. Somehow, someway, I will finish this.

I finished my degree.

I'm not telling you that story so you'll feel inspired for the next 45 seconds and then go back to worrying.

I'm telling you because thinking about retirement with the late-start, what-the-hell-do-I-do-now confusion of it all, feels exactly like standing in that living room, convinced it's over.

But it's far from over and I ain't heard no fat lady.

Is it going to look like the retirement they sell you in the commercials? The silver-haired couple laughing on a yacht? Probably not.

But make no mistake, you can build something that actually works for you, for your situation, for the life you want to live.

The right mindset and the right tools will help you find your way.

"What mindset? What tool will help me?" you say.

Fair question.

The first tool is the one that kept me from giving up on my degree: the stubborn, unreasonable belief that there's a way.

Let's call it the FNG attitude.

Find that attitude in yourself and don't ever lose it.

🐿️ THE STEP

Think of one time in your life when something looked impossible and you did it anyway.

Doesn't have to be a degree or a marathon or anything you'd put on a resume. Could be quitting smoking. Could be the time you fixed the lawn mower yourself instead of paying a guy. Could be raising a kid who turned out alright.

Whatever it is, write it down. Just a few sentences.

Then write down what got you through it.

I guarantee you it wasn't a spreadsheet or a calculator. And it damn sure wasn't a 12-step plan you read in a magazine.

It was something inside you that said No matter how hard, I’m doing this anyway.

That's the FNG attitude. And here's the part most guys don't realize: you already have it. It's not something you have to go find, you own it.

Keep that piece of paper somewhere you'll see it. Wallet. Truck dashboard. Tape it to the side of the monitor. Doesn't matter where, as long as it's somewhere your eye finds when you're feeling stuck.

When retirement math starts feeling like Ouija board territory, look at that paper and remind yourself: I've done impossible before. This is just the next one on my list.

That's the only mindset that works. Everything else we're gonna learn together rides on top of it.

Until the next Stash, protect your nuts brother.

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