What’s the Purpose of Your Next $1 Million of Wealth?

If there's one thing that successful people are good at it's ... continuing to succeed!

You've done well because you've always kept your eye on the next target, whether it's a bigger promotion, a more comfortable house, or more money to save and invest for your family's future.

In financial services, we often call these prime working years the "accumulation phase." High achievers who want more from life go get it. They work hard, top off accounts, and diversify their assets until ...

Well, until what?

Until you've hit your number?

Until the kids have moved out and you and your spouse can focus on retirement?

Until you're financially independent and don't need to work anymore?

Affluent folks who don't think about what their money is for often find themselves stuck in the accumulation phase far longer than they need to be.

So, if you already have a million or two or more waiting for retirement, it might be time to stop earning "more" money and start doing more with the money you already have.

What Is Another Million For?

Money without a purpose is just a number on a statement – even if that number has six zeroes at the end of it.

But the time and effort that go into earning more money are a very real cost. And while you can always earn more money, you can't earn back that time, or the extra wear and tear to your body and mind.

So, if your next target is another million, that million needs to do at least as much work as you're doing to earn it.

Assuming you don't need more money to pay your monthly bills or debts, here are some productive jobs for surplus wealth:

• Upgrade Your Lifestyle. Purchase a vacation home. Build a backyard swimming pool. Join your local country club. Add more vacations to your calendar – and say goodbye to flying coach. Start your dream company – and hire yourself as CEO.

• Strengthen Your Financial Security. Build up an "emergency savings bucket" to provide a cushion against life's ups and downs. If you or your spouse have ongoing health issues, that bucket might help “insure” you for costs Medicare doesn't cover, like long-term care. If concerns about market volatility are making you nervous about retirement, cash reserves might add some extra shock absorbers to your retirement plan.

• Expand Your Legacy. Use surplus wealth to create a sustainable giving plan, start your own charitable organization, or support your heirs via 529 plans or a family trust.

• Enjoy More Freedom: Budget around reducing your hours at work or accelerating your retirement timeline.

What Are You Giving Up to Get It?

No matter how much you already have in the bank, a million dollars is a lot of money. And adding another million could have a profound effect on the rest of your life.

But even very high earnings come with costs and tradeoffs.

Financially, you may have reached a point where accumulating more wealth simply isn't as important as it once was. If you've already saved enough to support the retirement lifestyle you envision, what would another million dollars really change? And perhaps more importantly, what might you be giving up in the pursuit of that additional wealth? Retirement can provide the freedom to exercise regularly, take better care of yourself, and develop healthy habits that may improve your quality of life for years to come. 

But perhaps the most important trade-off to consider is time, especially if you're nearing a traditional retirement window.

How many more years of daily grinding will it take you to earn another million?

Do you really need that money to retire?

If you don’t need it, is another million more valuable to you than spending more time with your aging parents? Or taking big family vacations with your kids before they graduate and start their own families?

If you or your spouse receives some bad news the next time you go to the doctor, will you regret not taking more time away from work, right now, to travel, play sports together, or visit friends and family?

You can always go back to work, take a part-time job, or sell some of your assets.

But the older we get, the rarer do-overs are when it comes to how we spend our time and whom we spend it with.

What if the Answer Is “Nothing Meaningful”?

This can be a jarring realization for high earners.

For decades, earning more money is often deeply entwined with our sense of purpose. We work more and earn more so that we can improve life for our families and plan ahead for retirement.

So, what happens when, financially, you've reached independence?

What happens when earning another million won't change your lifestyle, won't make you feel more secure, and won't improve your retirement plan?

What happens when you've reached that finish line ahead of schedule, when you can still work but don't need to?

If you're financially independent and earning more money won't change your life, then continuing to earn more money isn't a financial strategy anymore.

It's a habit.

And the longer you wait to break that habit, the harder it's going to be for you to transition out of the accumulation phase and enjoy your assets – and your life – in retirement.

Even if you love your profession or your company, achieving financial independence should be a signal that it may be time to reassess your priorities and your purpose. No matter how fulfilling your job is, there are other experiences to enjoy, other people to spend time with, other goals for you to achieve. Downshifting from full-time work or transitioning to a board or consulting position could be a good first step towards reassessing who you are at this point in your life and who you're going to become once you do retire.

Making Your Million-Dollar Decision

And yet ... a million dollars is still a lot of money!

The opportunity to earn a life-changing sum should be carefully considered from all angles.

But so should the opportunity costs.

Start by sitting down with your spouse and asking yourselves:

• What specifically would the next $1 million allow us to do?

• Would it materially improve our life?

• Is it buying more security, or just a bigger number?

• What are we sacrificing to accumulate it?

• Would we rather have more wealth later, or more freedom now?

Once you have a first draft of your answers, make an appointment to visit Keen Wealth. Let's move your planning process beyond your numbers and make the best decisions for the life you've earned.

---

About Bill

Bill Keen is a financial advisor with over 30 years of industry experience. As the founder and CEO of Keen Wealth Advisors, a registered investment advisory firm, he focuses on providing personalized retirement planning designed to help people thrive before and during their retirement years. With a passion for educating others, Bill regularly blogs about retirement planning, hosts the podcast Keen on Retirement, and has contributed to Forbes, U.S. News and World Report, Reuters, Wall Street Journal’s Market Watch, Yahoo Finance, and other publications. Based in Overland Park, Kansas, Bill and his team work with clients throughout the greater Kansas City area and across the nation. To learn more, connect with him on LinkedIn or visit www.keenwealthadvisors.com.

KWMG, LLC’s dba Keen Wealth Advisors (“company”) is an SEC Registered Investment Advisor located in Overland Park, KS. The company and its representatives may only conduct business in those states where registered or where excluded/exempt or from licensure. For registration information, please contact the SEC or the state securities regulators for the states where the company is notice filed. A copy of the company ADV is available upon request. Advisory services are only offered to clients or prospective clients where the company and its representatives are properly licensed or exempt from licensure. No advice may be rendered by the company unless a client service agreement is in place. This information is not intended to be investment advice or construed as a recommendation or endorsement of any particular investment or investment strategy and is for illustrative purposes only. Clients and prospective clients must consider all relevant risk factors involved with each strategy, including costs or fees, and their own personal financial situations before trading.

The views outlined in the book, Keen on Retirement Engineering the Second Half of Your Life, are those of the author and should not be construed as individualized or personalized investment advice. Any economic and/or performance information cited is historical and not indicative of future results. Economic forecasts set forth may not develop as predicted.

The Amazon Best Seller ranking listed on marketing materials is specifically referring to Best Seller rankings for the Kindle Top 100 Paid Lists under the subcategories of: Budgeting and Financial Risk Management, based on data as of September 5, 2019 and the second edition under Financial Risk Management on October 26, 2022. Amazon rankings although relevant on how a product is selling overall doesn’t necessarily indicate how well an item is selling among other similar items or similar item categories. Amazon may choose the most popular categories or subcategories within which an item has a high ranking to determine its best seller rankings. These rankings are updated hourly and as a result, should be expected to fluctuate as such. Keen Wealth Advisors and Amazon are not affiliated entities. 

The Steve Sanduski Advisor Network, Belay Advisor, LLC and other third-party contributors to our blogs and podcasts are not affiliated with Keen Wealth Advisors.

For additional details on Keen Wealth Advisors, please visit https://www.keenwealthadvisors.com/important-disclosures.

20261028-6065015-19309903