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Are you worried you’ll never have enough money to retire? If you’ve been told you need $2 million or more to stop working, you’ve been fed one of the biggest lies in retirement planning. I’m Danny Gudorf, a financial planner and owner of Gudorf Financial Group. And we’ve helped hundreds of people over 50 retire with confidence. And today I’ll share with you important insights that the financial industry rarely talks about. By the end of this video, you’ll understand.

why that magic number everyone talks about is completely wrong for most people. And more importantly, you’ll discover what actually determines whether you can successfully retire or not. Let me start with a story that might sound familiar. Last month, Sarah walked into my office looking defeated. She’s 62 and has been saving diligently for decades and has accumulated about $850,000 in her retirement accounts. But everywhere she looks,

Articles and experts were telling her she needed at least two million dollars or more to retire comfortably. She was convinced that she’d have to work until she was seven years old or settle dramatically for a reduced lifestyle and retirement. Here’s what I told Sarah and what I’m going to tell you today. That two million dollar rule is not just wrong. It could limit your options because it’s keeping good people like Sarah working longer than they need to be.

The financial media loves to throw around these scary numbers. You’ve probably seen headlines like you need $2.5 million to retire or most Americans are nowhere near retire ready. These stories get clicks because they tap into our deepest fears about running out of money and retirement. But here’s what they don’t tell you. These numbers are based on outdated assumptions that don’t reflect how real people actually live in retirement.

Think about this for a moment. If everyone really needed $2 million to retire, then almost nobody would be retiring. According to the Federal Reserve, the median retirement account balance for people who are approaching retirement is about $65,000. Yet millions of Americans retire every single year, live comfortably, and have fulfilling lives. How is this possible if the $2 million rule were true? The answer is simple.

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Retirement success isn’t about hitting some large arbitrary savings target. It’s about creating enough income to support the lifestyle that you actually want, not the lifestyle that some financial calculator thinks you should have. This is where most retirement planning gets completely wrong. Instead of starting with your real needs and working backwards,

the industry starts with a big scary number and tries to make you feel inadequate if you haven’t reached it. Let me break down what really matters when it comes to retirement planning. First is your expenses. In retirement, will likely be different than your working years. And in most cases, they’re most likely lower. You won’t be saving for retirement anymore because you’ll be retired. Your mortgage might be paid off

and your kids will be financially independent. You won’t have work-related expenses like communing, professional clothing, or eating lunch out every single day. Many retirees find they only need 70 to 80 % of their pre-retirement income to maintain their same standard of living. Second, retirement income comes from multiple sources, not just your savings. Social Security alone replaces about 40 % of your pre-retirement income

for the average worker. If you have a pension, that’s another income stream. Maybe you plan to work part-time in retirement or have rental income. When you add these sources together, the amount you need to withdraw from your retirement savings becomes much more manageable. Here’s where it gets really interesting though. And let’s go back to Sarah’s situation. She has saved about $850,000, which sounds like it’s nowhere near that $2 million retirement target.

But when we looked at her complete financial picture, the story changed dramatically. Tara and her husband will receive about $5,200 per month and combined Social Security benefits at $62,400 per year right there. Their house will be paid off by the time they retire, eliminating their largest monthly expense. They’ve calculated that they’ll need about $120,000 per year to live comfortably in retirement.

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With Social Security covering $62,400 of that need, they only need to generate an additional $57,600 per year from their savings. Using a conservative 4 % rule, Sarah’s $850,000 would provide about $34,000 per year of income. Add in the pension her husband will receive of about $24,000 annually, and they’re actually in great shape to retire when they planned.

No $2 million needed. But here’s what makes this even more powerful. Sarah’s situation isn’t unique. I’ve worked with countless clients who thought they were behind on their retirement savings only to discover they were actually in excellent shape once we looked at their complete picture. The key is understanding that retirement planning is highly personable. Your number isn’t my number and my number isn’t your neighbor’s number. This brings me to another

critical point about the $2 million myth that it completely ignores. Where you live and how you live matters enormously. $2 million in San Francisco or New York City won’t go nearly as far as $750,000 in many parts of the Midwest or South. Some of my most successful retiree clients have modest savings by coastal standards, but made smart decisions about where to retire and how to structure their lifestyle.

I clients like Tom and Linda who were retired with $800,000 in savings. Instead of panicking about not having enough compared to what the experts said they needed, they made a strategic decision to relocate from expensive California to a charming city in Ohio next to their kids. Their cost of living dropped by 40 % overnight. Combined with their social security and a small pension, they were living

better in retirement than they did while working, traveling frequently and pursuing hobbies they never had time for before. The $2 million myth also ignores one of the most important factors of retirement planning. Tax planning is not just about how much you saved, but how efficiently you can access that money. Someone with $1.5 million in a tax-free Roth account might be better off than someone with $2.5 million

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and traditional retirement accounts. That will heavily be taxed in retirement. This is why working with a fiduciary advisor who understands tax planning can be so valuable. Let me share something that I’ve noticed over my years in this business. The financial industry benefits from keeping people worried about retirement. The more concerned you are about not having enough money, the more likely you are to keep working longer and saving

more aggressively. There’s nothing wrong with saving more if you can afford to, but you shouldn’t sacrifice your life working unnecessarily because you’re frightened by some arbitrary savings number. The truth is that retirement planning should be about designing a life you love, not hitting some magic number that may have nothing to do with your actual needs. This means getting clear on what you actually want your retirement to look like.

Do you want to travel extensively or are you happier staying close to home? Do you want to maintain a large house or would you prefer to downsize in retirement? Are you planning to leave a large inheritance or do you want to spend most of your money during your lifetime? Once you’re clear on your vision for retirement, you can work backwards to figure out that lifestyle will actually cost. Then you can determine how much of that cost will be covered

by Social Security, pensions, and other guaranteed income sources. Only then can you really calculate how much you need from your retirement accounts. This approach is so much more empowering than trying to hit some arbitrary target that may be completely wrong for your situation. I want to be clear about something though. I’m not suggesting that saving for retirement isn’t critical.

It absolutely is. What I’m saying is that the amount of money you need is probably much more achievable than you’ve been led to believe. And if you’re already in your or 60s and haven’t reached that $2 million mark, don’t panic. You’re likely have more options than you realize. For those who feel behind on their retirement savings and goals, there are strategies that can help. You might consider working a few extra years, which can dramatically improve

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your retirement situation. Each year of additional work means one more year of saving, one more year of employer contributions, and one less year of withdrawals. That potentially could lead to higher Social Security benefits as well. You also might explore part-time consulting work in retirement, which many professionals find fulfilling anyway. You might consider relocating to a lower cost area or right sizing your home.

These aren’t signs of failure. They’re smart strategies that can help you achieve the retirement you want. Let me tell you about another client, Robert. He came to me at 58 convinced he could never retire because he only had $750,000 saves. But when we ran the numbers factoring in social security, his wife’s benefits and his willingness to do consulting work for three years early in retirement, we found out

that they could actually retire at 62. Not only that, but by being strategic about his withdrawal strategy and taking advantage of the spending smile pattern where retirees naturally spend less as they age, he can maintain his current desired lifestyle throughout retirement. The bottom line is this retirement planning is not about accumulating the most money possible. It’s about having enough money to support the lifestyle you want.

For some people, that might require $2 million or more. For others, a well-planned retirement with $750 to $1.5 million can provide everything they want and need. The key is to focus on your specific situation, your actual needs, and your personal goals rather than getting caught up in scary headlines and arbitrary benchmarks. Remember Sarah from the beginning of the video? After we completed

her comprehensive retirement plan, she realized she could actually retire two years earlier than she had planned. Instead of working until age 67 and fear, she’s now looking forward to retiring at 65 with confidence. That’s the power of understanding the truth about retirement savings rather than believing in the lies that so many people worry about. Your retirement doesn’t have to be about surviving on the minimum

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or accumulating this massive wealth. It can be about creating a plan that works for your unique situation. Don’t let these arbitrary numbers steal years of your life that you could be spending doing what you love. If you’d like help implementing a lot of the things that we’ve talked about today, click the button below to schedule your free retirement assessment. During this retirement assessment, we’ll walk through

all of the things that we’ve talked about today and how you can implement them in your own unique retirement plan. We look forward to seeing you.