Peter Attia is a doctor, scientist, author, and all-around health advocate.
His “Centenarian Decathlon“ is a framework that asks: “What 10 physical tasks do I want to be able to do at age 100?” Lofty stuff!
From there, Attia works backward, identifying the strength, mobility, and endurance needed today to meet those goals in the future. This “decathlon” reframes fitness as preparation for longevity and independence, not aesthetics or performance. The idea is simple: train today for the functional life you want decades later.
Can we do the same thing for retirement?
What are the 10 most important aspects of a financially sound retirement, and how do we start preparing for that future today?
The 10 Items In My Retiree Decathlon
What matters in retirement?
It’s crucial to focus on family, lifestyle, purpose, and all the other “soft” aspects of retirement. Episode 106 of my podcast focuses heavily on this side of retirement. In fact, most post-retirees realize that the “soft” stuff is more important than the financial “nuts and bolts.”
Nevertheless, I want to focus on finances for this retiree decathlon. I want this to be about the 10 “nuts and bolts” tasks we should start today and work on throughout retirement.
So let’s stretch those financial hamstrings and get fit!
1) Understand Your Future “Paycheck”
Your cash inflow during your career is easy to understand. It’s (mostly) your paycheck. Simple.
But, obviously, there’s a significant change in retirement. No more paycheck. All pre-retirees should understand where their future “retirement paycheck” will come from.
Some people assume it’s 100% from Social Security, and others assume it’ll come 100% from their 401(k) savings. The truth is (usually) more nuanced. Your retirement paycheck will likely have multiple sources. It will change over time. It will be unique to you. It should be optimized for lifestyle, long-term sustainability, tax minimization, etc.
Even if you’re years away from pulling the retirement trigger, it’s not too early to consider where your retirement paycheck will come from.
2) Allocate and Build Your Portfolio
“Save more.”
Yep, that’s fine advice.
But it behooves all of us to dig deeper.
- How much should we save?
- How do we allocate those dollars into different asset classes (stocks, bonds, etc.), and why?
- What assumptions should we make for future returns on investment?
- How will our allocations and growth assumptions change over time? (more in Step #7, below)
Your portfolio will be a significant part of your retirement life. It might be the only part of your retirement paycheck for a few years if you plan on retiring early.
3) Understand Your Social Security Strategy
On its face, you must decide when and how to claim Social Security for maximum lifetime benefit.
But, yes, it’s more nuanced than that. I suggest asking questions like:
- What’s your family health history?
- Should you delay it for “longevity insurance?”
- Do you plan on part-time work during retirement?
- How might spousal benefits and survival benefits impact your family?
- How threatening is sequence of returns risk for you? Will early Social Security claiming alleviate that risk?
Dig into this article for more details:
4) Develop a Tax-Efficient Saving & Drawdown Strategy
There is a generally accepted retirement withdrawal order of operations to minimize retirement taxation.
But that begs the question: is there a tax-efficient accumulation strategy? Yes, but it involves forecasting an uncertain future (especially around tax rates and investment returns) and acting now on limited information.
That’s why the best strategy is a dynamic, year-by-year evaluation. It’s a decision tree rooted in what we know, but then branching out to evolve on how today’s facts might change. You should ask yourself these questions every year:
- What’s my income and marginal tax rate this year?
- What tax-advantaged accounts are available to me?
- What does my current “tax diversification” look like?
- What do I expect future tax rates to be – for me personally and for the broader system?
- What non-tax considerations might impact these decisions? (Liquidity, simplicity, employer-matching, inheritance, etc)
5) Plan for Healthcare Costs
In Episode 108 of Personal Finance for Long-Term Investors, I answered a listener’s question by diving deep into healthcare costs before, during, and after retirement:
Yes, retirement healthcare can be a scary proposition. But consider this: millions of people have walked this path before you, and their lessons (good, bad, or ugly) are out there for you to learn from.
More specifically, we know how healthcare costs fit into a broader finanical plan. That information is readily available.
What work remains is for you to consider how you’ll tackle the question in your life.
6) Make an Estate Plan
Are “preparing for retirement” and “preparing for death” two separate tasks?! Ultimately, I see them both as “thinking ahead, and prudently so.”
As you age…
As your family grows…
As your balance sheet becomes more complicated…
…it becomes increasingly essential to review and revise your estate plan.
Are your loved ones protected from the vicissitudes of fate?
Who will receive assets upon your death? In what amounts? With what stipulations? Are those gifts tax-optimized?
Do your loved ones know about your plans?! Communicate!
7) Change Your Portfolio Over Time
Goals –> timelines –> risk –> assets.
What are your goals for your money?
What are your preferred (or required) timelines for those goals?
How much risk do those timelines afford you?
And what assets can you invest in based on that risk?
As you age, your goals might change, your timelines will undoubtedly change, and your portfolio should adjust in concert.
Surprisingly, you might eventually reach a point where “your timelines,” are no longer your own. Instead, you’ll invest based on your estate plan and on the timelines of your descendants or charities. It’s not uncommon to see a person’s recommended risk start high in younger years, glide lower into retirement, then eventually increase again toward the end of life.
8) Stress-Test Your Plan
Will your plan survive market volatility, inflation, longevity, or the other curveballs life can throw your way?
It’s worth asking, “What if…”
There are various software packages and experts who can help you stress-test your plan.
9) Consolidate and Simplify
What’s the point of compounding wealth if it comes with compounding complexity and stress?
Most retirees see a psychic benefit from simplifying their financial lives. It’s a bit like cleaning your house.
What’s the best way to do it? By keeping it clean in the first place.
10) Spend!
The last event on the retiree decathalon is the actually spend your money!
Spending and saving are two separate muscles. Too often, a frugal retiree will enter their golden years with massive savings muscles, but atrophied spending muscles.
Start flexing your “spending muscle” before you retire. If you feel like a habitual saver…if spending money gives you anxiety…if your only pair of pants is 17 years old and fraying at the seams…
Spend! Start now. You don’t have to go crazy. But you shouldn’t wait until retirement.
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