What Is the Retire Sooner Method? & Can You Retire Without Touching the Principal?
How do you retire sooner, increase your happiness, and ensure you never run out of money? In this episode, Wes Moss breaks down the Retire Sooner Method—your ultimate retirement happiness GPS. Just like navigating an unfamiliar city, navigating retirement without a map guarantees you’ll get lost. Wes shares the 5 essential steps to build a guided blueprint, maximize your financial freedom, and dramatically reduce money anxiety. Later in the episode, Wes tackles a major fear shared by almost every new retiree: touching the principal. Through a real-life client story, he explains how to bridge your income gap using dividend yields and the famous "4% Rule" so you can protect your hard-earned nest egg and retire with total peace of mind. Plus, Christa shares your #AskWes questions and Wes gives his take. All this and more on the July 21, 2026, Ask an Advisor episode of the Clark Howard podcast. Submit your questions: https://www.wesmoss.com/ask 00:00 - Intro 00:41 - What Is the Retire Sooner Method? 09:40 - Ask an Advisor - Can AI Replace a Financial Advisor for Roth Conversion Planning? (Eric, Kentucky) 14:29 - Ask an Advisor - Why Own Bond ETFs Instead of Keeping Cash in a Money Market Fund? (Kimberly, Texas) 16:58 - Ask an Advisor - Can My Working Spouse Fund a Roth IRA for Me After I Retire? (Mike, North Carolina) 19:31 - Can You Retire Without Touching the Principal? 25:42 - Ask an Advisor - If I'll Have No Income in Retirement, Why Choose a Roth IRA? (Lance, Minnesota) 28:24 - Ask an Advisor - Should You Pay Extra on Your Mortgage or Invest the Money Instead? (Kevin, New Jersey) 30:05 - Ask an Advisor - Should You Use a Reverse Mortgage to Buy an Annuity? (Jed, California) Clark.com: Advice You Can Trust: SUBSCRIBE: / clark Listen To The Clark Howard Podcast: https://clark.com/podcast Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3lrwhe2... iHeartRadio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/8-the-... Follow Us for More Money Tips: Website: https://clark.com/ Podcast: https://clark.com/podcasts/ Newsletter: https://clark.com/newsletters/ Instagram: / theclarkdotcom Facebook: / clarkhoward Need Consumer Advice? The Consumer Action Center is a free resource for advice on money and consumer issues. Call 636-49C-LARK (636-492-5275) and a member of Team Clark will assist you as soon as possible. The Consumer Action Center is available Monday-Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. ET. If you found this video valuable, give it a like. If you know someone who needs to see it, share it. Leave a comment below with your thoughts. Add it to a playlist if you want to watch it later. Our Promise to You: At Clark.com and ClarkDeals.com, we do not get paid for endorsements or reviews of any product or service, nor do we allow advertisers to place paid content on our sites. More information: https://clark.com/ad-disclosure/
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