The Asset We Never Talk About in Retirement Planning

What Good Is a Fully Funded Retirement If You Can't Physically Enjoy It?

I had a conversation last week that’s been sitting with me ever since.

A client of mine is about to retire. Genuinely one of the best people I know (pretty much a father to me) - saved well, invested smart, did basically everything right for over 30 years. By every number we’ve ever run, he’s in great shape financially.

So we’re talking through his retirement, and he brings up this trip he and his wife have been dreaming about for years - Italy, the whole thing, the hill towns, the long walks through Rome. And instead of being excited, he pauses and says he’s not sure they should book it. Has nothing to do with money. But because he’s not sure his knees and his stamina can handle it.

That stopped me. Here’s a guy who has done literally everything the “right” way financially, and the thing standing between him and the retirement he actually wants isn’t his portfolio. It’s his body.

I’ve always believed physical fitness is a huge part of who I am; it’s honestly shaped a lot of my identity over the years. But this conversation made me think about it differently. It’s not just about how you feel day to day. It’s about whether you’ll actually be able to do the things you’re spending your whole life saving up for.

Let’s get into it ↓

We Plan for Everything Except This

I build plans for a living. We model market returns, inflation, tax brackets, healthcare premiums, what happens if the market drops 30% the year you retire. We plan for almost everything.

What we don’t plan for is whether you’ll physically be able to enjoy any of it.

You can nail your withdrawal rate down to the dollar and still end up unable to take the trip, do the hike, or get down on the floor to play with your grandkids - not because you didn’t save enough, but because you spent 30 years sitting at a desk and never got around to moving.

And here’s the part that gets me: money problems in retirement are usually fixable. Adjust the budget, work a little longer, pull back on spending for a year. But a knee that can’t handle stairs, or a back that can’t handle a full day of walking? That’s a lot harder to fix on the back end.

The Healthcare Number You’ve Probably Heard

You’ve probably seen some version of this stat: Fidelity’s latest estimate puts the average cost of healthcare in retirement at around $345,000 for a couple, and that doesn’t even include long-term care.

Most people hear that and think “okay, I need to save more.” Which, sure. But nobody stops to ask the other question: how much of that number is actually preventable?

A lot of what drives lifetime healthcare spending - heart disease, diabetes, joint problems, high blood pressure - is tied directly to how much we move. So the highest-leverage thing you can do against that $345,000 isn’t necessarily a bigger portfolio. Sometimes it’s just the walk you skipped today.

You can’t invest your way out of a bad knee. But you can walk, lift, and stretch your way out of a good chunk of that bill.

There’s a Gap Nobody Talks About

There’s a term researchers use called the “healthspan-lifespan gap” - basically the difference between how long you live and how long you’re actually healthy enough to enjoy it.

In the U.S., that gap is now about 12.4 years, the widest of any country in the world. Meaning: the average American spends over a decade of their life alive but not really well. Not able to do the trip. Not chasing grandkids around the yard. Managing something instead of living.

Sit with that for a second against a 25 or 30-year retirement. If you retire at 65 and that gap eats the last 12 years, you didn’t actually plan a 30-year retirement. You planned an 18-year one, plus 12 years of managing decline.

That number should be sitting right next to your withdrawal rate in every financial plan. It almost never is.

Why This Matters More Than It Should

Here’s a stat that stuck with me: retirees who describe their health as good or excellent report satisfaction levels 58% higher than retirees who describe it as poor. Not a bigger nest egg. Not a better return. Just better health.

And when you ask retirees what actually matters most to them, “being healthy and fit” comes in right behind “enjoying life” - ahead of almost everything else we spend our whole careers optimizing for.

I think about that a lot, honestly. You can do everything right with your money and still end up with a worse retirement than someone with half your net worth, just because they can still get up and down a flight of stairs without thinking twice about it.

Money is a tool. Health is what lets you actually use it.

I’m Not Saying Become Someone You’re Not

To be clear, I’m not telling anyone to go become a marathoner or join a CrossFit, or completely reinvent themselves. Most people don’t need that, and honestly, most people won’t stick with it if they try.

What actually matters is way more boring than that: get your steps in. Get outside. Walk. Ride a bike. Pick up something heavy a couple times a week. Nothing dramatic - just don’t let years slip by where the only movement you get is from the couch to the car.

You don’t need to be an athlete. You just need to still be able to climb the hill in Positano when you finally get there.

A Simple Test

Before you skip another workout or push it off to “starting Monday,” I’d run it through the same kind of test I’d use for any big financial decision:

1. Name what you’re actually saving for. Be specific - the trip, the grandkids, the years of freedom.

2. Ask honestly whether your body could do it today. Not in theory - actually climb the stairs, walk the distance, carry the bag.

3. If the answer is no, treat that the way you’d treat any underfunded goal. Something to start closing now, not “eventually.”

4. Do the smallest thing you can actually stick with. A 20-minute walk. Not a resolution, just action today.

And remember, compounding works both ways. The same consistency that builds a portfolio over 30 years is what builds a body that can still enjoy it.

I tell a story all the time that the first time I got on a treadmill after my football career I couldn’t run a mile. 10 years later I’ve done 10+ marathons, 100 mile endurance races, Ironmans, you name it. Compounding is real in all aspects of our lives.

Bottom Line

There are two ways retirement can go wrong. One is running out of money before you run out of life - we talk about that constantly.

The other is running out of health before you run out of money. Sitting on a fully funded retirement you can’t physically enjoy. Almost nobody talks about that one, and I’d guess it’s just as common.

Honestly, the hardest thing I see as an advisor isn’t the client who isn’t financially ready to retire yet. It’s the one who is - who did everything right for 40 years - and finds out the portfolio was never the hard part.

Save aggressively. Plan carefully. But somewhere in that plan, make room for the walk, the bike ride, the weights. Not for how it looks - for the simple reason that it’s what actually lets you enjoy what you’ve spent 40 years building.

Go take the trip to Italy. Just start training for the hills now, not the week before you leave.

See you next week.

— Fran

---

Whenever you’re ready, there are 2 other ways we can help you:

1. Join The Opulus Method Newsletter — Every Tuesday, I share strategies that help high-income millennials build wealth without sacrificing their life. Join 3,200+ readers.

2. Work With Us 1-on-1 — We’ll build your personalized strategy to cut your taxes, maximize your income, and grow your wealth month after month. You focus on living your life. We handle the financial strategy and execution.

---

Opulus, LLC (“Opulus”) is a registered investment advisor in Pennsylvania and other jurisdictions where exempted. Registration as an investment advisor does not imply any specific level of skill or training.

The content of this newsletter is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, tax, legal, or accounting advice. It is not an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any securities or investments, nor does it endorse any specific company, security, or investment strategy. Readers should not rely on this content as the sole basis for any investment or financial decisions.

Past performance is not indicative of future results. Investing involves risks, including the potential loss of principal. There is no guarantee that any investment strategies discussed will result in profits or avoid losses.

All information is provided “as-is” without any warranties, express or implied. Opulus does not warrant the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of the information presented. Opinions expressed are those of the authors, Ryan Greiser and Francis Walsh, and are subject to change without notice.

Opulus is not responsible for any errors or omissions, nor for any direct, indirect, or consequential damages resulting from the use or reliance on this information. Use of the content is at your own risk. This content is not intended as an offer or solicitation in any jurisdiction where such an offer or solicitation would be illegal.