Why Taking a Year Off Might Be Your Smartest Money Move, with David Bach

25 snips

Dec 12, 2025

David Bach, bestselling author of The Automatic Millionaire, shares insights on money and mini-retirements. He emphasizes the importance of enjoying life now rather than waiting for retirement, discussing his own year off that sparked profound changes. The conversation covers rethinking retirement withdrawals and advocating for early Social Security benefits. Bach also introduces the concept of the 'latte factor' to illustrate how small savings can lead to significant wealth. His practical advice on automating finances encourages listeners to build a life they love.

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ANECDOTE

Yearlong Sabbatical Rebooted A Career

David Bach took a deliberate year off at 46 to reboot his energy and creativity.
The break restored his passion and preceded major new projects like books and moving to Europe.

ADVICE

Schedule Mini-Retirements, Not A Finish Line

Take mini-retirements at 30, 40, and 50 instead of waiting for one distant finish line.
Use breaks to ensure you’re healthy and able to enjoy freedom when it arrives.

INSIGHT

Plan Around Health Expectancy

Health expectancy (not lifespan) matters for when you can enjoy retirement.
In the U.S. the average health expectancy is about 63, so plan experiences earlier.

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#668: We’re joined in-studio by David Bach, bestselling author of The Automatic Millionaire and The Latte Factor. He’s updated his most popular book (over two million copies sold) and this is his last big launch as he heads into retirement.

Together, we wrestle with a problem our listeners know well: what happens when you’ve built the habit of saving, investing, optimizing … and then feel weirdly unable to spend.

We talk about mini-retirements, the psychology of “spend and enjoy,” and why waiting to touch retirement money can be its own kind of risk.

Key Takeaways

Think about retirement as a series of deliberate mini-retirements, not one finish line you might reach with less energy than you expected.

If you’re a dedicated saver, build a plan for the “spend and enjoy” phase so you do not accidentally optimize away the years you wanted freedom for.

Run the numbers on “small” spending habits, not to guilt yourself, but to see which choices actually buy future optionality.

Treat withdrawals, benefits, and deadlines as part of the strategy, not a paperwork problem you’ll deal with later.

If your finances feel out of reach, anchor yourself with a simple projection and one automated action, momentum beats motivation.

Resources and Links

David Bach’s website: http://davidbach.com/

David Bach’s books

The Automatic Millionaire (updated edition)

The Latte Factor

Smart Women Finish Rich

Chapters

Note: Timestamps are approximate and may vary greatly across listening platforms due to dynamically inserted ads.

(0:00) Introducing David Bach

(4:50) Radical sabbaticals, Florence and rethinking retirement

(9:10) Health scares, widowhood stats and enjoying life earlier

(11:00) Updating The Automatic Millionaire for 24 million millionaires

(15:30) Social Security strategy, RMD parties and claiming earlier

(31:30) The latte factor, avocado toast and $10 dollar decisions

(33:00) How $10 a day turns into $678,000

(34:20) Oprah behind the scenes, bricks of cash and an audience gasp

(47:10) Tiffany Aliche, $75,000 dollars of debt and other success stories

(54:25) A $53,000 income couple who retired as multimillionaires

(1:25:40) Careers in advising, hiring trends and women advisors

(1:28:37) Social Security taxes, new ideas and an eight year tax window

(1:41:27) Remembering the “why,” values based choices and using money well

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