Shows
Retire Early, Retire Now!The 3-Bucket System: Spending, Flexibility, Freedom.Send us a textMastering Financial Clarity with The Three Bucket System (Plus One!)In this episode of The Retire Early Retire Now podcast, host Hunter Kelly, a certified financial planner and founder of Palm Valley Wealth Management, discusses the importance of having a clear financial purpose and introduces a framework called the 'Three Bucket System' with an additional bonus 'Legacy Bucket.' Hunter explains how to categorize your money into spending, flexibility, and freedom (retirement) buckets, and adds a fourth bucket for legacy. The episode covers the roles and purposes of each bucket, common...
2026-01-2721 minRetire Early, Retire Now!How to Know When You’re Saving Enough (Without Waiting for a Magic Number)Send us a textUnderstanding 'Enough': Redefining Financial Confidence and GoalsIn this episode of The Retire Early Retire Now podcast, host Hunter Kelly, a certified financial planner, delves into the complex concept of 'enough' in personal finance. He discusses why defining 'enough' is crucial yet challenging for high-income earners and offers a framework for determining when saving more ceases to add value. Hunter explores the subjective nature of 'enough,' the shifting goalposts in financial planning, and the importance of structure, flexibility, and understanding in achieving financial confidence. He also addresses the trade-offs of...
2026-01-2021 minRetire Early, Retire Now!6 Financial Blindspots High Earners Don’t Realize Are Holding Them BackSend us a textIdentifying and Addressing Common Financial Blind Spots for High EarnersIn this episode of The Retire Early Retire Now podcast, host Hunter Kelly, a certified financial planner, discusses six common financial blind spots that high-income earners often face. Using a metaphor of a surgeon's pattern recognition, he explains how financial planning works and highlights the importance of coordinating financial actions to ensure a strong plan. The blind spots covered include confusing high income with a strong plan, overfunding retirement accounts, optimizing for taxes at the expense of life, focusing on net...
2026-01-1317 minRetire Early, Retire Now!When Saving More Stops Helping: Finding the Balance Between Financial Discipline and EnjoymentSend us a textWhen Saving More Stops Helping: Finding the Balance Between Financial Discipline and EnjoymentIn this episode of Retire Early. Retire Now, Hunter Kelly, a certified financial planner and owner of Palm Valley Wealth Management, discusses the critical point at which aggressive saving stops being beneficial and starts to compromise quality of life. Addressing high-income earners who save diligently yet feel hesitant to spend, Hunter explores the concept of over-optimizing finances and its impact on day-to-day fulfillment. He provides a framework for identifying when additional saving no longer significantly benefits future financial...
2026-01-0614 minRetire Early, Retire Now!Make 2026 a Financial SuccessSend us a textKickstart Your Financial Success in 2026: Six Essential MovesIn this episode of The Retire Early Retire Now podcast, host Hunter Kelly, owner of Palm Valley Wealth Management, provides a comprehensive 30-day financial action plan to set the tone for 2026 and beyond. Hunter outlines six critical steps to take by January 31st, including knowing your financial numbers (net worth, savings rate, debt balances, and investable assets), automating savings, rebalancing investments, building an early tax plan, revisiting insurance and estate planning, and defining a purpose for your money. Through intentional action and system-building...
2025-12-3022 minRetire Early, Retire Now!When Your Money Gets Heavy: Turning Wealth Anxiety Into ConfidenceSend us a textThe Emotional Weight of Wealth: Managing Financial Anxiety and ComplexityIn this episode of the Retire Early Retire Now podcast, certified financial planner Hunter Kelly explores a less-discussed aspect of wealth management: the emotional burden that accompanies financial success. Discussing common myths, Hunter explains why increased wealth often leads to more complex financial decisions and heightened anxiety. He outlines the typical reactions people have when wealth feels heavy—freezing, following the crowd, and over-optimizing—and describes how his Palm Valley Pathway process can transform these feelings of overwhelm into clarity, confidence, and...
2025-12-2318 minRetire Early, Retire Now!How Hard Is It to Save a Million Dollars?Send us a textAchieving Millionaire Status Through Smart Retirement SavingsIn this episode of the Retire Early Retire Now podcast, host Hunter Kelly sheds light on the reality and feasibility of saving a million dollars solely through retirement accounts like 401(k)s and IRAs. He introduces his Palm Valley Pathway, a step-by-step framework designed to help high-income earners build wealth and achieve financial independence. The episode delves into the statistical rarity of million-dollar retirement savings, the importance of consistency, combating lifestyle creep, setting realistic financial goals, and the significance of having a structured plan...
2025-12-1624 minRetire Early, Retire Now!Maximizing Wealth in Your 30s and 40s: A Step-by-Step GuideSend us a textMaximizing Wealth in Your 30s and 40s: A Step-by-Step GuideIn this episode of The Retire Early Retire Now podcast, host Hunter Kelly, a certified financial planner and founder of Palm Valley Wealth Management, addresses a critical question for high-income earners in their thirties and forties: 'Where should my money go first?' Hunter outlines a clear and effective order of operations to optimize tax benefits, compounding growth, and retirement flexibility. Steps include ensuring you meet your 401k match, eliminating high-interest debt, establishing a fully funded emergency fund, maximizing contributions to...
2025-12-0920 minRetire Early, Retire Now!Portfolio Clean-Up: What to Sell, Keep, or RebalanceSend us a textMastering Portfolio Cleanup for a Simpler, Smarter Investment StrategyIn this episode of The Retire Early Retire Now podcast, host Hunter Kelly, a certified financial planner and founder of Palm Valley Wealth Management, dives into the essential practice of portfolio cleanup. Hunter outlines a clear framework for evaluating and reorganizing your investment portfolio to ensure it aligns with your financial goals and remains efficient. Topics include creating an inventory of your holdings, identifying duplicates, assessing sector and style concentrations, reviewing tax efficiency, and strategic rebalancing. Hunter also emphasizes simplicity and intentionality...
2025-12-0223 minRetire Early, Retire Now!How Gratitude Can Help You Retire EarlySend us a textHarnessing Gratitude as a Financial Tool: Emotional and Behavioral BenefitsIn this episode of The Retire Early Retire Now podcast, host Hunter Kelly explores the often-overlooked emotional side of money, focusing on the impact of gratitude. As Thanksgiving approaches, Hunter explains how gratitude can be a strategic financial tool that helps high-income earning families make better financial decisions, reduce stress, and feel more secure in their financial journey. He identifies three major 'wealth killers': lifestyle creep, comparison syndrome, and fear-based hoarding, and offers practical habits for integrating gratitude into financial planning...
2025-11-1919 minRetire Early, Retire Now!End-of-Year Tax Strategies You Don't Want to MissSend us a textIn this episode of the Retire Early Retire Now podcast, host Hunter Kelly, a certified financial planner and founder of Palm Valley Wealth Management, discusses the importance of proactive tax planning before the year ends. He explains how most people mistakenly focus on taxes in April when it's too late to make significant savings. Instead, he emphasizes the need for strategies such as Roth conversions, tax loss harvesting, charitable giving, and other overlooked year-end tax plays. Hunter also provides actionable steps for implementing these strategies, highlighting the potential to save thousands of...
2025-11-1218 minRetire Early, Retire Now!How to Know When to Stop Saving and Start LivingSend us a textTransitioning from a Saving to a Spending Mindset: Finding Your 'Enough' NumberIn this episode of The Retire Early Retire Now podcast, host Hunter Kelly, a certified financial planner, discusses the challenging shift from a saving to a spending mindset. After years of disciplined saving and investing, many high earners and perfectionists struggle to enjoy the wealth they've built without the fear of running out of money. Kelly delves into finding your 'freedom number,' the amount at which your investments can reliably support your desired lifestyle. He introduces strategies like...
2025-11-0519 minRetire Early, Retire Now!Maximizing Your Employee Benefits During Open Enrollment 2025Send us a textMaximizing Your Employee Benefits During Open EnrollmentIn this episode of The Retire Early Retire Now podcast, host Hunter Kelly, a certified financial planner, breaks down essential strategies for making the most of your employee benefits during open enrollment. He covers crucial topics such as choosing the right health insurance plan, utilizing Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) and Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs) effectively, optimizing retirement contributions, and ensuring adequate disability and life insurance coverage. Hunter also provides a practical year-end checklist to help listeners streamline their benefit decisions, emphasizing the financial impact...
2025-10-2924 minRetire Early, Retire Now!5 Common Financial Blindspots I See Every Day as a PlannerSend us a textUncovering Financial Blind Spots for High-Income ProfessionalsIn this episode of The Retire Early Retire Now podcast, host Hunter Kelly, a certified financial planner and founder of Palm Valley Wealth Management, delves into the five most common financial blind spots that high-income professionals often overlook. These blind spots can include overreliance on retirement accounts, ignoring tax diversification, insurance gaps, emotional or outdated investment allocation, and neglecting tax planning beyond April 15th. By identifying these areas and offering actionable solutions, Hunter helps listeners optimize their finances, avoid pitfalls, and achieve their long-term...
2025-10-1425 minRetire Early, Retire Now!When to Sell a Stock: How to Know If You’re Holding On Too LongSend us a textWhen to Let Go: Traps to Avoid and Signs to Watch for in Stock InvestingIn this episode of The Retire Early Retire Now podcast, host Hunter Kelly, a certified financial planner and founder of Palmen Valley Wealth Management, discusses the critical decision of knowing when to let go of a stock. Hunter covers emotional and financial traps that keep investors holding losing stocks, including the sunk cost fallacy and emotional attachment. He also explores how to identify changes in a company’s fundamentals and the impact of taxes on investment de...
2025-10-0728 minRetire Early, Retire Now!Celebrating 100 Episodes: Top 10 Financial TakeawaysSend us a textCelebrating 100 Episodes: Top 10 Financial TakeawaysIn the special 100th episode of The Retire Early Retire Now podcast, host Hunter Kelly, a certified financial planner and owner of Palm Valley Wealth Management, reflects on the journey of creating the podcast and achieving the milestone of 100 episodes. Kelly expresses gratitude to the listeners for their support and shares 10 key financial takeaways from the podcast's history. These takeaways cover topics such as the true meaning of retirement, the importance of cash flow over net worth, tax-saving strategies, the significance of asset allocation, flexibility in...
2025-09-3026 minRetire Early, Retire Now!How to Know When Retirement Accounts Aren’t EnoughSend us a textBeyond Retirement Accounts: Building a Flexible Financial FutureIn this episode of The Retire Early Retire Now podcast, host Hunter Kelly, a certified financial planner, discusses why traditional retirement accounts like 401ks and IRAs may not be enough for achieving financial freedom. He outlines the limitations of these accounts including contribution caps, early withdrawal penalties, and required minimum distributions. Hunter emphasizes the importance of financial tools like brokerage accounts, HSAs, and real estate for flexibility and tax advantages. He introduces strategies such as the three-bucket approach for optimal asset allocation and...
2025-09-2423 minRetire Early, Retire Now!How Smart Saving Created Security Through Life’s ChallengesSend us a textAchieving Coast Fire: Tom and Jill's Journey to Financial IndependenceIn this episode of the Retire Early Retire Now podcast, host Hunter Kelly, a certified financial planner, dives into a real-life case study featuring Tom and Jill, a couple who achieved their 'coast fire' number at age 51. Hunter details their journey of disciplined saving, low debt, and intentional financial planning. Tom's 20-year military career and subsequent police department role, combined with Jill's teaching career, allowed them to raise their two daughters while maintaining a modest lifestyle. Their story is a testament...
2025-09-1616 minRetire Early, Retire Now!The 3-Bucket Strategy to Balance Saving, Flexibility, and Retirement SecuritySend us a textMastering Financial Freedom: The Three-Bucket Strategy for Coast FIREIn this episode of The Retire Early Retire Now podcast, host Hunter Kelly, a certified financial planner, discusses the concept of Coast FIRE (Financial Independence Retire Early) and introduces the three-bucket strategy as a practical approach to achieving financial independence. Hunter explains the importance of balancing short-term security, mid-term flexibility, and long-term retirement independence through the use of three distinct financial buckets: the emergency fund, the brokerage account, and retirement accounts. Each bucket serves a specific purpose, from providing immediate financial security...
2025-09-0920 minRetire Early, Retire Now!How to Know When You Can Stop Saving So AggressivelySend us a textUnderstanding and Calculating Your Coast FIRE NumberIn this episode of The Retire Early, Retire Now podcast, host Hunter Kelly, delves into the concept of Coast FIRE (Financial Independence Retire Early) and how to calculate your Coast FIRE number. The discussion covers the essentials of Coast FIRE, the importance of balancing immediate financial needs with long-term retirement goals, and the steps involved in reaching your Coast FIRE number. Hunter explains how to determine your retirement spending goal, apply the 4% rule, and calculate present and future values. Additionally, he emphasizes the need...
2025-09-0227 minRetire Early, Retire Now!Lifestyle Design While Coasting: How to Live Your Retirement Dreams NowSend us a textLifestyle Design While Coasting: Flexibility and Financial FreedomIn this episode of The Retire Early Retire Now podcast, host Hunter Kelly, a certified financial planner, discusses lifestyle design as the next step after achieving 'coast fire'—a state where your savings and investments are sufficient to carry you to retirement with minimal new contributions. Hunter explores the concept of flexibility, both in terms of time and money, and shares practical steps to start designing a life that balances financial independence with meaningful, fulfilling activities. The episode also includes advice on tracking sa...
2025-08-2620 minRetire Early, Retire Now!How to Achieve Coast FIRE in Your 30s and 40s with Kids and a High Income”Send us a textUnderstanding Coast Fire: Balancing Lifestyle and Retirement SavingsIn this episode of the Retire Early Retire Now podcast, host Hunter Kelly, a certified financial planner, delves into the concept of Coast Fire. This strategy helps individuals determine when they can ease off aggressive retirement saving while still ensuring a comfortable future. Kelly explains the mechanics of Coast Fire, emphasizing the importance of substantial early investments to allow for lifestyle flexibility later. He details practical steps, including front-loading investment, aggressive investing, balancing lifestyle, protecting against risk, and staying disciplined. This episode provides...
2025-08-1927 minRetire Early, Retire Now!Financial Independence vs. Financial Freedom: Why Chasing a Number Could Hurt Your Retirement & How Coast FIRE Creates BalanceSend us a textBalancing Financial Independence and Fulfillment: The Key to a Meaningful RetirementOf Dollars and Data BlogIn this episode of the Retire Early Retire Now podcast, host Hunter Kelly, a certified financial planner, delves into the nuanced topic of financial independence. Inspired by an article from the Dollars and Data blog, Kelly explores the potential downsides of aggressively pursuing financial independence at the cost of personal fulfillment. He discusses the importance of balancing present enjoyment with long-term financial goals and introduces the concept of Coast Fire as a middle...
2025-08-1222 minRetire Early, Retire Now!Taxable Brokerage Accounts: 5 Essential Optimization Strategies for High-Income EarnersSend us a textOptimizing Your Taxable Brokerage Account: Key Strategies for Financial IndependenceIn this episode of The Retire Early Retire Now podcast, host Hunter Kelly, a certified financial planner and founder of Palm Valley Wealth Management, delves deep into the intricacies of optimizing taxable brokerage accounts. He outlines five crucial strategies for maximizing these accounts, emphasizing the importance of aligning investments with goals and time horizons, understanding the tax implications of trades, optimizing asset locations, focusing on low-cost funds, and planning for rebalancing and tax-loss harvesting. Hunter also provides real-life examples and actionable...
2025-08-0525 minRetire Early, Retire Now!5 Money Conversations Every Couple Must Have for a Stronger Relationship and Financial FutureSend us a textEssential Money Conversations for CouplesWelcome back to The Retire Early Retire Now podcast hosted by Hunter Kelly, certified financial planner and founder of Palm Valley Wealth Management. This episode emphasizes the significance of open money conversations for couples at any stage of their relationship. Hunter delves into five crucial money topics that every couple should discuss to avoid future financial stress: understanding each other’s values, creating a game plan for goals like paying off debt or purchasing a home, establishing a system for daily money management, envisioning retirement and fu...
2025-07-2926 min