The Health, Wealth, and Time Tradeoff (Why Retirement Timing Is Broken)

Last week, I talked about why healthy lifespan matters more than just living longer.

But that got me thinking…

What if the real problem isn’t how long we live—but when we’re actually able to enjoy it?

Because three things determine how good life feels at any moment:

• Your health

• Your money

• Your time

And here’s the problem:They peak at completely different times.

This is the health, wealth, and time tradeoff most people never think about

THE HEALTH CURVE (WHY YOUR BODY PEAKS EARLY)

As previously mentioned, my personal reason for retiring early was to have as much time as possible to physically enjoy life. I didn’t want to spend my physical prime working…only to finally retire when my body could no longer keep up.

Everyone assumes they’ll live the average lifespan or longer. And they assume that when they retire in their late 60s—as society deems the norm—that they’ll still be physically fit.

But Father Time is one cruel bastard, and he always wins.

Physical health follows a brutal pattern: an upside-down V.

Physical health, in this case, doesn’t just refer to a lack of illness or physical maladies. It also includes a person’s strength, flexibility, reaction time, etc. In other words, your functional capacity.

KEY STAGES

• Peak (Ages 20-30): We reach our physical peak in our early-to-mid-20s. We are strong and fast. Our immune system is robust, and we heal quickly from anything. We are like Wolverine from the X-Men comics, minus the retractable claws. But our peak is surprisingly short.

• Plateau and Gradual Decline (Ages 30-50): Our physical decline begins almost immediately after the peak. Vital organs and muscles begin to lose about 1% of their function each year. In the beginning, you barely notice it… except for the random pops and cracks from your joints and the occasional involuntary grunt you make when getting out of your chair.

• Erosion of Physical Resilience (Ages 50-70): We noticeably do not bounce back from illness and injury like we used to. Physical activity becomes a lot harder. Old injuries from our youth start making guest appearances. We are no longer Wolverine; we are Bea Arthur from the Golden Girls.

• Accelerated Decline (Ages 70+): Our inability to deal with illnesses and injuries gets even worse. You may remember from my previous post that this is the time you’ll probably be living your “unhealthy” years.

THE MONEY CURVE (WHY WEALTH COMES LATE)

Similar to our physical health, I wanted to see how financial health typically changes over life. Financial health is a combination of earning power and accumulated wealth.

The financial health curve looks similar to the physical health graph, but it starts much later in life. While physical health peaks in our 20s and 30s, financial health usually peaks around our 50s.

KEY STAGES

• Formative Years (Ages 0-22): Our financial health is at its lowest. We’re living with our parents and going to school. We earn no money, except for the small paycheck from part-time jobs. And our net worth is probably close to zero or maybe even negative due to school debt.

• Accumulation (Ages 25-45): We’ve entered the workforce, and earning power rapidly climbs as we advance in our careers. Net worth also grows as money is saved and invested.

• Peak (Ages 45-60): We typically reach our highest salary (peak earning power) during this time. This is also the prime period for retirement contributions.

• Transition and Decumulation (Ages 65+): The average person retires around this time and begins to live off of accumulated savings. Earnings drop to close to zero, except for Social Security checks.

THE TIME CURVE (WHY YOU’RE ALWAYS BUSY WHEN IT MATTERS)

Lastly, let’s look at the availability of free time. It doesn’t matter if you have the financial means and physical health to enjoy life if you don’t have the time to do so.

Unlike physical and financial health, the availability of free time follows a U-shaped curve. Free time peaks on the extreme ends of life.

KEY STAGES

• Early abundance (Ages 0-18): Before entering the workforce, our only true obligation is schooling. Sure, class and homework take time, but the total hours spent in a calendar year are a lot less than when you have a career.

• Time Squeeze (Ages 30-50): These years represent the period with the least amount of free time. Obligations are high with our careers, raising a family, and perhaps taking care of aging parents.

• Retirement rebound (Ages 65+): Upon retirement, there’s a sudden abundance of free time. By this time, children have left the home, and one or both parents may have passed away.

• Late life decline (Ages 85+): During late life, work obligations are still zero, but daily living (dressing, eating, chores, or medical care) takes up more free time due to physical decline.

THE HEALTH, WEALTH, AND TIME TRADEOFF (THE REAL PROBLEM)

Each graph is interesting on its own, but layering them on top of each other paints a clearer picture.

At no point in a “normal” life do you have peak health, peak wealth, and peak time at the same time.

• In our youth, we have the physical health and time to do whatever we want, but we lack the financial means.

• When we’re middle-aged, we still have our physical health, and now we have money. But our work and familial obligations take up the majority of our time.

• As seniors, we finally have both money and free time, but our physical health has drastically declined.

WHY WAITING UNTIL 65 IS A GAMBLE

You might look at the graph and think retiring in your late 60s isn’t so bad. Sure, your physical

health may be low, but it’s not at its lowest. You tell yourself that you’re fine with low physical activity. No more running and hiking for you. You’ll stick to walks, fishing at the lake, and road trips.

But this is a massive gamble.

Don’t forget that physical decline accelerates starting around age 70. And physical health isn’t just about strength and flexibility. Your organs and various body systems will have lost a lot of their function. And that can make life difficult, even if you still have physical strength.

I’ve previously shared the struggles of my dad, but now let me tell you about my father-in-law. Fortunately, he retired early and had numerous hobbies to keep himself busy. He played the violin, fished, shot his rifle, and traveled the world. He immensely enjoyed retirement.

But things changed for the worse over the past three years. He’s now in his early 70s. First, lower back pain set in, making it difficult to walk. More recently, he developed a heart condition that would cause him to black out. This forced him to give up driving, another thing he loved to do.

With this current physical condition, leaving the house has become difficult. He used to be always active and outdoors, and now he’s a homebody. Having a lot of free time and a mind that’s still sharp is difficult when you can’t leave the house.

Assuming you even reach “normal” retirement age is a gamble in itself. How tragic would it be if you died in your 40s when your physical and financial health are high? You may have also heard of or know people who died shortly after retiring.

You just never know when your time could be up.

HOW I’M SHIFTING THE CURVES (MY FIRE STRATEGY)

Although we can’t choose when our time on earth is up, we can change the curves of our physical health, financial health, and available free time. Ideally, we want the highest levels of all three curves to overlap as closely as possible. This is what I was striving for by planning to retire early.

I started down the FIRE path in my late 30s. My financial health was also lower than what’s on the graph. Yet by managing costs and boosting earnings by investing in individual stocks, I managed to shift the curve early by several years.

Capital gains from my investments should also, in theory, flatten out the curve, extending the high years of my financial health.

Shifting my financial health curve in turn shifted the peak of my free time curve by allowing me to retire early. Financial freedom, after all, isn’t about being able to buy material things. It’s about buying back your time to truly enjoy life.

With my financial health and available free time peaking earlier, I’m now focusing on flattening my physical health curve. Not surprisingly, my financial health and free time have made that easier. I now have the time to stay physically active and keep up with medical appointments. I also have the money to pay for medical treatments.

All three curves have changed and have begun to converge. And it was all triggered by adjusting the financial health curve.

You don’t control how long you live.

But you do have some control over when you live well.

Most people follow the default path—and never experience peak health, wealth, and time at the same time.

I’m trying to change that.

The question is: Are you going to accept the default… or shift the curves?

Leave a comment below and I’ll see you at the finish line.

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Disclaimer: I’m not a licensed financial professional. This blog shares my personal experiences and opinions around money, investing, and early retirement. It’s for informational and educational purposes only—not financial, legal, or tax advice. Always do your own research or consult with a qualified professional before making any financial decisions.