Financial Lessons from the World’s Greatest Mountaineer
Veteran world-class climber and bestselling author Ed Viesturs is the only American to have climbed all 14 of the world’s 8,000-meter peaks, and only the sixth man to do so without supplemental oxygen. Viesturs has gone on 11 expeditions of the world’s most famous mountain, Everest, reaching the summit seven times. He’s spent more than two years of his life on the mountain. In 2005 he was awarded National Geographic’s Adventurer of the Year.
Ed is one of the most inspiring people I have met. I was fortunate to meet him last year when he visited Bend and as recently as last week in Timberline Lodge on Mt Hood after he climbed Oregon’s highest peak with his son for a charitable organization. Viesturs was in the IMAX climbing team during the 1996 Everest Disaster, the event of which Into Thin Air was made. His bestselling autobiography No Shortcuts To The Top covers in detail his career as a mountaineer, how he prepared for his expeditions and most importantly his philosophy about how he managed the inherent risks.
This leads to the premise of my book Failure is NOT an Option. Imagine that you’re at Mt. Everest Base Camp and you’ve come across Ed and his team about to start their expedition to the summit. “What’s your ultimate goal?” you ask him. How would he answer? If you’re like most people, you probably assume that his ultimate goal is getting to the top. As you’re about to find out, you’d be wrong.
Although arriving at the top of the mountain is considered by many mountaineers to be one of life’s greatest accomplishments, Ed can tell you firsthand that summiting is not the ultimate goal for climbers. They know that 80 percent of climbing accidents and deaths occur on the descent. With this chilling statistic in mind, they will tell you that their objective is to reach the summit and get back down alive to see their family and friends. They understand that the second half of their journey presents the greatest risk and requires the most planning.
I believe the same can be said for the second half of one’s financial journey. For years, people have focused intensely on accumulating enough assets (i.e. climbing to the top of the mountain). However the biggest risk facing retirees occurs during the second half of their financial journey, once they retire and begin to live on their retirement savings (i.e. climbing back down the mountain). This is also the phase that requires most of the planning and entails most of the risk. Retirees need to come down the other side safely—no matter what the future brings.
Before embarking on a journey it is important to understand the guidelines for a safe and successful experience. The same is true when planning for retirement because failure is not an option. In your years of retirement there are no mulligans or second chances. The day you start taking money out of your portfolio and open the income valve to your 401(k) or IRA, all of the rules change. Not only are you no longer adding to your nest egg, you will need to make your money last for a possible 25 to 40 years. You will be dependent on this income stream you’ve spent a lifetime accumulating. I refer to this period as the Fragile Risk Zone.
The good news is that instead of contributing to your retirement fund, you’re finally going to start benefitting from distributions. The bad news is that you must understand and overcome the serious risks that were not nearly as significant during the accumulation phase of your working years. Creating a retirement blueprint will help to ensure that your money lasts as long as (or longer than) you do. In short, you need to ensure that your income streams are protected against the eight key retirement risks that you, and indeed all retirees, face.
David Rosell is president of the Rosell Wealth Management in Bend. He is the author of Failure is Not an Option- Creating Certainty in the Uncertainty of Retirement. You may learn more about his book at www.DavidRosell.com or Amazon.com. Ask for David’s book at Barnes & Noble and in Bend at Newport Market, Cafe Sintra, Bluebird Coffee Shop and Powell’s Books in Portland.
Investment advisory services offered through Rosell Wealth Management, a State Registered Investment Advisor. Securities offered through ValMark Securities, Inc. Member FINRA, SIPC 130 Springside Drive, Ste 300 Akron, Ohio 44333-2431. 800-765-5201. Rosell Wealth Management is a separate entity from ValMark Securities.
