# The Point Where Saving For Retirement Becomes Optional

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/retirement-quick-tips-with-ashley-761861/the-point-where-saving-for-retirement-becomes-optional
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/retirement-quick-tips-with-ashley-761861/the-point-where-saving-for-retirement-becomes-optional.md
Podcast: [Retirement Quick Tips with Ashley](https://stenobird.com/podcast/retirement-quick-tips-with-ashley-761861)
Published: 2026-05-25T08:15:00+00:00
Episode link: https://retirementtip.libsyn.com/the-point-where-saving-for-retirement-becomes-optional
Audio file: https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/retirementtip/Ep2599_-_Edited.mp3?dest-id=866828
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/retirement-quick-tips-with-ashley-761861/episodes/the-point-where-saving-for-retirement-becomes-optional
Duration seconds: 172

## Resource

Did you know there comes a point when you're getting close to retirement that saving more every year or maxing out your 401k no longer matters? When you reach the point of "coasting" to retirement, the annual returns far outpace your annual savings, making them a drop in the bucket. For example, I have a client with a 3.5 million portfolio. He has a gain of about 8% this year, which translates to about $254,000 in gains. Any savings he might make on top of these gains, even if he's maxing out his 401k, are just a small portion of his overall dollars growing. Which begs the question - how do you know when saving for retirement becomes optional, and you can let the returns and math work in your favor and not stress so much about saving as much as possible? So in this week's podcast, I'll talk about how to recognize when you can stop saving so hard for retirement & relax a little bit, what 'coasting' to retirement actually means, and why this phase can be one of the most freeing (and financially misunderstood!) stages of your retirement planning journey because it can help you achieve other important financial goals as well.

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## Transcript

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