Every once in a while, a message cuts through the noise—not with hype, but with truth. That’s exactly what Joe delivers in his video, “One More Year”, a candid, sobering talk about fear, time, and the tough decision of when to retire.

It’s not your typical financial pep talk. There are no charts or calculations here. Just a heartfelt message that might strike fear—but more importantly, inspire urgency.

Joe speaks directly to those living in the limbo of “one more year.” The ones whose math says they can retire now, but who hesitate. Why? Fear. The fear of running out of money, of losing security, of stepping into the unknown. But that fear, Joe warns, might be the very thing keeping people from living the life they’ve already earned.

He doesn’t dismiss the fear—it’s real. But he does challenge us to look beyond it. And he invites us to do something simple, but profound: talk to someone in their seventies or eighties. Ask them what they value most now. Overwhelmingly, they’ll tell you: time and health. What you won’t hear is, “I wish I had worked one more year.” More likely? “I should’ve retired earlier. I should’ve trusted myself. I let fear win.”

It’s natural to wait for the “perfect” retirement moment—low inflation, high markets, steady income, and just a little bit more saved. We all hope for the calm seas before we jump. But the problem is, that moment only shows itself in hindsight. The perfect time was always three years ago, or five. The present is always clouded in uncertainty.

Joe calls it the fog of the future. And he’s right.

So he offers a thought experiment: What if you knew you had exactly ten years left to live? How would you spend today? Would you still be stuck in meetings, still chasing one more year of savings? Or would you finally start living on your own terms?

For Joe, that question helped shape his decision to retire at 54. Not because he had it all figured out, but because he didn’t want to look back with regret. He didn’t want fear to be the deciding factor.

He reminds us that time is our most valuable asset. Health comes next. Money? Important, yes—but not top of the list. And yet, we often behave as if it’s the only thing that matters. We let our schedules, our habits, our financial worries dictate our lives—even after we’ve earned the freedom to choose differently.

Joe’s challenge is simple, but profound: live intentionally. Every day. Ask yourself whether you’re living like today could be your last—not out of panic, but out of respect for what time really is: fleeting and precious.

He quotes a Stoic phrase—memento mori, “remember you must die.” Not to be grim, but to remind us of our humanity. We all have an expiration date, whether we acknowledge it or not. So are we spending our limited days wisely—or letting fear steal them away?

If your finances say you’re ready to retire, but your fear says otherwise, Joe’s message is clear: don’t let fear make the choice for you. The real risk isn’t that you’ll run out of money. It’s that you’ll run out of time while still trying to earn more of it.

Joe’s story is a mirror. Not advice, necessarily. But a reflection—a powerful one—of what it means to take your life back before it’s too late.

Watch the original video here: “One More Year” by Joe

Credit: All insights and reflections are based on Joe’s video on his YouTube channel.