Retirement / The Compound Effect
Retire Without Regret: What the Latest Research Gets Right (and What Most People Miss)
| 6 min | By Heath J. Harris
Featured in Investopedia's 2025 retirement guide, Heath Harris shares what the research gets right about retiring well and what most people still overlook.
If you are thinking about retirement or already in it, chances are you have asked yourself some version of this question: "Am I doing this right?" It is a question that comes up in nearly every initial conversation we have with prospective clients at Compound Advisory -- whether they are calling from right here in Annapolis, Maryland or connecting with us virtually from across the country.
Recently, Heath J. Harris, Founding Financial Advisor of Compound Advisory, was featured in Investopedia's 2025 Guide to Retiring Without Regret, which brought together insights from retirement planning professionals nationwide. The goal was to help people avoid the most common retirement pitfalls -- both financial and otherwise.
Here is our take on what the research gets right, what most people still overlook, and the framework we use to help clients retire with clarity and confidence.
The 4 As of a Regret-Free Retirement
The Investopedia article outlines a behavioral framework that aligns closely with how we plan at Compound Advisory: Alignment, Awareness, Agency, and Adaptability. It sounds simple, but these four principles form the foundation of a retirement that actually works -- not just financially, but emotionally.
Alignment
Your money and your time should be working toward the life you actually want -- not someone else's version of what retirement should look like. This means getting clear on your values, your priorities, and how you want to spend your days before you start optimizing spreadsheets.
Awareness
You need to understand your numbers and the emotions behind them. What does your lifestyle actually cost? What lights you up? What drains you? Awareness is about honest self-assessment -- the kind that drives better decisions about spending, investing, and tax planning over the long term.
Agency
Agency is about taking small, intentional steps rather than waiting for the "perfect" moment. Whether it is winding down your career, exploring new passions, or adjusting your retirement income strategy, you do not need to leap. You need to move.
Adaptability
This is what separates the stressed from the confident. Markets shift. Health changes. Family dynamics evolve. The best financial plans are built to bend, not break. At Compound Advisory, every plan we build includes stress testing for scenarios like extended bear markets, unexpected healthcare costs, and changes in Social Security policy.
Why We Rarely Recommend Retiring Overnight
One pattern we see repeatedly: people who ease into retirement tend to be happier and better prepared -- both financially and emotionally. A phased retirement might include part-time consulting, volunteer work, launching a small side business, or even just blocking "practice retirement" days into your calendar.
This gives you time to transition your identity, test your cash flow assumptions, and figure out what really matters -- without flipping your entire life upside down overnight. From a wealth management perspective, maintaining even modest income in the early years of retirement reduces the strain on your portfolio during the sequence-of-returns risk window that matters most.
The Financial Piece Most People Miss
Over 60 percent of Americans age 50 and older worry they will not have enough money to retire. That is not just a math problem. It is a planning problem.
At Compound Advisory, we help clients address this gap through a coordinated approach:
- Stress testing the retirement plan using multiple market, inflation, and longevity scenarios
- Building 12 to 36 months of cash and cash-like reserves so you never have to sell investments during a downturn
- Using dynamic withdrawal strategies that adapt to market conditions rather than relying on the outdated four-percent rule
- Coordinating Social Security optimization with Roth conversion timing and overall tax strategy
- Building in flexibility because life will always throw curveballs
You do not need a magic number. You need a smart, adaptable strategy built by a fee-only fiduciary who is legally obligated to act in your best interest.
Relationships Matter Too
Retirement is not just about your portfolio. It is about your life -- your partner, your routine, your identity, your sense of purpose. The best financial plan in the world is not very helpful if you are unhappy with your day-to-day existence.
That is why our process at Compound Advisory always includes conversations about personal goals, emotional readiness, and quality-of-life planning -- not just numbers on a spreadsheet. We serve clients virtually across all 50 states, and these deeper conversations are just as effective over video as they are in person.
A Simple 4-Step Framework
Here is how we help clients retire with clarity:
- Clarify -- Define what you want retirement to look like and what it will realistically cost
- Test -- Try it before you fully commit through phased work, travel, and new routines
- Plan -- Build a strategy with taxes, income, risk, and flexibility built in from the start
- Refine -- Revisit regularly as your life evolves because retirement is not static
You can start this process right now with our retirement checkup tool, or take the next step by scheduling a complimentary Retirement Clarity Assessment. There is no pitch and no pressure -- just an honest conversation about where you stand and what we can do to help you move forward with confidence.
Compound Advisory is a registered investment advisor. All investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. Past performance is not indicative of future results.