The Retire Sooner Method: The 5 Secrets Behind America's Happiest (and Unhappiest) Retirees

Looking for a research-backed roadmap for an earlier and more joyful retirement?

In The Retire Sooner Method, author and CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER(TM) Wes Moss goes beyond traditional money advice to provide an easy-to-follow lifestyle blueprint that correlates to a 96 percent chance of lasting retirement happiness, based on his 2025 "Money and Happiness in America" study. By mastering the five secrets of the happiest retirees and identifying your own "Money Green Zones," you can trade retirement anxiety for a practical path to freedom. Learn the habits that create lasting purpose--and start your journey to retire sooner and happier than ever.

This book shows how retiring sooner isn't about extreme saving or getting lucky in the market. Moss reveals the five behaviors that consistently separate happy retirees from unhappy ones:

- Hit realistic Money Green Zones that reduce financial anxiety

- Replace work with meaningful core pursuits

- Build strong social connections that fuel long-term happiness

- Create a clear financial and life map

- Harness the surprising health habit that happy retirees embrace

By combining financial clarity with purpose, connection, and health, The Retire Sooner Method helps you see retirement as more than just a set of numbers. It shows you how to start living the life you want in retirement long before your last day of work. It's not about having the most money. It's about having enough--and the freedom to do what you love.

Wes Moss, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER(TM), is a managing partner and chief investment strategist at Capital Investment Advisors, a fee-only SEC registered investment advisory firm with over $8 billion* in assets under management. A dedicated financial educator, Moss has spent his career helping Americans retire sooner and happier through his research-driven Retire Sooner Method. Moss is the author of several books, including What the Happiest Retirees Know, and host of the long-running Money Matters radio show and the Retire Sooner podcast. A regular Forbes contributor and frequently quoted media source, Moss lives in Atlanta, where he leads a team committed to helping families find purpose and financial security in retirement.

*As of 12/31/2025