The Stacking Benjamins Show · Wednesday, September 2, 2026
Wes Moss categorizes retirement financial readiness into 'zones' based on liquid investable assets and corresponding happiness levels. He identifies a 'red zone' for those with $100,000 or less, a 'neutral zone' from $100,000 to $999,000, and 'green zones' starting at $1 million, where happiness levels significantly increase.
“So I look at it as different zones. The zones that we get to of liquid investable cushion. The cushion assets that can now feed your spending for the rest of your life. And where those end up is that if we're $100,000 or less, we are in the red zone. Happiness levels are dramatically below the baseline of my research.”
“The neutral zone, Joe, is from that, it's a big neutral zone where happiness levels are right around the population average. And that's $100 grand to a million or 999,000. And then when we get to a million dollars, then happiness levels jump, and they jump dramatically, statistically significant.”