YouTube Retirement Creators
I Recommend
A curated list of YouTube creators who provide excellent retirement
planning content. These are people I’ve found genuinely helpful in my
own retirement journey.
Table of Contents
- Heritage Wealth Planning (Josh
Scandlen)
- Holy Schmidt!
- Joe Kuhn
- Azul
- Duane (Retire Early
500K)
- Tae Kim (Financial
Tortoise)
- Erin Talks Money
- Recommended Tools &
Resources
1. Heritage Wealth Planning
Creator: Josh Scandlen YouTube: Heritage Wealth
Planning
Josh is a great resource for retirement planning. Full disclosure — I
paid for his services, and it was well worth it. He has a large library
of videos covering a wide range of retirement topics, and it’s worth
scanning through for subjects relevant to your situation.
Why I Like Him
- Decades of experience in financial planning with a
practical, no-nonsense approach.
- Conservative, straightforward style — a God-fearing
man from Georgia who connects well with people from all walks of
life.
- The Barbell Approach — his investment strategy is
simple, easy to understand, and manageable for self-directed
investors.
- RightCapital — this is his Monte Carlo simulation
tool that he sets up and runs for clients. He uses pretty conservative
settings, so if your plan works in his model, you’re in great
shape.
Books by Josh Scandlen
Josh has written several books on retirement planning, available on
Amazon:
Josh hosts a community discussion on Locals where he provides ongoing insights
and interacts with his audience.
2. Holy Schmidt!
Creator: Holy Schmidt YouTube: Holy Schmidt!
This creator delivers great detail on retirement topics with a
classic dry accounting demeanor. If you want thorough, numbers-driven
analysis, Holy Schmidt is your channel.
Why I Like Him
- Deeply detailed content — covers topics with the
precision you’d expect from someone with an accounting background.
- Huge video library — videos galore on nearly every
retirement topic you can think of.
- Great second opinion — I use his channel as another
viewpoint alongside Josh Scandlen to get a well-rounded perspective on
retirement strategies.
3. Joe Kuhn
Creator: Joe Kuhn YouTube: Joe Kuhn
Joe is a retired guy from Alcoa with a classic Midwest dry, sardonic
humor. He provides good practical advice and real-world tips from
someone who has actually walked the walk.
Why I Like Him
- Real-world experience — retired from Alcoa, so he’s
living what he teaches.
- Practical advice — down-to-earth tips that you can
actually implement.
- Midwest humor — makes the content enjoyable with
his dry wit.
- Bucket approach — Joe led me into the bucket
strategy, which I like as a logical segregation of funds.
- Preventative maintenance background — his actual
career was in preventative maintenance, and he brings that practical,
“prevent problems before they happen” mindset to retirement
planning.
Joe frequently links to these Monte Carlo simulation tools in his
videos:
- Money
Pickle — connects you with financial advisors and planning
tools.
- Boldin
(formerly NewRetirement) — a comprehensive retirement planning
calculator with Monte Carlo simulations. Great for running your own
scenarios.
4. Azul
Creator: Azul Wells YouTube: Azul
A former financial consultant with massive experience. Azul is as
smooth as you’d expect from someone with his background.
Why I Like Him
- Deep industry experience — years as a financial
consultant give him genuine inside knowledge.
- Process-oriented thinking — he’s more of a process
guy, which is valuable for understanding the “why” behind financial
decisions.
- Inside perspective — a good source for
understanding how the financial industry actually works and thinks.
- Note: Can be less clear on some specific details,
but overall a solid source for big-picture retirement thinking.
5. Duane (Retire Early 500K)
Creator: Duane YouTube: Retire Early
500K
Duane is a straight-shooting Southern California guy — the kind of
older, no-nonsense Californian you used to see everywhere in the state.
He retired early and wants you to know you can too.
Why I Like Him
- Brutally straightforward — cuts out the cruft and
tells you to stop overthinking it.
- DIY mentality — his message is clear: you can do
this yourself, because he did.
- No fluff — doesn’t waste your time with elaborate
production or filler content. Gets right to the point.
- Real experience — he actually retired early on 500K
and shares what that looks like in practice.
6. Tae Kim (Financial Tortoise)
Creator: Tae Kim YouTube: Financial
Tortoise
Tae Kim’s channel was instrumental for me in setting goals and
figuring out where to begin my retirement planning journey.
Why I Like Him
- Great starting point — if you’re just beginning
your retirement planning, this is an excellent place to start.
- Investing order — provides clear guidance on the
order in which you should invest (401k, IRA, taxable, etc.).
- Fund recommendations — has a good list of funds he
likes, making it easy to get started without analysis paralysis.
- Solid reference material — the kind of channel you
bookmark and come back to when you need to double-check your
approach.
7. Erin Talks Money
Creator: Erin YouTube: Erin Talks Money
Erin brings a younger perspective to retirement planning and the
bucket strategy. She’s sharp, engaging, and genuinely fun to listen
to.
Why I Like Her
- Bucket strategy deep dives — another great take on
the bucket approach to retirement planning, complementing Joe Kuhn’s
perspective.
- Cost-conscious content — she offers lots of tips on
fund costs and expense ratios, which is what originally drew me in.
- Younger viewpoint — brings a fresh generational
perspective to retirement planning that the older creators sometimes
miss.
- Entertaining delivery — smart and easy to listen
to, and her blooper reel is worth a few chuckles.
These tools are mentioned across the channels above and are useful
for your own retirement planning:
| Tool |
Description |
| RightCapital |
Monte Carlo simulation platform (used by Heritage Wealth
Planning) |
| Boldin |
DIY retirement planning with Monte Carlo analysis |
| Money Pickle |
Financial advisor matching and planning tools |
| FIRECalc |
Free historical backtesting for retirement portfolios |
| cFIREsim |
Free Monte Carlo and historical simulation tool |
How I Use These Channels
I don’t rely on just one source. Each creator brings a different
perspective:
- Josh Scandlen for the big-picture strategy and
professional guidance
- Holy Schmidt for deep-dive analysis and a second
opinion on the numbers
- Joe Kuhn for practical, real-world “boots on the
ground” retirement wisdom
- Azul for insider financial industry perspective and
process thinking
- Duane for the no-BS reality check — can you
actually do this yourself? Yes.
- Tae Kim for getting started and building a solid
investment foundation
- Erin Talks Money for cost-conscious planning and a
fresh perspective
Cross-referencing multiple viewpoints helps you build confidence in
your plan. No single YouTube channel has all the answers, but together
they give you a solid foundation.
Last updated: February 22, 2026