The holidays often bring more than celebration. Shorter days, disrupted routines, family obligations, and year-end financial noise can quietly drain energy and cloud judgment. Many people don’t realize how much stress and poor sleep influence their decision-making, especially when it comes to retirement.
In this episode, Certified Retirement Counselor Mark Struthers explores how protecting basic health habits during the busiest time of the year can support clearer thinking and better financial outcomes. Rather than chasing perfection, Mark focuses on simple ways to reduce reactivity and preserve judgment when it matters most.
Listen in to hear how prioritizing sleep, pausing emotional financial moves, and reflecting on what actually worked this year can help you move through the holidays with more clarity and set the stage for a healthier, wiser start to the year ahead.
What You’ll Learn:
- Why stress and sleep deprivation quietly increase financial risk.
- How poor sleep can lead to impulsive decisions and unnecessary regret.
- Why retirement doesn’t remove stress, but often removes structure.
- How white noise, sleep, and mindfulness apps can help quiet mental chatter.
- The value of protecting one health habit instead of trying to overhaul everything.
- A simple three-part year-end reset to protect health, pause financial action, and reflect.
Ideas Worth Sharing:
- “Sleep is the cheapest form of performance enhancer.” – Mark Struthers
- “Stress often turns planning into reacting, and when you have to react… you usually have fewer options.” – Mark Struthers
- “A quieter brain makes fewer emotional financial decisions.” – Mark Struthers
Resources:
- Work with Mark Struthers
- Subscribe to our Healthy & Wealthy newsletter: Subscribe here
- Sleep Sounds by Sleep Pillow App
- BetterSleep
- myNoise
- Apple Background Sounds
- Apple Fitness+
- Strava
- Peloton
- Nike Training Club App
- Calm
- Headspace
- InsightTimer
- Waking Up
- MyFitnessPal
- Lose It!
- Cronometer
Disclosure:
Investment advisory services are offered through Sona Financial LLC (DBA Sona Wealth Advisors, Sona Wealth, Sona Wealth Management), an investment adviser registered in the state of MN. Sona Financial only offers investment advisory services where it is appropriately registered or exempt from registration and only after clients have entered into an investment advisory agreement confirming the terms of engagement and have been provided a copy of the firm’s ADV Part 2A brochure and document.
This video or article is for educational purposes only and is not exhaustive. Nothing discussed during this show/episode should be viewed as investment advice. Diversification and/or any strategy that may be discussed does not guarantee against investment losses but is intended to help manage risk and return. If applicable, historical discussions and/or opinions are not predictive of future events. The content is presented in good faith and has been drawn from sources believed to be reliable. The content is not intended to be legal, tax, or financial advice. Please consult a legal, tax, or financial professional for information specific to your individual situation.
This content has not been reviewed by FINRA.