Retired US Navy SEAL Jon Fussell on Planning for an Effective Retirement

Jon Fussell SEAL Planning For Retirement TDJS

In this “The David Johnson Show” highlight – Jon Fussell Retired Lt Commander Navy SEAL talks about his retirement mindset when retiring from the Navy at age 44 after leading some of the most elite of the elite within the SEAL community – “Let’s leverage what I already bring to the fight”. He knew what his skill set was and is now leveraging that in the finance sector.

The full episode with Jon Fussell airs Thursday, April 30th.

“The David Johnson Show” is a national voice that talks about points of interest in the American military and veteran subculture. Each show episode showcases a different guest with a different story. Sign up to get notified of new episodes at https://thedavidjohnsonshow.com and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

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Video Transcript:

David:  That’s amazing. You made the decision “I’m going to retire.” What then active steps, your mindset, did it start changing? Do I stay in the same industry I’m in now? Do I get out? Do I just see what’s out there? How does that even go down for somebody at your level?

Jon:  I started talking to a lot of great people. I had the opportunity to interact while I was in Naval Postgraduate School. A lot of great supporters there. A lot of Silicone Valley types. I met a bunch of great people and started picking people’s brains about everything that was out there.

We can talk later maybe about the various vets coming out of different milestones. For a guy who’s going to be retiring at 44 years old, I’m like, “How are we going to go old, new tricks? What are we doing here? Or are we going to try to leverage what’s already between my ears?”

My thought was let’s leverage what I already bring to the fight. Because you don’t want to put me shoulder to shoulder with some 26year-old and expect us to…that’s silly.-

I started looking industry, industry, industry, seeing what was out there and where could my abilities be most effectively leveraged. I didn’t want to go defense contracting world. Nothing against guys…I have buddies that have done that and that’s a great option. It’s a very natural progression.

David:  There was no thinking. You immediately knew I did not want to go defense contracting. You just internally knew.

Jon:  Pretty much. You are your last job. My thought process was, look, 20 years in the SEAL Teams followed by some time at big defense contractor. Then if I walk out of that I’m kind of typecasted for life. I didn’t want to do that. I wanted to take on something new and different.

I was kind of industry agnostic. I interviewed all over because I did end up connecting with some great folks in the finance world, having never balanced my checkbook in my life. [laughs] I ended up sitting at the trading desk.

David:  Now you’re in finance.

Jon:  It was a great transition.