Skip NavigationOur first BTS concert in Europe was in Brussels. It was louder than expected!Photo: Bernadette Joy
Last year, I retired at 40. It’s been a big adjustment, but there has been a constant during this transition: My love of the global music group BTS. By the end of 2026, I will have seen them perform 20 times, on three different continents.
This wholehearted embrace of my fandom might not sound like the retirement goal of someone who has worked with hundreds of clients on their finances. But so many people focus solely on the amount of money they need to retire, that they never consider what they want their retirement to actually look like.
BTS helped me envision this next step. Attending the shows gave me a specific activity in retirement, which made many of the money decisions easier for me. It also helped me realize that financial freedom isn’t about accumulating as much money as possible, but having the flexibility to use my time as I see fit.
We have enough saved for retirement that my husband AJ and I can comfortably live on about $6000/month. If you had told me 10 years ago when I was $300,000 in debt that this would be possible, I’m not sure that I would have believed it. But knowing the work it took to get to this point, I feel a sincere sense of gratitude that I am able to do this now. Here’s what I learned from the experience.
Our cheapest seats were general admission in Brussels. They turned out to have the best view!Photo: Bernadette Joy
I sharpened my financial focus
When BTS went on hiatus in 2023 to fulfill their military service, I started saving for their reunion. When they announced the tour last year, I opened a cash fund called “Tour with BTS.”
I wasn’t going to sell investments or use credit cards for this. So I started budgeting for concert tickets, flights, hotels, transportation, food and any other possible international travel expenses.
This also shifted my approach to retirement savings. Originally, I had planned to just put my retirement money into investments and brokerage accounts. When I realized how much I wanted to see BTS, it was clear that I also needed more readily accessible cash accounts, too. I had to organize my money around the life I actually wanted to live.
I had to organize my money around the life I actually wanted to live.
Now my retirement portfolio includes index funds, dividend-producing ETFs, money market funds and other places to keep more easily accessible cash income. This gives me more flexibility and peace of mind.
Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsCelebrating 20 years of friendship at the New Jersey BTS concert. Photo: Bernadette Joy
I learned that I crave independence but still need structure
I’m an ambitious person and I loved my career. Retirement was never meant to be an escape from work. But I’ve needed to reckon with how I spend my time when work isn’t my priority. What do I do on a Tuesday morning when no one needs me to be anywhere?
Many retirees I’ve worked with spent decades having their time dictated by someone else. Then retirement arrives and suddenly every day is theirs. It sounds freeing, but many people, myself included, underestimate how disorienting that can be.
BTS gave my freedom some much-needed structure. There were trips to plan, cities to explore, meetups to organize and people I wanted to see. It made the transition into independence easier to manage.
Our last concert in Munich, Germany where AJ made it to the big screen!Photo: Bernadette Joy
I better understand the quality of life I want
This first year of retirement has taught me to ask both, “Is it worth the cost?” and “What kind of life does this purchase make possible?” At the end of 2025, my husband and I moved to a two-bedroom condo in Las Vegas from North Carolina. When people ask us why Las Vegas, we sometimes joke: “For BTS.” But we’re only half joking.
Las Vegas actually offered the kind of lifestyle we wanted in this stage of our lives: concerts, comedy, entertainment, easy access to national parks and an airport that makes travel relatively easy.
Taking in our 14th concert in Boston.Photo: Bernadette Joy
We went to four BTS concerts after we got here. The shows were great, but more importantly, they proved to me that we’d made the right decision about the move. I want the place we live to support how we actually want to spend our time and money, and it does.
Being so immersed in BTS this year has influenced how I move through the world, especially online. I’ve shared a lot publicly about my experience with money, and in the past when I received negative comments, I took it to heart. BTS gets way more online criticism than I ever have, on a major scale. But they remain who they are, they prioritize their mental health and they never waver in their positive message. That has inspired me to do the same.
Checking out the pop-up shops and meeting other ARMY outside the concert in Brussels.Photo: Bernadette Joy
I think differently about achievement and my self-worth
My father worked until he was 72. He had only about 10 years of retirement to simply be a human before he passed. I don’t believe he worked that long so I could repeat the same pattern.
I retired at 40 in part because I want to enjoy the things I love while my body can still do them. There is a financial cost to doing this now, but there’s also a cost to waiting. For much of my adult life, achievement was a major part of my identity. I was good at setting goals, working hard and accomplishing things.
Retirement has forced me to ask a different question: Who am I when I’m not trying to achieve the next thing? Being a part of this fandom has helped me answer it. I understand now how much I value rest and relationships, both of which I put on the back burner while trying to build a career.
Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsHot and sticky night in London where I studied abroad 20 years before. Incredible to look back from this vantage point. Photo: Bernadette Joy
Following the tour has taken me around the world. The concerts energize me because of the artistry, joy and the sense of camaraderie I feel. I’ve made friends from more than 20 countries whom I never would have met otherwise.
None of that appears on a net worth statement, but this is what I built my net worth for. I spent years learning how to save, invest and build wealth. Now I am learning how to use that wealth to build a life.
Bernadette Joy is the author of “CRUSH Your Money Goals″ and a personal finance expert and investor dedicated to helping you beat burnout and reach financial independence. You can find her on Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn.
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