Military, Retirement, and Planning for What Comes Next with Joe Sallee

What 25 years in the Navy taught Joe Sallee about planning ahead, managing risk, and helping people think beyond retirement.

In this episode of The Long Game, Mitch Long talks with Joe Sallee about military service, submarines, business, and the path that led him into financial planning. Joe shares how an early dream of flying in the Air Force turned into a 25-year Navy career on submarines, and how that eventually gave him the foundation for a second career helping people prepare for retirement.

They also get into the emotional side of money, why business owners often forget to plan for themselves, and how politics and headlines can derail good financial decisions. It is a practical conversation about long-term thinking, risk, and building a life that still has purpose after work ends.

WHAT WE TALK ABOUT

Joe Sallee’s military background and life on submarines How a physics degree led into nuclear training in the Navy Getting interested in investing and financial planning early The move from military service into financial advising Why Joe first focused on helping military families transition How business owners neglect their own planning The role emotions and politics play in financial decisions Why retirement planning has to include purpose, not just numbers How Joe thinks about growing a business that outlasts the owner Where insurance fits into a full financial plan

CHAPTERS

00:21 – Mitch introduces Joe and asks about his military background 00:48 – Growing up in an Air Force family and wanting to fly A-10s 02:00 – Why Joe ended up in the Navy and on submarines instead 02:43 – Spending 25 years in the Navy 02:56 – What life on a submarine is really like 03:28 – Oklahoma, college, and the years at the University of Oklahoma 05:53 – Why Joe studied physics 06:51 – How Joe got interested in investing and financial planning 08:04 – Getting recruited into the industry before leaving the Navy 09:00 – Starting out by helping military families transition 09:27 – Expanding beyond that niche into business owners 10:20 – Why smart professionals often neglect their own financial planning 11:14 – Joe’s philosophy and helping clients make their dreams come true 12:00 – Why retirement planning is also psychological 12:41 – The challenge of keeping politics and emotion out of decisions 14:00 – Why Joe tells clients to stop living in the news cycle 15:18 – The size of Joe’s team and the structure of the practice 15:35 – What he wants the business to become over time 16:39 – Building a practice that can run without the owner 17:00 – How Joe reviews insurance as part of planning 18:00 – Mitch on disability insurance and protecting income 19:25 – Long-term care and self-insuring later in life