What’s the biggest threat to retirement: the system… or the strategy?

In this episode, Rod and I pull back the curtain on the two forces that quietly shape most retirement outcomes. First, we look at the systemic side—the stuff you can’t control but absolutely need to understand: political influence in pensions, underfunded plans, longer lifespans, inflation, and even the way the financial “game” is tilted toward those with the most money and influence.

Then we turn the spotlight inward—because the other threat is the one most people don’t expect: traditional planning itself. The accumulation-only mindset, over-reliance on the stock market, liquidity traps inside qualified plans, and the habit of building retirement plans on long chains of assumptions (returns, inflation, tax ...