What's inside
What you'll actually understand after reading it
Not a sales pitch. Not a generic checklist. Just the five things that determine whether your retirement plan holds up — explained clearly, with a worksheet to work through your own situation.
The risk hiding in plain sight
Sequence of returns risk is the reason two people with identical portfolios and identical average returns can end up in completely different places. Most people don't know this exists until they're living it.
The quiet risk on the other side
Playing it too safe has consequences too — ones that don't show up for years. My grandfather retired with a million dollars in the early '90s and kept everything in CDs. Today that money is worth around $1.3M. It sounds fine until you remember what $1M bought in 1992.
What your withdrawal rate actually means
The 4% rule is a starting point, not a plan. Your age, your health, and your other income sources all change the number significantly — and getting it wrong in either direction compounds over decades.
The tax question almost nobody asks
A million dollars in a traditional IRA and a million dollars in a Roth are not the same thing. Most retirement numbers I see have never accounted for the most basic first question: where does this money actually live?
How to build backwards from your actual life
Your assets should be dictated by your plan — not the other way around. A worksheet walks you through the real inputs so you can see what your number should actually be, not just what sounds right.
The number isn't the plan. The plan is the plan. The number is just what falls out of it when you do the work honestly.
David Talley, CFP® · Talley Wealth · Johnson City, TN
Worth a read before your next move.
Five things that shape whether your financial plan actually holds up — in about 10 minutes.