In this episode of Navigating Abundant Retirement, Carol Dewey addresses a hard truth: most people don’t actually have a retirement plan; they have a collection of financial products.

Even successful savers and investors often feel uncertain about taxes, market downturns, healthcare costs, and income sustainability. The issue isn’t effort; it’s framework. Carol explains why traditional retirement planning fails and introduces the Navigator Framework, a coordinated, adaptive approach designed to help retirees move from accumulation to confident navigation.

Why Most Retirement Plans Fail …

1. Assumption-based planning that ignores real-world volatility
2. Product-first recommendations without integrated strategy
3. Failure to manage sequence-of-returns risk
4. Static plans that cannot adapt when life changes
5. Why Most Retirement Plans Fail

Retirement doesn’t happen in a spreadsheet. Markets shift. Tax laws evolve. Health and family dynamics change. A plan built on assumptions collapses under reality.

Retirement requires a different skill set. You are no longer racing toward a number; you are steering through uncertainty.

The Navigator Framework focuses on:

1. Clarity – Understanding your true income, tax exposure, and risk
2. Course Mapping – Coordinating income, taxes, risk, and legacy planning
3. Navigation Tools – Choosing strategies that fit the plan, not products sold in isolation
4. Course Corrections – Adjusting as markets, laws, and life evolve
5. Why Most Retirement Plans Fail …

If the market dropped 20% tomorrow, would your retirement lifestyle change?

If the answer is yes or even maybe, the issue isn’t how hard you’ve worked. It’s how your plan is structured.

Abundance doesn’t come from predicting the future.

It comes from navigating it well.

Why Most Retirement Plans Fail

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In this episode of Navigating Abundant Retirement, Carol Dewey explores the hidden risks that often emerge after financial success, the ones that don’t show up in performance reports or headlines. These risks are subtle, gradual, and frequently overlooked, yet they can quietly undermine confidence, income, and peace of mind in retirement.

Carol explains why success can create blind spots, how retirement changes the rules around decision-making, and why abundant retirement planning requires more than strong investment returns.

The Invisible Risks No One Warn…

1. The biggest retirement risks are often invisible, not market-driven
2. Timing and sequence of withdrawals can matter more than portfolio size
3. Taxes quietly erode income over time without proactive planning
4. “Safe” strategies without coordination can introduce new risks
5. Family, legacy, and communication gaps create emotional and financial exposure
6. Purpose and identity matter as much as money after success
7. The Invisible Risks No One Warn…

Abundant retirement isn’t about predicting the future; it’s about preparing for variability. True confidence comes from coordinated planning that addresses income, taxes, family dynamics, and purpose, not just accumulation.

The Invisible Risks No One Warn…

In the next episode, Carol explains why income—not net worth—is the true foundation of retirement confidence.

The Invisible Risks No One Warn…

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📅 Book a Complimentary Lifestyle & Legacy Assessment

💬 Website: https://www.perpetualwealthfinancial.com

💬 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/perpetualwealth/

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In this first episode of 2026, host Carol Dewey explores the "quiet tension" many successful retirees and pre-retirees feel despite having a solid net worth. She moves the conversation beyond simple math problems and market performance to address why many feel unsettled even when they have "enough." Carol challenges the traditional view of retirement as a single event, reframing it as a complex transition that requires coordinated navigation rather than siloed advice.

Listeners are invited to move from a state of "drifting" to one of "responding," ensuring their wealth is fully aligned with their lifestyle, values, and legacy.

1. Retirement is a Transition, Not an Event. Retirement is often viewed as a date on the calendar or a single financial transaction, but it is actually a major life transition where identity, routines, and income sources shift. Navigating this transition successfully requires awareness and the ability to adjust when conditions change.
2. The Danger of Fragmentation: Success often leads to complexity, resulting in "siloed advice," where different experts (CPAs, attorneys, and advisors) handle individual pieces of a financial life. Without a coordinated perspective responsible for the whole picture, high-net-worth individuals often carry hidden risks they cannot see.
3. Net Worth vs. Usable Wealth: A high net worth does not automatically equate to financial peace. True "abundant retirement" comes from understanding how wealth is coordinated, how taxes impact decisions over a lifetime, and ensuring money is working for your life rather than the other way around.
4. Confidence Over Certainty: While many seek certainty, it is often an illusion due to changing markets, health, and tax laws. True peace of mind comes from confidence—knowing you have considered multiple outcomes and understand your trade-offs so you can respond to change rather than react to it.
5. Moving from Success to Significance: For those who have already achieved financial success, the next step is finding clarity and alignment. This involves preparing the family, not just the portfolio, and ensuring that wealth supports a deeper sense of purpose and identity after a career or business transition.

1. The "Enough" Gap: Discussion on why having millions can still lead to fear when a plan is not coordinated or defined.
2. Real-World Lessons: Carol shares a story of a successful business owner who had a great team but lacked a coordinated tax and succession strategy.
3. 2026 Roadmap: A preview of upcoming topics including invisible risks, tax traps, and planning for purpose beyond documents.

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