Joseph Falbo has spent 30 years helping people navigate retirement, from the 1999 tech boom through COVID and beyond. In this episode, we explore his concept of the "functional retirement advisor" and why modern retirement demands a completely different approach than what worked for previous generations.

About Joseph Falbo

Joseph is the founder of Falbo Wealth and Amazon #1 bestselling author of Retirement Success: Hiring Your Functional Retirement Advisor. After starting his career at a penny stock firm (think Wolf of Wall Street), he committed to doing things the right way, completing Merrill Lynch's two-year training program before spending 14 years in the corporate world. He launched his own practice in 2009.

Key Topics Covered

The conversation opens with Joseph's investor framework: fragile, resilient, and anti-fragile investors. Most people think they're good investors until an extended bear market hits during retirement—when they're pulling money out rather than adding to it.

Joseph explains why he created the term "functional retirement advisor," drawing parallels to functional medicine doctors who take a comprehensive approach rather than writing quick prescriptions. A functional advisor starts with a plan, not a product, and uses exercises like George Kinder's three questions to help clients define what retirement success actually means to them.

The episode covers critical shifts in modern retirement: lifespans extending from 15-year to 30-year retirements, the disappearance of pensions, inflation eating away at purchasing power, and why 401(k)s shifted all the risk onto individuals without providing financial education.

Joseph shares client stories including a couple who started working with him at 62 with all their money in the bank, and how the planning process helped them retire successfully. He also discusses the dangers of being laser-focused on products (like tax-deferred REITs) without first understanding the full financial picture.

Connect with Joseph Falbo

Website: falbowealth.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joseph-falbo-cfp/

Claim your free audiobook: https://falbowealth.com/retirementsuccessbook/

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In this transformative webinar, Paul and Gabe McManus reveal why your most powerful marketing assets—your client transformation stories—are trapped in your head, and exactly how to turn them into a book that builds your practice.

What You'll Discover:

• The "You have my faith" story that made Gabe triple his life insurance immediately
• Why Steven's Target bag story about throw pillows made Paul hire him as his financial advisor
• How Bernd went from "I'm just a numbers guy" to writing a book about Antarctica and retirement planning
• Morgan's journey from "I'm not a storyteller" to booking the largest podcast in her industry
• The 2-minute phone technique that captures million-dollar stories after every client meeting

Key Takeaways:

• Why saying "I have lots of stories" means you have zero usable stories
• The "Greatest Hits" framework for developing repeatable, powerful stories
• How to go from blank page to published author in 6-12 weeks (without writing)

Paul and Gabe McManus have helped 500 financial advisors generate $100 million in fees and commissions through strategic storytelling and book authorship. Paul's own book landed him on Michael Kitces' Financial Advisor Success podcast, doubling his business in one year.

Perfect for: Financial advisors who know they should write a book but don't know where to start, aren't "writers," or think their stories aren't interesting enough.

Contact: Gabe McManus gabe@moreclientsmorefun.com to learn more about our author programs.

Claim your free audiobook copy at: www.theshortbookformula.com

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Episode Summary: A tech professional in her 50s had everything planned—enough saved to retire at 55. Just one problem: 80% of her net worth was company stock. Stanley Leong warned her to diversify. She agreed but couldn't bring herself to sell, feeling it would betray the company that made her successful. Then 2008 hit. The stock crashed. Her retirement at 55 vanished—she worked another decade to rebuild.

Stanley, a former engineer who survived the 2002 tech crash, now helps tech professionals avoid this exact mistake. After 20 years managing tech wealth, he reveals why brilliant engineers fail at one critical decision: when to sell company stock.

About Stanley Leong: Former IBM and Agilent Technologies engineer turned wealth advisor with 20+ years specializing in tech professionals. After experiencing the 2002 tech bubble firsthand, Stanley transitioned to financial services to help others navigate the unique challenges of tech compensation. Author of "Engineering Your Finances" and expert in RSU diversification, mega backdoor Roth strategies, and tech industry retirement planning.

Critical Insights:

"Don't fear capital gains. Capital gains means you made money. You want to pay more capital gains than anyone—that means you made more money."

"I work with you to avoid that one big mistake." "What mistake?" "I don't know, but it's out there."

"The moment I could walk away, work became enjoyable." —Client who achieved financial independence

Grab your copy on Amazon.

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