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You've heard the same retirement advice for decades: max out your 401(k), live below your means, get out of debt, and hope it all works out. Susie Orman, Dave Ramsey, and the Wall Street machine have been preaching that message for years. But if their retirement planning formula really worked, why are so many retirees still coming up short, stressed, and feeling like they'll never be able to stop working?

In this episode, I pull back the curtain on the traditional retirement playbook and show you why it is failing today's retirees and future retirees. I walk through what Suze Orman is currently teaching about "guaranteed income," annuities, pensions, Social Security, and 401(k)s, and I break down the math on why even a seven-figure portfolio often isn't enough to create the income people actually need. We look at the Fidelity millionaire stats and why having $1 million in your 401(k) or IRA still often only translates to $30,000–$40,000 a year of income. That is not the financial freedom most people are dreaming of.

I also go through Dave Ramsey's advice around budgets, 401(k)s, living debt free, and "just stay in the market and ignore the news." While there are solid principles buried in there like being intentional and having a plan the strategy of simply saving more, spending less, and praying the stock market cooperates is broken in today's economy. With rising housing costs, healthcare, college costs, and general inflation, simply "saving harder" is not the answer.

Then I shift to something even the mainstream financial media is beginning to acknowledge: the traditional 401(k)-only model is not working. I reference a Yahoo Finance piece talking about the retirement savings shortfall and how firms like Goldman Sachs, BlackRock, T. Rowe Price, Empower, and Voya are now pushing private assets things like private equity, private credit, infrastructure, and real estate inside retirement plans. On the surface that sounds exciting, but I explain the hidden risks: higher fees, less transparency, illiquidity, and the danger of big institutional money creating bubbles and buying bad deals with your retirement dollars.

From there, I contrast that with how I invest and how my clients invest using true 401(k) alternatives: private real estate, private lending, and other alternative investments that can actually create cash flow now, not just someday. I talk about the difference between blindly handing your money to Wall Street and being part of a community that shares real experiences, real due diligence, and real results. I even share how staying out of one "hot" real estate deal years ago saved people from an operator who is now literally going to prison.

If you've ever looked at your 401(k) balance, run the numbers, and thought, "There is no way this gets me where I want to be," this episode is for you. I show you why the "set it, forget it, save forever, spend nothing" model is dying, and why getting your money liquid, out of retirement account prison, and into real assets that pay you passive income can completely change your trajectory.

My goal is not to give you investment advice or tell you what to sell. My goal is to open your eyes to the fact that there is another path a path where your money actually works harder for you, so you do not have to work so hard for it. If you are ready to become work optional and move toward true financial freedom, this episode will challenge what you have been told and help you start thinking like a real investor, not just a saver.

"The Right Message at the Right Time" with Aly Khan Musani of Symend