The Retirement Lie: Why Traditional Finance Has Failed Millions-and the Three-Bucket Behavioral Plan That Actually Works
For more than forty years we've been sold one simple, dangerous lie:
"Take more risk, get more reward."
"Stay invested-time is on your side."
"Compound interest will carry you."
It worked when you were putting money in. It collapses the moment you start taking money out.
Modern Portfolio Theory, Efficient Markets, risk-tolerance questionnaires-every cornerstone of traditional retirement planning was designed for the accumulation years, not for the withdrawal phase. The instant your 401(k) has to produce your paycheck, the rules flip: time becomes the biggest risk, compounding evaporates with every withdrawal, and your brain-wired to feel losses twice as hard as gains-takes control.
In 2008, Michael Markey watched the lie destroy real people. Auto and Construction workers with nearly identical situations to healthcare workers panicked and cashed out at the absolute bottom. The difference wasn't the investments. It was emotion, the withdrawal phase, and a truth the industry still either refuses or is incapable to admit.
This book exposes the retirement lie and hands you the proven antidote: the simple, behavioral Three-Bucket Plan that finally makes the math and the human brain work together instead of against each other.
- Short-term income bucket - safe, boring, protects your paycheck
- Long-term income bucket - steady, predictable
- Growth bucket - the only place you actually take risk
Stop trusting rules that were never written for the withdrawal phase. Start using the plan built for it.
Michael Jay Markey, Jr. ALM, MRFC, ABFP, BFA
Author of Fireproof Your Retirement, host of the Fireproof Your Finances radio and TV shows, and...
the guy who still can't resist the big box of oatmeal creme pies.
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