623 | 20 Things to Do Before You Retire | Fritz Gilbert

About this episode

Most people treat retirement as a numbers game. Hit your target, claim victory, and coast into the sunset. But 85% of retirees crash into a wall of disorientation two years in—not because they ran out of money, but because they never planned for what comes after the paycheck stops: identity, purpose, structure, relationships. The spreadsheet can't solve those problems. Key Topics Make Your Numbers Real (3 Years Out) 00:05:30 Track every dollar for a full year to capture one-off expenses spreadsheets miss. Project retirement costs with granularity—model RV trips, healthcare scenarios, travel frequency. Build cash flow projections to age 95, not just to retirement day. The goal: eliminate guesswork and replace fear with data. Start to Experiment (3 Years Out) 00:18:45 Test potential retirement activities now. Don't wait until you retire to discover what you actually enjoy versus what sounds good in theory. Experimentation builds identity beyond work before the structure disappears. Most retirees skip this step and pay the price in phase two disorientation. Prepare for Withdrawals (2 Years Out) 00:28:20 The psychological shift from accumulation to spending is brutal after decades of s