Most financial planning conversations in retirement are 90% about money, but most retirees spend 90% of their time thinking about life. That's the Retirement Focus Ratio, and it's completely out of sync.

In this episode, I challenge the industry obsession with spreadsheets and show why the real success of retirement isn't built in Excel, but in how you live, spend, and find meaning after work. You'll discover how to rebalance your focus from money to life, and why the best retirement plans aren't about preserving wealth; they're about unleashing it to create joy, connection, and purpose.

• Why retirement planning often solves the wrong problem

• The disconnect between financial advice and emotional reality

• How to flip your Retirement Focus Ratio from 90% money / 10% life to 50/50 (or better)

• The key steps to building a life-led retirement plan

• How money becomes more meaningful when it supports purpose

• Why you can't measure joy in basis points, but you can design for it

👉 Audit your own Retirement Focus Ratio.

Ask yourself:

• How much of my energy is focused on money vs life?

• What would go in my "Retirement Life Plan"?

• What's one step I could take to shift the balance?

Then take action:

• Book a call to talk about legacy

• Write your ideal week

• Start a "Life List" — not a bucket list

The goal isn't to ignore THE money. It's to elevate THE life.

Coming up in Episode 12 — the grand finale of Season 6:
The New Rules of Retirement (For Rebels Only)

A bold manifesto for those who refuse to drift through retirement, and want to design, live, and leave a legacy on their own terms.

Retirement is a modern invention, but your brain didn't get the upgrade. In this episode, I unpack why so many retirees feel restless, guilty, or underwhelmed, even when life looks "perfect on paper." It's not because something is wrong with you, it's because you're trying to run a 21st-century life on Stone Age wiring.

I explore the mismatch between modern retirement and ancient survival instincts, why you struggle to relax, why doing nothing feels uncomfortable, why spending feels risky, and why your brain craves purpose, progress and tribe. Most importantly, I share how to retrain your mind for this new chapter, without fighting your biology.

• Why retirement feels unsettling (and why it's not your fault)

• The clash between modern freedom and caveman brain wiring

• How dopamine, productivity and survival instincts mess with your retirement mindset

• Why your brain resists rest, spending and stillness

• Five ways to "upgrade the software" — from micro-missions to novelty, contribution and healthy discomfort

• How to feel useful, alive and excited again in retirement

👉 Pick one "Brain Upgrade" and try it for 7 days:

• Set a Micro Mission (e.g. walk 10k steps daily, plan a trip, finish a book)

• Add Novelty — try something new for 30 minutes a day

• Create Contribution — teach, help, give or mentor someone

• Introduce Healthy Discomfort — cold shower, tech-free evening, social challenge

At the end of the week ask:
How did it feel? What did it teach me about what my brain needs?

• Micro Missions, Contribution Loops & Novelty Windows — My behavioural retirement tools

Episode 11 — The Retirement Focus Ratio: Are You Solving the Wrong Problem?
Why most retirement plans are 90% about money… but most retiree worries are 90% about life. And how to fix the imbalance.

Retirement isn't a finish line; it's an emotional rollercoaster. In this episode, I break the myth of the "happily ever after" retirement and introduce The Retirement Reinvention Curve — an honest, human map of what really happens when the work stops and life after work begins.

From the initial shock and elation to the frustration, doubt, and eventual flourishing, I unpack the eight emotional stages we all go through when redefining identity, purpose, and meaning beyond the job title. This isn't about pensions or spreadsheets, it's about becoming who you are next.

• Why retirement isn't a single event but a psychological transformation

• The 3 phases and 8 stages of The Retirement Reinvention Curve

• How to recognise where you are, and why nothing is "wrong" with you

• The real reason traditional retirement advice skips the emotional work

• Practical ways to move through frustration and doubt toward purpose and joy

• Why rebuilding your identity takes time, curiosity, and compassion

👉 Draw your own Retirement Reinvention Curve.

Sketch a simple line from left to right — no artistic skills required.
Then mark:

• Where you've been

• Where you are now

• Where you want to go next

Write one sentence for each stage you've experienced:
"What did it feel like? What did it teach me?"
Then ask:
"What does my next phase need from me?"

Because awareness is the first step to reinvention.

• The Retirement Reinvention Curve — My framework for navigating the emotional journey after work.

Coming up in Episode 10:
Modern Software, Ancient Hardware

Why your brain wasn't built for retirement, and how to trick it into thriving in a world without structure, deadlines, or dopamine hits from work.