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Most people don’t retire poor because of the market. They retire poor because of a few small habits that never felt like mistakes at the time.

In this episode, I go through five of them: the raise that disappears, the 401(k) cash-out when you change jobs, the permanent car payment, debt that follows you into retirement, and the open checkbook for grown children. I also share one simple rule that keeps all five from happening to you.

Nobody offers a retirement loan, so it pays to get this right early.

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The safest investment in America has a government guarantee, a pen on a chain, and an interest rate of one percent. I explain what that guarantee actually promises (your dollars, not what they can buy), why an account can go up while you get poorer, and why the fear of losing money in stocks is real but aimed at the wrong target.

You don't have to get over your fear. You just have to match the money to the time. Money you need soon gets a boring, safe home. Money you won't touch for years gets a job.

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You saved for forty years. You avoided the stinkers. You bought the index fund and left it alone. Then you retired, and the fear showed up anyway: "When will I run out of money?"

In this episode, I explain why that fear hits hardest after the paychecks stop, even for people who did everything right. Nobody can tell you the date, but you can build a system that keeps you from being forced to sell in a bad market. I walk through how to give yourself a paycheck again, why a cash cushion matters, and why you should decide your bad-year rules before the bad year arrives.

You may not get certainty, but you can get shorter phone calls.

If you'd like to comment on this episode, or request a subject for a future podcast, leave me a message in Fan Mail. I read every one.