092: From Fragile to Anti-Fragile: How to Become a Better Investor in Retirement
Thu Dec 04 2025
Joseph Falbo has spent 30 years helping people navigate retirement, from the 1999 tech boom through COVID and beyond. In this episode, we explore his concept of the "functional retirement advisor" and why modern retirement demands a completely different approach than what worked for previous generations.
About Joseph Falbo
Joseph is the founder of Falbo Wealth and Amazon #1 bestselling author of Retirement Success: Hiring Your Functional Retirement Advisor. After starting his career at a penny stock firm (think Wolf of Wall Street), he committed to doing things the right way, completing Merrill Lynch's two-year training program before spending 14 years in the corporate world. He launched his own practice in 2009.
Key Topics Covered
The conversation opens with Joseph's investor framework: fragile, resilient, and anti-fragile investors. Most people think they're good investors until an extended bear market hits during retirement—when they're pulling money out rather than adding to it.
Joseph explains why he created the term "functional retirement advisor," drawing parallels to functional medicine doctors who take a comprehensive approach rather than writing quick prescriptions. A functional advisor starts with a plan, not a product, and uses exercises like George Kinder's three questions to help clients define what retirement success actually means to them.
The episode covers critical shifts in modern retirement: lifespans extending from 15-year to 30-year retirements, the disappearance of pensions, inflation eating away at purchasing power, and why 401(k)s shifted all the risk onto individuals without providing financial education.
Joseph shares client stories including a couple who started working with him at 62 with all their money in the bank, and how the planning process helped them retire successfully. He also discusses the dangers of being laser-focused on products (like tax-deferred REITs) without first understanding the full financial picture.
Connect with Joseph Falbo
Website: falbowealth.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joseph-falbo-cfp/
Claim your free audiobook: https://falbowealth.com/retirementsuccessbook/
Support the show
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Joseph Falbo has spent 30 years helping people navigate retirement, from the 1999 tech boom through COVID and beyond. In this episode, we explore his concept of the "functional retirement advisor" and why modern retirement demands a completely different approach than what worked for previous generations. About Joseph Falbo Joseph is the founder of Falbo Wealth and Amazon #1 bestselling author of Retirement Success: Hiring Your Functional Retirement Advisor. After starting his career at a penny stock firm (think Wolf of Wall Street), he committed to doing things the right way, completing Merrill Lynch's two-year training program before spending 14 years in the corporate world. He launched his own practice in 2009. Key Topics Covered The conversation opens with Joseph's investor framework: fragile, resilient, and anti-fragile investors. Most people think they're good investors until an extended bear market hits during retirement—when they're pulling money out rather than adding to it. Joseph explains why he created the term "functional retirement advisor," drawing parallels to functional medicine doctors who take a comprehensive approach rather than writing quick prescriptions. A functional advisor starts with a plan, not a product, and uses exercises like George Kinder's three questions to help clients define what retirement success actually means to them. The episode covers critical shifts in modern retirement: lifespans extending from 15-year to 30-year retirements, the disappearance of pensions, inflation eating away at purchasing power, and why 401(k)s shifted all the risk onto individuals without providing financial education. Joseph shares client stories including a couple who started working with him at 62 with all their money in the bank, and how the planning process helped them retire successfully. He also discusses the dangers of being laser-focused on products (like tax-deferred REITs) without first understanding the full financial picture. Connect with Joseph Falbo Website: falbowealth.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joseph-falbo-cfp/ Claim your free audiobook: https://falbowealth.com/retirementsuccessbook/ Support the show