They’re at it again.
This week, the headlines screamed:
“15 million people at risk of retirement poverty.”
Cue the usual suspects: insurers, pensions providers, industry “experts” lining up to wag their fingers at the public.
“You’re not saving enough.”
“You need to give us more.”
“You’ll be poor if you don’t pay up.”
Sound familiar? Of course it does. It’s the same tired script they’ve been pushing for decades. A scare story dressed up as concern. A guilt trip to keep you locked into their game.
But let’s call it what it really is: a sales pitch wrapped in a threat.
Because here’s what they’re not telling you:
You are more than your pension pot.
The entire narrative is built on a lie—that your worth, your safety, your future, depend solely on how much financial capital you’ve stockpiled by 65. It ignores the biggest wealth asset you’ll ever own: your human capital.
That’s right. Your skills. Your knowledge. Your purpose. Your ability to create, contribute, and earn—far beyond some arbitrary “normal retirement age.”
Yet they keep pretending life ends at 65.
They keep preaching cliff-edge retirement.
They keep pushing a fantasy of endless leisure funded by shrinking savings.
This week, Warren Buffett announced his retirement—at 96.
And today? I spoke to two financial planners—one in the UK, one in Australia. Both in their late 70s. Both still working, thriving, loving what they do. The Aussie told me:
“The longer you work, the longer you live.”
Meanwhile, his business partner? Still going strong—in his 80s.
Let that sink in.
These aren’t anomalies. They’re proof that the old story is broken. The cliff-edge is a myth. And the so-called “retirement crisis”? It’s a smokescreen to keep you scared—and compliant.
Why would they tell you about human capital? They can’t sell it to you.
If you realised you could keep earning, contributing, finding purpose well beyond 65…
If you saw retirement not as an end, but as a transition into more meaningful work, slower work, work aligned with your soul…
If you understood that money is only one part of the equation—
…you’d stop playing their game.
You’d stop being the customer they need you to be.
You’d stop handing over your power in exchange for fear-based promises.
And that, my friend, is their biggest fear.
Because if you wake up, if you reclaim your human capital, if you build a plan based on your life, not their ledger—
You’ll break free.
Retirement poverty? Or retirement propaganda?
The truth is, millions aren’t saving enough—because they can’t. Not because they’re lazy. Not because they’re reckless. Because the system wasn’t designed for them to thrive.
They want you to believe the solution is to give them more. But the real solution?
✅ Learn the real game.
✅ Build wealth in every area of your life—not just financial, but emotional, social, intellectual, spiritual.
✅ Stop aiming for “enough money” and start aiming for enough life.
They won’t tell you that. I will.
Because I’ve been inside the system. I know how it works. And I know who it serves.
It’s time to stop feeding a machine designed to keep you anxious, passive, dependent.
It’s time to stop being the product.
It’s time to stop waiting for the promise of “one day.”
It’s time to play a different game. Your game.
This isn’t about retiring at 65. Or 75. Or 96. This is about living on your terms, for as long as you choose.
So don’t buy the fear. Don’t fall for the headlines.
And whatever you do—
Don’t hand over another penny without a plan that starts with YOU.
Let’s talk about your plan. Let’s talk about how you reclaim your life, your wealth, your future.
Because your human capital?
It’s priceless.
And it’s time the world knew it.
Your Money or Your Life
Unmask the highway robbers – Enjoy wealth in every area of your life!
By Steve Conley. Available on Amazon. Visit www.steve.conley.co.uk to find out more.
Academy of Life Planning 