Paradox: Why Most Retirement Plans Fail — Even When You Do Everything Right Most retirement plans don’t fail because people take too much risk. They fail because the structure of the plan was never capable of delivering what retirement actually requires. Even disciplined investors who diversify broadly, follow the rules, and behave responsibly often find themselves confused by outcomes that don’t match expectations. Markets rise, yet portfolios lag. Volatility feels more damaging than planned. “Conservative” strategies quietly fall behind. Something feels off — but no one can clearly explain why. This book exists to explain that disconnect. Paradox is not a guide to picking investments or chasing performance. It does not promise certainty, shortcuts, or guaranteed outcomes. Instead, it walks through the structural realities that quietly determine retirement success or failure — realities that are rarely explained clearly, even by professionals. Inside, you’ll learn: What the market actually is — and why most diversification strategies misunderstand it - Why growth and protection cannot lead at the same time - How time and sequence quietly magnify small mistakes - Why underperformance compounds long before it feels dangerous - How momentum reveals both opportunity and risk - Why rules matter more than discretion in retirement - And why portfolio structure becomes non-negotiable as account sizes grow Rather than offering tactics, Paradox provides a framework — a way to understand how markets behave, how portfolios drift, and why many well-intentioned plans fail without obvious warning. This book is written for readers who want clarity, not comfort. For those who sense that something about retirement investing has never quite added up, even when they followed the advice and did everything “right.” You may not agree with every conclusion in this book. Agreement isn’t the goal. Understanding is.