Approaching Retirement? Don’t Miss These 6 Critical Steps

If retirement is on your radar—even a little bit—this is one of the most important conversations you can hear. In this episode of Take Pride in Retirement, Josh and I are diving into what’s known as the retirement red zone—that critical 5 to 10-year window before you retire, plus those first few years after you leave the workforce. And let me tell you… what you do during this time can truly make or break your financial future. We walk through six key steps you should be taking right now to strengthen your retirement plan—from building your “human capital” and creating a Social Security strategy, to making sure you have a solid safety net and protecting yourself from sequence of returns risk. And as always, we bring it back to our LGBTQ+ community—because many of us are navigating retirement without traditional support systems, pensions, or generational wealth. That makes planning ahead not just important… but essential. This episode is all about taking control while you still can—so you’re not scrambling later. If you’re within a decade of retirement—or already stepping into it—this is your roadmap. Schedule your free financial consultation at TakePrideInRetirement.com or call 855-246-9211. -- Request your free RSSA Roadmap for Social Security optimizationWatch full episodes on YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/@TakePrideinRetirementShowFollow on BlueSky, Threads, Facebook, Instagram — just search Take Pride in Retirement --  Take Pride in Retirement is proud to be named one of the top Pride podcasts on the internet by FeedSpot. For more, go to https://blog.feedspot.com/pride_podcasts About Take Pride in Retirement:Take Pride in Retirement is a podcast dedicated to retirement planning solutions for the LGBTQ community. Host Matt McClure, a licensed fiduciary financial advisor, shares strategies to protect your hard-earned money while pursuing market-like growth. Matt holds the RSSA® credential as a Registered Social Security Analyst®, helping clients optimize their Social Security filing strategies to potentially increase lifetime income. He’s also a Certified Annuity Specialist® (CAS®), a designation earned through a 135+ hour graduate-level program in fixed-rate and variable annuities from the Institute of Business & Finance. Based in Georgia with his husband and two dogs, Matt spent over a decade in New York City, working with The Wall Street Journal Radio Network, NY1, and WCBS Newsradio 880. A career highlight includes reporting from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

An episode of the Take Pride in Retirement podcast, hosted by Matt McClure, titled "Approaching Retirement? Don’t Miss These 6 Critical Steps" was published on April 8, 2026 and runs 25 minutes.

April 8, 2026 ·25m · Take Pride in Retirement

Summary

If retirement is on your radar—even a little bit—this is one of the most important conversations you can hear. In this episode of Take Pride in Retirement, Josh and I are diving into what’s known as the retirement red zone—that critical 5 to 10-year window before you retire, plus those first few years after you leave the workforce. And let me tell you… what you do during this time can truly make or break your financial future. We walk through six key steps you should be taking right now to strengthen your retirement plan—from building your “human capital” and creating a Social Security strategy, to making sure you have a solid safety net and protecting yourself from sequence of returns risk. And as always, we bring it back to our LGBTQ+ community—because many of us are navigating retirement without traditional support systems, pensions, or generational wealth. That makes planning ahead not just important… but essential. This episode is all about taking control while you still can—so you’re not scrambling later. If you’re within a decade of retirement—or already stepping into it—this is your roadmap. Schedule your free financial consultation at TakePrideInRetirement.com or call 855-246-9211. -- Request your free RSSA Roadmap for Social Security optimizationWatch full episodes on YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/@TakePrideinRetirementShowFollow on BlueSky, Threads, Facebook, Instagram — just search Take Pride in Retirement --  Take Pride in Retirement is proud to be named one of the top Pride podcasts on the internet by FeedSpot. For more, go to https://blog.feedspot.com/pride_podcasts About Take Pride in Retirement:Take Pride in Retirement is a podcast dedicated to retirement planning solutions for the LGBTQ community. Host Matt McClure, a licensed fiduciary financial advisor, shares strategies to protect your hard-earned money while pursuing market-like growth. Matt holds the RSSA® credential as a Registered Social Security Analyst®, helping clients optimize their Social Security filing strategies to potentially increase lifetime income. He’s also a Certified Annuity Specialist® (CAS®), a designation earned through a 135+ hour graduate-level program in fixed-rate and variable annuities from the Institute of Business & Finance. Based in Georgia with his husband and two dogs, Matt spent over a decade in New York City, working with The Wall Street Journal Radio Network, NY1, and WCBS Newsradio 880. A career highlight includes reporting from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

Episode Description