E97: The Three Retirement Phases Nobody Plans For — And Why They Hit CRNAs Differently

Most retirement plans do an excellent job modeling the money, but almost none of them model the time. For CRNAs specifically, that missing piece changes everything about when stepping back actually becomes possible and what it looks like when you get there.In this episode, Brett Fellows, CFP®, founder of Oak Capital Advisors, shows why standard financial plans built around a flat spending model can lead high-earning nurses to stay in the OR much longer than necessary. Brett Covers:The Time vs. Money Blindspot: Why the real question isn't just how much money you have, but what kind of time you will have and when.The Three Distinct Phases: Breaking down the Go-Go, Slow-Go, and No-Go years and how capacity and discretionary spending naturally shift across them.The Flat Model Flaw: How standard inflation-adjusted spending models cause CRNAs to overestimate late-life needs and underestimate early-retirement freedom.The Locum Bridge: How picking up just 10 to 15 days of locum anesthesia per year can fill early retirement gaps on your own terms.The 73 Collision: Why ignoring transitional gap years causes pre-tax RMDs and Social Security to collide into an unnecessarily high tax bracket.The Conversion Window: How to systematically move $50,000 to $70,000 a year from your pre-tax 403(b) into a Roth IRA while your bracket is temporarily low.Sequenced Withdrawal Strategy: The optimal account order (taxable first, pre-tax second, Roth last) to extend portfolio longevity.Key Timestamps:(0:18) Most retirement plans model the money, but fail to model the time.(1:26) Why standard financial conversations ignore the realities of health and energy timelines.(4:17) Defining the three distinct phases of retirement: Go-Go, Slow-Go, and No-Go years.(6:55) How flat spending assumptions trick CRNAs into overestimating late-life financial needs.(8:19) Navigating the personal identity shift when stepping back from clinical expertise.(9:26) Case study: The 10-year window for a 58-year-old CRNA named Maria.(11:27) The Locum Bridge: How 10 to 15 days of temporary work changes the retirement math.(13:20) Introducing the conversion window to shelter your nest egg from future IRS claims.(15:32) The 73 Collision: What happens when pre-tax RMDs and Social Security stack together.(17:26) Concrete actions to evaluate your personal timeline, local locum rates, and account mix.(20:27) How to access a complimentary 30-minute Pre-Op Retirement Assessment.Find out how to structure your retirement timeline and learn more about Oak Capital Advisors at https://oakcapitaladvisor.com/.#CRNAs #RetirementPlanning #TaxPlanning #LocumTenens #MoneyRx For more information and resources related to this episode, please visit the show notes.