The retirement planning industry was built for a population that retired at 65 and died at 75. That population is gone. By 2030, every baby boomer will be 65 or older, and for the first time in American history, older adults will outnumber children. Yet the toolkit for the “second half” of retirement—when savings have been drawn down, health care costs spike, and cognitive decline sets in—remains thin.
A recent Wealth Management commentary by entrepreneur and Founder/CEO Jon Sabes argues that this gap isn’t a planning failure so much as a product design problem. The accumulation phase has decades of innovation. Early retirement has a robust set of strategies. But the years after 80? Almost nothing.
The numbers back him up. Most health care expenses occur in the last five years of life. Seventy percent of retirees will need some form of long-term care—and Medicare doesn’t cover it. The LTC insurance market has largely collapsed. For most families, the default path is Medicaid, which requires spending down assets to $2,000 before coverage begins. Today, 60% of nursing home residents are on Medicaid.
Sabes argues that advisors need to spend as much time on the second half of retirement as they do on the first—and that means building a guaranteed income floor while clients still have the capacity and runway to do so. He outlines three layers:
Social Security. Delaying benefits past full retirement age increases the monthly check by 8% per year until age 70—a guaranteed, inflation-adjusted return no investment can match. Yet most retirees still claim early, locking in a permanently smaller check.
Annuities. They carry historical baggage, but Sabes says they deserve a second look in today’s higher interest rate environment. Some newer products are designed for fee-only planners and bundle LTC coverage.
Risk-sharing funds and ETFs. President Trump’s August 2025 executive order opened the door for lifetime income and risk-sharing products inside defined contribution plans for the first time. Sabes says advisors should be watching this space closely.
Together, these layers can transform the late-life balance sheet from a guessing game into an engineered income floor—one that doesn’t depend on what the market does in year 20 of a client’s retirement. The plan that works at 70 needs to still work at 90. Building that floor now, while clients have options, is the difference between a late-life strategy and a late-life scramble.
