ADVANCE™ - A 21 Step Path to Funding Retirementᴵᴾ is a proprietary retirement funding framework designed to organize the central challenge of retirement into a clear, teachable, and repeatable 21-step path. The framework converts a complex advisory discussion into an ordered progression: first understand the math, then identify the market mechanism capable of solving that math, then commit to the mindset required to stay with the plan long enough for it to work. The framework addresses a persistent retirement planning problem: households often treat retirement funding as a portfolio balance, a withdrawal rate, a product choice, or a market prediction. ADVANCE™ reframes the issue as an integrated funding path. Retirement success requires a plan that replaces earned income, preserves purchasing power, supports rising withdrawals, captures long-term growth, and controls the behavioral errors that can interrupt compounding. The framework is not merely a list of financial planning observations. It is a sequential client education and implementation architecture. Each seven-point level performs a distinct function, and all three levels are designed to operate as a package: The Math defines the problem, The Mechanism identifies the historical solution, and The Mindset governs the behavior required to capture the result. First Use in Commerce: November 17, 2025. Used in client education materials, retirement income planning materials, internal advisor doctrine, written planning commentary, planning meeting frameworks, visual frameworks, and explanatory retirement funding materials. Owner: Emerald IP Holdings, LLC