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Hey, it's Curt.
In today's issue:
I'm building something new, and it is closer than I expected
Your AI tool is starting from zero every session. Here is the two-hour fix.
AI use at work just hit a new high. Gallup has the numbers.
And more...
Keep Building!
Quick Hits
📌 This week: This issue covers how to set up Claude as your complete strategy and content system. If you use AI tools but keep getting generic output, the setup is the first problem to fix, not the prompts.
💡 The insight: The professionals getting the best output from Claude are not using better prompts. They built a structure once, let it carry the weight every session after that, and the difference in output quality is immediate and noticeable.
🎧 Listen online: This week's podcast covers AI setup for solo operators and why your context matters more than your prompts. 👉 Listen now!
🔍 Explore Further: Gallup: "Frequent Use of AI in the Workplace Continued to Rise in Q4" — Daily AI use at work climbed to 12% and frequent use reached 26% by end of 2025, with the sharpest gains among leaders and knowledge workers in finance and professional services. Getting the setup right is not getting ahead of the curve. It is keeping pace with it. 👉 Read the full report
🔨 Still Building
I have been working on the Retirepreneur Operating System, a platform built inside Lovable that pulls together the tools, frameworks, and decision support I use to run this business. The idea came directly from my background, 40 years as a CPA/CFO building systems that help organizations make better decisions faster.
The process has been genuinely interesting. I use Claude to prepare the prompts and review code feedback, and Lovable to write the actual code. I brought the global vision, the structure, the list of tools, the proposed outputs, and then we built it together.
The shell is complete. The structure is in place, Tool 1 is live, and we have additional content built out. I am looking for 10 beta testers, and I am still working through the 22 people who raised their hands in the February survey. If you are interested in getting early access, send me a note at [email protected].
Still Building
Curt
📰 Featured Story
How to Set Up Claude as Your Complete Strategy and Content System
Most professionals using AI tools today are leaving the majority of the value on the table. They use these tools reactively, one prompt at a time, with no context, no memory, and no structure behind the interaction.
Claude is the tool I use for everything at Retirepreneur. Strategy, content, research, planning. It runs the operation. But none of that works the way it does without a deliberate setup, and if you use Claude without a profile, preferences, or a project structure, you are starting over from zero every single session. That is the reason most people get inconsistent output no matter how good their prompts are.
Your Profile Is the Foundation. Most People Skip It.
Claude's Profile and Personal Preferences settings tell the tool who you are before you ask it anything. Without this, every session is a cold start. With it, Claude already knows your background, your business, your audience, and how you want to communicate.
→ Write a clear preferences statement covering your professional background, your business concept, your target audience, and your communication style. "Former CFO, 35 years in financial services, building a consulting practice for mid-size companies" is useful. "Business professional" is not.
→ Include your formatting rules here. If you want two-sentence paragraphs and plain language for a 55+ audience, say so. Claude applies it without being reminded every session.
"You don't need 47 prompt hacks. You need structure."
Three Projects. Everything Has a Home.
Claude Projects give you a persistent workspace where documents and context survive between sessions. You do not need an elaborate system. Three focused containers are enough.
→ Strategy Project: Your master business document, positioning, audience profile, and pricing decisions. Open this when you are making strategic calls.
→ Content Project: Your writing style guide, content rules, and templates. Open this when you are producing.
→ Operations Project: SOPs, tools, process notes, and key links. Open this when you are managing the business.
Each project holds its own context. Claude knows which world it is in the moment you open it, and that separation alone eliminates a significant amount of re-briefing every week.
One Controlling Document Changes Everything.
Each project needs a single reference document Claude can draw from every session. Build it by letting Claude ask the questions instead of trying to organize everything yourself upfront.
Open your Strategy Project and type: "I want to build a controlling document for my business. Ask me the questions you need answered to make it useful. Start with my professional background." Claude will pull out the right detail through conversation, covering your expertise, business model, audience, income goals, writing preferences, and personal story.
Save the finished document to the project. Every future session starts with Claude already knowing everything in it.
This is the exact setup I use to run Retirepreneur. The Claude Setup Document inside the Retirepreneur Hub gives you the ready-to-use template so you are not starting from a blank page. Download it, fill in your information, and upload it to your projects.
The professionals getting the most from AI are not the ones who know the most prompts. They are the ones who did the setup work once and let the structure carry the weight every week after that.
The full version is on the Retirepreneur blog: 👉 How to Set Up Claude as Your Complete Strategy and Content System
🕰️ Remember When
🔓 Inside the Hub
The Retirepreneur Hub includes an AI Guide built specifically for professionals who want to use these tools without wading through content written for developers and tech teams. This week we added the Claude Setup Document, a ready-to-use template that walks you through building your Profile, your three Projects, and your controlling documents.
You fill in your information, upload it to Claude, and your setup is done. That is the whole point: skip the blank page and start with a structure that already works.
Access the AI Guide and the Claude Setup Document at retirepreneur.link/hub
🎯 Next Steps
Your Move
Read the full article on the blog for the complete step-by-step walkthrough, then download the Claude Setup Document in the Hub. Two hours of focused setup is one of the best investments you will make this year. The return is immediate and it compounds every single session after that.
Go Deeper
Somehow our fourth YouTube video on Soft Retirement crossed 24,000 views in its first ten days, which we are still trying to explain. Part two of that series is now live and worth watching. Check it out here: 👉 youtu.be/IApgnBpkeBs
📣 Reader Pulse
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💬 Something to Sit With
🤝 Share Retirepreneur
If you got something useful from this week's issue, the best thing you can do is share it with one person who needs it.
No pitch required. Just forward it. Every person who finds this community makes it better for all of us. Thank you in advance, it is very much appreciated!
Curt Roese, CPA
Founder, Retirepreneur | Former CFO
M.S. Entrepreneurship, University of Florida
Building Retirepreneur in real time at 63. Still building.