Podcasts

Managing Your Financial Future

How to Choose the Most Suitable Pension and Annuity Options- Episode 97

June 7, 2022

In last week’s episode, we discussed the various ways that a guaranteed income stream can work; specifically, how annuities function in general. We received a lot of response to that topic, and more than a few questions as well. When deciding when and how to take your annuity or pension payments, your options can seem… View Article

Managing Your Financial Future

Let’s Clear Up the Confusion About Annuities- Episode 96

May 31, 2022

There are few financial tools out there with a greater disparity of information than annuities. Locating the details you need in order to decide if an annuity is suitable for you is an onerous task, to say the least. We’re here to help. Is an annuity a good product for you? The best answer is… View Article

Managing Your Financial Future

I Forgot to Take My RMD – What Now?- Episode 95

May 24, 2022

Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) are a fact of life for most IRA owners who are at least 72 years of age. A certain amount of money must be distributed out of the IRA each year, or the IRS imposes a strict penalty on the missed amount. How strict? 50 percent of the amount you were… View Article

Managing Your Financial Future

The Bucket Strategy Is Simple – Or Is It?- Episode 94

May 17, 2022

The Bucket Strategy is designed to give you cash flow from assets that are not affected by the whims of the stock market.  You don’t want your income to be cut simply because the markets aren’t doing well, and this is the basic premise of Buckets. Is it complicated?  Yes and no. How each person’s… View Article

Managing Your Financial Future

What to Know About Inheriting Assets- Episode 93

May 10, 2022

If you’re an heir who’s a beneficiary of any kind of asset, then you may know that it can be both a good and a bad thing. For many people, an inheritance is like a gift from above, something that will improve their life in one form or another. For others, especially those who don’t… View Article

Managing Your Financial Future

How To Create Guaranteed Income In Retirement- Season 8: Episode 12

April 12, 2022

A steady income is one of the most valuable things you can have, both before and after you retire.  If that income is guaranteed by some entity — the federal government, the PBGC, or the claims-paying ability of an insurance company — then so much the better. Pensions and Social Security are two forms of guaranteed income that people receive usually after they’ve retired.  While many (if not most) people will have a Social Security benefit paid to them, pensions are less common today than they used to be. So in absence of a company pension, how might you create a form of guaranteed income? 

Managing Your Financial Future

Want To Retire Early? Here’s What You Need to Know- Season 8: Episode 11

April 5, 2022

In the financial planning world, a lot of focus is put (rightly) on those who want to retire around age 65, give or take a few years.  But what about people who are looking to hang it all up well before that age – maybe 55, 50, or even younger? It’s more common than you might think. Doing it successfully, though, is a much bigger challenge. After all, your nest egg needs to last at least as long as you do, and at that age you’re not yet eligible for Medicare or Social Security.  So how do you make it happen? There are ways to do it. 

Managing Your Financial Future

How To Allocate – And Withdraw – Your Assets- Season 8: Episode 10

March 29, 2022

There are at least three important pieces to the retirement portfolio puzzle: asset allocation, asset location, and asset withdrawal. The first two are related to the accumulation (or saving) phase, and the third has to do with the decumulation (or withdrawal) phase. Which assets should go where when saving for retirement? Tax-free, tax-deferred, or personal accounts? A combination of some or all? And when you’re taking the assets out of the portfolio, which one(s) should ideally come out first?

Managing Your Financial Future

The Benefits and Costs of a Roth IRA- Season 8: Episode 9

March 22, 2022

One thing that many people would agree on is that paying no taxes is better than paying any taxes at all. This makes the tax-free nature of Roth IRA withdrawals very attractive, as long as all of the specific rules are met. Of course, there’s a cost to getting money into a Roth IRA.  Whether… View Article

Managing Your Financial Future

What If The Markets Crash Just As You Begin Retirement?- Season 8: Episode 8

March 15, 2022

What if you retire at the “wrong” time? There’s a genuine fear among many people that right around the time they need to access their nest egg, their portfolio will suffer a big decline because of an unanticipated market crash. There’s nothing we can do to predict or prevent a drop in the stock market. … View Article

Managing Your Financial Future

The Hidden Risks in Your 401k- Season 8: Episode 7

March 8, 2022

In the world of investing, time can be one of your biggest allies.  As your time span grows shorter, though, your risks tend to go up: if you need your money sooner rather than later, your stock investments could take a downturn at just the wrong time, leaving you without the funds you need. A Target Date Fund in a 401k is designed to deal with this time-related risk.  As you get closer to retirement, and thus closer to needing your funds, the investments are supposed to become more conservative overall, less volatile, with the goal of preserving your principal. But it doesn’t always work out this way. 

Managing Your Financial Future

Tossing the “4-Percent Rule” Out the Window- Season 8: Episode 6

March 1, 2022

You may have heard of the old financial planning adage that says as long as you withdraw no more than 4 percent of your portfolio’s balance each year, it has statistically a much better chance of surviving over a 30-year timespan. Some have said the withdrawal rate should be even lower than that —  maybe no more than 2 percent. But whether the amount is 4 percent, 2 percent, or some other number, the more important  issue is this: what is your withdrawal strategy? Will you potentially have to sell stocks when they’re down in value in order to meet your spending needs?  If so, you’re asking for trouble.