Financial Symmetry: Balancing Today with Retirement

Have you ever been in the middle of a road trip, and you come upon a roadblock where unexpected traffic adds a half hour or more to your journey?  Similar frustrating circumstances pop up in the years just before and just after retirement. During this new life transition, you are forced to confront retirement roadblocks, and if you don’t know how to maneuver around them, it can leave you feeling stuck. In this episode, we discuss 3 retirement roadblocks you may encounter along your retirement journey. Think of these tips as your GPS to make it easier to navigate around the retirement roadblocks you will inevitably face. *********** 📬 Download your Free Retire On Purpose Guide here.  📰 See the full show notes here 🌐 Sign up here to receive Retirement Weekly to get one email every week on all things retirement

Early retirement has unique financial planning challenges, particularly regarding health insurance and tax strategies. For people who retire before age 65, the challenge of finding affordable and adequate health insurance adds another layer of complexity to their financial plans.  *********** 📬 Download your Free Retire On Purpose Guide here.  📰 See the full show notes here 🌐 Sign up here to receive Retirement Weekly to get one email every week on all things retirement *********** Outline of This Episode [04:32] Considering Roth conversion for potential tax benefits [09:07] Rules around qualifying for ACA in 2025 [12:36] Early retirement may offer a low-tax window for Roth conversions, potentially reducing the lifetime tax burden [15:49] Consider long-term planning, not just immediate tax impacts, for decisions like Roth conversions [18:44] Roth conversions are typically completed at year's end to account for unexpected income changes affecting ACA MAGI estimates.

An inherited IRA is essentially an IRA received by a beneficiary after the original owner passes away. Whether it's a spouse, child, or another loved one, the key characteristic of an inherited IRA is that it transitions ownership upon death.  As Grayson Blaszek explains, the funds are transferred intact, but the way you handle and withdraw these funds comes with specific rules and timelines. Grayson and Matthew dig into the new rules in this episode.  *********** 📬 Download your Free Retire On Purpose Guide here.  📰 See the full show notes here 🌐 Sign up here to receive Retirement Weekly to get one email every week on all things retirement *********** Outline of This Episode [4:50] Differences between eligible and non-eligible designated beneficiaries [6:16] Why it’s important to list IRA beneficiaries to avoid tax inefficiency [8:19] The year that you inherit an IRA impacts that distribution requirement [10:18] Discussing inheritance can lead to meaningful conversations that make financial planning easier [14:17] You need to continue taking the required minimum distribution (RMD) if the decedent began them already [16:00] How to handle a 10-year account withdrawal strategy [22:07] Key takeaways about your withdrawal options with the new rules as a non-eligible designated beneficiary 

Investing can feel like a battle between two polar opposites within us, the rational and the emotional, just like the classic story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. This week, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are our model investors, and we’re talking you through the spooky story of the risks, emotions, and rational strategies involved in long-term investing.  **** 📬 Download your Free Retire On Purpose Guide here.  📰 See the full show notes here 🌐 Sign up here to receive Retirement Weekly to get one email every week on all things retirement **** Outline of This Episode [03:06] Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde's wildly different investment strategies  [06:00]Strategies that help mitigate emotional reactions during elections and global crises  [07:38] Balancing short-term market volatility with a long-term investment perspective [10:37] How to stay aligned with long-term goals in the face of market downturns [13:28] Diversification to manage risk in an investment portfolio [14:17] Psychological factors that cause investors to feel more confident during market upswings [15:35] Automating your investment and savings strategy to prevent emotional decision-making  

Reaching your financial goals builds confidence and peace of mind, which are essential for making informed decisions that benefit your entire family. In this episode, we’re following a fictional pop culture couple from newlywed to pre-retirement, to demonstrate how their thought process around an emergency fund could evolve with their changing circumstances. Join us as we lay out a case study of planning that helps them balance their accessible wealth with a healthy emergency fund. **** 📬 Download your Free Retire On Purpose Guide here.  📰 See the full show notes here 🌐 Sign up here to receive Retirement Weekly to get one email every week on all things retirement    

Retirement, a phase many of us anticipate for a long time, comes with its own set of financial intricacies. Specifically, how do you effectively withdraw funds from your savings to ensure a comfortable, sustainable, and tax-efficient lifestyle?  A well-crafted retirement blueprint is essential. This plan should outline your long-term goals and the steps needed to achieve them. More importantly, your financial plan should be flexible enough to accommodate life's unexpected expenses, such as healthcare costs or home repairs. Revisiting and updating your blueprint annually—or when significant life changes occur—can help ensure you stay on track. In this episode, we’re sharing the essential steps to develop a retirement withdrawal plan that caters to your needs. We dig into which accounts to draw from, how to minimize taxes, and how to manage unexpected expenses. You'll also learn about advanced strategies like Roth conversions, tax-loss harvesting, and the benefits of Qualified Charitable Distributions and Donor-Advised Funds. *********** 📬 Download your Free Retire On Purpose Guide here.  📰 See the full show notes here 🌐 Sign up here to receive Retirement Weekly to get one email every week on all things retirement *********** Outline of This Episode [5:06] Your options for retirement tax strategies [8:32] Utilize early years to make strategic financial moves [11:30] Plan your retirement for peace of mind [17:12] Lower RMDs with Roth conversions and reduce the tax impact [19:42] Consider tax loss harvesting, capital gains, heirs' basis [21:30] Use a QCD to reduce taxable income [26:12] Exploring blind spots in retirement withdrawal strategies   

Retirement planning is a delicate process, and you need to carefully consider your various income streams, including Social Security benefits. For those of us who plan to continue working while claiming Social Security, it’s important to understand how this decision can impact the monthly benefits you receive.  In this episode, we’re sharing how to avoid financial shocks in retirement. We discuss the essentials of earned income, the reduction in benefits due to excess earnings, and specific scenarios such as spousal and ex-spouse benefits.  **** 📬 Download your Free Retire On Purpose Guide here.  📰 See the full show notes here 🌐 Sign up here to receive Retirement Weekly to get one email every week on all things retirement Outline of This Episode [1:08] Social Security benefits may be impacted if you work while claiming [04:27] How retirement financial planning strategies vary by individual circumstances [07:17] Earnings affect Social Security benefits before retirement [11:51] Your spouse's income doesn't affect your Social Security [15:18] SSA withholds payments until excess income is accounted for [18:44] Social Security timing advice [20:04] Seek financial advisor help to make an educated decision about retirement   

We all have visions of our ideal retirement. However, our financial plans can quickly veer off course if we haven't appropriately managed our risks.  On this episode of Financial Symmetry, Greg Suggs from Greg Suggs Insurance joins me to discuss how to manage common risks that could negatively affect your wealth. You won’t want to miss out on these easy-to-implement pieces to your insurance puzzle that could save your assets. **** 📬 Download your Free Retire On Purpose Guide here.  📰 See the full show notes here 🌐 Sign up here to receive Retirement Weekly to get one email every week on all things retirement Outline of This Episode [1:23] A bit about Greg [2:09] Biggest changes in insurance over the past 30 years [5:12] The biggest risks for homeowners [11:11] Common mistakes homeowners make [14:33] What to think about if you are considering a second home [17:21] What to consider if you own a rental property [19:00] Automobile insurance for young drivers [23:22] What about insurance for gig work? [25:37] How to lower your insurance needs

How do you begin to save for your children to go to college? With the rising costs of college education, is it worth the monetary commitment?  Including tuition & fees, room & board, books & supplies, etc. the average cost of college is anywhere from $27,000 for an in-state public school up to $80,000–$90,000 a year for an Ivy League School. How you pay for your student’s college is one of the most important financial decisions you’ll ever make. In this episode, we cover the three phases of saving for college and what you need to pay attention to in each phase.  **** 📬 Download your Free Retire On Purpose Guide here.  📰 See the full show notes here 🌐 Sign up here to receive Retirement Weekly to get one email every week on all things retirement Outline of This Episode [1:53] Why college? Is it necessary?  [2:41] Average cost of college [4:42] Phase #1: The Saving Phase  [10:02] Phase #2: Preparing for college [20:44] Phase #3: In-college strategies  [22:57] Summarizing the big points 

Some problems are easily solved with a bit of reasoning, logic, or by using a bit of math. Other problems go beyond quantitative thinking.  The most thought-provoking issues aren’t numbers-based. Many decisions surrounding retirement require much deeper consideration and often cause you to reevaluate your thinking of what you had originally imagined retirement to be. In this episode, you’ll learn how to identify “wild problems” people face when retiring and develop a framework for working through them.  Resources & People Mentioned Show Notes  The Retirement Podcast Network BOOK - Wild Problems by Russ Roberts BOOK - The New Retirementality by Mitch Anthony BOOK - Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman

One of the retirement questions that persists through the ages is whether to take a pension or a lump sum payment. On this episode, we flesh out an example from baseball: Did Bobby Bonilla Day make the right decision back in 1999 to take $1.2 million per year instead of a $5.9 million lump sum payment? Seeing this example play out over time can help you make your own pension vs. lump sum choice. Listen to find out whether Bobby hit a home run with his financial decision.  ___________________ Show Notes The Retirement Podcast Network  

What if you had a magic app that told you how much of your net worth you never got to spend at the end of your retirement? The trouble with planning for retirement is all the uncertainty, however, proper planning can help. In this episode, Cameron Hendricks joins me to discuss how you can learn to spend more in retirement.  Outline of This Episode [0:50] We need to talk about your retirement spending [1:55] What if you had an app that told you how much of your net worth you never got to spend? [10:25] Why it’s important to have a retirement withdrawal strategy [18:55] Our takeaways Resources & People Mentioned Show Notes The Retirement Podcast Network We need to talk about your retirement spending    

Have you considered how your instincts influence your decision-making around retirement planning? Our natural instincts and biases create frameworks that lead our perspectives on how we think the world works.  These frameworks influence our decisions surrounding our financial decisions.  On this episode of Financial Symmetry, we discuss how to build prosperity by analyzinging and identifying your perspective. Listen in to learn 10 instincts identified by the book Factfulness and what you can do to combat the biases they lead to.  Outline of This Episode [0:50] Our article of the week [1:58] Your instincts influence your decision making [5:41] Why are we worried about the current situation? [7:13] Combatting the gap instinct [10:36] The negativity instinct [16:10] The fear instinct [10:18] Size matters [23:56] The generalizing instinct [26:10] Destiny instinct [29:23] Who’s to blame? [31:05] The urgency instinct Resources & People Mentioned Show Notes The Retirement Podcast Network Gapminder BOOK - Factfulness by Hans Rosling Episode 209 - 5 Reasons to Consider Investing in More Than the S&P 500 BOOK - Making Numbers Count by Chip Heath BOOK - Super Communicators by Charles Duhigg  

Today we’re diving in to a specific path that many retirees consider as they move away from the “corporate” world and enter their second act – which is starting a business. With increased life expectancy, cost of living increases and a desire for continued fulfillment, many retirees are excited to begin a new experiment in an area they are passionate about. Some surveys show the proportion of people starting businesses at ages 55 to 65 has increased in recent years and, at one point, even surpassed the typical entrepreneur age group of 25- to 35-year-olds. So today we’re speaking to those currently operating sole proprietorships and single-member LLCs OR those considering starting their own business. We’re going to shine the light on the S Corp business type and provide some details on why this could be an opportunity to explore. Outline of This Episode [0:55] How to know when you have enough [2:09] Starting a business in retirement [6:02] Why it's important to understand what an S-corp is  [10:10] An example  [14:54] The downside of the S-corp **** 📬 Get our Retire On Purpose Guide here.  📰 See the full show notes here 🌐 Explore the Retirement Podcast Network here

Now that you have made it through the retirement danger zone, you have made it to the Arrivement phase of retirement. You may be wondering, what are my next steps? This season can be full of opportunities and connection with those you care about. At this point in your life journey, you may face some difficult decisions around relocating or how best to spend or give the wealth you've worked hard to accumulate. Listen in to hear about the financial and tax moves that we see most commonly used during the middle years of your retirement. 📬 Sign up for the Advisor Corner Newsletter here and receive our Retire On Purpose Guide.  📰 See the full show notes here 🌐 Explore the Retirement Podcast Network here

Have you thought about retiring abroad? Oftentimes when we think of retirement, we think about sunny beaches with crystalline water shimmering in the sunshine. Could this or some other idyllic vision be your future?  The realities of retiring abroad can be exciting, but at the same time overwhelming. Complex financial strategies need to be considered before grabbing your passport and setting off for the unknown.  In this episode, we discuss seven crucial financial considerations that you’ll need to keep in mind if you are interested in retiring abroad. Outline of This Episode [0:36] Overcoming frugality in retirement [2:15] More people are retiring abroad [3:44] Put together a blueprint of what life will look like for you [5:00] Dealing with finances [6:53] Dealing with taxes [8:40] Dealing with investments [10:32] Dealing with real estate [12:24] Dealing with healthcare [13:41] Dealing with estate issues **** 📬 Get our Retire On Purpose Guide here.  📰 See the full show notes here 🌐 Explore the Retirement Podcast Network here

If you are retiring soon, you've most likely wondered if your asset allocation is too risky. Some have called the period just before and after retirement the Retirement danger zone as it's a time where understanding how you should be invested matters for your long-term financial success. After years of great returns in tech and large cap US stocks, many retirees could have bigger risks present in their allocations than they realize. In today's episode, you'll learn why sequence of return risk has been called the retirement danger zone and how to prepare for it within the context of your retirement plan rather than by planning by generalized rules of thumb. Resources & People Mentioned Show Notes DOWNLOAD our guide to "Retire on Purpose" Retirement Podcast Network

So many of us will be hoping for no tax surprises when preparing our tax returns this year.  This is why we want to provide you with a list of common tax surprises to watch for. After working with hundreds of clients to prepare their tax returns, we’re sharing the latest tax surprises we see that could be helpful to know when completing your tax return this year. Outline of This Episode [0:42] The Slott Report [2:39] Inheritance surprises [6:51] Credit card rewards [8:10] Interest income increases [10:54] Income earned in different states [12:32] 1099Ks [14:14] Underwithholding from your W4 [15:56] Forgotten statements [17:32] Double taxation on the Backdoor Roth [19:49] Underpayment penalty [21:14] The K1 for small business owners **** 📬 Get our Retire On Purpose Guide here.  📰 See the full show notes here 🌐 Explore the Retirement Podcast Network here  

Retirement can hit us with numerous curveballs. One of those could happen right out of the gate–being forced with an early retirement.  We all know that layoffs are part of the corporate landscape. While they are commonplace, when you are faced with one later in your career it can cause you to reevaluate your financial situation.  In this episode, we discuss your options if you are laid off and how they fit in with your financial plan, your tax plan, and your 401K. **** 📬 Get our Retire On Purpose Guide here.  📰 See the full show notes here 🌐 Explore the Retirement Podcast Network here    

While most of our listeners are in or on the cusp of retirement, many have loved ones who are earlier in their careers. Often we get questions on how our listeners and clients can help their younger family members make better financial decisions.  As we celebrate International Women's Day with this episode, you’ll meet our newest CFP, Niamh Douglas. Niamh and Allison discuss some tools and strategies to help young people who are just starting out get off on the right financial foot. Resources & People Mentioned Episode 189 - Smart Financial Decisions for Recent College Graduates 9 Retirement Surprises The Retirement Podcast Network 3rd Decade LadiesGetPaid.com BOOK - Simple Wealth, Inevitable Wealth by Nick Murray BOOK - Peaceful Prosperity by Laura Redfern