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Do Annuities Belong in Your Retirement Plan? With Jeremiah Konger

2026-09-2931:50

Annuities tend to generate strong opinions. Some people insist they're terrible. Others talk about them as though every retiree should own one. Jeremy Keil and Jeremiah Konger of Annuity Association argue that both approaches miss the more useful question: When does an annuity actually make sense within a retirement plan? Jeremiah and Jeremy discuss common misconceptions about annuities, including fees, access to money, market exposure, guarantees, and the financial strength of the insurance company issuing the contract. Plus, Jeremiah highlights the 4 major types of annuities and what typical use cases they apply in. For disclosures and conflicts visit keilfp.com/disclosures.

Recognize and Combat Scams in Retirement with Robert Siciliano

2026-09-2333:58

Scammers don’t only hack into a computer to steal from their victims. Increasingly, they're trying to hack the person using it. Jeremy Keil talks with cybersecurity and fraud-prevention expert Robert Siciliano about how modern scams use text messages, artificial intelligence, deepfakes, voice cloning, manufactured urgency, and human psychology to gain trust. Learn practical ways to reduce your vulnerability. Robert’s three-step Analyze, Authenticate, Act protocol provides a simple response to suspicious communications, while unique passwords, password managers, two-factor authentication, and updated devices can create additional barriers for criminals. The goal isn't to assume you're too smart to be scammed. It's to build habits that make it harder for a scammer to get through. For disclosures and conflicts visit keilfp.com/disclosures.

Do You Really Need a Financial Advisor in Retirement?

2026-09-1512:25

Do you really need a financial advisor in retirement? Jeremy Keil argues that the answer depends on a better question: What do you actually want a financial advisor to do for you? After reading responses from Kiplinger readers about whether they use financial advisors, Jeremy noticed that most people immediately focused on investment management—choosing investments, managing portfolios, or trying to improve returns. Real retirement planning extends well beyond investments. For retirees deciding whether professional advice is worthwhile, start by identifying the problems you need help solving. Once you know what you need from an advisor, you can make a much better decision about whether—and what kind of—financial planner is right for you. For disclosures and conflicts visit keilfp.com/disclosures.

5 Things Every Retirement Plan Needs Before You Quit Working with Joe Schmitz Jr.

2026-09-0826:52

A retirement plan is more than an investment portfolio and a decision about when to claim Social Security. Jeremy Keil is joined by financial advisor Joe Schmitz Jr. to compare the planning processes they use to help clients coordinate the many financial decisions that come together at retirement. Joe explains his five-pillar approach covering tax planning, investments, income, healthcare, and estate planning, while Jeremy compares it with his own five-step Retirement Master Plan. Despite approaching the process from different angles, both emphasize an important point: your investments should serve your retirement plan—not become the plan itself. For disclosures and conflicts visit keilfp.com/disclosures.

Investing Myths Retirees Still Believe

2026-09-0117:28

Some of the most tempting retirement investing mistakes begin with ideas that sound perfectly reasonable: move to cash when the market looks expensive, put everything in CDs while rates are attractive, leave stocks behind once you retire, or rely on dividend stocks for income. The problem is that each approach can allow one concern or prediction to dictate an entire investment strategy. Jeremy Keil answers five listener questions about investing in retirement. The surprising truth about retirement investing is that many questions are answered more clearly by re-focusing on when you'll need the money and what you need it to accomplish, rather than predictions about what markets, interest rates, or individual investments will do next. For disclosures and conflicts visit keilfp.com/disclosures.

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