Retired-ish

The market just dropped. Your IRA or 401(k) is down bad. And your gut is telling you to do something about it. The problem is, most of the things people instinctively want to do when the market tanks are exactly the wrong moves. But buried inside that volatility — if you know where to look — are some of the best retirement and tax planning opportunities that exist. Opportunities that only show up...

Divorce is never easy. But divorce after 50? That's a completely different animal. We're talking about decades of accumulated assets, retirement accounts, Social Security decisions, healthcare coverage, and tax consequences that can follow you for the rest of your life — and one wrong move can cost you far more than just the marriage. In this episode, we're breaking down the real financial damage...

You wake up everyday, check your bank account on your phone, and you see all your money sitting there, just as it was the day before. How do you feel? Pretty good, right? That number hasn't moved. It's exactly where you left it. Safe. Here's the problem: that money is slowly disappearing even though you can't tell by looking at your bank app.  This is because every single day, the purchasing power...

My firm, Planable Wealth, is currently very busy in the midst of our Spring Strategy Meetings with clients where we help people just like you create and retool their financial and tax plans for 2026 and beyond. That said I wanted to bring you an encore episode this week, which I think, is one of the core episodes we've done so far Back in episode 70, I discussed the importance of retirement income...

You worked hard your whole career, you saved, you did everything right — and now you're on Medicare and you get a letter from Social Security telling you that you owe hundreds of dollars extra every single month in premiums just because you made too much money! No warning. No opt-out. Just, what looks like punishment for doing a good job and setting yourself up for retirement. That's IRMAA. And wh...

Your spouse works at a major publicly traded company. You're going through a divorce. And somewhere in their compensation package are restricted stock units or RSUs — awards of shares of company stock that haven't even vested yet. Are you supposed to receive stock? Are the RSUs considered income? Are they both? How much are we actually talking about here? By the end of this episode, you're going t...

You just came into a large sum of money. Could be an inheritance, a business sale, a 401(k) rollover. And now you're paralyzed trying to figure out when to invest it. Do you invest it all today? Spread it out over six months? A year? Wait for the markets to drop or the perfect opportunity to cruise by? In this episode, Cameron summarizes what the research actually says, and more importantly—when t...

If your aging parent owns a home and they are reaching the point in life where their physical and or mental health is rapidly declining and they need additional care, there is a clock ticking on decisions that most families don't even know they need to make. And those decisions — specifically, what to do with their house and how to fund their care— carry tax consequences that can either preserve t...

This episode is actually a replay of a previous episode we had done - Episode 63 - about the danger of picking individual stocks. This time we wanted to rename it "Betting the Farm" because we feel like that title is more representative of what we're seeing today in 2026. In January of 2026, the S&P 500 had crossed the 7,000 mark and the Dow Jones had passed the 50,000 mark. These are both tremend...

If you're doing your own taxes or working with a tax preparer who doesn't specialize in wealth accumulation, financial planning and retirement, there's a good chance you're leaving thousands of dollars on the table every single year. We're talking four and five-figure mistakes that happen because nobody's looking at the details. In this episode, Cameron walks you through six of the most expensive...

If you think estate taxes are only a problem for billionaires and celebrities, I've got news for you: A couple in their 50s with a combined few million in retirement accounts, a paid-off home, maybe a rental property, and 20 + years of compounding ahead of them? Their beneficiaries could easily be looking at a 40% + federal estate tax bill when they die. However, there are legitimate, legal strate...

If you're going through a divorce or thinking about one, I've got news for you: your divorce decree doesn't override federal tax law, no matter what it says. That rental property buyout you negotiated.  You could be getting screwed on the tax basis. And that division of your ex's 401(k)? There's a one-time penalty-free distribution opportunity that most people miss because nobody tells them about...

If you're planning to retire in the next year or two and you have a 401(k) loan, this episode could save you thousands of dollars in taxes. I've seen too many people walk into retirement with an outstanding loan balance and get blindsided by a massive tax bill they could have easily avoided with a little planning. Then we're going to tackle one of the biggest myths in the retirement world - the id...

If you are turning 65 soon, you are closer to becoming eligible for potentially thousands of dollars in tax deductions and savings opportunities that many people never take advantage of. And if you're helping with your elderly parent's finances, there's a good chance they're entitled to tax breaks they don't even know exist. The tax code is full of opportunities specifically designed for retirees—...

Most women become widows at just 60 years old—right when they're finalizing retirement plans and making critical Social Security decisions. And here's what nobody tells you: after the death of your spouse, your brain literally doesn't work the same way while you're grieving, yet people around you are pushing you to make life-altering financial decisions. In this episode, Cameron gives you a timeli...

Our firm is currently hard at work conducting our second semi-annual strategy meetings with clients, serving real people just like you, and doing important planning for their retirement for income, taxes, investing, estate planning, and making important decisions such as Medicare enrollment and Social Security claiming. Therefore, we're bringing you another encore episode today in honor of Medicar...

This is an encore episode of one of our favorites! Retirement income planning is vital to the sustainability of your lifestyle in retirement, so don't neglect it! Plain and simple, your retirement income plan will make or break you in retirement. In this episode, we discuss the importance of creating an actual plan that focuses solely on how you will get your income in retirement, and the greatest...

This one free action could save you thousands in an identity theft or fraud situation - yet 90% of affluent Americans never do it. In today's world of AI-powered scams and relentless fraudsters, protecting your identity isn't just optional, it's essential. Whether you're safeguarding substantial assets, retirement funds, or helping an elderly parent navigate their financial vulnerability, the thre...

Attention retirement savers! If you don't expect to accumulate tens of millions in your retirement account, you may want to stop contributing to a Roth. That's right, I said tens of millions. Roth accounts can be a fantastic wealth accumulation for some, and an expensive mistake for others. In this episode, we discuss what many people, including many professionals often miss when it comes to decid...

If you've ever wondered why seasoned investors tell you to "stay the course," it's because history has taught us something simple but profound: time in the market beats timing the market. But let's rewind a bit. Investing isn't just about stocks going up and down on a chart — it's about preserving your purchasing power, compounding your money, and building resilience against life's financial curve...

You've saved diligently in your IRA, built a comfortable retirement nest egg, and set up a family trust to avoid probate and streamline your estate. And then—because it feels like the safe, responsible thing to do—you name your trust as the beneficiary of your IRA. But here's the problem... In the post–SECURE Act world, naming a revocable living trust as the beneficiary of a Traditional IRA can un...

Social Security can be a maze of rules and decisions to make if you're widowed or divorced, which makes claiming a daunting task. Most claiming decisions are permanent and can make a difference of tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars over the rest of your lifetime, so you want to get it right. In this episode, Cameron Valadez, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ and Enrolled Agent shows you how t...

Can Artificial Intelligence really give you solid financial advice—or just a generic roadmap that ignores the potholes? In this episode of Retired·ish, we explore the growing trend of people turning to AI tools like ChatGPT for help with retirement planning, tax questions, and investment strategies. Sure, AI can be fast, cheap, and eerily accurate… sometimes. But when life gets complicated—and it...

Here we go again, discussing hot takes on permanent life insurance and its use as an investment vehicle. In this episode, I tackle one of the best questions I have received in a long time regarding the cash value and hidden costs associated with permanent life insurance that I think is critical to understand. Before considering a permanent life insurance policy as an investment option, make sure y...

With the growing US federal deficit, tariffs, fears of recession, and upcoming tax breaks, inflation is a top concern in the minds of many retirees and soon-to-be-retirees. Investing in TIPS, or Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities, is one of the most commonly touted strategies that can help stave off unexpected inflation, however there are still important risks to understand.  Can TIPS really...