Retirement Made Simple

If you have $3 million saved for retirement, you also have a silent partner: the IRS. Most people assume their tax bill in retirement is fixed. It isn't. In this episode, Kevin walks through a real client scenario using retirement planning software to show exactly how retirement taxes work, and why they behave so differently from the taxes you paid while working. Here's what most retirees...

If you have a pension, you may be sitting on far more retirement firepower than you realize. Most people think about retirement wealth in terms of account balances. But a pension doesn't show up on a brokerage statement, and that causes a lot of people to underestimate what they actually have. In this episode, Foundry Financial planner Mike Zarelli breaks down four retirement reframes for pens...

Selecting a Financial Advisor Guide ✅ https://foundryfinancial.net/guide-to-selecting-a-financial-advisorMost people have no idea what to ask when evaluating a financial advisor, and that gap could be costing them more than they realize. Zach Holcomb from the Foundry team has had hundreds of conversations with people who are exploring their options, and he's distilled it all into five essenti...

🔗 Access the retirement planning software → https://foundryfinancial.typeform.com/rightcapital?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=longform&utm_campaign=should-i-do-a-roth-conversion-desc&utm_content=descriptionRoth conversions can save some retirees over a million dollars in taxes. But for others, they may not make sense at all. The problem is that most people are getting shouted at from b...

Most retirees can afford these 7 purchases. That's not the problem. The problem is that a surprising number of them quietly work against you throughout retirement, draining your portfolio, your time, and your energy in ways you never saw coming. In this video, we walk through the assets that wealthy retirees almost never buy, and the ones that other retirees almost always end up regretting. Fr...

Elon Musk thinks robots will make retirement savings obsolete. You probably didn't cancel your 401k over that quote, and that's smart. But here's a question worth sitting with: if you're in your late 50s or early 60s, have saved diligently, and lived well below your means, are you still saving the exact same way you were 20 years ago, without ever stopping to ask if it still makes...

If you feel behind on retirement, that feeling might be the best sign you're actually in good shape. It sounds backwards, but after years of working with people on the verge of retirement, a pattern keeps showing up: the people who worry the most are often the ones who are closest to being ready. And the ones who should be worried? They're usually not. In this video, we dig into why that a...

Check out Deleteme: https://www.de33watrk.com/W6H9H4/KMKS9/ (Affiliate Link)Check out Optery: https://get.optery.com/a8qdsz8tzzbz (Affiliate Link)We almost lost $50,000 — and the scariest part was how much they already knew about us. Our phone, our email, our home address, our bank. All of it. And it nearly worked. After that experience, I went deep on researching how scammers are getting so sophi...

In this episode, I cut through the conflicting headlines about bonds and walk through what's actually changed for retirement portfolios heading into 2026. I start with the 40-year tailwind that ran from 1982 to 2021 — when interest rates fell from 16% under Paul Volcker all the way to near zero — and explains why 2022 became the worst year for U.S. bonds in modern history, with the traditional...

Most retirement conversations stop at the number. This one goes further. When a client told me that everything went quiet after he retired, he wasn't complaining. But he wasn't exactly relieved either. It was just... different. And that difference catches a lot of people off guard. In this episode, I walk through 7 things that tend to go quiet once the paycheck stops. Some of them you'...

In this episode, I break down exactly where AI excels, where it quietly fails, and three specific techniques to get dramatically better results from any AI tool you're already using. Including why you should never ask AI if you're right, and what to ask instead. 🔗 Download the free PDF: How to Use AI for Retirement Planning → https://foundryfinancial.net/ai-retirement-planning-cheat-sheet...

Roth conversion calculators can show impressive numbers, but there's something important they often leave out...Every projection is built on a stack of assumptions: future tax rates, inflation, investment returns, and even the order in which spouses pass away. Change one of those inputs, and the entire answer can flip. In this episode, I break down:- Why Roth conversion models can be wildly mi...

A Reddit post from a grandfather stopped me mid-scroll, and I couldn't stop thinking about it. Three years into retirement, he described a moment in his man cave: his grandson asleep beside him, no emails, no meetings, no mental noise. Just presence. For the first time in 45 years, he was fully there. That post captures something I see constantly in my work with pre-retirees, and it comes down...

Most people think they'll run out of money in retirement because they didn't save enough. The research says otherwise. In this video, I break down the 5 hidden factors that actually determine whether your retirement succeeds or fails — and most of them never show up in an online calculator. We cover sequence of returns risk (and why retiring in the wrong year can wreck even a well-funded p...

Since 1928, the market has returned over 10% annually — but the average investor only earns about 5%. In this video, I break down the data on market crashes, intra-year drawdowns, and why we're almost guaranteed to see another crash — and why that shouldn't change your retirement plan. I'll show you the real numbers behind all-time highs, the Peter Lynch paradox, and the emotional mist...

✅Free Strategy Session ✅ https://www.foundryfinancial.org/retirement-assessmentMost people glance at their Social Security statement, assume the number is fixed, and move on. It's not. In this episode, Kevin breaks down exactly how your Social Security benefit is calculated — including the earnings indexing formula, the bend point system, and why having fewer than 35 working years can quietl...

Most people who are well-prepared for retirement have convinced themselves they're behind. In this video, I walk through 9 signs you're actually doing better than most American retirees — even if it doesn't feel that way. If you know what you spend, carry no debt, and have multiple income streams, there's a good chance your biggest retirement risk isn't running out of money. It...

Kevin explains research showing financial decision-making peaks around age 53, financial literacy declines about 2% per year after 60, and confidence often doesn’t decline—creating risk in retirement as financial complexity increases and scams become more sophisticated.

Most people calculate their net worth by adding up their 401(k), IRA, and home equity, then subtracting debt. But that number is incomplete — and it might be causing you to spend less, worry more, and make worse retirement decisions than you need to. In this video, I walk you through a better way to calculate your net worth that includes the portfolio equivalency of your Social Security and pensio...

Someone with $250,000 and someone with $5 million are both watching this video — but their biggest financial risks couldn't be more different. In this video, I break down the 6 levels of retirement wealth (based on Federal Reserve data) and walk through the specific planning priorities at each level. Because the truth is, most retirement advice on YouTube is a scattershot. What works for someo...

In today's episode, Kevin explains why some financial advisors may not tell the full story and shares five signals it may be time to leave: (1) they lead with selling products instead of building a comprehensive plan, (2) they aren’t a fiduciary and their compensation is unclear or commission-based, (3) they avoid tax planning or constantly defer to a CPA on key strategy questions, (4) meeting...

In this episode, Kevin discusses a new type of retirement crisis where despite having sufficient funds and a well-laid financial plan, retirees find themselves feeling worthless and undervalued. He explores the concept of 'mattering span'—how long you continue to feel needed and your life makes a difference—and its crucial role in retirement satisfaction. Kevin shares insights from an enli...

Many believe you need millions to retire comfortably, but in this episode, Kevin explains why many retirees are actually better off than they think. Breaking down five key traits of successful retirees—modest spending, being debt-free, having guaranteed income, having solid healthcare, and budget flexibility—Kevin shows how these factors can make a huge difference in retirement planning. He also u...

In this video, Kevin shares the top 10 habits that make retirees successful and worry-free. Kevin discusses three key habits for building wealth: living below your means, automating savings, and staying invested through market fluctuations. He then covers seven essential habits for protecting and enjoying that wealth: knowing your spending, treating cash as a tool, planning taxes annually, designi...

In this video, Kevin highlights the subtle signals that may indicate it's time to retire, inspired by an insightful article from the Wall Street Journal. Kevin discusses the epiphanies and signs, such as feeling numb at work, reluctance to learn new tools, disinterest in promotions, experiencing 'Sunday Scaries,' obsessively checking your 401k, a desire to volunteer, and physical aches...