Phil's Tax Hacks

Most people don't think about taxes until they're sitting down to file, and by then, most of the best opportunities are gone. The moves that actually lower your tax bill usually have to happen before December 31. Here's what's worth tackling now. The best tax planning rarely happens in April. It happens months earlier, while there's still time to do something about it. If you haven't looked at thi...

Some financial decisions look complicated and turn out to be pretty simple. Others look simple and are anything but. Today, Phil’s taking a list of common money moves and sorting them into two piles: harder than it looks, or easier than it looks. Some of this really is easier than it looks, and some of it is a lot harder. The tricky part is knowing which is which before you find out the hard way....

It's spooky season. And while most people are thinking about haunted houses and horror movies, a lot of pre-retirees have scarier things on their minds: running out of money, or a market crash at exactly the wrong time. Today, Phil’s shining a flashlight on five of the biggest financial frights and how to prepare for them. Most of what scares people about retirement isn't the event itself. It's no...

A new bill in Congress would let some workers claim full Social Security benefits at 60, seven years earlier than today’s rules stipulate. That's a big headline. But it's just a proposal, and it lands in the middle of a much bigger debate about Social Security's future. Today, Phil reacts to the news and talks about what it means for your planning. Social Security is going to keep making headlines...

"I'm 60, probably retiring in 5-6 years, and I just learned about Roth conversions. Is this something I should be doing?" This is a listener question we hear a lot, and the honest answer is: it depends. Phil digs into what it actually depends on. Roth conversions aren't right for everyone, and they're not wrong for everyone either. The only way to know is to run the numbers on your specific situat...

Some people place a lot of emphasis on their net worth. Other people never think about it at all. Today, Phil talks about how to calculate it, how you stack up by age, and how much you should actually pay attention to it. Net worth is a useful snapshot, but it's still just a snapshot. What matters more is whether the number you've built actually works the way you need it to when the time comes. He...

Being named the executor of someone's will can feel like an honor. It can also feel like a lot of pressure. It's more than handing out inheritances. It's paperwork, accounts, taxes, property, creditors, and sometimes family dynamics, stretched out over months or even years. A lot of clients end up in this role without ever planning to, and we're often the first call they make. Today, Phil talks th...

Want to learn more about financial planning? Please subscribe to our channel and you won't miss a video ➟ https://bit.ly/33RO6mV Book an appointment with Phil to get your customized planning process started ➟ https://www.afswealthmgt.com/schedule-appointment Talking about money can be hard for some people, and sometimes it just takes the right question to get things rolling. Phil walks through fiv...

Want to learn more about financial planning? Please subscribe to our channel and you won't miss a video ➟ https://bit.ly/33RO6mV Book an appointment with Phil to get your customized planning process started ➟ https://www.afswealthmgt.com/schedule-appointment Today, Phil walks through a potential retirement story- one chapter at a time. As new details come to light, he reacts in real time, just as...

Want to learn more about financial planning? Please subscribe to our channel and you won't miss a video ➟ https://bit.ly/33RO6mV Book an appointment with Phil to get your customized planning process started ➟ https://www.afswealthmgt.com/schedule-appointment Somewhere in a drawer, a filing cabinet, or a shoebox in the closet, most of us are holding onto financial paperwork we don't actually need....

More people in their 60s and 70s are staying on the job than ever before, and it's not always about the money. Today, Phil digs into the real reasons retirees keep showing up to work. Working longer isn't automatically the wrong call. Sometimes it's exactly right. The real question is whether it's a choice or a fallback. That's worth figuring out before you assume the answer.   Here’s some of what...

When it comes to financial planning, everybody has something that bothers them. Today, Phil’s walking through some of the most common pain points we see and the real conversations that happen around them. Nobody walks into retirement without at least one of these in the back of their mind. The good news is that most of them have real answers. And all of them are worth talking about. If any of thes...

Want to learn more about financial planning? Please subscribe to our channel and you won't miss a video ➟ https://bit.ly/33RO6mV Book an appointment with Phil to get your customized planning process started ➟ https://www.afswealthmgt.com/schedule-appointment   There's an entire television network dedicated to doing things yourself — home renovation, landscaping, interior design, all of it. And the...

According to a recent Kiplinger article, there are five keys to a retirement plan that hold up over time. They all happen to start with the same letter, which either means it's a great framework or someone really wanted it to work out that way. In this episode, Phil walks through the “5 D’s” of retirement planning and how each one plays a role in helping retirees build a plan that can hold up over...

Dave Ramsey has built one of the most recognized brands in personal finance. Millions of people have followed his advice out of debt and into savings. But when it comes to how much you should pull from your retirement accounts each year, Ramsey takes a position that some financial professionals find hard to get behind. Today, we break it down: what Dave says, what the research says, and what Phil...

Financial information has never been more available — TV, podcasts, YouTube, Reddit, and now AI that will answer any question in about three seconds. And yet some of the worst financial decisions we see come from people who did a ton of research first. Today Phil’s talking about why this happens and what good research actually looks like. Being informed is a good thing. Being confidently misinform...

Over the past year, one retirement video on YouTube pulled in 3.7 million views. The title: "Sell These 5 Things Before You Retire." We thought it was worth a conversation, not to tear it apart, but to react honestly. Does Phil agree? Let's get into it: 3.7 million people watched this video for a reason. It touches something real. Retirement isn't just about what you've accumulated. Sometimes it's...

What happens when retirement arrives sooner than expected? In this episode, Phil and Marc walk through the real-life scenario of “Fran,” a former teacher whose career change and unexpected job restructuring forced her into retirement earlier than planned. They discuss the financial decisions many people make under pressure, including claiming Social Security early, relying on part-time work, and t...

Summer's here. And somewhere between the excitement of planning a big trip and the anxiety of what it costs, a lot of retirees end up doing something that surprises us… they feel guilty about it. They worked hard, they saved, they planned for decades, and then they second-guess a beach vacation. Today, Phil talks about how travel fits into a real retirement plan and how to enjoy it without guilt....

A larger pension check today can look incredibly tempting, but what happens if your spouse outlives you? Phil breaks down one of the biggest pension decisions couples face and explains the tradeoffs between maximizing monthly income and protecting a surviving spouse. This is a permanent retirement decision and deserves much more thought than most people give it. Here’s some of what we discuss in t...

Want to learn more about financial planning? Please subscribe to our channel and you won't miss a video ➟ https://bit.ly/33RO6mV Book an appointment with Phil to get your customized planning process started ➟ https://www.afswealthmgt.com/schedule-appointment We're doing something a little different today. Three listeners wrote in with variations of the same question- am I ready to retire in 2026?...

Want to learn more about financial planning? Please subscribe to our channel and you won't miss a video ➟ https://bit.ly/33RO6mV Book an appointment with Phil to get your customized planning process started ➟ https://www.afswealthmgt.com/schedule-appointment   Phil gives the full scoop on what it actually feels like to work with a financial advisor, pulling back the curtain on the entire experienc...

Want to learn more about financial planning? Please subscribe to our channel and you won't miss a video ➟ https://bit.ly/33RO6mV Book an appointment with Phil to get your customized planning process started ➟ https://www.afswealthmgt.com/schedule-appointment   In this episode, Phil explores what financial protection really means beyond investments and returns. You’ll hear about how planning decisi...

You’ve done a great job managing your money, so why change anything now? That’s the question Phil’s tackling in this episode. As retirement approaches, decisions get more permanent, and the margin for error gets smaller. This conversation is about understanding how the game changes and what it looks like to have the right kind of support in place. Because doing well up to this point doesn’t guaran...

In honor of National Volunteer Week (April 19-25), Phil talks about why volunteering is an important part of life, especially in retirement. Retirement isn’t just about stepping away from work. It's an opportunity to step toward the things you've always cared about, with more time and freedom than you've had in decades. National Volunteer Week is a good reminder that all of it can keep doing good...