Planning for Retirement with Kevin Lao

Annuities have become the four-letter word of retirement planning products.  However, is this warranted?  When should annuities be positioned in a well-diversified retirement income plan?   How do you ensure you aren’t being taken advantage of by an agent who doesn’t have your best interests?   In this next edition of The PFR Podcast, I host annuity experts Sheryl Moore and Tacy Lownesberry to dis...

Thanks so much to our recent listener who submitted their financial info for this next edition of the ‘Whiteboard Retirement Plan.’  This was a fun case to break down. "Travis" is 58, "Taylor" is 54, and they are currently putting 3 children through college.  They’ve managed to save a nice nest egg of approximately $5.5mm and it’s tax diversified quite nicely.   In this episode...

Are you approaching retirement while juggling paying for your kids' college, or even perhaps caring for aging parents?  You are not alone.  In fact, 48% of adults are providing some sort of financial support to their grown children, while 27% are their primary support. Additionally, 25% are financially supporting their parents as well.   The conversation focuses on the sandwich generation, whi...

Are you approaching retirement and worried about the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on the future of your job?  What about the impact of AI on the financial markets?  And lastly, do Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have a place in a well-diversified investment portfolio? I hope you enjoy my interview with Brian Bonewitz.  Brian is an AI consultant, CFA holder, and has a unique perspectiv...

Do you ever wish you could get inside the minds of existing retirees to ask them what their experience has been?  Or, ask them what they wish they would have known before they quit their day job?  This episode is for you! In this episode of the Planning for Retirement podcast, I’ll share 50 truths that retirees wish they knew before they quit their day jobs.  Some of these are straight from the ho...

Welcome to "The Planning for Retirement Podcast," where we help educate you on how to achieve financial security and fire your boss. Here are some topics you will learn about: - Social Security- Retirement Income Planning- Roth Conversions- Tax Planning- Charitable Giving- Investment Strategies in Retirement- Estate Planning- Long-term Care Planning- Medicare- Required Minimum Distributi...

Welcome to this edition of The Planning for Retirement Podcast.  This is Volume 1 of this new series, The Whiteboard Retirement Plan, where Kevin breaks down a real-life client case for “Bob and Jennifer” in plain English.  The goal is to help answer the question, “Can I fire my boss?”   ERROR IN THE VIDEO ***Hey all, just a quick note about this episode. In minute 22:47, I mentioned the spousal b...

In this episode, Kevin discusses the topic of downsizing to retire early. He shares the reasons why people downsize their homes to fund their retirement and talks about the tax implications of doing so. Takeaways Downsizing to a smaller home can help fund retirement and allow for an earlier retirement. Home equity can be a valuable asset to consider when planning for retirement. Consulting with fi...

It’s official, we moved to Chattanooga, Tennessee where my wife’s family is from.  Considering this big move and the fact that I’ve spoken with hundreds of retirees who relocated during retirement, I thought this would be a timely topic!   I’ll unpack some of the main reasons I see people relocating during retirement including; the weather lower cost of living lower taxes healthcare family politic...

In this episode, Kevin Lao discusses the key takeaways from the book 'Die with Zero' by Bill Perkins. He emphasizes the importance of using money as a resource and not hoarding it. He also talks about the concept of return on experiences and the different life phases for different experiences. Kevin highlights the significance of investing in one's health and giving with a warm hand in...

You can invest in your company stock in several ways, whether you are working for a publicly traded corporation or even a privately owned company.   And who wouldn’t want to have ownership in the company you have your sweat equity with?   However, there are tax implications and investment risks you must weigh before moving forward with doing so.  And even if/when you decide to invest in your compa...

Thanks everyone for tuning in!  As we continue our review season with clients, it’s a friendly reminder of how important a retirement spending budget is!  This is a key input your financial advisor must know to run accurate projections for you.  Remember, the outputs are only as good as the inputs.   In our last episode, we talked about how important an assumed retirement age is.  This week, we wi...

Two of our recent client meetings were with folks who retired much earlier than they had anticipated. So, I started to go down a rabbit hole of research and thought this would be a great episode to encourage you all to STOP planning for a “normal” retirement age in your assumptions! Even if you do end up working until 65 or 70, you should not build that into your calculations when planning for ret...

Here is part 2 of 2 in the "blended wealth" series! I hope you enjoy it! Episode Overview In this episode we shed light on the unique financial planning and estate planning considerations for blended families, emphasizing the importance of tailored advice and open family communication to navigate these complexities successfully. Today’s guests are Tim and Alexis Woodward, co-founders of Blend Weal...

40% of marriages today create a blended family, which involve children from previous relationships or marriages. I'm very excited for these next two episodes with Tim and Alexis Woodward from the Blend Wealth team! Financial issues are a hot topic within families. And when you add additional parties, it can create added complexity. We are breaking down this topic of blended family financial pl...

The financial markets are well known to cause some stress and anxiety, but this escalates even more during a Presidential election. Especially this one which is likely to bring out emotions from both sides. As a result, I felt called to do this episode to provide some facts about how Presidential elections impact the stock market. I hope you enjoy this episode! Make sure to share it with a friend...

First and foremost, it's been a whirlwind for the Lao family in March. My financial planning firm just went through its first audit, woohoo! In the midst of all of the heavy lifting preparing for said audit, my wife gets the worst food poisoning of her life. Needless to say, Daddy's daycare was in session for the majority of last week. To cap things off, my oldest son got sick, so I took m...

The SECURE Act of 2019 was the first major overhaul of retirement plans, specifically 401ks. However, many people are still curious about what the changes are and how they impact these group 401k plans. I had the pleasure of being joined by Alex Jenkins, the Chief Revenue Officer @ Nest Eggs, to unpack all of this for us. You'll be sure to learn a lot whether you are a small business owner, an...

Have you heard of the 4% rule?! It's the most recognized benchmark for safe withdrawal rates in retirement. However, it lacks flexibility and often leaves retirees "under-spending," particularly in their prime retirement years. Think Advisor put out this article (link below) that touched on three alternatives to the 4% rule and how they can potentially increase your spending capacity...

According to the Vanguard "Advisor's Alpha" study, asset location can add up to 60 bps in returns on an annual basis! The larger your taxable brokerage account balance, the more you need to pay attention to what investments you own in that bucket! Conventional wisdom says that the taxable accounts should be tapped into first, and therefore should be the most conservative. However, th...

Housing wealth is one of the largest, if not the largest, assets on the balance sheet for retirees today. However, many retirees simply pay off their mortgage and let their housing equity sit idle. There's nothing inherently wrong with this line of thinking because being debt-free is often a goal for most people. However, you may want to look at a reverse mortgage as a tool in the toolbelt to...

Welcome to another episode of The Planning for Retirement Podcast. I'm your host, Kevin Lao! 2020-2023 brought about legitimate market volatility, the first we've experienced since The Great Recession of 2008. I thought I would share some common mistakes I've personally seen retirees make over the last few years to highlight the importance of having a disciplined, unemotional, repeatab...

2023 was an amazing year, and I just wanted to spend some time sharing my sincere gratitude for my listeners, clients, and most importantly my wife, Jessica, for supporting me on this journey. I also wanted to share a few tax planning observations as we close out 2023. Here are some links I referenced in the show: - Ep. 18 - Roth conversion strategy could save $427k in taxes - Ep. 10 - 6 reasons t...

I decided to record this episode as a follow-up to Ep. 30 given how many questions and discussions I've heard from listeners. If you have not listened to Ep. 30 (link here) , you should go back and listen as Cody Garrett joined me to talk about the challenge of psychologically going from "Saver to Spender" in retirement. However, many of the follow-up questions were about what tactic...

I'm excited to have Brady Slack, the proud owner of High Country Finance based in Utah, join for this fascinating topic. At first, I was planning to steer Brady in two directions with regards to tax planning opportunities for business owners and W2 employees. But, we ended up mainly focusing on using real estate as a nontraditional retirement planning vehicle, and the tax efficiency of leverag...