Planning for Retirement with Kevin Lao

I've known Cody for almost 3 years now, and this man is a true student of his craft. Cody is an advice-only financial planner passionate about helping DIY investors on the path to financial independence and through early retirement. He is a CFP practitioner and proud owner of the Measure Twice® brand. His educational insights have been featured by Barron's, Forbes, Fox Business, CNBC, Morn...

For decades, the 60/40 portfolio has been the most popular asset allocation for retirees and institutional investors. It provides enough exposure to the equity markets to hedge inflation, but also plenty of "safe money" to offset dips in the stock market. And then, 2022 - 2023 comes along when interest rates skyrocket sending the price of bonds into the red by -15%. The 60/40 portfolio f...

Opposites attract, and this bleeds into the world of personal finance. There is a reason why the #1 cause for marital issues is related to personal finances. Well, when planning for retirement, this is no different. There's oftentimes a "CFO" of the household, and a "Non-CFO." It varies, depending on the couple, how much the "Non-CFO" is involved and/or interested...

In episode 26 , we addressed 7 reasons why you may want to own permanent life insurance during retirement. In this episode, we will discuss the different types of permanent life insurance (whole and universal), as well as the different flavors of each type. I hope you find this to be helpful! Drop us a line if you have questions or comments!

We've all heard the sales pitches! "Permanent life insurance solves all of your problems!" For those of you who have followed me for a period of time know I don't believe this to be true. But at the same time, there is a large % of the financial advisor (and talking heads) population that blanketly tells people, "Don't ever buy permanent life insurance." To me, this...

I hope you enjoy this one! I am not going to give it away in the description but here are the most common responses I hear from people (until they listen to this episode of course): - Tax planning - Peace of mind - Investment management - Income distribution planning - Estate planning All good answers, but all of them are wrong! Here are a few links I referenced during this episode, check them out...

Most people go into retirement without Long-term Care Insurance. Meaning, they plan to "self-fund" Long-term Care expenses. But really, what ends up happening is that a family member, or family members, will end up providing the care. In fact, 70% of care provided is done by unpaid caregivers (aka family members). This goes against what most people's primary goal is in retirement; &q...

This is part 2 of 3 in our series, "How to pay for Long-term care costs in retirement." Rodney Mogen and Peter Ciravalo from BC Brokerage are my guests again today and they bring a ton of knowledge on this topic! There is a reason Hybrid Long-term Care policies now make up the majority of insurance products sold today. However, because there are so many different types of products and ho...

One commonly shared concern for all retirees and pre-retirees I've spoken to over the years: "Never be a burden on your loved ones." As we all go through the aging process, the potential need for extended care is more and more at the forefront. However, many pre-retirees and retirees fail to prepare for this because financial advisors focus more on selling products instead of real pl...

The Wall Street Journal just came out with an article called "How to Retire Better, From Retirees Who Learned the Hard Way." What's interesting is that 2 of the 3 suggestions had NOTHING to do with money or finances! It was all about purpose and relationships. So, this podcast is dedicated to talking about this NON-financial topic, "Purpose in Retirement." Also, many of you...

Did you know your Social Security benefits in retirement could be 100% tax-free? Perhaps you didn't even know Social Security would be taxable as many of you paid into the system for decades! Today we will unpack how Social Security retirement benefits are taxed, and most importantly how to reduce taxes on those benefits in retirement. A few notes for the listeners: Provisional Income / Social...

Sometimes "hanging tight" isn't the best solution during times of volatility. We've had two bear markets since the Great Recession of 2008. COVID-19 was the first, and the inflation that ensued thereafter in 2021-2022 led to the second. Tax Loss Harvesting involves selling investments when they are down in value (in a taxable account) to create a realized loss for tax purposes. Y...

Roth conversions are definitely gaining lots of popularity, especially with the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 expiring in 2026. Because of this, I have noticed consumers believe they should automatically start converting their IRAs and 401ks to Roth accounts! First and foremost, you have to run the numbers. For every scenario that is a "home run" like the one I'll discuss today, there is a scenari...

Nobody wants to think of themselves as getting old or frail. In fact, many retirees in their 60s, 70s, and even 80s are still traveling the world. The risk of extended care will never impact them. But if you need extended care, what are the consequences to your loved ones? They are not just financial but physical and emotional. We are honored to have Harley Gordon join us on this episode, "Th...

It's natural for us to think about how to GET to retirement, but not about how retirement will actually work. The same is true for saving into a 401k or 403b plan.  Most think about how to invest their 401k and maximize growth.  However, what about the distribution process?  And more importantly, what is the tax impact of those distributions? Taxes are our clients' #1 expense during...

2022 was a tough year for both stocks and bonds.  In fact, it was perhaps the worst year for a 60/40 portfolio, period.  For retirees, this makes income planning very difficult!  How do you combat record inflation when both stocks and bonds are falling?  Additionally, the risk in stocks is likely not over as the fed continues its rate hike strategy, and a recession is likely. &...

As a financial professional who specializes in retirement, I would never tell a client to spend MORE than they can.  However, I will tell them what they CAN spend while still maintaining their financial independence.  Oftentimes, it's more than what they are currently spending, especially in the "Go-Go Years" of retirement.  Why is this?  Perhaps the fear of the "what if's" lik...

Now that you have made the decision on when to retire, the next step is to figure out how to pay for healthcare expenses.  This episode features Ari Parker, the Lead Medicare Advisor at Chapter.  Chapter is a Medicare broker that specializes in helping people make important decisions on healthcare during retirement.  Make sure to give us a follow so you don't miss out on our latest episodes!

First of all, paying off your mortgage early vs. investing the difference is not an apples to apples comparison.  I don't know of any investments that provide a guaranteed return = to the mortgage interest rate in question.  If you are comfortable with taking on the risk, you might be better off stretching that mortgage to 30 years and investing the surplus cash into a side fund.  ...

Tax preparation is reactive, for the most part.  Tax planning is proactive.  Most people focus solely on tax preparation, which involves preparing necessary documents to file your taxes.  Tax planning involves not only minimizing your tax liability today, but minimizing taxes when you start to draw on your investment assets and throughout your retirement years.  We hope you enj...

Are you approaching retirement with the bulk of your next egg in tax deferred 401ks or IRAs?  With so much uncertainty on where tax rates might head in the future, you might be wondering, "Should I take advantage of Roth conversions?"  They are not for everybody, but in the right situation you could end up saving thousands, or even hundreds of thousands, of dollars in taxes during your lifetime.  ...

The number one thing I hear from clients is they don't want to ever be a burden on their loved ones, and yet, I've seen a number of estate planning mistakes over the years.  Fortunately, they never truly get exposed unless something unexpected happens.  These 5 common estate planning mistakes can and should be addressed, and I always recommend seeking official legal counsel from a licens...

Spoiler alert:  The answer is NOT "do nothing."   Volatility is a healthy part of investing!  If there was no risk to it, there would not be the upside potential the stock market has provided for decades!  Inevitably when the stock market is volatile, I field a bunch of questions on "what to do next?!"  Nobody is complaining when markets are flying up with no volatility, b...

A lot of people focus so much on retirement savings strategies and not enough on withdrawal strategies.  Also, many people don't realize the withdrawal strategies begin years before you retire!  I hope you enjoy this episode and begin to think about how your savings strategies now will impact your withdrawal strategies later.  Additionally, if you are closer to retirement, hopefully...

It's the end of the year, and most people are thinking about the holidays!  Well, we think about tax efficiencies for our clients, so I wanted to share a few tips that you might want to consider as we approach the end of the tax year.  This should not be taken as tax advice!  Consult with your own professional tax advisors to determine what strategies make the most sense in your sit...