Ready For Retirement

Our topic on this episode of the Ready for Retirement podcast is about creating the ultimate tax planning strategy - combining Roth Conversions with Other Deductions. Questions answered: When should I do a Roth Conversion? How do I know which deductions I should take advantage of? How could a Donor-Advised Fund help reduce my taxes? Can I gift stock to my Donor-Advised Fund? What is the best appro...

Our topic on this episode of the Ready for Retirement podcast is about how to use Roth Conversions to save huge amounts in taxes over time. Questions answered: When should I do a Roth Conversion? When is the best time to invest for retirement? What are the benefits of Roth Conversions and when is it best to do them? What is the best approach for my individual situation?  Are you ready to start foc...

Our topic on this episode of the Ready for Retirement podcast is about understanding if capital gains can cause you to move into a higher tax bracket. Questions to ask ourselves: Are there different tax brackets for Ordinary Income v. Capital Gains? When does it make most sense to realize Capital Gains? How should I be approaching tax planning as I near retirement? How should I be approaching tax...

Our topic on this episode of the Ready for Retirement podcast is about whether or not you should invest all at once (lump-sum) or invest smaller amounts over a longer period of time (dollar-cost averaging). Questions answered: Should I invest when the market is at all-time highs? When is the best time to invest? What is the best approach for my individual situation? Should I gradually invest to de...

Our topic on this episode of the Ready for Retirement podcast is about what you need to know when you receive a windfall (inheritance, gift, high income year, etc).  Questions answered: What do I need to know when I receive a large sum of money all at once? What should I be considering as I’m expecting a large sum of money? When is the best time to invest those funds? What other considerations may...

Our topic on this episode of the Ready for Retirement podcast is about how to best coordinate portfolio withdrawals with Social Security (and other income sources). Questions answered: How can I best coordinate my portfolio withdrawals with when I intend on collecting Social Security? If I’m currently collecting Social Security, how much should I be withdrawing from my portfolio? How can I plan wh...

Our topic on this episode of the Ready for Retirement podcast is about the 4 common investment mistakes to avoid. Questions to ask ourselves: How should my investments be allocated based on my different goals? What investment accounts are best for tax planning?  Which investment accounts are best as I head in to retirement?  Which investment accounts are best if I'm currently retired? How oft...

Our topic on this episode of the Ready for Retirement podcast is about understanding the best way to save for a short-term goal. Questions to ask ourselves: How soon will I need the funds for my short-term goal? How should I be invested when saving for a short-term goal, if I choose to invest at all? What types of investments are best for capital preservation? How do my investments change when inv...

Our topic on this episode of the Ready for Retirement podcast is about understanding social security and what you can do to maximize your benefit. Questions discussed: When should I collect Social Security based on my age and work experience? How is Social Security calculated? What percentage of my income in retirement should be funded by Social Security? What are the pros and cons of collecting S...

Our topic on this episode of the Ready for Retirement podcast is about the 5 steps to design the optimal portfolio. Questions to ask ourselves: Am I invested the right way? Am I owning the right types of investments for my goals? Where do I start when it comes to designing the optimal portfolio for my individual situation?  Are you ready to start focusing on the things that truly matter when it co...

Our topic on this episode of the Ready for Retirement podcast is about understanding if you should just own the S&P 500 in your portfolio. Questions to ask ourselves: Does the S&P 500 give proper diversification for my individual goals? Should I be allocated to stocks outside of the United States? Does the S&P 500 fit my risk tolerance? Should I hold the S&P 500 in both my taxable...

Our topic on this episode of the Ready for Retirement podcast is about understanding how to plan for an early retirement if you want to retire before your full retirement age.  Questions to ask yourself: Why do you want to retire early? Do you not want to work at all? Do you want to work part-time or change careers? What does retirement really look like if everything were to stop today? Are you re...

Our topic on this episode of the Ready for Retirement podcast is about understanding where you should pull funds from first in retirement. How much of my retirement expenses are covered by fixed income sources and how much income do I need my portfolio to generate? When it comes to pulling funds in retirement, identifying how to create the most income is important, but arguably less so than the ta...

Our topic on this episode of the Ready for Retirement podcast is about understanding when it's best to collect Social Security for your specific situation.  This week, we have a listener question: My question regards the date for a single person to collect social security. My thinking is the main benefit to wait is to obtain larger monthly benefit and also survivor benefit. I have no one who...

Our topic on this episode of the Ready for Retirement podcast is about how Biden’s new tax plan may impact your financial goals.  Biden’s proposed tax plans come with many changes and knowing the right questions to ask ourselves can help us navigate the changes so we can stay on course with our financial plan.  Questions to ask ourselves include:  Should I think about realizing capital gains if I...

Our topic on this episode of the Ready for Retirement podcast is about how to invest when the stock market is at all time highs. Investing in the market can come with drastic increases and/or decreases in a short amount of time, and it can often take years to recover. It’s important to ensure you have a portfolio that provides stability when stocks take a turn for the worst. Over the past 10 years...

Our topic on this episode of the Ready for Retirement podcast is “6 "Hidden" Tax Savings Opportunities Before Year End”. Maximizing tax savings can be one the greatest ways to save money; James gives a checklist of six things we should review for tax savings before 2020 comes to a close.  Should I take an itemized deduction or standard deduction? When is it best to do charitable giving?...

Our topic on this episode of the Ready for Retirement podcast is “Don't Focus on These 5 Wrong Things”.  With so much information, it can be difficult to know what’s truly worth spending our time on. James gives examples in this episode of five things we shouldn’t focus on and four things we should focus on.  Active vs. passive management, fee’s, small impact decisions, recent performance &am...

Our topic on this episode of the Ready for Retirement podcast is thinking through the question, “Should you Have a 100% Stock Portfolio in Retirement?”  James discusses the statistical and practical standpoints on this topic to help listeners understand that when you are investing, there are thousands of options. The conventional wisdom is to own more stocks during your working years, as you prima...

This episode of Ready for Retirement is all about emergency funds. James walks the listener through the purpose of an emergency fund, as well as potential options of what to do with your emergency fund.  He shares that the purpose of an emergency fund is to be able to cover unexpected expenses, such as loss of income, medical emergencies, or home and auto repairs. Without an emergency fund, when t...

On this episode of Ready for Retirement, James answers the question “Should I do a Roth or Traditional 401k?” James addresses this question by discussing, with practical examples and numbers, when it makes sense to use a Roth 401k, or IRA, and when it’s a better option to use a Traditional 401k, or IRA.  The general difference between the two is when you pay taxes, and whether your contribution is...

The topic on this episode of the Ready for Retirement podcast is goals. Our host, James, urges listeners to reframe how they think about financial goal-setting. He walks through why goals matter as well as some of the most common goals and how to approach them.  When you think about goals, consider what is important to you, what you want to be able to accomplish in the future, and what you envisio...

On this episode of the Ready for Retirement podcast, James discusses target date funds and explains what they are, how they work, what the fees are, and how to know if a target date fund is the best option for you.  He tells listeners that when creating a 401k, you’re given a list of fund options to choose from as you invest money. One option is to build your portfolio on your own. Another option...

Our topic on this episode of the Ready for Retirement podcast is thinking through the question “How soon before retirement should you start to adjust your portfolio?” James discusses the statistical and practical standpoints on this topic to help listeners develop a comprehensive view of this question and its trickle-down effects.  By the numbers, there are several things to keep in mind: the data...

Our topic on this episode of the Ready for Retirement podcast is the question “How much can I spend in retirement?” Most people are concerned that they won’t have enough money and they worry that they will outlive their money, but James outlines the traditional and newer thought processes on withdrawals amounts during this episode.  While the traditional rule of thumb has been to withdraw 4% of yo...