Ready For Retirement

On this episode of the Ready for Retirement podcast, James provides listeners with a broad but detailed overview of Medicare. Medicare is the federally maintained health care plan for all qualifying Americans aged 65 and up.  There is always something in the news about Medicare and it can seem daunting to understand all of the different parts and supplemental plans, but James breaks down the basic...

The COVID-19 pandemic hit hard in early 2020, and it continues to remain prevalent as we near the end of the year. Whether you’ve just recently retired, or it’s coming up in the next few years, it’s likely the virus has brought about some financial uncertainty regarding your readiness for retirement. Before making any sudden changes, it’s important to remain rational and avoid these five big retir...

James introduces the problem of saving for medical expenses in retirement and explains the concept of the Health Savings Account. In this brief episode, James lays out some of the basics of the HSA, including its framework and operation.  James points out that the HSA is one of the easiest ways to save and accumulate money tax-free, whether saving for health expenses or not. He encourages listener...

The topic of this episode of the Ready for Retirement podcast is Roth IRAs. A Roth IRA allows your money to grow tax-free and provides fewer limitations than other investment accounts. James outlines 7 of the main benefits of using Roth IRAs in your portfolio to strengthen your retirement funding. Unlike other investment accounts, you are able to withdraw your contributions at any time as long as...

In this episode of the Ready for Retirement podcast, James discusses gold and whether it is a good investment or not. He begins by giving an update on the current price, reminding listeners that this is a unique environment and conclusions should be drawn from historical data only.  After giving a disclaimer about his experience, he explores whether gold has a history of holding value. Prior to 19...

The topic of this episode of the Ready for Retirement podcast is tax-efficient ways to invest after maxing out your 401(k). You might not know that you can deposit after-tax contributions to your employer 401(k) plan, which will allow you to save future money and attain higher growth in that plan.  Another option is mega backdoor Roth contributions, which are in-plan conversions to Roth IRAs that...

Our topic on this episode of the Ready for Retirement podcast is the myth that investments are negatively impacted during election years. Many people shift their portfolios to less risky investments or pull out their funds entirely during election years because of this belief, but is it true?  While there may be some residual effects of elections, particularly presidential elections, on the stock...

Whether you’re a freelancer or an entrepreneur, being your own boss has many perks. You can set your own schedule, prioritize the projects that mean the most to you, and you have the leverage to make key decisions that can alter the course of your career.  When you’re self-employed, however, you don’t have the built-in HR benefits that come with being an employee of a company — instead, you need t...

Our topic on this episode of the Ready for Retirement podcast is the issues you need to keep in mind when helping your aging parents with their finances and estate plans. James describes the five main categories of issues that need to be considered: cash flow and living arrangements, estate planning, insurance, tax planning, and asset and debt. No one is really ever prepared to walk through these...

On this episode of the Ready for Retirement podcast, James discusses a strategy for increasing your tax savings through charitable giving. James gives the example of a couple who contributed $12,000 to charity every year but they were still taking the standard deduction every year on their taxes, so they were never able to reap any tax deduction benefits from their contributions.  He helped them s...

This episode of the Ready for Retirement podcast is a top-level flyby of the topics to consider as you prepare for retirement. Many of these topics have been covered in detail in previous episodes, so you may find it helpful to go back and listen to have a better understanding.  The main issues that should be involved in your retirement planning are cash flow, healthcare and insurance, asset and d...

You have made it to the final episode of the countdown to retirement mini-series on the Ready for Retirement podcast! If you didn’t catch the previous episodes, go back and listen to Episodes 12-14 of the podcast to have a full understanding of the countdown.  The fourth question, which is the topic of this episode, is: Is your spouse ready for you to retire? The answer really comes down to expect...

The topic of this episode of the Ready for Retirement podcast is the 3rd question in the Countdown to Retirement series: “Do you know what you’ll do when you retire?”  This can be an overwhelming question to contemplate at the end of a long career, when you’ve spent your entire life up to that point pushing towards the “next thing”, and you don’t have to have the answer right now, but hopefully th...

This episode of the Ready for Retirement podcast is the second part of four within a mini-series that answers the question “How do you know if you are on track for retirement?” In these four episodes, James outlines the four distinct questions that will ultimately help you know if you are on track. In this episode, James answers this question: Have you had enough work? Some people think that there...

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Our topic on this episode of the Ready for Retirement podcast is how to handle your debt and investments before retirement. It seems like there is a constant tension between paying off debt and contributing to investment accounts when you have extra cash flow. How do you know which is the right decision in the long run? James outlines several crucial considerations as you develop the strategy that...

On this episode of the Ready for Retirement podcast, James discusses the question: Will Social Security run out? In the aftermath of the economic impacts of COVID-19, many people are concerned by the new budget model predictions that purport that the Social Security trust will be depleted sooner than expected. There are many factors to this prediction, a considerable one being the high unemploymen...

Many of us know people who needed to continue working into retirement in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. There are benefits and risks to having a diversified investment portfolio, but it would be helpful to know what’s too risky—and what’s too safe.  In order to better understand what makes a portfolio safe in the first place is to understand what kinds of risks exist. There are risks acros...

Our topic on this episode of the Ready for Retirement podcast is whether you should retire with a mortgage. Many people believe that carrying a “small” mortgage into retirement with them will be advantageous in terms of tax deductions, but the reality is that unless your mortgage is rather large or you contribute to charity significantly, you will likely be better off using the standard deduction....

On this episode of the Ready for Retirement podcast, James tackles the topic of how much money you will need to retire. Many people have an inflated view of their retirement needs, thinking that they will need to save dollar for dollar what they currently need each month to maintain their standard of living. However, this is not necessarily the case because of the shifts in expense amounts between...

In this episode, James discusses one of the biggest questions about retirement: when should you collect Social Security?  There are many opinions about this topic which is why it’s important to understand Social Security and your personal financial situation to make a well-informed decision. James tells listeners six things to take into consideration to decide when to collect Social Security.  The...

In this episode, James talks about key factors that might influence future tax policy. This is especially important for retirees and soon-to-be retirees because a change in your tax bracket could affect your income in retirement. We cannot see into the future, but we can make some predictions about how to best prepare for what taxes will look like in retirement.  James talks a bit about the histor...

People who have a pension often wonder whether they should convert it into an annuity or a lump sum rollover. This is a huge decision and most people don’t know the right questions to ask that will help guide them while making it as they approach retirement.  In this episode, we dive right in by giving listeners some definitions of what annuities and lump sum rollovers are before covering the main...

The recent bear market was the fastest in the history of the S&P 500, taking only 16 days for it to fall 20%. For younger investors, this is a great opportunity to buy good stocks at low prices, while for those closer to retirement, it might seem like there is no time to recover.  In this episode, James shares a four-part framework which helps you to see if you are still on track with your ret...

Episode 02: Show Notes. Welcome to the first full episode of Ready for Retirement, we are so happy to have you join us here as we share some great and simple strategies for making retirement that much easier and enjoyable! A big part of doing this has to do with tax and that is our focus today.  If you can optimize your taxation situation you can alleviate a lot of unnecessary strain on your finan...