Ready For Retirement

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...

Create Your Custom Strategy ⬇️ Get Started Here. Join the new Root Collective HERE!

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...

Welcome to the Ready for Retirement Podcast!  Episode 01: Show Notes. Hello, everyone, and welcome to the first episode of the Ready for Retirement podcast! Your host for the show is James Conole, a certified financial planner and the founder of Root Financial Partners. Before getting into the details of this new show, we want to thank you for taking the time to tune in – you will not be disappoin...