Real Personal Finance

Scott and James discuss how to give more effectively using Donor-Advised Funds. Listener Question Hello! I love the show. I think I’ve had a chance listened to over 100 episodes. Have y’all considered an episode on giving? I recently started use using a donor advised fund, giving away some highly appreciated assets instead of cash. Are there any more strategies that I can use to be generous? Anyth...

Scott and James discuss how to find a financial professional that's right for you. Listener Question My husband and I are both high earners. He owns his own business and I am employed full time in the health tech sector. We are in a great position where we are debt free, own our home and a rental property and have close to a million in investments. We manage our finances and taxes on our own...

Scott and James discuss which pension option they should select, annuity or lump sum? Listener Question Hey guys! Thank you so much for the amazing podcast! I have a pension question. I am a teacher, and I am eligible to retire and begin taking my pension payments in July 2023. I have heard some people say to take the lump sum distribution, and create your own pension/annuity, but the math doesn&a...

Scott and James discuss how to best track investment returns. Listener Question Does it make sense to track my investments in my 401K and Roth IRA purely off of the projected rate of return that people suggest (typically between 7-10%) or should I track my investments based on the inflation-adjusted return rate? I am asking this as a 23 year old, who sees a million dollars as a very attainable goa...

Scott and James discuss how to forecast and save for college. Listener Question My wife and I are 33 and have two children, ages 1 and 3. We'd like to save enough to pay for their college costs but we're not sure how to forecast what the cost of their college will actually be. College costs can vary widely, and have historically grown at different rates at different times. We're als...

Scott and James discuss if you should borrow money to invest. Listener Question Currently have a 401k company match up to 7%. They also allow us to borrow against our 401k up to $50,000. Also have a Roth IRA but not able to make the max contribution. 401k loan is a 5% note on a 60 month term (only option) but maxes out at $50k and can have multiple loans against the 401k (only pay off early option...

Scott and James discuss the pros & cons of different savings accounts. Listener Question I'm hoping you could walk through the pros and cons of different higher-yield savings vehicles: high-yield savings accounts, money markets, and CDs. Especially how the planned federal interest rates raises may affect those. Planning Points Discussed Retirement Planning Utilizing Time Efficiently Capit...

Scott and James discuss how much you need to retire. Listener Question I'm 55 years old and currently employed with $1.1 million in 401k, $150,000.00 in annuity fund.  Upon retiring I will also have a pension with medical, dental & optical coverage.  My yearly income is $120,000 & I’m looking to retire at 60 years old.  In your opinions does retiring comfortably in 5 years look reason...

Scott and James discuss the tradeoffs between investing in real estate and the stock market. Listener Question My wife and I just purchased our first home (30-yr fixed, low interest rate, strong housing market in suburbs of a major city).  As we start a family, we realize we'll likely need a larger home in 5-8 years.  Should we plan to purchase a second, larger home, while maintaining our cur...

Scott and James discuss how to rebalance when tax implications are involved. Listener Question I'm 30 years old and have close to 1/2 million in taxable brokerage accounts.  While I was investing, I was not targeting a specific asset allocation, and now realize my portfolio is very heavily concentrated in domestic large cap stock funds.  My question is, how do I go about rebalancing to achiev...

Scott and James discuss what to do when you receive a large windfall. Listener Question Can you provide (hypothetical) advice on how to handle a financial windfall? My wife and I are in our mid-thirties with one young child. She is a stay-at-home mom while I work in tech. My salary of approximately $130k covers all of our annual expenses in addition to 401k contributions (up to the amount needed t...

Scott and James discuss the best way to become a financial planner. Listener Question I was wondering if you could talk about the career path of a financial planner, more specifically a CFP who is an independent RIA. I am a college student studying finance looking to become a CFP, there seems to be many paths to take and it is a little confusing. Any tips on how to get valuable experience whether...

Scott and James discuss how to balance retirement savings with debt paydown. Listener Question I'm 36 years old with a wife, a 2.5 year old and hopefully a second child in the near future. I currently have a job with a non-matched 403b but it also currently offers a pension (and hopefully still will when I retire in 25-30 years). My wife's employer offers a matching 403b. I currently con...

Scott and James discuss what people do for health insurance if they retire early. Listener Question I'm a 48 year old single woman who wants to retire in my mid 50's (or sooner) I have about $400,000 in investments of which only about 12% is in after tax savings I just started a new job making with bonus about $105,000 a year previously only made 55,000 my plan is to live on half my new...

Scott and James discuss if you should save to a Deferred Compensation Plan after maxing out everything else. Listener Question My question is about non-qualified deferred compensation plans. I already max out my 401(k), megaback door (while we still can), Roth backdoor conversations, HSA, FSA, ESPP plan and my wife's SEP IRA and Roth. For the remaining cash I've typically invested in tax...

Scott and James discuss what to expect when you're expecting. Listener Question My wife and I are expecting, and I want to start planning from a financial perspective. I'm considering a 529; if I remember from a previous episode, you guys said you can start funding that before the child is born? I'm also looking into dependent care FSAs for child care expenses. If a kid is due in Ju...

Scott and James discuss how to know if you're on track to retire. Listener Question I am 26 years old and have a TSP account valued at 20k, and a variety of stock/bold portfolios that are earmarked for different priorities that total to about 40k. I get a company match of up to 5% which I utilize up to that. I currently contribute 300 in addition to maxing out my Roth IRA that is valued aroun...

Scott and James discuss how to start the new year right. Planning Points Discussed Retirement Planning Utilizing Time Efficiently Capital Appreciation Purchasing Power Other issues (IRAs, Inflation, Financial Goals, etc.) Timestamps: 3:57 - Life's Considerations 6:02 - Intentional Living 9:30 - Retirement Goals 15:01 - Dream Lifestyle 16:55 - Assets 19:24 - Saving & Investing 21:22 - Alig...

Scott and James discuss how to protect against inflation. Listener Question Can y'all do an episode about inflation? Planning Points Discussed Retirement Planning Utilizing Time Efficiently Capital Appreciation Purchasing Power Other issues (IRAs, Inflation, Financial Goals, etc.) Timestamps: 4:08 - Bond Returns 7:05 - Timing the Market 10:12 - Historical Inflation 13:34 - Bond Risk 16:23 - D...

Scott and James discuss what to know about IRA eligibility. Listener Question Question 1: I am wondering if I should open an IRA in addition to my 401k through work. My employer match in my 401k caps at $9,000. The only benefit I see of having an IRA is being able to direct the investments, but we are currently happy with the options offered by our employers. We prefer investing in ETFs and have a...

Scott and James discuss if you should do Roth Conversions in years where income is relatively low. Listener Question I am currently single and maxing out my 401k. In two more years I'll have been doing this and my Roth IRA for four years total. I plan on going back to training for one year and at that point it will drop me from the 37% tax bracket to 22%. My question is I currently contribute...

Scott and James discuss if you should cancel your existing whole life policy and buy term life insurance. Listener Question I have listened to your episodes about life insurance and whether or not it’s advisable to purchase a whole life policy. However, I’d be curious to hear what you think about a whole life policy that I bought about 5 years ago. It costs me a fixed $100/ month for a $100,000 po...

Scott and James discuss the new contributions limits (2022) and how that impacts our taxes. Listener Question Can I unwind a non- deductible IRA and revert it to a retail account? My CPA suggested I put 7k aside each year (I did it once) and then put it into a backdoor Roth. My income is high (we paid 51% in effective taxes last year) and I max out my 401k (no match) at work. But here is where it...

Scott and James discuss the new contributions limits (2022) and how that impacts our taxes. Listener Question My wife and I have two homes. One is our primary and the other is a weekend/getaway home. We have mortgages on each (each are 30-year fixed and below 3%). Our total monthly mortgage payment for both homes is 15.5% of our gross income. Does it make sense to take our extra cash and pay down...

Scott and James discuss how to invest at market all-time highs. Planning Points Discussed Retirement Planning Utilizing Time Efficiently Capital Appreciation Purchasing Power Other issues (IRAs, Inflation, Financial Goals, etc.) Timestamps: 3:12 - Negative Headlines 5:21 - Market Performance 8:53 - Example of Growth 11:01 - How Can We Position Our Investments Now? 13:01 - Time Horizon of Investmen...