Retire Smarter with Kevin Kroskey, CFP® & Tyler Emrick, CFA® CFP®

Most Americans donate to charity yearly, and many have distinct goals in their retirement plan to meet annual charitable donations. Most also give cash … the tax-efficient way to give. Hear Kevin and Tyler discuss ways to tax-optimize your charitable giving. Whether through bunching your deductions or using donations of appreciated stock, each coupled with a donor-advised fund can help you gain a...

It's usually a life event -- retirement, Social Security age, business sale, death or inheritance -- that tends to drive people to seek financial advice. Those that tend to benefit the most from advice are those whose time is valuable and where the cost of a mistake is high (and potentially irrevocable.)   Hear Kevin and Tyler talk about recent meetings they've had with people seeking help. Learn...

It's that time of year again ... the fourth quarter. Before you get enthralled with the holiday season, it's time to look back over this year and towards the next. Does your lifestyle spending match the goals you have in your plan or do your goals need to be modified to reflect reality?   Are your investments well aligned to meet your spending goals or are you exposing yourself to unnecessary life...

Are you looking for ways to accelerate your savings right before retirement? How do you determine whether to save Roth or Pretax? What type of retirement account should you be using? In short, how can you use the myriad tax-advantaged accounts to optimize your retirement savings and tax advantages?   All these questions and more are answered as Tyler walks you through how IRA, Roth, and 401K plans...

History shows that owning companies (buying stocks) provides far superior returns vs. lending to companies (buying bonds). While most know this, most would be surprised by how many stocks lose money over time. A JP Morgan report showed this number to be 40% over a broad period from 1980-2020. And 66% of stocks failed to keep up with a broad benchmark.    Hear Kevin dive into these details, portfol...

"It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" is a 1987 song by American rock band  R.E.M. . The title may sound pessimistic or perhaps a bit delusional. Yet, hear Kevin make the analogy as to why this song -- one of his favorites -- is a perfect theme song for capitalism, creative destruction, and rational optimism about innovation and future stock returns.    Here's a little of wha...

A $50+ million investment fraud is unwinding in northeast Ohio with a former high school basketball coach and self-proclaimed single-family real estate expert being accused of bilking investors in a ponzi scheme. You probably think, "This can't happen to me." The same can likely be said of those in the community that now have fallen victim to fraud at the hands of someone they trusted.   Hear Kevi...

Pension lump sums will be much LOWER in 2023 than 2022. Listen to Kevin give a brief intro on what is going on and then cut into a replay of episode 62, recorded in December 2020 on the same topic.  Learn timing considerations on how to optimize your pension benefits by understanding the key variables -- interest rates and mortality -- that determine your lump sum. Company pension plans specifical...

Hear the story of Dr. Smith and how his retirement concerns are likely similar to many of your own. How do I select a good advisor? What to do with my employer retirement plans? How do I transition my healthcare? Hear all of this plus estate planning issues and Dr. Smith's reflections on his retirement transition in this jam-packed episode.    Key topics on this episode: 1:14 - Background on our c...

Kudos! You went through a retirement planning process or completed an online calculator and have the results. Now, what the heck do they mean exactly?    Hear Kevin peel back the onion on understanding your retirement plan results. What are Monte Carlo simulations? What assumptions belie them? What shortcomings does this type of analysis have? How can this powerful tool be thoughtfully used to hel...

The bear is roaring and eating away at stock and bond returns. What's an investor to do? Hear  Kevin Kroskey, CFP®, MBA   and Tyler Emrick  , CFA ®, CFP®  discuss common investment questions clients are prospective clients are asking:  Should I decrease risk? Should I increase cash? Is cash better to own than bonds? Should I consider a CD or fixed annuity? Is it okay to make a strategy change or h...

Dr. David Blanchett is Head of Retirement Research  formerly at Morningstar  and  currently at Prudential’s asset management arm PGIM . He is also an adjunct professor at The American College of Financial Services. David has been a voracious and accomplished researcher, being published in a variety of peer-reviewed articles, and receiving many ‘best paper’ awards. Today he conducts research primar...

Dr. David Blanchett is Head of Retirement Research  formerly at Morningstar  and  currently at Prudential’s asset management arm PGIM . He is also an adjunct professor at The American College of Financial Services. David has been a voracious and accomplished researcher, being published in a variety of peer-reviewed articles, and receiving many ‘best paper’ awards. Today he conducts research primar...

Market downturns elicit emotion. Emotional investors are more apt to make poor investment decisions. Time and again this is proven. Lather. Rinse. Repeat. Or get educated and break the cycle...   Listen to Tyler Emrick, CFA, CFP stand in for Kevin and describe some common behavioral issues even smart investors often must overcome. Got a case of 'get-even-itis' (loss aversion)? Or perhaps a case of...

2022 has been a bad year for most investors. Both stocks and most bonds are down sharply. You may be wondering why?    Hear Kevin explain what has been happening in markets with key points related to understanding diversification, risk, and four key economic regimes for investors to balance against. Learn why even a "balanced investor" has 90% of risk coming from one asset class, and why bad behav...

Dr. Michael Finke is a professor and chair of Economic Security Research at The American College of Financial Services.    Listen to Kevin and Michael chat about a wide range of key retirement issues, the research behind them, as well as current topics: Life expectancy differences for average vs. wealthy people, what makes a retiree happy, why Social Security is such a good deal, how inflation imp...

Dr. Michael Finke is a professor and chair of Economic Security Research at The American College of Financial Services.    Listen to Kevin and Michael chat about a wide range of key retirement issues, the research behind them, as well as current topics: Life expectancy differences for average vs. wealthy people, what makes a retiree happy, why Social Security is such a good deal, how inflation imp...

In this episode, Kevin turns the tables on a handful of common misconceptions about health care costs in retirement. Find out the truth about what health coverage and long-term care actually might cost and how you can factor them into your overall retirement plan. This is the final part of this series we're revisiting on Retirement Rules Gone Awry.    What we discuss in this episode: 1:40 - The ru...

You've perhaps heard the 4 percent rule, that if you take 4% out of your investment account each year, you'll never outlive your money. Kevin talks about where this idea came from, and pokes some holes in this strategy in this third installment of Rules Gone Awry. This is the fourth of a five-part series we're revisiting on Retirement Rules Gone Awry.    What we discuss in this episode: 1:40 - Wha...

There's a "rule" that says you should take 100, subtract your age, and the result tells you how much of your money you should invest in stocks. It would be awesome if retirement planning was that simple, but simple isn't always effective and that's the problem with the Rule of 100. Take a listen to find out about better ways to invest and plan for your financial future. This is the third of a five...

There's an old school of thought that says you should take social security as early as you can so that you can get the most out of it. But this is another one of those retirement rules gone awry that we enjoy picking apart on the podcast. Kevin will tell us why this retirement "rule" needs to be scraped and give us the proper lens through which to view the social security problem. This is the seco...

Walter was being nosy recently and asking his mom about her retirement plans. When she told him she was planning on living off of 80% of her current income during her retirement years, it raised a red flag. How did she come to that figure? You guessed it, she didn't really have an exact answer for why she picked that number. So Walter turns to Kevin on this week's podcast to understand how that "8...

Listen as Kevin completes the podcast series discussing the book What Retirees Want (WRW) by world-famous "Age Wave" expert Ken Dychtwald, Ph. D.  Should you stay or should you go... While many Boomers intend to not move but age in place, an increasing amount are making a change. Learn why many more Boomers are choosing to go and where they are going to in order to improve retirement satisfaction....

What do retired Boomers say is the key to retirement happiness? Think about what you would say and then take a listen to learn this and more on the show. Listen and learn as Kevin continues the podcast series, discussing the book What Retirees Want (WRW) by world-famous "Age Wave" expert Ken Dychtwald, Ph. D.    Read more and get additional financial resources here: https://www.truewealthdesign.co...

Listen as Kevin discusses the book What Retirees Want (WRW) by world-famous "Age Wave" expert Ken Dychtwald, Ph. D. Learn why your expectations of how long you'll work will likely vary substantially from how long you'll actually work and why this matters.   Read more and get additional financial resources here: https://www.truewealthdesign.com/podcast/     What we discuss in this episode:  1:50 -...