Retirement Answers

Roth conversions are a powerful tax savings tool for many retirees. There are many reasons to do Roth conversions: Pay less tax now compared to the future Minimize future RMDs Avoid future IRMAA surcharges Help avoid the Widow's Tax Trap Leave tax-free assets to heirs But mistakes can be made when doing these conversions. In this episode, Jacob shares 6 common Roth conversion mistakes to watch out...

Social Security is one of the pillars of retirement income. But it can be very confusing when you think about PIAs, FRAs, and spousal benefits. In this episode, I break down everything you need to know about Social Security Spousal Benefits and how they work. A big misconception I often hear is that "You get 50% of your spouses benefits." I share why this is a misunderstanding and how spousal bene...

Retirement can be a scary thought. Do I have enough to retire? When should I take Social Security? What if I run of money before I die? How much can I spend? These are big questions that can create anxiety as you approach retirement. So, in this episode, I share 7 common retirement fears and how you can overcome them. This isn't a comprehensive list of fears that come up in retirement, but they ar...

The 2024 Social Security COLA has been announced! I am sharing the following: What the 2024 COLA is Who gets the COLA How does it compare to COLAs historically Why WHEN you begin receiving your Social Security benefits continues to impact you moving forward 2 reasons why your COLA won't be as high as you think ***Help me make the show better in 2024. Fill out this quick survey! Want help with your...

Retirement can be challenging... When should I take Social Security? How aggressively should I be investing? How can I manage my taxes? Where is my income going to come from? These are the challenges that typically come up when planning for retirement. But as a financial planner who does retirement planning every day, I have found that one of the hardest parts of retirement is the mental side. Mos...

The Health Savings Account (HSA) is the only account you can contribute to that receives triple-tax advantages. Tax-deductible contributions Tax-deferred growth Tax-free distributions (for qualified medical expenses) And having a funded HSA in retirement comes with it's advantages: Use for more frequent healthcare costs Bridge gap until Medicare age Helps pay for long-term care Can be used for any...

Deciding when to take your Social Security benefits is a common question for most retirees. This decision can cause stress because there is never a perfect answer. If you knew how long you were going to live, it would make this really easy, but that just isn't reality. So, making the most educated decision based on your specific situation is all you can do. In this episode of Retirement Answers, I...

What are you going to do next time the market enters a recession? Are you prepared? Do you have a plan? Most investors are reactive to turbulence in the market. They act out of emotion and fear, which is human nature, but if they had a plan in place BEFORE the market volatility came, they wouldn't have to panic. Listen in as I share why you have to: Have a plan before the market volatility begins...

Tax planning in retirement is a crucial piece in a successful retirement plan. We often think about Roth conversions and tax-loss harvesting as the primary ways to lower your tax bill in your retirement years. But many forget about an opportunity right in front of them... Tax-gain harvesting! This is when you can use the long-term capital gains tax rates to your advantage by intentionally realizin...

Do you have an old 401k from a previous employer? Or maybe even a few straggling out there? I'm a fan of keeping things organized and simple, so rolling over those old 401ks into an IRA to consolidate your money could is typically a good idea. The hard part is knowing how to actually do the rollover correctly. It can be scary because it is your life savings that you are trying to move from one acc...

What is a retirement plan... actually? Is it a Monte Carlo simulation? Tax projections? Investment allocations? A retirement plan, in my opinion, is non of those things individually. But when they are put together correctly, they each help produce a comprehensive plan. So, this week I week I wanted to share what I think a comprehensive retirement plan looks like and what you should include in your...

When you want to save Roth money for retirement, but your income is too high... what do you do? Do a Backdoor Roth IRA contribution! Listen in where Jacob shares what a backdoor Roth contribution is, when you should do this (and when you SHOULDN'T), and how to do this correctly. Want help with your retirement plan?👇🏼 ☎️ Book a call with me: https://calendly.com/jacobduke/intro ✉️ Email me: jacob...

We all know that Roth conversions can be a powerful tax savings strategy for retirees, but how do you actually pay the taxes when doing a conversion? Listen in to this week's episode to learn about the 2 ways to pay your conversion taxes: Withhold the taxes Pay the taxes with cash Also, I share a few things to look out for and which of these two options I think is the best way to pay the taxes on...

Roth conversions are often a useful tax savings strategy for retirees, but the hardest part is deciding WHEN to actually do them. In this episode of Retirement Answers, Jacob walks you through what he calls the "Roth Conversion Sweet Spot". The "Sweet Spot" consists of a few things: Low Income Large Tax-Deferred Accounts Retired Not taking Social Security Good cash savings Not RMD age yet When all...

We all know that we need a plan for taxes in retirement... But what if there is a big tax bill waiting for surviving spouses? Yes, surviving spouses often have larger tax bills as a single tax filer compared to when they were filing jointly. This is what I call the Widow's Tax Trap. Do you have large IRA or 401k balances? Are you married? Well, you will want to pay attention to this episode. I am...

There are many different retirement income strategies to choose from, but my favorite is the 3 Bucket Plan. I'm a visual learner and being able to separate my money out into 3 different silos helps me remember why my money is invested the way it is. Bucket #1 = Cash Bucket #2 = Bonds Bucket #3 = Stocks Each bucket has a purpose and a goal. This approach helps you create your investment allocation...

Over the last 18 months, the Federal Reserve has been increasing it's interest rates. And because of this interest rates on cash, CDs, Money Markets, Mortgages, and Car Loans have also increased. In fact, interest rates are the highest we have seen in quite some time. Which can create some issues after such a long period of low interest rates. We got used to really low mortgage rates, but it seems...

We all know about how important it is to have a plan for taxes in retirement. So, we create Roth conversions strategies, but what if I told you there is simple tax savings strategy that is available to anyone. It's called Asset Location. This is when you align the tax type of your investments when the tax type of your accounts to minimize your annual tax burden. For example, your IRA will always b...

This week I share 5 things that you need to be doing 5 years before retirement. These are things that will help you have the most successful and fulfilling retirement. Want help with your retirement plan?👇🏼 ☎️ Book a call with me: https://calendly.com/jacobduke/intro ✉️ Email me: jacob.duke@appliedcapital.com Submit your question here: jacob@retirementanswers.net YouTube: https://www.youtube.com...

We all think stocks are risky because they are volatile. "Oh no! My account is down 25%, I'm losing all of my money!!" Well, today let's have an honest conversation about risk... I want to flip this idea of risk on its head and share my thoughts on what risk really is and what it isn't. Enjoy the show!

We are all curious if we have enough saved to retire. What most people don't do is dig into the details of their savings to see how strategically positioned they are to successfully retire. In this week's episode of Retirement Answers, I walk through a case study from a recent question I received. Be sure to listen in to hear about some of the questions I think about and ask as I evaluate someone'...

What if I told you your retirement plan is wrong? Initially, probably wouldn't be very comforted to hear that, but I'm here to tell you that it's okay! The simple reality is that we have no way of knowing the future, so all of our retirement plans will be wrong. In this episode of Retirement Answers, I share why it is okay to have an incorrect retirement plan and why having a plan is still very im...

Another big change from the SECURE ACT 2.0 is coming in 2024... This time it has to do with catch-up contributions for everyone 50 or older. Tune into this episode of Retirement Answers to learn everything you need to know about this rule change. Enjoy the show!

Last week on Retirement Answers I shared what annuities were and how they worked. Well, this week I am sharing 6 reasons I do not like annuities and why I think they are not the best investment option for most investors. I hope you enjoy the show.