Retiring Today

Turning 65 is a reason to celebrate! That’s because you are Medicare eligible - but trying to understand the program is no party. In this episode of Retiring Today, Director of Medicare, AnnaMarie Morrow joins Loren, Molly, and Richelle in the podcast booth to help us make sense of Medicare coverage, supplements, and the difference between Medigap and Advantage Plans.

Compound interest is often called the eighth wonder of the world but how does it affect your retirement? In this episode of Retiring Today, we are talking about the power of compound interest and strategies to help you maximize this superhero. 

Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) are amounts that U.S. tax law requires one to withdraw annually from traditional IRAs and employer-sponsored retirement plans. In this episode of Retiring Today, we discuss which types of investments these apply to, how they are calculated, and why they were suspended in 2020. 

One in three baby boomers are unmarried. This group has to navigate some aspects of retirement differently than their married counterparts. In this episode of Retiring Today, we are discussing retiring single.

The Game of Life was created in 1860 by Milton Bradley. The basic principles are simple - earn money, invest, retire. The game has evolved throughout the years but the goal is the same - reaching Happy Old Age. In this episode of Retiring Today, we discuss how adding in those life events like getting married, paying taxes, and searching for a job mirrors real life.

You’ve worked 20, 30, or maybe even 40 years saving for retirement. Sometimes that retirement savings can feel like a junk drawer of investments. In this episode of Retiring Today, Loren, Molly and Richelle talked about how to turn that junk drawer into a plan for retirement.

2020 was not only the year of COVID-19 but also a wild ride for the stock market. The Dow Jones and S&P 500 saw the worst first quarter ever. March of 2020 was the most volatile month on record and the Dow Jones ended the year at record highs. If you don't like the idea of riding this roller coaster as your head to and through retirement, there are other options. In this episode of Retiring To...

"Do I have enough saved for retirement?" It's one of the most common questions and concerns we hear. If retirement feelslike a far-off concept or even unreachable, there are strategies you can do right now to boost your retirement savings. In this episode of Retiring Today, we are discussing 5 ways you can boost your retirement savings including evaluating your debt and maxing out your contributio...

When we recorded this episode of Retiring Today, President Biden and top Congressional leaders were meeting to discuss President Biden's $2.3 trillion dollar infrastructure bill. During this episode we want to look at some of the headlines associated with the plan and put them through the lens of a retirement planner. Show Notes Article 1: How Much of Your Estate Will be Lost to Taxes? Article 2:...

Traveling abroad. Workamping. Going back to school. These are just a few of the things that individuals consider when they are thinking of how to spend their time in retirement. In this episode of Retiring Today, we are dreaming big and talking about how the dream drives many other aspects of the retirement plan.  

According to a Morningstar report , 70% of people turning age 65 will need some type of long-term care services in their life and 24% of people turning 65 will require paid long-term care for more than two years. There are many costs in retirement you can plan for with a high degree of certainty. The fun stuff like visiting grandkids, traveling or living each day like it is Saturday. The necessary...

Do you find yourself spending more time daydreaming about hanging out with grandkids, relaxing by the beach or doing your favorite hobbies and less time on getting up each day to go to work? If you've got the itch to trade your career in for fishing, volunteering or other fun then it may be time to retire. In this episode of Retiring Today, we talk you step-by-step through the move after you decid...

We're often taught to use benchmarks to measure the success of our investment performance but as an industry we don't provide a lot of education around index construction. In this episode of Retiring Today, we talk about benchmark performance vs retirement performance. 

Contrary to what we're often told, our product is not the plan. A retirement plan does include investments but the comprehensive customized plan incorporates a lot of other moving parts. In this never heard before podcast, Loren and Molly will be discussing the junk drawer of investments and the best way to organize them. 

Retirement can be scary for some. With so many unknowns and unpredictable aspects, it's understandable you can feel scared at times. In this episode of Retiring Today, we breakdown some of the most common scares that may haunt people and how you can fight back with a retirement plan to help you achieve the retirement of your dreams.

They say hindsight is 2020. But who could have told us 2020 would play out like this? How could the outcome of the 2020 presidential election affect you and your retirement vision? Find out in this special episode of Retiring Today!

Whether you are a Trump supporter, Biden supporter, undecided or not interested in casting a vote, both candidates have plans for taxes, health care and Social Security that could impact your retirement. In this special edition of Retiring Today, we breakdown each candidate's plan and how your retirement could be affected by this election. 

Market hate uncertainty. Election years always bring some uncertainty to the table as candidates from different viewpoints campaign and discuss potential policy changes. There's even MORE uncertainty with 2020 - elections, COVID and the consequent economic fallout, employment and education unknowns and whatever else 2020 wants to throw at us. In this episode of Retiring Today, Retirement Income Ce...

Health care is a HUGE part of the overall retirement planning equation. From electing the Medicare options that are right for you to when is the best time to elect Medicare, there are a lot of questions that can come up. In this episode of Retiring Today, we uncover some of the mysteries, misconceptions and common questions about Medicare and supplemental plans with the Director of Medicare at Mer...

Most people think of tax season as January through April but as the end of the year draws near the window of opportunity for tax planning in 2020 is closing. When it comes to retirement, taxes are one of the biggest wealth eroding factors but if you implement a proactive tax plan you can control some of that future tax risk. During your working years there's much less you can do to control/limit y...

What would you do if you won the lottery tomorrow? How would your life change? It may seem glamorous to win the lottery or dream of a giant lump sum of money but the reality is, people who win the lottery are typically not accustomed to handling large sums of money given to them immediately and a whole host of problems can arise. The same logic can apply to those people who inherit large sums of m...

The old rule of thumb used to be that you needed $1 million to retire. Now, there are many in the industry who think you need $3 million to retire. If you didn't start planning for your retirement in your 20's or 30's, you are looking at $3,720 to $8,493 a month that you need to aside for retirement. In this episode of Retiring Today, Abby Huntrods and Chawn Honkomp explore the idea of how much yo...

We often say retirement has changed over the years - today's retirees don't experience retirement the same way that Americans in retirement did in 1950. WWII had ended, the economy was booming and the baby boomer generation was born. Now, many of those people born during the 1950s are getting ready to retire or have already retired. In this episode of Retiring Today, we discuss how much retirement...

Next up in our Superhero series is the topic of Life Insurance. It is a topic that top of mind for a lot of people due to the Coronavirus pandemic landscape we are currently in. In this episode of Retiring Today, we will cover how life insurance can be sued in your retirement plan to create tax-free wealth for your loved ones, cover long-term care and also could be an income source.  Show Not...

Social Security is the backbone of your retirement. It can lay a great foundation for your income but should not be used as your only source of retirement income. In today's episode of Retiring Today, we are breaking down some of the top Social Security myths we hear from families and individuals as they prepare for retirement.