Safe Money Radio with Brad Pistole

Most people picture retirement as endless Saturdays, but the real question is what those Saturdays look like and how you’ll pay for them. We take you through the ten questions that shape a confident future: how to define your daily purpose, where to live without inflating costs, how much income you truly need, and how to build an income floor that stands up to market swings. Along the way, we dig...

The steak is free. The advice isn’t. We pull back the curtain on the seminar ecosystem targeting people near retirement with glossy mailers, “nonprofit” classes, and polished scripts that funnel you into preselected products—often before anyone asks what you actually need. Along the way, we challenge celebrity talking points with precise rules that impact your wallet, including the real RMD ages,...

New year, new stakes—we’re celebrating our 17th year on the air and more than 800 shows with two big announcements: we’ve doubled our office space to expand service in the Ozarks, and we’re launching recurring “Ask Heather” segments with national Social Security expert Heather Schreiber. That means sharper guidance across Social Security timing, tax planning, Medicare, and IRMAA, all coordinated t...

A year of milestones and momentum meets a simple truth: income is the outcome. We look back at 2025 with gratitude and clarity, sharing what really moved the needle for retirees and pre-retirees—fresh tax opportunities, smarter Social Security decisions, and practical ways to turn savings into reliable monthly cash flow. From holiday reflections and new grandbabies to big stages and bigger ideas,...

Prices change, risks evolve, and so do the rules of a secure retirement. We take a time jump from 1971 to 1989, 2001, 2008, and today to uncover what history teaches about building income you can trust. Along the way, Brad shares personal stories, like his father’s 2008 losses at Merrill Lynch and the pivot that created guaranteed paychecks for life, to show how real households turn pain into bett...

Eight hundred shows in, the mission hasn’t changed: build income you can trust so you can sleep well at night. To celebrate the milestone, we brought together five leaders whose work has shaped modern retirement planning—Tom Hegna on the go‑go, slow‑go, and no‑go years, Heather Schreiber on Social Security strategy and IRMAA, Cheryl J. Moore on the truth about indexed annuities, Dr. Wade Pfau on t...

You don’t build a great retirement by guessing the market’s next swing; you build it by owning your tax future. To mark our 800th show, we sit down with Ed Slott, America’s IRA expert, to map a clear path from tax-deferred uncertainty to tax-free control. We revisit the 2010 Roth conversion opening and draw a straight line to today’s unusually wide, still-low tax brackets that make strategic conve...

The first year after you stop working feels like a dream—then real life shows up. We map the true shape of retirement through four phases: the thrilling vacation year, the unexpected season of loss and being lost, the trial-and-error reset, and finally the reinvention that brings purpose back to the center. Drawing on insights from Dr. Riley Moynes, Tom Hegna, Dr. Wade Pfau, and years of client st...

Taxes don’t retire when you do, which is why smart planning now can save you stress and money later. We sit down with attorney and retirement expert Sarah Brenner to unpack the most powerful moves you can make before year-end and the major rule shifts arriving in 2026. From using qualified charitable distributions to cut adjusted gross income to timing your first RMD and designing “many mini” Roth...

What if the biggest risk to your retirement isn’t market volatility, but waking up to a calendar with nothing that matters on it? We dig into the side of planning most people ignore—how to design days that feel purposeful, healthy, and connected—and show why money alone can’t deliver a satisfying life after work. We unpack a hard-hitting cautionary tale of “doing everything right” financially and...

Your retirement doesn’t fail because of one bad market day; it fails when you trust the wrong person. That’s the hard lesson we bring home by connecting a weekend of tactical training to the choices that make or break your nest egg. Awareness, technique, and preparation save lives in dangerous moments, and they save wealth when salesmanship masquerades as expertise. We unpack the Dunning Kruger ef...

The fastest way to stall your finances isn’t a market downturn—it’s the quiet habits that drain your cash, time, and energy. We unpack seven common behaviors that keep people stuck and the simple, repeatable systems that wealthy people use to build and protect their money. From saying no to depreciating toys and high-interest debt to paying yourself first and buying assets that cash flow, we spell...

Imagine turning a paid-off roof into a flexible, tax-free safety valve that protects your retirement from market swings, big tax bills, and rising costs. That’s the promise of today’s deep dive into reverse mortgages—especially the FHA-insured HECM—and why they’re no longer a last resort but a serious planning tool for homeowners in their 60s and beyond. We start by clearing the air: your name sta...

Picture-perfect retirements often hide sharp edges. We kick off with a vivid beach story—beautiful sunset, calm water, then a sudden hit from a rock you couldn’t see—and use it to reveal the biggest threats waiting beneath the surface of your financial life. From sequence of returns risk and market volatility to inflation, healthcare shocks, fraud, and gray divorce, we unpack how a single event at...

A pond that swings from overflowing to bone dry can teach you everything about retirement. We open with a vivid farm story—feast, famine, and the long wait for rain—to show how markets rise, stall, and plunge in repeating seasons, and why lasting financial peace comes from structure, not prediction. From there, we dig into inflation the way you’ve actually felt it: the $4.04 pizza buffet that now...

From humble beginnings in a single office during the 2008 financial crisis to a thriving practice with 40 team members across multiple states, the journey of Brad Pistole's financial planning firm represents a true American success story. Today marks a significant milestone as Brad announces the evolution of Trinity Insurance and Financial Services into the Ozarks Retirement Group. This trans...

What happens when the unexpected derails your retirement plans? In this eye-opening conclusion to our three-part series on Dr. Wade Pfau's retirement research, we reveal how to transform your 401(k) or IRA into a lifetime income stream that can weather any storm – including those you never see coming. The retirement landscape has changed dramatically. It's no longer just about accumulati...

Send us Fan Mail To learn more about Brad Pistole and the Ozark Retirement Group, please visit www.ozarksretirement.com 

Have you ever wondered why generic retirement advice feels so uncomfortable? The answer might lie in your unique Retirement Income Style.  In this illuminating conversation with Dr. Wade Pfau, renowned retirement income expert and creator of the Retirement Income Style Awareness (RISA) framework, we uncover how understanding your personal financial psychology transforms retirement planning. Dr. Pf...

The retirement landscape is changing dramatically, with a hidden threat lurking in the shadows of your Medicare premiums. In this eye-opening episode, Paul Morrison, co-founder of IRMA University, returns to unpack the growing crisis of Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amounts (IRMA) – what he calls "the shadow tax" silently eroding retirees' Social Security benefits. Medicare prem...

The financial world is shifting beneath our feet. As market volatility returns with alarming regularity, traditional retirement planning approaches built solely on stocks and bonds are revealing critical vulnerabilities. This eye-opening conversation with Curtis Cloak—pioneer of the Deferred Income Annuity and architect behind Tom Hegna's 13-annuity retirement strategy—challenges everything y...

What happens when a single financial misstep derails your entire retirement strategy? In this thought-provoking conversation between Brad Pistole and financial expert Jeffrey Levine, we dive deep into the critical elements of retirement planning that most advisors miss. Levine, who brings his unique perspective as both a CPA and CFP, explains why the new Tax Planning Certified Professional designa...

Have you ever traded in a perfectly good vehicle simply because it no longer met your changing needs? Most of us have upgraded cars, homes, and even jobs as our circumstances evolved—yet strangely, we rarely apply this same practical thinking to our retirement plans. The retirement strategy that served you well at 25 likely won't provide the security and income you need at 65. As Brad Pistole...

What happens when a financial storm hits and you're in the wrong vehicle? Recent market volatility has many Americans revisiting their retirement strategies with renewed anxiety. As Brad Pistole explains, choosing the right retirement vehicle could mean the difference between weathering the storm safely or finding yourself stuck in the mud. Drawing from a powerful real-life experience at his...

Regular financial checkups aren't just good practice—they're essential for navigating life's ever-changing landscape. Just as you wouldn't drive your car for decades without maintenance, your retirement strategy needs consistent evaluation to ensure it still fits your evolving circumstances. Drawing from his bestselling book "Bulletproof," certified financial fiduciar...