Secure Your Retirement

In this Episode of the Secure Your Retirement Podcast, Radon and Murs discuss the important tax numbers for 2024. Tax rate numbers for 2024 are out, and it’s important to understand them to make the necessary adjustments and know how your income will be affected. Listen in to learn how the progressive tax system works and the importance of understanding your marginal and average tax rates. You wil...

In this Episode of the Secure Your Retirement Podcast, Radon and Murs discuss the retirement issues to consider as we approach the end of the year. As the year ends and another begins, it’s important to have a checklist to ensure you have things closed out for 2023 and things set up for 2024. Listen in to learn about tax planning strategies to look at, such as threshold tax brackets, qualified cha...

In this Episode of the Secure Your Retirement Podcast, Radon and Murs have Anne Rhodes discuss how the wealth.com platform simplifies estate planning. Anne is the Chief Legal Officer at wealth.com with a mission to make estate planning and cross-generational wealth transfer affordable and accessible to more Americans. She describes the two buckets where the core documents every American must have...

In this Episode of the Secure Your Retirement Podcast, Radon and Murs have Rae Dawson discuss the basics of CCRC around cost, the waitlist, deciding a CCRC and the right age to move to a CCRC. Rae is a CCRC expert and spent her original career primarily managing people and projects in high-tech in Silicon Valley for many years before gaining an interest in CCRC. She explains why CCRC cost is deter...

In this Episode of the Secure Your Retirement Podcast, Radon and Murs speak with Andrew Opdyke about a 2023 end-year economic update and the expected shift in the economy in 2024. Andrew is a Certified Financial Advisor and Economist at First Trust Advisor. Listen in to learn about the impact of the concentration of investments in the top ten companies and when the market broadening will happen. Y...

In this Episode of the Secure Your Retirement Podcast, Radon and Murs have Rae Dawson to discuss the basics of Continuous Care Retirement Communities (CCRC). Rae is a CCRC expert and spent her original career primarily managing people and projects in high-tech in Silicon Valley for many years before gaining an interest in CCRC. She explains what it means for a facility/community to be a CCRC and w...

In this Episode of the Secure Your Retirement Podcast, Radon and Murs discuss the art of building a risk-adjusted portfolio. When building a risk-adjusted portfolio, it’s important to identify your personal risk preference and choose the best model to structure your investment portfolio. Listen in to learn the key differences between passive and active investment styles and the benefits of each in...

In this Episode of the Secure Your Retirement Podcast, Radon and Murs have Denise Appleby to discuss the Roth IRA 5-year rule in more detail. Denise is the CEO of Appleby Retirement Consulting Inc., a firm that provides IRA tools and resources for financial and tax professionals. She explains the nuances around two separate Roth IRA 5-year rules and what you need to take distributions from a Roth...

In this Episode of the Secure Your Retirement Podcast, Radon and Murs discuss the 5-year rule around Roth IRAs and what conversions look like. A Roth IRA is a powerful tax-free investment tool, especially as a long-term investment growth vehicle. Listen in to learn the difference between Roth IRAs’ contributions and conversions and how the 5-year rule applies to each. You will also learn about the...

In this Episode of the Secure Your Retirement Podcast, Radon and Murs discuss the best time to take Required Minimum Distributions. Having a retirement plan and your personal preference will help you determine whether to take RMDs monthly, quarterly, or annually. Listen in to learn the advantages and disadvantages of taking required minimum distributions monthly, quarterly, or annually. You will a...

In this Episode of the Secure Your Retirement Podcast, Radon, Murs, and Taylor discuss how social security taxation works for both single and married filing jointly. Other sources of income you have coming in determine the amount of your social security that will be taxed. Listen in to learn the importance of understanding your sources of income, social security benefits, and how they’ll be taxed,...

In this Episode of the Secure Your Retirement Podcast, Radon and Murs discuss things to be aware of about qualified charitable distributions (QCDs) and donor-advised funds. The QCDs and donor-advised funds are great tax benefits strategies, but they make sense in your retirement planning journey in two different scenarios. Listen in to learn about QCDs, the tax benefits you can take advantage of w...

In this Episode of the Secure Your Retirement Podcast, Radon speaks with Jenelle Jones about the perks of the RV lifestyle in retirement. Jenelle is the owner of the oldest RV club for anyone traveling on their own, The Wandering Individuals Network . She refers to herself as an RV travel enabler who has been living the RV lifestyle full-time for four years. Listen in to learn the importance of jo...

In this Episode of the Secure Your Retirement Podcast, Radon and Murs discuss Medicare planning for those coming up on Medicare and those already in Medicare. This is a checklist of three main topics to help you understand what you should be thinking about when it comes to Medicare. Listen in to learn how to evaluate your prescription drug needs and choose the right Medicare plan that caters to th...

In this Episode of the Secure Your Retirement Podcast, Radon and Murs discuss the difference between an enrolled agent (EA) and a certified public accountant (CPA) in retirement planning. The CPA and EA deal with tax at a certain level but differ in their education, scope of work, geographical limitations, and ethical standards. Listen in to learn how we utilize an EA to do tax strategy beyond jus...

In this Episode of the Secure Your Retirement Podcast, Radon and Murs discuss the elements of their integrated wealth management experience approach. An integrated wealth management experience offers a similar approach to a family office but for multiple people. A family office is a scenario where you have enough assets that you need a whole team to help you manage those assets. Listen in to learn...

In this Episode of the Secure Your Retirement Podcast, Radon and Murs discuss five financial planning things to do annually. It is preferable to do these things in or closer to the last quarter of the year, which allows you time to correct whatever needs correcting. Listen in to learn about things to consider when doing tax strategy and planning before the end of the year to enable changes. You wi...

In this Episode of the Secure Your Retirement Podcast, Radon and Murs speak with Jessica Iverson about long-term care options to consider as part of the retirement plan. Jessica is a long-term care expert in long-term care planning and wealth management. Listen in to learn how long-term insurance has evolved from standalone to asset-based long-term care insurance policies and the benefits of these...

In this Episode of the Secure Your Retirement Podcast, Radon and Murs discuss fourteen common practices to help you protect yourself against cyber security threats. The purpose of this isn’t to scare you but to empower you to be on the internet safely. Listen in to learn the importance of having strong and complex passwords for your home and office networks and avoid using one password for multipl...

In this Episode of the Secure Your Retirement Podcast, Radon and Murs discuss the 2023 Medicare Part B and D IRMMA surcharges. They explain the modified adjusted gross income and the 2023 surcharges if you earn more than $97k single or $194k married filing jointly. Listen in to learn about the income-dropping circumstances the IRS considers when exempting anyone from the Medicare IRMMA surcharges....

In this Episode of the Secure Your Retirement Podcast, Radon and Murs speak with Andrew Opdyke about a 2023 mid-year economic update and the future. Andrew is a Certified Financial Advisor and Economist at First Trust Advisor. Listen in to learn the expected and unexpected turn of events in the economy today and why inflation might not allow for rate cuts this year. You will also learn about the t...

In this Episode of the Secure Your Retirement Podcast, Radon and Murs speak with Jon Ostenson about the benefits of starting a franchise as part of your retirement plan. Jon is a Certified Franchise Consultant, owner/investor, author, and international speaker specializing in non-food franchising. He discusses the misunderstandings and lack of knowledge he found around franchise opportunities outs...

In this Episode of the Secure Your Retirement Podcast, Radon and Murs discuss the similarities and differences between annuities and CDs and the best one for retirement planning. In as much as CDs and fixed index annuities are similar, CDs are best suited for short-term investments, while annuities are best suited for long-term investments. Listen in to learn about interest rate risk or reinvestme...

In this Episode of the Secure Your Retirement Podcast, Radon and Murs discuss ten advantages to a Health Savings Account (HSA) and why you need to know them. A Health Savings Account is a valuable medical and long-term retirement planning tool with more than just tax benefits. Listen in to learn how to let your HSA contributions grow and invest the money over time for future use as an asset. You w...

In this Episode of the Secure Your Retirement Podcast, Murs discusses how to approach a retirement withdrawal strategy when you have enough to retire early. He explains the importance of having a financial professional to help you with the withdrawal strategy to avoid the stress of the deaccumulation phase. Listen in to learn the importance of starting a withdrawal strategy in the first few years...