Take Back Retirement

" Stop stopping. If something is stopping you from doing this thing you know you should do, just stop stopping." - Diane di Costanzo Former Chief Content Officer and Financial Journalist Diane di Costanzo proves it's never too late to take control of your financial future! Our hosts, Stephanie McCullough and Kevin Gaines, chat with her in this inspiring episode of Take Back Retirement. At 48, she...

"The human brain is actually wired to trip us up, to shoot ourselves in the foot when it comes to money and investing. A little bit of self-examination can help pull us out of these knee-jerk reactions."   Prepare for a knowledge voyage as our hosts Stephanie McCullough and Kevin Gaines redefine retirement for women, bringing insights from behavioral finance, a fascinating field that explores how...

"Generativity. Think of it as generating something from yourself and putting it into the world."   Our hosts, Stephanie McCullough and Kevin Gaines, explore the positive side of aging with Dr. Deborah Heiser, an applied developmental psychologist who pivoted from studying depression and Alzheimer's to researching what we actually have to look forward to as we age. "You can run faster than me, but...

"What I really was grieving was the loss of what I'd hoped my marriage would have been." – Pat Fenner Our hosts, Stephanie McCullough and Kevin Gaines, sit down with author and podcaster Pat Fenner, who shares her powerful journey through "gray divorce"—divorce that happens to women over 50, typically after a decade or more of marriage. After 37 years of marriage, Pat found herself having to start...

"'Let me know if you need anything' is one of the most useless things you can say." –Paula Harris Our hosts, Stephanie McCullough and Kevin Gaines, sit down with financial advisor and author Paula Harris, who shares practical insights on how to support someone grieving the loss of a spouse. Drawing on years of experience working with widowed clients and her own faith-rooted perspective, Paula shar...

"Body work, brain work, and world work - all longevity habits fit into those three categories." -Allison Davis When author and naturopath Allison Davis turned 60, she didn't accept it as the " gateway to old age"—she saw it as a turning point. Our hosts, Stephanie McCullough and Kevin Gaines, talk with Allison about her transformative journey and her new book, Sixty Is a Good Start: A Powerful Bod...

"There is not good or bad with money" Our hosts, Stephanie McCullough and Kevin Gaines, sit down with financial therapist Wendy Wright to unpack the emotional complexities that often underlie our financial behaviors. Wendy believes that money issues aren ' t just math problems—they ' re emotional ones too! Rather than focusing on dollars and cents alone, Wendy helps her clients understand why they...

" Usually, people are not trying to kill you or keep you alive for nefarious reasons, unless you're very old and very rich and very mean." -Patricia De Fonte When most people think of estate planning, they imagine dividing assets among children or a spouse—but Patricia De Fonte, founder of De Fonte Law, offers a broader and deeper perspective. Our hosts, Stephanie McCullough and Kevin Gaines, sit...

"Do your research. Do your planning yourself until you get that confidence to project it to the world, and whatever they say will bounce off your armor because you know you're doing the right thing." -Shannon Russell   Thinking about trading your day job for a business of your own? You ' re not alone—and you ' re not crazy.   Our hosts, Stephanie McCullough and Kevin Gaines, talk with Shannon Russ...

"We're talking about giving space to practice. Not only practice the relationships but also practice managing money." -Sean Maher   Most people plan their estate down to the last dollar, but forget to prepare for the emotional fallout that almost always comes from a lack of proper communication between family members.   Our hosts, Stephanie McCullough and Kevin Gaines, sit down with husband and wi...

"In a blended family, fairness and mutual understanding are key, especially when navigating the complexities of prenuptial and postnuptial agreements." -Donna Kendrick   Navigating love after loss or divorce comes with a host of emotional and financial complexities, especially when blending families.   Our hosts, Stephanie McCullough and Kevin Gaines, speak with Donna Kendrick, a financial planner...

Our hosts Stephanie McCullough and Kevin Gaines sit down with Steve and Jill Marshall of Silver Path Consulting to discuss all things future care, from housing, to finance, to family support.   Jill and Steve lament the current lack of societal preparedness for a growing senior population, often referred to as a " silver tsunami" that ' s growing bigger each year.   They stress the importance of s...

Congratulations on your remarriage! How do you ensure that your finances are in order as you step into this next phase of your life?   Our hosts Stephanie McCullough and Kevin Gaines explore the vital legal and financial considerations of remarriage, from beneficiary designations to tax implications, with guidance from fellow Financial Planner at Sofia Financial, Janice Guinn!   There are legal co...

There is no one right way to retire. Even if you don't do everything you had hoped to do, you can still build a plan so that you can do more of the things you want and less of the stuff you don't. In this episode, we're Taking Back Retirement by redefining the old image and definition of this phase of life. Our hosts Stephanie McCullough and Kevin Gaines break it down in this rerun episode dating...

"It's nice to get millions when you're 65, but wouldn't it be better if you gave [your children], say, 10s of 1000s when they are in their 20s and 30s?" -Meir Statman   Our hosts, Stephanie McCullough and Kevin Gaines, are joined by world-renowned behavioral finance expert Dr. Meir Statman to explore the intricate dance between human behavior and financial decision-making!   Dr. Statman is a pione...

Picture a world where your money isn't controlled by any government, but rather exists in the form of digital code. That's the idea behind Bitcoin and cryptocurrency, where freedom meets cryptography, and transactions are recorded transparently on a blockchain.   But we get it–to those looking to add cryptocurrency to their portfolio, the subject of decentralized finance can be pretty intimidating...

"It really does cost us in terms of our ability to learn about money, embrace failure, the mistakes that we made and we learn from them, to actually get closer to the people in our lives, whether that is our adult children, whether that's a partner, whether that's a friend. So there's a lot of ways in which money silence kind of keeps us locked up in a way that I don't think is useful." - Kathleen...

Volatility and recession and crashes! Oh, my! Today, our hosts Stephanie McCullough and Kevin Gaines give their best strategies for successful investing when the world ' s feeling dangerous.   They kick things off with some pointers on riding out market ups and downs. It all comes down to sticking to a long-term investment plan, no matter what ' s happening around you. Remember the 2008 financial...

Our hosts Stephanie McCullough and Kevin Gaines discuss the emotional side of money management with Meghan Dwyer, a Certified Financial Planner and the host of the "Money Isn't Scary" Podcast.   Meghan's vision-mission is all about challenging societal norms and empowering women to take charge of their finances with confidence. She helps us uncover the hidden emotional influences that shape our fi...

"Prevention is better than cure. Don't feel overwhelmed by all this. Would you remove your own kidney? You would go to a professional to get it done." -Denise Appleby   Renowned IRA and retirement plans expert Denise Appleby joins our hosts Stephanie McCullough and Kevin Gaines for a crucial conversation on managing your retirement accounts effectively, especially as 2024 comes to a close.   Havin...

Our hosts Stephanie McCullough and Kevin Gaines sit down with Pam Starsia, who swapped her corporate lawyer gig for the world of estate planning, and now runs a firm alongside her husband. Once a pro in high-stakes mergers and acquisitions, Pam ' s now all about creating personalized, relationship-focused estate plans. Listen in as she takes us through the sometimes-tricky and always-emotional lan...

" We ' re nothing if not resourceful. That ' s our generation ' s superpower." -Kevin   In celebration of the 100th episode of Take Back Retirement, our hosts Stephanie and Kevin Gaines reflect on the defining characteristics of their very own generation–Gen X–and key lessons that women in this age bracket can put into practice today in preparing for retirement.   From the seismic shift from pensi...

"Suddenly you've got to create the content of your life, and that's a completely new enterprise for most people we work with, and it's scary until you can get your hands in the clay and feel confident about having a process." -Elizabeth Parsons   How do you deal with the massive shift that comes with stepping away from a high-powered career and into retirement?   Our hosts Stephanie McCullough and...

" Age is just another journey that we need to learn to love and embrace, and see as the gift it is!"   Our hosts Stephanie McCullough and Kevin Gaines are joined by Ande Lyons, host of the Don't Be Caged by Your Age podcast. She ' s redefining what it means to thrive after 65, and teaches us how to combat ageism at every level—whether it's institutional, societal, or internalized.   Finding and ma...

"Most pre-retirees and retirees need and want help with the critical retirement decisions they face, but they're not always certain where to find it."   Is your retirement plan only scratching the surface? Our hosts Stephanie McCullough and Kevin Gaines uncover the common pitfalls that have kept retirees unprepared for the realities of their post-work years.   Drawing from the groundbreaking Stanf...