Take Back Retirement

Get ready for an inspiring conversation with tech retiree and podcast host, Gretchen Schoser. Gretchen, aka G-Rex, invites us into her world to talk about trading tech for a mic, her journey toward retirement, and the mental health battles she's faced along the way. Tune in as she unpacks her new podcast, "Sh!t That Goes On In Our Heads," which she co-hosts with Dirty Skittles, and how it acts as...

"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...

What if you discovered that the typical American is on track to have only 78% of the income needed for retirement expenses? Brace yourself, because that's exactly what our hosts Stephanie McCullough and Kevin Gaines are about to unpack.   Talking about retirement planning can be daunting, but it's never too late to start. Our hosts share some fascinating findings from a recent survey, like men's o...

"[A wise money decision is] one that honors yourself. And to really honor yourself, you need to know yourself, to know who you are and what your values are, and know that your self is not one set entity or one personality set in stone."   With over 18 years of experience as an executive coach, Stacey Stern joins Take Back Retirement to share her unique approach to navigating life transitions and f...

"We are supposed to view aging as a privilege, but we are shamed for showing visible signs of it. How absurd. And because we live in a society where our outward beauty equates to worth and value, we automatically feel that our value is going down and our worth, and we see that our visibility is going down."   Are you embracing your midlife growth spurt or feeling overwhelmed by it? Join our hosts...

"I've heard everything at this point, meaning nothing would surprise me. I've heard all sorts of versions of shame, anger, sadness, anxiety, family stories - beautiful and painful, and betrayal and embarrassment."   Our hosts Stephanie McCullough and Kevin Gaines had a fascinating conversation with Financial Therapist Bari Tessler, founder of The Art of Money, about her unique methodology that int...

What if the secret to a long, healthy life i s not expensive programs, supplements or equipment, but actually the free actions you take every day ? In this episode, functional medicine-trained health strategist Dr. Laura DeCesaris joins the podcast to explore the importance of prioritizing health span over lifespan.   Stephanie, Kevin, and Laura explore essential health habits that contribute to l...

Given the recent headlines and failure of two banks, Stephanie and Kevin felt is was time for a high-level overview on the government insurance programs that serve as backstops by protecting you from the potential failure of financial services companies.   Listen in as they break down the most important acronyms within the alphabet soup of federal government agencies.   They discuss the FDIC insur...

Jackie Cummings Koski has overcome poverty, divorce, and the struggles of single motherhood. Yet, she was able to retire from her corporate job of 20 years in 2019 at the early age of 49! That whole time, she ' s made less than six figures.   Jackie sits down with Stephanie and Kevin to discuss how she overcame those adversities and the wake-up call that totally changed her view of her finances.  ...

In financial planning, the big question that we ' re trying to answer is how to put a client ' s resources to work in a way that gives them the best chance to meet their goals—their financial wants and needs—for the rest of their lives.   To accomplish this, there are a lot of factors we have to guess at: How much will life cost them? How about inflation? What will happen to investment markets? Wh...

Today, we sit down with Mim Senft, author, keynote speaker, and facilitator for national conferences. She is the Co-Founder and Managing Director at Motivity Care, a company that takes the complexity out of caregiving management by providing personalized "chief of staff" support.   Mim has over 25 years of corporate experience in project management, benefits design, and health and wellbeing progra...

Today, we talk all about annuities. Yet another powerful tool in your toolbox for taking control of your retirement, you can think of an annuity as a way to " buy" your own pension.   But it ' s just that: a tool. Like any other financial vehicle, there are pros, cons, and tradeoffs to think about.   An annuity is a contract issued mostly from insurance companies that provides a guaranteed income...

Why is money so darn challenging?   Today ' s guest, money mindset coach Kat Sanford, sits down with us to do a deep dive on that very question!   Kat ' s personal story saw her chasing the modern world ' s definition of " success"—and experiencing burnout as a result. She realized that changing her path requires addressing her money blocks. She did just that, and has since dedicated her career to...

Believe it or not, the IRS wants you to save for retirement. To that end, they ' re always trying to come up with new tax breaks—not to mention very specific conditions you need to meet in order to enjoy those tax breaks!   This brings us to the topic of today ' s conversation: the introduction of Secure Act 2.0, a new law ushering in changes to rules and parameters related to retirement accounts....

Recession.   We've seen the headlines, in all their dramatic glory.   Today ' s episode isn ' t about defining " recession" and all its complexities (a topic on which no one ever seems to agree!). Instead, it ' s about the reality that recessions are simply a part of the economic cycle and, more importantly, that it ' s something everyone has to deal with when it does come.   We have no control ov...

Today, we sit down with Lindsay Bryan-Podvin, social worker, financial therapist, speaker, and author of The Financial Anxiety Solution . Lindsay reflects on how her own lived experience led her to choose financial therapy as a career path.   Listen in as Lindsay shares how she aims to close "the gap in how we talk about money," highlighting the importance of having regular conversations with thos...

Today, we sit down with Jon Hilsenrath, a senior writer for The Wall Street Journal, where he has written about economics and finance since 1997. We're going to learn a little economic history but also a very human story of a woman's career in a male-dominated field, and of a couple unconventionally sharing family responsibilities long before that was common. Jon has been a Pulitzer Prize finalist...

In this quick bonus episode, Stephanie and Kevin wrap up their multi-episode series on why women need to know about divorce, being that divorce is a very common topic that they see with their clients.   Divorce is a big financial issue that most people don't plan for, making it all the more difficult and scary to navigate. That's why Stephanie and Kevin created this lineup of professionals to touc...

Today, Stephanie and Kevin are joined by Monica Scudieri, who successfully navigated her way through a financially difficult divorce into retirement. Fifteen years ago, Monica divorced, acquiring hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt, with two children to care for in a difficult job market. She quickly had to learn to manage her money, and to stretch her paychecks after a long period of not thi...

Our series on navigating divorce continues in this episode as we sit down with estate planning attorney Rebecca Sallen.     Having gone through her own divorce, Rebecca brings important insights into why hiring an estate planner is absolutely worth the investment if you ' re going through a divorce.     Plus she covers commonly-overlooked considerations amid divorce, including the importance of ha...

In this episode, we welcome Pennsylvania-based divorce mediator Ellen Morfei. With years of professional experience in conflict resolution, Ellen has worked with many couples in getting to a good divorce. Ellen provides mediation, workshops, conflict coaching, facilitation, and consulting to businesses, individuals, families, and organizations.   She not only addresses a couple's specific issue, b...

Today, Stephanie and Kevin are joined by Sheila Brennan, a divorce coach, who after being thrust into divorce herself 15 years ago, chose to use her experience to help others who struggled with the process. A divorce coach, she explains, is a relatively new concept, which is most easily described as a wedding planner for divorces. She helps her clients piece together their ideal divorce plan, and...

Today, Stephanie and Kevin are joined by Tracy Coenen, a renowned forensic accountant whose work involved fraud investigations on both a corporate level and in divorces. Kevin asks if Tracy's work is as exciting as it seems in the movies. Her work, as she says, is to find the money and is exciting in a different way.   To kick off the Take Back Retirement divorce series of episodes, Stephanie inqu...

Today Stephanie and Kevin introduce a special multi-episode series on why women need to know about divorce, being that divorce is a very common topic that they see with their clients.   Divorce is a big financial issue that most people don't plan for , making it all the more difficult and scary to navigate.   That's why Stephanie and Kevin have created this lineup of professionals to touch on diff...

Today, Stephanie and Kevin are joined by Amy Andersson, the founder of Price Turner CFOs who, before starting her own business, was let go by a Fortune 100 company and was unexpectedly forced to rechart her path. She introduces her story, talking about her initial mindset towards work, which was rooted in the idea that corporate America would care for her. She shares how she transitioned into find...