Take Back Retirement

Today, Stephanie and Kevin are joined by Judith Kurnick, a second act coach, a speaker, and a writer who guides lawyers, executives, and business owners in escaping the corporate life and designing their next chapter. Judith shares how her personal experiences informed her work. She shares her work philosophy, which emphasizes that her job is to partner with clients and help alter their perspectiv...

Today, Stephanie and Kevin explore the pros and cons of target date funds. They open in returning to an idea that's fundamental to their podcast and their practice: When it comes to retirement, one size does not fit all. And though, in an ideal world, everyone would have the time, energy, and interest to properly diversify their investments, in reality, most people don't. Target date funds are nam...

How exactly do you measure the value of financial planning? It ' s a tough concept to grasp for many, because it just seems so… intangible. Most people think that it ' s all about investment management. That ' s certainly a big slice out of financial planning, but it ain ' t the whole pie!   As Kevin reminds us, great financial planners help their clients get crystal clear on their life path by he...

Today's special guest is Ed Coambs, a firefighter turned certified financial planner turned licensed marriage and family therapist! He is the founder of www.healthyloveandmoney.com .   He has become an internationally-recognized thought leader around "financial therapy," specifically financial couples therapy: He works with couples who might be in financial despair or frustration, and he moves tow...

Today, Stephanie and Kevin dissect stock market downturns . They first warn their audience not to get thrown by points, and to instead evaluate percentages as points are subject to change and can exaggerate the reality of a change. Stephanie emphasizes the importance of timeframes when looking at returns, addressing the human fixation on annual returns that are not necessarily the most accurate re...

Today ' s guest is Diane Blumenthal, who has been incredibly generous in sharing her own retirement story.   She took the leap into becoming a self-employed consultant after a long and very illustrious career in pharma and biotechnology.   Diane has helped build and transition companies from the startup and research and development phase into a fully integrated biopharmaceutical company with appro...

In episode 33, Stephanie and Kevin gave us a broad overview of the estate and gift tax system. Now that we ' ve reached the tail-end of tax season, our hosts sit down to do a timely deep dive on what women need to know about income tax —a subject that, unfortunately, isn ' t as simple as all of us would love to believe it is.   While state taxes are obviously important to consider when planning ou...

" I ' d like to work with a financial advisor, but I just don ' t have enough money."   Sound familiar? It ' s a common objection when it comes to that all-important decision to get help in managing your money. But to this, Stephanie and Kevin have only this to say:   " But you have questions. Therefore, you need answers ."   Remember, there are no one-size-fits-all strategies when it comes to mon...

Today, Stephanie and Kevin welcome Joe Saul-Sehy and Emily Guy Birken, the co-authors of Stacked: Your Super-Serious Guide to Modern Money Management .   Emily is a former educator, lifelong money nerd, and a Plutus Award-winning freelance writer who specializes in the scientific research behind irrational money behaviors. She has the amazing ability to make complex financial topics relatable.   J...

Today, Stephanie and Kevin welcome special guest Kylelane Purcell, who for over 30 years has been writing, editing, and managing communications in the investment industry. She has worked as an analyst at Morningstar, a manager at American Century Investments, and VP of Investment Communications at T. Rowe Price.   In 2005, she started her own company, Purcell Communications. She has come to take a...

Today, Stephanie and Kevin sit down with Janine Firpo, a seasoned values-aligned investor and social innovator. She has been working at the intersection of women and money for a long time, having held positions in Apple Computer, Hewlett Packard, The World Bank, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.   In 2017, she left her successful career to focus on how women can create a more just and equ...

" We focus on sustainability not because we ' re environmentalists, but because we ' re capitalists and fiduciaries to our clients."   That ' s a quote by Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock, the world ' s largest asset manager, and it gets to the heart of today ' s episode, in which Stephanie and Kevin revisit the topic of ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) investing .   If you haven ' t alread...

Today, Stephanie and Kevin sit down with Liz Simmie, Co-Founder of Toronto-based Honeytree Investment Management, which just so happens to be one of the very few women-led responsible asset management firms around the world.   Honeytree truly believes that ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) data is just as important to assessing a company ' s long-term growth and risk as financial data, a...

Today, Stephanie and Kevin cover a topic that can often get confusing for many people: the estate and gift tax system. This is different from the income tax system, and both are federal tax systems that everyone needs to be aware of when planning for retirement.   At the end of the day, the IRS is getting paid. The only two questions, then, are: Who pays? and When? Our hosts tackle these questions...

Today, Stephanie and Kevin offer a unique perspective on the show by diving deep into their own backgrounds as financial planners.   The two kick things off with a brief history of their first jobs before reflecting on their first ever roles in the financial services industry.   Then, Stephanie discusses the inspiration behind Sofia Financial and how she and Kevin came to work together.   Finally,...

Trusts.   What the heck are they and why might it be a good idea for you to have one?   Most people believe that trusts are this elusive thing reserved for the uber-wealthy…   …or have only heard of it as being a sort of plot device in a movie or murder mystery.   Joining us today is attorney Shannon Evans, a recognized expert in the area of trusts and estate planning. She practices out of Las Veg...

You did it. You made the leap.   You left behind that corporate 9-to-5, the micromanaging boss, the freeloading coworker...   Now, you ' ve started your own thing. You have endless potential. The world is your oyster. You can do what you ' ve always dreamed of.   It ' s a dream many of us are striving for. But, it's easy to forget that we still should be saving for retirement. As a self-employed p...

" How much money should I have in the bank?"   It ' s a question that Stephanie and Kevin hear on a very regular basis.   No doubt about it: it ' s important to have cash on hand; but, with a well-thought-out financial plan, you can really start to make cash work for you.   Listen in as Stephanie and Kevin invite listeners to sort out the purpose of their dollars to know where they should be going...

Today's guest is Dr. Barbara Provost, a business coach, professor, and entrepreneur with a Doctorate in Adult and Higher Education. She has a long history as a consultant in the financial services sector.   Dr. Barb has taken her expertise into her latest venture, Purse Strings, which offers free financial education and resources for women.   Listen in as Dr. Barb shares how her initiative aims to...

Today we talk all things Health Savings Accounts. An HSA can be a really powerful savings tool but, like everything else in the world of finance, it literally pays to know the game and play by the rules.   The HSA can serve as a long-term savings account for medical expenses sometime in your lifetime—whether one week down the road or 40 years down the road. It is the only type of account that, whe...

Today, we sit down with Kathleen Burns Kingsbury, a wealth psychology expert, founder of KBK Wealth Connection, and host of the Breaking Money Silence® Podcast.   Kathleen is a highly sought-after speaker for financial industry conferences and is the author of five books, her latest being Breaking Money Silence®: How to Shatter Money Taboos, Talk More Openly about Finances, and Live a Richer Life....

A lot of folks believe that there is a magic number that they need to work towards in order to be able to retire.   There is a myth out there that there is some perfect number of dollars you need to accumulate so that you can retire. That it's really all just one mathematical equation with one distinct, perfect answer.   …Except this belief is completely, utterly unfounded.   Listen in as Stephani...

Today's guest is KT, who speaks on how she was able to retire at the age of 54.   She was inspired to retire early only a decade prior. It wasn't an easy road, but it was absolutely worth it.   Listen in as KT describes her unique retirement journey and the money mindset transformation that she had to undergo to reach her goals. She shares her favorite books and other resources that armed her with...

What nuggets of wisdom can we take away about retirement planning from a famous baseball contract?   It turns out, quite a few!   Listen in as Stephanie and Kevin unpack Bobby Bonilla Day and the circumstances that led to the former MLB player receiving a $1.19 million paycheck every year for 25 years—and the lessons you can extract from this story to better prepare you for those golden years.   K...

We're naturally spenders and not savers. It's just how we're wired. By the time we realize we may have a problem with how we're managing and spending our money, we've already built up intense feelings of overwhelm and shame that are difficult to overcome.   How can we begin to change our negative money scripts and move from a mindset of scarcity to a mindset of abundance starting today?   Today's...