The Financial Advisor Podcast with Fexingo: Working with Planners, Fiduciary Duty, and Advice

Lucas and Luna break down direct indexing—why it's suddenly available to investors with as little as $100,000, how it differs from an ETF, and the specific tax advantage that makes it compelling for high earners in 2026. They walk through a concrete example: an advisor uses direct indexing to harvest losses on 300 individual stocks while maintaining market exposure, generating a $15,000 tax write-...

Episode 78 of The Financial Advisor Podcast explores Net Unrealized Appreciation (NUA) — a tax strategy for company stock held in a 401(k). Lucas and Luna walk through a concrete example: a retiree with $500,000 in employer stock that cost $100,000. By taking a lump-sum distribution and paying ordinary income tax only on the $100,000 cost basis, the remaining $400,000 in appreciation is taxed at l...

Episode 77 dives into the often-overlooked complexities of Required Minimum Distributions for retirement accounts after age 73. Lucas and Luna cover the SECURE 2.0 changes that pushed the starting age from 72 to 73, the 10-year rule for inherited IRAs, and how the IRS's proposed regulations on 'at least as rapidly' calculations could trip up beneficiaries. They discuss the IRS penalty reduction fr...

Episode 76 of The Financial Advisor Podcast with Fexingo explores a frequently overlooked retirement planning tool: spousal IRAs. Lucas and Luna break down the rules—how a non-working or lower-earning spouse can contribute to an IRA based on the working spouse's income—and explain why this strategy matters even for dual-income couples. They walk through a concrete example: a couple where one spous...

Most people don't think about Required Minimum Distributions until they hit age 73. But a growing number of advisors are starting RMD planning a decade earlier. In this episode, Lucas and Luna look at why early RMD planning can save you hundreds of thousands in taxes — and why a February 2026 IRS rule change on beneficiary stretch provisions makes it even more urgent. They walk through a concrete...

Episode 74 of The Financial Advisor Podcast with Fexingo breaks down the real costs behind common advisor fee models — assets under management, hourly fees, retainers, and commissions. Lucas and Luna walk through a concrete example: a $500,000 portfolio with a 1% AUM fee versus a $3,000 annual retainer, showing how the numbers stack up over 20 years. They also discuss the 2024 SEC Marketing Rule e...

Episode 73 tackles the question every parent saving for college eventually hits: what happens when your 529 plan balance exceeds the qualified education expenses at your child's target school? Lucas and Luna walk through the mechanics of overfunding, including the penalty on non-qualified withdrawals, the tax-free rollover to a Roth IRA (up to $35,000 under SECURE 2.0), and practical strategies li...

Episode 72 of The Financial Advisor Podcast with Fexingo digs into Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amounts (IRMAA) — the Medicare surcharges that can catch retirees off guard. Lucas and Luna walk through how IRMAA brackets work, why a single Roth conversion or capital gain can trigger a two-year lagged penalty, and what proactive strategies advisors use to keep clients under the threshold. They...

Episode 71 of The Financial Advisor Podcast with Fexingo: What Your Advisor Should Tell You About Charitable Remainder Trusts. Hosts Lucas and Luna unpack the mechanics of CRTs: how they work, when they make sense, and what numbers to watch. They walk through a concrete example: a retiree with $2 million in highly appreciated stock, a 5% payout rate, and a 20-year term. Lucas explains the immediat...

In this episode, Lucas and Luna break down donor-advised funds (DAFs) — a charitable giving vehicle that's exploded in popularity over the past decade. They walk through how DAFs work, why high earners use them to bunch deductions and avoid capital gains tax, and what the growing controversy is about: critics say DAFs let donors claim tax breaks today while the actual giving sits in accounts for y...

Lucas and Luna unpack tax-loss harvesting, a strategy that turns portfolio losses into tax savings. They walk through the mechanics using a concrete example: an investor who bought $50,000 of a tech ETF in early 2025, watched it drop to $35,000, and harvested the $15,000 loss to offset gains. They explain the wash-sale rule with a clear scenario—selling an S&P 500 ETF on December 15 and buying it...

Episode 68 of The Financial Advisor Podcast digs into asset location — the tax-efficient placement of investments across taxable and tax-advantaged accounts. Lucas and Luna explain why a bond fund in a taxable account can cost you thousands more in taxes than the same fund in an IRA, using a concrete example: a retiree with $500,000 split between a 401(k) and a brokerage account. They walk through...

In this episode, Lucas and Luna break down indexed universal life insurance (IUL) — a complex product that has seen a surge in sales among high-net-worth clients. They discuss how IUL policies differ from traditional whole life and variable universal life, the cap rates and participation rates that determine returns, and the often-overlooked risk of policy lapses when the indexed account underperf...

Episode 66 of The Financial Advisor Podcast explores Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS) and their role in a diversified portfolio. Lucas and Luna break down how TIPS adjust for inflation, the difference between real and nominal yields, and why advisors might recommend them in 2026's environment. They discuss the current real yield on 10-year TIPS (around 2.1%), when TIPS make sense vs....

In this episode, Lucas and Luna dive into the Health Savings Account — the triple-tax-advantaged account that even many financial advisors underutilize. They break down how an HSA works, why it's more powerful than a 401(k) for medical expenses, and the 'stealth IRA' strategy of paying out-of-pocket now and reimbursing yourself decades later. Using concrete numbers — a 30-year-old contributing the...

Episode 64 of The Financial Advisor Podcast explores the Roth conversion ladder strategy — how it works, when it makes sense, and why your advisor should discuss it before you start withdrawing from a traditional IRA. Lucas and Luna walk through a concrete example: a 50-year-old with a $500,000 traditional IRA who wants to access funds before age 59 and a half without paying the 10% early withdraw...

Most investors focus on expense ratios when choosing ETFs, but the bid-ask spread is a hidden cost that can eat returns, especially for smaller or less-liquid funds. In this episode, Lucas and Luna break down how spreads work using the example of a popular S&P 500 ETF versus a niche emerging-market bond ETF. They discuss what drives spreads — trading volume, market maker competition, and volatilit...

Episode 62 of The Financial Advisor Podcast with Fexingo tackles Treasury Bill ladders—a strategy often overlooked in a rising-rate environment. Lucas and Luna break down how building a T-bill ladder can provide short-term income, liquidity, and safety without locking in long-term duration risk. They walk through a concrete example using $50,000 split across 4-week, 8-week, 13-week, and 26-week bi...

Hosts Lucas and Luna explore the hidden tax advantage of ETFs over mutual funds, using the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO) and a hypothetical $100,000 investment to illustrate how the creation-redemption mechanism minimizes capital gains distributions. They compare ETF tax efficiency to traditional mutual funds, citing a 2025 study showing ETFs returned an average of 0.6% more annually due to lower tax...

Episode 60 of The Financial Advisor Podcast with Fexingo. Lucas and Luna break down the bond ladder duration strategy — what it is, why it matters for income investors in mid-2026, and how to match rungs to spending needs. They walk through a concrete example: a $500,000 ladder spanning 5 years with individual Treasuries. The hosts explain why rolling ladders differ from bullet portfolios, how the...

Most retirees leave tens of thousands of dollars on the table by claiming Social Security too early. In this episode, Lucas and Luna break down the math behind the delayed retirement credits—how waiting from age 62 to 70 can boost your monthly benefit by 76 percent—and explain why many financial advisors fail to run the breakeven analysis properly. They walk through a real 65-year-old couple's sce...

Episode 58 of The Financial Advisor Podcast with Fexingo breaks down direct indexing — an investment strategy that lets you own the individual stocks in an index rather than a fund. Lucas and Luna walk through a concrete example: a $500,000 portfolio in the S&P 500, and how direct indexing can harvest hundreds of separate tax losses each year, potentially adding 1-2% in after-tax returns. They dis...

Lucas and Luna explain how margin loans work, when they make sense, and the risks that many advisors gloss over. They walk through a concrete example: using a $500,000 portfolio to borrow $150,000 at a variable rate tied to SOFR plus 1.5 percent, and what happens if the market drops 30 percent. They also discuss the tax angle — margin interest is deductible only if used to buy taxable investments...

Episode 56 of The Financial Advisor Podcast explores how rebalancing a portfolio can trigger unintended tax consequences when it pushes income into a higher bracket. Lucas and Luna walk through a concrete example: a retired couple with $800,000 in a taxable brokerage account who rebalance annually to maintain a 60/40 stock-bond split. They show how selling appreciated equities for gains can push t...

Lucas and Luna explain the mechanics and tax implications of portfolio rebalancing, using a concrete example of a 60/40 stock-bond portfolio that drifted to 70/30 after a strong equity rally. They discuss the trade-offs between rebalancing in taxable vs. tax-advantaged accounts, the role of bands vs. calendar rebalancing, and why your advisor should explicitly outline the rebalancing policy. The e...