The Financial Lab

The so-called “4% Rule” for annual retirement withdrawals has been around since the mid-1990s.  But Morningstar’s Christine Benz believes that number has been misunderstood.  With inflation rearing its ugly head, Benz now feels the safe withdrawal rate should be 3.3%.  Should retirees who are taking out more panic?  How do you help them come up with the ideal number? See omnystudio.com/listener fo...

Travis talks about getting calls from listeners about "Have I saved enough money" and how he and David help clients just like you with these concerns.  The Federal Reserve will begin dialing back the extraordinary economic aid it's provided since the pandemic erupted last year.  It’s a response to high inflation that now looks likely to persist longer than it did just a few months ago.   When it c...

I read a story in Market Watch about a guy who worked at a bank for 38 years.  He helped people with their investments.  His wife is even a financial advisor.  Yet the name of the article is “I failed at retirement:  how to avoid my mistakes.”  How can David and Travis help you avoid these mistakes?  Just two years after leading LSU to a national college football title, head coach Ed Orgeron will...

You've seen it at the gas pump, in the grocery store and even in some household bills - INFLATION! If you are currently retired, how can you keep up with these increased prices? Hear David and Travis explain how their Financial Lab can help design a customized plan to keep up with inflation and the unexpected cost of retirement.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Republicans and Democrats have been going back-and-forth over President Biden’s so-called “Build Back Better” plan … a $3-and-a-half trillion “wish list” of social spending programs.  But as economist Brian Wesbury points out to Fox Business, Uncle Sam doesn’t have a very good track record when it comes to spending our tax dollars wisely. Okay, I’m sure we could talk all day about how “greedy” the...

How long has it been since you took a good, hard, look at the investments in your retirement account?  Morningstar’s Christine Benz says you should do that at least once a year.  What you’re looking for is gains or losses that change your allocation percentages. Hear David and Travis explain the importance of rebalancing your retirement account (s) and how their approach to retirement planning can...

Dartmouth College professor David Blanchflower points to two major indices of consumer confidence that have dropped more or just as much as they did ahead of the 2008 crash.  He believes that the U.S. will firmly be in a recession at the end of this year.  That’s scary.  What steps should be taken to safeguard the savings for those who are nearing or have just entered retirement?, Has the pandemic...

President Biden is pushing trillions of dollars in new spending … and his supporters in Congress are considering several different tax hikes to pay for it all.  One of them is a so-called “death tax” … that’s a tax that your family has to pay whenever they inherit something from you.  Are we going to need to do some strategizing to protect our family assets from Uncle Sam? See omnystudio.com/liste...

In March of last year as the Covid scare was beginning, not long after that, President Trump shut down the economy and we had a 34% market decline.  Fast forward to today – “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” author Robert Kiyosaki is calling for the biggest crash the world has even seen.  He put this up on a web site that sells gold.  Are we positioned for the “mother of all pull backs”?  Could these voices bri...

There are also lots of potential tax changes on the horizon … with President Biden saying he wants to raise taxes on “the wealthy.”  But it seems like these types of changes could end up affecting all of us - how do we get in front of these possible changes … is there anything we can do? There’s something that academic economists call the “annuity puzzle.”  It refers to why some people are relucta...

Required Minimum Distributions are back this year.  If you’re subject to them, you might want to start thinking about that.  But even if you’re not there yet, Morningstar’s Christine Benz says it might pay to start considering your options. David and Travis discuss their approach to RMD's using strategies to help reduce their tax obligations.     See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information...

September has historically been a weak month for the stock market, and this year was no different.  We’ve seen a little more volatility, over the past few weeks.  So, should we be concerned?     See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Senior Citizens League says if you’d retired in the year 2000 with a total income of $100,000, you’d now need $156,000 to be able to afford the same standard of living.  That’s thanks to inflation, which – by the way – has been rising much faster than usual lately.  We’d like to think that we’ll be able to replace our current income in retirement, but it appears we’re losing ground.  What’s th...

How often do you check your retirement account?  If it’s been a while, IRA expert Ed Slott says you might be surprised at how much it’s grown! some big tax changes coming out  way, so what can we do about this “big bag of tax” … do we have any options?  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Travis discusses the first steps to recovering from Ida - starting with filing a claim with your insurance, contacting FEMA and more. Hear Travis give a step-by-step account to getting back on your feet.  Contact Travis and David Shepherd today at 225-465-1065 for more info!          See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

President Biden wants to hire more people at the IRS with 80 million and he says it is a investment and the guys talk about how they can help people invest more into keeping our money if government wants to invest more into taking our retirement money!  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transamerica has agreed to a $5 million court settlement … for not giving its employees enough investment choices in their retirement plan.  Isn’t that one of the benefits of doing a rollover – because it gives you more options for what to do with your retirement assets?  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The most common retirement fear is running out of money.  So, the Go-Banking-Rates website came up with a list of some of the causes of that. David and Travis go down and list and discuss a few of these mistakes that could cost you BIG TIME and how they can help you avoid them.    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

RMDs – or required minimum distributions – are back for 2021.  Best-selling retirement author Patrick Kelly says many retirees are surprised to learn that they’ll have to withdraw this money from their accounts, whether they want to or not! For those listeners who don’t need that money right now, what are some “tax friendly” options for what they might want to do with it when they take those RMDs?...

Now that President Biden is trying to raise the inheritance tax, CNBC says some people are considering life insurance as an estate planning tool.  Is that really an option? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are all over the news, with some people bragging about making huge profits in a very short period of time.  But Morningstar’s Dan Kemp says you’ll want to think twice before investing any of your retirement assets in crypto - hear David and Travis weigh in on what they're telling clients about this! Market Watch had an interesting take on tax planning:  They said...

You may have seen that Census Bureau story about Texas and Florida being the fastest-growing states, population-wise.  Coincidentally, both of those are considered to be low-tax states.  Jimmy Patronis, who is CFO of the state of Florida, tells Fox Business that’s a big attraction for people who are tired of paying high taxes… but what if I’m happy right here ?  Do I really have to move , just to...

What if your boss told you that – from now on – you were going to be paid in Bitcoin , instead of dollars .  Would you be okay with that?  Well, NFL star Sean Culkin wanted to be paid in Bitcoin, but the Kansas City Chiefs said “no.”  So, he’s decided to take his $920,000 salary … and convert it to Bitcoin.  Culkin tells the “Coin-Desk” website that he’s not worried about the cryptocurrency’s wild...

Anytime you try something new , you’re bound to make a few mistakes.  We call them “rookie” mistakes.  And The Motley Fool says one very common rookie mistake is to retire before you’ve figured out how you’re going to replace your income .  David and  Travis explain how they can help establishing that stream of retirement income that’s going to take the place of our old workplace income.   See omn...

When it comes to taxes, do you think you’re over -paying – or do you take full advantage of the tax laws that might work to your advantage?  Ed Slott, author of “ The New Retirement Savings Time Bomb,” tells The Motley Fool that having a good tax strategy is even more important than having a good investing strategy. So, how does that work … how do I “plan” my taxes?  See omnystudio.com/listener fo...