The Rob Berger Show

Resources in Episode Morningstar: https://go.robberger.com/morningstar/... Fidelity Article: https://www.fidelity.com/viewpoints/r... Kitces Article: https://www.kitces.com/blog/retiremen... Spend Safely in Retirement Article: https://robberger.com/spend-safely-in... Fidelity HSA App: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/fidelit... Join the Newsletter. It's Free: https://robberger.com/newsletter/?ut...

This week in Five Question Friday (FQF): mega IPOs, sequence of returns risk, RMDs from a bonds-only IRA, Roth conversions after 59 1/2, and VT versus VTI plus VXUS. Question 1: Will the giant IPOs coming in 2026 drain money from the market and depress stock prices? Question 2: Is 20% to 30% in bonds enough protection against sequence of returns risk? Question 3: If you move your IRA entirely into...

In today's video we discuss if we should try to find investments that consistently beat the S&P 500. Resources From Video    • You Can’t Win With Money While Your Life I...  https://www.spglobal.com/spdji/en/res... https://www.morningstar.com/funds/xna... https://www.morningstar.com/funds/xna... https://www.morningstar.com/etfs/arcx... Join the Newsletter. It's Free: https://robberge...

In today's Five Question Friday (FQF) video, we cover these questions:  1. Is the market inevitably going to crash, and how to mitigate 2. When to take SS and investing the early payments 3. Should we even bother tracking portfolio performance? 4. How to calculate how much money you need to retire comfortably 5. Why retirees still need an emergency fund Resources From Video Open Social Securi...

In today's Five Question Friday (FQF) episode, we cover these questions: 1. Four golden rules for avoiding financial scams 2. Finding and canceling forgotten subscriptions 3. Sharing passwords and 2FA with your spouse 4. Finding trustworthy help managing finances in old age 5. Are debt consolidation services legitimate? Resources From Video FTC Avoiding and Reporting Scams: https://consumer.f...

In today's episode, we discuss the following: 1. ChatGPT for Finances 2. A free version 3. Whether this is the end of budgeting apps Resources From Video ChatGPT Prompt: Create a beautiful dashboard that shows me my spending by category, a pie chart that I can click on to show which transactions make up that category, and identify any suspicious transactions and also any recurring expenses. R...

In today's Five Question Friday (FQF) video, we cover these questions: 1. How many years of "safe funds" should you hold beyond guaranteed income? 2. Reducing portfolio risk in retirement when returns aren't needed 3. Budgeting app that syncs the Sam's Club Mastercard 4. Does the 4% rule account for pre-tax vs. after-tax assets? 5. Should you only sell stocks when the mark...

In today's video, we answer the following question: Can the bucket strategy help you generate income and grow your wealth in retirement, even as you're spending money to live on? Retirement Manifesto Articles First Article: https://www.theretirementmanifesto.co... Second Article: https://www.theretirementmanifesto.co... Join the Newsletter. It's Free: https://robberger.com/newslette...

In today's Five Question Friday (FQF) video, we cover these questions:  1. Floor & Enjoy Retirement Strategy 2. Target Date Funds 3. Paying Taxes on Roth Conversions 4. Vanguard’s New BondBuilder ETFs 5. Boldin vs. Empower Resources From Video Empower: https://go.robberger.com/empower/yt-fqf Boldin: https://go.robberger.com/boldin/yt-fqf https://longevity.stanford.edu/wp-con... https://ro...

In this Five Question Friday (FQF) video, we cover these questions: 1. How to teach your significant other to manage the investments? (The Spouse Financial Survival Kit)    1. Start with a One-Pager       a. Accounts       b. Key Professionals       c. Withdrawal Order       d. Financial Overview Doc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1W...    2. Financial Love Letter https://docs.google.com/docu...

In this episode, I'll answer the following question from a viewer: "I would like to ask if you can do a video on the current specific funds you are invested in? You did a video a while back about your 6 funds, but now you mentioned in a recent video that you simplified and are down to 3 or 4 funds. I was thinking of mirroring your 6 fund plan but now I see you have simplified, which is w...

In today's Five Question Friday (FQF) video, we cover these questions: 1. Where is the best place to park cash today? 2. Should you invest or pay off student loans? 3. Are Schwab’s Target Date Retirement Funds a solid option? 4. When should you start spending your IRA money? 5. Should a TIPS ladder be part of a retirement portfolio? Join the Newsletter. It's Free: https://robberger.com/n...

In this episode,  we cover my Ultimate Retirement Checklist: 1. Healthcare 2. Start learning about Medicare 3. Understand IRMMA brackets 4. Track Expenses 5. Calculate Your Burn Rate 6. Calculate Your Guaranteed Income Ratio 7. Plan for large expenses 8. Plan when to take Social Security 9. Cash 10. Create a Tax-Efficient Withdrawal Strategy 11. Understand how investment withdrawals are taxed 12....

In today's Five Question Friday (FQF) video, we cover these questions:  1. How do you protect your portfolio as you near retirement? 2. How does asset location work if you must draw from taxable accounts? 3. Should you automatically reinvest dividends? 4. How can I diversify away from the S&P 500? 5. What is the safe withdrawal rate for a 20 year retirement? Join the Newsletter. It's...

In today's Five Question Friday (FQF) video, we cover these questions: 1. What Happens To Bond Funds When the Fed Cuts Rates? 2. Where to Invest If Stocks Are a No-go 3. How are Mutual Fund Sales Taxed? 4. Should Annuities Replace Bonds? 5. Brokerage Account vs Roth IRA Resources Snowball-Analytics: https://go.robberger.com/snowball-ana... 10 Year Treasury & Fed Fund Rate: https://fred.st...

In this 2025 Year-End Investment Portfolio Review we cover the following topics: 1. Asset Allocation     a. Diversification / changes     b. Rebalancing 2. Simplification 3. Beneficiaries 4. Performance 5. Tax Loss or Gain Harvesting 6. Fees     a. Fund fees     b. Advisor fees 7. Evaluate Your Performance     a. Did you buy/sell anything     b. What worried you during the year Join the Newsletter...

In today's Five Question Friday (FQF) video, we look at these five topics: 1. 10% yield on bonds 2. Where to hold bonds 3. Co-signing a mortgage 4. Paying taxes on a Roth conversion 5. Asset allocation of real estate investments Bonus: Cost of long-term care calculator Resources: https://www.carescout.com/cost-of-care Join the Newsletter. It's Free: https://robberger.com/newsletter/?utm....

In today's Five Question Friday (FQF) video, we look at these five questions: 1. Have we been lied to about our Social Security break-even age? 2. Is it ok to restart the 4% rule if the market goes up in early retirement? 3. I am nervous about the run up in AI stocks . . . Could it be a good idea to consider diversifying from VTI to an “equal-weighted index fund like Invesco S&P Equal Wei...

In today's Five Question Friday (FQF) video, we cover these questions: 1. How to invest $15 million? 2. For the 4% withdrawal rate devised by Bill Bengen, what measure of inflation did he use?  Are there other measures that you think might be more appropriate? 3. If you have a retirement portfolio with a 6% yield does the 4% rule apply? 4. Is a 7-year MYGA a better deal than a 7-year Treasury...

In today's Five Question Friday (FQF) video, we cover this questions: 1. Can you recommend a detailed tax estimator? 2. How to plan Roth conversions without a fancy retirement planner? 3. Should you pay off a mortgage early or invest the money? 4. Are identity theft protection services worth the cost? 5. How does reinvesting vs spending dividends affect return assumptions for retirement plann...

Get free guidance on Medicare from Chapter, a company I've partnered with, by calling 410-220-5494. If you call Chapter, please let me know about your experience. It's Not That Complicated https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Hqs4v7wLCjhh5ohWVVSNTs2HsGz9nufD/view Join the Newsletter. It's Free: https://robberger.com/newsletter/?utm...

In this episode, we'll walk through the key differences and pros and cons of Original Medicare vs Medicare Advantage plans. Resources It's Not That Complicated (pdf): https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Hqs4... Medicare & You 2026 (pdf): https://www.medicare.gov/publications... 2025 Medicare Parts A & B Premiums and Deductibles: https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/fact-she... Medicare Part...

In this episode, we'll walk through 7 things you must know about Medicare's annual open enrollment period. Resources It's Not That Complicated (pdf): https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Hqs4... Medicare & You 2026 (pdf): https://www.medicare.gov/publications... 2025 Medicare Parts A & B Premiums and Deductibles: https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/fact-she... Medicare Part A Costs: ht...

In this episode, we'll walk through resources you can use to get free help with Medicare. The Resources are broken into three categories: 1. Free online educational content 2. Free Medicare guidance from SHIP 3. Free Medicare guidance from insurance brokers Resources Medicare: https://www.medicare.gov/ CMS: https://www.cms.gov/ KFF: https://www.kff.org/topic/medicare/ SHIP: https://www.shiphe...

A viewer asked me to suggest some tools he could use to evaluate his investment portfolio and asset allocation. So in this video we looked at three of my favorite investment tools: 1. Empower: https://go.robberger.com/empower/yt-3... 2. Kubera: https://go.robberger.com/kubera/yt-3-... 3. Google Sheets: https://robberger.com/investment-trac... Join the Newsletter. It's Free: https://robberger....