Winning at Life with Gregory Ricks

01:10 - Mississippi's tax-free school shopping holiday is this weekend. James finds it odd that the tax-free holiday for school shopping doesn't include actual school supplies. On the other side of the border, Louisiana just cancelled its tax-free holidays for the next 7 years. 06:40 - Demographic reports show that people are migrating to Texas and Florida more than any other states. It's probably...

02:49 - Gregory tells about his face off with a raccoon in the backyard. 17:91 - The duck boat tragedy in Missouri is horrible, and reminds Gregory of his experience in a duck boat ride. Gregory isn't much for taking risks these days, especially considering the amount of people who are counting on him. 21:21 - The annual report on the state of retirement savings in America shows that people are do...

01:18 - Gregory explains how Trump should factor into your financial decisions. 03:52 - Gregory reports on how much of our national debt is held by foreign countries, and how many countries have sold off big chunks of our bonds. Russia has unloaded most of their bond holdings, and has been buying up gold. What's going on with that? 13:13 - Russia's GDP has fallen by almost half since the price of...

01:33 - Tax Reform 2.0 is in the early stages of discussion, and Gregory breaks down the different proposals being talked about. One of the issues they want to address is encouraging retirement savings. Gregory Ricks pokes holes in some of the ideas being reported, including the Universal Savings Account. Gregory sees what they are trying to do, and points out a much simpler fix to get to where th...

01:41 - The IRS formally approves of the backdoor Roth IRA. You can contribute to a Roth IRA directly up to a certain income level, but you can still contribute to non-deductable IRA and convert it to a Roth IRA. The rules were even confirmed in the Tax Cut and Jobs Act of 2017, and it's a great way for high income earners to diversify their tax liability in retirement. 06:46 - Today is Amazon Pri...

02:36 - Once you get out of the market, where should that money go? Gregory and James review the call from Tom in Houma on Saturday's show, and Gregory goes a little bit deeper into how to assign different jobs to different groups of your assets. If you're getting out of the market because you think it's on its way down, you need to position those assets to be able to jump right back in the market...

02:12 - With all of the options out there, the radio format with the greatest share of the audience is News Talk. While music radio has been losing listening time to other sources of music, new media platforms have actually enabled a nice increase in the listenership of News Talk programming. 05:54 - A new game show is coming to TruTV where the winning prize is paying off your student loans. 07:50...

01:31 - Heads up retail business owners! The new state sales tax rate for Louisiana goes into effect on July 1. It drops from 5% to 4.45%, but if you continue to collect the higher rate, you must remit those revenues to the state in full. 03:16 - The IRS releases its new 1040 that's supposed to be the size of a postcard. It's a little deceptive though, because you may have paperwork from up to 6 e...

01:24 - The markets didn't seem to mind some of the bad news coming out of China and North Korea lately, which is a good sign our economy is robust enough to handle a little turbulence. 06:25 - Gregory previews some of the information that will be covered at the next Gregory Ricks Live: income planning, creating tax free income, Social Security Strategies, and estate planning. 09:21 - Are you inte...

02:10 - Gregory shares some issues you need to know about when inheriting an IRA. Spousal IRAs havesome extra options, and mistakes can be costly. Even something as simple as retitling the IRA incorrectly can have a profound effect. 24:59 - Andrew in Madisonville is inheriting an IRA, and wants Gregory's guidance on how to best position that money to cover college costs for his daughters. 28:18 -...

01:35 - Reports of the Fair and Reciprocal Trade Act are met with both critical policy analysis and juvenile humor. 03:24 - Kroger announces they will test groceries being delivered by a self driving car that looks like a giant lunch pail. Gregory explains how keeping up with the way technology is making subtle changes in people's behavior can help you see what's coming in the future. 13:23 - Lebr...

0:01:42 - Gregory recaps how the 4th of July week has been. The new unemployment numbers are a tick higher at 4.0%, but that's because 600k new job seekers entered the market, on top of a robust job gain of 213k in June. Economic growth these days is solid. 0:09:26 - How do you know when you should turn on your Social Security benefits? 0:21:11 - Tom in Houma asks Gregory when to know it's time to...

02:01 - Is your personality type more likely to be financially scammed? Gregory and James are surprised by a report that outlines the type of person that is most likely to be caught up in a financial scam. 13:36 - Gregory quizzes you on transactions that are prohibited under IRA rules. 18:29 - Clifford in Biloxi asks Gregory about how the taxes are figured for an empty piece of property he's about...

00:45 - In a startling coincidence, a USA Today column from today talks about the same rarely known ability of reverse mortgages to have gains 06:42 - James reports on the nation's 35 largest banks passing the Fed's stress tests, but Gregory points out the report doesn't tell us anything about the health of nearly 6,000 smaller banks. 14:57 - Gregory Ricks shows you the truth behind some Social Se...

01:24 - Senator Bernie Sanders makes over $1 million for the second year in a row. He has done a great job building up several income streams over the years, including royalties from a spoken word folk album. 04:57 - The divisive political climate you see on the news channels is not happening in the business world. As the economy keeps humming along, the partisanship seems to fade. 14:41 - Learn s...

00:40 - Is Wells Fargo in trouble again? The issues began a few years back, but it’s reported the bank’s advisor division pushed products that seemed to serve the bank’s interest more than the client. 06:37 - Gregory and James review a segment with Dwayne Stein from Saturday’s show where the homeowner did a reverse mortgage into a line of credit, and takes advantage of the 4.7%ish return on the un...

02:15 - Gregory Ricks address the changing demographics in America, and how an aging population will change how we deal with retirement and investing. With fewer taxpayers per beneficiary, Social Security and Medicare are fiercely unsustainable. Raising taxes is a likely part of the solution, but reigning in benefits is going to happen.at some point, too. This will happen on a long enough timeline...

00:59 - Be careful! A debit card skimmer was found on a gas station pump in Jackson County. If a debit card machine looks suspicious, give it a tug and see if it moves. If you’re not sure, move on. 08:44 - More people over the age of 60 are renting on AirBnB for an extra income stream. 11:36 - Adam Vinatieri says he’s not retiring, meaning he will be 46 by the end of the season. 14:30 - Gregory Ri...

[2:20] Gregory Ricks gives you a basic guide to rollovers from your IRA. If you can, you should move IRA money straight from custodian to custodian transfer. If you take the money straight to yourself, you have 60 days to either put it back, or find another IRA for it. You can do a rollover once per year aggregate of all your accounts. [7:38] Perry in New Orleans wants to try and get some yield on...

This offer from Disney to buy most of the media assets from 21st Century Fox could change our media landscape for a generation. Gregory points out that combining Disney assets with Fox, Marvel, and Hulu may be the great media counterbalance to Netflix’s colossal growth. It’s also interesting to note what media platforms Rupert Murdoch wants to hold onto like Fox News and Fox Business, which shows...

Can going solar save you money? Gregory Ricks talks to Ethan and Justin from SunPro Solar about: tax credits, financing, and how the technology is advancing daily to make solar more profitable. GoSunPro.com A new study claims that being married is good for your heart. Married subjects were less likely to have cardio issues than subjects who were divorced, widowed, or never married. The number of A...

Trump announcing the creation of the Space Force has some interesting financial side effects. Gregory Ricks details where he thinks the technology will take us, and the Space Force is an expected result. The Numbers are mixed, with Tesla as a big gainer on the day. Americans satisfied with the direction of the country hits a 12 year high. Ann in New Orleans is being offered a million dollar buyout...

You started a life insurance policy years ago to take care of your family should something happen. Now, your kids are all grown, the house is paid off, and there's enough assets built up that you don't really need it for your family's financial security anymore. Maybe you can sell it or cash it out, but Gregory shares a few other ideas on how you can use that policy to get the most money out of it...

If you're playing catch up with your finances, maybe it's time for a side gig to generate some extra income. With the technology of today, side gigs are more flexible than ever. When Bruce in New Orleans asked his insurance company for a homeowners policy on his rent house, they said he would have to get landlord's insurance, because the second house is owned by an LLC. Gregory Ricks shares some i...

Gregory Ricks' amazing Podium Theory of the Federal Funds Rate continues it's flawless streak since the Fed began liftoff in 2015. James Parker gives you an audio comparison of the new Fed Chair Jay Powell versus his predecessor Janet Yellen. The news of the Trump foundation be questioned for financial reasons is a good chance for Gregory Ricks to address the two biggest rules of using funds in a...