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Best of Talking Money: What is a Donor Advised Fund and How it can Help You Save Time and Money
Gift Planning Attorney, Daniel Hicks joins Mike to discuss this great planning tool.
Listen to the EpisodeBest of Talking Money: Questions and Answers
Mike answers some recent listener questions including:
- I would like to give money to my kids and help myself on my taxes at the same time. How can I do that?
- I have several stocks that were purchased at a good price. I would like to sell, but don’t want to pay a lot in taxes. Is there a way to accomplish this?
- What is an advantage of giving an asset instead of giving cash?
- I’ve inherited funds, but I don’t really need the money. What should I do?
- My company used to have a pension, but then switched to a 401K. When I got to retirement, they gave me a list of options to take for the pension. How do I decide?
- How should I set up my estate so that I know my spouse will still be taken care of after I pass and/or ensure they spend the funds wisely?
Best of Talking Money: IRA Rules: Why They Matter, Part 2
Mike discusses more questions surrounding IRAs including:
- When should you consider moving from a traditional to a ROTH IRA?
- What are some advantages of keeping things in a traditional IRA?
- What about conversion assets?
- What are the tax rules for a ROTH?
- What are the earnings rules?
- What is the five year rule and how does it affect my planning?
- What are some beneficiary considerations I should be thinking about?
Best of Talking Money: IRA Rules: Why They Matter, Part 1
Mike answers questions about IRA rules, including:
- What are your plans in case something happens to you?
- What are the different kinds of IRAs and what are their different contribution limits?
- What about a non-deductible IRA?
- What kind of contributions should you be making?
- What is the back door ROTH IRA?
- How does your tax bracket affect your planning decisions?
- My tax software will figure everything out for me, right?
- To ROTH or not to ROTH?
Best of Talking Money: Is Your Advisor Working for You?
Is your financial advisor working for you? What are some questions you can ask to make the best choice on someone to help with your finances? Mike looks at some of these questions:
- Is your advisor really an advisor or a salesperson?
- What are their credentials and experience?
- What should a financial planner offer?
- Does the advisor offer estate planning assistance?
- How does the advisor present themselves in the first meeting?
- What about complaints?
- Where do you start your search for your own personal CFO?
- What other questions should you ask a potential financial advisor?
You can also read more about these questions and considerations here.
Listen to the EpisodeBest of Talking Money: Investment Philosophies
What is the importance of researching the companies you are investing in or the firms you are using to invest for you?
Beware those who show you past performances and promise the same future returns. Ask where they invested 5, 10, 15 years ago.
Remember: no one can accurately predict the market!
Make a plan and stick to it.
When making a large purchase (car, house, etc), do you think about how a larger loan may affect your daily cash flow and budgeting?
What is the bucket strategy?
What is your portfolio’s primary goal: meeting future cash flow needs, limiting volatility, or keeping up with the benchmarks? You can’t have all three, and each have their trade-offs.
If you are holding on to a stock that has gone down since you purchased it, ask yourself if you would buy it today. If the answer is no, why would you continue to hold on to it?
Invest according to the time frame in which you will need the money.
Don’t let fear or greed take you away from your plan.
Listen to the EpisodeBest of Talking Money: Stocks and Bonds
What is a stock? What is a bond? How do they work?
Stocks: what they are and how they work. Stockholder owns part of the company. Stocks are sold at an auction, so the price does not reflect the value of the company. Your money doesn’t actually go to the company.
Bonds: you are investing in the debt of a corporation or government, basically giving them a loan. Have a time limit. Interest rates can affect bonds as well.
Why is it important to stay diversified in stocks and bonds? What about just riding out the rise and fall of the market?
What is the danger of following the “guru” who got their guess right once?
Listen to the EpisodeBEST OF TALKING MONEY: What is Your Risk Tolerance?
Do you know your risk tolerance? Mike looks at several questions, and your answers may surprise you.
Due to a general market correction, the price of one of your investments decreases 14% a short time after you buy it, what would you do?
- Sell it, so you don’t have to worry about if it continues to decline
- Hold onto it and wait for it to go back up.
- Buy more because it looks even better now!
You have just reached the 10000 plateau on a game show, so now you are at the point where you can walk away with your winnings or betting it all in one of three scenarios:
- Have a 50% chance of winning 50,0000
- Have a 25% chance of winning 75000
- Have a 5% chance of winning 200,000
“Risk doesn’t bother me as long as I don’t lose anything.”
“Overrating past performance is the most common mistake mutual fund investors make. Giving inadequate weight to risk, however you manage that risk, would be number two. And being willing to shift funds too quickly would be number three” – John Bogel
“Always diversify your investments” – Sir John Templeton
“If you don’t feel comfortable owning something for ten years, then don’t own it for ten minutes” – Warren Buffett
“Don’t try to buy at the bottom and sell at the top. It can’t be done, except by liars.” – Bernard Baruch
“The only function of economic forecasting is to make astrology look respectable.” – John Kenneth Galbraith
When looking at a publication about investing, look at back issues and see what they were saying. Were they accurate? Are they owning up to mistakes they made?
Want Mike and his team to come do a workshop for your company? Contact him at 1-800-588-7526 or mike@talkingmoneyradio.com for details.
Listen to the EpisodeBEST OF TALKING MONEY: How do you protect your assets so you don’t run out of money paying for long-term care expenses?
Elder Law Attorney, Mike Bridges, joins Mike to discuss how to plan for long-term care expenses; Medicaid benefits and how you qualify; the benefits of using a trust to protect your assets and much more!
Listen to the EpisodeBEST OF TALKING MONEY: Doctors help us (or our pets), but who helps them with their financial lives?
Dr. Alan Martin, DVM, joins Mike to discuss how Ronald Blue Trust helped his mom and now his family—you may be surprised with his response! Plus, Mike answers several listener questions about when it makes sense to pay off a home mortgage and how taxation of Social Security works.
Listen to the EpisodeBEST OF TALKING MONEY: Is your Social Security money at risk of running out?
According to the latest Advisor Authority survey, more than half of pre-retirees 55-65 years old are concerned about the long-term viability of Social Security.
Eddie Holland, CPA, CFP, Senior Private Wealth Advisor for Ronald Blue Trust, and Social Security expert, discusses this with Mike in the latest podcast. Plus, he answers some great questions from listeners about when to begin taking Social Security.
Listen to the EpisodeBEST OF TALKING MONEY: When does it cost less to pay taxes?
Recently, Mike reviewed the benefits and challenges of investing in tax-free Muni bonds—you could be paying a high premium for the privilege on not paying taxes.
NEW THIS YEAR—the retirement tax break that will also pay you and your spouse an income for the rest of your lives—stay tuned!
Listen to the EpisodeBEST OF TALKING MONEY: “Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it”! -Winston Churchill
Historian, investment analyst, and senior writer for Marketmail, Gary Alexander, joins me to share his thoughts on Calvin Coolidge, Progressives, taxes, and the ignorance of most Americans of our own history. For example, who was and has been the champion of women and minorities, Republicans or Democrats?
Listen to the EpisodeBEST OF TALKING MONEY: WHAT IS A DONOR ADVISED FUND AND HOW IT CAN HELP YOU SAVE TIME AND MONEY?
Gift Planning Attorney, Daniel Hicks joins Mike to discuss this great planning tool.
Listen to the EpisodeBEST OF TALKING MONEY: Annuities: best product since sliced bread or a house of mirrors? Part 2
The Wall Street Journal in 2014 published an article entitled “Beware of the annuity house of mirrors”! Last week and this week Mike gives you the information you need to be a smart consumer of annuities.
Listen to the EpisodeBEST OF TALKING MONEY: Annuities: best product since sliced bread or a house of mirrors? Part 1
The Wall Street Journal in 2014 published an article entitled “Beware of the annuity house of mirrors”! For the next two weeks, Mike gives you the information you need to be a smart consumer of annuities.
Listen to the EpisodeBEST OF TALKING MONEY: How is Social Security income taxed and what can you do to reduce those taxes?
Social Security expert, Eddie Holland, CPA/PFS, CFP®, CKA, joins Mike to discuss how to reduce the taxes on your Social Security and the premiums on Medicare. Plus, what should widows consider when deciding which claiming strategy to choose. Get the information you need—WITHOUT the SALES pitch!
Listen to the EpisodeBEST OF TALKING MONEY: Want to save taxes, make a charitable gift, and still get income for life?
Special guest and Blue Trust client for nearly 30 years, Mary Kraus, shares her personal story. As a PhD. and professor of American Literature as well as a former Nun, Mary has some great stories to tell. Listen and learn how we helped Mary save taxes, make gifts and create lifetime income.
Listen to the EpisodeBEST OF TALKING MONEY: Don’t get caught working with an advisor who is taking advantage of you!
How can you tell if your advisor is on the “up and up”?
Mike reviews some of the red flags that should warn you of potentially fraudulent activities. Plus, what are some definite activities to watch out for like churning your account or asking you to make a check payable to the advisor for an investment or insurance purchase.
Listen to the EpisodeBEST OF TALKING MONEY: A PENNY SAVED IS A PENNY EARNED
In The Way to Wealth, Benjamin Franklin gave some sage financial advice, even on how to control living expenses. He also gave timeless advice regarding avoiding debt.
Mike talks about some of those pieces of advice as well as answering a listener question about the recent interest rate increase and ideas about how to help others in your local community.
Mikes’ wife Cathy calls in to discuss ways she helped keep living expenses low as she and Mike raised their children.
He also shared an old Saturday Night Live skit.
Listen to the EpisodeSponsored By:
