Listen to Episodes of the Talking Money^® Podcast & Radio Show

IRA Rules: Why They Matter, Part 2

Air Date: August 13th, 2022

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?

IRA Rules: Why They Matter, Part 1

Air Date: August 6th, 2022

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?

The Latest Economic Review

Air Date: July 30th, 2022

In this episode, Mike looks at the latest economic review from Ronald Blue Trust. He also discusses several other points:

• Can you solve your financial problems by winning the lottery?
• Market fluctuations aren’t a punishment for being an investor, they are the admission fees.
• Wealth is financial assets that haven’t been converted into the assets you see. Living large doesn’t mean you are wealthy.
• True Wealth comes from wanting what we have – be content!
• I have more cash than I need for retirement. Where should I put it?
• Are we in or headed for a recession now?
• What type of investments are doing the best?

Is Your Advisor Working for You?

Air Date: July 16th, 2022

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.

Best of Talking Money: Social Security and Medicare, Part 2

Air Date: July 9th, 2022

Highlights from show originally aired on March 5, 2022. 

Eddie Holland joins Mike again to discuss more about Social Security and Medicare.

They answer a number of listener questions, including:

• Why might you delay taking Social Security? What about taking it early?
• How would the survivor benefit play into that consideration?
• Is there any penalty for someone who has not yet reached full retirement age to continue working for a year or two, but still go on and start drawing Social Security?
• How does Social Security determine your annual benefits based on your estimated date of death?
• Once you reach full retirement age, and you decide to continue to keep working, does your employer still withdraw Social Security taxes past your retirement age/date?
• At what point do we have to decide about Medicare if both spouses are at retirement age, but one of us is still working and has employer provided health insurance?
• My employer health insurances will subsidize half our Medicare premiums. Should I go on and sign up for Medicare to take advantage of that?
• I’m 68, going to file at 70. My spouse is 62. Should she go on and file? If she does, when she reaches full retirement age, can she then claim my spousal benefit?
• At what age can you still work and draw Social Security and not be penalized?

Best of Talking Money: Social Security and Medicare, Part 1

Air Date: July 2nd, 2022

Highlights from the show originally aired February 26, 2022. 

Eddie Holland, CFP®, CPA/PFS, CKA®, joins Mike to discuss Social Security. They answer the following questions:

• If I’m going to collect social security and continue working, how do they calculate the amount taken out for social security and when do they look at that?
• How much of your social security will be considered as taxable income for a given year?
• What is full retirement age and why does that matter?
• What is the split strategy?
• What is the income reduction?
• If I have health benefits through my job, but I am approaching Medicare age, do I need to switch to Medicare?
• How would enrolling in Medicare affect your usage of a Health Savings Account?
• Does a spouse have the ability to use your Medicare or Cobra if they are themselves too young to apply?
• How does my income affect my Medicare premium?

Disclaimer: “Ronald Blue Trust and its employees have general knowledge of the Social Security tenets, however, they do not have complete expertise to provide a full discussion of the details of your specific situation. So, for additional information, contact your local Social Security office.” (and don’t be afraid to ask questions or for a supervisor if the information isn’t clear or not what you were expecting.)

Client Story: The McCormicks

Air Date: June 25th, 2022

Mike is joined by clients Sandy and Karen McCormick who share their stories of financial lessons they learned throughout life. They also share their philosophies of spending and saving.

Sandy and Karen then share the experience they have had as Ronald Blue Trust clients in the Everyday Steward division.

A Penny Saved Is a Penny Earned

Air Date: June 18th, 2022

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.

The Way to Wealth

Air Date: June 11th, 2022

In 1785, Benjamin Franklin wrote an essay entitled “The Way to Wealth or Father Abraham’s Sermon.” It is a collection of phrases of wisdom and advice that are still applicable today. Phrases like:

• A word to the wise is enough.
• Lost time is never found again.
• Drive thy business, let not that drive thee.
• Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.
• If we are industrious, we will never starve.
• Never leave for tomorrow what you can do today.
• Since you are not sure of a minute, don’t waste an hour.
• A life of leisure and life of laziness are two different things.

There is a lot of biblical truth in these statements as well. Biblical advice on money is always timely.

Whose money is it anyway? How does the way you spend your money reflect what you believe about money?

Best of Talking Money: Trucking and Elvis Gospel Records

Air Date: June 4th, 2022

Highlights from the show originally aired February 19, 2022

Tim Guin of USA Truck joins Mike again to answer more listener questions and shares some of his story.

• How do trucking companies try to mitigate risk of high dollar law suits?
• What equipment is on semi trucks to help prevent accidents?
• How has the chip shortage affected the trucking industry?
• What is the drug testing clearinghouse?
• How has the labor shortage affected trucking?

Best of Talking Money: Supply Chain Shortage

Air Date: May 28th, 2022

Highlights from the show originally aired February 5, 2022

What is the supply chain shortage all about? Tim Guin, CCO and Executive Vice President of USA Truck, joins Mike to discuss the ins and outs of the trucking and shipping industry.

• • We see so many trucks on the road, but hear about a driver shortage. What explains this?
  • What is the Amazon effect?
  • California seems to be quite clogged up with ships. What is going on there? What led to that?

• What drives some of the changes and challenges we see in the trucking and shipping industry?

Short Clip: Discussing the Amazon Effect

Market Volatility Concerns

Air Date: May 21st, 2022

Mike answers a number of questions related to the current market volatility and general investing:

• Is it still safe to invest in the stock market? Is it less risky to invest now?
• Are there any particular sectors or stocks to consider investing in?
• How should an investor react to the ups and downs in the market?
• Are annuities as really as low risk as they promise?
• What cautions should I take when investing in real estate?

For more information, read this article from Ronald Blue Trust’s investment team.

Listen to the Episode

Beneficiary Rules

Air Date: May 14th, 2022

Alan Cox, Director of Estate/Trust Planning and Estate Settlement at Ronald Blue Trust, joins Mike to answer several listener questions:

• How does the age of death affect the beneficiary’s claiming requirements?
• What if no beneficiary was named?
• Is there still a 10 year rule?
• Does the age of the beneficiary matter?

The Bucket Strategy

Air Date: May 7th, 2022

What is the bucket approach to retirement planning? How do you adjust for inflation?

How can you determine your personal inflation rate? What factors come into play?

Which bucket should I focus on?

What are some different vehicles we use for income?

What are some other ways to try to retain income security in retirement?

Life’s Financial Lessons

Air Date: April 30th, 2022

Erik Daniels, Executive Vice President and Family Wealth Advisor for Ronald Blue Trust, joins Mike to discuss financial lessons he has learned throughout life. He also talks about how he met Ron Blue and got involved in the company at the very beginning of its existence.

They discuss some of these questions and ideas:

• What are some financial lessons you learned when you were a teenager or young adult and who taught them to you? What financial habits do you still have from them? What have you decided not to do because of your experience?
• How can you tell what you value? By looking at your checkbook!
• What are some spending mistakes you have made and what have you learned from them?
• “There are two ways to get enough. One is to continue to accumulate more and more. The other is to desire less.”  -G.K. Chesterton
• We have become conditioned to believe that raising the standard of living increases the quality of our life, but it doesn’t really work that way.
• Estate planning is more than just updating your will. It includes building trust across generations.

They also offer a family meeting template (this one includes some suggestions from the imaginary “Smith” family.)

Best of Talking Money: Weathering Financial Storms

Air Date: April 23rd, 2022

Highlights from show originally aired January 15, 2022

Mike is joined by Nick Stonestreet, CEO of Ronald Blue Trust.

They discuss a “Mission Accomplished” story shared recently by a radio listener.

A caller asks a question about inflation and where that may be headed, and Nick and Mike share their opinions on that. They also discuss some ideas for how to weather financial storms.

Another caller asks a question about savings accounts, money market accounts, and CDs.

Mike and Nick then discuss what investment risk entails and how to think about your investments. No one can predict or time the market, but there is no such thing as a low risk, high return investment. A recent article covered someone who had promised a low risk, high return investment, but it was really a Ponzi scheme.

“People who have crystal balls typically end up eating glass.”

Best of Talking Money: IRA Distributions: When and How

Air Date: April 16th, 2022

Highlights from show originally aired January 8, 2022.

In this episode, Mike looks back on some past listener questions that still get asked frequently today:

• When exactly do I need to start taking my required minimum distribution (RMD)?
• What is the best way to take that RMD?
• Has the age requirement changed?
• How does the qualified charitable distribution (QCD) work?
• Is there a more tax efficient way to give?
• How does lowering the balance of your IRA affect your RMD amount?
• What are some ways to lower the balance of an IRA?

Investing Philosophies

Air Date: April 9th, 2022

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.

Stocks and Bonds

Air Date: April 2nd, 2022

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?

What is Your Risk Tolerance?

Air Date: March 26th, 2022

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?

1. Sell it, so you don’t have to worry about if it continues to decline
2. Hold onto it and wait for it to go back up.
3. 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:

1. Have a 50% chance of winning 50,0000
2. Have a 25% chance of winning 75000
3. 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.