Year: 2019

SECURE Act Update Heading Into 2020

We’ve been keeping an eye on the SECURE Act for months now and recent legislation passed by Congress will make it effective starting in 2020. Get an overview of the adjustments and find out why Don believes this is the most important change to retirement accounts in nearly 15 years.

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Understanding 2020 Medicare Premiums and IRMAA Surcharges

It was recently announced that the Medicare Part B monthly premiums and the annual deductible would be higher in 2020, so how is this amount calculated? We turn to Don Cash to explain Medicare premiums, IRMAA surcharges, and how it breaks down into different tiers.

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Common Misunderstandings When It Comes to Social Security

Myths, rumors, and misunderstandings are pervasive in the world of Social Security. On this show, we’ll look to clear up the most common misunderstandings about Social Security, provide some background on the program, and forecast possible changes that could be coming.

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How Legal Documents Impact Your Finances and Retirement – Part 2

Americans believe it’s important to have a will, but less than half have one. Not only do many Americans lack a basic will, they often lack very important legal documents. On part two of this series, Don will discuss how his family handles these documents and the process of getting his children updated.

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How Legal Documents Impact Your Finances and Retirement – Part 1

Americans believe that it is important to have a will, but less than half have one. Not only do many Americans lack a basic will, they often lack very important legal documents like a power of attorney, an advanced healthcare directive (living will) or HIPPA authorization forms. We will begin this discussion in part 1 of 2.

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What Can We Learn About Retirement from Flying?

You’ve likely never thought about it before, but there’s a lot we can learn about retirement from flying. Yes, many of the same processes and principles that are used by pilots and planes can be applied to our financial plan. We’ll take you through those on this episode.

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What Can We Learn From Interest Rates?

We read and hear a lot about interest rates as the move up and down, but how much do you know the rates and how they’re established? Find out how the Federal Reserve operates and what the changing rates mean for the economy and your finances.

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Use the 3rd & 4th Quarter to Get Your Finances Organized

The second half of the year can be a great time to evaluate your portfolio and take the necessary steps to get your finances organized. If you don’t know where to start, we’ll give you a checklist of items you should be focused on during the 3rd and 4th quarter.

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Should You Be Worried About Large Drops in the Stock Market?

A recent dip the in the stock market has stirred up some concern and worry amongst investors. Is it a sign that something worse might be up ahead or is this just another bump in the road?

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Should New Technology Influence Your Investment Strategy?

From a man walking on the moon half a century ago to self-driving cars by the end of the year, technology is always changing. So should our investment strategy change alongside it? It’s a question we can’t avoid anymore so we’ll dive into it. 

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How The SECURE Act Might Impact Your Retirement Planning

The SECURE Act passed in the House and brought with it 29 provisions that would change some of the decisions and actions you’ll take when planning for retirement. What are some of the top things you should be aware of?

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“Fake News” Impacting Your Financial Life

The term “fake news” has become synonymous with the political climate of the past few years. But the phenomenon has spread to other parts of our culture as well. What about fake news in the financial space? We’ll look at some recent news headlines to see if they qualify to be labeled as “fake news”.

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Recent Headlines: Last Month’s Volatility & Brexit

Major US stock indexes fell more than 6% in May, so we’ll take a quick look back at last month and discuss what brought about these changes. And to continue with the news topics, we’ll talk about recent updates on Brexit, and get Don’s opinion on how we should take all of these news events into account in regards to our financal plans. We’ll close out with an email question about the pros and cons of gifting assets.

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Plan Your Summer Vacation & Your Retirement

If you’re heading out on a road trip this summer, there’s a long checklist of items that you want to be sure you haven’t forgotten. And in retirement planning, some of those exact same items need to be addressed. Let’s look at some of the items that should appear on both your road trip checklist and your retirement planning checklist…

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5 Key Retirement Planning Mistakes

When it comes to retirement planning, it’s easy to make a mistake that you can’t undo. And oftentimes, it just comes down to the fact that you don’t know what you don’t know. So this week, Don sheds some light on the top 5 mistakes he has seen people make throughout the planning process.

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College Planning And The Looming Debt Crisis

Outstanding student loans currently total 1.5 trillion dollars, and according to a recent news event they may have a hand in our next major recession. We’ll find out Don’s thoughts on the debt crisis, and how we should take this into account when planning for our children and grandchildren’s future college education.

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Presidential Candidates & Future Tax Rates

On this first episode of the “Your Money & Your Life” podcast, we’ll get to know Don a bit better and find out how his background in the field has shaped his investing and holistic planning philosophies. After that, we’ll dive into our first topic. Don will help us unpack the key points of the new tax code, and we’ll learn how the upcoming election may affect both our future tax rates and our retirement accounts.

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