Year: 2023

Your Health Span vs Your Life Span

We are all familiar with the term life span and the concern inflation and social security changes may impact living a long life. Today, we are going to talk about “health span” and what we need to think about as we live longer, and hopefully healthier, in retirement.

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Social Security Cost Of Living Changes For 2024 – What Does That Mean For You?

In this episode, we’re taking a look at the new Social Security cost of living changes for 2024. Join Don and Marc as they decode the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and its impact on Social Security and retirement planning. They uncover the intricate world of CPI categories, from CPI-U to CPI-W, and how they determine Social Security cost of living adjustments.

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Government Bonds Downgraded – What Does That Mean to Me?

Why is this downgrade happening now and what does it mean to us as we save for and in retirement?
We want to explore that in this episode and get Don’s perspective on what happened after the last downgrade and try to determine what we can do as investors to protect ourselves moving forward.

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100th Episode Spectacular! Looking Back On Our Prior Shows

Welcome to our 100th episode of Your Money & Your Life! Today we’re taking a nostalgic look back at the past five years, from personal milestones to macro-economic events, such as the fluctuating real estate market and interest rates. We even rewind to some previous episodes, examining how our predictions on technology’s role in investment strategies held up, and discussing the unforeseen impact of COVID-19 on our lives and finances.

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Mailbag: Should I Sell The Family Farmland I Inherited? And More

We’re diving into the listener mailbag for today’s episode! We’ve received some excellent listener questions recently, and we’re going to dive into a few of them on today’s show. Stick around, because these strategies could be useful for your life or help you avoid financial mistakes in the future.

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Should I Move to Another State to Save Money on Taxes & Expenses?

Many retirees bounce around the idea of moving states in retirement with the goal of saving money on taxes and expenses. It makes sense on the surface but will it benefit you as much as you hoped?

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Artificial Intelligence: Should We Be Afraid?

Join Don and Marc as they dive into the fascinating world of artificial intelligence. Discover the potential risks, benefits, and the ever-expanding reach of AI across various industries. From AI-generated music and artwork to robo-advisors and facial recognition, AI is revolutionizing the way we interact with technology. In this episode, we’ll explore the origins of AI the blurred lines between reality and AI, and ultimately answer the question: should you be worried?

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The U.S. Debt Ceiling Drama Continues

We’re back to discuss the ongoing battle over the debt ceiling in this episode. We’ll review recent federal budgets and expenses and compare these numbers to recent history. We’ll also dive into the impact of the COVID-19 relief spending, address some concerns about inflation, and share our thoughts about this situation as a whole.

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U.S. Debt Ceiling And Federal Reserve Rate Hikes – Insights For Investors

In today’s episode, we’re going to dive into the pressing issues of the U.S. debt ceiling and Federal Reserve rate hikes. We’ll begin by unraveling the concept of the federal debt ceiling, examining its history, and shedding light on the federal government’s current and prospective spending plans. Ultimately, we’ll discuss what all the recent buzz on this topic might mean for investors and whether there is cause for alarm.

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What Is Reinvestment Risk?

Many of us have heard of typical investment risks, such as market risks, liquidity risks, credit risks, and concentration risks. But what is reinvestment risk? In today’s episode, we’ll explain what reinvestment risk is and how the fear of recent events might be driving this risk.

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The Taxman Cometh – 2023 Edition

  What many people are starting to realize is that taxes in retirement might actually be more than they were when they were working. We’ve been taught our entire lives to defer taxes by contributing to an IRA and 401(k), but that ends up leaving retirees with more to pay down the road. What’s important…

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Bank Failures & Your Investment Planning – What’s Happening Now?

  The biggest news in the financial world this month has been the failure of major banks like Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank. There didn’t seem to be any concerns about their stability even a few weeks ago, but things fell apart quickly. So the obvious question is what happened and how will this…

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What is ESG Investing? Don’t Get Fooled

You might have come across headlines in recent weeks that keep talking about ESG investing. It’s an issue that has been all over the financial news lately and is gaining notice with the investing public. This ESG, or Environmental, Social, and corporate Governance, is a hot issue on Wall Street and affects many 401(k) and…

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Is Social Security Going Broke? Myths, Truths & Opportunities

The future of Social Security has been discussed and debated for a number of years now but it seems to be front and center with the current conversations at the federal level. With talk about ending Social Security or making changes to the benefits, we’re getting even more questions about the program and whether it’s…

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Threats, Traps, and Tips for Tax Season

Tax season is officially here for 2023 and while many of us will slowly ease into it, now is the time to start thinking about what you need to accomplish over the next few months. In this episode, Don is going to help you prepare for tax season by explaining the key documents that you’ll…

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Landmines and Opportunities in SECURE Act 2.0

Another round of retirement changes are on the way after President Biden passed SECURE Act 2.0 into law on December 23rd. While we’ve been anticipating this legislation for a while, we didn’t know exactly what we be in the final bill. The original SECURE Act made significant changes to IRA rules. The most notable was…

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