Strategies for Maximizing Your Social Security

Our mission for this show is to help you live a stress-free retirement; and few things create more stress and confusion for pre-retirees than Social Security. Since they don’t know whom to turn to for advice, they often make hasty decisions that cost them tens of thousands over their lifetime. When should you take Social Security and what is the best way to take it? We’ll give answers and strategies in the first part of this show.

In the second part, we’ll talk about the best ways to invest during your accumulation years, as you’re heading towards retirement, versus your retirement years. Finally, we’ll answer some listener questions about these topics. Listen in.

Mutual Funds and ETFs

If you’re retired, you may be wondering if mutual funds and ETFs are appropriate for you to invest in retirement. You may also wonder what the difference is between them (hint: there are more similarities than there are differences).

Mutual funds are actively managed by fund managers who make decisions about which assets to buy and sell within the fund. Investors buy shares directly from the fund company at the end-of-day net asset value.

ETFs are passively managed funds that typically track an index or a specific sector. They are traded on exchanges like stocks, and their prices fluctuate throughout the trading day. Investors buy and sell ETF shares on the open market.

In today’s podcast, we give a bird’s eye view of how mutual funds and ETFs work, along with the main advantages of each.

As usual, we’ll end the show by answering a few of your questions. Listen in.

It’s not How Much You Earn, but How Much You Keep That Matters

My dad used to often say to me, “It’s not what you earn, but what you keep that matters.” In this show, we’ll talk about several strategies that can help you maximize how much you keep of what you earn.

We’ll then go on to discuss potential pitfalls of investing in mutual funds and the benefits of individual bonds, particularly as you approach retirement.

We’ll also explain the difference between fee-based and commission-based advisors, with the former being held to a fiduciary standard which requires them to make the best recommendations for their clients.

For our weekly listener question, we’ll address indexed funds and municipal bonds.

Listen in.

Inflation Hedge Investments

It’s no secret that inflation has been high – let’s talk about which investments can best act as a hedge against it. We’ll start with investing for income, then we’ll cover bond and bond alternatives, dividend stocks and even real estate.

Our weekly listener questions will feature gold, Bitcoin and TIPS (treasury inflation protected securities).

We end this show with discussing the importance of a purpose-driven investment strategy that aligns with your retirement goals.

Listen in.

The 411 on 401(k) Rollovers

If you have a 401(k) and are wondering whether or not you should leave it there or roll it into an IRA, you’re going to want to listen to this show. There are valid points on both sides of the argument and we’ll make sure to cover them.

About two decades ago, it became popular for companies to allow in-service withdrawals for working employees over 59 1/2 years old. Since there are benefits for both options, it can be a controversial issue with many things to consider from a financial standpoint.

As usual, we’ll end the show with listener questions. Listen in.

Bonds and Bond Alternatives

What should you keep in mind about if you’re considering Bonds as an investment option?
How can you use them as a capital appreciation play?
What are some alternatives if you think bonds might be too conservative for you?
These are the 3 points of interest we’ll focus on during this show.

For our weekly listener questions segment, we’ll talk about how to use an annuity for income and we’ll explain the difference between saving for retirement and saving in retirement.

Listen in.