In today's Five Question Friday (FQF) video, we cover these questions: 1. Floor & Enjoy Retirement Strategy 2. Target Date Funds 3. Paying Taxes on Roth Conversions 4. Vanguard’s New BondBuilder ETFs 5. Boldin vs. Empower Resources From Video Empower: https://go.robberger.com/empower/yt-fqf Boldin: https://go.robberger.com/boldin/yt-fqf https://longevity.stanford.edu/wp-con... https://robberger.com/spend-safely-in... https://fundresearch.fidelity.com/mut... https://fundresearch.fidelity.com/...
Apr 24, 2026•29 min•Ep. 243
In this Five Question Friday (FQF) video, we cover these questions: 1. How to teach your significant other to manage the investments? (The Spouse Financial Survival Kit) 1. Start with a One-Pager a. Accounts b. Key Professionals c. Withdrawal Order d. Financial Overview Doc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1W... 2. Financial Love Letter https://docs.google.com/document/d/1q... 3. Review the documents once a year 2. When to Take RMDs? 1. Timing doesn’t change amount (the amount is based on bal...
Mar 06, 2026•25 min•Ep. 242
In this episode, I'll answer the following question from a viewer: "I would like to ask if you can do a video on the current specific funds you are invested in? You did a video a while back about your 6 funds, but now you mentioned in a recent video that you simplified and are down to 3 or 4 funds. I was thinking of mirroring your 6 fund plan but now I see you have simplified, which is why I am asking if you can do a new video going over your new 4 fund plan." Join the Newsletter. It's Free: htt...
Feb 17, 2026•20 min•Ep. 241
In today's Five Question Friday (FQF) video, we cover these questions: 1. Where is the best place to park cash today? 2. Should you invest or pay off student loans? 3. Are Schwab’s Target Date Retirement Funds a solid option? 4. When should you start spending your IRA money? 5. Should a TIPS ladder be part of a retirement portfolio? Join the Newsletter. It's Free: https://robberger.com/newsletter/?utm......
Feb 06, 2026•32 min•Ep. 240
In this episode, we cover my Ultimate Retirement Checklist: 1. Healthcare 2. Start learning about Medicare 3. Understand IRMMA brackets 4. Track Expenses 5. Calculate Your Burn Rate 6. Calculate Your Guaranteed Income Ratio 7. Plan for large expenses 8. Plan when to take Social Security 9. Cash 10. Create a Tax-Efficient Withdrawal Strategy 11. Understand how investment withdrawals are taxed 12. Consider Roth conversions 13. Plan how to spend down your HSA 14. Simplify Accounts 15. Simplify Inve...
Feb 03, 2026•25 min•Ep. 239
In today's Five Question Friday (FQF) video, we cover these questions: 1. How do you protect your portfolio as you near retirement? 2. How does asset location work if you must draw from taxable accounts? 3. Should you automatically reinvest dividends? 4. How can I diversify away from the S&P 500? 5. What is the safe withdrawal rate for a 20 year retirement? Join the Newsletter. It's Free: https://robberger.com/newsletter/?utm......
Jan 30, 2026•29 min•Ep. 238
In today's Five Question Friday (FQF) video, we cover these questions: 1. What Happens To Bond Funds When the Fed Cuts Rates? 2. Where to Invest If Stocks Are a No-go 3. How are Mutual Fund Sales Taxed? 4. Should Annuities Replace Bonds? 5. Brokerage Account vs Roth IRA Resources Snowball-Analytics: https://go.robberger.com/snowball-ana... 10 Year Treasury & Fed Fund Rate: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/T1... VTINX: https://investor.vanguard.com/investm... FTBFX: https://fundresearch.fid...
Jan 02, 2026•25 min•Ep. 237
In this 2025 Year-End Investment Portfolio Review we cover the following topics: 1. Asset Allocation a. Diversification / changes b. Rebalancing 2. Simplification 3. Beneficiaries 4. Performance 5. Tax Loss or Gain Harvesting 6. Fees a. Fund fees b. Advisor fees 7. Evaluate Your Performance a. Did you buy/sell anything b. What worried you during the year Join the Newsletter. It's Free: https://robberger.com/newsletter/?utm......
Dec 31, 2025•19 min•Ep. 236
In today's Five Question Friday (FQF) video, we look at these five topics: 1. 10% yield on bonds 2. Where to hold bonds 3. Co-signing a mortgage 4. Paying taxes on a Roth conversion 5. Asset allocation of real estate investments Bonus: Cost of long-term care calculator Resources: https://www.carescout.com/cost-of-care Join the Newsletter. It's Free: https://robberger.com/newsletter/?utm......
Nov 28, 2025•24 min•Ep. 235
In today's Five Question Friday (FQF) video, we look at these five questions: 1. Have we been lied to about our Social Security break-even age? 2. Is it ok to restart the 4% rule if the market goes up in early retirement? 3. I am nervous about the run up in AI stocks . . . Could it be a good idea to consider diversifying from VTI to an “equal-weighted index fund like Invesco S&P Equal Weight ETF or others like it? 4. I’m 64 and I would like to begin annual Roth conversions from my traditiona...
Nov 07, 2025•32 min•Ep. 234
In today's Five Question Friday (FQF) video, we cover these questions: 1. How to invest $15 million? 2. For the 4% withdrawal rate devised by Bill Bengen, what measure of inflation did he use? Are there other measures that you think might be more appropriate? 3. If you have a retirement portfolio with a 6% yield does the 4% rule apply? 4. Is a 7-year MYGA a better deal than a 7-year Treasury? 5. If the yield from a High Yield Savings account is paying out 3.8 to 4.0%, why would it ever be a good...
Oct 21, 2025•28 min•Ep. 233
In today's Five Question Friday (FQF) video, we cover this questions: 1. Can you recommend a detailed tax estimator? 2. How to plan Roth conversions without a fancy retirement planner? 3. Should you pay off a mortgage early or invest the money? 4. Are identity theft protection services worth the cost? 5. How does reinvesting vs spending dividends affect return assumptions for retirement planning? Resources 2025 Tax Calculator: https://www.efile.com/tax-return-calc... *Note*: eFile is still updat...
Oct 04, 2025•24 min•Ep. 232
Get free guidance on Medicare from Chapter, a company I've partnered with, by calling 410-220-5494. If you call Chapter, please let me know about your experience. It's Not That Complicated https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Hqs4v7wLCjhh5ohWVVSNTs2HsGz9nufD/view Join the Newsletter. It's Free: https://robberger.com/newsletter/?utm...
Sep 26, 2025•2 hr 8 min•Ep. 231
In this episode, we'll walk through resources you can use to get free help with Medicare. The Resources are broken into three categories: 1. Free online educational content 2. Free Medicare guidance from SHIP 3. Free Medicare guidance from insurance brokers Resources Medicare: https://www.medicare.gov/ CMS: https://www.cms.gov/ KFF: https://www.kff.org/topic/medicare/ SHIP: https://www.shiphelp.org/ JAMA Study on SHIP: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama... Chapter: 410-220-5494 Federal Lawsui...
Sep 25, 2025•19 min•Ep. 230
In this episode, we'll walk through 7 things you must know about Medicare's annual open enrollment period. Resources It's Not That Complicated (pdf): https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Hqs4... Medicare & You 2026 (pdf): https://www.medicare.gov/publications... 2025 Medicare Parts A & B Premiums and Deductibles: https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/fact-she... Medicare Part A Costs: https://www.medicare.gov/basics/costs... Medigap Plans: https://www.medicare.gov/health-drug-... KFF Medigap Article:...
Sep 25, 2025•10 min•Ep. 229
In this episode, we'll walk through the key differences and pros and cons of Original Medicare vs Medicare Advantage plans. Resources It's Not That Complicated (pdf): https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Hqs4... Medicare & You 2026 (pdf): https://www.medicare.gov/publications... 2025 Medicare Parts A & B Premiums and Deductibles: https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/fact-she... Medicare Part A Costs: https://www.medicare.gov/basics/costs... Medigap Plans: https://www.medicare.gov/health-drug-... KFF...
Sep 25, 2025•29 min•Ep. 228
A viewer asked me to suggest some tools he could use to evaluate his investment portfolio and asset allocation. So in this video we looked at three of my favorite investment tools: 1. Empower: https://go.robberger.com/empower/yt-3... 2. Kubera: https://go.robberger.com/kubera/yt-3-... 3. Google Sheets: https://robberger.com/investment-trac... Join the Newsletter. It's Free: https://robberger.com/newsletter/?utm...
Sep 15, 2025•20 min•Ep. 227
In today's Five Question Friday (FQF) video, we cover the following questions: 1. What are the best finance apps for those with a learning disability? 2. Is 3% SWR the new 4%? 3. How do you model tax-free income in Boldin? 4. In what account type should you hold cash you plan to spend in the first few years of retirement? 5. What inflation rate should you assume in retirement? Resources Monarch Money: https://go.robberger.com/monarch-yt/y... (Use Promo Code ROB50 for 50% off the first year) Simp...
Aug 24, 2025•43 min•Ep. 226
In today's video, we discuss how Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amount (IRMAA) payments are calculated and 8 strategies to reduce or even eliminate the payments. Resources from the Video Reddit Forum Post: / strategies_to_reduce_irmaa_costs_medicare 2025 IRMAA Brackets: https://www.humana.com/medicare/medic... IRMAA MAGI Calculation: https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0... SSA-44 Form: https://www.ssa.gov/forms/ssa-44.pdf Boldin: https://go.robberger.com/boldin/yt-irmma ProjectionLab: https:...
Aug 20, 2025•20 min•Ep. 225
In today's Five Question Friday (FQF), we cover five great questions and one tax calculator: 1. What is the Tax Triangle? (Traditional, Roth, and taxable accounts) 2. Is the Withdrawal Amount in FICalc the same as spending? 3. When should you sell an investment that's at a loss? 4. How far into the future should we plan? 5. When and how quickly should you change asset allocation as you near retirement? Tool: Retirement Tax-Friendly States: https://smartasset.com/retirement/ret... Resources Black...
Aug 15, 2025•29 min•Ep. 224
A viewer recently asked about bracket filling: "I haven't heard you or other financial advisors say much about "bracket filling" in retirement. Is it reasonable to think that in retirement I should be filling a tax bracket up with pre-tax accounts, then using after-tax accounts for withdrawals that reach into the higher bracket? Is there a way to model this in Bolden?" It's a great question that we cover in this video. Resources Mentioned in Video Boldin: https://go.robberger.com/boldin/yt-EN......
Jul 28, 2025•16 min•Ep. 223
The passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act has brought us a number of changes to the tax laws. Some changes are "permanent," meaning it would take an act of Congress and the President to change them. Some are "temporary," meaning they expire at some point in the future. Almost all of them can affect how we plan for retirement, particularly when it comes to Roth conversion strategies, tax-gain harvesting, and even traditional retirement account distributions. In this video, I walk through the ...
Jul 24, 2025•23 min•Ep. 222
Here are the five questions we cover this week in Five Question Friday: 1. Should we park cash in a money market fund or a t-bill ETF? 2. Are Robo-Advisor Tax-Loss harvesting features worth it? 3. What is the Retirement Spending Smile? 4. What rate of return assumption should you use in retirement planning software? 5. Which IRA account types can be combined? Join the Newsletter. It's Free: https://robberger.com/newsletter/?utm...
Jul 19, 2025•28 min•Ep. 221
In today's Five Question Friday we look at the following questions: 1. How should the $6,000 senior deduction affect Roth conversions? 2. Are short-term bonds a reasonable alternative to intermediate-term bonds? 3. Are tax-managed balanced funds ok in a taxable account? 4. How should I invest money I'll use to pay the rent in retirement? 5. Boldin vs ProjectionLab for Roth conversion analysis? Join the Newsletter. It's Free: https://robberger.com/newsletter/?utm......
Jul 12, 2025•23 min•Ep. 220
One of the challenges of the 4% Rule is what your initial safe withdrawal rate should be. While the name of the rule suggests one should start with 4%, there are countless reasons why that start point may not be right for you. For example, you may retiree early, you may not use the same asset allocation the rule was based on, you may have concerns about future stock market returns, inflation or both. Enter withdrawal strategies that don't require you to use 4% or any other initial safe withdrawa...
Jun 24, 2025•26 min•Ep. 219
In today's Five Question Friday (FQF), we look at the following questions: 1. TIPS Funds vs Individual TIPS--which provides the better inflation protection? 2. Is a 4% withdrawal each year with no inflation adjustment a reasonable withdrawal strategy? 3. Can tax loss harvesting reduce IRMAA payments? 4. How can you estimate the annual income of an investment portfolio? 5. How do I track my net worth? Join the Newsletter. It's Free: https://robberger.com/newsletter/?utm......
Jun 22, 2025•17 min•Ep. 218
We look at the following questions in today's Five Question Friday: 1. Are growth stocks best for Roth IRAs? 2. How should you pay taxes on retirement account withdrawals? 3. How should you invest in retirement if you are scared of the stock market? 4. What's the ideal set-it-and-forget-it retirement portfolio? 5. Should you withdrawal cash from investment accounts to create an emergency fund? Schwab RMD article: https://www.schwab.com/go-digital/rmd Join the Newsletter. It's Free: https://robbe...
Jun 14, 2025•28 min•Ep. 217
In today's Five Question Friday video we cover these questions: 1. Why has Bill Bengen gone from 4% to 5%? 2. Is it ok to put Social Security bridge money in a money market fund? 3. How do Fidelity's Zero Funds compare to Vanguard Index Funds? 4. Should cash count towards your asset allocation? 5. Should you convert Vanguard Mutual Funds to ETFs? Join the Newsletter. It's Free: https://robberger.com/newsletter/?utm...
Jun 07, 2025•23 min•Ep. 216
I viewer named Eileen asked about how her children, who are in their twenties, should invest. Here's her question: Can you do a video on constructing a retirement account (Roth) for my 20 year old kids? They are contributing 15%. I am thinking 10% VGSLX, 10% VSIAX, 30% VTIAX and 50% either VTSAX or VVIAX. Your thoughts please. In this video I'll walk through the 3 goals of long-term investing, evaluate Eileen's proposed portfolio, and look at one alternative. Empower: https://go.robberger.com/em...
Jun 03, 2025•23 min•Ep. 215
In today's Five Question Friday we look at these 5 questions: 1. Does a Market Crash Change How to Use the 4% Rule? 2. How do bond ETFs generate returns? 3. Are Timothy Funds a good option? 4. Is Fidelity HSA a solid account? 5. What's better in retirement, Schwab Intelligent Portfolios or a TDR Fund? Join the Newsletter. It's Free: https://robberger.com/newsletter/?utm...
May 31, 2025•24 min•Ep. 214
