The 2024 Social Security COLA has been announced! I am sharing the following: What the 2024 COLA is Who gets the COLA How does it compare to COLAs historically Why WHEN you begin receiving your Social Security benefits continues to impact you moving forward 2 reasons why your COLA won't be as high as you think ***Help me make the show better in 2024. Fill out this quick survey! Want help with your retirement plan?👇🏼 ☎️ Book a call with me: https://calendly.com/jacobduke/intro ✉️ Email me: jaco...
Oct 24, 2023•17 min•Ep 43•Transcript available on Metacast Retirement can be challenging... When should I take Social Security? How aggressively should I be investing? How can I manage my taxes? Where is my income going to come from? These are the challenges that typically come up when planning for retirement. But as a financial planner who does retirement planning every day, I have found that one of the hardest parts of retirement is the mental side. Most retirees are worried about spending too much money each month. This can steal your joy because of ...
Oct 17, 2023•20 min•Ep 42•Transcript available on Metacast The Health Savings Account (HSA) is the only account you can contribute to that receives triple-tax advantages. Tax-deductible contributions Tax-deferred growth Tax-free distributions (for qualified medical expenses) And having a funded HSA in retirement comes with it's advantages: Use for more frequent healthcare costs Bridge gap until Medicare age Helps pay for long-term care Can be used for anything after age 65 without penalty ***Help me make the show better in 2024. Fill out this quick surv...
Oct 10, 2023•17 min•Ep 41•Transcript available on Metacast Deciding when to take your Social Security benefits is a common question for most retirees. This decision can cause stress because there is never a perfect answer. If you knew how long you were going to live, it would make this really easy, but that just isn't reality. So, making the most educated decision based on your specific situation is all you can do. In this episode of Retirement Answers, I cover the following: The basics of how your Social Security benefits are calculated 3 questions to ...
Oct 03, 2023•25 min•Ep 40•Transcript available on Metacast What are you going to do next time the market enters a recession? Are you prepared? Do you have a plan? Most investors are reactive to turbulence in the market. They act out of emotion and fear, which is human nature, but if they had a plan in place BEFORE the market volatility came, they wouldn't have to panic. Listen in as I share why you have to: Have a plan before the market volatility begins Expect poor market and economic conditions And how how you can change your outlook on retirement so ...
Sep 26, 2023•19 min•Ep 39•Transcript available on Metacast Tax planning in retirement is a crucial piece in a successful retirement plan. We often think about Roth conversions and tax-loss harvesting as the primary ways to lower your tax bill in your retirement years. But many forget about an opportunity right in front of them... Tax-gain harvesting! This is when you can use the long-term capital gains tax rates to your advantage by intentionally realizing gains when your income is low. By doing this you can achieve a 0% capital gains rate on your inves...
Sep 19, 2023•16 min•Ep 38•Transcript available on Metacast Do you have an old 401k from a previous employer? Or maybe even a few straggling out there? I'm a fan of keeping things organized and simple, so rolling over those old 401ks into an IRA to consolidate your money could is typically a good idea. The hard part is knowing how to actually do the rollover correctly. It can be scary because it is your life savings that you are trying to move from one account to another. Well, in this episode, I guide you through the exact process to make sure you do yo...
Sep 12, 2023•23 min•Ep 37•Transcript available on Metacast What is a retirement plan... actually? Is it a Monte Carlo simulation? Tax projections? Investment allocations? A retirement plan, in my opinion, is non of those things individually. But when they are put together correctly, they each help produce a comprehensive plan. So, this week I week I wanted to share what I think a comprehensive retirement plan looks like and what you should include in your plan. The key takeaway: Your plan doesn't have to be long or super technical. It can be as simple a...
Sep 05, 2023•28 min•Ep 36•Transcript available on Metacast When you want to save Roth money for retirement, but your income is too high... what do you do? Do a Backdoor Roth IRA contribution! Listen in where Jacob shares what a backdoor Roth contribution is, when you should do this (and when you SHOULDN'T), and how to do this correctly. Want help with your retirement plan?👇🏼 ☎️ Book a call with me: https://calendly.com/jacobduke/intro ✉️ Email me: jacob.duke@appliedcapital.com Submit your question here: jacob@retirementanswers.net YouTube: https://www...
Aug 29, 2023•16 min•Ep 35•Transcript available on Metacast We all know that Roth conversions can be a powerful tax savings strategy for retirees, but how do you actually pay the taxes when doing a conversion? Listen in to this week's episode to learn about the 2 ways to pay your conversion taxes: Withhold the taxes Pay the taxes with cash Also, I share a few things to look out for and which of these two options I think is the best way to pay the taxes on your Roth conversions. Be sure to stay to the end to hear this week's listener question. Enjoy the s...
Aug 22, 2023•13 min•Ep 34•Transcript available on Metacast Roth conversions are often a useful tax savings strategy for retirees, but the hardest part is deciding WHEN to actually do them. In this episode of Retirement Answers, Jacob walks you through what he calls the "Roth Conversion Sweet Spot". The "Sweet Spot" consists of a few things: Low Income Large Tax-Deferred Accounts Retired Not taking Social Security Good cash savings Not RMD age yet When all of these things are true, you are a prime candidate for Roth conversions. Even if only a few of the...
Aug 15, 2023•21 min•Ep 33•Transcript available on Metacast We all know that we need a plan for taxes in retirement... But what if there is a big tax bill waiting for surviving spouses? Yes, surviving spouses often have larger tax bills as a single tax filer compared to when they were filing jointly. This is what I call the Widow's Tax Trap. Do you have large IRA or 401k balances? Are you married? Well, you will want to pay attention to this episode. I am sharing what the Widow's Tax Trap is and what you can do to avoid it. Want help with your retirement...
Aug 08, 2023•15 min•Ep 32•Transcript available on Metacast There are many different retirement income strategies to choose from, but my favorite is the 3 Bucket Plan. I'm a visual learner and being able to separate my money out into 3 different silos helps me remember why my money is invested the way it is. Bucket #1 = Cash Bucket #2 = Bonds Bucket #3 = Stocks Each bucket has a purpose and a goal. This approach helps you create your investment allocation based on your unique needs, not some rule of thumb. Enjoy the show! Listen on Apple Podcasts: https:...
Aug 01, 2023•17 min•Ep 31•Transcript available on Metacast Over the last 18 months, the Federal Reserve has been increasing it's interest rates. And because of this interest rates on cash, CDs, Money Markets, Mortgages, and Car Loans have also increased. In fact, interest rates are the highest we have seen in quite some time. Which can create some issues after such a long period of low interest rates. We got used to really low mortgage rates, but it seems like those are a thing of the past. And now you can get 5% on a 6-month CD! What a welcome sight......
Jul 25, 2023•13 min•Ep 30•Transcript available on Metacast We all know about how important it is to have a plan for taxes in retirement. So, we create Roth conversions strategies, but what if I told you there is simple tax savings strategy that is available to anyone. It's called Asset Location. This is when you align the tax type of your investments when the tax type of your accounts to minimize your annual tax burden. For example, your IRA will always be taxed as normal income when you take money from it. Because of this, you would want to have invest...
Jul 18, 2023•13 min•Ep 29•Transcript available on Metacast This week I share 5 things that you need to be doing 5 years before retirement. These are things that will help you have the most successful and fulfilling retirement. Want help with your retirement plan?👇🏼 ☎️ Book a call with me: https://calendly.com/jacobduke/intro ✉️ Email me: jacob.duke@appliedcapital.com Submit your question here: jacob@retirementanswers.net YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@retirementanswers #retirement #howmuchtoretire #retirementplanning #rothira #rothconversion #inves...
Jul 11, 2023•16 min•Ep 28•Transcript available on Metacast Jul 04, 2023•12 min•Ep 27•Transcript available on Metacast We all think stocks are risky because they are volatile. "Oh no! My account is down 25%, I'm losing all of my money!!" Well, today let's have an honest conversation about risk... I want to flip this idea of risk on its head and share my thoughts on what risk really is and what it isn't. Enjoy the show!
Jun 20, 2023•16 min•Ep 26•Transcript available on Metacast We are all curious if we have enough saved to retire. What most people don't do is dig into the details of their savings to see how strategically positioned they are to successfully retire. In this week's episode of Retirement Answers, I walk through a case study from a recent question I received. Be sure to listen in to hear about some of the questions I think about and ask as I evaluate someone's ability to retire. Enjoy the show!
Jun 13, 2023•16 min•Ep 25•Transcript available on Metacast What if I told you your retirement plan is wrong? Initially, probably wouldn't be very comforted to hear that, but I'm here to tell you that it's okay! The simple reality is that we have no way of knowing the future, so all of our retirement plans will be wrong. In this episode of Retirement Answers, I share why it is okay to have an incorrect retirement plan and why having a plan is still very important. Enjoy!
Jun 06, 2023•7 min•Ep 24•Transcript available on Metacast Another big change from the SECURE ACT 2.0 is coming in 2024... This time it has to do with catch-up contributions for everyone 50 or older. Tune into this episode of Retirement Answers to learn everything you need to know about this rule change. Enjoy the show!
May 30, 2023•7 min•Ep 23•Transcript available on Metacast Last week on Retirement Answers I shared what annuities were and how they worked. Well, this week I am sharing 6 reasons I do not like annuities and why I think they are not the best investment option for most investors. I hope you enjoy the show.
May 23, 2023•22 min•Ep 22•Transcript available on Metacast Ahhhh... Annuities. We have all heard of them, but do we really know what they are and how they work? the reality is that most people don't truly understand them and it's not their fault. These products are really confusing with a lot of moving parts. In today's episode, I explain some of the basics that you should know about annuities. Be sure to tune in next week for Part 2 of this series where I will share the biggest pitfalls of annuities and why I'm not a fan of them. Enjoy the show!...
May 16, 2023•19 min•Ep 21•Transcript available on Metacast As a financial planner, I have heard it all when it comes to investing... "My friend said this company was about to go crazy!" "Did you see what they said on the news?!" But rarely do people make money on those hunches... In today's episode, I share 5 common investing mistakes I see and how to avoid them. I hope you enjoy the show!
May 09, 2023•25 min•Ep 20•Transcript available on Metacast One of the biggest decisions you will make in retirement is when to take Social Security! I have found that understanding how Social Security taxation works is important to your overall retirement plan. In this episode, I talk through how Social Security is taxed and share some ideas around why this is important to consider. I hope you enjoy the show! Email: jacob.duke@appliedcapital.com
May 02, 2023•14 min•Ep 19•Transcript available on Metacast Are you trying to figure out how much you need to have saved to successfully retire? Well, in today's episode I share how you can quickly get to a rough estimate of how much you need to retire. I also discuss a few of the common "rules of thumb" and how they might not be the best ways to figure out if you can retire. Enjoy!
Apr 25, 2023•16 min•Ep 18•Transcript available on Metacast What if you could have $100k of income in retirement entirely tax-free?! Well, in this episode, Jacob Duke, CFP® shares exactly how one of his clients is doing just that. Be sure to stick around to the end for tips around how you can accomplish this as well. Enjoy the show!
Apr 18, 2023•15 min•Ep 17•Transcript available on Metacast Taxes are one if the biggest headwinds retirees will face. In this episode, I share 7 different ways you can lower your tax bill both now and throughout your retirement. I hope you enjoy the show!
Apr 11, 2023•27 min•Ep 16•Transcript available on Metacast We know how important it is to be diversified in our investments... But are you aware of how important it is to be tax-diversified for retirement? By having tax diversification, you can create flexibility before and during retirement as you can choose where you pull income from. Also, being tax-diversified can lower your tax bill throughout retirement. Enjoy the show!
Apr 04, 2023•8 min•Ep 15•Transcript available on Metacast You've probably heard about the failure of Silicon Valley Bank. In this episode, I share my thoughts on the whole situation and what we can learn from it. Enjoy!
Mar 15, 2023•10 min•Ep 14•Transcript available on Metacast 
