The search for a financial advisor tends to start by comparing investment performance, credentials, or fees. Those things matter, but they rarely determine whether a relationship will be successful over the long term.

In this episode of Fearless Money Talks, Brian and Kelli welcome back Angela Renee, Senior Administrative Director at Halbert Hargrove, to discuss what separates a good financial advisor from a great one. Together, they explore why meaningful financial planning starts with understanding a person's goals, concerns, relationships, and values before focusing on portfolios or performance.

The conversation also looks at what a thoughtful discovery process should feel like, why couples can uncover different priorities during financial planning discussions, and how the right advisor can provide guidance through life's biggest transitions, not just investment decisions.

Whether you're hiring an advisor for the first time or wondering if your current relationship is meeting your needs, this episode offers practical ideas for finding someone who listens first, communicates clearly, and helps you make more confident financial decisions.

Connect with us! 

• Kelli Kiemle on LinkedIn
• Brian Spinelli on LinkedIn
• Angela Renee on LinkedIn 
• Halbert Hargrove Website

Doing it yourself can be a great way to build wealth. In fact, many DIY investors have done exactly that. But success can also create new challenges that aren't always obvious until years later.

In this season finale of Fearless Money Talks, Brian and Kelli walk through some of the most common mistakes they see when self-directed investors eventually seek professional advice. The conversation covers why taxes shouldn't dictate your investment strategy, how years of strong market returns can quietly leave a portfolio carrying more risk than intended, and why diversification isn't a one-time decision but something that should evolve alongside your life.

Brian also explains why risk isn't simply about taking too much of it. Sometimes a bigger mistake can be taking too little. The discussion explores how inflation can quietly erode purchasing power, why staying in cash can become its own long-term risk, and how past market downturns continue to shape investor behavior years after they've recovered.

The episode wraps up with an often-overlooked topic: concentration risk. Whether it's years of accumulated company stock, an overreliance on one asset class, or simply letting a winning investment grow unchecked, concentration can expose investors to unnecessary risk just when they're approaching retirement or beginning to rely on their portfolio for income.

It's a practical conversation for anyone managing their own investments, offering perspective on how investment strategies should adapt as markets change, life changes, and financial goals evolve.

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• Kelli Kiemle on LinkedIn
• Brian Spinelli on LinkedIn
• Halbert Hargrove Website

AI can summarize an article, build a budget, explain a Roth conversion, and answer almost any financial question you can think of in seconds. So what happens when investors start asking a bigger question: do they still need a financial advisor?

In this episode of Fearless Money Talks, Brian and Kelli sit down with Halbert Hargrove Wealth Advisor Tyler Gilley to explore where AI can be useful, where it can fall short, and why the future of financial advice is likely more human, not less.

Tyler explains why the quality of an AI answer depends heavily on the quality of the question being asked, how better prompts help lead to better answers, and why context matters more than investors may realize. The conversation explores the difference between information and advice, how advisors can help uncover the details clients may not think to mention, and why understanding a person's goals, fears, relationships, and life circumstances can change the guidance they receive.

The discussion also tackles one of AI's biggest blind spots: confirmation bias. AI is designed to help answer questions rather than challenge assumptions, which can reinforce existing beliefs during periods of market uncertainty. The team also explores the role trust, empathy, and lived experience play when clients are navigating major life events, market volatility, or difficult financial decisions.

AI is becoming a powerful tool. Check out this episode to explore why that may make human judgment, perspective, and meaningful conversations even more valuable.

Connect with us! 

• Kelli Kiemle on LinkedIn
• Brian Spinelli on LinkedIn
• Tyler Gilley on LinkedIn 
• Halbert Hargrove Website

Buying a business sounds like the move. Be your own boss. Generate income. Maybe even step back and let it run. But most people walk into the process not knowing what they don't know, and that gap can cost them.

This episode of Fearless Money Talks brings in David Koch, senior wealth advisor and director of portfolio management at Halbert Hargrove, for a candid conversation about what smart business buyers do before they sign anything.

David walks through what he looks for when a client comes to him with a deal on the table and it goes well beyond the numbers. There's a question he recommends asking every seller that sounds like small talk but can tell you how dependent the business is on one person. There's a reason he assumes the books are ugly until proven otherwise. And there's a cost you should probably pay before spending millions that buyers may skip because it feels expensive.

The conversation also covers customer concentration risk, what "passive income" looks like in practice versus in theory, how roll-ups work, and ways to structure a deal so the seller doesn't vanish the moment the wire hits.

If you've ever thought seriously about buying a business or you're already in the middle of it, this episode can help with what you look for.

Connect with us! 

• Kelli Kiemle on LinkedIn
• Brian Spinelli on LinkedIn
• David Koch on LinkedIn
• Halbert Hargrove Website

Talking to your parents about money sounds like it should be straightforward. It’s not.

This episode of Fearless Money Talks takes on one of the most uncomfortable financial conversations out there: inheritance. Or more accurately, everything around it that isn’t really about the money. Kelli Kiemle and Brian Spinelli unpack why most people aren’t usually asking “What do I get?” They’re asking, “Are my parents going to be okay?” and “What happens if they’re not?”

Brian walks through how these conversations show up in real life, from adult children worried about becoming caregivers to parents who aren’t sure how much to share and when. There’s a practical breakdown of ways to approach the discussion, whether that’s talking through account values, introducing key advisors, or just making sure someone knows where the documents are kept.

They also get into what can go sideways, what a “prepared” parent can look like beyond a will, and why retirement lasting 30-40 years has changed the entire equation.

And throughout it all, there’s a consistent theme: if you’re going to start this conversation, lead with empathy. Because the moment it feels like it’s about the money, it’s already off track.

It’s not a fun topic. But it might be one of the most important conversations you avoid, until you can’t.

Connect with us! 

• Kelli Kiemle on LinkedIn
• Brian Spinelli on LinkedIn
• Halbert Hargrove Website

What You’ll Learn

• How Roth conversions actually work
• Why timing matters more than most investors realize
• The tax traps that can make conversions expensive
• How Roth conversions affect Medicare premiums
• Why inherited IRA rules changed under the SECURE Act
• What the Roth five-year rule means in practice
• When paying taxes from the IRA may still make sense

Most people have probably heard that a Roth IRA is a good thing. Far fewer people understand what it actually takes to get there or what it costs to get it wrong.

This episode of Fearless Money Talks brings in Nick Strain, who fields the Roth conversion questions so often that Brian said he just calls Nick whenever one comes up. Together, the three dig into what a Roth conversion actually is, why timing matters more than most people realize, and why converting your entire IRA at once might be one of the more expensive mistakes you could make.

The conversation moves through the full picture: the clients who can likely benefit most (recently retired, business owners with a rough year, someone staring down a big RMD at 73), the planning that needs to happen before you sign anything, and the hidden costs that don't show up until April or on your Medicare bill. Nick also walks through what the paperwork actually looks like, why you can't undo a conversion once it's done, and a legacy planning angle that most people don’t think to ask about.

It's a genuinely useful conversation for anyone who has ever nodded along when someone mentioned Roth conversions without fully knowing what they were agreeing to.

Connect with us! 

• Kelli Kiemle on LinkedIn
• Brian Spinelli on LinkedIn
• Nick Strain on LinkedIn
• Halbert Hargrove Website

What if everything went wrong in the markets and it still wasn't as bad as you expected?

This episode of Fearless Money Talks is a Q1 2026 market recap that actually earns its runtime. Kelli Kiemle and Brian Spinelli walk through a quarter that had no shortage of headlines, oil spikes, geopolitical tension, AI panic, inflation jitters, and ask the question most investors forgot to ask: so how bad did things actually get? The answer is more interesting than the noise suggested.

Brian discusses why oil shocks have historically affected portfolios differently over time, what the SaaS selloff was really about, and how international and emerging markets performed relative to the US in Q1. He also walks through the role diversification can play in a portfolio, including a plain-language explanation of reinsurance, an asset class that sounds obscure until he explains the connection to your everyday homeowner's insurance.

There's also an honest conversation about investor psychology: why people feel like the market is collapsing when historical patterns suggest otherwise, why the urge to do something in volatile moments is worth examining, and what a "lost decade" has looked like historically when a quick recovery never came. Kelli admits she's been trained not to look at her 401k. Someone's 401k became a 201k. Brian has thoughts about that too.

It's a market update for people who don't love market updates, which, as it turns out, includes at least one of the hosts.

Connect with us! 

• Kelli Kiemle on LinkedIn
• Brian Spinelli on LinkedIn
• Halbert Hargrove Website

What happens to all that boomer wealth everyone keeps talking about? And while we're at it, how much should you actually spend on your nephew this Christmas?

This episode of Fearless Money Talks takes a sharp turn from the sentimental to the sobering. Brian Spinelli and Kelli Kiemle are joined by producer Brodrick Lothringer, who jumps in along the way with questions that keep the conversation honest. Together they open with a topic that doesn't get nearly enough airtime: the real cost of long-term care, who ends up paying for it, and what can happen to families when one side saved and the other didn't. Longevity and the possible quiet financial strain on adult children come up, because these are the conversations clients are having, even if they'd rather not.

Then things get lighter. The team digs into holiday gift giving, the etiquette of receipts tucked into boxes, the white elephant debate, experiences versus things, and whether a gift card is thoughtful or just a polite way of saying "I didn't know what to get you." Kelli has strong opinions. Brian has a Chihuahua mug. Brodrick has a closet full of mystery tools from his father-in-law.

It's a mix of real financial stakes and the kind of family dynamics that can make the holidays feel complicated for a lot of people, sometimes in the same conversation.

Connect with us! 

• Kelli Kiemle on LinkedIn
• Brian Spinelli on LinkedIn
• Halbert Hargrove Website

Have you ever been in a conversation where someone kept explaining something long after you stopped caring?

That realization comes up in this episode of Fearless Money Talks, and it opens a bigger discussion about one of the most overlooked skills in financial advice: listening. From Kelli’s early retail jobs at Nordstrom to Brian’s first client meeting that went completely sideways, the team reflects on the moments that taught them an important lesson. Most clients don’t want a technical breakdown of their portfolio. They want to know what actually matters to them.

Brian Spinelli and Kelli Kiemle are joined by Brodrick Lothringer, who jumps in along the way with questions that help unpack what clients are looking for when they sit down with an advisor.

The conversation moves through the everyday realities behind financial advice. Why many advisors unintentionally overexplain, the questions clients are really trying to answer when they meet with an advisor, and how life changes such as retirement, inheritance, divorce, or simply wanting to enjoy the present often matter more than market performance.

There is humor, a few hard lessons, and a candid look at why good communication often beats technical expertise when it comes to building trust.

Connect with us!

• Kelli Kiemle on LinkedIn
• Brian Spinelli on LinkedIn
• Halbert Hargrove Website

Have you ever had to tell someone a raise or bonus wasn’t happening anymore, and realized mid-sentence that you hadn’t explained nearly enough?

That moment comes up early in this episode of Fearless Money Talks, and it opens a much bigger conversation. What happens when leadership goes through a hard stretch, communication breaks down, and people start assuming the worst? And how do those moments change the way a firm operates years later?

This episode with our CEO JC Abusaid reflects on the uncomfortable lessons that help shape culture. Being clear when it’s awkward. Letting people see the full picture. Making decisions during market stress that protect trust instead of eroding it. There’s humor, some hard-earned perspective, and a very real look at how firms can grow without losing the people inside them.

Connect with us! 

• JC Abusaid on LinkedIn
• Kelli Kiemle on LinkedIn
• Brian Spinelli on LinkedIn
• Halbert Hargrove Website