Financial Freedom Podcast

Social Security is still an important part of any retirement plan. It acts as a good supplement to a pension or other income from IRAs or 401Ks. But how it fits in to your particular plan and when is also important.

That's why in this episode of the podcast I talk with financial planner and Social Security guru Devin Carroll about how to make the right choices when you are a few years out and when you are ready to walk out the door and go home for good.

In this episode you will learn:

• How to decide when to claim benefits
• What you should know about benefits before retiring
• The biggest mistakes people make
• About survivor benefits
• About ex-spouse benefits

You may have heard about stock options in financial news articles, especially in the context of tech companies and startups. They act as a form of compensation or a benefit for employees.

But what are they? How do they work, and if your employer offers them, how can you use them to your best advantage in your financial plan? To answer these questions, I talk with Landon Loveall of KB Financial Advisors on how stock options can help you with your short and long term financial plans.

In this episode you will learn:

- What stock options are - The types of stock options and their tax ramifications - How you can leverage them to your benefit - How to minimize your tax liability

Most people wait until they reach age 65 or older to retire. One of the reasons is that you can maximize your social security benefit. This makes retirement something that is far into the future.

But what if you don't want to wait that long? What if you want to have more time to enjoy it? That's why in this episode of the podcast I talk to engineer, real estate professional and CEO of Dirty Boots Capital Tony Lopes on how it can be done.

In this episode you will learn:

- How to solve the job experience to get a job conundrum - The importance of getting a Return on Life (ROL) - About building wealth with passive income - The importance of having more than one source of income

The word "wealthy" means different things to different people. It's more than the numbers in people's bank accounts or necessarily being a millionaire. It's more about financial independence and having a healthy relationship with money.

That's why on this episode of the podcast I talk with Rob Souza about what wealth is, how you can reimagine it, and how you can achieve what he calls Uthentic Wealth.

In this episode you will learn:

- Why money mindfulness is foundational to financial freedom - Why a healthy relationship with money is important - How your finances are interconnected with other areas of your life - How you can reimagine wealth

Life insurance is an important part of any financial plan. Your death can bring about financial hardship to those you leave behind without it. Term life provides a nice benefit for a lower premium (although it goes up as you get older), while whole or universal life provides coverage for a higher premium, but it grows in cash value over time to provide an asset.

But apparently that whole life policy is worth more than its cash surrender value! You can actually sell it! To tell you more about this, I talked with Rob Haynie about life settlements and how they work.

In this episode you will learn:

- What a life insurance settlement is - What some of the most compelling reasons are for considering one - How they can aid in estate planning - How they can help you achieve financial freedom in retirement - How they can help you overcome debt and avoid foreclosure

Millennials are somewhat the "middle child" generation when it comes to saving for retirement. Although, on average, they began saving 10 years earlier than Baby Boomers, Gen Z started at the age of 19, which is 16 years earlier than the average baby boomer, and 6 years earlier than millennials.

As such, they do have an edge over Boomers, they do have to play catch-up vis a vis the Gen Zers. That's why in this episode of the podcast I talk with retired attorney and investment guy Dan Solin on what millennials can do to get to the retirement finish line successfully.

In this episode you will learn:

- Whether Retirement Should Be Your Investing Goal - How Your Behavior Will Determine Whether You Reach Your Retirement Goals - What "Consumer Smoothing" Is - Whether Adjustable Rate Mortgages are Better Than Fixed Rate Ones - Should You Pay Off, or Keep, Your Mortgage

Although student loans continue to be a hot topic in personal finance news, there are many interesting articles and tips out there that can help you on your path to financial freedom. These include Gen Z investment strategies that seem to be working, the cooling of the housing market competition, whether you should leverage the equity in your home, and how to maximize your vacation time.

Thant's why in this episode of the podcast I wanted to talk about these various news items, in hopes that they can give you some investing ideas, help you decide whether to buy or sell a home, whether to do something with your home equity, or get you the most time off from work.

In this episode you will learn:

- How Gen Z Investment Strategies Can Help You - About the Cooling of Housing Market Competition and What It Means for You - About If, When, and How You Should Tap Into Your Home Equity - How to Maximize Vacation Days

One of the things that many couples and individuals think about, know they need, and fully intend to get one day, is an estate plan. But what is it? Is it just a will? What can happen if you put it off too long?

That's why in this episode of the podcast I talk with estate planning attorney Adam Zuckerman to get a good idea of what an estate plan is, why you need one, and why you shouldn't wait to get one.

In this episode you will learn:

- What an Estate Plan Is - How It Differs from a Will - About the Downsides of Not Having One - What You Need to Think About in Making One - About Revocable Living Trusts

One of the more mystifying subjects in personal finance is cryptocurrency (what most people identify as Bitcoin). The concepts behind digital currency are not obvious and can lead to people being hesitant to get involved in it.

That's why in this episode of the podcast I talk to former truck driver and cryptocurrency enthusiast Bitcoin Ben to tell us about what it is, how you can get some, and why you should consider doing so.

In this episode you will learn:

- What Cryptocurrency Is - About the Easiest Way to Get It - How to Store Cryptocurrency - Whether You Should Invest in It

For my 100th episode, I did a look back on 9 of those guests and highlighted some of the great information they had for listeners. Now that I have reached the milestone of 200 episodes I wanted to do that again with guests from Episodes 101 forward.

I will leave links in the show notes to the full episodes if you haven't already listened to them and want to hear more. In addition, due to the length of this episode, I will also be leaving chapter markings (so you can skip ahead if you wish) and time codes in the show notes.

In this episode you will learn:

- How to Deal with Financial Stress - About Budgeting and Reducing Spending - Alternative Ways to Pay Down Debt - How to Look for a Better Job to Increase Income - About Getting Started in the Stock Market - About Forming a Millionaire Mindset - How to Define Retirement for Yourself - How to Talk to Your Kids About Money - Strategies for an Affordable College Education for Your Kids

Chapter Markings

02:11 Dealing with Financial Stress (Dr. David Weiman) 08:32 Budgeting & Reducing Spending (Tightwad Todd) 14:29 Alternative Ways to Pay Down Debt (Jerry Fetta) 20:17 How to Look for a Better Job (Bonnie Negron) 28:58 Getting Started in the Stock Market (Markay Latimer) 36:11 Forming a Millionaire Mindset (Tony Bradshaw) 42:04 Defining Retirement for Yourself (Eric Brotman) 47:03 Talking to Your Kids About Money (Derrick Kinney) 55:02 Strategies for an Affordable College Education for Your Kids (Brad Baldridge)