When you leave a job, what you do with your 401(k) often feels like a formality. But the reality is that most people have no idea what to do with their retirement plan, and they don’t know what their options are. And making the wrong move can cost you flexibility, trigger unnecessary taxes, or limit your options later on. 

In this episode, podcast host Johnny Dean and Rick “The Professor” Plum, CFP®, break down the seven key factors everyone should consider before rolling over a retirement account. How does your age affect access and penalties? When does leaving money in a 401(k) actually make sense? And why is “just roll it into an IRA” often incomplete advice? 

If you have an old 401(k), are changing jobs, or you’re unsure whether your retirement money is sitting in the right place, you need some answers. A rollover isn’t automatically right, and it isn’t automatically wrong. What do you need to know? Find out on this week’s episode of Managing Your Financial Future! 

There are plenty of conversations about how your money should be invested: stocks or bonds; aggressive or conservative; growth or safety, etc. But there’s another part of the equation that rarely gets the attention it deserves, and it can potentially cost you far more than a bad market year. 

Did you know that you can have solid investments and a reasonable portfolio and still end up with higher taxes, less income, or fewer options in retirement simply because your money is sitting in the wrong types of accounts? Asset allocation tells you what you own. Asset location determines how efficiently it actually works for you. 

How much does it matter where your money lives? And how can getting it wrong turn taxes into a long-term problem instead of a short-term nuisance? Find out from podcast host Johnny Dean and Rick “The Professor” Plum, CFP®, on this week’s episode of Managing Your Financial Future! 

It's true that most investing success happens over long periods of time. So it would stand to reason that you should stay focused on the long term.  But when you think about it, the "long term" is really just a bunch of short-term periods bunched together.  And those short-term stretches can sometimes be brutal.

With that in mind, what if the real key to long-term success isn’t patience at all, but short-term management? What if protecting the near-term (your cash flow, your flexibility, your psyche) is what actually allows the long term to work the way it’s supposed to? How do you design a plan that takes the short-term worry out of the equation? 

Learn all about it from podcast host Johnny Dean and Rick “The Professor” Plum, CFP® on this week’s episode of Managing Your Financial Future!

Roth IRAs are often described as one of the most powerful tools available in retirement planning. Tax-free growth, tax-free withdrawals, and flexibility? Those are hard to beat. So it’s no surprise that Roth conversions are frequently promoted as a good move for just about everyone. 

But there’s a part of the conversation that doesn’t get nearly enough attention: the cost of getting money into a Roth in the first place. Roth conversions require an immediate, irreversible tax payment today in exchange for benefits that may take decades to materialize and may never fully pay off. 

So when does a Roth conversion make sense and when might it work against you?  Find out from podcast host Johnny Dean and Rick “The Professor” Plum, CFP®, on this week’s episode of Managing Your Financial Future! 

There’s nothing wrong with wanting a strong rate of return. The problem starts when “the best return” becomes the plan, especially once you’re close to retirement and your portfolio has a job to do beyond just growing. 

The reality is that chasing returns and chasing yield can turn normal market volatility into real, permanent risk for you. Retirement planning is less about treating your entire portfolio as one big performance engine and more about matching different dollars to different time horizons and goals. Sound familiar? 

So what should a retiree focus on instead of headline performance? How about a steady, sustainable source of cash flow that helps you stay calm, stay invested, and keep compounding working in your favor? Learn more from podcast host Johnny Dean and Rick “The Professor” Plum, CFP® on this week’s episode of Managing Your Financial Future! 

Financial planning is NOT about predicting the future. It’s about balancing what you can reasonably expect with everything you can’t possibly control. Markets move, life happens, but the decisions you make today may have to support you for decades.

That "tension" is at the heart of financial author Morgan Housel’s idea: save like a pessimist and invest like an optimist. But what does that mindset really mean? And how does it show up inside a properly designed Bucket Strategy? It's all about surviving the short term to reap the potential rewards of the long term.

So how do you build a plan that expects trouble in the short run but stays confident about the long run? Find out from podcast host Johnny Dean and Rick “The Professor” Plum, CFP®, on this week’s episode of Managing Your Financial Future!

There’s no shortage of “rules of thumb” in personal finance. They sound simple, they sound authoritative, and you can find them almost everywhere. But the truth is that many of these long-standing bits of advice can lead you in the wrong direction if you follow them without thinking. 

What’s a good amount to withdraw from your savings? Which accounts should you tap first? What will your spending look like in retirement? These are questions that require more nuance than generic guidance can offer. What looks harmless on paper can end up costing you more than you realize over the long run. 

So which pieces of conventional wisdom need to be debunked? Find out from podcast host Johnny Dean and Rick “The Professor” Plum, CFP® on this week’s episode of Managing Your Financial Future! 

There are many things a retiree needs to know about their finances – some more important than others. But how can you tell which ones are best to learn, and which ones can be ignored?  

We've narrowed it down to what we believe are three of the most important concepts that every retiree should know. And these aren’t hypothetical concerns. They’re real potential landmines that can affect almost anyone approaching or already in retirement. 

So what do you need to know to stay ahead of them? Find out from podcast host Johnny Dean and Rick "The Professor" Plum, CFP® on this week’s episode of Managing Your Financial Future!

Many people with high incomes assume they make too much money to contribute to a Roth IRA. And they’re right – sort of. The IRS does put income limits on Roth contributions, but there are a few lesser-known workarounds that high earners can use to get money into a Roth anyway.  

The potential tax-free growth inside a Roth IRA can be especially enticing to people who both earn a lot and save a lot, as they may find themselves in a fairly high tax bracket at retirement. Any opportunity they have to withdraw money on a tax-free basis can only help their situation.

So what should high-income investors know about Roth strategies that might not be obvious at first glance? Find out from podcast host Johnny Dean and Rick "The Professor" Plum, CFP® on this week's episode of Managing Your Financial Future! 

There’s a lot of confusion about what a financial advisor actually does. Some people think it’s all about picking investments or predicting the market, but the best advisors focus on something much more personal: you and your goals. 

The best advisors explain how they’re paid, talk openly about risk, give you time to make decisions, and encourage your questions. So what else should you expect when you sit down with someone who truly has your financial future in mind? 

Find out with podcast host Johnny Dean and Rick "The Professor" Plum, CFP® on this week’s episode of Managing Your Financial Future!