Are Roth conversions really the tax-saving strategy they’re made out to be? Financial advisor Alyssa McNamara Reed breaks down the benefits, costs, and often-overlooked consequences of converting retirement assets to a Roth account.

Using a real-world retirement scenario, Alyssa explores tax-free growth, upfront tax bills, Medicare premiums, Social Security taxation, and the importance of understanding the break-even point. The bottom line: Roth conversions can be a powerful planning tool, but they’re not right for everyone. Before you convert, run the numbers and understand the long-term impact.

Alyssa McNamara Reed, CFP®is a financial planner with passion for the intersection of taxes and investing. Alyssa works with motivated savers, beneficiaries of estates, business owners, divorcees, and pre-retirees.

📅 Want to speak with the team at McNamara Financial?

Schedule a consultation today:

👉 https://mcnamarafinancial.com/contact

⸻

McNamara Financial is a family-owned, independent, fee-only financial planning and investment management firm. For over 30 years, we’ve helped individuals and families on the South Shore and beyond navigate their financial futures with clarity, confidence, and care.

💼 Come see what it’s like to work with a fiduciary.

http://mcnamarafinancial.com

Planning for a loved one with a disability involves more than saving money. It requires protecting their future without jeopardizing access to essential benefits. In this episode, Mike McNamara speaks with Joan McGrath, CEO of Plan of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, about the critical role of Special Needs Trusts, how they help preserve eligibility for programs like SSI and Medicaid, and the key differences between first-party and third-party trusts. They also discuss ABLE accounts, the responsibilities of professional trustees, and the unique value of social workers who provide ongoing advocacy and life care planning. Whether you’re a parent, caregiver, or financial professional, this conversation offers practical guidance for building long-term financial security while protecting the services that individuals with disabilities rely on.

Justin McNamara, CFP® is a Certified Financial Planner with passion for investment strategy and selection. He works with small businesses and owners, parents of college-bound kids, job changers, pre- and post-retirees.

📅 Want to speak with the team at McNamara Financial?

Schedule a consultation today:

👉 https://mcnamarafinancial.com/contact

⸻

McNamara Financial is a family-owned, independent, fee-only financial planning and investment management firm. For over 30 years, we’ve helped individuals and families on the South Shore and beyond navigate their financial futures with clarity, confidence, and care.

💼 Come see what it’s like to work with a fiduciary.

http://mcnamarafinancial.com

In this episode of McNamara on Money, host Mike McNamara introduces a new listener-focused series built around live, one-hour retirement consultations. He invites individuals and couples to volunteer for on-air sessions, offering a $200 incentive to participants willing to discuss their 401(k) plans, retirement goals, and financial concerns by Zoom, phone, or in studio.

The episode explains how these consultations will work and why real-life examples can help listeners better understand the challenges of retirement planning. McNamara walks through the kinds of questions participants can expect, including topics such as assets, emergency savings, investment risk, market downturns, withdrawal strategies, and portfolio rebalancing.

The result is both an invitation to take part in the series and a practical discussion of the decisions that shape long-term financial security.

Michael J. McNamara, Ph.D., CFP®, is the Founder of McNamara Financial and a Certified Financial Planner. He’s semi-retired, and works with legacy clients and select others.

📅 Want to speak with the team at McNamara Financial?

Schedule a consultation today:

👉 https://mcnamarafinancial.com/contact

⸻

McNamara Financial is a family-owned, independent, fee-only financial planning and investment management firm. For over 30 years, we’ve helped individuals and families on the South Shore and beyond navigate their financial futures with clarity, confidence, and care.

💼 Come see what it’s like to work with a fiduciary.

http://mcnamarafinancial.com

In this episode, financial advisor Alyssa McNamara Reed breaks down the growing interest in Roth accounts and Roth conversions, explaining why they can be powerful retirement planning tools but are not right for everyone. She compares traditional IRAs, which offer upfront tax deductions, with Roth accounts, which provide tax-free growth and tax-free retirement distributions.

Reed explains why Roth conversions are getting renewed attention amid rising healthcare costs, concerns over federal debt, and uncertainty about future tax rates. She also cautions that conversions can create unintended consequences, including higher Medicare premiums and increased taxation of Social Security benefits.

The episode concludes with a practical warning: Roth conversions usually make the most financial sense when the taxes can be paid with outside cash rather than from the converted retirement funds themselves.

Alyssa McNamara Reed, CFP®is a financial planner with passion for the intersection of taxes and investing.  Alyssa works with motivated savers, beneficiaries of estates, business owners, divorcees, and pre-retirees.

📅 Want to speak with the team at McNamara Financial?

Schedule a consultation today:

👉 https://mcnamarafinancial.com/contact

⸻

McNamara Financial is a family-owned, independent, fee-only financial planning and investment management firm. For over 30 years, we’ve helped individuals and families on the South Shore and beyond navigate their financial futures with clarity, confidence, and care.

💼 Come see what it’s like to work with a fiduciary.

http://mcnamarafinancial.com

This week, join guest host Patrick Haraden from Lockton Companies in Boston for a discussion about Medicare.

This episode of McNamara On Money features a practical conversation with experts from Abacus Business Consulting about the often-confusing world of Medicare. The discussion breaks down the major parts of the program, including Part A, which covers hospital care, and Part B, which covers outpatient medical services.

The episode also explains the key differences between Medigap supplemental policies and Medicare Advantage plans, noting that Medicare Advantage often functions as a managed-care alternative to traditional Medicare. The guests offer important guidance for people who continue working past age 65, including how Medicare enrollment affects Health Savings Accounts and how to avoid costly late-enrollment penalties.

Throughout the discussion, the experts emphasize that Medicare is not a one-size-fits-all decision. Choosing the right approach depends on each person’s doctors, prescriptions, travel habits, health needs, and financial situation.

📅 Want to speak with the team at McNamara Financial?

Schedule a consultation today:

👉 https://mcnamarafinancial.com/contact

⸻

McNamara Financial is a family-owned, independent, fee-only financial planning and investment management firm. For over 30 years, we’ve helped individuals and families on the South Shore and beyond navigate their financial futures with clarity, confidence, and care.

💼 Come see what it’s like to work with a fiduciary.

http://mcnamarafinancial.com

In this episode, Mike McNamara delivers a blunt assessment of America’s growing financial instability, comparing the federal government’s spending habits to a household headed toward bankruptcy. He explains how persistent deficits, trillions in new borrowing, and interest payments on a national debt approaching $39 trillion are creating an unsustainable cycle.

McNamara warns that rising interest rates and inflation could eventually force difficult tradeoffs, with debt obligations threatening to crowd out essential programs such as Medicare and Social Security. He also expresses skepticism that political reform efforts, including the Department of Government Efficiency, have made any meaningful dent in the problem.

Against that backdrop, McNamara urges listeners to focus on what they can control: living within their means, reducing dependence on debt, building emergency reserves, and working toward personal financial independence. The episode closes with a sober warning that if elected leaders refuse to confront the debt crisis, the bond market may eventually impose its own painful correction.

📅 Want to speak with the team at McNamara Financial?

Schedule a consultation today:

👉 https://mcnamarafinancial.com/contact

⸻

McNamara Financial is a family-owned, independent, fee-only financial planning and investment management firm. For over 30 years, we’ve helped individuals and families on the South Shore and beyond navigate their financial futures with clarity, confidence, and care.

💼 Come see what it’s like to work with a fiduciary.

http://mcnamarafinancial.com

In this episode, financial advisor Alyssa McNamara Reed speaks with reverse mortgage specialist David Tourtillott about the modern role of federally regulated Home Equity Conversion Mortgages.

David Tourtillott explains how today’s reverse mortgages differ from the poorly regulated and often misunderstood products of the past. Insured by the FHA, these loans include safeguards designed to protect homeowners and their heirs. For seniors age 62 and older, a reverse mortgage can provide access to home equity without monthly mortgage payments, creating tax-free cash flow or a growing line of credit for future needs such as long-term care.

The conversation also addresses common misconceptions, including concerns about ownership, inheritance, and repayment. Tourtillott, explains that reverse mortgages are non-recourse loans, meaning heirs are not responsible for debt beyond the value of the home.

Ultimately, the episode presents the reverse mortgage as a strategic retirement planning tool, one that may help retirees preserve investment assets, manage cash flow, and create greater financial flexibility in later life.

Alyssa McNamara Reed, CFP® is a financial planner with a passion for the intersection of taxes and investing.  Alyssa works with motivated savers, beneficiaries of estates, business owners, divorcees, and pre-retirees.

📅 Want to speak with the team at McNamara Financial?

Schedule a consultation today:

👉 https://mcnamarafinancial.com/contact

⸻

McNamara Financial is a family-owned, independent, fee-only financial planning and investment management firm. For over 30 years, we’ve helped individuals and families on the South Shore and beyond navigate their financial futures with clarity, confidence, and care.

💼 Come see what it’s like to work with a fiduciary.

http://mcnamarafinancial.com

This episode features financial advisor Justin McNamara and insurance professional Guy Ziriak discussing two often-overlooked forms of protection: disability insurance and long-term care insurance.

They begin with disability insurance, explaining why it is best understood as income protection. The conversation covers the difference between short-term employer benefits and long-term individual policies, including how properly structured coverage can provide tax-free income during an extended illness or injury. Justin and Guy also discuss important policy features such as own-occupation protection and cost-of-living adjustments, which can help preserve income as careers and expenses change over time.

The discussion then turns to long-term care insurance and the financial risk created when a person needs help with basic activities of daily living, whether at home, in assisted living, or in a nursing facility. They explain why Medicare usually does not cover these extended care needs, why older traditional policies became difficult to price, and why hybrid products combining long-term care benefits with life insurance have become more common.

Together, the conversation offers a practical look at how these insurance tools can help protect income, preserve savings, and reduce the financial strain that can come with serious illness, injury, or chronic care needs.

Justin McNamara, CFP® is a Certified Financial Planner with passion for investment strategy and selection. He works with small businesses and owners, parents of college-bound kids, job changers, pre- and post-retirees.

📅 Want to speak with the team at McNamara Financial?

Schedule a consultation today:

👉 https://mcnamarafinancial.com/contact

⸻

McNamara Financial is a family-owned, independent, fee-only financial planning and investment management firm. For over 30 years, we’ve helped individuals and families on the South Shore and beyond navigate their financial futures with clarity, confidence, and care.

💼 Come see what it’s like to work with a fiduciary.

http://mcnamarafinancial.com

This episode of McNamara on Money explores how vocational education is creating alternative pathways to stable, high earning careers as traditional college costs continue to rise. Host Alyssa McNamara Reed speaks with representatives from Southshore Technical School about the growing demand for skilled trades and the school’s hands-on approach to career preparation.

Guests Bob Melo and Amy Dao discuss the school’s distinctive week-on, week-off model, which combines academic study with immersive technical training across multiple career fields. The conversation also highlights the school’s major $283 million campus expansion, driven by increasing enrollment demand and regional workforce needs.

The episode further examines Southshore’s cooperative education program, which places students in real-world apprenticeships, as well as the Career Technical Initiative, a state-funded program offering free vocational training opportunities for adults pursuing new career paths.

Alyssa McNamara Reed, CFP®is a financial planner with passion for the intersection of taxes and investing.  Alyssa works with motivated savers, beneficiaries of estates, business owners, divorcees, and pre-retirees.

📅 Want to speak with the team at McNamara Financial?

Schedule a consultation today:

👉 https://mcnamarafinancial.com/contact

⸻

McNamara Financial is a family-owned, independent, fee-only financial planning and investment management firm. For over 30 years, we’ve helped individuals and families on the South Shore and beyond navigate their financial futures with clarity, confidence, and care.

💼 Come see what it’s like to work with a fiduciary.

http://mcnamarafinancial.com

In this episode, financial advisor Alyssa McNamara Reed sits down with wedding planner Ashley Fiddler to discuss the realities of planning modern weddings and managing the often substantial costs that come with them. From event management and partial planning to full-service coordination, Ashley explains how professional planners help couples navigate timelines, vendor relationships, and high-pressure decisions.

The conversation also explores changing wedding trends, including the rise of full wedding weekends with welcome parties, after-parties, and destination-style experiences. Ashley shares practical insight into current venue demand, budgeting expectations, and why early planning has become more important than ever.

Whether you’re planning an intimate gathering or a large-scale celebration, this episode offers practical guidance for couples and families trying to balance meaningful experiences with smart financial decisions.

Alyssa McNamara Reed, CFP®is a financial planner with passion for the intersection of taxes and investing. Alyssa works with motivated savers, beneficiaries of estates, business owners, divorcees, and pre-retirees.

📅 Want to speak with the team at McNamara Financial?

Schedule a consultation today:

👉 https://mcnamarafinancial.com/contact

⸻

McNamara Financial is a family-owned, independent, fee-only financial planning and investment management firm. For over 30 years, we’ve helped individuals and families on the South Shore and beyond navigate their financial futures with clarity, confidence, and care.

💼 Come see what it’s like to work with a fiduciary.

http://mcnamarafinancial.com