This week, we celebrate Thanksgiving...the perfect time of year to reflect on what you and I are thankful for. Practicing gratitude is all the rage these days and I’m so happy about that. Not only does genuine gratitude make us happier, being grateful can also make a meaningful difference in your finances and retirement, since gratefulness has the power to improve our spending habits as well, and takes away the constant desire for more and better when it comes to lifestyle choices.

Today, I’m sharing with you how you can start a habit of gratitude in your life. The key for getting started, I believe, is to start small. How can you incorporate gratitude into your existing daily routine? Maybe it’s adding gratitude to your morning coffee, prayer, or workout time. Just start by thinking of one thing you’re grateful for each day. At first you may need a phone alarm or a post-it note to remember to do this, but if you’re consistent with the “when” and pair your gratitude habit with another cue to help make the habit automatic, it won’t take long before the gratitude habit becomes routine. 

Once you have ingrained the daily habit of gratitude, you can add some other cool stuff - like writing random thank you cards, buying coffee for the person behind you in the drive thru, starting a gratitude journal, giving more generously, and stop comparing yourself to others. 

Start small, and practice gratitude consistently each day, and you will soon see the amazing benefits that a more grateful heart can bring into your life. 

That’s it for today. Thanks for listening. My name is Ashley Micciche and this is the One Minute Retirement Tip. 

----------

>>> Subscribe on iTunes: https://apple.co/2DI2LSP

>>> Subscribe on Amazon Alexa: https://amzn.to/2xRKrCs

>>> Check out our blog: https://truenorthretirementadvisors.com/blog/

----------

Tags: retirement, investing, money, finance, financial planning, retirement planning, saving money, personal finance, wealth management, fee only financial advisor, financial planner, financial podcast, retirement podcast, financial independence podcast, gratitude, how to practice gratitude, benefits of gratitude, the power of gratitude, importance of gratitude, gratitude examples, thankfulness, gratefulness, practicing gratitude, attitude of gratitude

Happy Thanksgiving to you! Thank you for being a listener of the podcast, and I hope you are spending time with those you love most today, and I hope you’re in a thankful mood, because this week is all about gratitude here on the One Minute Retirement Tip. 

Practicing gratitude is all the rage these days and I’m so happy about that. Not only does genuine gratitude make us happier, being grateful can also make a meaningful difference in your finances and retirement. 

If you’re needing a little jumpstart in feeling more thankful, and to get you thinking about how much there is to truly be grateful for, I’m listing 20 things that I’m grateful for today. I’ve been practicing gratitude as a regular daily habit for about the last 18 months to 2 years, and it has really shifted my perspective away from what I don’t yet have, and what I still haven’t accomplished to how I am so blessed already. I still have a long way to go in being fulfilled in the present, but all the more reason to start now and stick with a long-term and regular habit of gratitude. 

Here are 20 things I’m grateful for: 

1. My warm bed and home
2. Clean water 
3. My husband
4. My kids
5. Italian red wine
6. My health
7. A flexible work schedule 
8. McDonald’s Egg McMuffins
9. My parents and my sister
10. Time to read, play golf, and enjoy hobbies
11. Friends who love me and want the best for me
12. Snuggling with my 2 year old when I put him to bed every night
13. Coffee with peppermint creamer
14. Disposable income to travel occasionally
15. Talking with my daughter on the way to school in the mornings
16. Praying with my kids
17. My employees 
18. My audio editor, Ash, who edits and publishes these tips
19. My phone - an incredible blessing of technology and convenience
20. Hearing my 2 year old son say new words and talk more every day

That’s it for today. Thanks for listening! My name is Ashley Micciche and this is the One Minute Retirement Tip.

----------

>>> Subscribe on iTunes: https://apple.co/2DI2LSP

>>> Subscribe on Amazon Alexa: https://amzn.to/2xRKrCs

>>> Check out our blog: https://truenorthretirementadvisors.com/blog/

----------

Tags: retirement, investing, money, finance, financial planning, retirement planning, saving money, personal finance, wealth management, fee only financial advisor, financial planner, financial podcast, retirement podcast, financial independence podcast, gratitude, how to practice gratitude, benefits of gratitude, the power of gratitude, importance of gratitude, gratitude examples, thankfulness, gratefulness, practicing gratitude, attitude of gratitude

This week, we celebrate Thanksgiving...the perfect time of year to reflect on what you and I are thankful for. Practicing gratitude is all the rage these days and I’m so happy about that. Not only does genuine gratitude make us happier, being grateful can also make a meaningful difference in your finances and retirement. 

Are you rich? Affluent? Middle class? Working Class? Poor? 

Research shows that most of us think we’re not as rich as we are. You could ask a couple making over $250,000 a year whether or not they are rich, and they will probably tell you no. But statistically speaking, they probably are actually “rich” when looking at income alone, since that income will put them in the top 10% of households in most of the metropolitan areas in the United States. If this couple lives in Las Vegas, Orlando, or New Orleans, they’re income of $250,000 puts them in the top 5%. 

Globally, if you have $200,000 of equity in your home, other stuff like furniture, cars and jewelry worth $50,000, and a retirement portfolio worth $500,000, you may or may not feel rich, but your wealth puts you in the top 1% of people in the world. You may not feel like a 1%er, but a great deal many of us are actually in the top 1% globally. 

You have a smartphone or an alexa device to listen to me talk to you about money. So many of us are blessed beyond belief, especially when you look at historical norms for how much money people had and how they lived. Most of us, except the truly destitute among us, are living in time of unbound comfort and wealth. 

So I encourage you, especially this week to keep a good perspective on reality, and be grateful for what you have and how your birthright as an American living in the 21st century has made you wealthy and much more comfortable than your ancestors. 

That’s it for today, but before you go, would I be correct in saying that your retirement is perhaps the most important financial decision you’ll ever make? You want to get it right. Well, so do I. For the last 12 years, I’ve been helping clients just like you make the transition into retirement. If you want to talk one-on-one with me about whether or not you can retire, head on over to truenorthra.com, where you can book a 15 minute call with me, at a time that’s convenient for you. The call is confidential, free, and I promise to help guide you on whatever is weighing most on your mind right now regarding your retirement. So head on over to truenorthra.com and book a call today. 

Thanks for listening. My name is Ashley Micciche and this is the One Minute Retirement Tip. 

---------

>>> Subscribe on iTunes: https://apple.co/2DI2LSP

>>> Subscribe on Amazon Alexa: https://amzn.to/2xRKrCs

>>> Check out our blog: https://truenorthretirementadvisors.com/blog/

----------

Tags: retirement, investing, money, finance, financial planning, retirement planning, saving money, personal finance, wealth management, fee only financial advisor, financial planner, financial podcast, retirement podcast, financial independence podcast, gratitude, how to practice gratitude, benefits of gratitude, the power of gratitude, importance of gratitude, gratitude examples, thankfulness, gratefulness, practicing gratitude, attitude of gratitude

This week, we celebrate Thanksgiving...the perfect time of year to reflect on what you and I are thankful for. Practicing gratitude is all the rage these days and I’m so happy about that. Not only does genuine gratitude make us happier, being grateful can also make a meaningful difference in your finances and retirement. 

Studies on gratitude show that a regular focus on what you are grateful for is one of the simplest and most effective habits you can cultivate to improve your health, happiness, and overall well-being. 

Here are a couple of benefits of gratitude from the research that are connected to your finances and money, specifically: 

• Gratitude reduces a lot of negative and toxic emotions, like envy, resentment, frustration, and regret. 
• Gratitude reduces social comparisons, which I have talked about at length on the One Minute Retirement Tip. Comparing yourself to others can make you envious and resentful toward people who have more money, a nicer car, better vacations, nice shoes, new clothes, and higher paying jobs than you. The research shows that comparing yourself to others is a major factor in reduced self-esteem. When you’re grateful, you can free yourself from the comparison trap. Since you’re thankful for what you already have, it becomes less important to you what others have and you’re less likely to be consumed with jealous and resentful. 

When you are more content with what you have because you’ve made it a regular, daily habit of being grateful, you can better resist the temptations of materialism and wasting your hard-earned dollar on stuff and experiences that don’t bring you fulfillment. 

The ungrateful heart is never satisfied and will spend a lot of money in an effort to seek fulfillment through having more. The hole can never be filled because once the pleasure of the moment wears off, we’re right back to wishing for what we don’t have - the fence we don’t have, a new car, a bigger house, and better bottle of wine, a first class plane ticket. 

But the grateful heart, spends money with a different mindset. Not spending to fill a bottomless pit in his or her heart or to keep up with the Joneses, but spends with intention. The grateful heart is never lured into the lie that money can buy happiness, because they are already content and thankful for the things, people, and resources they currently have. 

That’s it for today. Thanks for listening. My name is Ashley Micciche and this is the One Minute Retirement Tip. 

----------

>>> Subscribe on iTunes: https://apple.co/2DI2LSP

>>> Subscribe on Amazon Alexa: https://amzn.to/2xRKrCs

>>> Check out our blog: https://truenorthretirementadvisors.com/blog/

----------

Tags: retirement, investing, money, finance, financial planning, retirement planning, saving money, personal finance, wealth management, fee only financial advisor, financial planner, financial podcast, retirement podcast, financial independence podcast, gratitude, how to practice gratitude, benefits of gratitude, the power of gratitude, importance of gratitude, gratitude examples, thankfulness, gratefulness, practicing gratitude, attitude of gratitude

Welcome to a new week and a new theme here on the One Minute Retirement Tip! 

This week, we celebrate Thanksgiving...the perfect time of year to reflect on what you and I are thankful for. Since it’s Thanksgiving week, we’re doing something special and a little different. It’s gratitude week here on the One Minute Retirement Tip. Practicing gratitude is all the rage these days and I’m so happy about that. Not only does genuine gratitude make us happier, it can also help with your finances and retirement. So I’ll be devoting this week to gratitude in honor of Thanksgiving, looking at it through the lens of your money and retirement. 

I’d like to kick off the week of gratitude by telling you how grateful I am for each and every one of you. The One Minute Retirement Tip has had over 45,000 downloads since the inception of the podcast last October. The podcast is steadily growing each month. So today, here we are at episode 407, and I am glad you’re here! 

Bringing these tips to you every day is a lot of work, but it’s meaningful to me, mostly because of the emails and feedback that I get from each of you. You tell me that these tips are meaningful and helpful to you on your retirement journey, and it is my sincere hope that these tips are moving you closer each day, week, and month to a financially secure and fulfilling retirement. 

So thank you for being a listener of the One Minute Retirement Tip. Before you go, though, if you haven’t already left a review in Amazon or iTunes for the One Minute Retirement Tip, can I ask a favor of you to go do that right now? It just takes a minute and it helps to spread the word, and helps other people find this podcast.

That’s it for today, thanks for listening. My name is Ashley Micciche...and this is the One Minute Retirement Tip. 

----------

>>> Subscribe on iTunes: https://apple.co/2DI2LSP

>>> Subscribe on Amazon Alexa: https://amzn.to/2xRKrCs

>>> Check out our blog: https://truenorthretirementadvisors.com/blog/

----------

Tags: retirement, investing, money, finance, financial planning, retirement planning, saving money, personal finance, wealth management, fee only financial advisor, financial planner, financial podcast, retirement podcast, financial independence podcast, gratitude, how to practice gratitude, benefits of gratitude, the power of gratitude, importance of gratitude, gratitude examples, thankfulness, gratefulness, practicing gratitude, attitude of gratitude

It’s Sunday, which means...It’s recap time! 

The theme for this week was: Required Minimum Distributions, otherwise known as RMDs. When you reach the age of 70 ½, you have to start distributions from your IRA, 401k, and other qualified accounts by the end of each calendar year with rare exceptions. 

It’s a common source of confusion among my clients, and I get lots of questions about RMDs, especially towards the end of the year, so I addressed the questions I get asked most often about RMDs in this week’s tips. 

Here are the frequently asked RMD questions that were covered in each episode this week: 

• Do I Have To Take My RMD?
• Understanding Gross vs. Net IRA Distributions
• What Should I Withhold For Taxes On My RMDs?
• Can I Aggregate RMDs From Multiple Accounts?
• What Happens If I Don’t Take My RMD By The End Of The Year?

Hopefully after listening to these tips on RMDs this week, the funky rules that engulf RMDs in a cloud of fog, are more clear to you, and you are armed to make smarter and better-informed decisions about your own RMDs than you were just a week ago. 

If you missed any of these episodes or if you want to revisit any of them, you can find them on iTunes, Spotify, or Google Play by searching for the “One Minute Retirement Tip with Ashley”. 

Tomorrow, since it’s Thanksgiving week, we’re doing something special. It’s gratitude week here on the One Minute Retirement Tip. Practicing gratitude is all the rage these days and I’m so happy about that. Not only does genuine gratitude make us happier, it can also help with your finances and retirement. So I’ll be devoting next week to gratitude, looking at it through the lens of your money and retirement. 

That’s it for this week! Thanks for listening and I hope you have a blessed Sunday! 

My name is Ashley Micciche and this is the “One Minute Retirement Tip”.

----------

>>> Subscribe on iTunes: https://apple.co/2DI2LSP

>>> Subscribe on Amazon Alexa: https://amzn.to/2xRKrCs

>>> Check out our blog: https://truenorthretirementadvisors.com/blog/

----------

Tags: retirement, investing, money, finance, financial planning, retirement planning, saving money, personal finance, wealth management, fee only financial advisor, financial planner, financial podcast, retirement podcast, financial independence podcast, IRA, 401k, RMD, required minimum distributions, IRA required minimum distributions, RMD age, RMD age 70, 401k still working rmd exception, rmd tax, rmd tax withholding, does traditional IRA have RMD

This week I’m talking about Required Minimum Distributions, otherwise known as RMDs. When you reach the age of 70 ½, you have to start distributions from your IRA, 401k, and other qualified accounts by the end of each calendar year with rare exceptions. 

It’s a common source of confusion among my clients so I’m covering the questions I get asked most often about RMDs to help you better understand the complicated rules about those mandatory withdrawals. 

Today’s RMD question is: what happens if I don’t take my RMD by the end of the year? 

In general, except for in the first year where the RMD is not required, you’re going to be slapped with some pretty stiff penalties for failing to withdraw your full RMD amount. In fact, it’s one of the harshest penalties in the tax code - 50%. 

If you fail to take out your full RMD from your IRA in a given year, you are penalized on 50% of whatever you didn’t take out. So let’s say you’re short on your RMD by $3000. When you find the error, you still have to take the $3,000 out of your IRA, pay the taxes on the withdrawal + pay an additional $1,500 for missing that RMD. 

The IRS isn’t messing around here, and neither should you! 

Since you’re punished so severely for failing to take your RMD, it’s important that you keep close tabs on this, especially if you are a DIY investor of have your money in a 401k account. 

Often, you’ll just receive a letter or a notice to remind you to take your RMD, but many of the financial institutions don’t have the bandwidth to do much more than that, and since it’s ultimately you’re responsibility to ensure you’ve taken your full RMD for the year, you’ll want to track what that amount is and be sure that you withdraw that full amount by December 31st each year. 

Now at the risk of promoting myself and other financial advisors, if you are working with a financial advisor, and they’re proactive, they are probably hounding you come early December about your RMD to make sure that you won’t pay those penalties for failure to withdraw your full RMD. 

That’s it for today. Thanks for listening. Tomorrow, we’re going to recap the week and I’m going to give you a little preview of next week’s theme. 

My name is Ashley Micciche and this is the One Minute Retirement Tip.

----------

>>> Subscribe on iTunes: https://apple.co/2DI2LSP

>>> Subscribe on Amazon Alexa: https://amzn.to/2xRKrCs

>>> Check out our blog: https://truenorthretirementadvisors.com/blog/

----------

Tags: retirement, investing, money, finance, financial planning, retirement planning, saving money, personal finance, wealth management, fee only financial advisor, financial planner, financial podcast, retirement podcast, financial independence podcast, IRA, 401k, RMD, required minimum distributions, IRA required minimum distributions, RMD age, RMD age 70, 401k still working rmd exception, rmd tax, rmd tax withholding, does traditional IRA have RMD

This week I’m talking about Required Minimum Distributions, otherwise known as RMDs. When you reach the age of 70 ½, you have to start distributions from your IRA, 401k, and other qualified accounts by the end of each calendar year with rare exceptions. 

It’s a common source of confusion among my clients so I’m covering the questions I get asked most often about RMDs to help you better understand the complicated rules about those mandatory withdrawals. 

Today’s RMD question is: Can I aggregate RMDs from multiple accounts. 

The answer is, yes you can, and often you should consider doing so as well. But it wouldn’t be a good RMD rule without some exceptions, so here’s an important one: 

For some types of accounts, like 401ks, if you are 70 ½ and you have multiple 401k accounts, you can’t aggregate those RMDs together. You have to take RMDs individually from each account. This is part of the reason it makes sense to consolidate your old 401k accounts when you change jobs or retire into an IRA, because it simplifies everything into one account and you won’t be required to keep track of and take multiple RMDs from multiple 401k accounts. 

But let’s say you’ve already aggregated your 401k accounts into IRAs and now you have 2 IRA accounts. It doesn’t matter if you have 1 IRA or 10 different IRA accounts. As long as you take the total required minimum distribution from your IRAs, it doesn’t matter if you take it from each account individually or aggregate those withdrawals from just one IRA account. 

Many of my clients have more than one IRA and there are several reasons to consider aggregating RMDs from multiple accounts into one RMD: 

1. By taking funds from just one account, it’s often an opportunity to rebalance the portfolio since you can pick and choose what to sell and from which account. 
2. It’s cleaner and easier for most people to just receive one deposit or one check in the mail compared to 2 or 3 or more. 
3. If you have some underperforming dogs with poor future prospects in your portfolio, selling a bad investment to satisfy your RMD provides a good excuse to move on without liquidating your higher quality investment holdings. 

That’s it for today. If you haven’t already left a review in Amazon or iTunes for the One Minute Retirement Tip, can I ask a favor of you to go do that right now? It just takes a minute and it helps to spread the word, and helps other people find this podcast. 

Thanks for listening! My name is Ashley Micciche and this is the One Minute Retirement Tip.

----------

>>> Subscribe on iTunes: https://apple.co/2DI2LSP

>>> Subscribe on Amazon Alexa: https://amzn.to/2xRKrCs

>>> Check out our blog: https://truenorthretirementadvisors.com/blog/

----------

Tags: retirement, investing, money, finance, financial planning, retirement planning, saving money, personal finance, wealth management, fee only financial advisor, financial planner, financial podcast, retirement podcast, financial independence podcast, IRA, 401k, RMD, required minimum distributions, IRA required minimum distributions, RMD age, RMD age 70, 401k still working rmd exception, rmd tax, rmd tax withholding, does traditional IRA have RMD

This week I’m talking about Required Minimum Distributions, otherwise known as RMDs. When you reach the age of 70 ½, you have to start distributions from your IRA, 401k, and other qualified accounts by the end of each calendar year. 

It’s a common source of confusion among my clients so I’m covering the questions I get asked most often about RMDs to help you better understand the complicated rules about these mandatory withdrawals. 

Today’s RMD question is: What should I withhold for taxes on my RMDs? 

Yesterday, I talked about gross vs. net distributions on RMDs, and today is a continuation of that tax withholding discussion. 

Most of my clients who withhold taxes on their RMDs, take a net distribution instead of a gross distribution, because a % of their distribution goes to pay the taxes on the withdrawal. 

So if you have to take out $10,000 from your IRA this year, and you withhold 20% for taxes, you would receive $8,000 net of taxes, and $2,000 would be sent to Uncle Sam to pay the taxes on that withdrawal. Whether or not you decide to withhold any of your RMD for taxes and what that withholding percentage is determines the difference between gross and net distributions. 

The first decision to make about withholding for taxes is whether or not you should withhold in the first place. You don’t have to withhold anything for taxes, but you’ll want to carefully consider this decision, so you don’t have any big, unexpected tax bills next Spring. 

If you decide to withhold some percentage of your RMD for paying the taxes, you’ll need to figure out an appropriate withholding amount, given your tax situation. 

Most of my clients who withhold for taxes withhold between 10-25%. Although this is a common range, it’s also a wide range, so you’ll want to talk to your tax advisor to find out which withholding % makes the most sense for you. 

You’ll also want to consider state tax withholding as well, if you live in a state where you pay income tax. Those RMDs will be subject to state income tax as well, if you live in a state like my home state of Oregon. 

If you decide to withhold for state taxes you’ll do that separately from your federal tax withholding. 

It is important that you get this right so you don’t under or over pay in taxes. So take the time to look carefully at your tax situation, and talk to your tax advisor before making a decision on withholding. 

That’s it for today. Thanks for listening. My name is Ashley Micciche and this is the One Minute Retirement Tip. 

----------

>>> Subscribe on iTunes: https://apple.co/2DI2LSP

>>> Subscribe on Amazon Alexa: https://amzn.to/2xRKrCs

>>> Check out our blog: https://truenorthretirementadvisors.com/blog/

----------

Tags: retirement, investing, money, finance, financial planning, retirement planning, saving money, personal finance, wealth management, fee only financial advisor, financial planner, financial podcast, retirement podcast, financial independence podcast, IRA, 401k, RMD, required minimum distributions, IRA required minimum distributions, RMD age, RMD age 70, 401k still working rmd exception, rmd tax, rmd tax withholding, does traditional IRA have RMD

This week I’m talking about Required Minimum Distributions, otherwise known as RMDs. When you reach the age of 70 ½, you must start distributions from your IRA, 401k, and other qualified accounts by the end of each calendar year. There are some exceptions to this mandate, a couple of which I explained yesterday, but generally, yes, sorry, you will have to start taking RMDs once you reach age 70 ½, and include those RMDs in your taxable income for the year, which also means paying taxes on those withdrawals.  

And that brings me to today’s topic: Understanding net vs. gross distributions for your RMDs. 

Because RMDs are included in your taxable income, many of you will likely want to withhold a portion of your RMD to pay the taxes, so you’re not slapped with a surprise tax bill next Spring. 

For example, let’s say that it’s your first year taking your Required Minimum Distribution and the RMD amount is $10,000 from your IRA. 

You have 2 options: You could take the full amount out of your IRA - $10,000 and have that amount deposited directly to your bank account or sent to you as a check, or transfer the money to a non-IRA taxable account. This is a gross distribution, because you are taking the full amount out of the account without withholding any of it for taxes. 

Now, because you are reporting that withdrawal as part of your taxable income for the year, you’re likely going to have to pay taxes on that withdrawal. This is where net distributions come in. So using that same example of an RMD of $10,000, you could withhold a specific amount on that withdrawal for taxes. 

So let’s say you decide to withhold 20% for taxes. The gross distribution amount is still $10,000, but 20% or $2,000 of that is withheld and sent to Uncle Sam for the taxes, and you receive a net distribution amount of $8,000.

Tomorrow, I’m going to talk in more depth about what you should withhold for taxes, but for today, I hope you now have a better understanding that the difference between gross vs. net distributions is all about taxes. 

That’s it for today. Thanks for listening. My name is Ashley Micciche and this is the One Minute Retirement Tip. 

---------

>>> Subscribe on iTunes: https://apple.co/2DI2LSP

>>> Subscribe on Amazon Alexa: https://amzn.to/2xRKrCs

>>> Check out our blog: https://truenorthretirementadvisors.com/blog/

----------

Tags: retirement, investing, money, finance, financial planning, retirement planning, saving money, personal finance, wealth management, fee only financial advisor, financial planner, financial podcast, retirement podcast, financial independence podcast, IRA, 401k, RMD, required minimum distributions, IRA required minimum distributions, RMD age, RMD age 70, 401k still working rmd exception, rmd tax, rmd tax withholding, does traditional IRA have RMD