Your 401(k) at work is one of the best ways—if not THE SINGLE best way—to save for retirement! The 401(k) makes it easy, quick, relatively painless, and forces you to “dollar cost average” into your investments over time. Your 401(k) may also provide employer matching contributions and lower costs than you’d be able to get on your own due to economies of scale!

But, for all of their glory, the 401(k) can be difficult to navigate. There are rules and potential penalties. There are limits and restrictions on investments. Most importantly, most 401(k) plans today have the Roth or pre-tax option, making things even MORE confusing!

This short video explains the differences between the Roth 401(k) and the pre-tax 401(k) and will guide you towards which one is best for you and your retirement planning needs.

In this episode, I dispel the general misconceptions about financial planning and explain all of the money challenges a real financial plan will help you solve. Real financial and retirement planning covers taxes, estate, insurance, debt and credit, investing, income planning, and more! But the Wall Street marketing machine has trained you to think financial planning is investment-focused. Unfortunately, for most "financial advisors", financial planning is just a watered-down pretty software proposal designed to encourage you to buy an insurance or investment product. Real comprehensive financial planning is all about solving problems, not selling products.

The pre-retirement checklist is something every nearly retired person should go through. There are tons of them out there, but my pre-retirement checklist breaks concepts down into three simple things - Learning About, Planning, and Trying Retirement.

Learning - There are so many things we've learned over our lifetimes and retirement typically isn't one of them. You need to use the resources available and familiarize yourself with retirement concepts, dates, deadlines, expenses, and more!

Planning - Retirement planning is the most important part of the process. Unfortunately, this really requires some sophisticated software and someone who knows not only how to use it, but your retirement finances as well.

Trying - You should take a trial run at retirement. See how you like it! Use your vacation pay, stop putting money into your retirement plans at work, spend some quiet time on the couch AND some fun time on the golf course. Get a handle for how retirement will be for you.

Download my FREE Retirement Mastery Toolkit for more information.

The rest of the country and most of the rest of the world will be fine as we exit the Coronavirus catastrophe, but Las Vegas? Not so much. It's going to take Las Vegas a tremendous amount of time and ingenuity to come back from COVID-19.

In this quick breakdown of my recent webinar on finding a financial advisor you can trust I discuss the 5 steps you need to be highly attentive to in order to find the best financial advisor for your situation. Before the 5 steps, however, I discuss how you really should raise the bar on what you expect from a financial advisor to make sure you get the best one for your unique situation.

In this episode I discuss 7 ways to make money during stressful financial times like the Coronavirus epidemic has caused. Most importantly, I explain these topics to help prepare you for the next stock market meltdown.

Mark Maurer

What You Need to Know About Late in Life Healthcare Expenses

One out of three men will end up in a nursing home, and two out of three women will require long-term care.  So many people purchase health and life insurance, but why do more not prepare financially for the extended care they’ll need in their final years?  Mark Maurer, President and CEO of LLiS, joins the Wealth Summit to discuss how you can reduce the financial burden of long-term care.

KEY POINTS

-What is long-term care insurance?

-How much does long-term care insurance cost?

-Who should consider buying long-term care insurance?

While health insurance doesn’t prevent you from getting sick, it does provide a funding mechanism to pay for the things designed to treat you and expedite your recovery.  Long-term care insurance acts in much the same way.  While medical insurance is designed to cover things that will get you better, long-term care pertains to a chronic illness—something that probably isn’t going to go away.  As Social Security begins to dry up, paying less and less to retirees, we’re seeing more multigenerational households.  However, eventually most elders reach the point of needing expert care beyond what relatives can provide.  Contrary to popular belief, Medicare only covers 100 days of long-term care.  Once that time period expires, Medicaid will be able to cover some expenses, but you most likely won’t be able to choose the specific facility. 

Mark presents a chart at the 10:30 mark in the video detailing the varying expenses associated with long-term care.  A long-term care insurance policy typically covers $3,000 per month, and it can be used for differing levels of care.  Where that care is given depends on the significance of the condition.  As previously mentioned, 2/3 of women will require long-term care, along with 1/3 of men.  Insurance companies have recognized that women have a longer life expectancy so they’ve boosted the rates for female premiums. 

Long-term care policies are not inexpensive.  Mark recommends people who own a house and have less than a half a million in assets steer clear of long-term care policies.  The premiums could wipe out your assets, drastically changing the retirement lifestyle you’ve been planning for years.  A good time to start considering the policy is in your mid-50s. 

While perhaps not as popular as health insurance or life insurance, long-term care insurance can prove to be just as valuable.  Like most financial decisions, the choice to get a policy depends on your individual situation—health, financial status, location, family factors, etc.  While the premiums can be costly, if you have a large enough portfolio of relatively liquid assets, a long-term care insurance policy could ease stress and provide comfort down the road for both you and your loved ones.

Dan Solin Video

“6 Critical Investing Mistakes To Avoid At All Costs”

Dan Solin is a New York Times best-selling author who specializes in helping investors avoid victimization by the securities industry.  A regular blogger for the Huffington Post, Dan empowers investors with information that helps them reach their retirement goals the right way.

In “6 Critical Investing Mistakes To Avoid At All Costs”, Dan and Greg discuss the following main points:

-a “frenemy” is someone who poses as a trusted friend or ally, yet prioritize their own interests over your well-being

-there are 6 “frenemies” in the financial industry we must be wary of

-always lean towards passively managed mutual funds

The financial industry—particularly the securities sector (think stocks, bonds, mutual funds, etc.)—is rife with advisors, brokers, and “experts” who use deception and a false sense of trust to mislead people in what is known as a wealth transfer scheme.  The economic interest of these crooks is often in direct conflict with yours.

MARKET-BEATING BROKERS

Dan defines a “market-beating broker” as someone who claims that they can pick the right stocks that will perform better than other stocks.  Because of his “expert prowess” at beating the market, he requires hefty commissions and fees, which he assures will be more than offset by the returns his algorithms, formulas, and strategies will produce.  An overwhelming amount of data shows that no one has the expertise to reliably and sensibly beat the market on a consistent basis.

ACTIVE FUND MANAGEMENT

Mutual funds are managed one of two ways—actively or passively.  Passive funds such as index funds track a given index and have minimal human interference.  For example, the S&P 500 Fund tracks the S&P 500.  Fees and risk are typically very low.  Active fund managers, on the other hand, say that out of those 500 stocks, they can pick the 10 or 20 stocks that will outperform the others.

ALTERNATIVE INVESTMENTS

Hedge funds, private equity funds, master partnerships, and reinsurance funds are all examples of alternative investments, most of which are no better than actively managed funds.  Their draw is often their aura of exclusivity.

MONEY MEDIA

Most financial media does a disservice to investors.  The media companies generate revenue by attracting viewers; therefore, they cater to those companies that pay their revenues—large brokerage firms, investment banks, and fund families.  The “gurus” who appear frequently on these shows usually work for one of the many companies in the securities industry trying to profit off of your money.  Therefore, these experts often try to steer viewers towards a product or sector that will make their company the most money—practically the definition of “conflict of interest.”  Dan strongly recommends you turn off CNBC, avoid the ticker tape, and stick with your globally diversified portfolio for the long term.

DIVIDEND STOCKS

Many people think that dividend stocks offer an attractive additional stream of income and means of diversification.  However, in reality dividend stocks reduce diversification.  Furthermore, dividends are by no means guaranteed, as we saw with General Motors in 2008 when the auto manufacturer reduced dividend amounts during a company crisis.

INVESTMENT CLUBS

While the number of investment clubs has decreased in the past few years, they are still a popular means of investing for many people.  An investment club typically consists of a group of like-minded individuals who get together and chat about stocks, collectively picking stocks that are likely to outperform the benchmarks.

I break down DFA mutual funds—specifically the US core equity strategies—which are tilted towards small cap investing and value investing in this webinar.

If you've followed the stock market recently you've likely noticed that small cap investing and value investing has been out of favor. That being said the overall long term performance of the DFA mutual funds core equity 1 and 2 is very much on par with the Russell 3000. This is shocking considering the headwinds small cap investing and value investing have faced.

I also explain the tilting concept and small cap investing long term premiums and value investing long term premiums. But these premiums don't always appear on a year to year basis! For that reason it's important to stay the course even against the headwinds we've faced.