If you're ready to start preparing for your first meeting with a financial advisor: congrats! You're taking a big step in the right direction! It’s no secret that many Americans feel clueless and helpless about retirement. If you don't have a solid plan, you could be left with an uncomfortable retirement that leaves you strapped for income, and even worse- dependent on your children. Meeting with a financial advisor can help you to turn the tables and live the retirement of your dreams. In this episode of The Money and Business Hour, Roy Matlock Jr. explains how to prepare for your financial advisor meeting and what to expect. If you’ve never sat down with a financial planner before, that first step can feel intimidating, but Roy can help ease your anxiety with these very helpful tips.

With the advent of smartphone technology, how people live, work, and spend money has changed dramatically over the past decade. With the existence of hyper-connection via social networks, there has been an increase in communication, and this has opened new ways to make and spend money. Picking up a gig online (gig: temporary work engagement) can be as easy as making plans for coffee or finding a date. The recently coined “gig economy” is altering the way that people view and perform work, and in this episode of The Money and Business Hour, Roy Matlock Jr. explains how it could affect you.

When you lack financial security, a scarcity mindset can set in. The scarcity mindset is when one feels there is never enough of specific items, like money, to go around. This is a very negative state of mind. If  you find yourself thinking like this, it's important to do everything you can to move into an abundant mindset. On this episode of Roy Matlock Jr.'s Money and Business Hour, Roy discusses how to have an abundant mindset and shoot for the goal to become a "2 Percenter." A "2 Percenter" is someone that earns at least $300,000 a year. Tune in to shift your mind in the right, and positive, direction- because anyone, including you, can become a "2 Percenter".

The key to financial success is investing. If you don't invest to build a nest egg, or to set and reach financial goals, then you'll have nothing to show for a lifetime of hard work. But, you don't want to invest your money just anywhere. You need to be wise about what you invest in so you can grow your wealth and become free financially. To make sure you invest the right way, Roy Matlock Jr. has shared the 3 Ds of investing in this episode of The Money and Business Hour.

Retirement planning is a crucial part of our financial life. Each year we have a chance to build up savings to ensure the future. Whether your future plans include the desire to travel, to save for your children, or someday make that move to your dream destination, it all requires some forethought. In this episode of The Money and Business Hour, Roy Matlock Jr. explains how to accomplish your goals by creating a retirement action plan.

Over your lifetime, financial planning can feel and look like a series of course corrections. You can't be expected to know all the choices and life changes you will face. And typically, in a moment of choice is when you need financial wisdom the most. In this episode of The Money and Business Hour, Roy Matlock Jr. explains how your choices in life will ultimately lead you to achieve your goals and the things that are important to you. Some choices are irreversible and some can be undone, but it is your choices that will give you your quality of life.

The concept of risk versus reward is imperative to smart investing. Who wants to risk, and lose their money right before it's needed. And keeping money in safe investments, like bonds, could result in few gains and mean you won't have enough for your long-term goal. In this episode of The Money and Business Hour, Roy Matlock Jr. explains simple yet savvy short- and long-term investing strategies that will help you balance risk and reward depending on when you'll need your cash.

To live comfortably in retirement, we longer can rely solely on a company pension plan or Social Security. Instead, we'll need to depend on how skillfully we plan and invest, and whether we make good use of tax-advantaged savings plans such as 401(k)s and IRAs. And choosing a life insurance policy can be daunting. The task of shopping for life insurance forces us to think about something we really don’t want to happen: the effects on our loved ones after we die. Aside from that, there are so many options and the added cost. 40% of Americans do not have any form of life insurance. And 35% of American households would feel the financial impact within one month if the primary wage earner died. In this episode of The Money and Business Hour, Roy explains the basics you need to know about planning for retirement, and how to choose a life insurance policy without breaking the bank so you can be completely prepared.

There is something very liberating about getting ahead financially. You have more options, you're less stressed, and things don’t feel as rushed. If you feel trapped with your money situation, be sure to tune into this episode of The Money and Business Hour, where Roy Matlock Jr. shares some things you can do to get financially ahead, which may truly help you improve your financial life.

In this episode of Roy Matlock Jr.'s Money and Business Hour, Roy discusses how to have a successful small business with the owner of Agape Tactical, Ken Alexander.