Talking Money

Mike discusses more questions surrounding IRAs including:

* When should you consider moving from a traditional to a ROTH IRA?

* What are some advantages of keeping things in a traditional IRA?

* What about conversion assets?

* What are the tax rules for a ROTH?

* What are the earnings rules?

* What is the five year rule and how does it affect my planning?

* What are some beneficiary considerations I should be thinking about?

Mike answers questions about IRA rules, including:

* What are your plans in case something happens to you?

* What are the different kinds of IRAs and what are their different contribution limits?

* What about a non-deductible IRA?

* What kind of contributions should you be making?

* What is the back door ROTH IRA?

* How does your tax bracket affect your planning decisions?

* My tax software will figure everything out for me, right?

* To ROTH or not to ROTH?

In this episode, Mike looks at the latest economic review from Ronald Blue Trust. He also discusses several other points:

* Can you solve your financial problems by winning the lottery?

* Market fluctuations aren’t a punishment for being an investor, they are the admission fees.

* Wealth is financial assets that haven’t been converted into the assets you see. Living large doesn’t mean you are wealthy.

* True Wealth comes from wanting what we have – be content!

* I have more cash than I need for retirement. Where should I put it?

* Are we in or headed for a recession now?

* What type of investments are doing the best?

Is your financial advisor working for you? What are some questions you can ask to make the best choice on someone to help with your finances? Mike looks at some of these questions:

* Is your advisor really an advisor or a salesperson?

* What are their credentials and experience?

* What should a financial planner offer?

* Does the advisor offer estate planning assistance?

* How does the advisor present themselves in the first meeting?

* What about complaints?

* Where do you start your search for your own personal CFO?

* What other questions should you ask a potential financial advisor?

You can also read more about these questions and considerations here.

Highlights from show originally aired on March 5, 2022. 

Eddie Holland joins Mike again to discuss more about Social Security and Medicare.

They answer a number of listener questions, including:

* Why might you delay taking Social Security? What about taking it early?

* How would the survivor benefit play into that consideration?

* Is there any penalty for someone who has not yet reached full retirement age to continue working for a year or two, but still go on and start drawing Social Security?

* How does Social Security determine your annual benefits based on your estimated date of death?

* Once you reach full retirement age, and you decide to continue to keep working, does your employer still withdraw Social Security taxes past your retirement age/date?

* At what point do we have to decide about Medicare if both spouses are at retirement age, but one of us is still working and has employer provided health insurance?

* My employer health insurances will subsidize half our Medicare premiums. Should I go on and sign up for Medicare to take advantage of that?

* I’m 68, going to file at 70. My spouse is 62. Should she go on and file? If she does, when she reaches full retirement age, can she then claim my spousal benefit?

* At what age can you still work and draw Social Security and not be penalized?

Highlights from the show originally aired February 26, 2022. 

Eddie Holland, CFP®, CPA/PFS, CKA®, joins Mike to discuss Social Security. They answer the following questions:

* If I’m going to collect social security and continue working, how do they calculate the amount taken out for social security and when do they look at that?

* How much of your social security will be considered as taxable income for a given year?

* What is full retirement age and why does that matter?

* What is the split strategy?

* What is the income reduction?

* If I have health benefits through my job, but I am approaching Medicare age, do I need to switch to Medicare?

* How would enrolling in Medicare affect your usage of a Health Savings Account?

* Does a spouse have the ability to use your Medicare or Cobra if they are themselves too young to apply?

* How does my income affect my Medicare premium?

Disclaimer: “Ronald Blue Trust and its employees have general knowledge of the Social Security tenets, however, they do not have complete expertise to provide a full discussion of the details of your specific situation. So, for additional information, contact your local Social Security office.” (and don’t be afraid to ask questions or for a supervisor if the information isn’t clear or not what you were expecting.)

 

Mike is joined by clients Sandy and Karen McCormick who share their stories of financial lessons they learned throughout life. They also share their philosophies of spending and saving.

Sandy and Karen then share the experience they have had as Ronald Blue Trust clients in the Everyday Steward division.

In The Way to Wealth, Benjamin Franklin gave some sage financial advice, even on how to control living expenses. He also gave timeless advice regarding avoiding debt.

Mike talks about some of those pieces of advice as well as answering a listener question about the recent interest rate increase and ideas about how to help others in your local community.

Mikes’ wife Cathy calls in to discuss ways she helped keep living expenses low as she and Mike raised their children.

He also shared an old Saturday Night Live skit.

In 1785, Benjamin Franklin wrote an essay entitled “The Way to Wealth or Father Abraham’s Sermon.” It is a collection of phrases of wisdom and advice that are still applicable today. Phrases like:

* A word to the wise is enough.

* Lost time is never found again.

* Drive thy business, let not that drive thee.

* Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.

* If we are industrious, we will never starve.

* Never leave for tomorrow what you can do today.

* Since you are not sure of a minute, don’t waste an hour.

* A life of leisure and life of laziness are two different things.

There is a lot of biblical truth in these statements as well. Biblical advice on money is always timely.

Whose money is it anyway? How does the way you spend your money reflect what you believe about money?

Highlights from the show originally aired February 19, 2022

Tim Guin of USA Truck joins Mike again to answer more listener questions and shares some of his story.

* How do trucking companies try to mitigate risk of high dollar law suits?

* What equipment is on semi trucks to help prevent accidents?

* How has the chip shortage affected the trucking industry?

* What is the drug testing clearinghouse?

* How has the labor shortage affected trucking?