We can have all the money in the world, but if we don’t have our physical and mental health, that money means nothing. Few people understand this better than Dr. David Lereah, PhD. He’s the founder of United We Age, an organization working to inspire a movement where all generations of people are more aware and supportive of people aging.

He’s also the author of The Power of Positive Aging, where he encourages readers to not be afraid of aging but to celebrate it. A stage three cancer survivor, Dr. Lereah demonstrates how simple lifestyle modifications will transform your everyday life, helping you to live more joyfully for the rest of your years.

A lot of things in David’s book hit me in very meaningful ways. Today, he joins the podcast to share his life story, his challenges, his struggles, and how he beat esophageal cancer after being diagnosed at the age of 62.

In this podcast interview, you’ll learn:

• What happened to David when he published a book about the real estate boom right as the housing bubble burst in 2008.
• Why so many seniors are alone, disassociated from family and friends, and unable to get the social interaction or support they need.
• The reason so many people see aging as the end of their professional identity - and how David embraced positivity, even as he faced a major health crisis head-on.
• Why David views aging as an inconvenience and not a death sentence.
• The Four A’s of aging.
• How to rebalance and simplify your life. 
• How we become more emotionally intelligent as we age.

Get Today's Show Notes

To get a full recap of today's conversation, including the biggest takeaways, transcripts, and links to all the resources mentioned, visit GuidedRetirementShow.com/44

Learn More about Retirement Planning

Find out more about retirement planning and Barber Financial Group, by visiting BarberFinancialGroup.com

Back in August 2019, I had an amazing conversation with David Mitchell of AllianceBernstein in which we talked about economic cycles and where we were. A year and a half later, his company has had some incredible returns - and many of the things that David shared with us really came to fruition.

Despite the uncertainty that the investment markets faced in 2020, AllianceBernstein’s assets grew by 70 billion since we last spoke. With their unique view on the larger global economy and their economic cycles, AllianceBernstein has thrived with amazing growth in a challenging year.

Today, David returns to the podcast to talk about where we are right now, why the markets are doing what they’re doing, and the parabolic move in the price-to-earnings ratios of the stock market.

In this podcast interview, you’ll learn:

• How COVID and low interest rates have collectively changed where we’re at in the current supercycle.
• Why millennials are a tailwind to the economy as opposed to a headwind.
• Why COVID was a proverbial match that lit the gasoline that had been building up for years. 
• How investing without purpose sets you up for failure.
• Why the US stock market is currently hugely overvalued - and why this merits active management of financial assets.
• Why volatility is a great time to look for new opportunities.

Get Today's Show Notes

To get a full recap of today's conversation, including the biggest takeaways, transcripts, and links to all the resources mentioned, visit GuidedRetirementShow.com/43

Learn More about Retirement Planning

Find out more about retirement planning and Barber Financial Group, by visiting BarberFinancialGroup.com

Retirement planning isn’t just for people who are near retirement or in retirement already. If you’re in your 20s or 30s, you’re in a prime position to build a great foundation to experience financial independence and retire younger.

Joining me today is Jason Newcomer, certified financial planner and advisor here at Barber Financial Group. In this episode, we’ll share a list of great books geared towards young adults to learn more about the importance of retirement planning early on, we outline the fundamentals that they should be thinking about now, and we’ll share valuable information about the platform we’ve built at Barber Financial to help them get a head start on their retirement planning.

In this podcast interview, you’ll learn:

• How the massive gaps that still exist comes to financial literacy in our education system can have significant impacts on young peoples’ futures.
• Why CNBC, Fox Business, and other outlets aren’t actually geared toward people outside of the financial industry.
• Tools you can use to get a grip on your cash flow, budgeting, and forecasting future potential expenses.
• Advice for anyone starting a job with a retirement plan or 401(k) match.
• Why you should never carry a balance on your credit cards - and how to prevent this from happening.
• Why taking 401(k) withdrawals before retirement should be seen as a last resort.
• How to start investing - and why you don’t need to obsess over the day-to-day or participate in high-risk, speculative stocks or cryptocurrency to generate wealth.

Get Today's Show Notes

To get a full recap of today's conversation, including the biggest takeaways, transcripts, and links to all the resources mentioned, visit GuidedRetirementShow.com/42

Learn More about Retirement Planning

Find out more about retirement planning and Barber Financial Group, by visiting BarberFinancialGroup.com

In these first few months of 2021, we’re seeing extreme market valuations at levels we’ve never seen before. This means that it’s more important than ever that you know how to assess risk in your portfolio.

Today’s guest is Brad Kasper. He’s the president of LSA Portfolio Analytics, where he provides investment advisors with the tools and infrastructure they need to deliver incredible client services. He’s also been on the podcast several times before to talk about the economy and how it affects markets, how to build portfolios, and how to assess risk. If you haven’t listened to our previous episode about risk assessment, Episode 15, I would highly recommend you do so now, as we get into some more technical terms and concepts today.

In our conversation, Brad and I are talking about intelligent risk and fat tail analysis, how to use these tools to construct better portfolios, and what makes this approach different from modern portfolio theory.

In this podcast interview, you’ll learn:

• How the black swan event of 2020 proved that most people don’t really understand how risk affects their portfolio.
• The difference between assessing portfolio performance on an annual basis vs. rolling one-year periods.
• Why heavy tail risk math creates a much clearer picture of your risk exposure than Gaussian mathematics.
• How improvements in technology over the last decade have made it much easier to eliminate assumptions from investment models.
• How to create and understand a realistic spread profile that both allows you to participate in the markets and shields you from catastrophic downturns.
• Why most financial planning software programs fail to produce accurate models.
• Why participating too much on the down days is every investor’s biggest risk.

Get Today's Show Notes

To get a full recap of today's conversation, including the biggest takeaways, transcripts, and links to all the resources mentioned, visit GuidedRetirementShow.com/41

Learn More about Retirement Planning

Find out more about retirement planning and Barber Financial Group, by visiting BarberFinancialGroup.com

Some people just seem to be far more successful than others - especially when it comes to business relationships. You probably know at least one person who seems to always be surrounded by the right people in the right moment, and who can get the help they need to clarify their visions and reach their objectives. 

If you’ve ever wondered what makes these people so special, today’s episode is for you. I’m speaking with Dr. Charlie Cartwright, the CEO of People Success Labs. He helps business leaders and individuals all across the country rise to their fullest potential by enhancing their leadership performance, improving workplace culture, and increasing employee engagement and safety.

In this conversation, Dr. Charlie and I talk about the scientific method he uses to help people grow, the importance of community and meaningful relationships in everything we do, and the lessons he learned from 30 years working for major companies, including FedEx and UPS.

In this podcast interview, you’ll learn:

• How building better teams can lead to explosive ROI.
• The three brains that every human has and how to bring them into alignment.
• The Golden Egg Principle - and why it’s so important to nurture, cultivate, and invest in your employees. 
• How working with a coach like Dr. Charlie benefits not just people who want to be better business leaders, but anyone who wants to live a better life.

Get Today's Show Notes

To get a full recap of today's conversation, including the biggest takeaways, transcripts, and links to all the resources mentioned, visit GuidedRetirementShow.com/40

Learn More about Retirement Planning

Find out more about retirement planning and Barber Financial Group, by visiting BarberFinancialGroup.com

What exactly is index investing? Why do specific companies make up the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500, and the NASDAQ? Should we be investing in index funds, or is there a better way? 

Here to help me answer all of these questions is the co-host of America’s Wealth Management Show, Bud Kasper. He has 38 years of experience in financial services, and we’ve done hundreds of radio shows and videos together.

deep dive into index investing, peel back the layers, and simplify the complex as you build your portfolio at any age.

In this podcast interview, you’ll learn:

• Why you shouldn’t look at the Dow or any other single index to understand how the markets did on any given day.
• Which companies make up some of the most common indices and why they don’t change very often. 
• Why building a portfolio of individual stocks included in an index fund defeats the purpose of the index. 
• How index funds can be used in passive investing. 
• How overreliance on indices creates risk when compared to a more diversified, predictable, and consistent portfolio.

Get Today's Show Notes

To get a full recap of today's conversation, including the biggest takeaways, transcripts, and links to all the resources mentioned, visit GuidedRetirementShow.com/39

Learn More about Retirement Planning

Find out more about retirement planning and Barber Financial Group, by visiting BarberFinancialGroup.com

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act changed many aspects of our lives. For those who give to charity, it also had a massive impact on how we give. Many of the tax benefits associated with charitable giving have disappeared because of the increased standard deduction, and many organizations have been impacted by this change. 

Joining me to talk about what happened and what to do about it is Chris Rigsby. Chris is from the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation, where he’s helping people find new ways to continue their charitable giving and take advantage of the updated tax code. His work is helping both the organizations that need donors and the donors themselves - a true win-win.

Today, Chris explains how the new tax code has changed charitable giving for his organization and others, the new tools available to donors to help take your money further, and tax benefits you can take advantage of as you prepare your return this year to support organizations you love.

In this podcast interview, you’ll learn:

• Why the new standard deduction in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act impacted charitable giving.
• How “bunching” can benefit you as a donor and create a consistent cash flow stream for charities in need.
• How to set up a donor-advised fund for grants and giving. 
• How money coming out of an IRA can be used to make a charitable donation without having to claim distributions. 
• The unique benefits of working with an organization like the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation to manage your giving.

Get Today's Show Notes

To get a full recap of today's conversation, including the biggest takeaways, transcripts, and links to all the resources mentioned, visit GuidedRetirementShow.com/38

Learn More about Retirement Planning

Find out more about retirement planning and Barber Financial Group, by visiting BarberFinancialGroup.com

There’s no such thing as a one-size-fits-all retirement plan, and retirement often isn’t moving to Florida and never working again in your life.

Professional athletes, and especially football players, for example, are often done playing by their thirties or forties. With so much life left to live and so many opportunities out there, there are countless paths to take - and today’s guest, Mark Collins, is living proof.

Mark is a two-time Super Bowl champion who played for the Kansas City Chiefs, Green Bay Packers, New York Giants, and the Seattle Seahawks. He has worked as a financial advisor, and his current venture is 2FiveSports, where he’s helping student athletes create winning demonstrations, connect with recruiters, and win the scholarships they need to play college sports.

Today, Mark joins the podcast to tell the story of the many roles he’s taken on since leaving the NFL, building a legacy, and giving back by creating opportunities for other kids just like him.

In this podcast interview, you’ll learn:

• How being very coachable helped Mark take advantage of opportunities and chart a path from high school football to becoming an NFL draft pick.
• The moment Mark knew he was physically and mentally done with football, how he moved on with his life, and why he ultimately felt like the broadcasting world moved on without him.
• How 2FiveSports is helping student-athletes get the exposure they need to win college scholarships.
• What Mark learned from the several years he worked as a financial advisor.

Get Today's Show Notes

To get a full recap of today's conversation, including the biggest takeaways, transcripts, and links to all the resources mentioned, visit GuidedRetirementShow.com/37

Learn More about Retirement Planning

Find out more about retirement planning and Barber Financial Group, by visiting BarberFinancialGroup.com

On the Guided Retirement Show, we usually talk about retirement and the future of your money. Today, we’re doing something a little bit different. In fact, we’re talking about life, the future of work, and the power of technology to transform lives.

My guest is Jeff Alholm, CEO of Digital Aerolus. He’s invented a wide array of new technologies used daily by millions of people and companies all over the globe, and had his hands in projects including some of the first Wi-Fi implementations and the devices that served as predecessors to the original iPhone.

Today, Jeff and I are talking about the technological revolution we’re living through right now, some of the incredible innovation he’s witnessed over the course of his career, and the devices that are already transforming life as we know it.

In this podcast interview, you’ll learn:

• Why people like Jeff’s 85-year-old father, who seems resistant to adopting new technology, almost always end up becoming fans and power users.
• How industries are making sweeping changes to modernize their operations and eliminate tools as simple as stepladders.
• The new technology that may transform work as we know it and create tons of new jobs.
• The inspiring power of a big vision.

Get Today's Show Notes

To get a full recap of today's conversation, including the biggest takeaways, transcripts, and links to all the resources mentioned, visit GuidedRetirementShow.com/36

Learn More about Retirement Planning

Find out more about retirement planning and Barber Financial Group, by visiting BarberFinancialGroup.com

No matter what time of the year it is or what the tax code says, you’re probably paying taxes on a paycheck, Social Security, dividends, and capital gains - or some combination of the above. It can be easy to feel overwhelmed and just give up trying to hang on to your hard-earned money.

JoAnn Huber does not want you to do this. She’s a CPA and CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™, and she understands how a long-term tax plan can help you save more, no matter what’s happening in the world.

Today, JoAnn returns to the podcast for the fourth time to talk about the ways 2020 has changed how people of all ages need to look at retirement, the importance of having a solid plan in place long before you take your first RMD, and how to protect yourself, no matter how much the tax code changes.

In this podcast interview, you’ll learn:

• How tax laws changed in 2019 and 2020 - and why taxes are probably going to go up no later than 2025.
• How the SECURE Act will change how people look at retirement - and the new rules that may hugely impact people who inherit IRAs.
• Ways to lower your tax tier and save on Medicare premiums using qualified charitable distributions.
• Why the SECURE Act brings life insurance into play as a retirement vehicle for the first time in a long time - and how the life insurance industry lobbied to make this happen.

Get Today's Show Notes

To get a full recap of today's conversation, including the biggest takeaways, transcripts, and links to all the resources mentioned, visit GuidedRetirementShow.com/35

Learn More about Retirement Planning

Find out more about retirement planning and Barber Financial Group, by visiting BarberFinancialGroup.com