Today, Paul walks through different kinds of investments and how you understand the risks and rewards each investment offers. Paul wants you to walk away feeling more confident about your money working for you and understand why certain things are called investments that either don’t deliver on their promises or don’t actually pay you to borrow your money.

Cost is a factor that impacts the performance of your investments. However, it is not the only factor, yet low-cost products can be heavily marketed as the best ones. Today, Paul receives a video attempting to explain an analysis of specific funds and their costs. Unfortunately, the explanation falls short on a few key points about how these portfolios and markets work. Paul encourages you to really understand the claims this video makes so that you will feel confident when someone tries to push you away from your plan because of expenses.

For more information about what we do or how we can help you, schedule a 15-minute call with us here: paulwinkler.com/call.

Today, Paul wants to educate investors about the most common topic he’s working with people on day-to-day: taking an income in retirement. Whether it’s CDs that have come to term, confusing annuity products, or understanding risk in your portfolio, there are many reasons people come to Paul looking for answers around taking an income. It’s also a topic that companies are constantly using to market their products to you. Listen along as Paul talks about a framework from income in retirement and some of the most common traps people fall into when setting up their investment to take an income. 

Today, Paul and Evan talk about a lot of work that goes on around the holidays to help people with end-of-the-year financial planning. Listen along as these advisors provide some helpful tips and some common traps around financial planning to help you relax about money around the holidays. 

For more information about what we do or how we can help you, schedule a 15-minute call with us here: paulwinkler.com/call.

The University of Michigan released the consumer sentiment survey this year with some new included information: political affiliation. This survey, along with others, is used as a factor to forecast the country's overall economic outlook. Conservatives are largely optimistic and Liberals are largely pessimistic. Paul and Evan talk about how politics sneak into our financial systems and why it’s important to not respond to the movements of interest rates and markets because short-term outlooks are based on sentiment.

For more information about what we do or how we can help you, schedule a 15-minute call with us here: paulwinkler.com/call.

Someone asks Paul and Evan a question about IRA beneficiaries and spousal transfers. Can you do a spousal transfer with other primary beneficiaries? What is the difference between a primary and contingent beneficiary? And how are RMDs calculated with multiple beneficiaries? Paul addresses all of these questions and encourages you to make sure that your IRA beneficiaries are up to date.

For more information about what we do or how we can help you, schedule a 15-minute call with us here: paulwinkler.com/call.

The harsh reality is that the investing industry is a sales-driven industry. Today, Paul and Evan explain how to navigate a sales industry to get what you need and not just line the pockets of investment companies. It really comes down to this idea: It’s always safer to pay for financial planning from someone who knows and understands your goals, your needs, and your full financial situation than it is to pay for products or people who are pushing a specific strategy or investment vehicle. The advisors get into a conversation about Roth conversions and how easy it is for companies or advisors to get stuck offering the same thing to everyone without offering a thoughtful financial plan. 

For more information about what we do or how we can help you, schedule a 15-minute call with us here: paulwinkler.com/call.

Today, Paul talks about Medicare and Medicare Advantage plans. Listen along to hear why Paul is usually steering people away from Medicare Advantage Plans and some new research that explains their disadvantages.

This week, Paul did some continuing education as a financial planner and bumped into something that wasn’t at all educational, but a sales pitch for a new mutual fund. It turns out that hundreds of billions of dollars are flowing into a new flashy factor-based investment product and Paul isn’t impressed. Unfortunately, the industry is full of this kind of behavior.

For more information about what we do or how we can help you, schedule a 15-minute call with us here: paulwinkler.com/call.

Today, Paul shares a few different segments that highlight a few things about Bitcoin’s current position in a new Trump regime. Paul wants you to know that most economists still see cryptocurrency as a speculative asset. Despite some rhetoric around legitimizing Bitcoin as a currency, Trump seems much more interested in the power of the dollar over the position of Bitcoin. Paul also talks about the complications of trying to purchase things with Bitcoin and the irony of a currency that isn’t supposed to be beholden to a government then starting to be championed by the world’s largest government.

For more information about what we do or how we can help you, schedule a 15-minute call with us here: paulwinkler.com/call.