Winning at Life with Gregory Ricks

00:47 - Get updates on James adventures in fighting his high tax assesment.

05:08 - The Numbers are red, and continue the trendline downward. China trade tensions have this market swinging like Tarzan.

14:34 - There is no role for gold to play in the 50-50-50-50 plan.

20:20 - How to know if your pension buyout lump sum is big enough.

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01:22 - Where's the yield? The stock market is trending downward for the last few weeks, bonds rates are painfully low, interests on savings accounts and CDs are microscopic... where does an investor make money in a market like this?

04:33 - Student loan debt is hindering the ability of those borrowers to save for retirement. This is especially true for parents helping adult children, but how much is too much help for your grown kids?

15:56 - Rocky in Slidell asks Gregory if he can use the Back Door Roth method to get the proceeds from the sale of a house to into a Roth IRA.

24:13 - Gregory previews his three upcoming Gregory Ricks Live events in Madisonville, Metairie, and Biloxi.

27:01 - Paul in Denham Springs has a huge IRA, and wants to convert as much of that as possible to a Roth IRA so he doesn't have to pay higher taxes down the road. Gregory says it's all about tax bracket management, and doing strategic Roth conversions over time may be the best way to minimize taxes on Roth IRA conversions.

33:15 - The Mega Back Door Roth is a way to make a massive Roth conversion from investments at your company plan or IRA, and you do not want to try and pull this off without some guidance from a financial professional.

38:50 - Mimi in Gulfport asks Gregory if her husband currently receiving a disability check from Social Security could possibly get more money by switching to spousal benefits from HER Social Security record when she turns on her benefit.

45:09 - Estate Planning Attorney Wes Blanchard joins to show to flesh out more of how the SECURE Act could affect Financial Planning and Estate Planning. If the new law takes away the stretch option on inherited IRAs, what estate planning strategies can be used to acheive a similar goal?

49:47 - Arlette in Loranger is having issues getting Medicaid to help with her husband's long-term care costs. Their primary residence is in a revokable trust, and are being told that the structure of the trust is causing Medicaid to count those assets. Wes and Gregory suspect it may be time to revoke that trust, and get it right with a new one.

1:05:30 - Mary in Raceland is having her Social Security benefit hit with the Windfall Elimination Provision, and wants to know if her husband will be affected if he takes her spousal benefit when she passes.

1:08:11 - What happens to all of these civil lawsuits against Epstein now that he's dead? Wes Blanchard explains how the legal system handles the passing of the subject of a lawsuit.

1:18:59 - Handwritten wills are the cause of a couple of cases Wes is handling lately. People writing their own wills may be more common than you think, but the convenience and cost of doing it yourself may have a huge price to pay later.

1:27:04 - China trade tensions are driving the downward trend in the stock markets, and Gregory doesn't see a deal happening before the 2020 elections. The awful audio from Trump in front of the helicopter gives us a pretty good idea of what's coming up in trade talks.

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01:28 - The House passes the Raise the Wage Act, which would raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour in 6 years. If it's so great, why don't they make it go into effect immediately?

03:01 - The SECURE Act is making its way through Congress, and could have two big changes to IRAs. It could push back the age for Required Minimum Distributions from 70.5 to 72, and it could end the stretch options for inherited IRAs.

06:43 - There appears to be a deal on the way to avoid a government shutdown over the debt ceiling.

12:46 - It was a good time at the last few Gregory Ricks Live events. Gregory took the Wine, Wisdom, and Food show on the road, starting at Ruth's Chris in the Hard Rock Casino in Biloxi, Ruth's Chris in Metairie, and Keith Young's Steakhouse in Madisonville. Gregory raised $2,500 for the Palmer Home for Children. Wes Blanchard has an Estate Planning Lunch and Learn coming up.

23:36 - Gregory Ricks made a suggestion to Keith Young on one of his dishes at his steakhouse in Madisonville. The dish was a hit, and Gregory may have a dish named after him on the menu soon.

27:26 - The Numbers are mostly positive.

31:26 - Netflix is facing the loss of some of its top programs, and the arrival of new competition, while juggling over $10 billion in debt. Is the party over for this great company?

33:34 - What should you do if the only retirement savings you have is your 401k?

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Hurricane Barry moves towards Louisiana, and we welcome Bob Breck to do a couple of weather updates, along with the regular financial talk. Estate Planning Attorney Wes Blanchard is our guest, and we take some great calls, too.

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04:09 - North Dakota's only billionaire started as a ranch hand in high school, became a gym teacher, got into the insurance business, and then finally rocketed to success owning motels.

12:31 - Gary in New Orleans has a great health plan with his employer. Does his wife need to sign up for Medicare if she's covered by his private health plan?

28:21 - How to turn on Medicare. When do you need to start the process? What happens if you sign up late? How does all this work?

30:43 - The Numbers were down slightly.

35:12 - Trump audio on trade deals and the Fed is pretty harsh, and give you a good idea where the economy is headed.

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The GRL road show: Gregory Ricks Live has upcoming events in Biloxi, Metairie, and the Northshore.

How to have a retirement if you do not have enough money saved

No really, America is #1. Hear the statistics and facts that overwhelmingly prove America truly is the best country in the world, despite the rash of attempts to make you think otherwise.

What you need to know about saving for your kids' college
Mel in Folsom asks about getting started for his younger children.

Heather in St Rose asks about 529 plans for college: the good, the bad, and the details.

Wayne in Nola asks Gregory for idea on what to do with money left at the old company plan.

Trump audio on trade deals and the Fed is pretty harsh, and give you a good idea where the economy is headed.

Solid jobs report answers some big questions about our economy

Learn the downsides to annuities. It's not just about surrender fees. There are other negative aspects of fixed annuities.

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The Half Episode: Gregory and James bring you on a statistical journey through the world of halves.

03:23 - Gregory has been hosting a number of public events around the area, and is happy to announce his first event in Biloxi. Gregory Ricks Live: Wine, Wisdom, and Food, will be at the Ruth's Chris Steakhouse in the Hard Rock Casino.

18:38 - Tom in Marrero asks Gregory's thoughts on where he can put some extra money to generate income.

38:50 - What should you do if your IRA loses money? Matt in Hammond asks Gregory if he should be concerned that his IRA lost money the last two years.

46:16 - Dwayne Stein of Mortgage Gumbo talks about the housing market in Dallas, the home market of our newest affiliate: 1160 KBDT Big D Talk.

50:45 - Jerome Powell, President of the Federal Reserve Bank, announces this week the federal funds rate will remain unchanged. Mortgage rates are back below 4%, and Dwayne Stein explains how some people are taking advantage.

56:46 - Adam in New Orleans locked in a mortgage rate a month ago, and rates have fallen since then. Does Dwayne know of a way he can get a lower rate now?

59:06 - Should you refinance your mortgage? William in Marrero asks Dwayne Stein if it would be worth the effort to refinance his mortgage to get a lower rate.

1:08:26 - Glenn in Kenner asks Dwayne what kind of money he could save on his monthly payment by refinancing his mortgage at a lower rate.

1:28:29 - Wanna hear a scam call? Steve, a regular listener, sends us a scam call he recorded after hearing our segment on scam calls over the weekend. The audio shows us some red flags to look for to identify a scam.

1:36:25 - Louis in Chalmette has noticed most of his portfolio is slowly shifting to cash and safety, but the markets are near all-time highs. Gregory talks about how most stocks do not beat bonds in the long term, and it looks like there's a lot of other people making a flight to safety.

1:46:07 - Are Robo Advisors a good place to start? Greg in New Orleans asks Gregory's thoughts on getting investment guidance from a Robo-Advisor service.

2:00:11 - Gregory has some help for those who got a late start saving for retirement and are playing catch up.

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03:28 - Zion Williamson signs with the New Orleans Pelicans, and the financial numbers behind the story are massive. He's going to lose about half of it to taxes, but it could've been worse had he been drafted to a high-tax state.

06:10 - The Numbers.

12:18 - Louis in Chalmette has noticed most of his portfolio is slowly shifting to cash and safety, but the markets are near all-time highs. Gregory talks about how most stocks do not beat bonds in the long term, and it looks like there's a lot of other people making a flight to safety.

27:14 - Hear some scam calls recorded for the show, and learn how to identify scams.

32:52 - Time travel discussion: James and Gregory ponder how far they would be willing to travel back in time, and it's really hard to go back to before 2009.

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00:55 - The Fed leaves rates unchanged, and even though many were under the impression a rate cut was coming, the markets responded positively to the news.

04:33 - The Numbers show a solid market rally for the day, with gold taking off and Treasuries going even lower. The two seem to indicate economic troubles abroad. Gregory and James discuss the mystery of the disappearing Venezuelan gold.

12:43 - An unexplained "avian incident" knocks out the majority of a 1,200 acre solar power plant in California. It was built with over a billion dollar subsidy from the taxpayers. Are we sure these green projects are really the best way to go about generating electricity?

18:27 - Harley Davidson announces a partnership with a Chinese firm to produce a line of smaller lower-priced motorcycles to appeal to poorer markets around the world. Gregory is skeptical something like that could work here in the United States.

25:20 - Wanna hear a scam call? Steve, a regular listener, sends us a scam call he recorded after hearing our segment on scam calls over the weekend. The audio shows us some red flags to look for to identify a scam.

32:20 - Is now a good time to buy gold? Gregory reacts to a blog post from ZeroHedge.com making the bullish case for gold.

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