Your Life Simplified: A Financial & Wealth Management Podcast

An estate plan can play an important part in your overall wealth plan and can make a large impact on your spouse and children. Taking a few steps can help ensure that your estate doesn't end up in probate and your family isn't left with a headache. On today's episode, Mike MacKelvie is joined by special guest Drew McDowell, attorney and senior wealth advisor at Mariner Wealth Advisors, as they talk through 5 costly estate planning errors that celebrities like Prince, Whitney Houston and James Gandolfini made in their own estate plan and learn what you can do to help make sure you're not making these same mistakes.

When keeping up with the, sometimes sensational, media coverage of the markets, things can seem bleak without proper context. In this week's episode, Valerie Escobar and Mike MacKelvie talk us through how to assess the information we glean from these news story headlines, and how it might impact our investing plans.

Are you thinking about retiring early? In this week's episode of Your Life Simplified, Valerie Escobar, senior wealth advisor, and Mike MacKelvie, wealth advisor, discuss several things you should think about before retiring early. Considerations discussed include Roth conversions, capital gains, when to take social security and how much income you should take during retirement.

In this episode of Your Life Simplified, Mike Mackelvie, wealth advisor, and Valerie Escobar, senior wealth advisor, discuss bond alternatives and the pros and cons of bonds. Valerie and Michael talk about the basics of bonds, bond alternatives that you can invest in, rates of return and how impactful bonds can be in the market.

In this episode of Your Life Simplified, Mike MacKelvie, wealth advisor, and Valerie Escobar, senior wealth advisor, discuss volatility in the stock market and strategies to embrace the up and down rollercoaster that the stock market can be. Valerie and Michael talk about the history of markets, rates of return and impactful days in the market.

In part 2 of Your Life Simplified's real estate series, Mike MacKelvie, wealth advisor, and Valerie Escobar, senior wealth advisor, discuss how REITs, or real estate investment trust, and ETFs, or exchange trades funds, have performed in high interest rate environments and the advantages of investing in real estate assets.

Are you looking to invest in real estate? In this week's episode of Your Life Simplified, Mike MacKelvie, wealth advisor, and Valerie Escobar, senior wealth advisor, talk about the things you should take into consideration before investing in real estate. The topics discussed include interest rates, return on investment and the advantages and disadvantages of investing in real estate.

Often times, we only look at the short-term cost of owning a pet such as adoption fees, toys, food and vaccinations. However, other costs, such as pet insurance, additional vet bills and housing need to be considered before adopting a furry friend. In this week's podcast episode, Valerie Escobar, senior wealth advisor, and Mike MacKelvie, wealth advisor, are joined by very special guest Lucy as they talk about the real cost of owning a pet.

How do we get our kids to make better decisions with money? In this week's podcast, Valorie, senior wealth advisor, and Mike, welath advisor, will be sharing with you tips and insights to help you teach your kids how to become financially literate.

In this week's podcast episode, Valerie Escobar, senior wealth advisor, and Mike MacKelvie, wealth advisor, walk through 5 tax planning strategies and opportunities like Roth conversions, backdoor Roth IRA conversions, asset allocation, tax-loss harvesting and making qualified charitable contributions. They'll also discuss considerations for each of these strategies and why it's important to consult with your wealth advisor.