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Very often, we find that people wil stick with a broker or financial advisor who's doing a less than stellar job, and there's usually a handful of reasons why. Charles will poke some holes in those excuses, and give you a healthier picture of what your financial advisor should be doing for you if he or she is truly a good fit. We'll also take a look at some recent news items related to the student loan debt crisis.
Some people (in fact, probably most people) find it easy to procrastinate when it comes to financial planning issues. But let’s talk about some scenarios that might cause people to have a bit more sense of urgency.
Your 401k can be your most powerful retirement savings tool. But it’s not perfect. Let’s talk about some of the weaknesses that you should be aware of in your 401k (or 403b, or TSP, or 457 plan).
Of course, saving money on taxes is important. But when tax advantages are being pitched as the primary benefit of an investment, should we be concerned? Charles will help us tackle the pros and cons on this week's episode. We'll also answer a question from Roberta about investing a large amount of her 401k in company stock.
The term “fake news” has become synonymous with the political climate of the past few years. But the phenomenon has spread to other parts of our culture as well. What about fake news in the financial space? We’ll look at some recent news headlines to see if they qualify to be labeled as “fake news”.
Hopefully your famous last words in life won’t be “Hey y’all, watch this!” And in the financial world, there’s quite a few phrases that you don’t want to be your famous last words either…
Some of retirement planning’s most important questions seem so simple at first. They can be asked in just 4-5 words and give the impression the answers are a simple “yes” or “no”. But it’s tricky because many of these questions can become overwhelming to answer. Let’s cover some of the important retirement questions that are harder to answer than you might think.
Not everything in financial planning is black and white. In fact, most things aren’t black and white — there’s usually a lot of gray area. Let’s identify some of the issues that usually require a nuanced discussion…
It’s easy to get distracted by “shiny objects” of the financial world. Let’s cover some of the distractions for which we should be on the lookout.
Any advisor worth his or her salt is going to have a conversation with you about risk. But what in the world is “risk tolerance”? It’s a buzzword that gets used a lot in meetings with financial advisors, but we’ve found that a lot of people don’t have a great understanding of how their risk tolerance truly impacts their financial and retirement plans. Let’s fix that and give you the 411 on risk tolerance.
A lot of people have questions about their retirement plan, but we find that they’re often asking the wrong questions. We’ll cover some of these common questions and learn about the different questions you should be asking instead.
Most people think that a financial advisor’s primary job is picking investments. That’s only a small part of it. The reality is that the primary job is solving problems. Let’s look at some situations that have happened over the years where the financial planning became less about picking investments and more about solving problems.
Depending on who you ask, you could get very different answers to some of retirement planning’s most important questions. Let’s see where our opinions all stand on issues like insurance, mutual funds & annuities. And we’ll try to answer why there are so many different opinions on these concepts.
We won't be getting political about this, but the national debt is skyrocketing faster than you can imagine. At some point, it could become a huge issue for the economy if it isn't already. How could our increasing national debt impact your retirement? Charles explains.
A lot of financial terms can get confusing, even if you’ve heard them talked about a lot in the news or in a financial meeting at work or even around the dinner table with family. Let’s explore some important terms you might have heard before, but also might need a better understanding of what they mean.
There’s a lot more to retirement planning than just picking investments. Is your advisor helping you navigate all the other essential areas?
It’s important to be able to recognize the difference between an advisor who actually has a planning process and one who just gives sales pitches all day. Let’s go over how you can identify the difference.
A lot of investors (and quite frankly a lot of advisors) fall victim to fuzzy math when it comes to their retirement planning. Let’s explore some of the areas where someone might be employing fuzzy math.
Some folks feel shell-shocked after seeing their assets get cut in half from a divorce. Charles will share with us some ways that he helps clients navigate through tough life events like divorce. And we'll answer a listener question about fee-only advisors. Are they really the "best" kind of financial advisor to work with?
Creating a customized retirement plan for any individual can mean addressing some unique challenges. With each of these scenarios, let’s discuss the challenges presented, as well as the solutions you might come up with…