Andy shares some year-end tax planning tips, deadlines and things to consider around the following topics: contributions to qualified accounts Roth conversions distributions from qualified accounts Required Minimum Distributions ("RMDs") charitable donations Qualified Charitable Distributions ("QCDs") from IRAs gifting tax loss and tax gain harvest…

In this special guest host episode, Brian Tegtmeyer from Truly Prosper Financial Planning talks about how to address and plan for the non-financial aspects of retirement such as intellectual engagement, purposeful activities, health and fitness, relationships and more. And he also shares a quick exercise to do to see how you can measure your satisf…

Listener Q&A where Andy talks about: The CAPE (Cyclically Adjusted Price to Earnings) Ratio as a measure of whether the US stock market is overvalued or undervalued, and drawbacks with the CAPE Ratio ( 4:32 ) The meaning of Benjamin Graham's quote "In the short run, the stock market is a voting machine, but in the long run it's a weighing machine" …

Andy chats with a real person (not an advisor) doing their own retirement planning. In this episode, Andy talks with Jackie Cummings Koski. But Jackie isn't just the typical "real" person doing her own retirement planning. She went the F.I.R.E. (Financial Independence Retire Early) route and left her corporate job in her late-40s. She's since expan…

Andy chats with fellow retirement planner Allen Mueller, CFA, CFP® from 7 Saturdays Financial. In this episode they talk about a wide array of retirement planning topics such as tax planning, distribution strategies, investing, annuities, long-term care insurance, how to know when people have enough to retire, what consumers often overlook in retir…

Andy shares his views on the few different ways in which people in the financial services/financial advisory industry can receive revenue: Commission-only Fee-only Hybrid or fee-based Links in this episode: My article in Rethinking65 - How Much Are Your Services Worth? Tenon Financial monthly e-newsletter - Retirement Planning Insights Facebook gro…

Listener Q&A where Andy talks about: How to calculate how much money you can gift or donate in retirement without running out ( 8:47 ) Does the five-year rule met by a previous Roth IRA carry over to a new Roth IRA ( 17:03 ) Is it better to draw down an inherited IRA and delay starting Social Security, or vice versa ( 19:39 ) Can distributions from…

Andy chats with a real person (not an advisor) doing their own retirement planning. In this episode, Andy talks with Scott. They talk about a wide array of retirement planning topics such as leaving the workforce early than planned during COVID and later reengaging in part-time work to have social interaction, managing income for purposes of Afford…

Andy and Justin Pritchard from Approach Financial share their thoughts on a handful of current events and "hot topics" relating to retirement planning. Specifically, they talk about: The pros and cons of target date funds ( 11:05 ) Their thoughts on the recent presidential executive order allowing private and illiquid investments to be offered insi…

Andy summarizes some helpful IRS tools and interesting IRS and tax return-related information after his recent attendance at the annual IRS Tax Forum/conference Links in this episode: IRS Taxpayer Online Account - here ID.me - here IRS IP PINs - here IRS Document Upload Tool - here IRS Interactive Tax Assistant - here Tenon Financial monthly e-news…

Listener Q&A where Andy talks about: How to account on your tax return for the basis in inherited IRAs ( 7:00 ) Is having large Required Minimum Distributions ("RMDs") really a bad thing ( 12:04 ) Is there any merit to using a break-even analysis to help decide when to start Social Security ( 15:59 ) When does it make sense for someone to consider …

In this slight twist to the "real" person episode format, Andy doesn't interview a real person but instead addresses the most common retirement planning questions he gets from "real" people. The questions addressed are: Do I have enough to retire? When can I retire? How much cash should I have? When should I start my Social Security? How do I get m…

Andy and Mark Rosinski from Dunes Financial share their thoughts on a handful of current events and "hot topics" relating to retirement planning. Specifically, they talk about: Thoughts on common withdrawal strategies and what they use in each of their firms ( 12:04 ) The level of impact of some of the changes in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act ( 30…

Andy summarizes the recent 2025 annual Social Security trustees report, including what it would actually mean if the system's trust fund were to deplete, and what changes can be made to ensure that doesn't happen Links in this episode: The full 2025 Social Security trustees report - here My company's August 1 2025 newsletter summarizing the 2025 So…

In this special guest host episode, Larry Pershing from Optimum Retirement Planning talks about how to reduce and manage concentrated holdings in your investment portfolio. Particular emphasis is given to the tax implications and tax management of trying to reduce highly appreciated positions in normal brokerage accounts Links in this episode: Opti…

Listener Q&A where Andy talks about: Why you know the return you'll ultimately realize if you hold a bond to maturity, but can't know the return you'll eventually realize if you instead hold a bond fund ( 7:13 ) A commonsense intuitive answer why bond prices decrease (increase) when interest rates increase (decrease) ( 9:56 ) His thoughts on holdin…

Andy chats with a real person (not an advisor) doing their own retirement planning. In this episode, Andy talks with Jan. They talk about a wide array of retirement planning topics such as leaving the workforce early due to family caregiving needs, how health changes have impacted retirement, how to distribute money from an IRA particularly when lo…

Andy and Lauren Hunt from Daybreak Wealth share their thoughts on a handful of current events and "hot topics" relating to retirement planning. Specifically, they talk about: Their thoughts on the takeaways from 2025 annual Social Security Trustees report ( 7:17 ) Some of provisions in the pending One Big Beautiful Bill Act that are likely to impac…

In the SPECIAL EDITION episode, Andy summarizes the key provision of the recently signed into law One Big Beautiful Act that are most likely to impact you and your tax return. The topics summarized are: Permanency of the current federal tax rates Permanency, and a slight increase, to the current standard deduction amounts A new temporary personal e…

Andy discusses the main ways in which investment custodians like Scwhab, Vanguard and Fidelity make money (even when you often don't outright directly pay them anything...) Links in this episode: Tenon Financial monthly e-newsletter - Retirement Planning Insights Facebook group - Retirement Planning Education (formerly Taxes in Retirement) YouTube …

Listener Q&A where Andy talks about: A short explanation of bonds and "the bond market" ( 2:48 ) Are actively managed bond funds better than passive bond funds ( 21:53 ) What are the pros and cons of making all of the year's estimated tax payments in the first quarter ( 30:30 ) Why insurers don't offer a long term care product with a 2-3 years elim…

Andy chats with three different "real" people to discuss how they handled the non-financial/emotional transition from working to retirement, and what they do now to provide a sense of fulfillment, meaning and purpose and in retirement Links in this episode: Tenon Financial monthly e-newsletter - Retirement Planning Insights Facebook group - Retirem…

Andy and Larry Pershing from Optimum Retirement Planning share their thoughts on a handful of current events and "hot topics" relating to retirement planning. Specifically, they talk about: The pending "Big Beautiful Bill" tax bill that recently was approved by the House; what's in it, what's not in it, practical planning considerations around it, …

Andy discusses what financial firms do for their fee, using his own firm, Tenon Financial, as an example Links in this episode: Tenon Financial's website - https://tenonfinancial.com/ Tenon Financial's June 2025 newsletter - here Andy's article explaining how it's impossible to quantify the value of advisory services in - How Much Are Your Services…

In this special guest host episode, Mike Powers and Kirsten Ashbaugh from Manuka Financial talk cybersecurity best practices. Links in this episode: Manuka Financial's website - https://www.manukafinancial.com/ Tenon Financial monthly e-newsletter - Retirement Planning Insights Facebook group - Retirement Planning Education (formerly Taxes in Retir…

Listener Q&A where Andy talks about: Why more fund managers don't offer mutual fund-to-ETF conversions ( 5:02 ) How my firm helps clients prepare for severe market declines, and how we communicate bad markets to them ( 8:48 ) Who's the voice of the intro and outro to this podcast ( 16:06 ) For spouses claiming Social Security, what's a good claimin…

Andy chats with real people (not advisors) doing their own retirement planning. In this episode, Andy talks with Rob Berger, the creator of the Rob Berger YouTube channel, the founder of the former DoughRoller website, published author and more!. They talk about a wide array of retirement planning topics such as when he started getting serious abou…

Andy and Brian Tegtmeyer share their thoughts on a handful of current events and "hot topics" relating to retirement planning. Specifically, they talk about: Should someone delay their planned retirement if the markets are bad ( 6:50 ) Should someone cancel or delay taking a big trip in retirement if the markets are bad ( 13:48 ) Should someone sta…

Andy provides some tips and best practices to help keep your ID and financial information secure. Specifically: Check your credit report regularly Freeze your credit Get a tax return filing PIN from the IRS Use strong and unique passwords for all websites and online accounts Use a password manager Use two-factor (if not multi-factor) authentication…

Listener Q&A where Andy talks about: Buffer ETFs and whether they can be used as replacements for CDs in building a ladder for upcoming years' expenses ( 4:29 ) His thoughts on direct indexing and whether it's worth doing to try to make non-qualified accounts for tax-efficient ( 14:11 ) Whether or not it's practical to implement a bucketing strateg…

In this special edition "real" person chat, Andy talks with four different people who went through "gray" divorce (i.e. divorcing later in life; typically over the age of 50), to learn what they wish they would have known or done differently as they were going through the divorce process. Tenon Financial monthly e-newsletter - Retirement Planning I…

Andy chats with fellow retirement planner Mark Rosinski, CFP®, CPA from Dunes Financial. In this episode they talk about a wide array of retirement planning topics such as tax planning, distribution strategies, investing, annuities, long-term care insurance, how to know when people have enough to retire, what consumers often overlook in retirement …

Andy discusses the ins and outs of mutual fund capital gain distributions, particularly in normal taxable brokerage accounts. Links in this episode: Tenon Financial monthly e-newsletter - Retirement Planning Insights To send Andy questions to be addressed on future Q&A episodes, email [email protected] Facebook group - Retirement Planning Educatio…

Listener Q&A where Andy talks about: Whether the rule of thumb saying in retirement you'll need about 80% of what you were making in wages is on a gross or net of taxes basis ( 6:49 ) Understanding why some dividends are "qualified" and some are not, why they're taxed differently, and why dividends from bond funds aren't qualified ( 14:15 ) Whether…

Andy chats with a real person (not an advisor) doing their own retirement planning. In this episode, Andy talks with Jim Jones. They talk about a wide array of retirement planning topics such as transitioning from owning a dental practice into retirement, investing, Social Security, when they got serious about retirement planning, and more! Links i…

Andy and Mike Powers share their thoughts on a handful of current events and "hot topics" relating to retirement planning. Specifically, they talk about: Tariffs: what they are, who pays them, do they cause inflation, etc. ( 9:42 ) Pros and cons of Treasury Inflation Protected Securities, or TIPS ( 21:32 ) Whether or not to hold international stock…

Andy discussed how to determine how much Roth conversion to do in a particular year (assuming you've decided Roth conversions make sense for you). He walks through how to do a current year income & tax projection, and what tax "targets" or "goals" are commonly used in determining how much conversion to do. Links in this episode: DinkyTown 1040 onli…

Listener Q&A where Andy talks about: Can Donor Advised Funds ("DAFs") be funded with pre-tax IRA money ( 2:22 ) How to do a backdoor Roth IRA contribution and avoid the pro rata rule if you have pre-tax funds in other IRAs ( 5:46 ) What are the must have important things to address and get right in retirement planning, vs what are nice to have opti…

Andy chats with a real person (not an advisor) doing their own retirement planning. In this episode, Andy talks with John McLaurin. They talk about a wide array of retirement planning topics such as planning for special needs and the "generational" planning involved, investing, Social Security, when they got serious about retirement planning, and m…

Andy chats with fellow retirement planner Liz Yoder, CFP®, ChSNC® from Dependent Financial Planning. In this episode they talk about a wide array of retirement planning topics with a particular emphasis on special needs planning and the unique considerations and areas to consider when you or your child has or is likely to have a disability Links in…

Andy discussed seven common scenarios where it might be beneficial to do Roth conversions: You know your income now is much lower than it will be in the future You're married (and may eventually be single) You have large pre-tax accounts Your eventual heirs are likely to be in higher tax situations than you currently are Your plan on moving to a st…

Special guest host, Mike Powers, CPA, PFS, CFP®, from Manuka Financial sits behind the microphone to walk through his 22-point retirement planning checklist, which includes financial, insurance and lifestyle considerations. Links in this episode: Mike's blog post about the retirement planning checklist - here George Kinder's life planning three que…

Listener Q&A where Andy talks about: What it means between an advisor who calls themself a financial planner vs wealth manager vs any other label they choose to use ( 10:24 ) My thoughts on the recently repealed Windfall Elimination Provision ("WEP") and Government Pension Offset ("GPO") parts of Social Security ( 20:35 ) A follow up to a previousl…

Andy chats with a real person (not an advisor) doing their own retirement planning. In this episode, Andy talks with Brian Alexander. They talk about a wide array of retirement planning topics such as investing, Social Security, when they got serious about retirement planning, funding potential long term care needs and more! Links in this episode: …

Andy chats with fellow retirement planner Eric Niergarth, CFP®, RICP® from Retirement Roadmap Financial Planning. In this episode they talk about a wide array of retirement planning topics such as tax planning, distribution strategies, investing, annuities, long-term care insurance, how to know when people have enough to retire, what consumers ofte…

Andy explains how there is definitely value in good financial advisory services, but how it's impossible to quantify that value and is often disingenuous for advisors to claim they can, or for studies to try to put a number on it Links in this episode: Vanguard's research paper - Putting a value on your value: Quantifying Vanguard Advisor's Alpha M…

Listener Q&A where Andy talks about: What's the difference between index mutual funds and index ETFs, and why choose one over the other ( 6:32 ) Is a three-fund index fund portfolio reasonable for someone in the decumulation phase of life ( 17:04 ) What's the difference between a "rollover" and "traditional" IRA ( 20:54 ) How much of your net worth…

Andy chats with a real person (not an advisor) doing their own retirement planning. In this episode, Andy talks with Peter Townsend. They talk about a wide array of retirement planning topics such as becoming self-educated in the details of retirement planning AFTER already retiring, Social Security, funding potential long term care needs and more!…

Andy chats with fellow retirement planner Andrew Gray, CFP® from Gray Wealth Strategies. In this episode they talk about a wide array of retirement planning topics such as tax planning, distribution strategies, investing, annuities, long-term care insurance, how to know when people have enough to retire, what consumers often overlook in retirement …

Andy discusses the things to take into consideration when trying to decide whether to own or rent a home in retirement Tenon Financial monthly e-newsletter - Retirement Planning Insights Facebook group - Retirement Planning Education (formerly Taxes in Retirement) YouTube channel - Retirement Planning Education (formerly Retirement Planning Demysti…