Talking Real Money - Investing Talk Don McDonald

Far too many businesses offer their employees expensive retirement plans. You must know how much you're paying. Plus, many states are now allowing employees to set up automatic payroll deductions into their own IRAs.
We hear from callers:

What will interest rates do in the near future?

What can be done with IRA distributions to reduce taxation?


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This seemingly simple retirement quiz stumped most who took it. How will you fare? Take the quiz with us. Plus, what can you do if you have a low interest rate bank savings account?
Listeners want to know:

How long will mom's retirement assets last?

Is there any way to get money back from a federal long-term care policy?

How can money in a retirement plan be accessed before 59-1/2 without penalties?


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Our friend, Mark Hebner from Index Fund Advisors, joins Tom and Don to talk about the most important number to investors, total return. The rise and fall of prices shouldn't be of much concern to investors, it's how much you make on your investments.
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In this week's Friday Q&A edition:

How safe are investment in brokerage accounts?

Why shouldn't someone tranfer an IRA to Robin Hood to collect a 3% bonus?

What do we think of Fisher Investments "bucket" strategy?

How should money be invested for the beneficiary of a special needs trust?


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One of the problems with index funds is the fact that they slavishly follow the index. This means that for long periods they can own stocks that are way outside the indexes parameters. This is one argument for rules-basd funds. Then, listeners ask:

Are we concerned about the decline in the number of publically-traded stocks?

Is it okay to be 100% in stocks close to retirement?


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Most American's have saved enough for even a $400 emergency? Start there, and then it's time to work on retirement savings. Along the way have those tough financial conversations with your partner. Plus, Don goes on a rant about the financial services industry and it's lack of client care. We hear from callers:

With a little help for a previous caller.

What do we think of a particular brokerage firm?

How can money be moved from a regular IRA in an annuity to a Roth?

Is Empower providing good investment advice?

How should money be invested in a after-tax IRA?


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