The What If Show

Thomas Gold Solutions

What if your next client appointment was your best one yet? The What If Show is the podcast for financial advisors and financial planners who want to show up to every client meeting with confidence, clarity, and a plan that actually answers the hard questions. Hosted by Brooke Thomas and Steve Goldstein and powered by the team at Thomas Gold Solutions the company behind Retirement Analyzer... each episode explores the strategies, tools, and mindset shifts that help advisors deliver better retirement planning outcomes for their clients. Because in retirement planning, every client walks in with the same unspoken question: Am I going to be okay? The best advisors don't just answer that question — they answer every "what if" that comes with it. From debunking retirement planning myths in the Retirement BS segment to deep dives with industry experts, practitioners, and the people behind one of the most advisor-trusted planning platforms in the country, The What If Show gives you the insights and inspiration to become the advisor your clients can't stop referring. New episodes drop regularly. Subscribe now and start answering the what ifs with confidence.

Episodes

  1. 5d ago

    The $84 Trillion Trap: Why Advisors Can't Rely on the Great Wealth Transfer

    If you've been paying attention to the financial services industry, you've heard the pitch: $84 trillion is moving from Baby Boomers to the next generation. It's the greatest wealth transfer in history — and advisors are being told to position for it. Go get that money in motion. Your Gen X clients are about to come into a windfall. Here's the problem with that strategy: most of them aren't. Only 1 in 4 people will inherit anything meaningful. The wealth transfer is real — but it's concentrated in a very small number of families. If you're building your business around the assumption that your clients are about to receive a big inheritance, you're building on a foundation that doesn't exist for most people. In this episode of The What If Show, Mike Langford sits down with Patti Hausherr, VP of Sales Strategy at Athene, alongside hosts Brooke Thomas and Steve Goldstein of Thomas Gold Solutions. Patti brings the research — and the reality check — that every advisor needs to hear before they make another business development decision based on the wealth transfer narrative. They dig into why the $84 trillion story is largely about concentrated wealth staying within wealthy families, why 70–80% of widowed women leave their financial professional within the first year of losing their spouse, what Gen X and Millennials actually need from their advisors right now, how the rise of the 1099 economy is quietly creating a retirement savings crisis, and what advisors should be doing instead of waiting for a windfall that isn't coming. The real opportunity isn't chasing inherited money. It's helping people build the wealth they're going to have to build themselves. Chapters 0:00 — Intro: The Greatest Wealth Transfer in History 1:45 — Welcome Patti Hausherr of Athene 3:00 — Retirement BS: Why the $84 Trillion Story Isn't What You Think 5:00 — Women and the Wealth Transfer: A Retention Crisis Advisors Can't Ignore 7:00 — The $10 Million Wake-Up Call (A Story Every Advisor Needs to Hear) 9:00 — Gray Divorce, Second Families, and Why Planning Gets Complicated Fast 12:00 — Longevity Is the Great Wealth Eraser 14:00 — The Sandwich Generation: 1 in 4 Americans Are Caught in the Middle 15:30 — Gen X Is at Retirement's Door and Most Aren't Ready 17:00 — The Millennial Expectation Gap: $1.2M vs. Reality 19:00 — Long-Term Care, Life Insurance, and Protecting the Legacy 22:00 — Having the Right Conversations Using Retirement Analyzer 27:00 — The 1099 Economy and the Retirement Savings Gap Nobody's Talking About 31:00 — Bringing the Next Generation Into the Client Relationship 34:00 — What Advisors Should Do Differently Starting Monday 37:00 — Building Relationships That Outlast Any Single Client 42:00 — How to Connect with Patti and Athene 45:00 — Closing Sources & Resources $84.4 trillion / $72.6 trillion wealth transfer projection: Cerulli Associates, through 2045One-third of households have received an inheritance: Federal Reserve Bank of Boston (note: based on study of Caucasian families)70% of widowed women leave their financial professional within the first year of losing their spouse: McKinsey & Company, 2020Connect with Patti Hausherr: LinkedInLearn more about Athene: athene.comLearn more about Retirement Analyzer: retirementanalyzer.com Note: Terms such as "financial professionals" and "advisors" are used interchangeably in this episode, though they may have slightly different meanings.

  2. Jul 29

    Your Client's Biggest Retirement Asset Might Not Be In Their Portfolio

    For most clients, 40 to 80% of their total net worth is sitting in their home — and most retirement plans barely touch it. In this episode of The What If Show, we welcome our very first guest: Bob Tranchell, Home Equity Retirement Specialist and RICP® at Mutual of Omaha Reverse Mortgage. With 23 years in the business, Bob is one of the most respected voices in the HECM space — and a genuine expert in Retirement Analyzer (he's been to two boot camps). He joins hosts Mike Langford, Steve Goldstein, and Brooke Thomas for a conversation that will change how you think about the house in a retirement plan. The modern reverse mortgage — or HECM — isn't a product of last resort. It's a flexible planning tool that can eliminate a mortgage payment, create a federally guaranteed line of credit that grows over time, fund long-term care, and help clients purchase a new home with no monthly payment. And it touches everything from IRMAA exposure to Social Security timing to portfolio longevity. In this episode you'll learn: The biggest myths around reverse mortgages — and why they're wrongHow a $200K line of credit at age 62 can grow to nearly $800K by age 85How eliminating a $1,500/month mortgage payment can fix a cash flow problem AND reduce taxable incomeThe HECM for Purchase — how clients can sell, buy more house, and keep more of their equity workingWhy using the HECM as a "last resort" is actually the least effective strategyThe one question Bob wants every advisor to ask their clients at the next meeting You can reach Bob Tranchell at TheNewHECM.com or by calling 833-411-HECM. Chapters 00:00 — Welcome & Introducing Bob Tranchell 01:10 — How Steve & Brooke Know Bob (5+ Years as a Referral Partner) 02:32 — Busting the Biggest Reverse Mortgage Myths 07:56 — 40–80% of Baby Boomer Net Worth Is Sitting in the Home 09:19 — Does the Lender Take the Appreciation? (No — Here's Why) 11:25 — How a Modern HECM Actually Works 12:42 — The Line of Credit That Grows: $200K at 62 → ~$800K at 85 14:32 — How to Eliminate the Red Line in a Retirement Analysis 16:41 — Adding Income When There's No Mortgage to Eliminate 18:08 — Your Home as Your Own Private Bank 19:03 — Does a HECM Affect Social Security or Medicare? No. 22:39 — Built-In Protections: Counseling, Primary Residence, and More 24:53 — Why a HECM Line of Credit Can't Be Canceled (Unlike a HELOC) 27:45 — What Happens When a Spouse Moves to a Facility 28:37 — Using HECM Funds to Pay Life Insurance or LTC Premiums 30:31 — The HECM for Purchase: Buy More House, Keep More Cash 33:41 — Retirement BS: "HECMs Are Only for Clients of Last Resort" 36:37 — Bob's Challenge to Every Advisor: Have the Housing Conversation 38:37 — How to Reach Bob Tranchell

  3. Jul 24

    Why Life Insurance is a Key Component of Retirement Planning

    Most people think life insurance is just a death payout. Brooke Thomas and Steve Goldstein are here to change that. In this episode of The What If Show, host Mike Langford sits down with Brooke and Steve to make the case that life insurance is one of the most powerful — and most underused — tools in a retirement plan. They cover why the need for coverage doesn't go away at retirement (it sometimes gets bigger), how to have the conversation without making clients clam up, and a lineup of use cases that most people have never considered. Whether you're a financial advisor looking to serve your clients at a higher level, or simply someone trying to understand how life insurance fits into a complete financial picture, this one's worth your full attention. In this episode: Why Retirement Analyzer's life insurance tab makes the conversation happen organically — no awkward setup requiredThe multiplier effect: how a death benefit can be 4–6x what a client paid in, tax-freeWhy a surviving spouse's assets often disappear faster than projected — and what protects against thatShould adult children take over their parents' life insurance premiums? Steve makes the case.The real cost of dying: average funeral costs by state (yes, Retirement Analyzer has a fact sheet for that)How life insurance keeps family farms, ranches, and cottages in the family when estate taxes come dueThe "be your own bank" strategy: overfunding a permanent life insurance policy to build tax-free, borrowable cash value — a concept rooted in Nelson Nash's Infinite Banking conceptWhat advisors without an insurance license should do (Brooke has a very direct answer)The danger of wills reviewed only once every 19 years — and the ex-spouses who are still listed as beneficiaries Retirement BS segment: After a certain age, life insurance becomes less important to your financial plan. Brooke and Steve both call BS — and explain why. The What If Show is brought to you by Thomas Gold Solutions, the team behind Retirement Analyzer — refreshingly simple retirement planning software built for financial advisors. Chapters 00:00 — Introduction 01:28 — Why life insurance is core to any retirement plan 03:14 — How Retirement Analyzer makes the conversation happen naturally 04:42 — The certainty nobody wants to talk about 08:12 — The elephant in the room: advisors without an insurance license 12:16 — Should adult children pay their parents' life insurance premiums? 15:04 — The true cost of dying: funeral costs, hospice, and end-of-life expenses 19:03 — Keeping the family ranch in the family (estate tax planning) 21:13 — Using life insurance to pay a multi-million dollar estate tax bill 24:19 — Become your own bank: the cash value life insurance strategy 31:50 — What about clients with no dependents? 33:42 — The danger of the "set it and forget it" beneficiary 34:38 — Retirement BS: Does life insurance become less important as you age?

  4. Jun 24

    How Medicare Can Make or Break a Retirement Plan

    Medicare is one of the most expensive and most misunderstood variables in any retirement plan — and most clients don't see it coming. In this episode of The What If Show, Brooke Thomas and Steve Goldstein of Thomas Gold Solutions break down exactly why Medicare deserves its own dedicated chapter in every retirement plan you build. They cover the IRMAA surcharge tiers (and how a single dollar over the income threshold can spike a client's premiums), which types of income — including Roth conversions and capital gains — feed into that calculation, why the two-year look-back period creates planning blind spots, and how Medicare cost growth is quietly outpacing Social Security COLA increases in a way most advisors and clients haven't connected yet. They also tackle this episode's Retirement BS myth: that Medicare is a fixed, predictable cost you simply check off at age 65. It isn't — and the math Steve walks through at the end of the episode shows just how much is at stake. If you'd like the free IRMAA one-pager Thomas Gold has put together for advisors to share with their clients, email info@thomasgold.com. Chapters: 00:00 – Intro: The What If Show 00:07 – Welcome to Episode 5 00:53 – Why Medicare Is One of the Biggest Retirement Variables 01:33 – Healthcare Inflation: 5–7% vs. the 3.2% Average 03:29 – IRMAA Explained: What It Is and Why It Matters 05:44 – The IRMAA Tiers: From $202.90 to $689.90 Per Month 09:24 – The Cliff Tier Trap: $1 Over the Limit Changes Everything 10:55 – Medicare Parts A, B, C, and D: A Clear Breakdown 14:21 – Enrollment Timing and Late Penalty Warning 16:23 – How Retirement Analyzer Automates IRMAA Calculations 18:40 – What Counts Toward Your MAGI (Roth Conversions, Capital Gains & More) 19:20 – Why Spreadsheets Fail and Purpose-Built Software Wins 23:08 – The Quiet Retirement Killer: Medicare Costs vs. Social Security COLAs 26:12 – Scenario Planning: Why Where You Retire Affects Medicare Costs 30:14 – 🚨 Retirement BS: "Medicare Is Just a Fixed Cost" 31:31 – The SSA-44 Form: How to Appeal an IRMAA Determination 34:17 – The Shocking Math: Nearly $1 Million in Lifetime Medicare Costs 35:10 – Audience Question + Call to Action 36:27 – Merch, Sneakers, and Hat Tips for Bald Men

  5. Jun 3

    Why a Monthly Expense Plan is the Key to a Vibrant Retirement

    In Episode 4 of The What If Show, host Mike Langford sits down with Thomas Gold Solutions co-founders Brooke Thomas and Steve Goldstein to make the case that a monthly expense plan isn't just a budgeting exercise — it's the cornerstone of every great retirement strategy. Fresh off their 86-person Scottsdale Bootcamp, Brooke and Steve explain why "klumping" a client's expenses into one round number — even with a reasonable inflation rate attached — produces a fundamentally less accurate plan than itemizing the components. The difference isn't academic: it can shift a plan outcome by more than a million dollars at age 100. Critically, doing the work often allows clients to spend more in retirement, not less. The conversation covers how Retirement Analyzer handles mortgage P&I separately from taxes and insurance, why healthcare inflates at a far faster rate than clothing or life insurance premiums, and how to model the go-go, slow-go, and no-go phases of retirement spending with RA's stairstep expense feature. Brooke recommends advisors explore item-level inflation data from BLS.gov to build inflation assumptions that actually reflect real-world costs — right down to bacon. Steve introduces the concept of "fluff" — the gap between a client's net income and their actual tracked expenses — and explains why that number is one of the most powerful leverage points in the entire planning process. The episode wraps with the Retirement BS segment, where Brooke and Steve tackle the long-standing rule of thumb that retirees only need 70–80% of their pre-retirement income — and explain why it's a shortcut that can lead well-meaning advisors in the wrong direction. Resources & Links: 🎯 Try Retirement Analyzer free for 14 days: RetirementAnalyzer.com🌐 Thomas Gold Solutions: ThomasGold.com💼 Thomas Gold on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/96812430💼 Brooke Thomas on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/brooke-thomas-91185218📊 BLS.gov CPI data by item category: bls.gov/cpi🥓 BLS Average Price data for Bacon: data.bls.gov/timeseries/APU0000FD1101📍 Nashville Bootcamp — October 6–8, 2025: RetirementAnalyzer.com Chapters: 00:00 - Welcome to The What If Show 00:45 - Scottsdale Bootcamp Recap 02:15 - Nashville Bootcamp Announcement (Oct 6–8) 03:30 - What Advisors Discover at Bootcamp (New: Scenario Track) ← was 04:00 06:00 - Why a Monthly Expense Plan Changes Everything 08:00 - Klumping vs. Itemizing: The Million-Dollar Difference 11:00 - Breaking Down the Key Expense Categories ← was 11:30 13:00 - Why Each Expense Has Its Own Inflation Rate 15:00 - How RA Helps Clients Engage With Their Own Plan 17:00 - Go-Go, Slow-Go & No-Go: Planning for How Retirement Actually Feels 19:00 - The "Fluff" Factor: Finding Hidden Savings 21:30 - Personal Inflation & Expenses That Didn't Exist Yet 23:00 - Using BLS.gov to Build Smarter Inflation Assumptions ← was 23:30 26:00 - The Real Cost of a Basket of Goods 29:00 - 🥓 The Bacon Inflation Tangent (You're Welcome) 32:00 - ⚠️ RETIREMENT BS: The 70-80% Income Rule — Fact or Fiction? 36:00 - Why Top RA Advisors Make Expense Plans Non-Negotiable ← was 35:30 36:15 - Audience Question & Closing ← was 36:30

  6. Apr 17

    How to Show Clients Real Value in the Very First Meeting

    How fast can a financial advisor show a prospect or client that they are genuinely worth their time and trust? In Episode 3 of The What If Show, host Mike Langford sits down with Retirement Analyzer co-founders Brooke Thomas and Steve Goldstein to answer that question with practical, specific strategies advisors can use starting in their very next meeting. Brooke and Steve walk through the exact moments that create an immediate “aha” for clients — starting with something as simple as showing a prospect a sample plan before you ever ask them for a single piece of personal data. They dig into the power of the itemized expense plan and why breaking down a clumped monthly spending number can mathematically show a client they can spend more money in retirement and still come out ahead. The conversation shifts to one of the most in-demand topics in the RA community: tax planning. Steve and Brooke explain how advisors can have high-impact tax conversations with their clients without being a CPA — covering Roth conversions, the cumulative tax chart, the “retirement time bomb” sitting inside large qualified accounts, and why tax risk may be more dangerous than market risk for many clients. From there: why becoming an educator instead of a salesperson is both more effective and more compliant, how RA’s archived annual plans make the advisor’s annual review one of the most powerful relationship-building moments in the business, and Steve’s favorite question to ask a client who has a positive monthly cash flow (hint: the room goes silent). And in Retirement BS with Brooke and Steve — the segment where conventional retirement wisdom gets put to the test — the topic is the 401(k). Specifically: is it always the right move to maximize your contribution? Brooke and Steve break down when the answer is yes, when it is no, and how to use Retirement Analyzer to show your client the actual math. Start your free 14-day trial of Retirement Analyzer at RetirementAnalyzer.com. Learn more about Thomas Gold Solutions at ThomasGold.com. And if you have a topic you would like Brooke and Steve to tackle on a future Retirement BS segment, drop us a message — we read every one. Chapters: 00:00 Intro — What is The What If Show? 01:00 The Aha Moment: Showing All the Numbers in One Place 04:00 The Sample Plan Trick: How to Lower Client Resistance Before You Start 07:00 The Expense Plan Deep Dive: Why Itemizing Changes Everything 09:00 The $10K Example: How Itemizing Can Let Clients Spend MORE 13:00 Tax Planning Without a CPA License 16:00 Quick Clips & Progressive Taxes: How to Explain It Simply 17:00 Roth Conversions: The Biggest Tax-Saving Move in RA 19:00 The Cumulative Tax Chart: Showing Clients Their Tax Pain Points 22:00 Becoming an Educator, Not a Salesperson 26:00 Compliance & Confidence: Why RA Is a Track to Run On 28:00 Annual Reviews & Archived Plans: A Powerful Show of Value 30:00 Personal Inflation: Why the Budget Conversation Never Gets Old 32:00 Continuous CE: Educating Advisors AND Their Clients 36:00 Product as the Launching Pad — Not the Lead 38:00 The Positive Cash Flow Question That Stops Clients Cold 39:00 ⚠️ RETIREMENT BS: Should You Always Maximize Your 401(k)? 43:00 Wrap-Up: What to Take Away and Try This Week

  7. Apr 17

    Getting Started With Retirement Analyzer

    You just downloaded Retirement Analyzer. You clicked the icon. Now what? In this episode, Brooke Thomas and Steve Goldstein walk you through everything you need to know to get started — fast, confident, and with zero anxiety. This is your new user's roadmap for the first 30 days with Retirement Analyzer. From the very first session to your first real client appointment, Brooke and Steve break down the exact steps that turn brand new users into confident RA advisors — and reveal the full support and training ecosystem that Thomas Gold has built to make sure you never feel stuck or alone. Plus, don't miss this episode's RETIREMENT BS segment, where we call out one of the most dangerous myths in financial planning: "I don't need to update my plan... I just did it last year." In this episode, you'll learn: The single most important thing to do in your very first RA sessionHow to walk through the software tabs (and why Tabs 1, 2, and 3 are all you really need to start)Why the Thomas Gold Power Line is unlike any support you've ever experienced from a software companyHow the team's support staff have insurance licenses and Series 65 credentials — and what that means for youWhat the Thomas Gold Bootcamp is really like (80 advisors, 16 hours, breakfast and lunch included)Why the RA advisor community has shifted from competition to collaboration — and how that benefits youThe #1 mistake new advisors make in their first client session with RA (and exactly how to avoid it)What the first "wow moment" with Retirement Analyzer actually feels like Chapters: 00:00 — Cold Open: What If You Could Retire With Confidence? 01:00 — Welcome & Introductions (Fully Caffeinated Edition) 02:00 — The First Session: You Clicked the Icon. Now What? 03:15 — Pro Tip #1: Run It On Yourself First 05:00 — Walking the Tabs: Income, Assets, Expenses — and the Red Line 06:15 — The Thomas Gold Power Line: We Actually Answer the Phone 08:00 — The Most Common "I'm Stuck" Calls From New Users 09:00 — Steve Takes a Support Call From Costco on a Saturday Morning 11:00 — Your Support Team Are Financial Coaches (With Licenses to Prove It) 13:00 — The Full Training Ecosystem at Thomas Gold 14:15 — Live Daily Training Sessions: Bring Your File, Bring Your Questions 15:00 — 150 Videos Inside the Software (And Steve's Famous Outtake) 17:00 — The Bootcamp Experience: 80 Advisors, 16 Hours, A to Z 19:00 — Thomas Gold Talk: Community, Collaboration, and Study Groups 21:00 — Zero to Hero: What Explosive Growth Looks Like in RA 23:30 — Rising Tide: Why RA Advisors Share Instead of Compete 25:00 — Your First Client: Paper Fact Finders, Client Portal & More 26:00 — Garbage In, Garbage Out: Getting Your Data Right 27:30 — Run RA on Every Client — Regardless of Age or Net Worth 28:00 — The Education-First Mindset That Eliminates Objections 30:30 — The #1 Mistake New Advisors Make (And How to Avoid It) 33:30 — The First "Wow Moment": Watching the Red Line Disappear 35:00 — Conservative Rates Are Your Best Friend 36:00 — 🚨 RETIREMENT BS: "I Don't Need to Update My Plan — I Just Did It Last Year" 39:00 — How to Start Your Free Trial of Retirement Analyzer 40:00 — Audience Challenge + Next Episode Preview

  8. Mar 16

    Meet the Founders: The Origin Story of Retirement Analyzer & the What If That Started It All

    In this debut episode of The What If Show, host Mike Langford sits down with Thomas Gold Solutions founders Brooke Thomas and Steve Goldstein to pull back the curtain on the origin story behind one of the most trusted retirement planning platforms in the financial services industry — Retirement Analyzer. You'll hear how a solo producer in Idaho named Chuck Cravens built the foundation of RA on Excel spreadsheets over 30 years ago because he was obsessed with answering client "what if" questions at the click of a button. How a 23-year-old Brooke Thomas, fresh out of college with zero sales experience, used that software to generate $150,000 in commissions in her very first year. And how a Wall Street trader named Steve Goldstein made a career leap into financial advising, fell in love with Retirement Analyzer, introduced Brooke at a webinar by reading nervously off a piece of paper — and ended up building a company with her a decade later. But this episode isn't just a great origin story. Brooke and Steve go deep on the concepts that define their approach to retirement planning, including: Why financial plans have so many moving parts — and why that's actually an opportunity for advisorsThe budget conversation most advisors avoid (and why the ones who require it close the biggest cases)What the famous "red line" in RA really means and why showing it to clients is a confidence-building superpowerWhy Thomas Gold picks up the phone when you call — even on weekends The episode wraps with the debut of Retirement BS with Brooke and Steve — the show's recurring segment that tackles common retirement planning myths and misconceptions. First up: the age-old client question, "Should I just pay off my mortgage?" Whether you're a seasoned financial planner, a newer advisor looking for an edge, or just curious about what makes Retirement Analyzer different, this is the episode that sets the stage for everything that follows on The What If Show. Chapters: 00:00 Welcome to The What If Show 01:32 Why It's Called "The What If Show" 03:15 Brooke's Story: From Zero Sales Experience to $150K Year One 05:43 Steve's Story: From Wall Street Trader to FinTech Founder 06:48 How Brooke and Steve Actually Met 09:33 Why Financial Plans Have So Many Moving Parts 11:37 The Budget Conversation Most Advisors Avoid 15:21 Why Thomas Gold Actually Answers the Phone 19:14 Getting Over the "New Software" Hump 23:12 Continuous Continuing Education 27:08 Small Changes, Big Outcomes (The Tour de France Analogy) 28:58 The Red Line Explained 32:34 Tab by Tab: How RA Builds Advisor Confidence 34:42 Let the Math Tell the Story 38:27 Introducing "Retirement BS" with Brooke & Steve 39:13 Retirement BS #1: Should You Pay Off Your Mortgage? 41:42 What Do YOU Want Us to Cover Next?

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
3 Ratings

About

What if your next client appointment was your best one yet? The What If Show is the podcast for financial advisors and financial planners who want to show up to every client meeting with confidence, clarity, and a plan that actually answers the hard questions. Hosted by Brooke Thomas and Steve Goldstein and powered by the team at Thomas Gold Solutions the company behind Retirement Analyzer... each episode explores the strategies, tools, and mindset shifts that help advisors deliver better retirement planning outcomes for their clients. Because in retirement planning, every client walks in with the same unspoken question: Am I going to be okay? The best advisors don't just answer that question — they answer every "what if" that comes with it. From debunking retirement planning myths in the Retirement BS segment to deep dives with industry experts, practitioners, and the people behind one of the most advisor-trusted planning platforms in the country, The What If Show gives you the insights and inspiration to become the advisor your clients can't stop referring. New episodes drop regularly. Subscribe now and start answering the what ifs with confidence.