The Retirement and IRA Show

Jim Saulnier, CFP® & Chris Stein, CFP®
  • 4.3 (746)
  • Investing
  • Updated Weekly

What do you get when you combine two knowledgeable CFP® PROFESSIONALS (one also a well-informed COLLEGE FINANCE INSTRUCTOR)? If you mix in relevant financial information and a healthy dose of humor you get the Retirement and IRA Radio Show! JIM SAULNIER, a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ Professional with Jim Saulnier and Associates who specializes in retirement planning for clients across the country, CHRIS STEIN, a Finance Instructor at Colorado State University who is also a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ Professional, offer real-world knowledge on a diverse range of topics including Social Security planning, investing for your retirement, the fundamentals of 401(k) and IRA accounts. Jim and Chris make learning about your retirement both educational and entertaining!

  1. 2d ago

    Investment Positioning Questions: EDU #2635

    Chris’s Summary Jim and I are joined by Jacob as we tackle four listener questions on Investment Positioning , covering Quicken tools for tracking positions, funding a delay period Minimum Dignity Floor with a stable value fund, evaluating a too-good-to-be-true real estate return, and weighing a target date fund for long-term care reserves. Jim’s “Pithy” Summary Chris and I are joined by Jacob as we work through four listener emails, all circling back to how we think about Investment Positioning in retirement. (6:45) One listener wants to know what Quicken features another listener used to track positions. Jacob reads the original listener’s own description of using Quicken to set up investment positions, plus separate categories for essential and discretionary spending. (14:30) George wonders whether the stable value fund in his large 401(k) is principal protected enough to draw on. He and his wife are both 60 and plan to delay Social Security roughly 10 years, and he’s weighing this fund as the source to bridge that gap. Jacob and I dig into rate reset timing, liquidity restrictions, and mandatory withholding before landing on an answer. (46:45) A listener asks whether a real estate offer promising 18 to 30 percent annual returns is worth pursuing. Chris lays out the single clearest test I’ve heard for spotting too-good-to-be-true returns. (1:09:30) Georgette raises the question of parking her long-term care dollars in a 2040 target date fund. Jacob walks through how we tier the L in our SEAL Reserve by age instead of relying on one fund’s glide path, and I get into the real difference between a “to” fund and a “through” fund, including the story of a deputy sheriff who learned that difference the hard way. The post Investment Positioning Questions: EDU #2635 appeared first on The Retirement and IRA Show.

    Investment Positioning Questions: EDU #2635

  2. 6d ago

    Social Security, Social Security, Home Purchase, Fun Spending: Q&A #2635

    Jim and Chris discuss listener emails on Social Security survivor benefits and earnings records, financing a home purchase, and using a fixed indexed annuity (FIA) for discretionary spending. (11:15) A listener asks why a Social Security estimate lists a $3,944 survivor benefit rather than the projected $5,101 age-70 benefit and which amount would actually be paid. (21:45) The guys consider whether adding previously omitted stock option income to a 2017 earnings record could result in higher Social Security benefits and back pay. (31:30) Jim and Chris weigh using a 60-day IRA or Roth IRA rollover to finance a home purchase before selling the current home against a HELOC or mortgage. (55:15) Another listener asks for their thoughts on using a fixed indexed annuity (FIA) with an income rider to support discretionary spending and how it compares with their simpler annuity strategies. The post Social Security, Social Security, Home Purchase, Fun Spending: Q&A #2635 appeared first on The Retirement and IRA Show.

  3. Aug 26

    Spending Retirement Savings: EDU #2633

    Chris’s Summary Jim and I continue our discussion on the Fun Number, this time as a dialogue episode built around one listener’s hesitation around spending retirement savings and how growth and legacy positioning and establishing his SEAL Reserve helped him work through it. We revisit the seesaw framework for undeployed assets, clarify how the SEAL Reserve consolidated the old reserve positions, and explain why the Fun Vision is never set in stone and can and should be revisited. Jim’s “Pithy” Summary Chris and I are picking the Fun Number conversation back up in dialogue form this week, working through a long email from a listener whose growth and legacy positioning helped him get more comfortable with spending retirement savings after years of struggling to spend the money he worked his whole life to save. I have spent twenty-seven years questioning the safe withdrawal rate approach, and this listener took what we teach and reshaped it around his own need for peace of mind. He admitted flat out that spending money is difficult for him, and I don’t think that makes him an anomaly. Honestly, that’s the norm for most people entering retirement. I compare it to growing lettuce in my own garden, nursing it from seed, only to cut it down and eat it. You still do it, but there is a pull to let it keep growing. That is why we built the Minimum Dignity Floor first: the older you gets an explicit promise that food, housing, and healthcare are covered no matter what, so the younger you can give yourself permission to spend on fun. This listener wanted more comfort than that alone gave him. So we walk through where that extra comfort came from for him. The post Spending Retirement Savings: EDU #2634 appeared first on The Retirement and IRA Show.

    Spending Retirement Savings: EDU #2633

  4. Aug 22

    Social Security, Early Withdrawals, SPIAs, QLACs, Retirement Strategy: Q&A #2634

    Jim and Chris discuss listener emails on spousal Social Security timing, a listener PSA on the super catch-up contribution rule, early withdrawals from a Roth 457(b) plan, Minimum Dignity Floor coverage using SPIAs, QLACs as a hedge against potential Social Security cuts, and a couple’s retirement strategy. (10:00) — A listener asks whether a wife nearing full retirement age can claim her own smaller Social Security benefit now, then switch to a spousal benefit once her husband files at his full retirement age. (18:15) — A listener PSA offers clarification on a previous Q&A episode’s super catch-up contribution rule discussion. (22:15) — Jim and Chris are asked how early withdrawals of growth from a Roth 457(b) plan are taxed for someone who won’t yet be 59 and a half, since 457(b) plans avoid the 10% early withdrawal penalty but may not meet the usual requirements for tax-free Roth distributions. (32:30) — George asks for guidance on using a dual life single premium immediate annuity (SPIA) to help a retired couple with minimal Social Security and no pension cover their Minimum Dignity Floor. (45:00) — A listener asks several questions about how qualified longevity annuity contracts (QLACs) work and whether the current contribution limit could offset a potential future cut to Social Security benefits. (1:00:30) — The guys review a retirement drawdown plan involving brokerage assets, Roth conversions, and an inheritance, and are asked whether the overall strategy holds up. The post Social Security, Early Withdrawals, SPIAs, QLACs, Retirement Strategy: Q&A #2634 appeared first on The Retirement and IRA Show.

  5. Aug 19

    Extending Your Go-Go Years: EDU #2633

    Chris’s Summary Jim and I are joined again by Dr. Philip Snyder as we continue looking at narrowing the gap between healthspan and lifespan and extending your go-go years. We discuss a listener-submitted article on health-adjusted life expectancy, which argues for concentrating retirement spending in the first decade of retirement rather than following a static, Monte Carlo-based safe withdrawal rate. Dr. Snyder updates his coronary artery calcium scoring correction, introduces the CCTA angiogram for non-calcified plaque, and outlines the four components of exercise, cardio, strength, balance, and flexibility, for maintaining function as we age. Jim’s “Pithy” Summary Chris and I welcome back Dr. Philip Snyder to pick up right where we left off, because folks, this whole thing, all of it, is about extending your go-go years, and I’ll admit this episode gave me some homework of my own. Dr. Snyder corrects something he got wrong last time on coronary artery calcium scoring, breaks down a newer angiogram option for catching the sneaky non-calcified plaque a clean CAC score can miss, and even mentions a blood test called PLAC2 for folks who can’t do the angiogram. A listener sent in a short article about spending more in your first decade of retirement instead of hoarding it for some rainy day that never comes, and it is basically what I have been calling the Fun Number for years. You spend your whole life saving, and then you’re too scared to spend it. My dad used to warn me about the Debbie Downers in his retirement community, folks with plenty of money left but no health left to enjoy it. Nobody wants to be that person, and nobody wants to be the wealthiest person in the graveyard either. Dr. Snyder walks through the four pieces of exercise you need as you get older, cardio, strength, balance, and flexibility, and Chris and I both admit we need a grease gun just to get moving some mornings. We get into tai chi, stretching, why I still cannot make myself do it consistently, and why one-third of people who break a hip never fully bounce back. Show Notes: “The First Decade Retirement Plan” article The post Extending Your Go-Go Years: EDU #2633 appeared first on The Retirement and IRA Show.

  6. Aug 15

    Social Security, IRMAA, Roth Conversions, Roth Contributions, TEFRA: Q&A #2633

    Jim and Chris discuss listener emails on the Social Security Fairness Act, an IRMAA question involving deferred compensation, Roth conversions before and after key age milestones, Roth contributions for high-income catch-up savers, and how TEFRA affects an inherited annuity. (9:45) — A listener disagrees with the show’s characterization of the Social Security Fairness Act as unfair, explaining that after paying into both a government pension and Social Security for 40 quarters, she believes receiving both without penalty is fair for her situation. (27:45) — The guys field a question from a retiree who retired in 2025 and will receive deferred compensation payments through 2029 that push his income over the IRMAA threshold. He wonders whether he can file an SSA-44 in 2029 to eliminate the IRMAA surcharges. (37:00) — Jim and Chris are asked to revisit a recent discussion on moving money from Traditional to Roth accounts instead of taking distributions, with a listener wanting more detail on the implications of doing so before age 59 and a half and after RMD age. (48:30) — George asks for the pluses and minuses of continuing Roth 401(k)/403(b) contributions later in life compared with investing in a taxable brokerage account, including how a 50-year-old might decide between the two and whether those aged 61-63 should use the Roth option for super catch-up contributions. (1:03:30) — A listener has several questions about TEFRA, including what it stands for, when it was enacted, and how it affects distributions from an inherited annuity listing Pre-TEFRA and Post-TEFRA cost basis. The post Social Security, IRMAA, Roth Conversions, Roth Contributions, TEFRA: Q&A #2633 appeared first on The Retirement and IRA Show.

  7. Aug 12

    Investment Positioning Part 2: EDU #2632

    Chris’s Summary Jim and I are joined by Jacob Vonloh as we continue our discussion on investment positioning, wrapping up asset placement for emergency, aging, and long-term care reserves and the fun spending that flows from your Fun Number, across the Go-Go and Slow-Go/No-Go phases. Jacob also outlines the guaranteed inheritance set-aside and closes with the growth and legacy position, the leftover dollars not assigned elsewhere. Jim’s “Pithy” Summary Chris and I are joined by Jacob Vonloh as we pick back up right where we left off last week on investment positioning, finishing up the fun spending and SEAL Reserve pieces we didn’t get to. I keep coming back to this: retirement is the mirror opposite of the accumulation years, and when your whole portfolio looks like one big pot, a down market makes it feel like everything’s going down — and that fear is what stops people from spending on fun. That’s exactly why we don’t look at it that way. Jacob walks through how we tier the SEAL Reserve by age, and how fun spending gets laddered and benchmarked differently depending on how soon you’ll need it — all made possible by looking at each position on its own instead of one blended portfolio, which is the whole idea behind what I coined the See Through Portfolio. It’s also why you can’t compare your protected short-term Go-Go dollars to your long-term positions and think something’s wrong — that’s an apples-to-oranges comparison from the start. There’s a real cost to saving your whole life just to sit there and watch the money grow instead of enjoying it — don’t become what my dad used to call a Debbie Downer. Before we wrap, we also touch on two more positions that won’t apply to everybody. If you’ve got a specific bequest you want locked in today, there’s a guaranteed inheritance set-aside for that. And if you end up with dollars left over once everything else is funded, we get into what to do with what we call the growth and legacy position. The post Investment Positioning Part 2: EDU #2632 appeared first on The Retirement and IRA Show.

  8. Aug 8

    Spousal Benefits, HSA Tax Strategies PSA, Inherited IRAs: Q&A #2632

    Jim and Chris discuss listener emails on Social Security spousal benefits, a listener PSA on HSA tax strategies and treasuries, and inherited IRA RMD rules for minor beneficiaries. (9:00) A listener asks about qualifying for spousal benefits after a lengthy separation, since both spouses are now retired but remain legally married. (28:15) The guys share a listener PSA on tax strategies involving harvesting HSA-eligible expenses, including Medicare B and D premiums, as a tax-free funding source, and on laddering treasury bills through Fidelity or Schwab instead of TreasuryDirect. (40:15) George follows up on inherited IRA rules for minor child beneficiaries, asking whether an eligible designated beneficiary can elect the 10-year rule instead of taking the stretch, which requires RMDs. The post Spousal Benefits, HSA Tax Strategies PSA, Inherited IRAs: Q&A #2632 appeared first on The Retirement and IRA Show.

See All (100)

Hosts & Guests

4.3
out of 5
746 Ratings

About

What do you get when you combine two knowledgeable CFP® PROFESSIONALS (one also a well-informed COLLEGE FINANCE INSTRUCTOR)? If you mix in relevant financial information and a healthy dose of humor you get the Retirement and IRA Radio Show! JIM SAULNIER, a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ Professional with Jim Saulnier and Associates who specializes in retirement planning for clients across the country, CHRIS STEIN, a Finance Instructor at Colorado State University who is also a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ Professional, offer real-world knowledge on a diverse range of topics including Social Security planning, investing for your retirement, the fundamentals of 401(k) and IRA accounts. Jim and Chris make learning about your retirement both educational and entertaining!

Information

You Might Also Like