Financial video library

State Income Taxes - should we move? Thinking about moving to lower your state income taxes, or eliminate them? Do the math before you start packing.  Take-aways: 1. State income taxes should NOT be the primary decision-making point when considering moving in...

4 Tax Terms For Retirees Key Takeaways from Tax Terms for Retirees 1. There are four important tax terms for retirees to understand: gross income, modified adjusted gross income (MAGI), taxable income, and total tax due. 2. Gross income is the top number on a tax...

Key Takeaways from 2 Myths About Social Security: - No concrete changes have been made to Social Security yet. It's not prudent to alter claiming strategies based on speculation about potential future cuts. - The decision to claim Social Security is a "one-way door."...

Are Safer Investments Worth The Risk Right Now? Key Take-aways: 1. Real yield (inflation-adjusted yield) is your yield minus the inflation rate, which historically averages between 1% and 2% for risk-free assets 2. The S&P 500 from 1928 to 2023 averaged 9.8% per...

Stress-Test Your Plan Key Take-aways: - Stress-test your plan is a good way to see if you can ride through rough markets - "Capital Market" outlooks from firms like Vanguard are NOT market timing tools. But they're often misinterpreted as such - These outlooks can...

The New Rainy Day Fund: Your 401k Key Take-aways: 4.8% of 401k account holders took hardship withdrawals in 2024, up from 3.6% in 2023 and pre-pandemic average of about 2% Auto-enrollment in 401k plans has increased, which may contribute to the rise in withdrawals as...

Investor Behavior Impacts Returns Here are some key takeaways from "Investor Behavior Impacts Returns" - Investor behavior (panicking, selling quickly, over-trading, etc.) tend to lead to poor returns, especially from from volatile funds - Frequent trading and...

Monte Carlo Simulation Here are some key takeaways: 1. Monte Carlo simulation explained: It's a retirement planning tool that runs thousands of scenarios using inputs like withdrawal needs, investment returns, and inflation rates to assess retirement viability and...

Longevity in Retirement: What To Expect Here are some Key Takeaways: For a married couple aged 65 today, there's a 92% chance of at least one spouse living until age 85 if both are non-smokers. This emphasizes the need to plan for a potentially long retirement....

401k Loans Are Bad? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sv0nIVcWDlk Here are some key takeaways: - Taking 401k loans can significantly impact retirement savings due to missed opportunity costs, potentially reducing the final balance by hundreds of thousands of dollars. -...

It's OK to Spend Money in Retirement Here are some key takeaways: - Even wealthy retirees fear outliving their money, struggling to transition to spend money in retirement - It's important to do personalized financial analysis to determine how much "slack" is in your...

Price Targets for 2025 Here are some key takeaways: - The S&P 500 finished 2024 at 5881, up 25%, significantly outperforming analysts' price targets - These price targets are often viewed as not very useful, as they tend to cluster around historical averages -...

Crystal Ball Challenge Here are some key takeaways: - Even with advance knowledge of news headlines, predicting market movements is extremely difficult. In a study where participants were given Wall Street Journal headlines a day in advance, about half lost money and...

Sequence of Returns Impact Regarding the sequence of returns, here are some key takeaways: 1. **Sequence of returns matters in retirement planning,** but it's unpredictable and out of our control. The impact of market performance in the early years of retirement can...

  Super Catch Up Contributions Here are some key takeaways: 1. Super catch up contributions: Starting in 2025, individuals turning 60 can save an additional $11,250 per year over the normal limit in their workplace retirement accounts for ages 60-63. 2. Increased...

Our Rental Property - Should We Sell? Case Study Key Takeaways: - The folks in this case own two homes: their primary residence - The rental property has $125,000 equity and $310,000 value - They make $90,000 gross income per year and live month-to-month with $5,000...

Controlling Expenses in Retirement Here are some key takeaways: - Expenses are possibly the biggest driver of what your retirement plan will look like. - Big-ticket items like housing costs, outstanding debts, and healthcare expenses are what really move the needle in...

Should I Work One More Year, or Retire Here are some key takeaways: Work one more year - or two - before retirement can have significant financial benefits, including increased 401(k) contributions, market growth, and delayed portfolio drawdown. In the example...

Fed Rate Cut & Election Wrap-Up - Key Takeaways: Here are some key takeaways: 1. Markets prefer certainty: The stock market tends to react positively after major events like elections, regardless of the outcome, as it reduces uncertainty. 2. Multiple factors...

Cost of Living Adjustment Social Security for 2025 Some key takeaways: 1.  COLA Cost Of Living Adjustment Social Security for 2025: The COLA (Cost of Living Adjustment Social Security) in 2025 will be 2.5%. 2.  Cumulative increase since 2021: The average monthly...