Epstein & White

In research for the show each week, we come across some really unique and fun information and some that is also timely. Brad came across a survey of 200 financial advisors across the United States conducted by Edward Jones, The survey says that 97% of clients by these 200 advisors are not anticipating surprises when it comes to retirement, and we've had plenty of surprises in the last couple of years and it's shocking that people don't anticipate that there are going to be some hiccups along the way of a 20 or 30 year retirement. Brad gives us his thoughts on the survey.

Well, the age old question might be today, should I trade in an old annuity? I've had this for awhile, I don't know as much about it now as maybe I did then. Sometimes we buy something and a decade later we're like, why in the heck did I buy that? What about annuities and the talk of maybe exchanging or doing some things to get better interest rates on annuities? Brad offers us some tips.

If you've been paying attention you know that interest rates have been on the rise, but Jerome Powell and the fed reserve have raised interest rates on a number of occasions over the last 18 months to two years and are likely to do it ahead this year. But there's a double-edged sword. Interest rates on the rise? Terrible when you're borrowing money for a house because you're going to pay more interest. Maybe a little better if you're saving money and that's where Brad fills us in on the latest with interest rates right now.

It's not often that we start a show talking about financial advisors and what it is that the role in financial advising, especially when it comes to retirement income planning truly is, but today we Brad reminds us exactly what it is and how he can actually help them get not only into but through retirement.

Well, if you're a movie aficionado, the Matrix might be something you've consumed once or twice and of course it's morphed itself over time and sometimes a retirement can feel like that. You're diving in one place and popping out of another and then you don't know where you're heading.

When we get to retirement, all our working career we do the working and we get money for that work. During retirement, we need to make that money do the work while we get to enjoy the fruits of our labor, but there are some principles of retirement planning to always remember.

We know that many of you have had this question on your mind, because Brad has been fielding this question. What is going on with the US Dollar? Brad gives us the latest on todays show.

March is known for madness, but 2023 that madness might mean something else in the banking industry. Brad breaks it down for us in todays show.

What should retirees be happy with when it comes to their money? Should they earn 4%? Should they earn 8%? What should we be happy with when we get to retirement and we have this nest egg of cash? Brad discusses in todays show.

We all have felt the impact of rising interest rates. Last year, the fed raised rates by 50 basis points a number of times. Already this year, they've taken a 25 basis points rise to the interest rate. So how does this effect your retirement income plan? Brad dives into this on todays show.

A lot of people are in retirement, heading into retirement or almost retiring and their thinking hmm, what do I do with this money I've been saving in my 401k, a TSP or a 403b for all these years? Maybe you worked at one job. So what do you do? Brad helps break it all down for us.

Well, we're into a new year, but as people often tend to do even when they're in that first month or six weeks of the year, they're getting tax stuff ready and looking back on What Just Happened? And for some maybe they retired in 2022. Maybe they're retirement year is this year in 2023 and we still want to assess what happened and what can I do to fix it moving forward or what can I do to get better from it going forward and 2022, lets face it by stock market assessments it was an ugly year and so what can we learn from it?

Well, we've begun a new year and we look back on 2022 and the bar was a little lower than what we thought going into last year. What should we do now to prepare ourselves financially for 2023?

As we wind down the year 2022 and head into 2023, some people might be saying this last year has been not so great. I'm just going to hunker down or I'm going to wait, well is that the right strategy? If you have zero advice it could be the wrong strategy for you. I don't know how you could ever know if it's the right decision if you don't ask someone who does this for a living like Brad does and he offers tips as we head into 2023.

Putting together a checklist anytime is not a bad thing at all, but when it comes to ending one year and beginning another a checklist can be very key.

We're winding down the year 2022 and we want to talk about some of the lessons we've learned from this year because we certainly know that you all have learned plenty of lessons this year. One that rises to the top would be Interest Rates. What did we learn about our economy, the fed and interest rate hikes and truly cooling inflation? Brad discusses in todays show.

Since 1950, all 18 midterm elections have been followed by an up year for the stocks. The stock market says, this is what we tend to do when it comes to elections at the midterm.

The text book definition of a recession would be a fall in the GDP over two consecutive quarters. So by the text book we should be in a recession right now, but economists have been back and forth on this and Brad has met with many clients about all of this and everybody wants to know, are we in a recession? Do we still have more to wait on? What's coming? People still live with a little bit of fear about recessions.

As we head towards the final quarter of the year and we head towards a new year in 2023, we know that markets are still up and down, inflation is still there, we know that social security has been raised. The cost of living increase next year will be 8.7%. What if my retirement date is in the next 12 months? You've planned it in your mind, but what about retiring when the economy is all over the place right not? Brad answers those questions for us in today's show.

Risk is uncertainty about lifetime consumption. Long story short, you should know how to define risk. Is it the likelihood something can lose money? Is it how much it can possibly go down? Or is it just volatility along the way? Brad explains in todays show!

Over the past 6 months the US created an average of 381k jobs per month compared to pre pandemic pace of less than 200k. This is a good thing because as the fed raises rates hoping to cool the economy down and therefore inflation, this provides a cushion for them to do so without the economy falling into full recession or anything like that.

The benchmark S&P 500 Index's recent rebound has brought it more than halfway back from its 2022 low point in mid-June, which is an encouraging sign for many investors. It's certainly one of the most statistically reliable signals in the stock market. But does that mean it's safe to get back into stocks?

Let's say you have a rental property that you bought a while ago. In San Diego that means you have HUGE gains in that house, and if you ever sell it will be a capital nightmare. Brad offers some tips on how you could potentially get rid of the tax.

Don't forget about what you can and can't do before Full Retirement Age!

Long story short is you could be earning more than 4% completely guaranteed on your money right now. Brad explains in todays episode.

On June 15th, the fed voted to raise 75 bps for July, first time since November 1994. What happened with the market then and what could we expect this time?

What does it mean to have a retirement plan done? It simply means you say “id like to be able to live off of x amount of money in order to do all of the things I like to do.

For 13 years we had an accommodative monetary policy, we went into the worst recession since great depression, the worst stock market decline since then and now we're in a totally different environment with inflation the highest in 40 years.

For those that go “well the market is down 13% first four months to the year, and were hearing now we could be entering a recession and having more inflation – so we haven't even seen that part yet!” - this is why the term leading indicator is so important to note.

The Fed's efforts to tame inflation by raising interest rates will most likely dampen economic growth. Brad discusses 5 questions that every retiree should be asking!

All the headlines talking about a possible US recession on the horizon..... what does this mean for your investments and retirement plan? On todays show, Brad reviews basic facts at a very high level. Economies and Markets are of course very connected – but they don't move in lockstep with each other at all. The market, is a leading indicator for the economy. The market reacts today based on what it THINKS the economy will do in the future.

On March 16 the Fed approved a .25% rate hike, which was the first time this has happened since 2018. Also, the indication is that they will do the same all 6 coming meetings remaining in 2022 – we had an inflation reading of 6.1% in January! US inflation hit a 40-year high of 7.9% in February!

The market immediately assuming this is bad for oil supply and prices increasing as response.

Brad explains whats all happening and what the sanctions on Russia could mean.

The house gets zero excitement, gets zero thrills, and gets nothing in the short term. The saying “money won is sweeter then money earned” is true. however, its just not profitable. the house builds in actual math that over the long term wins small amounts of money consistently and ultimately builds really huge expensive buildings and big wallets.

You have crypto.com arena now, you saw all of the superbowl ads, Matt Damon commercials, etc. so id like to tell a little story.

Okay, so since 2008 we have been reasoning with our monetary policy – that means an economy went into recession, so we lowered interest rates and pumped money in the system because that helps an economy move forward.

New research suggests that if you aren't an average investor—and most people aren't—the one-size-fits-all approach isn't the way to go

Congratulations year 2021, between 2020 and you the bar has been set at an all time low! so first resolution is no new global pandemics and were off to a good start!

What's going on with inflation? What's causing it and just how bad could it get? Brad has the answers on this week's episode. Plus, healthcare is a major concern for retirees and Brad covers ways to address it. All that and much, much more on Retire Right with Epstein and White!

You've heard of Generation X and Gen Z … but Generation U? This week Brad explain who makes up Generation U and what they need to think about in terms of their retirement plan. Plus, ‘tis the season for charitable giving and Brad has plenty of tips for how to make smart charitable contributions.

Not updating your beneficiary information, failing to have a durable power of attorney, not having a plan for long-term care … these things can become a financial horror story if they aren't addressed in your financial plan. Don't miss this weekend's episode of Retire Right with Epstein and White!

In real estate, it's all about location, location, location. In retirement, the big idea is income, income, income. But how do you create an income plan when you don't know how long you'll live, what taxes will look like, what inflation will be, and what surprise expenses will pop up? Brad has the answers for us. Plus, we'll cover the basics of estate and legacy planning, and how to approach planning for long-term care.

Brad gives us an outline of what to expect on all the tax increases that are up for debate in Congress, and some strategies to consider to protect your savings from higher taxes in the future. If you're wondering if you've saved enough for retirement, you might be surprised to know the size of the average nest egg. Brad shares the truth about how much people are saving and what that number really means.

Social Security is always something that Epstein and White have spent a lot of time on as it relates to educating people making sure they know what's going on with their benefits, but with the program in general, Brad talks a little bit about what's going on with Social Security right now because of the pandemic and some of the changes we might be seeing here in the future.

You've worked hard for your money for years, but when you get to retirement, that's when the tables turn and your money works hard for you. So it's important that you make the most out of what you have, so you are getting the most out of those dollars you worked so hard to save. Plus, Brad explains what happens when you shift from saving for retirement to focusing on preserving and protecting your assets, and what we can expect with increases in Social Security payments in the near future.

The U.S. Supreme Court has reaffirmed that both income and transfer tax (e.g., estate and gift taxes) changes may be implemented retroactively, "Provided that the retroactive application of a statute is supported by a legitimate legislative purpose furthered by rational means..."

How do we know if we're making the right decisions heading into retirement? Am I on track? Am I buying high? Am I following a trend?

We talk all the time on this show about plans, but do we really know how a retirement plan actually works? Brad offers us some tips for planning a retirement.

How much do you need to be happy or to live comfortably in retirement?

Dalbar released a study recently showing that people had better emotional reactions using a variable annuity. Brad discusses the pros and cons of a variable annuity.