One Minute Retirement Tip with Ashley

This week on the Retirement Quick Tips podcast, I'm sharing with you my favorite topics that didn't quite make it to the podcast this year - mostly a collection of articles that I found interesting and wanted to cover on the podcast, but it never made it to the top of the heap. Today, I'm sharing with you an article from the WSJ from Nov 9th: Feeling Great About the Economy? You Must Own Stocks

This week on the Retirement Quick Tips podcast, I'm sharing with you my favorite topics that didn't quite make it to the podcast this year - mostly a collection of articles that I found interesting and wanted to cover on the podcast, but it never made it to the top of the heap. Today's episode is actually a comment from one of my YouTube videos that I think is an important one to address:  What is a good age to start de-risking in general, in your opinion? Retiring at 55 to 6

This week on the Retirement Quick Tips podcast, I'm sharing with you my favorite topics that didn't quite make it to the podcast this year - mostly a collection of articles that I found interesting and wanted to cover on the podcast, but it never made it to the top of the heap. Today, I'm sharing with you an article from Investopedia - The Shocking Number of Rich People Who Live Paycheck to Paycheck

Welcome to The Retirement Quick Tips Podcast, your daily guide to preparing for and living your best retirement. I'm your host Ashley Micciche, and this week, I'm sharing with you: What Didn't Make the Podcast in 2025 (But Almost Did) A collection of interesting topics that didn't quite make the cut for a full weekly theme, but still interesting and useful enough to share here on the podcast.

It's Sunday and I'm wrapping up the week by summarizing this week's theme: Year-End Financial Checklist 2025 In case you missed any episodes this week, here's what we covered.

This week on the Retirement Quick Tips podcast, I'm sharing with you my year-end financial checklist. With only a few weeks before the end of the calendar year, there's still time to complete these before year-end.  Today, I'm talking about cleaning up your accounts and doing a little housekeeping before the end of the year.

This week on the Retirement Quick Tips podcast, I'm sharing with you my year-end financial checklist. With only a few weeks before the end of the calendar year, there's still time to complete these before year-end.  Today, I'm talking about projecting your income for taxes and 2026 planning.

This week on the Retirement Quick Tips podcast, I'm sharing with you my year-end financial checklist. With only a few weeks before the end of the calendar year, there's still time to complete these before year-end.  Today, I'm talking about reviewing your allocation to stocks and rebalancing

This week on the Retirement Quick Tips podcast, I'm sharing with you my year-end financial checklist. With only a few weeks before the end of the calendar year, there's still time to complete these before year-end.  Today, I'm talking about checking your retirement contributions for the year to see if you're on track. 

This week on the Retirement Quick Tips podcast, I'm sharing with you my year-end financial checklist. With only a few weeks before the end of the calendar year, there's still time to complete these before year-end.  Today, I'm talking about tax loss harvesting. If you have taxable investment accounts, you'll want to look closely at your gains and losses for the year.

Welcome to The Retirement Quick Tips Podcast, your daily guide to preparing for and living your best retirement. I'm your host Ashley Micciche, and this week, I'm sharing with you a Year-End Financial Checklist for 2025.  A handful of things to check off your list before the end of the calendar year, including making sure you're on track for your retirement contributions, assessing where you're at financially, and tax harvesting in taxable investment accounts.

It's Sunday and I'm wrapping up the week by summarizing this week's theme: Why Most Americans Never Become Wealthy  In case you missed any episodes this week, here's what we covered.

This week on the Retirement Quick Tips podcast, I'm talking about why most Americans never reach financial independence and become wealthy.  Debt and spending decisions that start in early adulthood, and patterns of debt accumulation and never getting out of that hamster wheel is why most americans never reach financial independence or build enough wealth to get there.  A few weeks ago, I spoke to a class of high schoolers taking an elective on personal finance, and this is the alterative path I offered to them that will help make financial independence more likely.  Ok, first of all - as I said earlier this week: Follow the old nursery rhyme: 1st comes love, then comes marriage, then comes the baby in the baby carriage. Don't deviate from this path. Get married, then have kids. And stay married.  Beyond that, here's the path for someone seeking financial independence that I laid out and would recommend to every single teenager contemplating life after high school and wanting to get started right:   

This week on the Retirement Quick Tips podcast, I'm talking about why most Americans never reach financial independence and become wealthy.  So far this week, I've talked about the typical path that many Americans take that set them up for failure when it comes to reaching financial independence: Taking on student loan debt (average repayment = $500+ a month for 10+ years)  Buying a car (2nd highest expense for young people behind housing. Average monthly car payment for Gen Z today = $577). For many, it's not unusual to carry car payments of $1000 or more. Average credit card debt is $6700 at 23% interest - another few hundred a month in paying it off.    Then we come to the biggest expense - housing. The median monthly mortgage payment for U.S. homebuyers today is currently $2,259. That reflects today's higher interest rates and higher home prices. It's not surprising then that the average age of first-time homebuyer is 38. For many of you listening, you bought your first house when you were in your late 20s or early 30s. Today's first time homebuyers are now middle aged.

This week on the Retirement Quick Tips podcast, I'm talking about why most Americans never reach financial independence and become wealthy.  Most of you listening to this podcast are boomers and gen Xers. College debt wasn't the crisis back then it was today. In fact, for many of you listening, unless you went to law school, medical school, or got some advanced degree, there's a good chance you graduated college with little to no debt.  Unless you've been living under a rock, that's obviously not the case today. Average student loan debt is now $39,075. Repayment usually takes 10-20 years at $500+ per month.

This week on the Retirement Quick Tips podcast, I'm talking about why most Americans never reach financial independence and become wealthy.  Today, I'm talking about one of the main reasons why most Americans don't reach financial independence - poor spending decisions made early in life that put you in a debt cycle that most people just don't get out of.  

This week on the Retirement Quick Tips podcast, I'm talking about why most Americans never reach financial independence and become wealthy.  Today, I'm talking about an inconvenient truth behind why so many Americans never reach financial independence.  

Welcome to The Retirement Quick Tips Podcast, your daily guide to preparing for and living your best retirement. I'm your host Ashley Micciche, and this week, I'm sharing with you some shocking money statistics that when you put it all together, solve the puzzle why most Americans never become wealthy.

your best retirement. I'm your host Ashley Micciche, and in the week of Thanksgiving, I'm sharing just one episode with you so I can take time to peel potatoes and make sure our turkey brine is doing it's job.  I wish you many blessings this Thanksgiving, and I'm grateful for the time you choose to spend with me on this podcast. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your retirement planning journey, and I wish you and your loved ones a joy-filled Thanksgiving!    If you're new to the podcast - Hi there! I'm a financial advisor and co-owner of True North Retirement Advisors. For the last 18 years, I've helped my clients navigate the challenges and incredible opportunities of retirement….and this podcast is dedicated to helping you do the same!    With this week being thanksgiving, I want to share with you how gratefulness helps you make better money decisions, as well as 5 things I'm most thankful for in 2025.

It's Sunday and I'm wrapping up the week by summarizing this week's theme: Big Changes Coming For 401(k) Savers Over 50 In 2026 In case you missed any episodes this week, here's what we covered.

This week on the Retirement Quick Tips Podcast, I'm talking about the new rules for catch up contributions for higher earners over 50, going to effect in 2026: If you're participating in your 401k plan at work, if you're over 50, you're planning to maximize your contributions including the additional catch-up contribution, and you're going to make more than $145,000 in wages from your employer in 2025 - the rules for making catch up contributions are changing for you in 2026.  Today, I'm talking about your action plan for successfully implementing this rule change in 2026 in your own savings plan.

This week on the Retirement Quick Tips Podcast, I'm talking about the new rules for catch up contributions for higher earners over 50, going to effect in 2026: If you're participating in your 401k plan at work, if you're over 50, you're planning to maximize your contributions including the additional catch-up contribution, and you're going to make more than $145,000 in wages from your employer in 2025 - the rules for making catch up contributions are changing for you in 2026.  Today, I'm addressing some special circumstances and some frequently asked questions around this change.

This week on the Retirement Quick Tips Podcast, I'm talking about the new rules for catch up contributions for higher earners over 50, going to effect in 2026: If you're participating in your 401k plan at work, if you're over 50, you're planning to maximize your contributions including the additional catch-up contribution, and you're going to make more than $145,000 in wages from your employer in 2025 - the rules for making catch up contributions are changing for you in 2026.  I spent the last couple days explaining this in detail, so if you missed those episodes, be sure to go back and have a listen.  Today, I'm talking about the tax implications of this change and how you can prepare for it if you're used to getting a tax deduction on your 401k contributions.

If you're participating in your 401k plan at work, if you're over 50, you're planning to maximize your contributions including the additional catch-up contribution, and you're going to make more than $145,000 in wages from your employer in 2025 - the rules for making catch up contributions are changing for you in 2026.  Yesterday, I explained more details about who this change is going to impact, and today I want to focus on some special catch-up rules for those of you who are age 60-63.

If you're participating in your 401k plan at work, if you're over 50, you're planning to maximize your contributions including the additional catch-up contribution, and you're going to make more than $145,000 in wages from your employer in 2025 - the rules for making catch up contributions are changing for you in 2026.  Today, I'm talking about the basics of this new rule change so you can better understand how the change might impact you…

Welcome to The Retirement Quick Tips Podcast, your daily guide to preparing for and living your best retirement. I'm your host Ashley Micciche, and this week, we're exploring an important change coming to 401k plans in 2026.  If you're participating in your 401k plan at work, if you're over 50, you're planning to maximize your contributions including the additional catch-up contribution, and you're going to make more than $145,000 in wages from your employer in 2025 - listen up! This is going to impact you!   Here's the change: Starting in 2026, all of your catch up contributions must be made into a Roth 401k. 

Valuations for many stocks in the S&P 500 are at sky high levels, and for many of these companies, the math on the growth projections simply doesn't add up, which historically has been catastrophic for investors when the music stops playing. Welcome to Retire with Ashley, your guide to preparing for and living your best retirement. I'm your host Ashley Micciche, and today, I am joined by Kevin Caron, senior portfolio manager and co-founder at Washington Crossing Advisors.  Here's is today's interview segment with Kevin Caron…

Valuations for many stocks in the S&P 500 are at sky high levels, and for many of these companies, the math on the growth projections simply doesn't add up, which historically has been catastrophic for investors when the music stops playing. Welcome to Retire with Ashley, your guide to preparing for and living your best retirement. I'm your host Ashley Micciche, and today, I am joined by Kevin Caron, senior portfolio manager and co-founder at Washington Crossing Advisors.  Here's is today's interview segment with Kevin Caron…

Valuations for many stocks in the S&P 500 are at sky high levels, and for many of these companies, the math on the growth projections simply doesn't add up, which historically has been catastrophic for investors when the music stops playing. Welcome to Retire with Ashley, your guide to preparing for and living your best retirement. I'm your host Ashley Micciche, and today, I am joined by Kevin Caron, senior portfolio manager and co-founder at Washington Crossing Advisors.  Here's is today's interview segment with Kevin Caron…

Valuations for many stocks in the S&P 500 are at sky high levels, and for many of these companies, the math on the growth projections simply doesn't add up, which historically has been catastrophic for investors when the music stops playing. Welcome to Retire with Ashley, your guide to preparing for and living your best retirement. I'm your host Ashley Micciche, and today, I am joined by Kevin Caron, senior portfolio manager and co-founder at Washington Crossing Advisors.  Here's is today's interview segment with Kevin Caron…

Valuations for many stocks in the S&P 500 are at sky high levels, and for many of these companies, the math on the growth projections simply doesn't add up, which historically has been catastrophic for investors when the music stops playing. Welcome to Retire with Ashley, your guide to preparing for and living your best retirement. I'm your host Ashley Micciche, and today, I am joined by Kevin Caron, senior portfolio manager and co-founder at Washington Crossing Advisors.  Here's is today's interview segment with Kevin Caron…

Valuations for many stocks in the S&P 500 are at sky high levels, and for many of these companies, the math on the growth projections simply doesn't add up, which historically has been catastrophic for investors when the music stops playing. Welcome to Retire with Ashley, your guide to preparing for and living your best retirement. I'm your host Ashley Micciche, and today, I am joined by Kevin Caron, senior portfolio manager and co-founder at Washington Crossing Advisors.  Here's is today's interview segment with Kevin Caron…  

Valuations for many stocks in the S&P 500 are at sky high levels, and for many of these companies, the math on the growth projections simply doesn't add up, which historically has been catastrophic for investors when the music stops playing. Welcome to Retire with Ashley, your guide to preparing for and living your best retirement. I'm your host Ashley Micciche, and today, I am joined by Kevin Caron, senior portfolio manager and co-founder at Washington Crossing Advisors.  He published a piece on his website back on September 9, 2025, called the Illusion of perpetual growth, and that was really the catalyst for this discussion today. I wanted to have him on to talk more about what the market is assuming today about the growth trajectory of stocks, and what that means for investors.  Kevin - welcome to the podcast! It's an honor to have you here! 

It's Sunday and I'm wrapping up the week by summarizing this week's theme: Smart Retirement Withdrawals: 10 Principles for Lasting Financial Security Actually this theme ran for 2 weeks because it was such a big topic.  In case you missed any episodes this week, here's the recap…

This week on the Retirement Quick Tips Podcast, I'm talking about smart retirement withdrawals - 10 principles to help you sustain and grow your retirement withdrawals in retirement, while maintaining financial security and not running the risk of running out of money.  Today, I'm talking about planning for RMDs at the onset of retirement.

This week on the Retirement Quick Tips Podcast, I'm talking about smart retirement withdrawals - 10 principles to help you sustain and grow your retirement withdrawals in retirement, while maintaining financial security and not running the risk of running out of money.  Today, I'm talking about the importance of paying attention to taxes. If you don't manage your tax situation and pay attention to how portfolio withdrawals and capital gains, and RMDs will impact your tax situation, you'll end up paying more in taxes throughout your retirement, which just means that you'll drain your portfolio faster.

This week on the Retirement Quick Tips Podcast, I'm talking about smart retirement withdrawals - 10 principles to help you sustain and grow your retirement withdrawals in retirement, while maintaining financial security and not running the risk of running out of money.  Today, I'm talking about prioritizing income with your investment portfolio to help you maintain and grow your withdrawals.

This week on the Retirement Quick Tips Podcast, I'm talking about smart retirement withdrawals - 10 principles to help you sustain and grow your retirement withdrawals in retirement, while maintaining financial security and not running the risk of running out of money.  Today, I'm talking about the importance of maintaining discipline in your portfolio so that you're taking on the right amount of risk for your withdrawals.

This week on the Retirement Quick Tips Podcast, I'm talking about smart retirement withdrawals - 10 principles to help you sustain and grow your retirement withdrawals in retirement, while maintaining financial security and not running the risk of running out of money.  Today, I'm talking about another retirement withdrawal strategy in retirement that I really like, and is easy to set up and implement - spending guardrails.

This week on the Retirement Quick Tips Podcast, I'm talking about smart retirement withdrawals - 10 principles to help you sustain and grow your retirement withdrawals in retirement, while maintaining financial security and not running the risk of running out of money.  Today, I'm talking about another strategy to help you manage your withdrawals during times of economic and market difficulties - using your bond portfolio for withdrawals when the stocks are down.

This week on the Retirement Quick Tips Podcast, I'm talking about smart retirement withdrawals - 10 principles to help you sustain and grow your retirement withdrawals in retirement, while maintaining financial security and not running the risk of running out of money.  Today, I'm talking about keeping your powder dry. One of the most important aspects of maintaining and growing your withdrawals without sacrificing financial security is maintaining flexibility…cash is king!

This week on the Retirement Quick Tips Podcast, I'm talking about smart retirement withdrawals - 10 principles to help you sustain and grow your retirement withdrawals in retirement, while maintaining financial security and not running the risk of running out of money.  Today, I'm talking about carefully selecting your retirement withdrawal rate. If you took the steps I already suggested in creating a budget and making sure that was realistic, then next step is to determine how much of your portfolio you would need to withdraw on a monthly and annual basis so you can support your spending goals.

This week on the Retirement Quick Tips Podcast, I'm talking about smart retirement withdrawals - 10 principles to help you sustain and grow your retirement withdrawals in retirement, while maintaining financial security and not running the risk of running out of money.  Today, I'm talking about the last step in setting yourself up well for retirement withdrawals: test drive your retirement expenses.

This week on the Retirement Quick Tips Podcast, I'm talking about smart retirement withdrawals - 10 principles to help you sustain and grow your retirement withdrawals in retirement, while maintaining financial security and not running the risk of running out of money.  Today, I'm talking about creating a retirement spending budget.

This week on the Retirement Quick Tips Podcast, I'm talking about smart retirement withdrawals - 10 principles to help you sustain and grow your retirement withdrawals in retirement, while maintaining financial security and not running the risk of running out of money.  Today, I'm talking about simplifying your expenses and cutting out the extras that will weigh you down in retirement. I recommend doing this before you retire to make the transition easier, but you can also wait until after retirement to start cutting the fat.

This week on the Retirement Quick Tips Podcast, I'm talking about 10 principles to help you sustain and grow your retirement withdrawals, while maintaining financial security and not risk of running out of money.  Today, I'm sharing with you the #1 thing you should do if you're still a few years out from retirement: pay off your mortgage.

Welcome to The Retirement Quick Tips Podcast, your daily guide to preparing for and living your best retirement. I'm your host Ashley Micciche, and this week, we're exploring: The big topic of retirement withdrawals. It's such a big topic that I'm taking 2 weeks to share with you 10 principles for lasting financial security. Managing your withdrawals is key to making your money last in retirement while at the same time spending in a way that brings you happiness and satisfaction.  I'll share with you what to consider as you prepare for retirement. Like nearly everything else in life, we need to measure twice and cut once. Actually when it comes to home improvement projects, my motto is measure never and put 12 extra nail holes in the wall, but I digress. So we'll talk about how to set yourself up for smart retirement withdrawals in the last few months and years before retirement, what you'll need to do around the time of retirement to get started on the right foot, and how to manage your withdrawals in retirement to balance your various financial needs and goals with the limited resources that are your retirement nest egg in order to make it last. 

It's Sunday and I'm wrapping up the week by summarizing this week's theme: I'm Worried About The Stock Market In case you missed any episodes this week, here's the recap…

This week on the Retirement Quick Tips Podcast, I'm talking about why I'm growing increasingly worried about the stock market - high stock valuations colliding with a recession is historically a recipe for steep losses - and it is looking more and more like we're moving in that direction.  Today, let's talk about an action plan and how to make sure your portfolio is positioned well for both scenarios of continued growth, and a possible economic downturn and a bear market.

This week on the Retirement Quick Tips Podcast, I'm talking about why I'm growing increasingly worried about the stock market - high stock valuations colliding with a recession is historically a recipe for steep losses - and it is looking more and more like we're moving in that direction.  Today, I'm talking about the problem with timing.

This week on the Retirement Quick Tips Podcast, I'm talking about why I'm growing increasingly worried about the stock market - high stock valuations colliding with a recession is historically a recipe for steep losses - and it is looking more and more like we're moving in that direction.  Today, I want to dig a little deeper into the valuation problem, particularly for the big tech stocks.