30 minute money: Recent Episodes
Stephen Wershing
Here’s a simple, free tactic to avoid estate and probate taxes and fees
The post Don’t Own Your Life Insurance appeared first on 30 minute money.
How to use the only true tax dodge in the law to set aside thousands on a tax-free basis
The post Become an HSA Millionaire appeared first on 30 minute money.
An alarming number of people have misunderstood a critical element of their retirement strategy and it will cost them big.
The post An Expensive Misunderstanding That Can Sink Your Retirement appeared first on 30 minute money.
The announcements of government economic statistics can move markets and affect investor attitudes. But be careful about making short term investment decisions on them.
The post Dont Trust Government Numbers appeared first on 30 minute money.
What’s a “meme stock” and what does it mean for your portfolio?
The post Meme Stocks appeared first on 30 minute money.
Many retirees want to help their grandkids. How can you do it without risking running out of money for retirement?
The post Providing for Grandkids Without Risking Your Retirement appeared first on 30 minute money.
How much can you withdraw from your retirement accounts without jeopardizing your retirement?
The post How Much Can You Withdraw Safely? appeared first on 30 minute money.
Both presidential candidates have specific proposals for tariffs on trade with foreign countries. What does that mean to you?
The post Biden and Trump’s Tarriff Policy appeared first on 30 minute money.
You may hear a lot about keeping your will updated. We don’t hear as much about updating your powers of attorney but that may be a more important estate planning issue.
The post Check Your Powers of Attorney appeared first on 30 minute money.
he Dow Jones Industrial Average has hit a record high. What does that mean for you?
The post Dow Hits 40,000 appeared first on 30 minute money.
Cracks are beginning to appear in the health of the economy. Here are two that have us concerned.
The post Debt and Delinquencies are on the Rise appeared first on 30 minute money.
Homeownership is getting less and less affordable – and not just for people trying to buy a home. Current homeowners are being squeezed, too.
The post The Costs of Homeownership are Skyrocketing appeared first on 30 minute money.
With interest rates climbing and the stock market becoming more volatile, interest in owning gold is increasing. Should you on some? And if so, what’s the best way to own it?
The post Should You Buy Gold? appeared first on 30 minute money.
Maybe you can’t stash all your income investments in tax deferred accounts. But there is a way you can protect against paying too much tax on them. Here’s how.
The post How to Pay Less Tax on Interest Income appeared first on 30 minute money.
You can’t convert a required minimum distribution into a Roth IRA. But you can use it to pay for a conversion. In this episode, we tell you how.
The post Use Your RMD to Fund a Roth Conversion appeared first on 30 minute money.
Who are the beneficiaries on your accounts and policies? When was the last time you looked?
The post Update Your Beneficiaries appeared first on 30 minute money.
There’s a stock market cycle that corresponds to Presidential terms. What does it tell us about what we can expect this year?
The post The Presidential Stock Market Cycle appeared first on 30 minute money.
A lot can change between when you buy a life insurance policy and when you use it, especially if you are building cash value. Don’t be caught with an unpleasant surprise. Check up on your policy every few years.
The post Check the Health of Your Life Insurance appeared first on 30 minute money.
Spring is a traditional time to clean house. Use that time to clean up your finances as well and make your life easier. Here’s how.
The post Financial Spring Cleaning appeared first on 30 minute money.
How can you decide when to buy or sell investments? By going back to economics 101 – paying attention to supply and demand. In this episode, we discuss how.
The post Supply and Demand Investing appeared first on 30 minute money.
Should you try to convert all your traditional retirement accounts to Roth accounts to save money on taxes? No. Converting them all will result in higher taxes.
The post Don’t Over Convert appeared first on 30 minute money.
How did your portfolio perform compared to the stock market? There are good reasons to hope that it did. In this episode we discuss why.
The post Are You Underperforming the Market? appeared first on 30 minute money.
No one enjoys the annual exercise of filing their income tax return. But you can turn it into an opportunity to save taxes in future years
The post What you can learn from your tax return appeared first on 30 minute money.
Never say budget. Learn the psychological traps that can keep you from managing your money successfully.
The post The Psychology of Cash Flow appeared first on 30 minute money.
Filing your tax return early doesn’t just get you a faster refund. It can actually help protect you from identity theft.
The post The Benefits of Filing Your Taxes Early appeared first on 30 minute money.
If you are married, filing jointly will usually result in the lowest taxes. But there are important reasons to think about filing separately.
The post Married Filing Separately appeared first on 30 minute money.
Variable annuities have some unique benefits. Many also have significant costs that can hold down the growth of your portfolio. In this episode we review what kinds of expenses to look out for that can hold you back.
The post Don’t Get Crushed by Variable Annuity Charges appeared first on 30 minute money.
Does stress at work make you feel like your retirement date can’t get here fast enough? Maybe you should reconsider when to retire.
The post Why Are You Still working? appeared first on 30 minute money.
One of the three major credit rating agencies has downgraded US Treasury securities. What does that mean for you?
The post What the Downgrade in US Debt Means to You appeared first on 30 minute money.
How do you check on the background of a financial advisor?
The post Due Diligence on Financial Advisors appeared first on 30 minute money.
The biggest risk in retirement, the one that can wipe out all your savings and divide your family, is the expense and complications of long-term care. Here’s what you can do about it.
The post Insuring Against the Risk of Long-term Care appeared first on 30 minute money.
Is someone trying to sell you a life insurance policy because it’s a good investment? Listen to this episode before you do anything
The post Is Life Insurance a Good Investment appeared first on 30 minute money.
There is a lot of talk about income inequality and wealth inequality but the root of much of that is the way our tax laws are written.
The post Our Tax Laws Are Unfair appeared first on 30 minute money.
How you can use health savings accounts to accumulate tax-free money.
The post Health Savings Accounts appeared first on 30 minute money.
Economists and pundits have been predicting a recession for the better part of a year. So what happened?
The post What happened to the recession? appeared first on 30 minute money.
Tax Freedom Day is when you have paid up all your taxes for the year and you get to keep the rest. How much of the year do you have to work for the government?
The post Celebrate Your Independence Day appeared first on 30 minute money.
Headlines announced this week that we are officially in a bull market. But is this the real thing? Or is it an illusion that will fool us and turn back down again?
The post Is This Bull For Real? appeared first on 30 minute money.
Many people work with an advisor to, among other things, provide professional investment management. But the majority of their wealth is often tied up in their employer’s retirement plan. Now there’s a way to get active professional on those accounts, too.
The post Investment Advice for Your Company Retirement Plan appeared first on 30 minute money.
Retirement health benefits are rapidly becoming a thing of the past. If you retire before you qualify for Medicare at 65, that can leave you in a pickle. Here is how to get health insurance to bridge the gap.
The post How to Get Health Insurance Between Retirement and Medicare appeared first on 30 minute money.
You cannot avoid taking required minimum distributions from your retirement accounts once you reach the age where they kick in but you can avoid having to pay tax on them if you use them to support the causes that are important to you.
The post How to Avoid Taxes on Your Required Minimum Distribution appeared first on 30 minute money.
The government is about to bump into its debt ceiling and how they deal with it can have big implications for your finances
The post What the Debt Ceiling Debate Means to You appeared first on 30 minute money.
Interest rates have risen dramatically over the past year. That is both good and bad news. In this episode, we discuss the pros and cons.
The post What Higher Interest Rates Mean to You appeared first on 30 minute money.
When you plan your retirement income, we believe it is a good idea to arrange things so that a portion of your income comes on a guaranteed basis. Here’s how you can arrange things to get the stability you seek in your retirement income
The post Income Stability Ratio appeared first on 30 minute money.
How much you get taxed in retirement is a top financial planning issue, but many people are surprised that how you get taxed is different. Taxes affect you differently and there are new taxes that only get applied once you retire. We cover the details in this episode
The post How You Get Taxed is Different in Retirement appeared first on 30 minute money.
When you start taking Social Security can have a significant effect on how much income you receive in retirement and how much you have to draw on savings. Here’s how to find the right time to do it.
The post Optimizing Social Security appeared first on 30 minute money.
A financial or retirement plan is based on a projection of how much income you will need in retirement. But experience shows that most people are as much as 30% off when estimating their spending and, therefore, what they will need in retirement.
The post You’re Probably Wrong About Your Spending appeared first on 30 minute money.
General Dwight D. Eisenhower said “Plans are useless. Planning is invaluable.” In personal finances, it is not having a plan that matters but knowing how to plan. In this episode we discuss the difference between plans and planning and what really matter to keep you on course.
The post Plans versus Planning appeared first on 30 minute money.
Some annuities can cost you set you back in your retirement plans. But if you find yourself with one, simply cashing it in can cost you thousands of dollars. Here’s how to deal effectively with an annuity you want to get out of.
The post What to do With a Bad Annuity appeared first on 30 minute money.
More and more Americans will inherit the wealth of their parents in retirement plans. The rules around inherited retirement plans have changed and getting them wrong can cause steep tax penalties.
The post Inherited IRA’s appeared first on 30 minute money.
There’s a new way to invest in indexes that offers tax savings and other unique benefits. It’s called direct indexing and we talk all about it in this episode.
The post Direct Indexing appeared first on 30 minute money.
Your portfolio is probably made up of a collection of pooled investments like mutual funds. While these are great vehicles, there is a special case to be made for doing your bond investments a different way as you approach retirement.
The post A Better Way to do Bonds appeared first on 30 minute money.
Services offered by financial advisors – and what they charge for them – varies widely. Here’s what you should look for.
The post What You Should Expect From Your Financial Advisor appeared first on 30 minute money.
The big retirement plan news of the new year is passage of the Secure Act 2.0. Here’s what’s in it.
The post Secure 2.0 – what does it mean to you? appeared first on 30 minute money.
Many people like to make New Year’s resolutions about money but few follow through. Here’s an idea that could help lead you to better money habits.
The post Forget Financial New Year’s Resolutions – Do a Review! appeared first on 30 minute money.
Keeping your taxes low is an active process. Here’s how to do it.
The post Active Tax Management appeared first on 30 minute money.
There’s a recession coming. Here’s how to make sure your finances are prepared for it
The post The Coming Recession appeared first on 30 minute money.
The market is down and it has been down for a while. How can you respond
to it productively?
The post Down Market Strategies appeared first on 30 minute money.
Here are some tips for saving money on this year’s taxes. But act now! You only have a couple weeks left!
The post Year End Tax Moves appeared first on 30 minute money.
All of the thresholds that determine how highly you are taxed – tax brackets, standard deductions, 401(k) contribution limits, and more – are indexed to inflation. And the IRS just announced what next year's limits will be.
The post New IRS Limits appeared first on 30 minute money.
Want to pay lower taxes in retirement. Stop saving! That's obviously a joke. The key is that most people save the wrong way and it costs them thousands. Here's how to do it right.
The post Stop Saving for Retirement! appeared first on 30 minute money.
If you are still years from retirement, you may not be thinking about retirement taxes. But you might save a lot of money if you think about it now.
The post Why worry about taxes in retirement now? appeared first on 30 minute money.
Our guest unexpectedly became a widower in his 20's. And, even though he was a financial advisor, he discovered that not thinking it through left him overwhelmed.
The post Why you need to put plans together before anything bad happens appeared first on 30 minute money.
Inflation and Interest rates both went up this week. What is the difference and what do rising interest rates mean to my finances?
The post What do Rising Interest Rates Mean to Me? appeared first on 30 minute money.
The real value of long term goals is change accomplished in the short term. Then you can throw the goals away to realize their long term effect.
The post Throw Away Your Long-Term Goals appeared first on 30 minute money.
One of the most difficult financial issues is simply talking about money with your significant relationships. Here's how to do it.
The post Breaking Money Silence – with Kathleen Burns Kingsbury appeared first on 30 minute money.
Stocks just dropped enough to put it into bear market territory. But how concerned should you be?
The post Should You be Scared of the Bear? appeared first on 30 minute money.
BNPL is big business and all over the media. And it is worth avoiding.
The post Should You Buy Now Pay Later? appeared first on 30 minute money.
Are your property taxes going up? Here's how to get your assessment lowered.
The post How To Contest Your Tax Assessment – with Nathan Gabbert appeared first on 30 minute money.
Moving in or moving to Rochester? Here are some valuable tips on getting the right place for you.
The post Find a Great Apartment in Rochester – with Adrian Winter appeared first on 30 minute money.
Inflation can have a dramatic effect on your finances. Here’s how to make sure it doesn’t ruin yours.
The post How to Factor Inflation into Your Financial Plan appeared first on 30 minute money.