Radio Shows

So far, the S&P 500 is down 8.8% for the month of October (as of Sunday, October 28, 2018). If it finishes here, it will be the worst month since February of 2009, and the worst October since 2008. Remember those months?
Did you know that during the third quarter (the one that just ended), there was no daily move in the S&P 500 of more than 1%? The last time that happened was 1963. I (Shea) was not even born yet. However, in this month alone, we have seen six days of +/-1% … that’s about 33% of the month’s trading days.
The S&P 500 has lost ground on 14 days out of the 18 trading days so far this month. That’s more than any month since May 2012.
While this isn’t the most positive news, it’s best to accept reality and deal with it. The market moves and the best investors are the ones who can move with it.

The average couple retiring today at age 65 will need $280,000 to cover health care and medical costs in retirement, according to an annual estimate by Fidelity. Knowing how to navigate your health care is just as important as knowing how to manage your retirement accounts.
This past Monday, Open Enrollment began for Medicare Advantage Plans and prescription drug coverage, and you have until December 7, 2018, to make changes. Open Enrollment for individual health plans is November 1 through December 15, 2018, and you must be registered during this time in order to meet the January 1 effective date.
Join us and Laverna Witkop from Ford Insurance Agency this morning as we work through the health insurance deadlines.

Of the 200 business owners surveyed by Wilmington Trust Corporation, 58% of them have not created a transition plan. When asked why, 78% of them said that they enjoy running their company. Even more shocking, 45% of these business owners are over the age of 65. From our observations, an entrepreneur may have an easier time facing death than their last day of work.
Today’s special guest, Casey Petz, is a coach for entrepreneurs. When his father passed away unexpectedly, Casey was left with a family business to unravel … and it started at his father’s hospital bedside.
Casey knows full well the fallout from failing to plan.

Do you need another reason to look forward to turning 70½? How about the fantastic Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCD) option? What’s a QCD? The Wall Street Journal explains: “A Qualified Charitable Distribution is a withdrawal from an Individual Retirement Account that is sent directly to a charity. In other words, funds don’t pass through your hands. You instruct your IRA custodian to send the money straight to the group or groups you specify.” You must be 70½ to make the donation, and doing so allows you to give to a cause you care about AND reduce your taxes. And since a new tax law took effect this year, you’ll need to take advantage of the QCD before December of 2018.
There are many reasons to give, but giving now instead of later lets you witness the impact of your gift.

Tonya, the mother of four daughters, became a single mom overnight after her husband Michael passed away in her arms after a massive heart attack. He was only 36 years old. There are very few silver linings a person can find in such tragedy. In this case, Michael was an insurance agent and had planned on the worst should it happen. Today, you’ll hear a pre-recorded interview with Shea and Tonya as she recounts her story.
September is National Life Insurance month. There is no better time than now to consider the benefits of life insurance for those you love and will leave behind.

When I (Shea) was younger, my mom would leave a “to-do” chore list for us kids to complete after school and before she came home from work. As the eldest, I would “delegate” the chores in order to make the list fairer than my mother had. It took a few years for everyone to catch on. My brother was the first one to figure it out once his reading skills advanced, HA!
If only understanding your responsibilities as trustees were that easy after our loved ones pass. Well, actually, it can be! You can even delegate some tasks. Ed Slott, IRA expert, created a “to-do” list to help you understand what to do next. According to Forbes, there will be $30 trillion in assets transferred from Baby Boomers to their heirs. Will you know what to do when it’s your turn to inherit?

A few weeks back, Dennis casually mentioned the pros and cons of saving for college through either a 529 plan or a Roth IRA. Well, we didn’t realize what a hot topic this was until the calls started to come in. In fact, just yesterday, I (Shea) was talking to a parent who has enjoyed funding his son’s college experience with a Roth IRA. I myself started a 529 for my niece when she was born. It’s exciting to think that you can make a difference by funding an investment account on someone else’s behalf. But why did my friend choose a Roth IRA, and why did I choose a 529 plan? How are they the same and yet different? What makes sense for your situation?

I (Shea) didn’t grow up dreaming of working in the world of finance. In fact, I had no aptitude for numbers at all. But here at Prout Financial Design, as the resident creative, I have thrown myself headfirst into understanding investments. It’s a world all its own, one that most prefer NOT to understand. We’d rather do what we’re good at, hire someone to set up our investment strategy and move on with our lives. That being said, a great article from MarketWatch called “The 10 commandments of retirement” was published a few days ago. This article is, hands down, one of the most clear-cut descriptions of not only how to save, but why we need to save. If I’ve said it once on the air, I’ve said it a thousand times, “If I can understand retirement planning, you can too!”

Admittedly, we’ve been a little excited about the Roth IRA and all of the fancy tricks it can do. At 20 years old, it’s still a young option full of possibilities. It even acts invisible at times. Did you know that since Congress first allowed all owners of Traditional IRAs to make full or partial conversions to Roth IRAs in 2010, savers have done more than one million conversions and switched more than $75 billion from Traditional IRAs to Roth accounts (Wall Street Journal)?
Today, we are going to talk about when the Roth IRAs don’t work. It may seem shocking, but there are times when it just doesn’t make good financial sense. Tune in to hear more.

For years you’ve imagined that the money you have, the retirement accounts you’ve accrued and your properties will go directly to your children and grandchildren. Then, by surprise, another cause captures your attention. It’s a non-profit that beats at the same rate as your own heart. Like your own children, its mission lights something up inside of you. Not only can you impact your family, you can impact your community for generations to come. There’s only one problem … you haven’t figured out how to explain the change of plans. Ideally, you’d like to include your children in giving. Is it possible? One advisor thinks so. Charlie Jordan coined the concept, “Charitable Inheritance” where he sets up Donor-Advised Funds (DAFs) that are set aside for “inheritance dollars” – money earmarked for charity after a client’s death to be administered by the children.
Not only are we going to discuss what this can look like, we are interviewing Kate Pearson from the Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy to discuss what it means to impact generations to come with planned giving.