Radio Shows

During the Great Recession in 2008, my uncle, a self-made man, said to me, “The rich have a lot to worry about right now. They have more to lose.” That stuck with me the same way stories of the suddenly rich lottery winners do. They sabotage their wealth and end up worse off than before they made their bet. Is it really better to have more? Whichever way you look at it, the more you have saved, the more you must manage.
Join us today as we discuss Savers’ Problems. We think it’s a good problem to have, and we’re here to help you navigate through it.

Growing up, my dad had a lot of quotes. Perhaps that is why Ron Jolly has nicknamed me the “Quote Queen” (I’ve had years of training!). One quote that has stuck with me is, “Many things will capture your attention, pay attention to what captures your heart.” Today’s show will do just that … it will capture your heart. Why? Because it’s a show about giving.
One year ago, Wendy Steele, the Founder of Impact 100, announced on our show that the international organization was starting a chapter here in Traverse City. What does that mean exactly? It means that if 100 women gathered and gave $1,000 each, then one non-profit was going to receive a $100,000 grant.
Guess what? Traverse City’s Impact 100 chapter didn’t do that.
Instead, they gathered 255 members! Guess what that means? TWO local non-profits are going to receive a $127,500 grant on November 8, 2017.
Listen to this show to find out how the power of giving is impacting our area.

There’s this little thing (okay, it’s a really BIG thing) that happens when you turn 70½ … it’s called an RMD – Required Minimum Distribution. In other words, you HAVE to start drawing income from most of your retirement accounts whether you want to or not. Knowing your RMD date is very important. There is a 50% penalty waiting for those who miss the correct calculations. When 10,000 Baby Boomers turn 65 each day, there are bound to be a few mistakes. Listen to this episode for tips to avoid those mistakes while Dennis Prout provides strategies for RMD withdrawals.

College tuition might be fresh on your mind now that the kids and grandkids have been back to school for a while. You may be considering helping a child, grandchild or loved one with the cost of higher education.
Record-high tuition costs have many families exploring the various options available to them, including 529 plans and Coverdell accounts, but many fail to realize that a Roth IRA could also be a viable option to help fund a college education. Roth IRAs provide a flexible alternative to 529 plans, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they are for everyone. FAFSA eligibility, taxes, as well as account limitations and requirements are all factors that should be considered in order to select the investment options that best fit you and your loved one’s needs.

Ed Slott created The Complete IRA Care Solution Year End Checklist and in today’s show Dennis tries to share as much of it as possible. Listen to Dennis as he discusses checklist items such as ensuring all RMDs have been satisfied, to include year of death RMDs for multiple beneficiaries. Also discussed are deadlines for Roth conversions, qualified charitable distributions and the splitting of inherited accounts.

Dennis is back from his adventures to the great Northwest. Guess what else is back? October deadlines. Yup. You heard us right. Here’s the list:
October 1, 2017
Deadline for self-employed persons or small employers to establish a SIMPLE IRA for the year 2017.
October 16, 2017
Final deadline to file individual tax returns for the year 2016 (Forms 1040, 1040A, 1040EZ).
Last day the IRS will accept an electronically filed tax return for the year 2016. If filing after October 15, you’ll have to mail in your tax return for processing.
Final deadline to fund a SEP IRA or solo 401(k) for tax year 2016 if you requested an automatic extension of time to file.

The headline read, “People in rich countries are dying of loneliness.” I couldn’t resist, I had to read it and I had to know why. Turns out, this is a blurry issue without hard lines drawn between demographics. Instead, it’s about emotional isolation. We are living longer, moving away from our families, marrying less and living in a culture that promotes autonomy over community. This is the perfect storm for loneliness. In its wake is the higher risk of Alzheimer’s, depression, obesity and early death.
Think this is a problem just for single people? Think again. According to The New York Times, “It is not the same thing as being alone: 62.5 percent of older adults who reported being lonely in this new study were married.”
Grant Porteous, local therapist and life coach, joins me (Shea) in the studio today to talk about how to identify loneliness and cope with it. He says, “You need to look at your 401(k) but you also need to look at this … you need to look at your emotional health.”

I was born an old soul, preferring adult conversations over play dates with my peers. One conversation I remember my grandmother and mother having went like this: “Well, you know. They didn’t have a rainy day fund, so they lost everything.” In my five-year-old mind I couldn’t understand how a rainy day could be more expensive than a sunny one, but it sounded awful.
This literal interpretation has context today as we watch the devastation in Houston. It also has the intended metaphorical context when we look ahead into retirement. The unexpected storms of life take preparation and sometimes, despite what we have done, it’s not enough.
Today, we are going to talk about the ways to protect your financial assets and documents should a disaster occur. We will also discuss how to be prepared for the unexpected health expenses that will more than likely happen while you’re in retirement.

This week, I lost a good man. I lost my Papa. In truth, we started losing him slowly about 10 years ago when Alzheimer’s crept in. It was sly and unsuspecting, but when it became more obvious, my grandmother needed help from everyone. Their five children (who live out of town) rotated their time and talent to compensate for each other, despite having children and grandchildren of their own. People in this situation are considered the “Sandwich Generation,” that is, they take care of both their parents while raising their own family.
According to Pew Research Center, one in seven middle-aged adults (15%) is providing financial support to both an aging parent and a child. Join us today as we discuss the “Sandwich Generation” and hear from our guest Prout Financial Design’s very own Heidi Thompson, who is currently a member of this group.

Over the last few weeks, we have been deep-diving into the world of estate planning, and will continue part of last week’s show in our conversation today. We are also going to get back into some retirement account technicalities from Ed Slott’s August Newsletter for advisors. This is the “inside scoop” for those of you wanting to understand required minimum distributions, Social Security, taxes and the oh-so-famous Roth IRAs! Not associated with or endorsed by the Social Security Administration or any other government agency.