#222 - All about pensions...what they are, how they work, how to decide between taking lifetime payments or a lump sum, and MORE! [replay of Andy's appearance on the Catching up to FI podcast]

In this replay of Andy's recent guest appearance on the Catching up to FI podcast, Andy and hosts Bill Yount, MD, and Jackie Cummings Koski, CFP®, AFC®, talk all about traditional defined benefit pensions. What they are, how they work, how to decide between taking payments vs a lump sum and much more!Links in this episode:The original audio version of the Catching up to FI podcast episode - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/are-pensions-really-dead-the-surprising-value-of/id1664430924?i=1000785277603The original YouTube version of the Catching up to FI podcast episode - https://youtu.be/vU_popXD2_A?si=QC3p1_gGvIRNjxFxCatching up to FI website - https://catchinguptofi.com/Tenon Financial monthly e-newsletter - Retirement Planning InsightsYouTube channel - Retirement Planning Education (formerly Retirement Planning Demystified)Retirement Planning Education website - www.RetirementPlanningEducation.comTo send Andy questions to be addressed on future Q&A episodes, email [email protected] follow Andy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andypanko/

Andy chats with fellow retirement planner Ryan Langan, CFP®, from Your Path Fi. In this episode they talk about a wide array of retirement planning topics such as tax planning, distribution strategies, investing, annuities, long-term care insurance, what consumers often overlook in retirement planning and much more!Links in this episode:Ryan's advisory company website - https://www.yourpathfi.com/Tenon Financial monthly e-newsletter - Retirement Planning InsightsYouTube channel - Retirement Planning Education (formerly Retirement Planning Demystified)Retirement Planning Education website - www.RetirementPlanningEducation.comTo send Andy questions to be addressed on future Q&A episodes, email [email protected] follow Andy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andypanko/

Andy discusses what all is involved in moving to a new state, from a tax perspective...properly changing your "domicile" and "residence" to the new state. Spoiler alert: It's not necessarily as simple as buying a house and spending at least six months and a day in the new state!Links in this episode:My in-depth write-up of changing state domicile and residence, examples and court cases of people who did and didn't properly change their domicile and residence, and more! - How to move to a new state...tax compliantlyTenon Financial monthly e-newsletter - Retirement Planning InsightsYouTube channel - Retirement Planning Education (formerly Retirement Planning Demystified)Retirement Planning Education website - www.RetirementPlanningEducation.comTo send Andy questions to be addressed on future Q&A episodes, email [email protected] follow Andy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andypanko/

Listener Q&A where Andy talks about: Whether to use money in a 457b to pay down a mortgage or to pay taxes on Roth conversions ( 7:56 )How Social Security survivor benefits work, and the optimal ages for spouses to each claim their own Social Security ( 18:54 )His thoughts on why the Social Security trust fund hasn't been allowed to invest in equities ( 25:36 )Creating spreadsheets to replace financial planning software, and using it to help your ongoing retirement planning and projections ( 30:40 )His thoughts on whether someone should try to convert ALL of their pre-tax money to Roth ( 36:56 )Transferring/rolling money from an IRA to an HSA (Health Savings Account) ( 46:05 )Whether you have to start Medicare Part A if you start Social Security but are still covered by a spouse's employer's health insurance ( 49:18 )Updating beneficiaries on investment accounts after one of the beneficiaries passes ( 53:17 )His thoughts on whether comparing a portfolio's investment returns to those of the S&P 500 is appropriate, and whether it's okay to hold bonds as investments ( 58:22 )To send Andy questions to be addressed on future Q&A episodes, email [email protected]'s LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andypanko/Links in this episode:Tenon Financial's March 2026 newsletter - Gifting, annual gift exclusions, gift taxes and gift tax returns (IRS Form 709)Tenon Financial's March 2024 newsletter - Don't compare your portfolio's returns to those of the S&P 500Tenon Financial monthly newsletter/blog - Retirement Planning InsightsYouTube channel - Retirement Planning Education (formerly Retirement Planning Demystified)Retirement Planning Education website - www.RetirementPlanningEducation.com

Andy chats with a real person (not an advisor) doing their own retirement planning. In this episode, Andy talks with Mark. They talk about a wide array of retirement planning topics such as when he started getting serious about planning for retirement, how he got comfortable going from accumulation to decumulation mode, how he and his wife are navigating health insurance prior to Medicare eligibility, why he randomly showed up in Andy's office one day, and more!  Links in this episode:Tenon Financial monthly e-newsletter - Retirement Planning InsightsYouTube channel - Retirement Planning Education (formerly Retirement Planning Demystified)Retirement Planning Education website - www.RetirementPlanningEducation.comTo send Andy questions to be addressed on future Q&A episodes, email [email protected]'s LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andypanko/

Listener Q&A where Andy talks about: How to sell and rebalance positions in a brokerage account when they have unrealized gains and you're trying to be tax-efficient about it ( 7:06 )His thoughts on a few different variable portfolio withdrawal strategies, namely Amortization Based Withdrawals ("ABW"), Total Portfolio Allocation Withdrawals ("TPAW") and Big ERN's CAPE-based approach ( 14:10 )Converting to a Roth IRA money you plan on spending in the near-term, instead of outright distributing it to your bank or brokerage account to be spent from there ( 23:18 )Whether doing Roth conversions or backdoor Roth contributions are ultimately the same thing from a tax planning perspective ( 28:02 )His thoughts on deciding which type of advisor and/or advisory fee model might make the most sense for you when considering the potential fees to be paid to an advisor over a lifetime ( 33:41 )At what point should you just take out unused 529 funds and pay tax and penalty on the gains, assuming you have no expectation they'll eventually get to be used for qualified education expenses ( 40:15 )Potential ideas for small or solo advisory firms to establish a succession plan in the event of the death or incapacitation of the advisor ( 45:26 )What to look for in an advisory relationship to help minimize the risk of the advisory committing fraud with your money ( 50:50 )Whether to live off cash for multiple years - assuming you have saved that much cash - or instead pull from your investment accounts ( 56:53 )His thoughts on Securities Backed Lines of Credit, or SBLOCs, from brokerage firms ( 1:00:35 )To send Andy questions to be addressed on future Q&A episodes, email [email protected]'s LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andypanko/Links in this episode:Tenon Financial monthly newsletter/blog - Retirement Planning InsightsYouTube channel - Retirement Planning Education (formerly Retirement Planning Demystified)Retirement Planning Education website - www.RetirementPlanningEducation.com

Andy discusses the ins and outs of Trump accounts:Legislative backgroundHow to open themHow to fund themInvesting inside themHow to distribute from themReporting around themTaxation of themThe two potential worthwhile use cases I see for themLinks in this episode:My in-depth write-up of Trump accounts, including all of the links I referenced in the show - Trump accounts: what they are, how they work, and use casesTenon Financial monthly e-newsletter - Retirement Planning InsightsYouTube channel - Retirement Planning Education (formerly Retirement Planning Demystified)Retirement Planning Education website - www.RetirementPlanningEducation.comTo send Andy questions to be addressed on future Q&A episodes, email [email protected] follow Andy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andypanko/

Andy summarizes the recent 2026 annual Social Security trustees report, including what it would actually mean if the system's trust fund were to deplete, and what changes can be made to ensure that doesn't happenLinks in this episode:The full 2026 Social Security trustees report - hereSummary of the recently proposed PROMISE Act - hereThe recent episode of Inspired Money with me, Wade Pfau and Mary Beth Franklin discussing all things Social Security - hereTenon Financial monthly e-newsletter - Retirement Planning InsightsYouTube channel - Retirement Planning Education (formerly Retirement Planning Demystified)Retirement Planning Education website - www.RetirementPlanningEducation.comTo send Andy questions to be addressed on future Q&A episodes, email [email protected]'s LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andypanko/

Listener Q&A where Andy talks about: Should Roth conversion analysis look at marginal or effective tax rates ( 4:21 )His thoughts on why qualified Roth account distributions might eventually be included in certain measures of Modified Adjusted Gross Income ("MAGI") ( 8:28 )What other MAGIs are potentially impacted and should be watched out for with doing Roth conversions ( 12:38 )The difference between "directionality" and "precision" in retirement planning ( 20:40 )Is it reasonable for an advisor to charge you extra for outsourcing some of their investment management to a separately managed or sub-managed account ( 25:38 )His thoughts of reinvesting a deferred compensation plan to all cash when the plan will soon begin paying out its deferred payments ( 29:34 )His thoughts on using multiple dividend and fixed income funds to create a "high income sleeve" for near-term distribution needs ( 35:25 )Whether it's accurate that you can indirectly file a tax return extension simply by making an online tax payment and select "extension" as the reason for the payment ( 39:05 )Can a minor with less than $400 of self-employment income not file a tax return yet still be eligible to contribute to a Roth IRA ( 44:56 )How he helps clients balance Fear of Missing Out ("FOMO") and Fear of Running Out ("FORU") ( 52:04 )How much of his planning work with clients is computational vs psychological ( 54:42 )His thoughts on the gamification of investing, and the prediction markets ( 58:11 )Why there are so many different funds like buffered ETFs and option trading ETFs, at higher expense ratios, when many can just invest in a few basic low-cost ETFs ( 1:00:36 )To send Andy questions to be addressed on future Q&A episodes, email [email protected]'s LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andypanko/Links in this episode:Episode 207 of the podcast - Roth conversion analysis; more than meets the eyeTenon Financial monthly newsletter/blog - Retirement Planning InsightsYouTube channel - Retirement Planning Education (formerly Retirement Planning Demystified)Retirement Planning Education website - www.RetirementPlanningEducation.com

Andy chats with a real person (not an advisor) doing their own retirement planning. In this episode, Andy talks with Tom. They talk about a wide array of retirement planning topics such as when he started getting serious about planning for retirement, why he went back to work as a consultant a year after retiring, why their plans of relocating to a different state have since changed, what his Roth conversion plan is, and more!  Links in this episode:Tenon Financial monthly e-newsletter - Retirement Planning InsightsYouTube channel - Retirement Planning Education (formerly Retirement Planning Demystified)Retirement Planning Education website - www.RetirementPlanningEducation.comTo send Andy questions to be addressed on future Q&A episodes, email [email protected]'s LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andypanko/