#177 - 2025 year-end tax planning tips and items to consider

Andy chats with a real person (not an advisor), Beth Pinsker, a columnist for MarketWatch, about her new book, My Mother's Money, A Guide to Financial Caregiving.In the book, Beth details her personal experience in becoming her mother's financial caregiver, both during her mother's end of life and health decline, and beyond her mother's death and through the estate administration process.The book provides tons of practical knowledge, insight and recommendations for how to ensure your financial affairs are in order, that others who need access to information and accounts have it, that end-of-life planning scenarios are less painful and difficult than they otherwise would be and that estate administration isn't more cumbersome, lengthy and challenging than it needs to be.This book is a must read!Links in the episode:Beth's website - https://bethpinsker.com/To send Andy questions to be addressed on future Q&A episodes, email [email protected] Financial monthly e-newsletter - Retirement Planning InsightsFacebook group - Retirement Planning Education (formerly Taxes in Retirement)YouTube channel - Retirement Planning Education (formerly Retirement Planning Demystified)Retirement Planning Education website - www.RetirementPlanningEducation.com

Andy and Ben Brandt from Retirement Starts Today share their thoughts on a handful of current events and "hot topics" relating to retirement planning. Specifically, they talk about: Thoughts on Monte Carlo analysis; the good, the bad, the ugly ( 9:10 )Why all retirement plans are ultimately wrong as soon as they're made, and need to be agile and adaptable ( 13:30 )How to try to help people get comfortable spending the money they've accumulated ( 22:53 )Should people care how financial advisors dress? ( 29:18 )Is IRMAA (Income Related Monthly Adjustment Amount) something that needs to be avoided, or is it okay to knowingly pay some IRMAA in the name of longer term tax planning ( 35:12 )Are there any planning considerations or concerns people should have if the government shutdown continues to drag on ( 39:58 )Is renting a home (instead of owning or buying) a home in retirement okay ( 44:27 )Are Donor Advised Funds worth using ( 48:35 )Their thoughts on Artificial Intelligence and how it may impact financial and retirement planning ( 52:52 )Is it okay to pay taxes on Roth conversions by withholding it from the IRA, or should taxes on conversions only be paid with money outside of an IRA, such as in a bank or brokerage account ( 1:00:42 )Links in this episode:Ben's website - Retirement Starts TodayBen's YouTube channel - Even Better RetirementTo send Andy questions to be addressed on future Q&A episodes, email [email protected] company newsletter - Retirement Planning InsightsFacebook group - Retirement Planning Education (formerly Taxes in Retirement)YouTube channel - Retirement Planning Education (formerly Retirement Planning Demystified)Retirement Planning Education website - www.RetirementPlanningEducation.com

Andy shares some year-end tax planning tips, deadlines and things to consider around the following topics:contributions to qualified accountsRoth conversionsdistributions from qualified accountsRequired Minimum Distributions ("RMDs")charitable donationsQualified Charitable Distributions ("QCDs") from IRAsgiftingtax loss and tax gain harvestingdoing a projected/pro forma 2025 tax returnLinks in this episode:Tenon Financial monthly e-newsletter - Retirement Planning InsightsFacebook group - Retirement Planning Education (formerly Taxes in Retirement)YouTube 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]

In this special guest host episode, Brian Tegtmeyer from Truly Prosper Financial  Planning talks about how to address and plan for the non-financial aspects of retirement such as intellectual engagement, purposeful activities, health and fitness, relationships and more. And he also shares a quick exercise to do to see how you can measure your satisfaction in these various areas, and how to help intentionally address the ones you feel need improvementLinks in this episode:Truly Prosper Financials Planning's website - https://trulyprosperfp.com/Brian's first time on the Retirement Planning Education podcast - #085 – Retirement planner chat, with Brian Tegtmeyer from Truly Prosper Financial PlanningBrian's second time on the Retirement Planning Education podcast - #150 - "Hot topics" edition...Andy and Brian Tegtmeyer talk about retiring in a down market, concerns about Social Security, making estimated tax payments and MORE!Tenon Financial monthly e-newsletter - Retirement Planning InsightsFacebook group - Retirement Planning Education (formerly Taxes in Retirement)YouTube 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]

Listener Q&A where Andy talks about: The CAPE (Cyclically Adjusted Price to Earnings) Ratio as a measure of whether the US stock market is overvalued or undervalued, and drawbacks with the CAPE Ratio ( 4:32 )The meaning of Benjamin Graham's quote "In the short run, the stock market is a voting machine, but in the long run it's a weighing machine" ( 17:07 )Helping clients overcome their frugality habits to enjoy more of their deferred spending from their nest eggs ( 19:18 )Understanding "duration" and what it means in bond funds ( 26:58 )How Annie Duke's concept of decision making and luck play into retirement planning ( 34:19 )Balancing between good enough and optimization in retirement planning ( 38:45 )Tax withholdings and credits on dividends from international stocks, and whether international stocks should be held only in normal brokerage accounts and not qualified accounts like IRAs and Roth IRAs ( 46:50 )Additional resources in understanding and calculating 72(t) Substantially Equal Period Payments ("SEPP") to avoid the 10% early withdrawal penalty on accessing retirement accounts before 59 1/2 ( 52:20 )A listener public service announcement about itemizable deductions for casualty losses due to federally declared disasters, and how IRS staffing issues and shutdowns exacerbate the inconvenience of the mandatory 20% federal tax withholding on 401(k) contributions ( 55:19 )To send Andy questions to be addressed on future Q&A episodes, email [email protected] in this episode:Link to Tax Planning to and Through Early Retirement My company newsletter - Retirement Planning InsightsFacebook group - Retirement Planning Education (formerly Taxes in Retirement)YouTube 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 Jackie Cummings Koski.But Jackie isn't just the typical "real" person doing her own retirement planning. She went the F.I.R.E. (Financial Independence Retire Early) route and left her corporate job in her late-40s. She's since expanded on the financial knowledge she gained during her F.I.R.E. journey to get a masters degree in financial planning and coaching, obtain the CFP® designation, author the book F.I.R.E for Dummies and become the cohost of the Catching Up to FI podcast!She's making the most of her retirement by being a financial educator to millions of people. She's since become a valuable contributor and presence to the financial community.In this episode, Andy and Jackie talk about her F.I.R.E. journey and how she became so knowledgeable in personal finance after not having much prior knowledge or experience in the subject, what her "number" was to achieve financial independence, some of the technical planning aspects of her retirement (such as how she's accessing her retirement account without penalty before age 59 1/2 and what she's doing for health insurance before Medicare), and how she became a trusted source of financial knowledge and education for millions of people! Links in the episode:Bill Stecker's 72(t) calculation website - https://72tcalc.com/Jackie's book, Money Letters 2 my Daughter - https://a.co/d/9p3wwDdJackie's book, F.I.R.E. for Dummies - https://a.co/d/5m0u5zEThe Catching Up to FI Podcast - https://catchinguptofi.com/To send Andy questions to be addressed on future Q&A episodes, email [email protected] Financial monthly e-newsletter - Retirement Planning InsightsFacebook group - Retirement Planning Education (formerly Taxes in Retirement)YouTube channel - Retirement Planning Education (formerly Retirement Planning Demystified)Retirement Planning Education website - www.RetirementPlanningEducation.com

Andy chats with fellow retirement planner Allen Mueller, CFA, CFP® from 7 Saturdays Financial. 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, how to know when people have enough to retire, what consumers often overlook in retirement planning and much more!Links in this episode:Allen's advisory company website - 7 Saturdays FinancialAllen's blog - hereAllen's LinkedIn Profile - https://www.linkedin.com/in/allenrmueller/To send Andy questions to be addressed on future Q&A episodes, email [email protected] Financial monthly e-newsletter - Retirement Planning InsightsFacebook group - Retirement Planning Education (formerly Taxes in Retirement)YouTube channel - Retirement Planning Education (formerly Retirement Planning Demystified)Retirement Planning Education website - www.RetirementPlanningEducation.com

Andy shares his views on the few different ways in which people in the financial services/financial advisory industry can receive revenue:Commission-onlyFee-onlyHybrid or fee-basedLinks in this episode:My article in Rethinking65 - How Much Are Your Services Worth?Tenon Financial monthly e-newsletter - Retirement Planning InsightsFacebook group - Retirement Planning Education (formerly Taxes in Retirement)YouTube 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]

Listener Q&A where Andy talks about: How to calculate how much money you can gift or donate in retirement without running out ( 8:47 )Does the five-year rule met by a previous Roth IRA carry over to a new Roth IRA ( 17:03 )Is it better to draw down an inherited IRA and delay starting Social Security, or vice versa ( 19:39 )Can distributions from an annuity in a 403(b) be used to meet Required Minimum Distributions in IRAs ( 23:37 )How to get cash flow or income from illiquid assets - such as real estate investments - when more income is needed than what's otherwise produced by the asset ( 31:21 )What are the drawbacks of investing in a total world stock market fund or total world bond market fund vs instead using multiple funds for stock and bond exposure ( 37:14 )If concerned about leaving money to an heir who may not be responsible for receiving a large inheritance, is it possible to pre-arrange for the purchase of an annuity upon death so the heir gets annuity income instead ( 44:48 )Should target date funds be used in conjunction with other funds, or just used by themselves ( 48:24 )When in an assisted living facility, how much of the facility's fees are deductible as medical expenses ( 53:50 )What's the best way to save money for a grandchild: 529 account, Uniform Transfer to Minors account or an account in your own name (with the grandchild named as beneficiary) ( 57:29 )Link to Tax Planning to and Through Early Retirement To send Andy questions to be addressed on future Q&A episodes, email [email protected] in this episode:My company newsletter - Retirement Planning InsightsFacebook group - Retirement Planning Education (formerly Taxes in Retirement)YouTube 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 Scott. They talk about a wide array of retirement planning topics such as leaving the workforce early than planned during COVID and later reengaging in part-time work to have social interaction, managing income for purposes of Affordable Care Act premium tax credits, how life and financial plans always change even in retirement, and more!  Links in this episode:Tenon Financial monthly e-newsletter - Retirement Planning InsightsFacebook group - Retirement Planning Education (formerly Taxes in Retirement)YouTube 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]