Listener Voicemails: Super-funding 529s, Sophisticated Trusts, and Boosting Social Security Benefits
Big Picture Retirement®
Devin Carroll
4.7 • 546 Ratings
🗓️ 3 September 2024
⏱️ 46 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In this episode, we're answering more listener voicemails about Social Security, gifting money, and estate planning.
First, we help a listener who's trying to figure out the best way to maximize his wife's Social Security benefits. He's getting close to his full retirement age in 2025 and wants to make sure they get the most out of their benefits.
Next, we talk about a question regarding "superfunding" a 529 plan. A listener's mom wants to contribute a large amount upfront for her niece's education, but they're worried about potential gift taxes if the rules change in 2026. We explain how the rules work and what to consider.
Lastly, we hear from a listener who recently moved to the Mississippi Gulf Coast and is looking for an advanced estate planning attorney. He's got a solid estate plan but wants to make sure it's as sophisticated as it needs to be, especially regarding trusts.
If you're curious about Social Security strategies, gifting, or refining your estate plan, this episode has plenty of useful information to help you make the right choices. Tune in for straightforward advice and practical tips!
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The Big Picture Retirement Show does not provide tax, legal, or financial advice. |
| 0:04.3 | Listeners are encouraged to seek out their own advisors in these areas. |
| 0:10.5 | Hey, everyone, welcome to the Big Picture Retirement Show. |
| 0:14.1 | I'm your host, Devin. |
| 0:15.6 | Join today by my co-host, John Ross Esquire. |
| 0:19.6 | Howdy. |
| 0:20.9 | All right, John, back in the studio with me again today. |
| 0:24.3 | It's good to have the band back together after a summer of being apart. |
| 0:29.6 | We recorded separately and had to really mess with the audio to get it to sound decent. |
| 0:34.6 | Yeah, it's just not quite as good. |
| 0:36.8 | Oh, no, it wasn't. And whatever you had going on at your house in Hot Springs, goodness gracious, that was a mess. But we were able to make it so I don't think the audience even noticed. Well, that's what I'm going to go with. But you were there with your new dog, which, by the way, how's your dog doing? Ah, Roo is just fine. Roo. And we talked about Roo on the podcast, I'm pretty sure. And Roo is a, it's a poodle? Standard poodle. Standard poodle. Six months old. And already weighing how much? Well, it's been, it's been, it's been several weeks already since it was, I think we took him to the vet, about three or four weeks ago, and he was about 30 pounds. |
| 1:16.1 | So he's about 30 pounds at five months. |
| 1:18.6 | So it should be a good size, good size dog. |
| 1:22.1 | Very friendly. |
| 1:23.1 | Loves people. |
| 1:24.1 | Yeah, standard poodles are smart dogs, and I like those. |
| 1:26.9 | He and I have gone, we've, |
| 1:28.1 | we run several, we've been, me and, me and Rue been doing about, somewhere between 12 and 15 |
| 1:35.2 | miles a week. Nice. Yeah, he seems to enjoy that. Hmm. I don't know if he does or not. |
| 1:40.1 | He seems to. You know, so, so I also have a dog that's 75% standard poodle. And it's funny. So she's seven now. And when we take her on a walk, it just takes her forever to recover. She's not overweight. She's, she's always been, I mean, we give her the same amount of food every day. But I mean, that dog just can't hardly walk without just |
| 2:01.0 | suck an air for the next hour. |
| 2:03.7 | So we've just about stopped walking her. |
... |
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