Retirement Planning Education, with Andy Panko

Andy discusses what financial firms do for their fee, using his own firm, Tenon Financial, as an example Links in this episode: Tenon Financial's website - https://tenonfinancial.com/Tenon Financial's June 2025 newsletter - hereAndy's article explaining how it's impossible to quantify the value of advisory services in - How Much Are Your Services Worth? Tenon Financial monthly e-newsletter - Retirement Planning InsightsFacebook group - Retirement Planning Education (formerly Taxes in Ret...

Transcribed - Published: 5 June 2025

In this special guest host episode, Mike Powers and Kirsten Ashbaugh from Manuka Financial talk cybersecurity best practices. Links in this episode: Manuka Financial's website - https://www.manukafinancial.com/ 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.Ret...

Transcribed - Published: 29 May 2025

Listener Q&A where Andy talks about: Why more fund managers don't offer mutual fund-to-ETF conversions ( 5:02 )How my firm helps clients prepare for severe market declines, and how we communicate bad markets to them ( 8:48 )Who's the voice of the intro and outro to this podcast ( 16:06 )For spouses claiming Social Security, what's a good claiming strategy when one spouse doesn't have enough work history to get their own benefit and can only get spousal benefits ( 17:19 )Could a pers...

Transcribed - Published: 22 May 2025

Andy chats with real people (not advisors) doing their own retirement planning. In this episode, Andy talks with Rob Berger, the creator of the Rob Berger YouTube channel, the founder of the former DoughRoller website, published author and more!. They talk about a wide array of retirement planning topics such as when he started getting serious about retirement planning and a variety of financial topics such as Social Security, investing, how he plans to address any potential long term care sc...

Transcribed - Published: 15 May 2025

Andy and Brian Tegtmeyer share their thoughts on a handful of current events and "hot topics" relating to retirement planning. Specifically, they talk about: Should someone delay their planned retirement if the markets are bad ( 6:50 )Should someone cancel or delay taking a big trip in retirement if the markets are bad ( 13:48 )Should someone start Social Security earlier than they were otherwise planning to since there appears to be increased uncertainty about the future strength of th...

Transcribed - Published: 8 May 2025

Andy provides some tips and best practices to help keep your ID and financial information secure. Specifically: Check your credit report regularlyFreeze your creditGet a tax return filing PIN from the IRSUse strong and unique passwords for all websites and online accountsUse a password managerUse two-factor (if not multi-factor) authentication wherever possibleUse a VPN (Virtual Private Network) whenever on public Wi-FiUse separate e-mails for different types of accountsPut a "Self-Lock" on y...

Transcribed - Published: 1 May 2025

Listener Q&A where Andy talks about: Buffer ETFs and whether they can be used as replacements for CDs in building a ladder for upcoming years' expenses ( 4:29 )His thoughts on direct indexing and whether it's worth doing to try to make non-qualified accounts for tax-efficient ( 14:11 )Whether or not it's practical to implement a bucketing strategy ( 23:38 )Considerations to put into a will when there is a beneficiary who may be contentious or difficult to deal with ( 34:18 )Estate s...

Transcribed - Published: 24 April 2025

In this special edition "real" person chat, Andy talks with four different people who went through "gray" divorce (i.e. divorcing later in life; typically over the age of 50), to learn what they wish they would have known or done differently as they were going through the divorce process. Tenon Financial monthly e-newsletter - Retirement Planning InsightsFacebook group - Retirement Planning Education (formerly Taxes in Retirement)YouTube channel - Retirement Planning Education ...

Transcribed - Published: 17 April 2025

Andy chats with fellow retirement planner Mark Rosinski, CFP®, CPA from Dunes 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: Mark's advisory company website - Dunes Financial https://www.kitces.com/Wade Pfau - Retirement Pl...

Transcribed - Published: 10 April 2025

Andy discusses the ins and outs of mutual fund capital gain distributions, particularly in normal taxable brokerage accounts. Links in this episode: Tenon Financial monthly e-newsletter - Retirement Planning Insights To send Andy questions to be addressed on future Q&A episodes, email [email protected] Facebook group - Retirement Planning Education (formerly Taxes in Retirement)YouTube channel - Retirement Planning Education (formerly Retirement Planning Demystified)Retirement Plan...

Transcribed - Published: 3 April 2025

Listener Q&A where Andy talks about: Whether the rule of thumb saying in retirement you'll need about 80% of what you were making in wages is on a gross or net of taxes basis ( 6:49 )Understanding why some dividends are "qualified" and some are not, why they're taxed differently, and why dividends from bond funds aren't qualified ( 14:15 )Whether the decision to start Social Security sooner vs later would change if Social Security were to no longer be federally taxable ( 22:09 )Whet...

Transcribed - Published: 27 March 2025

Andy chats with a real person (not an advisor) doing their own retirement planning. In this episode, Andy talks with Jim Jones. They talk about a wide array of retirement planning topics such as transitioning from owning a dental practice into retirement, investing, Social Security, when they got serious about retirement planning, and more! Links in this episode: Jim's podcast - The JimJam Tenon Financial monthly e-newsletter - Retirement Planning InsightsFacebook group - Reti...

Transcribed - Published: 20 March 2025

Andy and Mike Powers share their thoughts on a handful of current events and "hot topics" relating to retirement planning. Specifically, they talk about: Tariffs: what they are, who pays them, do they cause inflation, etc. ( 9:42 )Pros and cons of Treasury Inflation Protected Securities, or TIPS ( 21:32 )Whether or not to hold international stocks ( 37:07 )Considerations about whether to de-risk your portfolio and hold more cash a as result of expecting market uncertainty going fo...

Transcribed - Published: 13 March 2025

Andy discussed how to determine how much Roth conversion to do in a particular year (assuming you've decided Roth conversions make sense for you). He walks through how to do a current year income & tax projection, and what tax "targets" or "goals" are commonly used in determining how much conversion to do. Links in this episode: DinkyTown 1040 online tax return projection tool - hereTenon Financial monthly e-newsletter - Retirement Planning Insights To send Andy questions to be addres...

Transcribed - Published: 6 March 2025

Listener Q&A where Andy talks about: Can Donor Advised Funds ("DAFs") be funded with pre-tax IRA money ( 2:22 )How to do a backdoor Roth IRA contribution and avoid the pro rata rule if you have pre-tax funds in other IRAs ( 5:46 )What are the must have important things to address and get right in retirement planning, vs what are nice to have optimization things ( 10:51 )How come most flat fee advisors don't work with clients with net worth in excess of $10 million ( 19:50 )How...

Transcribed - Published: 27 February 2025

Andy chats with a real person (not an advisor) doing their own retirement planning. In this episode, Andy talks with John McLaurin. They talk about a wide array of retirement planning topics such as planning for special needs and the "generational" planning involved, investing, Social Security, when they got serious about retirement planning, and more! Links in this episode: The book John mentioned - The Special Needs Planning Guide: How to Prepare for Every Stage of Your Child...

Transcribed - Published: 20 February 2025

Andy chats with fellow retirement planner Liz Yoder, CFP®, ChSNC® from Dependent Financial Planning. In this episode they talk about a wide array of retirement planning topics with a particular emphasis on special needs planning and the unique considerations and areas to consider when you or your child has or is likely to have a disability Links in this episode: Liz's advisory company website - Dependent Financial PlanningLiz's LinkedIn profile - Elizabeth (Wolleben) Yoder To send Andy qu...

Transcribed - Published: 13 February 2025

Andy discussed seven common scenarios where it might be beneficial to do Roth conversions: You know your income now is much lower than it will be in the futureYou're married (and may eventually be single)You have large pre-tax accountsYour eventual heirs are likely to be in higher tax situations than you currently areYour plan on moving to a state that will have higher income taxes than your current stateYou're convinced tax rates will increase markedly in the futureYou want greater tax "dive...

Transcribed - Published: 6 February 2025

Special guest host, Mike Powers, CPA, PFS, CFP®, from Manuka Financial sits behind the microphone to walk through his 22-point retirement planning checklist, which includes financial, insurance and lifestyle considerations. Links in this episode: Mike's blog post about the retirement planning checklist - hereGeorge Kinder's life planning three questions - hereMike's company's website - Manuka Financial Tenon Financial monthly e-newsletter - Retirement Planning InsightsFacebook...

Transcribed - Published: 30 January 2025

Listener Q&A where Andy talks about: What it means between an advisor who calls themself a financial planner vs wealth manager vs any other label they choose to use ( 10:24 )My thoughts on the recently repealed Windfall Elimination Provision ("WEP") and Government Pension Offset ("GPO") parts of Social Security ( 20:35 )A follow up to a previously discussed Q&A topic about how much umbrella insurance to purchase ( 31:18 )How income is taxed to a recently deceased person vs their...

Transcribed - Published: 23 January 2025

Andy chats with a real person (not an advisor) doing their own retirement planning. In this episode, Andy talks with Brian Alexander. They talk about a wide array of retirement planning topics such as investing, Social Security, when they got serious about retirement planning, funding potential long term care needs and more! Links in this episode: Tenon Financial monthly e-newsletter - Retirement Planning InsightsFacebook group - Retirement Planning Education (formerly Taxes in R...

Transcribed - Published: 16 January 2025

Andy chats with fellow retirement planner Eric Niergarth, CFP®, RICP® from Retirement Roadmap Financial Planning. 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: Eric's advisory company website - Retirement Roadmap Financial Planning T...

Transcribed - Published: 9 January 2025

Andy explains how there is definitely value in good financial advisory services, but how it's impossible to quantify that value and is often disingenuous for advisors to claim they can, or for studies to try to put a number on it Links in this episode: Vanguard's research paper - Putting a value on your value: Quantifying Vanguard Advisor's AlphaMy article - How Much are Your Services Worth?My article - Advisors Fees are Broken Tenon Financial monthly e-newsletter - Retirement Planning Insi...

Transcribed - Published: 2 January 2025

Listener Q&A where Andy talks about: What's the difference between index mutual funds and index ETFs, and why choose one over the other ( 6:32 )Is a three-fund index fund portfolio reasonable for someone in the decumulation phase of life ( 17:04 )What's the difference between a "rollover" and "traditional" IRA ( 20:54 )How much of your net worth should you cover with umbrella insurance ( 24:32 )What should someone do about a pre-tax employer plan they don't really need if they're on...

Transcribed - Published: 26 December 2024

Andy chats with a real person (not an advisor) doing their own retirement planning. In this episode, Andy talks with Peter Townsend. They talk about a wide array of retirement planning topics such as becoming self-educated in the details of retirement planning AFTER already retiring, Social Security, funding potential long term care needs and more! Links in this episode: Tenon Financial monthly e-newsletter - Retirement Planning InsightsFacebook group - Retirement Planning Educat...

Transcribed - Published: 19 December 2024

Andy chats with fellow retirement planner Andrew Gray, CFP® from Gray Wealth Strategies. 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: Andrew's advisory company website - Gray Wealth Strategies To send Andy questions to be addressed ...

Transcribed - Published: 12 December 2024

Andy discusses the things to take into consideration when trying to decide whether to own or rent a home in retirement 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.com To send Andy questions to be addressed on future Q&A episodes...

Transcribed - Published: 5 December 2024

Listener Q&A where Andy talks about: What to do about the concentration of the top few names in the S&P 500 ( 5:10 )What is direct indexing, when could it make sense and how to manage wash sales when direct indexing ( 13:21 )Whether you need to have taxes withheld from annuities or any other sources of income ( 30:39 )When it might make sense to buy an annuity for only a few years, such as five or 10 years ( 34:34 )If your only income is Social Security and IRA withdrawals, what...

Transcribed - Published: 28 November 2024

Andy chats with a real person (not an advisor) doing their own retirement planning. In this episode, Andy talks with Jane (anonymous name). They talk about a wide array of retirement planning topics such as dealing with the unexpected death of a spouse, self-educating on retirement and tax planning, doing a really large Roth conversion, Social Security survivor benefits, healthcare options in retirement and more! Links in this episode: The book Die With Zero - hereThe book The Psychology of ...

Transcribed - Published: 21 November 2024

Andy chats with fellow retirement planner Jamie Lima, CFP®, CDFA from Woodson Wealth Management and Allegiant Divorce Solutions. 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! Also, Jamie interjects his experience and knowledge around divorce-related matters ...

Transcribed - Published: 14 November 2024

Andy talks about the basics of what to know regarding taxes and tax planning in retirement. Topics discussed include: What sources of income are taxable vs non-taxableRequired Minimum Distributions ("RMDs") from both your own accounts and inherited accountsHow to pay taxes in retirement: withholdings vs making estimated paymentsGifting tax-efficientlyMaking charitable donations tax-efficientlyOverview of common long-term tax planning strategies:Delaying Social Security and distributin...

Transcribed - Published: 7 November 2024

Special edition episode in which Andy shares his views on whether the below 12 rules of thumb are accurate or not: You should always contribute at least enough to your employer plan (like a 401(k)) to get the full employer matchYou shouldn't help your kids pay for college if it means shorting your own financial security in retirementYou need at least $X million (where $X can be whatever amount someone wants to say) of savings to retireIn retirement, expect to need 80% of whatever your...

Transcribed - Published: 31 October 2024

Listener Q&A where Andy talks about: How to keep track of Roth IRA contributions ( 6:45 )Considering getting employer-sponsored health insurance to supplement Medicare ( 12:15 )What to do with money from an RMD that you don't actually need ( 16:48 )Understanding the capital gain exclusion on selling your primary residence ( 19:58 )How to determine how much you can rent out a rental property for, and how to screen for tenants ( 23:42 )How to distribute from a portfolio that includes ...

Transcribed - Published: 24 October 2024

Andy chats with a real person (not an advisor) doing their own retirement planning. In this episode, Andy talks with Doug Mann. They talk about a wide array of retirement planning topics such as retiring and living abroad in Thailand and the unique planning considerations involved with being abroad full-time Links in this episode: Doug's travel/photography website - www.photomann.comThe Rock Retirement Club - hereRetirePlan website - hereDoug's episode on Roger Whitney's Retirement Answer Ma...

Transcribed - Published: 17 October 2024

Andy chats with fellow retirement planner Erik Barnes, CFP® from Retirement Portfolio Partners. 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: Erik's company website - Retirement Portfolio PartnersThe Rock Retirement Club - here To se...

Transcribed - Published: 10 October 2024

Andy appeared as a guest/co-host on the September 23, 2024 episode of Rob Berger's YouTube live stream video series. In it, they discussed taxes and tax planning in retirement, as well as a host of other questions such as account rebalancing, Roth conversion analysis, and more! There was also plenty of live Q&A from Rob's loyal followers/watchers. For those who don't already know, Rob Berger has one of the best YouTube channels out there for straight-shooting, educational and informative...

Transcribed - Published: 3 October 2024

Listener Q&A where Andy talks about: Itemizing sales taxes on Schedule A of your tax return, particularly when living in two states during the year ( 6:30 )Considerations when deciding between taking a pension or its lump sum ( 11:51 )Should a recently widowed person take advantage of their last year of Married Filing Joint tax brackets and do a large Roth conversion or IRA distribution ( 25:03 )Understanding the pro rata rule when doing a Roth conversion when you have multiple IRAs...

Transcribed - Published: 26 September 2024

Andy chats with a real person (not an advisor) doing their own retirement planning. In this episode, Andy talks with Alison (last name not disclosed). They talk about a wide array of retirement planning topics such as the unique planning considerations of having a spouse who's nearly 10 years younger and how an unexpected major medical condition a few years ago resulted in her being on long term disability, presumably through when she starts Social Security. They also talk about about what sh...

Transcribed - Published: 19 September 2024

Andy chats with fellow retirement planner Roger Whitney, CFP®, CIMA®, CPWA® from The Retirement Answer Man podcast. In this episode they talk about a wide array of retirement planning topics such as tax planning, investing, annuities, how to help advise people get over the hurdle of not wanting to spend their money, what consumers often overlook in retirement planning and much more! Links in this episode: Roger's website - The Retirement Answer ManBronnie Ware's book - The Top Five Regrets o...

Transcribed - Published: 12 September 2024

Andy summarizes the tax-related concepts to know when giving to charities, and summarizes a few ways in which to make your charitable donations as tax-efficient for you as possible Links in this episode: IRS Publication 526 - hereMy YouTube video - How to Give to Charities Tax EfficientlyMy YouTube video - Overview of Federal Income Taxation Tenon Financial monthly e-newsletter - Retirement Planning InsightsFacebook group - Retirement Planning Education (formerly Taxes in Retirement)YouTube...

Transcribed - Published: 5 September 2024

We're switching things up a bit! In this week's episode, guest host Mike Powers (from Manuka Financial; was a previous guest on the podcast) chats with the show's host, Andy Panko from Tenon Financial. In the episode, they talk about a wide array of retirement planning topics and Andy's view and approach toward them, such as tax planning, distribution strategies, investing, annuities, long-term care insurance, how to help advise people who are spending more than planned, what consumers often...

Transcribed - Published: 29 August 2024

Listener Q&A where Andy talks about: Can you retroactively increase your income for a prior tax year ( 2:37 )How to find a retirement planning tax specialist ( 8:16 )How the Medicare IRMAA premium surcharge income lookback works ( 17:24 )Determining how much mega back door Roth contributions to do ( 22:02 )Is it okay to employ your child part-time in your small business to give them earnings so you can contribute to a Roth IRA for them ( 28:07 )My thoughts on "bullet" maturity bond ...

Transcribed - Published: 22 August 2024

Andy chats with a real person (not an advisor) doing their own retirement planning. In this episode, Andy talks with Jane (an anonymous name). They talk about a wide array of retirement planning topics such as when she started getting serious about retirement planning, what she wishes she would have known earlier, what she learned from seeing her parents go through a long term care event with her father, and a variety of financial topics such as Social Security, investing, how she and her hus...

Transcribed - Published: 15 August 2024

Andy chats with fellow retirement planner Victor Medina, CFP®, RICP®, CELA® from Palante Wealth. 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 help advise people who are spending more than planned, what consumers often overlook in retirement planning and much more! Links in this episode: Victor's company's website - Palante WealthVictor's podcast - Retirease Radi...

Transcribed - Published: 8 August 2024

I'm a buffoon and I missed including another important pro of doing an employer plan-to-IRA rollover in episode #110's list of pros and cons of rollovers. The additional potential pro is the ability to do Qualified Charitable Distributions ("QCDs") out of the IRA if you're at least 70 1/2 and charitably inclined. So, the recap the full list of pros (including QCDs) and cons of doing an employer plan-to-IRA rollover: Potential PROS of rolling over an employer plan to an IRA or Roth IRA: More...

Transcribed - Published: 5 August 2024

Andy summarizes the pros and cons of rolling over an employer plan (such as a 401(k), 403(b), 401(a), 457 or the federal Thrift Savings Plan) to an IRA or Roth IRA. To sum up: Potential PROS of rolling over an employer plan to an IRA or Roth IRA: More investment optionsLikely lower fees and costsAccess to professional adviceBetter control over tax withholdingsMore withdrawal optionsLess Required Minimum Distributions ("RMDs") to manageLess financial clutter Potential CONS of rolling over an ...

Transcribed - Published: 1 August 2024

Listener Q&A where Andy talks about: How to know if your 401(k) is good ( 5:57 )Is it safer to bank at multiple banks instead of just one ( 14:33 )How much tax should you withhold from your Social Security ( 21:10 )Whether each spouse needs to take out excess Roth IRA contributions if only one spouse's income put their Married Filing Joint total income over the Roth IRA contribution eligibility threshold ( 25:20 )Should you hire an advisor for a one-time Roth conversion analysis and...

Transcribed - Published: 25 July 2024

Andy chats with real people (not advisors) doing their own retirement planning. In this episode, Andy talks with Ali & Alison Walker, who live in Arizona currently but lived and traveled abroad for a few years after retiring. They talk about a wide array of retirement planning topics such as when Ali & Alison started getting serious about retirement planning, what they wish they would have known earlier, how they planned for the non-financial aspects of retirement, and a variety of fi...

Transcribed - Published: 18 July 2024

Andy chats with fellow retirement planner Mike Powers, CPA, PFS, CFP®, from Manuka 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 help advise people who are spending more than planned, what consumers often overlook in retirement planning and much more! Links in this episode: Mike's company's website - Manuka FinancialMichael Kitces website - hereMr Mone...

Transcribed - Published: 11 July 2024

Andy talks about the main points to consider when deciding when to start your Social Security retirement benefits Links in this episode: Tenon Financial June 2024 newsletter discussing how to optimize your Social Security claiming decision - hereRetirement Planning Education June 2024 blog discussing how to optimize your Social Security claiming decision - hereMy YouTube video - Calculating Your Social Security Primary Insurance Amount Tenon Financial monthly e-newsletter - Retirement Plann...

Transcribed - Published: 4 July 2024