Listener Q&A where Andy talks about:

• A correction on something incorrect I said last week regarding deciding which spouse's pre-tax account to distribute or convert from ( 3:28 )
• Pros and cons of using a single total global stock market fund vs multiple other funds such as just US and just international ( 8:17 )
• What's in the calculation for Modified Adjusted Gross Income ("MAGI") for purposes of determining eligibility to contribute to a Roth IRA ( 14:49 )
• Deciding when to start a Roth account, and whether it should be a Roth IRA or Roth 401(K) (if you have the option), and whether it should be funded via conversion or contribution ( 20:40 )
• What to consider when deciding on which pension payment type of choose ( 27:52 )
• Should IRA distributions instead be converted to Roth if you don't need to use the money any time soon ( 35:50 )
• What to consider when retiring late (e.g. late-60s or 70s) ( 42:02 )
• Explaining certain "fees" on trade confirmations, such as when buying coupon-paying bonds or stocks/ETFs ( 47:21 )
• Why just looking at unrealized gains or losses on a position in a dividend or distribution paying security don't tell the whole story with regards to how much money you've actually made or lost in the position ( 53:45 )

To send Andy questions to be addressed on future Q&A episodes, email andy@andypanko.com

Links in this episode:

• My company newsletter - Retirement Planning Insights
• Facebook group - Retirement Planning Education (formerly Taxes in Retirement)
• YouTube channel - Retirement Planning Education (formerly Retirement Planning Demystified)
• Retirement Planning Education website - www.RetirementPlanningEducation.com

Listener Q&A where Andy talks about:

• Starting Social Security benefits early so your minor children can claim dependent benefits, and how the earnings test can come into play if you're still working ( 5:53 )
• Social Security spousal benefits, and what happens when the lower earning spouse starts their own benefit early at a reduced amount, then later switches to spousal benefits ( 10:35)
• Social Security survivor benefits and whether the surviving spouse should start their own benefits earlier before eventually starting the survivor benefit, and whether there will be a reduction to the survivor benefit as a result ( 13:46 )
• If spouses each have IRAs, does it matter from which IRA they take distributions ( 18:28 )
• How income from a decedent's investments is taxed after the death of the decedent ( 23:01 )
• Whether tax withholdings from wages is treated the same as tax withholdings from IRA distributions with regards to the IRS viewing the amount withheld as having happened evenly throughout the year to help avoid underpayment penalties and interest ( 30:57 )
• How to find a financial advisor/planner who works on a limited engagement basis for just certain guidance or questions (such as Social Security claiming questions and tax return reviews), without requiring management of investments ( 36:49 )
• Why do so many advisors require management of investments to provide their planning services, and how to find an advisor who doesn't (this is an extension of the previous question) ( 41:14 )
• Using zero-coupon Treasury STRIPS in retirement for income after wages stop but before Social Security or other income sources start ( 45:40 )

To send Andy questions to be addressed on future Q&A episodes, email andy@andypanko.com

Links in this episode:

• Devin Carroll's Social Security Spousal Benefit Calculator
• Finding an "advice-only" advisor - www.AdviceOnlyNetwork.com

• My company newsletter - Retirement Planning Insights
• Facebook 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), 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 andy@andypanko.com

• Tenon Financial monthly e-newsletter - Retirement Planning Insights
• Facebook group - Retirement Planning Education (formerly Taxes in Retirement)
• YouTube channel - Retirement Planning Education (formerly Retirement Planning Demystified)
• Retirement Planning Education website - www.RetirementPlanningEducation.com