This week on the Retirement Quick Tips Podcast, we’re recapping the economic and market conditions that are impacting you and your retirement nest egg this year.

Today, we’re looking at the state of the US economy, which in turn always drives stock and bond markets, and your portfolio.

This week on the Retirement Quick Tips Podcast, I’m discussing the mid-year markets and economic update. What happened in the stock and bond markets, and the economy so far this year and how that’s impacting you and your plans for retirement.

Today, I’m recapping the 1st have of 2025 as it pertains to the markets.

Welcome to a new week here on the Retirement Quick Tips podcast! I’m your host, Ashley Micciche.

This week on the podcast, I’m doing what I always do at the beginning of a new quarter - commentary on the state of the stock and bond markets, the economy, my outlook, and how investors should consider positioning their investment portfolios in light of the current conditions.

It’s Sunday and I’m wrapping up the week by summarizing this week’s theme: Summer Hiatus & Giveaways

In case you missed any episodes this week, here’s the recap…

This week on the Retirement Quick Tips Podcast, I’m sharing with you several resources that I use with my own clients when marking important decisions and planning for their retirement.

Today’s free resource is my Top 10 retirement checklist

What are the top 10 things you need to check off your to-do list in retirement? As if you need one more to do list, right?! Except this one is really important!

Way more important that cleaning your downstairs bathroom or organizing the monstrous pile in your laundry room - both of which may or may not be on my personal to do list…

The top 10 retirement check list will help you focus your energies on accomplishing the most important things in the last 1-3 years before retirement. You could do 100 different things to plan and prepare for retirement. This checklist focuses your energy and time on the most impactful to-dos to help make your transition into retirement as seamless and successful as possible.

Get your copy of my top 10 checklist at: www.truenorthra.com/top10

This week on the Retirement Quick Tips Podcast, I’m sharing with you several resources that I use with my own clients when marking important decisions and planning for their retirement.

Today’s free resource is my retirement budget worksheet. Did you know that spending in retirement tends to drop by 20-40% compared to your pre-retirement spending, so your expenses may increase in some areas and decrease in others.

But which areas will go down, which spending categories will stay the same, and where might you spend more money in retirement?

That’s why I created a retirement budget worksheet to help you track your current expenses and estimate how those expenses will change in retirement.

Staying within a spending target in retirement is one of the most important ways to ensure you don't outlive your retirement savings, and running the numbers to see how much you’ll spend, then making sure you have the assets and income to support that spending, is critical before you make the leap into retirement.

To get your free retirement budget worksheet, just go to www.truenorthra.com/budget

This week on the Retirement Quick Tips Podcast, I’m sharing with you several resources that I use with my own clients when marking important decisions and planning for their retirement.

Today’s free resource is my financial inventory list.

In my opinion, this is one of the most important things you can do for yourself and your loved ones - take an inventory of all of your bank accounts, investment accounts, insurance policies - all in one place. Think of it as a table of contents for your finances.

An unlike organizing your garage which can be overwhelming and likely to never get done, all it takes to get organized with your finances all in one place is to fill out this inventory list.

You’ll use the inventory list to list your accounts, the type, the dollar amount, and the financial institution where they are held.

That way if you die or become incapacitated tomorrow, your spouse, your children, or your executor will have your complete list of assets right at their fingertips. No digging through 30 year old bankers boxes to go through the process of claiming money through the state.

The financial inventory also has a section to put your trusted contacts - your attorney, tax advisor, financial advisor. These trusted contacts become so valuable in the days and weeks following a death or incapacitation, and it’s important that your spouse or executor knows exactly who to contact.

And even if you’re not using it for estate purposes, it’s just really helpful to have your financial accounts all listed on one page. Then, all you need to do is make updates when you add, remote, or transfer an account, and review it annually.

Easy peasy. It’s one of those great projects thats low time investment for a big reward - clarity, organization, and peace of mind.

To get your free financial inventory worksheet, just go to www.truenorthra.com/inventory

This week on the Retirement Quick Tips Podcast, I’m sharing with you several resources that I use with my own clients when marking important decisions and planning for their retirement.

Today’s free resource is my asset allocation cheat sheet.

This is the most popular free tool I’ve offered on the podcast, and for good reason. It’s a one-page guide to selecting the right mix of stocks and bonds based on your age.

I’m a big believer in asset allocation as the foundation of every client’s portfolio. It’s always where I start with clients when determining how we should invest. In it’s most basic form, asset allocation is the mix of stocks and bonds in your portfolio, and age is the most important determinant of what your asset allocation should be.

If you would like to get my age-based asset allocation cheat sheet that helps you determine the right mix of stocks and bonds for your age, go to: www.truenorthra.com/allocation