What looks “fine” on paper is often where retirement plans break down. In this episode of Cover Your Assets, Logan Marcus and Don Spini expose hidden fees, the illusion of diversification, and advisors who default to convenience over strategy. They challenge the myth of choosing between safety and growth and explain what a real portfolio should do. But the real issue is lack of coordination—no true income plan, unfunded estate documents, and tax strategies that ignore IRA consequences. If your plan has not been fully aligned, you do not have a strategy—you have assumptions.

Your COLA raise got taken, the markets dropped, and your advisor has not called you about any of it. A lot moved this week and none of it was small. The Social Security Administration quietly overhauled how it operates — starting today — and that 2.8% cost of living raise you got in January? Medicare already took most of it back. Then the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran, oil surged, and a lot of people woke up Monday morning staring at their portfolios with that familiar knot in their stomach. Logan, Don, and income planning advisor Justin Henderson break down what is actually happening, what history tells us you should do, and why the worst financial decisions people make are the ones they make in moments exactly like this. They also connect the dots on something most people have never considered — why your Roth conversion strategy, your estate plan, and your powers of attorney need to be in the same room. Because when they are not, the government ends up with far more of your money than it ever needed to. This is the episode where it all comes together. The question is whether your plan does too.

Retirement income isn't a number — it's a system. This week, Logan and Don dig into the real cost of passive money management: forced IRA distributions you didn't ask for, estate documents that are signed but not funded, and tax strategies that most advisors leave on the table. If your retirement plan hasn't been touched since you filled out a risk questionnaire decades ago, this one's for you. Because doing nothing is still a decision — it just means the IRS, the courts, and a formula you've never seen are making it for you. The question isn't whether you have a plan. It's whether your plan is actually working.