Managing Your Financial Future with Lucia Capital Group
Episodes
What Is Your RMD Withdrawal Strategy?
30 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A few episodes ago we talked about how to keep your tax bill down when planning for Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs). After that show aired, we r...
Can You Really Pay Less in Taxes on Your Social Security Benefits?
23 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
For most people, taxes are just a fact of life. Even your Social Security benefits – for which you had to pay taxes to be eligible to receive –...
Why Risk and Volatility Are Not the Same, and Why That Matters to You
16 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
What creates fear and anxiety when it comes to stock market investing? Usually, it's when the markets are behaving erratically. Put another w...
Why Having Protected Income Is Vital in Retirement
09 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
One of the most valuable things you can have, both before and after you retire, is a steady stream of income. What makes it more valuable to you is if...
Is Right Now a Good Time to Do a Roth Conversion?
02 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Converting your traditional IRA to a Roth IRA is not a decision that should be taken lightly. While tax-free growth is always nice, sometimes the pr...
How to Retire in Any Market Conditions
19 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Many people have a retirement savings goal in mind, a level of money that they believe is enough. Once they reach that goal, they feel they’re ready...
Why You Need the Right Portfolio Withdrawal Strategy
12 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
People tend to focus a lot of their attention on building their nest egg: which investment strategies to use in order to achieve a good rate of return...
The 2023 RMD Rules Have Changed: How to Keep Your Tax Bill Down
05 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Just a few years ago, the rules regarding Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) were fairly simple: you turned age 70 ½, you had an RMD. But since ...
Is Sequence of Returns Risk a Threat to Your Nest Egg?
24 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
After years of building your savings, there are a number of scenarios that threaten to deplete it. One of them is called Sequence of Returns Risk. ...
Strategies To Protect Your Family's Wealth
17 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Most people are aware that there are two phases of your financial life: building your life savings, and then distributing that money to you at retirem...
How to Know If Your 401k Is Properly Structured
19 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The 401k is designed to be a “set it and forget it” type of retirement plan: Set your allocation based on your age and risk tolerance, then contri...
What Are The Best (and Worst) Assets to Inherit?
12 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
If you've been a diligent saver, chances are good that you have a variety of assets in your name: cash, CDs, bonds, stocks, funds, retirement acc...
How To Build a Net Worth - And How To Keep It
05 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Building up a nest egg over a period of years does not have to be complicated, in spite of what many investment professionals might tell you. The real...
Do Higher Interest Rates Change Your Bucket Strategy?
29 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The past 18 months or so have seen interest rates rise from near zero to levels we haven’t seen in more than a decade. This is great for savers, esp...
What Some Critics Get Wrong About Buckets
22 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
One of the biggest fears that retirees have is that they'll run short of money. A Bucket Strategy® aims to solve that problem by matching asse...
Will Your Nest Egg Last Longer Than You Do?
15 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
You may have heard that if you take no more than 4 percent of your portfolio's value every year, it will (statistically) last at least 30 years. ...
More Questions from Our Podcast Listeners Answered!
08 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Rather than focus on a single topic this week, we thought we’d take some time to answer the many and varied questions we’ve been getting via email...
401k or IRA – Where Should You Keep Your Retirement Money?
01 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Maybe you’ve been saving most of your working life in a 401k. Great! But what happens when you retire? Should you leave that money in the 401k, or t...
Why Target Date Funds Are Not What They Seem to Be
25 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The idea behind a Target Date Fund would seem logical – a kind of “set and forget it” investment that (presumably) gets safer as you age, giving...
Why You Might Consider Owning Alternative Investments
18 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
"Traditional" investments consist mainly of stocks, bonds, and cash. Many people get by just fine with these, and simply alter their alloc...
Should You Really Own Fewer Stocks in Retirement?
27 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It would seem to make sense that if you're retired, you can't "afford" the volatility of the stock market - thus, as you age, comm...
Figuring Out When You're Actually Able to Retire
20 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
You've been working your whole life, and retirement for you has always been "at some date in the future." As you get older, the questio...
How To Keep Your Parents Financially Safe
13 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
As our parents age, it's only natural for us to want to keep an eye on them to make sure their finances stay in good order: bills paid, taxes don...
Will You Have to Pay Taxes On Your Social Security Benefits?
05 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Have you heard that you're going to be taxed on the Social Security benefits you receive? Or have you heard that they're never taxed at al...
I-Bonds: When 4.3% Is Better Than 9.6%
30 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
For the past year or so, I-Bonds have come into favor among people who are looking for a higher rate of return on Treasuries. A little over a year ago...
An Inside Look at How Advisors Manage Your Taxes
22 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Tax time may be over for most people, but for financial advisors, tax management is a year-round task. One of those tasks involves a “postmortem”...
Higher Interest Rates: What Should You Do with Your Mortgage?
16 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Interest rates have risen sharply over the past 16 months, which is good for lenders, but not so much for borrowers. New mortgages now come with int...
Time to Calm Your Fears About Running Out of Money
09 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Fear can either be a great motivator to get things done, or it can cause a person to retreat, cover up, and hope the issue will go away. People who ...
Let's Clear Up All the Roth IRA Confusion
02 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Roth IRAs have been in existence for 25 years, and while they're one of the more popular financial planning tools for many people, they're a...
Why Should You Hire a Financial Advisor
25 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The question is pretty straightforward: Do I need to use the services of a financial advisor, or can I simply manage my investments, my retirement inc...
Why Your Asset Location Is So Important
18 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
You may have heard of something the investing world refers to as Asset Allocation, which has to do with deciding between asset categories like stocks,...
Is Your Nest Egg Doomed by Your Withdrawal Method?
11 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Building a nest egg is relatively easy if you're both consistent and patient. Regular contributions over time can lead to compounded growth, whic...
Some Good News About 529 Plans!
21 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
You may have heard of a 529 Plan, which allows you to put money away for someone's college education, have it grow tax-deferred over the years, a...
Will You Be in a Lower Tax Bracket in Retirement?
14 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Does retirement increase or decrease the amount of taxes you have to pay? You might think that once you begin retirement, your tax bill will tend to g...
Roth IRA vs. 401k: Which Is Better?
07 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
So you've got some money to save for retirement... Where should you put it?Would it be better for you to take a tax deduction right now by contri...
What's a "Safe" Amount of Money to Take from Your Portfolio?
28 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
You've finally made it to retirement, and, presumably, you've got a certain amount of money saved up that you'll need to tap into from ...
Why Guaranteed Income in Retirement Is So Important
22 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
A steady stream of cash flow is one of the most valuable things you can have, both before and after you retire. If that income is guaranteed by some...
Can an Ex-Spouse Collect Social Security Benefits on Your Work Record?
14 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
You may have heard that Social Security has something called "Spousal Benefits," where your current spouse can receive a benefit based on yo...
Why Understanding Tax Brackets Is Crucial
07 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The US tax system is by design a complicated beast, and trying to understand it all is a futile challenge. And yet, it's extremely important th...
It's Tax Time: Here's What You Need to Do Now
31 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It's tax time! Although tax returns aren't officially due until mid-April, the first quarter of every year is when the forms arrive in the...
RMD Age Is Now Higher - But Should You Really Delay Your IRA Distributions?
24 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
As of 2023, the age when you must begin taking Required Minimum Distributions from your IRAs has been increased. This means you may have as many as th...
Secure Act 2.0: Your Financial Life Is About to Change
17 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The SECURE 2.0 Act is now law. The legislation was signed by the president in late December of 2022, and it provides a whole slate of changes that are...
Buckets: Taking Advantage of Higher Interest Rates
10 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Interest rates went up quite a bit in 2022 - did you notice? It's a pretty sure bet that you did, since everything from mortgages to credit car...
It's a New Year - Let's Get Your Financial House in Order!
03 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The new year brings with it some new opportunities, on both the planning and the saving sides. There are new contribution limits on your retirement ...
How Your Pension May Reduce or Eliminate Your Social Security Benefits
06 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It's a common scenario: you decide to take your Social Security early, maybe age 62 or 63, and then at age 65 you'll begin taking your pensi...
Are Fixed Annuities Better Alternatives to Bonds?
29 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In the classic 60/40 stock-bond portfolio, the stock portion is supposed to provide the gains, while the task of the bond portion is to cushion the fa...
Setting Up Your Heirs for Sudden Wealth
22 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
If you’re accustomed to living on a certain amount each year, with fairly stable savings account balances, it can be a real shock to the system when...
The Market's Down: Is This a Good Time For a Roth Conversion?
15 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
A little over a year ago, when the markets were sitting at all-time highs, we addressed the wisdom (or maybe lack thereof?) of converting a traditiona...
5 Financial Moves to Make Before the End of the Year
08 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
As the year winds down, your opportunity window is also closing to get some things taken care of in 2022. Taxes, retirement plan contributions, RMDs...
Rising Interest Rates: Good or Bad Time to Own Bonds?
01 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
A couple of years ago, we asked the question: why would you own bonds when they (were) paying so little interest? Many others wondered the same thin...
What's The Ideal Number of Stocks You Should Own?
25 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
One of the most well-known investing terms is "diversification." This is the idea that risk can be spread out by investing over a wide var...
Why Other Advisors Now Advocate Buckets
18 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We've been strong advocates of the Bucket Strategy since the 1990s, and came to the conclusion long ago that no one should have to depend on stoc...
The Biggest Tax Issues We've Seen In 2022
11 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
2022 has been a year of stock market volatility, but it's also been a year that's given many people a surprise on their tax bill. When inc...
The Dangers of Chasing Yield
04 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
As some investors already know, there is a distinct correlation between risk and reward. The greater the potential reward for an investment, the hig...
How to Build A Financial Plan
27 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Creating a withdrawal strategy in retirement, one that aims to keep you from running out of money before you run out of time, is a unique - and diffic...
How Should You Invest In Your 401k?
20 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
A 401k is often looked at as a "set it and forget it" type of plan: allocate your investments, and simply make regular ongoing contributions...
A Tale Of Two Retirements: One Good, One Bad
13 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
How is it possible that two individuals could retire with the exact same portfolio allocation and use the exact same withdrawal strategy, and yet one ...
Why Your Portfolio Withdrawal Strategy Matters
02 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
A lot of people's attention is focused on building a nest egg: which investment strategies you should use in order to achieve a good rate of re...
Inflation, Market Volatility and More with Advisor Jonathan Savona, CFP®
26 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
How is inflation affecting retired people? Does a rise in interest rates create problems or opportunities? Are people in a panic about the stock m...
Interest Rates, Markets, and More with Advisor Terry Keyes, ChFC®
19 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We like to get the perspective of other advisors and what their clients are talking to them about. In this episode of Managing Your Financial Future...
How To Pay No Federal Taxes on $100,000 of Income
12 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Is it really possible to take a six-figure income and pay no federal taxes? Depending on your income sources, and how you use the tax brackets, i...
Roth, IRA, or Personal Money: Which Should You Spend First?
05 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It's not uncommon for people to reach their retirement years with money socked away in different types of accounts: a 401(k) from work, some pers...
Is There a "Safe" Amount I Can Withdraw From My Portfolio?
28 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
You've saved a certain amount to live from during retirement, maybe many years. This is your nest egg. But you're concerned, because the...
Why You Need to Manage Risk
21 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In the world of investing, there are things you can control, and things you cannot. Where is the stock market headed? Which way are the economic t...
Do We Need to Worry about This Volatile Stock Market?
14 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The first half of 2022 has not been good to stocks. After hitting record highs at the end of 2021, it's easy to forget that stocks also go down...
How to Choose the Most Suitable Pension and Annuity Options
07 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In last week's episode, we discussed the various ways that a guaranteed income stream can work; specifically, how annuities function in general. ...
Let's Clear Up the Confusion About Annuities
31 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
There are few financial tools out there with a greater disparity of information than annuities. Locating the details you need in order to decide if ...
I Forgot to Take My RMD - What Now?
24 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) are a fact of life for most IRA owners who are at least 72 years of age. A certain amount of money must be dis...
The Bucket Strategy Is Simple - Or Is It?
17 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The Bucket Strategy is designed to give you cash flow from assets that are not affected by the whims of the stock market. You don’t want your inco...
What to Know About Inheriting Assets
10 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
If you're an heir who's a beneficiary of any kind of asset, then you may know that it can be both a good and a bad thing. For many people,...
How To Create Guaranteed Income In Retirement
11 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
A steady income is one of the most valuable things you can have, both before and after you retire. If that income is guaranteed by some entity -- th...
Want To Retire Early? Here's What You Need to Know
05 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In the financial planning world, a lot of focus is put (rightly) on those who want to retire around age 65, give or take a few years. But what about...
How To Allocate - And Withdraw - Your Assets
29 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
There are at least three important pieces to the retirement portfolio puzzle: asset allocation, asset location, and asset withdrawal. The first two ...
The Benefits and Costs of a Roth IRA
22 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
One thing that many people would agree on is that paying no taxes is better than paying any taxes at all. This makes the tax-free nature of Roth IRA...
What If The Markets Crash Just As You Begin Retirement?
15 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
What if you retire at the "wrong" time? There's a genuine fear among many people that right around the time they need to access their...
The Hidden Risks in Your 401k
08 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In the world of investing, time can be one of your biggest allies. As your time span grows shorter, though, your risks tend to go up: if you need yo...
Tossing the "4-Percent Rule" Out the Window
01 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
You may have heard of the old financial planning adage that says as long as you withdraw no more than 4 percent of your portfolio's balance each ...
Tax Forms, Due Dates, Extensions: Making Sense of It All
22 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It’s tax season! This means forms, deadlines, maybe extensions, payments, refunds, and for many, a gigantic volume of information. And yes – i...
Consider This Social Security Filing Strategy
15 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
When should you start taking your Social Security benefits? This is an important question, and one that’s often dreaded by people who don’t want t...
Why We Do Buckets
08 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The Bucket Strategy has been around for more than 25 years, in one form or another. Why has it survived for as long as it has? With all of the wit...
Why Your Home May Be Your Best Tax Friend
01 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Home prices are up pretty much everywhere, and for those who own one, this is good news on many different fronts. If you're considering selling...
3 Money Moves to Make Right Now
25 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In the world of financial planning, it's often better to do things sooner rather than later. That is, after all, why you do planning, isn'...
How To Set Up Your 401k Distributions As You Approach Retirement
30 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
If you've been saving for a long time in your 401k, you may have decided as you approach retirement that you’d like to reallocate some of those...
What If You Forget To Take Your RMD?
23 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Whether you need the money to live on or not, it's a fact that once you reach age 72, you're generally required to take a certain amount of ...
The More You Know, The Less You May Owe!
16 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Financial knowledge is crucial for retirement planning. This is especially true when it comes to taxes, because knowing too little may wind up costi...
What You Need to Know About Inheriting an IRA
09 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
It's always nice to receive a big chunk of money outside of our normal expected income. Whether it's a bonus check from work, a lottery wi...
Is Now A Good Time to Convert to a Roth IRA?
02 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Congress passed a law a few years ago that temporarily lowered tax rates across the board for most individuals. With these laws set to expire after ...
What If You Live Longer Than You Expect?
26 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
You’ve probably made plans to take care of those people who are close to you if you didn’t live as long as you’d expected: life insurance, trust...
Answering Your Most Common Social Security Questions
19 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
This episode covers some of your most common Social Security questions that we get every week: How can I avoid paying taxes on my benefits? Is the...
How to Set Up Bucket One
12 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
When people ask us about our Buckets strategy, they often find themselves a bit confused on their most liquid bucket – Bucket #1. The idea is to p...
How To Manage Your Tax Bill, Now and in Retirement
05 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
It’s been said that taxes are perhaps the biggest drag on your portfolio’s returns. So it would stand to reason that managing your taxes, with the...
Know Your Pension Options: Lump Sum, or Annuity?
28 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
For anyone with a pension, the decision of how to take the payments is an important one. Are you offered the choice to take the entire amount as a l...
How Should You Invest in Your 401k?
21 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
If you’ve ever looked at your investment options inside your 401k plan (or other retirement plan at work), you might have felt overwhelmed by the nu...
Roth or Traditional IRA - How Do You Decide?
14 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
When it comes to saving for retirement, the decision to put your money into either a Roth or a Traditional IRA may be more complicated than you think....
How Much Can I Withdraw From My Portfolio?
23 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
So you've made it to retirement, and, presumably, you've got a certain amount of money saved up that you'll need to tap into from time ...
How Your Pension May Reduce Your Social Security Benefits
17 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
So let's say your idea is to take your Social Security early, maybe age 62 or 63, and then wait until age 65 to begin your pension benefits. Yo...
Can Kids and Ex-Spouses Receive Social Security Benefits?
10 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The topic of Social Security always brings with it many questions, which isn't surprising, given the complex nature of the program. Beyond the ...
Owning Stocks in Retirement: Why We Do Buckets
03 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Have you ever heard the idea that stocks are too volatile for retired people to own? There's even an old rule-of-thumb formula that tells you t...
Should You Pay Cash For Your Home, or Get a Mortgage?
27 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Real estate prices have been ticking up steadily over the past year or two, especially for mid-range single family homes. And while many people find...
Will Your Taxes Be Lower in Retirement?
20 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
It would seem to make some sense that once you begin retirement retirement, your tax bill will tend to increase - at least in the early years. The l...