Not Your Average Financial Podcast™

Episode 26: Paying for College? What are my options?

March 2, 2018 by Not Your Average Financial Podcast

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In this episode, we ask:

If college aid is so complicated, why are we expected to do this on our own?
Can an accountant help with college planning?
How do I find a college funding specialist?
How is paying for college like flying on an airplane?
What’s Holly’s story with flying?
What key questions should you ask a potential college specialist?
- What exactly are you going to do for me?
- Can you make this problem go away?
- Are you going to help me with my income and asset allocation?
- Will you help me pick a school?
- Will you help me fill out forms correctly?
- Will you help me negotiate?
- Will you make sure that I get a fair offer?
- Can you eliminate the administrative errors?
- Will you integrate sound financial strategies?
- Do you offer any guarantees?
- Do you offer a refund if we’re not happy?
- Will you coach my student?
How do the test results matter?
How old do my kids need to be to start considering college planning?
What years in high school do the financial aid offices look at potential students?
How can we get the lowest EFC (expected family contribution) possible?
How can we know the chances of a student getting into a certain school?
Does your student need an objective third party to talk to (other than parents) about college planning?
How can we get more merit-based aid?
What’s the difference between a full-ride and having to pay for college?
Do you have a negotiator in your corner?
Are you interested in knowing what your financial aid package is before you even apply to a certain school?
What questions do you have?
Would you like to meet with Holly to talk about your college planning needs?
- Book a college planning consultation on Holly’s calendar.
How much does the average family receive in financial aid?
What is the quote from T. Boone Pickens? “A fool with a plan is better than a genius with none.”
Is there life after college?
How do you get the best college aid plan possible?

Episode 25: Where Will I Get the Money for College?

February 23, 2018 by Not Your Average Financial Podcast

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In this episode, we ask:

What are the four main sources of college aid?
- What does the Federal Government offer?
- What does a work study program offer?
- What about Stafford and Perkins loans?
  - Who borrows money on these loans?
  - Which loans require cosigning?
    - What happens if your kid quits school or the kid doesn’t find an income stream soon after graduation?
- What about Parent Plus loans?
- Which loans balloon or stack up?
- On which loans are the interest deductible?
- Is there a Parent Plus loan in your aid package?
- What does the State Government offer?
- What about the colleges themselves?
  - How do you get most aid from the college you want to attend?
How does one start to plan for sending kids to college?
What percentage of FAFSA forms are submitted incorrectly?
What happens on October 1st of your high schooler’s senior year?
What is the CSS profile form?
What paperwork does each higher education institution require?
What forms do you need to consider if you are divorced?
What happens to the Family Contribution when there are more than 2 parents involved?
How does this affect how much aid you’re eligible for?
What does each school require?
How do you navigate all of this on your own?
How might we help you with our tools?
Will you pay the sticker price for the school?
Are private schools always more expensive than public schools?
Do you have to take the award offer as it’s stated?
How do you negotiate your award offer?
Is your award offer fair?
Who do we partner with to review award offers?
What laws and amendment have recently been passed regarding education costs?
- College Cost Reduction Act (2007)
- American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (2009)
- American Opportunity Tax Credit Extension (2011)
- How do these impact how you plan, save and pay for college?
When should you start to plan?
Who needs to be on your college planning team?
What questions should you ask a potential college planning advisor?
How can you put you and your child in the best position possible?

Episode 24: How to Pay for College with as Little Out of Pocket as Possible

February 16, 2018 by Not Your Average Financial Podcast

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In this episode, we ask:

If you have a sophomore in high school, how much will college cost for a 4 year public university?
How does this affect your unique situation?
What are the biggest concerns of college planning?
What are the deadlines?
What mistakes are common?
How much time does the college planning process take?
How are you going to pay for college?
How might you hurt your kid’s chances for going to a certain school?
What about prepaid college tuition?
What are five ways people can pay for college?
- Savings
- Loans
- Scholarships
- Choose a more affordable school
- Avoid college entirely
How much will your existing savings ding you?
Are you going to borrow money?
Would you like a tax deduction?
Would you like a fixed payment or an increasing payment?
Would you rather have an interest free loan or a high interest loan?
How do subsidized loans work?
Of the $275 billion in aid, what percentage came out in the form of scholarships?
What is fastweb.com?
What are some myths about college planning?
Do you make too much money to pay for college?
Where does your money live?
How does my student’s academic performance affect scholarships?
How do schools factor home equity into the equation?
Why is college planning so time consuming?
Where does the anxiety come from, as we approach the college years?
What about the high school guidance counselor?
What’s the ratio of student to guidance counselor?
What about the college financial aid office counselor?
Did you know the IRS will help you prepare your taxes?
What’s the formula for determining the cost of college?
How do you determine the family need?
Who needs proper college planning?
How does college funding affect retirement?
How do you help your kids get through college without going broke in the process?

Episode 23: 3 Strategies for Becoming A Retirement Planning Expert

February 9, 2018 by Not Your Average Financial Podcast

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In this episode, we ask:

How is “retirement” or receiving passive income like climbing a mountain?
How many people make it up Everest?
What is it like coming down a mountain?
How do we take this finite amount of money and make it last for this unknown number of years?
What are the secrets of the Sherpas?
What is investment planning designed to do?
Why aren’t AUM called Assets Turning into Income?
What guarantees are there?
What if you have a big IRA with a ton of mutual funds?
How long have annuities been around?
Which generation in your family was best prepared for retirement?
Why are we in a retirement crisis now?
What intergenerational cash plays provide security for years to come?
What do Congressmen and women have their portfolios wrapped up in?
What is our one-two punch strategy for retirement income?
How do we work with the problem of longevity?
How would it feel if you never ran out of income?
How do you know if an annuity is terrible or terrific?
How do you know you’re working with the right annuity?
How do we work with the need for liquidity?
How would it feel if you could access your money anytime without penalty?
How do Bank On Yourself® policies factor into retirement?
How do we set up pay raises in retirement?
How do we work with lump sums and turn that into retirement income?
What is laddering?
How do we use the “taming the bear” strategy during passive income stages?
How do we take income when the market is down?
How do you work with an IRA in retirement?
How do you work with life insurance loans?
Has Wall Street left us stranded at the top of the mountain?
Do you want to guess at your retirement income?
Do you want the entire pathway down the mountain to be question mark or a certainty?
How does retirement income affect quality of life?

Episode 22: [Income in Retirement] What’s Your Magic Number?

February 2, 2018 by Not Your Average Financial Podcast

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In this episode, we ask:

Is income important to you now?
Do you see your future self as a stranger?
How much do you need coming in?
What is the first thing you need to do?
What are your expenses?
What income do you currently have?
Do you qualify to receive Social Security?
Will Social Security cover your income needs?
How often will your income arrive? i.e. Monthly?
Will you have enough?
Do you have a gap?
What about asset allocations?
How does the sequence of how you withdraw affect income?
How might we help you?

Episode 21: [Income in Retirement] Streams of Income and Retirement Planning Gotchas

January 26, 2018 by Not Your Average Financial Podcast

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In this episode, we ask:

What are the possible streams of income in retirement?
What can you build up now, so you can rely on them later?
Would you like passive income? What is passive income?
What about passive income from Social Security?
What about defined benefit plans?
What about personal savings / investments?
What about annuity income and life insurance?
How much is the average Social Security check?
What is the maximum SS amount for this year?
What are the best things about Social Security?
What do you have set up with your employer?
What are the restrictions on defined benefit plans?
What are RMDs (Required Minimum Distributions)?
When do you have to start taking RMDs?
Which plans are considered qualified plans?
What is the penalty for not taking RMDs?
How does qualified plan savings affect Social Security?
What happens at age 70.5? How much does the IRS charge each year in retirement?
Who sets the interest rates?
How do you allocate your assets to become income providing?
What are dividends? How do they help generate income?
What streams of income are taxable?
What about CDs?
What are some efficient ways to generate income?
What about cryptocurrency?
What about Whole Life Insurance and Annuities?
What about Bank on Yourself?
What income is guaranteed?
What about interest rates and dividend rates?
What did Mark find at the Oriental Institute on the University of Chicago’s campus?
What are some helpful annuities for guaranteed income in retirement?

Episode 20: [Income in Retirement] So Easy! Even PhDs Can’t Figure It Out

January 19, 2018 by Not Your Average Financial Podcast

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In this episode, we ask:

Does your birthday fall between 1946 and 1964?
How much of the American population is in the Baby Boomer generation?
Which Americans qualify for retirement?
Are you ready for retirement?
Will you have enough cash (for basic living expenses)?
Will you have to work longer?
Are Boomers prepared for retirement?
What happened to pensions?
How much is enough? How do we know?
If we have $1M saved in a nest egg, how do we know how much to take out each year?
What is the 4% rule and why is it problematic?
Who is Morning Star?
What is their Low Bond Yields and Safe Portfolio Withdrawal Rates study?
How does the current economic environment affect seniors who are mostly in bonds?
How does a 60/40 blend in retirement affect retirement income?
Who is David Blanchett?
Who is Wade Pfau?
Why do we need to look at a 2.8% (or lower) withdrawal rate in retirement?
Will you remain independent and healthy in retirement? Will Long Term Care needs affect your income in retirement?
Is your future self a stranger?
What will you look like when you’re older?
Can’t we cross that bridge when we get there?
Can you live your best lifestyle in your retirement years?
Will you be forced to choose between buying medication or food for the week?
What is your story?
What are the steps?
- Start saving
- Save more
- Increase your savings every year
What does retirement even mean?
Where did the retirement age come from?
Why is the ability create so central, regardless of age?
What’s the next chapter going to look like?
What are you passionate about?
What work do you love?
What do you want to do (for as long as you are able)?
In our next episode in this series, we ask: What are the different possible income streams in retirement?

Episode 19: [Toolbox] The Four Rules of Budgeting

January 12, 2018 by Not Your Average Financial Podcast

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In this episode, we ask:

Do you need a budget?
How much is in the bank?
What reaction do you have to budgeting?
How do you keep your budget fluid?
How do you use a budget?
How can you be successful with a budget?
What is a state of flow?
Are you single and budgeting successfully?
What are the first three steps of budgeting?
- Step 1: Enter your income. Add it all up.
- Step 2: Budget it all. Put a name on every dollar.
- Step 3: Follow it.
Can you budget passively?
Do budgeting apps count as budgeting?
What is YNAB?
How do you decide to use your time?
What are your priorities?
How do you actively participate in how your dollars will be spent?
If you don’t employ your dollars, what will happen?
Have you ever built a fictional, ideal budget?
How much did Mark budget for groceries before marriage?
Have you ever broken a budget?
What are the four rules of budgeting?
- Rule 1: Budget Every Dollar AKA Give Every Dollar A Job
  - Have you ever wondered what happened to your money?
- Rule 2: Embrace Your True Expenses
  - Have you ever had a “rainy day” expense?
  - Have you ever been surprised by the expenses of the holidays?
- Rule 3: Roll with the Punches
  - Have you ever overspent?
  - Have you ever under budgeted?
  - Have you ever considered just giving up?
- Rule 4: Age Your Money
  - How long has your money been sitting there before you spend it?
  - Are you living paycheck-to-paycheck?
  - How long can you wait before spending the income? 30 days?
What is budgeting about?
What is the purpose of budgeting?
How can you grow your awareness around your finances?
How can you budget your cash value in a Bank On Yourself policy?
Can you see how much you’re spending?
Would you like a hand with a budget? Book a meeting with us.

Episode 18: The Episode of Hope

January 5, 2018 by Not Your Average Financial Podcast

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In this episode, we ask:

At your age?
At that income?
With that health problem?
What if I don’t make enough money to start planning?
How much should I save?
How do you overcome the paycheck-to-paycheck cycle?
When will you make the most income?
Is whole life insurance terrible?
Does the death benefit on whole life insurance keep up with inflation?
How has life insurance changed in the last fifteen years?
What is special about a properly designed, dividend-paying, Bank On Yourself policy?
Why do life insurance companies keep the cash value upon death?
How much do life insurance producers make in commission?
Why do producers take a pay cut to write Bank On Yourself policies?
What sort of life insurance should you consider, if you’re thrifty?
Why does life insurance hinge on medical underwriting?
How can people with health issues get a Bank On Yourself policy?
What are the possibilities for older individuals?
What about the cost of insurance?
Why would I put any money outside of the market? Won’t that money grow slowly?
What happens if I get disabled?
What if I can’t keep up with the regular premium payments in a Bank On Yourself policy?
How can avoid making another mistake with my money?

Episode 17: A Tale of Two Brothers (Part 2)

December 29, 2017 by Not Your Average Financial Podcast

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In this episode, we ask:

Fast forward 29 years – how’d it turn out for George and Sam?
What are the long term effects of the decisions they’ve made earlier?
How did Opportunity Cost, Liquidity and Interest work out for George and Sam?
Who is DALBAR? What information do they report?
As of this year, how much did the average investor earn over the last 30 years?
What happened to each of their retirement accounts?
What were the AUM fees on the accounts and how much did it affect their balances?
What debt did George and Sam carry through?
How much do they pay on the debts?
How much did George pay in interest?
How much does George get on returns on his 401(k)?
How much does George pay to banks each year?
How much would Sam have for income annually in retirement?
How much did Sam earn?
What’s the moral of the story?

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