Retirement Success Blueprint With Michael Stewart

Episode #18: 5 Hidden Expenses You Need To Know About

Just because you can’t plainly see all the expenses you’ll incur during the retirement planning process doesn’t mean they aren’t there. Let’s cover 5 important areas where you’ll want to watch for hidden expenses.

Episode #17: The Complications Of An Early Retirement

An early retirement sounds fantastic to most people. Who wouldn’t want to kick off the extra travel, less stress and more freedom that retirement can often bring a little earlier than planned? However, a lot of people don’t realize the additional complications presented when you retire early. Let’s tackle what early retirement means for most people and how you can best set yourself up to achieve that goal.

Retirement Planning: More Than Just Investments

There’s a lot more to retirement planning than just picking investments. Is your advisor helping you navigateall the other essential areas?

Are You A Victim of Doing Fuzzy Math?

A lot of investors (and quite frankly a lot of advisors) fall victim to fuzzy math when it comes to their retirement planning. Let’s explore some of the areas where someone might be employing fuzzy math.

Sales Pitches vs. True Planning – How To Tell The Difference

It’s important to be able to recognize the difference between an advisor who actually has a planning process and one who just gives sales pitches all day. Let’s go over how you can identify the difference.

What Demographics Can Tell Us

Statistics can sometimes make your head spin. But sometimes they give us some helpful insight into howothers approach financial and retirement planning. Let’s look at some intriguing demographics and see whatthey tell us about retirement these days.

Unique Planning Challenges

Creating a customized retirement plan for any individual can mean addressing some unique challenges. With each of these scenarios, let’s discuss the challenges presented, as well as the solutions you might come up with…

Your Money Mission Statements

Mission statements give our dollars a purpose. They help us to develop a sound strategy in our portfolio. Let’s find out whether you’re effectively putting your money to work for you.

Getting Started: A Financial Plan’s First Steps

For some folks, the idea of putting together a financial plan can be overwhelming. But it’s less threatening if you just focus on a first step to get you started. But depending on your situation, your most logical first step could be one of several things… We'll also answer Samantha in Lake Zurick's question about how she can empower her mother to live a little in retirement. Plus, is carrying debt past age 75 the new normal? We'll ask Michael on this week's edition of Retirement Matters with Michael Stewart.

Risky, But Popular, Investments

It’s probably common sense when you think about human nature, but some of the riskiest investments are also the most popular. At least the risky ones generate a lot of interest, even if most folks don’t end up actually making an investment. Let’s look at some of these popular and risky investments. We'll also answer Marie's question about having too many life insurance policies. And does Michael agree with Greenspan's assessment of an "out of whack" US economy? We'll find out on this edition of Retirement Matters with Michael Stewart.