Secure Your Retirement

In this Episode of the Secure Your Retirement Podcast, Radon and Murs discuss the domino effect in retirement tax planning, where one smart move quietly knocks over another part of your plan. They walk through four cases from recent tax strategy meetings, including a guaranteed income annuity that would have cancelled a charitable tax break, a 0% capital gains sale that raised a couple's tax on Social Security, and a high earner working out how to exit a variable annuity without stacking taxes on top of deferred compensation.
Listen in to learn about how Roth conversions, Social Security timing and Medicare IRMAA surcharges affect each other, why picking one dominant goal makes these decisions easier, and the seven year-end items to settle before December 31.
In this episode, find out:
How a lifetime income annuity can cancel the tax benefit of a qualified charitable distribution
Why a stock sale in the 0% capital gains bracket can still raise the tax on your Social Security
How starting Social Security early can shrink the room you have for Roth conversions and move you closer to IRMAA
What "valley years" are and how to use them before required minimum distributions begin
The seven-item year-end checklist, from RMDs and QCDs to inherited IRAs and estimated taxes

Tweetable quotes (verify speaker and wording against the audio before publishing)
"For good savers, it's not about how do I maximize Social Security anymore. It's way more about how does Social Security complement my plan the best." Murs Tariq, (lightly trimmed from the transcript)
"A tax strategy is where I'm going to talk to someone prior to December 31st, and I'm going to have a clear strategy so I understand exactly what's going to happen." Radon Stancil

Resources:
If you are in or nearing retirement and you want to gain clarity on what questions you should be asking, learn what the biggest retirement myths are, and identify what you can do to achieve peace of mind for your retirement, get started today by requesting our complimentary phone conversation with Secure Your Retirement!

In this Episode of the Secure Your Retirement Podcast, Radon and Murs discuss what life after retirement looks like with longtime client Jerry Coats. Jerry spent his career in engineering and risk management at GlaxoSmithKline, and he and his wife Gardenia have been retired for about two and a half years. He shares the savings habits they set when they first married, how they knew when the time was right to walk away from two successful careers, and why the biggest adjustment had more to do with filling their days than with the money.
Listen in to learn about the money routine Jerry and Gardenia built in their first six months of retirement, what Jerry calls “scope creep,” and the guiding principles they use to shape what they call chapter three.
In this episode, find out:
The three savings rules Jerry and Gardenia set early in their marriage and kept for decades.
Why defining what retirement looks like for you comes before deciding whether you have enough.
How scope creep, the “one more year” trap, can cost you time you can’t get back.
The monthly, quarterly, and annual meetings that keep both spouses on the same page about their finances.
What surprised Jerry most about retirement, and his advice for anyone five years out.

Tweetable quotes:
“You have to define what retirement looks like for you.” Jerry Coats
“Once you set your goal and you’ve crystallized what you want it to look like, you’ve hit the mark in terms of the numbers, go with it.” Jerry Coats
Resources:
If you are in or nearing retirement and you want to gain clarity on what questions you should be asking, learn what the biggest retirement myths are, and identify what you can do to achieve peace of mind for your retirement, get started today by requesting our complimentary phone conversation with Secure Your Retirement!

In this Episode of the Secure Your Retirement Podcast, Radon and Murs discuss when a business owner should start planning to exit with Van, a Raleigh-based business broker who helps owners across the Carolinas and Virginia sell and transition their companies. For many owners the business is the largest piece of their retirement, and selling it well starts years before a buyer ever sees the books.
Listen in to learn about the steps that get a business ready to sell, what the process looks like once it goes to market, and how taxes and deal structure shape what an owner keeps after the sale.
In this episode, find out:
Why Van says exit planning starts the day you buy or start your business
The two kinds of readiness, business and owner, and why you need both for the best result
What buyers look for, including three years of clean financials and a valuation based on comparable sales
How a sale unfolds, from the Confidential Information Memorandum to closing, and why it takes months
Why the sale price isn't what you keep, and the two-to-three-year minimum runway Van recommends

Tweetable quotes:
"From the moment that you buy a business or start a business, you should prepare for the future to exit that business." Van [last name to confirm]
"It's taken you 10, 20, 30 years to wind up your business...it will be difficult to unwind it or transition it in 30 days." Van [last name to confirm]
Resources:
If you are in or nearing retirement and you want to gain clarity on what questions you should be asking, learn what the biggest retirement myths are, and identify what you can do to achieve peace of mind for your retirement, get started today by requesting our complimentary phone conversation with Secure Your Retirement!

In this Episode of the Secure Your Retirement Podcast, Radon and Murs discuss this quarter's market and economic update with Tom Siomades, from the Federal Reserve's latest rate increase to the oil prices that have kept inflation elevated for about seven months. Tom explains why a quarter-point hike won't make a dent in energy-driven inflation, what the Iran conflict means for shipping and fuel costs, and why he sees the rest of the economy in better shape than the headlines suggest.
Listen in to learn about how interest rates, inflation, and oil prices affect retirement investing, why AI stocks are still helping lead the stock market while small caps keep pace, and why fixed income has become a meaningful part of retirement portfolios again. Tom closes with his market outlook for the end of 2026, and Radon connects it to what matters most for your retirement income planning and your peace of mind in retirement.
In this episode, find out:
Why Tom sees the Fed's 25 basis point rate hike as more of a signal than a solution
How elevated oil prices get built into the cost of everyday goods, and why those costs are slow to come back out
What the broader economy looks like when you set the rate hike and the conflict aside
How AI stocks, small caps, and higher yields on fixed income are shaping the stock market this year
Tom's year-end market call, and why planning for a down year belongs in every retirement plan

Tweetable quotes
"You go to the gas station and they seem to raise the price of gas literally by the minute, and then it takes them weeks and weeks and weeks to lower it." (Tom Siomades)
"Fixed income is actually meaningful again for people's portfolios." (Tom Siomades)
Resources:
If you are in or nearing retirement and you want to gain clarity on what questions you should be asking, learn what the biggest retirement myths are, and identify what you can do to achieve peace of mind for your retirement, get started today by requesting our complimentary phone conversation with Secure Your Retirement!

In this Episode of the Secure Your Retirement Podcast, Radon and Murs discuss the emotional side of the transition into retirement with clients Vid and Nupam Desai. Vid recently took early retirement after six years as chief information officer at the FDA, capping a 40-year career in pharmaceuticals, clinical research and medical devices. Nupam is still leading her team at Lenovo and planning her own retirement over the next couple of years. The four of them talk about learning to live together again, getting comfortable spending money you spent decades saving, and the travel, hobbies and giving back the Desais are planning for the years ahead.
Listen in to learn about why even the most capable do-it-yourself planners reach a point where handing off taxes and investments brings relief, how seeing a plan on paper helps the logical and emotional sides of retirement catch up with each other, and what couples can expect when one spouse retires first.
In this episode, find out:
Why Vid calls holding on to his own finances and taxes for too long one of his biggest retirement lessons.
How seeing their plan on paper helped the Desais start feeling confident about spending.
What changes at home when one spouse retires and the other keeps working.
Why Nupam is staying at Lenovo long enough to set her team up to succeed.
How the Desais picture their first five to ten years of retirement, from six-week stays abroad to community service and the Peace Corps.

Tweetable Quotes:
"While we are financial advisors in this wealth management space, a lot of times what we are is a thought partner."
Murs Tariq
"A lot of times when people come to us, it's emotional. It's an emotional hurdle."
Radon Stancil
Resources:
If you are in or nearing retirement and you want to gain clarity on what questions you should be asking, learn what the biggest retirement myths are, and identify what you can do to achieve peace of mind for your retirement, get started today by requesting our complimentary video course, Four Steps to Secure Your Retirement!
To access the course, simply visit POMWealth.net/podcast.