Retire Secure!

With New Year’s celebrations behind us, it’s time to look toward what the financial world has in store for us in 2017. Unfortunately, retirement and estate plans may be taking a huge tax hit from the IRS this year. As Jim mentioned in Part I, the “stretch IRA” has been an invaluable tax-management tool for investors and estate planners for decades. Today’s rules allow beneficiaries of inherited IRAs to limit distributions to the minimum, which maintains money in the tax-deferred environment and allows for compound tax-deferred growth - potentially a very lucrative strategy. But in September of 2016, the Senate Finance Committee unanimously voted to kill the stretch IRA. It is very likely that this change will become law this year - and that the new law will require those who inherit an IRA to pay taxes on all but $450,000 of the money within five years. While the strategies in Jim’s new book, The Ultimate Retirement and Estate Plan for Your Million-Dollar IRA (available for free at www.paytaxeslater.com) ca

Retirement and estate plans may soon be taking a huge tax hit from the IRS. The “stretch IRA” has been a critical tax management tool for investors and estate planners for decades. Current rules allow beneficiaries of inherited IRAs to limit distributions to the minimum, which maintains money in the tax-deferred environment and allows for compound tax-deferred growth - a very profitable strategy. But in September, the Senate Finance Committee unanimously voted to kill the stretch IRA. It is very likely that this change will become law sometime in 2017 - and that new law will require those who inherit an IRA to pay taxes on all but $450,000 of the inherited IRA within five years. While the strategies in Jim’s new book, The Ultimate Retirement and Estate Plan for Your Million Dollar IRA (available for free at paytaxeslater.com) will reduce the impact of this miserable law, it will still be a major blow to the heirs of anyone who has more than $450,000 in their IRA or retirement plan. In this episode of The La

In this episode of The Lange Money Hour, Jim welcomes guest P.J. DiNuzzo, a nationally recognized expert in investment management and president of DiNuzzo Index Advisors, Inc. P.J. was one of the first few hundred independent advisors in the U.S. permitted to access Dimensional Fund Advisor's (DFA) index funds for individual investors. DiNuzzo Index Advisors, Inc. consistently ranks among the country's Top 500 investment companies. Jim and P.J. will be talking about the foundations of your financial house. Just as a solid house is built on a good foundation, you cannot ignore the foundations of your financial house. The four corners of your financial house include: legal planning, tax planning, financial planning, and investment planning. A bad foundation can undermine your security, and jeopardize your long-term objectives. In this episode, you will learn how your CPA, estate attorney, and money manager should work together to protect your best interests. Jim and P.J. will also discuss the Senate F

The outcome of this past election caused economic jitters nationally and internationally. The first response was a precipitous drop of almost 700 points in Dow futures. Since the initial drop, the market has rebounded reaching an all-time high. Is this our future? Will we be on an economic rollercoaster for the next four years? The market is never very comfortable with unpredictability, and individuals approaching retirement are never very comfortable when the market is unpredictable. In this The Lange Money Hour episode, we are pleased to welcome Charlie Smith, Chief Investment Officer of Fort Pitt Capital Group, LLC. Charlie's perspectives on the economy and the markets are widely regarded. His opinions have been and continue to be solicited by representatives of the financial media, including CNBC and The Wall Street Journal. He has written and lectured on these subjects over the course of his 33-year career, which has included leadership roles with several Pittsburgh regional investment firms. To li

In this episode of The Lange Money Hour: Where Smart Money Talks, we welcome Linda Waite, the Lucy Flower Professor of Sociology at the University of Chicago and Senior Fellow at NORC (an independent research organization affiliated with the University of Chicago), where she directs the Center on Aging. Her research focuses on sexuality, social connections and health at older ages. One of her current projects develops and tests a reconceptualized model of health at older ages. Linda is also the author of The Case for Marriage: Why Married People Are Happier, Healthier & Better Off Financially. This radio show discuses the five myths about marriage, the happiness and health gaps between married and unmarried people, the relationship between marriage and money — for instance, how married people spend and save differently than single people — and should people get married for the money. TOPICS COVERED: 1. Introduction of Linda Waite, University of Chicago 2. Children Lose in Divorce, Financially, Materially

In this episode of The Lange Money Hour: Where Smart Money Talks, we welcome to the show New York attorney Bruce Steiner, a prolific author and nationally recognized expert on taxation and estate planning. Bruce has over 40 years of experience in the areas of taxation, estate planning, business-succession planning and estate and trust administration. Among many other positions, Bruce Steiner is a commentator for Leimberg Information Services, Inc. He’s a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of Trusts and Estates and is a technical advisor for Ed Slott’s IRA Advisor. Bruce has been quoted in various publications and on various television outlets, including Forbes, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, CNBC, Fox Business and TheStreet.com. Jim and Bruce will discuss the 10 common mistakes people make in retirement planning, Roth IRA conversions, the potential death of the stretch IRA, and the differences between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump’s tax proposals. 1. Introduction of Bruce Steiner: T

In this episode of The Lange Money Hour, Jim gives his listeners the most important advice offered in his newest book, The Ultimate Retirement and Estate Plan for Your Million-Dollar IRA. The Ultimate Retirement and Estate Plan for Your Million-Dollar IRA, provides clear and specific solutions to current tax issues regarding retirement plans, but perhaps more importantly, looks ahead to upcoming legislative actions that could reduce the value of your IRA. Those distressing changes, something we call “The Death of the Stretch IRA,” could cost your family hundreds of thousands, or potentially, millions of additional tax dollars over your children’s lives. Jim will focus on the 6 main themes in the book that will help you decide how to prepare for the probable “Death of the Stretch IRA” and how to grow your retirement nest egg, and keep it out of Uncle Sam’s hands: • Pay taxes later (except for the Roth) when working and when planning for your estate. • The benefits of Roth IRA conversions. • The most flexi

In this week’s archive of The Lange Money Hour: Where Smart Money Talks, we’re very excited to welcome Jonathan Clements back to the show. Jonathan Clements is one of the country’s foremost experts on personal finance. Jonathan was a columnist for The Wall Street Journal, where he worked for almost 20 years. He also spent six years as director of financial education for Citi Personal Wealth Management. These days, Jonathan is involved with a financial startup, sits on the investment committee of Creative Planning in Leewood, Kansas, and regularly blogs at JonathanClements.com. Jonathan has written six books on personal finance, including the best-seller The Little Book of Main Street Money and the Jonathan Clements Money Guide 2016, but tonight, we’re going to focus on his latest, How to Think About Money, which came out e arlier this month. In this episode, Jonathan and Jim discuss the book’s five core insights: buy more happiness, bet on a long life, rewire your brain, think big and win, don’t lose. To f

In this week’s podcast of The Lange Money Hour: Where Smart Money Talks, we welcome to the show Roberton Williams, Sol Price Fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center at the Urban Institute, where he focuses on communicating the Tax Policy Center’s broad range of work through papers, blog posts on TaxVox, extensive interaction with the media, and a broad range of features on the website. With the presidential election less than three months away, Americans are preparing to choose between two very different candidates. In this episode Jim and Roberton take a look at what might be in store for Americans in terms of Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump’s economic policies. TOPICS COVERED: 1. Introduction of Roberton “Bob” Williams of the Tax Policy Center 2. No Ax to Grind: Tax Policy Center Provides Unbiased Information to Inform the Discussion 3. The Clinton Plan: Big Hikes on the Wealthy Would Raise $1 Trillion Over a Decade 4. Would the Wealthy Change Their Behavior to Avoid Paying Higher Tax Rates? 5. Th

In this episode of The Lange Money Hour: Where Smart Money Talks, we welcome to the show Morningstar's David Blanchett. David is head of retirement research at Morningstar Investment Management, LLC, and in that role, he works to enhance the group’s consulting and investment services and conducts research primarily in the areas of financial planning, tax planning, annuities and retirement. In 2014, Investment News included David in their inaugural “Forty Under Forty” list as a visionary for the financial-planning industry, and in 2014, Money magazine called him one of the brightest minds in retirement planning. He’s a retire mentor for Market Watch and an expert retirement panelist for the The Wall Street Journal. TOPICS COVERED: 1. Guest Introduction: David Blanchett of Morningstar Investment Management 2. Should You Spend More Early in Retirement While You’re Relatively Healthy? 3. The Three Buckets: Needs, Wants and Wishes 4. Key Factors: How Long Will You Live, What’s the Return Rate, How Much Will

Who wouldn’t want to invest like Warren Buffett? He’s one of the most successful investors in the world, and yet, most people don’t follow his recommendations about where they should be putting their money. In this edition of The Lange Money Hour, we welcome nationally recognized investment expert Larry Swedroe, the author of the book Think, Act and Invest Like Warren Buffett: The Winning Strategy to Help You Achieve Your Financial and Life Goals. Like Warren Buffett, Larry believes that passive investing through index funds is the best path to prosperity, and he’s done the research to back it up. Larry is director of research for Buckingham Asset Management. Including the Warren Buffett book we’ll be talking about Larry's other books, including his latest, The Incredible Shrinking Alpha, and he’s working on book number 15 as well, called Your Complete Guide to Factor-based Investing. In this podcast you’ll learn a great deal about passive and active investing and how to get into that Warren Buffet

The Lange Money Hour welcomes back to the program Charlie Smith, executive vice president and chief investment officer of Fort Pitt Capital Group. Over the course of his 32-year career, Charlie has held leadership positions at several Pittsburgh regional investment firms, and he’s been a frequent lecturer and commentator on the economy and the market. You might have seen him on CNBC, or perhaps read his work in the Wall Street Journal. On this show among other things, we’ll talk about the big news that everybody’s been talking about, the Brexit vote, the implications for U.S. investors and what we can expect for the remainder of 2016 as a result. Plus, Charlie will talk about estimates of fair value for the U.S. stock market, what he thinks the Fed will do for the rest of the year, and his outlook for corporate earnings. TOPICS COVERED: Guest Introduction: Charlie Smith, Brexit’s Trade Consequences, Brexit and the Market, Fair Value, Fiduciary Advisors and New Rules, Advice for Investors in the Accumula

Episode 172 - Preparing for the Death of the Stretch IRA with Jim Lange

Can investors spend more than the traditional 4% safe withdrawal rate in their 60s and 70s with the idea they are likely to spend less later in life? David Blanchett is on the cutting edge of this and many other financial issues. David provides a fresh look at the 4% safe withdrawal rate and has significantly different conclusions than Bill Bengen, the best known safe withdrawal expert in the world, who also appeared on The Lange Money Hour. This is a great show and very worth your time, especially if you are in your sixties or seventies. TOPICS COVERED: Guest Introduction: P.J. DiNuzzo, The Safe Withdrawal Rate, A Change in the Safe Withdrawal Rate?, How Long Can You Expect Your Money to Last?, Lump Sum of Annuity, The Best Asset Allocation, Diversification

Maximizing Long-Term Investment Profits with Dr. Roger Ibbotson. Roger G. Ibbotson is chairman and CIO of Zebra Capital Management, LLC, an equity investment and hedge fund manager. He is founder, advisor and former chairman of Ibbotson Associates, now a Morningstar Company. He has written numerous books and articles including Stocks Bonds Bills and Inflation with Rex Sinquefield (updated annually) which serves as a standard reference for information and capital market returns.

Episode 169 - Passing Your Wisdom and Values to Your Family: Ethical Wills with Susan Turnbull

Episode 168 - The Seven Costly Mistakes IRA Owners Make in Their Estate Plans with Matt Schwartz

Episode 167 - Burton Malkiel: A Random Walk Down Wall Street - Decades of Investment Wisdom

Episode 166 - Ed Slott’s Retirement Decision Guide, 2016

Episode 165 - Supporting the Four Corners of Your Financial House with P.J. DiNuzzo - Your financial house has four corners: legal planning, tax planning, financial planning, and investment planning. Take away one corner, or build it improperly, and your entire house could fall down around you. Having the strongest possible foundation for your family’s financial success means ensuring that all of these corners are fully supported. Want to enjoy your retirement to the fullest and leave a legacy behind for your heirs? It is important that your CPA, estate attorney, financial planner, and investment managers work as a team, at the highest level, to optimize your planning.