Retirement Planning Education, with Andy Panko

Andy chats with a real person (not an advisor) doing their own retirement planning. In this episode, Andy talks with Mike. They talk about a wide array of retirement planning topics such as how he learned important investing insights from Paul Merriman, how he adapted going from accumulation to decumulation mode, how he used a health sharing organization in lieu of traditional health insurance prior to starting Medicare, his thoughts on trying to downsize homes, and more! Links in this episode: Tenon Financial monthly e-newsletter - Retirement Planning Insights YouTube channel - Retirement Planning Education (formerly Retirement Planning Demystified) Retirement Planning Education website - www.RetirementPlanningEducation.com To send Andy questions to be addressed on future Q&A episodes, email andy@andypanko.com Andy's LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andypanko/

Andy and Dan VanDusen from Objective Wealth share their thoughts on a handful of current events and "hot topics" relating to retirement planning. Specifically, they talk about: How to decide between investing money for a child or grandchild in a 529 vs Trump account vs UTMA brokerage account ( 9:19 ) What errors and missed items they commonly see in reviewing tax returns ( 18:28 ) Their thoughts on the current state of affairs of the bond market ( 25:10 ) What to do with appreciated mutual funds held in a normal brokerage account where the funds throw off variable and potentially large taxable capital gain distributions each year ( 33:36 ) How to address concentrated appreciated stock positions in brokerage accounts, where selling the shares would lead to sizable tax impacts ( 42:00 ) The areas of retirement planning that people unnecessarily give too much attention too ( 46:19 ) Estate planning considerations, particularly at the state level (for states that have estate and/or inheritance taxes) ( 54:26 ) How to help people give themselves "permission to spend" their retirement savings ( 1:03:50 ) How to factor a potential inheritance to be received into a financial plan ( 1:11:03 ) Links in this episode: Objective Wealth's website - https://www.objectivewealthfp.com/ Andy's company newsletter - Retirement Planning Insights YouTube channel - Retirement Planning Education (formerly Retirement Planning Demystified) Retirement Planning Education website - www.RetirementPlanningEducation.com To send Andy questions to be addressed on future Q&A episodes, email andy@andypanko.com To follow Andy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andypanko/

Andy discusses the basics of bonds, including: Basic features and functions of bonds The risks in bonds Bond issuers and maturities How bonds can be used How and why bond prices changes, and how interest rates impact prices Bonds vs bond funds Links in this episode: Tenon Financial's October 1 newseltter - The basics of bonds: what they are, how they work, and how to use them in retirement planning Andy's YouTube video - Bonds, bond prices, and bond yields Tenon Financial monthly e-newsletter - Retirement Planning Insights YouTube channel - Retirement Planning Education (formerly Retirement Planning Demystified) Retirement Planning Education website - www.RetirementPlanningEducation.com To send Andy questions to be addressed on future Q&A episodes, email andy@andypanko.com To follow Andy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andypanko/

Listener Q&A where Andy talks about: Follow up thoughts on a previous question about whether it's better to use $27k of cash to make a mega backdoor Roth contribution, or to do a $100k in-plan Roth conversion and use the $27k to pay the taxes on it ( 4:01 ) Why the 4% rule isn't called the 3% rule, when working with an advisor who charges 1% of assets under management ( 13:52 ) His thoughts on how Artificial Intelligence might impact the advisory world with regards to service offerings and fee structures ( 17:25 ) Similarities and differences between Required Minimum Distributions ("RMDs") and annuity income ( 22:56 ) A few questions about Treasury Inflation Protected Securities, or TIPS: how they might fit into a retiree's portfolio, how to choose the length of maturity, if there is a minimum yield one should target to justify it, and thoughts on deciding what allocation to use between TIPS and equities ( 26:24 ) Social Security claiming thoughts for a married couple where one spouse doesn't have any earnings history or Social Security benefit of their own; should the other spouse not delay starting their benefit so the other spouse can start spousal benefits sooner? ( 39:56 ) If investing money for your child, how to decide between funding a Trump account or a Roth IRA ( 45:38 ) Whether Roth conversions would still make sense if you have to pay tax via distribution and withholding out of the conversion, instead of paying the tax out of "outside" funds such as cash from bank or brokerage accounts ( 50:15 ) To send Andy questions to be addressed on future Q&A episodes, email andy@andypanko.com Andy's LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andypanko/ Links in this episode: Tenon Financial's August 2026 newsletter - Trump accounts; what they are, how they work, and use cases Tenon Financial monthly newsletter/blog - Retirement Planning Insights YouTube channel - Retirement Planning Education (formerly Retirement Planning Demystified) Retirement Planning Education website - www.RetirementPlanningEducation.com

In this replay of Andy's recent guest appearance on the Catching up to FI podcast, Andy and hosts Bill Yount, MD, and Jackie Cummings Koski, CFP®, AFC®, talk all about traditional defined benefit pensions. What they are, how they work, how to decide between taking payments vs a lump sum and much more! Links in this episode: The original audio version of the Catching up to FI podcast episode - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/are-pensions-really-dead-the-surprising-value-of/id1664430924?i=1000785277603 The original YouTube version of the Catching up to FI podcast episode - https://youtu.be/vU_popXD2_A?si=QC3p1_gGvIRNjxFx Catching up to FI website - https://catchinguptofi.com/ Tenon Financial monthly e-newsletter - Retirement Planning Insights YouTube channel - Retirement Planning Education (formerly Retirement Planning Demystified) Retirement Planning Education website - www.RetirementPlanningEducation.com To send Andy questions to be addressed on future Q&A episodes, email andy@andypanko.com To follow Andy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andypanko/

Andy chats with fellow retirement planner Ryan Langan, CFP®, from Your Path Fi. In this episode they talk about a wide array of retirement planning topics such as tax planning, distribution strategies, investing, annuities, long-term care insurance, what consumers often overlook in retirement planning and much more! Links in this episode: Ryan's advisory company website - https://www.yourpathfi.com/ Tenon Financial monthly e-newsletter - Retirement Planning Insights YouTube channel - Retirement Planning Education (formerly Retirement Planning Demystified) Retirement Planning Education website - www.RetirementPlanningEducation.com To send Andy questions to be addressed on future Q&A episodes, email andy@andypanko.com To follow Andy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andypanko/

Andy discusses what all is involved in moving to a new state, from a tax perspective...properly changing your "domicile" and "residence" to the new state. Spoiler alert: It's not necessarily as simple as buying a house and spending at least six months and a day in the new state! Links in this episode: My in-depth write-up of changing state domicile and residence, examples and court cases of people who did and didn't properly change their domicile and residence, and more! - How to move to a new state...tax compliantly Tenon Financial monthly e-newsletter - Retirement Planning Insights YouTube channel - Retirement Planning Education (formerly Retirement Planning Demystified) Retirement Planning Education website - www.RetirementPlanningEducation.com To send Andy questions to be addressed on future Q&A episodes, email andy@andypanko.com To follow Andy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andypanko/

Listener Q&A where Andy talks about: Whether to use money in a 457b to pay down a mortgage or to pay taxes on Roth conversions ( 7:56 ) How Social Security survivor benefits work, and the optimal ages for spouses to each claim their own Social Security ( 18:54 ) His thoughts on why the Social Security trust fund hasn't been allowed to invest in equities ( 25:36 ) Creating spreadsheets to replace financial planning software, and using it to help your ongoing retirement planning and projections ( 30:40 ) His thoughts on whether someone should try to convert ALL of their pre-tax money to Roth ( 36:56 ) Transferring/rolling money from an IRA to an HSA (Health Savings Account) ( 46:05 ) Whether you have to start Medicare Part A if you start Social Security but are still covered by a spouse's employer's health insurance ( 49:18 ) Updating beneficiaries on investment accounts after one of the beneficiaries passes ( 53:17 ) His thoughts on whether comparing a portfolio's investment returns to those of the S&P 500 is appropriate, and whether it's okay to hold bonds as investments ( 58:22 ) To send Andy questions to be addressed on future Q&A episodes, email andy@andypanko.com Andy's LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andypanko/ Links in this episode: Tenon Financial's March 2026 newsletter - Gifting, annual gift exclusions, gift taxes and gift tax returns (IRS Form 709) Tenon Financial's March 2024 newsletter - Don't compare your portfolio's returns to those of the S&P 500 Tenon Financial monthly newsletter/blog - Retirement Planning Insights YouTube channel - Retirement Planning Education (formerly Retirement Planning Demystified) Retirement Planning Education website - www.RetirementPlanningEducation.com

Andy chats with a real person (not an advisor) doing their own retirement planning. In this episode, Andy talks with Mark. They talk about a wide array of retirement planning topics such as when he started getting serious about planning for retirement, how he got comfortable going from accumulation to decumulation mode, how he and his wife are navigating health insurance prior to Medicare eligibility, why he randomly showed up in Andy's office one day, and more! Links in this episode: Tenon Financial monthly e-newsletter - Retirement Planning Insights YouTube channel - Retirement Planning Education (formerly Retirement Planning Demystified) Retirement Planning Education website - www.RetirementPlanningEducation.com To send Andy questions to be addressed on future Q&A episodes, email andy@andypanko.com Andy's LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andypanko/

Listener Q&A where Andy talks about: How to sell and rebalance positions in a brokerage account when they have unrealized gains and you're trying to be tax-efficient about it ( 7:06 ) His thoughts on a few different variable portfolio withdrawal strategies, namely Amortization Based Withdrawals ("ABW"), Total Portfolio Allocation Withdrawals ("TPAW") and Big ERN's CAPE-based approach ( 14:10 ) Converting to a Roth IRA money you plan on spending in the near-term, instead of outright distributing it to your bank or brokerage account to be spent from there ( 23:18 ) Whether doing Roth conversions or backdoor Roth contributions are ultimately the same thing from a tax planning perspective ( 28:02 ) His thoughts on deciding which type of advisor and/or advisory fee model might make the most sense for you when considering the potential fees to be paid to an advisor over a lifetime ( 33:41 ) At what point should you just take out unused 529 funds and pay tax and penalty on the gains, assuming you have no expectation they'll eventually get to be used for qualified education expenses ( 40:15 ) Potential ideas for small or solo advisory firms to establish a succession plan in the event of the death or incapacitation of the advisor ( 45:26 ) What to look for in an advisory relationship to help minimize the risk of the advisory committing fraud with your money ( 50:50 ) Whether to live off cash for multiple years - assuming you have saved that much cash - or instead pull from your investment accounts ( 56:53 ) His thoughts on Securities Backed Lines of Credit, or SBLOCs, from brokerage firms ( 1:00:35 ) To send Andy questions to be addressed on future Q&A episodes, email andy@andypanko.com Andy's LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andypanko/ Links in this episode: Tenon Financial monthly newsletter/blog - Retirement Planning Insights YouTube channel - Retirement Planning Education (formerly Retirement Planning Demystified) Retirement Planning Education website - www.RetirementPlanningEducation.com

Andy discusses the ins and outs of Trump accounts: Legislative background How to open them How to fund them Investing inside them How to distribute from them Reporting around them Taxation of them The two potential worthwhile use cases I see for them Links in this episode: My in-depth write-up of Trump accounts, including all of the links I referenced in the show - Trump accounts: what they are, how they work, and use cases Tenon Financial monthly e-newsletter - Retirement Planning Insights YouTube channel - Retirement Planning Education (formerly Retirement Planning Demystified) Retirement Planning Education website - www.RetirementPlanningEducation.com To send Andy questions to be addressed on future Q&A episodes, email andy@andypanko.com To follow Andy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andypanko/

Andy summarizes the recent 2026 annual Social Security trustees report, including what it would actually mean if the system's trust fund were to deplete, and what changes can be made to ensure that doesn't happen Links in this episode: The full 2026 Social Security trustees report - here Summary of the recently proposed PROMISE Act - here The recent episode of Inspired Money with me, Wade Pfau and Mary Beth Franklin discussing all things Social Security - here Tenon Financial monthly e-newsletter - Retirement Planning Insights YouTube channel - Retirement Planning Education (formerly Retirement Planning Demystified) Retirement Planning Education website - www.RetirementPlanningEducation.com To send Andy questions to be addressed on future Q&A episodes, email andy@andypanko.com Andy's LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andypanko/

Listener Q&A where Andy talks about: Should Roth conversion analysis look at marginal or effective tax rates ( 4:21 ) His thoughts on why qualified Roth account distributions might eventually be included in certain measures of Modified Adjusted Gross Income ("MAGI") ( 8:28 ) What other MAGIs are potentially impacted and should be watched out for with doing Roth conversions ( 12:38 ) The difference between "directionality" and "precision" in retirement planning ( 20:40 ) Is it reasonable for an advisor to charge you extra for outsourcing some of their investment management to a separately managed or sub-managed account ( 25:38 ) His thoughts of reinvesting a deferred compensation plan to all cash when the plan will soon begin paying out its deferred payments ( 29:34 ) His thoughts on using multiple dividend and fixed income funds to create a "high income sleeve" for near-term distribution needs ( 35:25 ) Whether it's accurate that you can indirectly file a tax return extension simply by making an online tax payment and select "extension" as the reason for the payment ( 39:05 ) Can a minor with less than $400 of self-employment income not file a tax return yet still be eligible to contribute to a Roth IRA ( 44:56 ) How he helps clients balance Fear of Missing Out ("FOMO") and Fear of Running Out ("FORU") ( 52:04 ) How much of his planning work with clients is computational vs psychological ( 54:42 ) His thoughts on the gamification of investing, and the prediction markets ( 58:11 ) Why there are so many different funds like buffered ETFs and option trading ETFs, at higher expense ratios, when many can just invest in a few basic low-cost ETFs ( 1:00:36 ) To send Andy questions to be addressed on future Q&A episodes, email andy@andypanko.com Andy's LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andypanko/ Links in this episode: Episode 207 of the podcast - Roth conversion analysis; more than meets the eye Tenon Financial monthly newsletter/blog - Retirement Planning Insights YouTube channel - Retirement Planning Education (formerly Retirement Planning Demystified) Retirement Planning Education website - www.RetirementPlanningEducation.com

Andy chats with a real person (not an advisor) doing their own retirement planning. In this episode, Andy talks with Tom. They talk about a wide array of retirement planning topics such as when he started getting serious about planning for retirement, why he went back to work as a consultant a year after retiring, why their plans of relocating to a different state have since changed, what his Roth conversion plan is, and more! Links in this episode: Tenon Financial monthly e-newsletter - Retirement Planning Insights YouTube channel - Retirement Planning Education (formerly Retirement Planning Demystified) Retirement Planning Education website - www.RetirementPlanningEducation.com To send Andy questions to be addressed on future Q&A episodes, email andy@andypanko.com Andy's LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andypanko/

Andy and Tanya Nichols from Retire Agile share their thoughts on a handful of current events and "hot topics" relating to retirement planning. Specifically, they talk about: How we help clients get over the hurdle of actually spending their savings ( 10:27 ) Their thoughts on having mortgages in retirement ( 22:27 ) What they think is likely to happen to the Social Security system, and what changes might be made in advance of the trust fund depleting in a few years ( 34:56 ) When people should start spending down their Health Savings Accounts, or HSAs ( 44:10 ) Some state-specific tax planning considerations to keep in mind ( 53:07 ) Their thoughts on living/revocable trusts, when they're needed, when they're not, etc. ( 1:03:12 ) Alternatives to bond for people looking for investments that sit between the volatility and growth potential of stocks, and the stability and principal protection of cash and cash equivalents ( 1:16:39 ) Links in this episode: Retire Agile website - https://www.retireagile.com/ To send Andy questions to be addressed on future Q&A episodes, email andy@andypanko.com My company newsletter - Retirement Planning Insights YouTube channel - Retirement Planning Education (formerly Retirement Planning Demystified) Retirement Planning Education website - www.RetirementPlanningEducation.com

Andy discusses common tax planning mistakes often made in retirement. Additionally, he shares insight on how to attempt to prevent such mistakes, and/or fix them after they've happened The 8 common mistakes are: Not paying enough income tax timely throughout the year, and having underpayment penalties as a result Missing or not taking the correct amount of Required Minimum Distributions (“RMDs”) Having improper beneficiary designations Not properly applying Roth account withdrawal rules Not understanding IRA “basis” and the pro rata rule Not being as tax-efficient as possible with charitable giving Not managing Modified Adjusted Gross Income (“MAGI”) Not planning for state-specific income tax considerations Links in this episode: My YouTube video - How Much Estimated Tax to Pay Summary of RMD factors from the Retirement Planning Education website's - Free Stuff IRS summary of RMDs - here My company's newsletter - Required Minimum Distribution ("RMD") Rules from Inherited IRAs My YouTube video - Roth IRA Withdrawal Rules My YouTube video reply of the webinar - IRA after-tax "basis," the pro rata rule and Form 8606 My YouTube video - How to give to charities tax-efficiently My company's newsletter - How to donate to charities tax-efficiently My YouTube video - What is Modified Adjusted Gross Income, or "MAGI" Tenon Financial monthly e-newsletter - Retirement Planning Insights YouTube channel - Retirement Planning Education (formerly Retirement Planning Demystified) Retirement Planning Education website - www.RetirementPlanningEducation.com To send Andy questions to be addressed on future Q&A episodes, email andy@andypanko.com

Listener Q&A where Andy talks about: Are tax return amendments needed if info from a 1099-R was left out but doesn't impact the return's gross or taxable income ( 4:08 ) What are the pros and cons of using average cost basis tracking for mutual funds ( 8:36 ) Tax implications of nonqualified annuities and surrendering vs annuitizing it ( 13:55 ) Is there a more optimized way to pay taxes on in-plan Roth conversions as opposed to having additional taxes withheld from your paycheck ( 23:21 ) Thoughts on using "reverse budgeting" to figure out how much you spend, instead of manually adding up all of the line items of actual expenses you have ( 28:28 ) How to properly report on your tax return a disability exception to the 10% IRA early withdrawal penalty if the custodian won't reflect the exception on the 1099-R ( 34:31 ) How much is too much to pay a financial advisor who charges a percent of assets under management, and thoughts on only rolling some of a 401(k) to an advisor and managing the rest on your own ( 40:23 ) Options/insurance to help cover expenses for dental, vision, and hearing since traditional Medicare doesn't cover those things ( 47:46 ) When to consider getting a financial advisor (or at least getting a one-time financial plan done) ( 52:06 ) How to properly report on your tax return a SEPP (Substantially Equal Periodic Payment) exception to the 10% IRA early withdrawal penalty if the custodian won't reflect the exception on the 1099-R ( 58:00 ) Thoughts on retiring from Oklahoma to a high cost of living place like New York City (to be near kids and grandkids) ( 1:02:02 ) To send Andy questions to be addressed on future Q&A episodes, email andy@andypanko.com Links in this episode: Tenon Financial monthly newsletter/blog - Retirement Planning Insights YouTube channel - Retirement Planning Education (formerly Retirement Planning Demystified) Retirement Planning Education website - www.RetirementPlanningEducation.com

Andy and Mark Ross from the Rock Retirement Club talk about Mark's journey in retiring to become an "encorepreneur" by starting a coaching business, and spending more time creating art. They also address some of standard "real person" planning questions such healthcare before Medicare, Social Security claiming, the emotional transition to leaving the corporate world, and more! Links in this episode: Mark's coaching website - https://www.nextthinggroup.com/ Mark's Instagram site for his art - https://www.instagram.com/next_thing_art/ The Rock Retirement Club - https://www.rockretirementclub.com/ Tenon Financial monthly e-newsletter - Retirement Planning Insights YouTube channel - Retirement Planning Education (formerly Retirement Planning Demystified) Retirement Planning Education website - www.RetirementPlanningEducation.com To send Andy questions to be addressed on future Q&A episodes, email andy@andypanko.com

Andy and Adam Grossman from Mayport Wealth Management share their thoughts on a handful of current events and "hot topics" relating to retirement planning. Specifically, they talk about: How to analyze an existing annuity and whether to keep it, exchange it to another annuity or surrender it ( 11:44 ) The different things to factor in when considering retiring to a different state ( 23:18 ) What to do with your investments regarding concerns about the U.S.'s national debt, potential inflation, potential market declines, etc. ( 33:41 ) How much to try to optimize moving around cash balances between savings accounts, money market funds, Treasury Bills, CDs, etc. to try to maximize the amount of interest you can get ( 43:44 ) Their thoughts on individual bonds vs bond funds, what we use, and why ( 54:27 ) How we handle and implement inflation assumptions when doing financial planning with clients ( 1:05:37 ) Their thoughts on how Artificial Intelligence may impact financial planning, both as advisors and as consumers ( 1:12:55 ) What to make of illustrations for permanent life insurance policies, how reliable those illustrations are, when to consider buying permanent life insurance, when not to buy permanent life insurance, etc. ( 1:19:48 ) Links in this episode: Mayport Wealth Management's website - https://www.mayport.com/ Adam's recent appearance on Morningstar's The Long View podcast - https://www.morningstar.com/personal-finance/adam-grossman-asset-allocation-is-an-investors-best-defense To send Andy questions to be addressed on future Q&A episodes, email andy@andypanko.com My company newsletter - Retirement Planning Insights YouTube channel - Retirement Planning Education (formerly Retirement Planning Demystified) Retirement Planning Education website - www.RetirementPlanningEducation.com

Andy discusses the various areas of consideration and analysis that go into deciding whether Roth conversions might potentially be of value. Furthermore, he explains why it's impossible to actually quantify how much tax savings, if any, Roth conversions might potentially create. And what to consider when figuring out how much to convert in any given year Links in this episode: Vanguard's "Break Even Tax Rate" Roth conversion analysis white paper - here Tenon Financial's June 2026 Newsletter/blog - Roth conversion analysis: more than meets the eye Tenon Financial monthly e-newsletter - Retirement Planning Insights Facebook group - Retirement Planning Education (formerly Taxes in Retirement) YouTube channel - Retirement Planning Education (formerly Retirement Planning Demystified) Retirement Planning Education website - www.RetirementPlanningEducation.com To send Andy questions to be addressed on future Q&A episodes, email andy@andypanko.com