Josh Scandlen Podcast

Mutual Funds: everyone owns them.  And nowadays, it's SO easy to analyze them.  You can just go to a place like finance.yahoo.com or morningstar.com and get an unlimited amount of info, at your fingertips, for free! The internet has been fantastic for the democratization of the investment world, bringing information to the masses, not unlike William Tyndale translating Bibles. However, there is one area of mutual funds that no matter the research you do, you will still be in the dark; the actual trading costs a mutual fund incurs.  Try going to the SEC website and look up trading costs for the fund of your choice.  You'll find nothing. Try going to Morningstar.  Nope, not there either. Call the fund company maybe?  Sorry.  They don't have that information.  So, you may be inclined to think that because the information can't be found, it's not that important.  Well, you'd be wrong to make that assumption.  In this video, and the accompanying article from my blo

Morningstar is a great company and has done great things for bringing investment research to the masses.  In this video I show you why you SHOULD invest in their 5 star funds.   But, BE ADVISED,  this doesn't mean you change your portfolio each year to invest in their 5 star funds. You simply find a highly rated fund from them and stick to it.  The reason for this is that Morningstar's highly rated funds have outpeformed. Not by much mind you, but they have outpeformed.  Morningstar uses risk-adjusted returns,  analyzes different share classes and takes survivorship bias into consideration too.  End result?   Better performance, with lower volatility and expenses.  That's good enough for me! https://joshscandlen.com/morningstar-5-star-funds/ --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/josh-scandlen-podcast/support

In this "Josh Rant" I discuss the controversial topic: Annuities.  Not sure why the controversy surrounds this one product, but just type "annuity" into any search engine and you'll get a plethora of commentary about the good and bad of annuities. Here's my problem with this whole concept though; Annuities are an inanimate object!  They are neither good NOR bad.  They have no power to cause harm or charity An annuity, like any other inanimate product, just exists.  It's people engaging in the product that can do harm, not the product itself. People can misuse annuities, as they can misuse firearms, matches, automobiles, etc.  But for a large proportion of the population to simply write off annuities by saying silly things like "I Hate Annuities!" I just don't get it.  Every automobile accident involves an automobile.  Would we take anyone seriously if someone were to say "I hate automobiles"?  Of course not.  That is not logical.  So, in this "rant" I'm

What's the most important thing for your retirement??? Think about it, if you need.   The #1 thing in your retirement is what? DId you say, Investment Portfolio?  WRONG!!! Social Security Income??? Wrong!!! The number one thing for your retirement is your expenses, how much will it cost for you to live.? Why this is not the main focus for financial planners I simply can not say. However, once we get a gauge of the true expenses you will have we can do MUCH better planning. This older white paper shows, once again, that expenses actually DECREASE once retirement sets upon us.  Counter to conventional wisdom I know. And even better, as some are wont to do, these expenditures decrease for nearly everyone, no matter their wealth or income levels.  That changes everything, no? https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/204f/24a83f7942a78cf2ffe8d71790416bb95879.pdf --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/josh-scandlen-podcast/support

It's actually becoming recognized retirees consume, i.e., SPEND, LESS in retirement.  Why is that though? Here are my thoughts.  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/josh-scandlen-podcast/support

President Eisenhower's Farewell speech should be known for more than just the Military Industrial Complex term.  It was so much more noteworthy than just that.  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/josh-scandlen-podcast/support

Folks, we need a fix for Social Security. No two ways around that. For those of you on the left, the Republicans do not want to dismantle Social Security. So stop trying to scare people. For those of you on the right, there are going to be more taxes paid into the system.  Saying otherwise is a pipe dream.  So, let's start around those premises.   Secondly, remember the VAST majority of Americans rely on Social Security for a significant portion of their retirement income.  Those same Americans also vote in larger proportions than do other cohorts.  So, politically it only makes sense to get a fix.  In this video, I show you teh signing ceremony from the Reagan, O'Neil and Baker Bipartisan Social Security Reform Act of 1983. Perfect? Nope.  Did it work? Yup. And it can be done again too. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/josh-scandlen-podcast/support

Fidelity Freedom Funds made DRASTIC changes to their approach in 2014.   Consequently, they've improved  performance numbers significantly.  Is this a reason you should now reconsider their funds though? In this video we discuss the changes Fidelity made to their management approach to their Freedom Funds and why they made the changes to begin with. Turns out Fidelity has been underperforming for years and assets were flying out the door. So, to stem the outflow FIdelity made their Freedom MUCH more aggressive.  Now their Freedom 2020 Fund is 50% more aggressive than their average peer.  The results since they made the change have paid off, as their performance has improved quite a bit. But this should come as no surprise.  Increased exposure to stocks, when the stock market is booming, equals greater performance. No getting around that.  However, Fidelity continues to bleed assets out of its Freedom Funds.  They have not been able to stem the flow even while th

Retirement Income Planning is critical for soon-to-be and current retirees.  Because it is so important you MUST get as specific as you can for YOUR situation.  This means not relying on rules of thumb.  Or financial planning concepts that are somewhat dated.  Or generalizations of the tax code.  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/josh-scandlen-podcast/support

Estate planning may seem a complex topic.  In some ways, it truly is.  However, if you are married, especially if you have children, you need to make sure you have the following estate planning tools in order and up-to-date: 1.guardianship 2. durable power of attorney 3. beneficiary designations In this video, we talk about why you need these three items.  First, what happens to your minor kids if you and your spouse are killed?  Do you know? Well, unless you have stated explicitly in your Will, the law determines who becomes guardian of your kids.   Will it be your mother who lives 2000 miles away and is dating a man you aren't fond of? Maybe your parents are deceased. Will it be a brother who you know has a gambling problem but few other people know about? The judge who will decide guardianship only has one task and that is to try to keep your children together in the safest home possible.  The courts don't have time to deeply investigate every, single circumstance that

Long Term Capital Gains are taxed favorably relative to interest income, which is taxed at ordinary income rates.  But did you know that Capital Gains are NOT indexed to inflation? I bet you didn't! In this video I use an article from the Tax Foundation https://taxfoundation.org/inflation-adjusting-capital-gains/ to show you the incredible penalty we pay in taxes because of not adjusting for inflation.  For example,  say you bought a stock for $100 ten years ago.  After 2.26% inflation and 4.25% real growth that $100 would grow to $187 today. You have a "gain" in this case of $87.  If you sold that stock, you'd pay long term capital gains tax of 15% on that $87 gain.  The tax would be $13, leaving you with $174. Yet the problem is that 25% of that 'growth' is due to nothing more than inflation. It's a fake gain! You earned nothing.  Imagine if you could buy a calculator for $100 ten years ago. But now, because of inflation, that same calculator costs $125.   S

Social Security benefits are subject to income tax.  There is a 'provision' in the tax code from a bill Ronald Reagan signed in 1983 making a portion of Social Security benefits subject to taxation for the first time. In 1993 Bill Clinton signed another bill making even more benefits subject to taxation. However, where it gets painful to most taxpayers, is that NEITHER of these bills were indexed for inflation!  This means more and more taxpayers are paying tax on Social Security simply because inflation is making them appear wealthier than they are.  In the 1983 bill you had to have over $32,000 of income before your any of your Social Security benefits were taxed. Guess what?  In 2018, literally 35 years later, you still need to have over $32,000 of income before your Social Security benefits are taxed. In fact, if Social Security taxation were indexed to inflation you'd need $102,000 in today's dollars to have your benefit subject to tax.  https://www.ssa.gov/OACT/ProgData/re

Retirement calculators you find on the internet can be a great tool for getting a general idea of your retirement readiness. But do not be fooled into thinking that the numbers they crunch and spit out are truly representative of your situation. In this video, we use a highly-ranked retirement calculator that Google links to. I was actually surprised to see this calculator ranked so highly actually but it intrigued me.  So, I figured I'd better check it out. What I found was a decent tool that can provide a general sense of your retirement well-being.   But there is a significant problem when it comes to  estimating your Social Security benefit.  So, much so in fact, that I devoted an entire video to explain.  First though you've got to have a basic understanding of how your Social Security benefit is derived.   The Social Security Administration takes the top 35 years of your working career.  Based on your income over those 35 years, it provides an Average Indexed Mo

Understanding your Social Security benefits can be quite confusing.  There are so many acronyms and what if scenario's it's hard to get a clear understanding.  And so many people simply let the Social Security Administration tell them what their benefit will be and leave it at that.  That's a mistake though. What if the SSA got it wrong?  We are talking about a HUGE Federal be bureaucracy here.  Mistakes happen all the time. Secondly, if an error did occur it will affect your for literally the rest of your life and potentially your surviving spouse as well. So, it's important to make sure the SSA has your information correct in order to give you your proper retirement benefit.  But where to start? This is what this video series on Social Security will answer for you First thing you need to do is go to the SSA.gov website and sign up to review your benefits. https://www.ssa.gov/site/signin/en/ Remember, a few years back the Social Security Administration stopped sending an

My friends, if you think addiction only happens to bums drinking Olde English 40s from a paper bag while living under a bridge, this episode will open your eyes. Addiction, and the results, happen to families of all shapes, sizes, races, religions, affluence etc.  It's not going away either. In fact, we're LOSING the battle. Big time.  Maybe, just maybe, it's time to revisit the insanity that is the "War on Drugs" and try a new approach to save those who are enslaved by the scourge of drugs. What we've been doing for the last 30 years is not working.   Here I interview a dear friend of the family, who we'll call Mindy because she needs to stay anonymous given her background dealing with Mexican drug cartels and also due to her stature in her affluent society.  This is scary stuff, my friends.  And it's real. It's happening today. Right under your nose.  What do you do if it affects you??? --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/josh-scandlen-podcast/support

Oh man, this is going to be awesome!  I interview Nicole Sauce about her Living Free in Tennessee Self Sufficiency workshop coming up in April! Also, if you are into the freshest coffee on the market, go to Nicole's website at Hollerroast.com and you get $2 off a lb (offer ends March 31 2019) by using Heritage Wealth Planning coupon code! https://livingfreeintennessee.com/spring-workshop-2019/?fbclid=IwAR2JjW8BD5WPWMDUlrt26QGxs-88RTuFg4ggLNZAeCPykhd3nnGkLHurUnE#tab-id-2 https://hollerroast.com/ https://youtu.be/YzQL92Z2IxY --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/josh-scandlen-podcast/support

Social Security Spousal Benefits care confusing.  In this video, we examine how Social Security Spousal benefits work and when you should apply for them.    First, spouses will receive the greater of their own Social Security benefit or 50% of their spouses, whichever is more.  However, did you know some divorcees can also receive spousal benefits on their ex???  Click here for this video:  We introduce our fictitious couple, Bob and Jane.  For simplicity, we have Jane not working, for an income, and Bob working full time. We show what Bob's AIME is, as well as his PIA.  And then we show what Jane's benefit will be based on Bob's PIA.  (See why it's so important to understand how AIME works?  Bob's AIME affects not just his benefit but also Janes!)   Here is the video on understanding AIME. https://youtu.be/hRuiUbXD6Rs The max spousal benefit Jane can receive is 50% of Bob's PIA.  Remember, it's 50% of his PIA, nothing else matters to Jane in r

Maybe the best financial planning I've ever conducted is working with ex-spouses in planning for their retirement.  I can't tell you how many ex's do not understand the benefits they are entitled to off their ex-spouses record.  And once they are made aware of this opportunity, it's like a dark curtain is lifted and a whole world of new opportunities opens in front of them.   For instance, I had a client who lived in Pennsylvania.  She had been married many years to a high-income doctor.  But, as is this case with 50% of marriages, they divorced. My client wanted out of the relationship as quickly as possible and turned out, in hindsight, she didn't hold out for as much as she probably should have.  And now, as retirement approached, she was worried how she was going to pay for everything.  She was especially worried about if she had a long term care need and would have to have her daughter care for her.  It was very important to her to have  Long Term Care In

Survivor benefits are MUCH different than Spousal benefits and it's up to YOU to understand the difference.  In this video, we bring back Jane and Bob except this time Bob has died.  What is Jane's benefit? Well it depends on when Bob filed for his benefit.  If Bob filed BEFORE his FRA Jane's benefit will be 82.5% of Bob's PIA, or the amount Bob was receiving when Jane died.  Of course, if Jane was receiving more in benefits than Bob, than Jane will receive nothing from Bob's benefit.  That benefit is gone.  If Bob delayed taking his benefit and earned Delayed Earnings Credits (DEC) of 8% a year, then Jane will receive whatever Bob was receiving at his death.  In this case, Bob could have nearly $3700 a month in Social Security benefits if he waited until 70 before filing.  That will be the benefit Jane would receive upon his death.  So, there is some serious planning that needs to be done here to maximize benefits.  If Bob is concerned with leaving J

In part 2 of my video series on Index Annuities, we tackle the guaranteed income options a specific annuity provides. I'll just cut to the chase, this doesn't impress me. In the least. Why? Because in this case, while they offer a  7.2% annual increase in the income base for the first 10 yeas,  your income does not adjust with inflation after that! What pays $10,800 in year 10 will pay $10,800 in year 30 PLUS you have no money left over to leave to your heirs. You have got to understand the difference between the Account Value,  what us professionals call your "walk-away money", and your income benefit account. They are TWO completely different things. And I don't believe many investors are aware of the significant difference between them. Your income base is solely the amount you can draw on each year for the rest of your life.  You can NOT get a lump sum from this amount.  Your "walk-away money" is the amount the insurance company will cut a check to you for.  To deter