Articles and Videos

Figuring Out When You’re Actually Able to Retire- Episode 141
Managing Your Financial Future

Figuring Out When You’re Actually Able to Retire- Episode 141

June 20, 2023

You’ve been working your whole life, and retirement for you has always been “at some date in the future.” As you get older, the question becomes more real, and will eventually require an answer.  This is something that financial advisors and planners deal with every day. How do you know when you’re really able to hang it all up?  Maybe your portfolio balance hasn’t reached the number you’ve always figured was the minimum amount you’d need.  As it turns out, there’s a chance, given certain generous tax laws and some basic strategy techniques, that you may be able to retire well before you thought you could. On this week’s episode of Managing Your Financial Future, Podcast host Johnny Dean and financial advisor “Professor” Rick Plum, CFP® discuss what you need to know when asking that all-important question: “When can I retire?”
I-Bonds: When 4.3% Is Better Than 9.6% – Episode 138
Managing Your Financial Future

I-Bonds: When 4.3% Is Better Than 9.6% – Episode 138

May 30, 2023

For the past year or so, I-Bonds have come into favor among people who are looking for a higher rate of return on Treasuries. A little over a year ago, they were paying an annualized 9.6 percent rate of return. Today, they’re paying right around 4.3 percent. It would seem, then, that you’d have been better off buying them at that higher rate. But maybe not – because of the way I-Bonds pay their interest, the current “lower” rate may actually be more attractive today. How is that possible?