Money for Life with Eric Roberge, CFP

Latest Episodes:

Should the SECURE 2.0 Act Change Your Financial Plan? Feb 17, 2023

Show notes

New rules and regulations pushed forward by the SECURE 2.0 Act might impact how your manage your money right now, and into the future. Here's what you need to know.

The SECURE 2.0 Act is a 1.7 trillion dollar spending bill passed by Congress in 2022. This legislation's scope went far beyond "let's adjust how retirement plans work," but the details within the bill did change many rules relating to retirement plans

Therefore, it changed the strategies you need to consider for managing yours as part of your overall financial plan.

This conversation proves the point we make all the time: you have to build a plan that can flex and bend with changing realities. In this case, those changes include:

Removing the requirement to choose between student loan debt repayment and saving for retirement
Increasing the options you have for how you use 529 plan savings... and giving you an avenue to roll that money into Roth accounts in the future
Giving business owners and freelancers the option to choose between traditional and Roth retirement plans
Adjusting the age you must begin making required minimum distributions from retirement accounts in the future (which can drastically change your savings strategy in the present)
Letting employees have more control over how they receive employer contributions into retirement plans

If you're ready to check and see if your financial plan needs an update, join us in this conversation about what the SECURE 2.0 Act changed and how it affects your personal finances.

Managing Money Together: How to Handle Finances in Your Relationship Jan 20, 2023

Show notes

Money and marriage is a serious topic, if only because getting it wrong can lead to devastating results: 48% of people report fighting about money; 60% of those fights tend to be about spending. 41% of Gen Xers and 29% of baby boomers surveyed by TD Ameritrade report that money was a direct cause of a divorce, and some research shows that disagremeents about money are a leading predictor of future divorce.

So today, we're not just talking about money. We might be saving your marriage, too!

We'll share the best strategies for managing money as a couple. We'll not just provide some big-picture tactics you can use - but also share the details on what we do and how we divide the responsibilities of financial planning and management in our own household.

Money touches every aspect of your life. And everyone has different money mindsets, perspectives, experiences. It's almost like a setup for an argument. It's inescapable, and it's also very likely that you are going to disagree on the right course of action more than just occasionally.

So how do you work it out? How can you effectively manage money together? Tune in for our tips - and our specific recommendation on whether you should combine or separate your finances within your married life.

How Much You Need to Save in 2023 Jan 06, 2023

Show notes

In this episode, we're sharing our 4-step framework to help you hone in on a savings rate that's right for you.

If you ask 10 different people how much you need to save per year to set yourself up for a secure financial future, you will probably get at least 15 different answers. It's confusing! And even if you go with the most common answer to "how much do I need to save," which may be 10 to 15 percent of your gross income each year, that might still not get you to the right answer FOR YOU.

(Spoiler alert: 10 to 15 percent probably isn't going to be enough.)

So how DO you figure out this complicated, confusing question that EVERYONE, regardless of income or financial status or goals that they have, needs to ask and answer?

Tune in to get the framework, and join in on the conversation as we walk through some specific savings rates to discuss why they do or don't work.

The Best Short-Term Investments: What to Know (and What to Avoid) Dec 23, 2022

Show notes

It's your money, and you need it now! In this episode, we discuss the best short-term investments when you want to earn a return from your cash - without exposing it to a risk of loss. We cover:

How current events may drive people to make bad investment decisions
Why you have to start the short-term investment convo with an understanding of risk and reward
What to look for when considering a short-term investment (and what you should expect)
Red flags to avoid when presented with investment opportunities
Specific investment vehicles to consider for your cash when you want some kind of return, but also need to keep that money safe

We wrap up the conversation with a lightning round of dos-and-don'ts, questions-and-answers on the best short-term investments you might want to consider for your own cash - and a warning on why it's almost never "different this time."

The Only Constant Variable in Finance (and Life) Dec 09, 2022

Show notes

The only constant variable that you can truly rely on is change.

This is what makes financial planning so hard. An actual plan that you put down on paper is outdated before the ink is even dry, because every single piece of new information will throw your charts and your projections and your linear action steps out of whack.

Plus, there's no one variable that you can plug in to account for "change." You cannot pin it down or make it more concrete. It's inherently unknowable, usually unpredictable, and rarely attributable to any one thing.

And yet you have to deal with it anyway. In this episode, we discuss a few strategies for working with change (rather than having it work against your plans), including:

The biggest factor that people don't want to account for in their finances - but that is critical to consider
The importance of giving yourself permission to change (and the costs of failing to do so)
Ways to accept change and how to prepare for the unpredictable
Why you must stay open, flexible, and, most importantly, connected with other people
How to use your money to create a positive feedback loop that teaches you about yourself and your values
The dangers of ignoring the reality of "the only constant"

Lessons from Tech Industry Failures: How to Avoid Implosions in Your Own Personal Finances Nov 25, 2022

Show notes

Massive layoffs at Facebook and Amazon. Stumbles at Google and Lyft. A shaky year in the stock market for the tech giants - all capped off by a tremendously spectacular blowup at crypto platform FTX.

The idea that "current success is the biggest indicator of an upcoming failure" seems especially resonate these days amid headline after headline about highly-regarded companies that missed the mark on sustainable growth. So what can these tech industry giants teach us about our personal finances? Join us in this episode as we walk through the takeaways we can apply to our own lives and personal financial situations.

We explain the importance of setting reasonable expectations for yourself and your money, the dangers of believing in silver-bullet solutions, how to layer in stabilizing features into your financial plan when you construct it, why you need to properly assess risks (and how those risks aren't limited to what you personally choose to be involved in, but how you can be impacted by factors you didn't see coming), how to properly make a speculative bet in any financial market to protect yourself from too much downside, and much more.

How to Pay Less Taxes: 5 Strategies to Reduce Your Tax Burden Nov 11, 2022

Show notes

Want to pay less in taxes? Who doesn't! In this episode of the show, we're talking through 5 ways that you can significantly reduce your tax exposure, and therefore save money by not sending so much of it off to the IRS.

Today, we're discussing strategies to:

1. Create liquidity from investments without triggering taxable events 2. Grow tax-free wealth 3. Pay less on investment gains 4. Get more money into tax-advantaged retirement accounts (even when you make too much to contirbute to those accounts directly) 5. Avoid paying income tax entirely

If you're ready to learn (legally!) how to pay less taxes, this tactical episode is for you.

Math: It's Irresponsible! Oct 28, 2022

Show notes

It might sound a bit odd coming from the finance pros, but it's true: it's irresponsible to use math alone to build a financial plan.

That's because money isn't a math problem. Too often we think we can just plug numbers into a formula and rely on the answer that it generates, but that leaves out a lot of variables that often matter more than the baseline numbers.

So what DO we look at instead? We share three major considerations: -- Understanding your financial reality and respecting what the numbers say about TODAY -- Adding color and context that reflects the fact that your financial decisions are made with the long-term in mind... but that you actually have to live your life in the day-to-day moments -- Managing the emotional challenges that come with trying to align your money, your time, and your energy in a way that allows you to get more of what you want

We'll cover the 3-step framework we use to navigate the complex thought process that's required when making money decisions that actually work in real life... and along the way, we'll explain why spreadsheets and calculations only play a supportive role rather than a starring one.

7 Steps to a Foolproof Financial Plan Oct 14, 2022

Show notes

As financial planners, we spend every day working to build foolproof financial plans. A foolproof financial plan is one that you can stick to, that you can execute, consistently over time - even through challenging times or unexpected setbacks.

In this episode of the podcast, we're discussing 7 key aspects that we look at when trying to create plans that can withstand the wear and tear (and unpredictability) of everyday life:

Constructing a baseline plan with high likelihood of success
Identifying actions you can take consistently over time (in almost any circumstance)
Choosing assumptions carefully
Avoiding reliance on any one factor or variable to work out perfectly in order for the entire plan to work
Saving 25 percent of your income (or more!)
Frontloading your savings and taking advantage of the power time gives you when it comes to compounding returns
Keeping your spending in check (and using other rules of thumb to keep cash flow under control, like limiting your total annual housing costs to 20 percent of your gross income)

Following these 7 steps can help you construct a foolproof financial plan that provides freedom and flexibility both right now and into the future. And freedom with our finances means access to the ultimate marker of success: having the choice and flexibility in how we spend our time.

Ready to get your foolproof financial plan in place so you can enjoy these benefits? Jump into this episode now!

How to Use Your 401(k) to Retire Early Sep 30, 2022

Show notes

If you don't know how much you can really put into a 401(k), you may be missing out. We shine a light on the 401(k)s facts most people don't know, and uncover opportunities to save more so you can accelerate your progress toward your financial goals.

Today on the show, we explain:

- The real maximum you can contribute to a 401(k) each year - and it's not just $20,500!

- The critical elements you need to look for within a 401(k) plan document, including what contributions are allowed, if employers make discretionary contributions, special withdrawal rules and conversions, and details on vesting schedules.

- The overfunding mistakes we see clients make, and the manual math it takes to correct those.

- The two main strategies to consider if you want to use your 401(k) to retire early - and access your money without penalties.

- The role tax planning plays in getting the most from your 401(k)... whether you want to retire early or not.

...and more. Most people take their 401(k)s for granted, and don't ask enough questions about how to optimize those plans. If you're ready to correct that mistake and start maximizing what you can do with your 401(k) - or even use it to help you retire early - this episode is for you.

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