Secure Your Retirement

Latest Episodes:

Episode 382 - The Cost Nobody Wants to Think About - Long Term Care Aug 31, 2026

Show notes

In this Episode of the Secure Your Retirement Podcast, Radon and Murs discuss long-term care, one of the topics that comes up most often with clients, including those who have saved well and still want a clear plan for it. They break down what long-term care actually means, why it's not the nursing-home picture most people assume, and how continuous care retirement communities and in-home care both fit into real financial planning.

Listen in to learn about the two hybrid approaches available today for funding long-term care, a life insurance policy with a built-in long-term care benefit and a long-term care annuity, and why the tax treatment on each one matters more than most people realize when it comes to protecting retirement savings.

In this episode, find out:

What long-term care actually means, based on the technical definition of needing help with two out of six activities of daily living
Why continuous care retirement communities offer an independent, resort-style option most people don't expect
Why Medicare does not cover long-term care, and what gap that leaves in a retirement plan
How a life insurance policy with a long-term care rider can provide either a tax-free death benefit or tax-free care funding, depending on what happens
How a long-term care annuity works, including the typical two-to-three-times benefit multiplier and tax-free withdrawals for qualifying care

Tweetable Quotes:

"The technical definition of long-term care is that you have someone that cannot perform two out of the six activities of daily living." - Radon Stancil

"If you don't use the money, if you don't go into long-term care and you end up passing away, there's still a benefit that goes to the beneficiaries." - Murs Tariq (flagged for audio verification before publishing per standard compliance check)

Resources:

If you are in or nearing retirement and you want to gain clarity on what questions you should be asking, learn what the biggest retirement myths are, and identify what you can do to achieve peace of mind for your retirement, get started today by requesting our complimentary video course, Four Steps to Secure Your Retirement!

To access the course, simply visit POMWealth.net/podcast.

Episode 381 - The Coming Retirement Tax Problem Roth Conversions, RMDs and Medicare IRMAA Aug 24, 2026

Show notes

In this Episode of the Secure Your Retirement Podcast, Radon and Murs discuss the tax problem quietly building for anyone with a large 401(k) or IRA, required minimum distributions, Roth conversions, and the Medicare IRMAA surcharge that catches even careful savers off guard.

Listen in to learn about how RMDs are calculated once you reach your 70s, why a disciplined saving habit can turn into a bigger tax bill than expected, how a Roth conversion strategy can smooth that out over time, and how Medicare's IRMAA surcharge fits into the timing of it all.

In this episode, find out:

What a required minimum distribution (RMD) actually is, and why it can surprise even the most disciplined savers
A simple way to estimate what your own future RMD could look like, using nothing more than your current balance and a rough growth assumption
How a Roth conversion strategy can smooth out RMDs over time, including a real example from POM's tax strategy sessions that projected six figures in lifetime tax savings
What the Medicare IRMAA surcharge is, why it's tied to your income two years before you enroll, and why it can add hundreds or thousands of dollars a year to your Medicare premium
Why RMD planning and Medicare IRMAA planning can't be handled separately, and need to be revisited every year as part of a real tax strategy

Tweetable Quotes:

"Not everybody should do a Roth conversion, but everybody should have an analysis done to find out if it makes sense." — Radon Stancil

"A big 401(k) is a good problem to have, but it's still a problem you need a plan for." — Murs Tariq

Resources:

To access the course, simply visit POMWealth.net/podcast.

Episode 380 - A Great Investment Can Become A Dangerous Retirement Risk Aug 18, 2026

Show notes

In this Episode of the Secure Your Retirement Podcast, Radon and Murs discuss one of the biggest sources of investment risk hiding in plain sight for people nearing retirement: a portfolio that has grown large thanks to a handful of Magnificent 7 stocks, and what that means once a paycheck is no longer coming in. They walk through a real conversation with a new client whose accounts had grown substantially through stocks like Nvidia stock, Tesla, and Amazon, and why the retirement investment strategy that builds wealth is not the same one that should carry you through spending it. If you've ever wondered whether your risky investments have quietly become too large a piece of your retirement portfolio, this episode breaks down how to think it through without giving up the gains you've earned.

Listen in to learn about the numbers behind the Magnificent 7 run-up and the very real stock market risk that comes with it, including the 2022 pullback most investors have already forgotten. Radon and Murs unpack sequence of returns risk, why retirement risk management looks completely different once withdrawals begin, and how their three bucket strategy is built to protect retirement savings while still allowing room for growth. Whether you're actively planning retirement, working through a retirement checklist, or simply thinking about how to retire comfortably without one bad year undoing decades of work, this conversation lays out a retirement income strategy built for exactly that moment.

In this episode, find out:

Why the Magnificent 7 stocks grew so dramatically since 2020, and the specific 2022 declines (Tesla, Meta, Nvidia, Amazon, Alphabet, and Microsoft) that most investors have already forgotten about
The math behind why a 50% loss requires a 100% gain just to break even, and why that matters so much more once you're living off your retirement portfolio
How the accumulation phase and the retirement phase call for two completely different approaches to risk, and why what worked to build your wealth can work against you once you retire
A breakdown of the three bucket strategy, including how the cash, growth, and safety and income buckets work together for real retirement portfolio diversification
Why you don't have to sell your winning stocks to build a secure retirement financial plan, and how to keep a piece of the growth you're proud of while protecting the rest

Tweetable Quotes:

"What gets you up the mountain won't get you down. It's a different type of physicality that we need to be able to deal with." — Radon Stancil
"There's ways to invest when you're growing your assets, and then there's ways to invest when you're trying to have your assets generate and preserve them." — Murs Tariq

Resources:

To access the course, simply visit POMWealth.net/podcast.

Episode 379 - How to Build a Retirement Plan That Actually Fits Your Life Aug 10, 2026

Show notes

In this Episode of the Secure Your Retirement Podcast, Radon discusses what really happens inside a personalized retirement financial plan, walking through the exact process our Director of Financial Planning and Tax Strategy, Taylor Wolverton, uses with every new client. This episode is built for anyone thinking seriously about financial planning for retirement, whether you're still working, already retired, or somewhere in the middle trying to figure out how to retire without losing sleep over the numbers. Retirement planning strategies only work if they're built on your real accounts and your real goals, not a rough guess, and that's exactly what this conversation breaks down step by step.

Listen in to learn about how a real retirement financial plan gets built from the ground up: mapping every account into a single clear picture, laying out retirement income planning around Social Security and required minimum distributions, and using a retirement spending plan to test what you can actually afford, including the big goals you've been putting off. If you're doing financial planning after 60 and wondering whether your retirement investment strategy and retirement cash flow can support the life you actually want, this episode shows you how that question gets answered with real numbers instead of guesswork.

In this episode, find out:

How a "blueprint" of your accounts reveals your true net worth, often higher than you'd guess in your head
Why retirement income planning has to map every source, Social Security, pensions, salary, and required minimum distributions, on its own timeline
How a retirement spending plan and goals section let you test big one-time expenses, like travel or a kitchen renovation, against your long-term numbers
Why a retirement financial plan gets projected all the way to age 90, and what a rising or falling balance actually tells you
How conservative assumptions on returns and inflation give your retirement checklist room to work even if the market underperforms

Tweetable Quotes:

"I don't care how much money people have. They think they're going to run out." - Radon Stancil

"It is hard for people to go from saving, saving, saving to spending, spending, spending, and it can be a scary transition." - Radon Stancil

Resources:

To access the course, simply visit POMWealth.net/podcast.

Episode 378 - Trump Accounts Explained - Part 2 Aug 03, 2026

Show notes

New Trump accounts are now open for enrollment, and the question we're hearing from clients isn't whether they're worth considering. It's how they stack up against the accounts families have already been using for years, 529 plans, UTMA and UGMA custodial accounts, brokerage accounts, and Roth or traditional IRAs for kids. This episode is the follow-up to our first Trump accounts conversation, and it's the one to listen to if you're trying to figure out which account, or which combination of accounts, actually fits your family's goals.

Taylor Wolverton, our Director of Financial Planning and Tax Strategy, joins Murs Tariq again to walk through each option side by side. They cover contribution limits, tax treatment, distribution restrictions, and the one detail about Roth IRAs that most social media advice leaves out entirely. There's no single best account here, and that's the point. The right strategy usually combines two or three of these tools, and this episode gives you the framework to figure out which ones belong in yours.

In this episode, find out:

Why Trump accounts don't require your child to have earned income, and how that changes the math compared to a Roth IRA
How the Trump-account-to-Roth conversion works once your child turns 18, and why timing it right could mean decades of tax-free growth
What's changed about 529 plans that makes them far more flexible than the version most parents remember, including the new Roth rollover option
The real trade-off behind UTMA and UGMA custodial accounts, and why control matters more than most families realize until it's gone
The one requirement missing from nearly every "open your kid a Roth IRA" post you see online, and what to do about it if your kids aren't earning yet

Tweetable Quotes:

"There's not one that's just like, quote unquote, best. It really depends on what your goal is with these accounts and what you're trying to accomplish." — Taylor Wolverton

"The Trump account kind of helps you navigate building that wealth without having to worry as much about earned income." — Murs Tariq

Resources:

Episode 377 - Trump Accounts Explained Eligibility - Benefits - Rules and How They Work Jul 27, 2026

Show notes

In this Episode of the Secure Your Retirement Podcast, Radon and Murs discuss Trump Accounts with Taylor Wolverton, our Director of Financial Planning and Tax Strategy, breaking down exactly how do Trump Accounts work, who qualifies, and why this new option for Trump Investments is quickly becoming part of the conversation around saving for children and investing for grandchildren. Retirement planning has always started with the accounts you already know, but these works differently, and if you're building a family financial planning strategy or looking for financial gifts for grandchildren, it's worth understanding before you decide whether it belongs in your plan.

Listen in to learn about the eligibility rules, the contribution limits, and the one-time $1,000 government deposit that applies to certain children. Radon and Murs also walk through a Roth conversion strategy hiding inside these accounts, one that turns a simple child investment plan into a genuine tool for building generational wealth. Whether you're deep into your own retirement tax planning or just starting to think about a retirement checklist for your family, this episode connects a brand-new account to the same retirement tax strategies you may already be using in your own retirement financial plan.

In this episode, find out:

What a Trump Account is, who's eligible, and how the application process actually works
The contribution rules, including the $5,000 annual limit and the one-time $1,000 seed deposit for eligible children
How employer contributions work and why they don't add to your taxable income
The Roth conversion strategy that can turn contributions into a tax-free retirement account for your child
When money can be withdrawn, and the penalties to know about before that age

Tweetable Quotes:

"There's zero money to us in setting up a Trump account. We just wanted to talk it through, because there are real benefits people can take advantage of." - Radon Stancil

"There's not many ways you can get a thousand dollars tax-free. If someone was born between 2025 and 2028, it seems like a no-brainer." - Murs Tariq

Resources: If you are in or nearing retirement and you want to gain clarity on what questions you should be asking, learn what the biggest retirement myths are, and identify what you can do to achieve peace of mind for your retirement, get started today by requesting our complimentary video course, Four Steps to Secure Your Retirement! To access the course, simply visit POMWealth.net/podcast.

Episode 376 - Concentrated Stock Positions How to Diversify and Minimize Capital Gains Taxes Jul 20, 2026

Show notes

In this Episode of the Secure Your Retirement Podcast, Radon and Murs discuss Concentrated Stock Positions and why so many pre-retirees and retirees are sitting on a mountain of Appreciated Stock without a plan for it. Whether it came from Company Stock Options at a long-time employer or from riding a big name higher over the past few years, a single stock that grows into half a portfolio changes the entire risk picture heading into retirement. Radon and Murs break down why Stock Diversification matters more now than it did during your working years, and why Capital Gains Taxes are usually the real obstacle keeping people stuck.

Listen in to learn about the Tax-Efficient Investing strategies Nick Hyman is using with clients to unwind large positions without triggering an unnecessary tax bill. You'll hear how Tax-Loss Harvesting through Direct Indexing can offset gains, how a Donor-Advised Fund can move highly appreciated shares to charity with zero tax on the gain, and how bracket-aware selling fits into a coordinated Retirement Investment Strategy. If you're building a Retirement Financial Plan and Company Stock Options or one big winning stock are part of the picture, this episode lays out exactly where to start.

In this episode, find out:

Why holding a large Concentrated Stock Position is a different risk in retirement than it was while you were working
How Tax-Loss Harvesting and Direct Indexing can help offset gains when you sell Appreciated Stock
Why bracket-aware selling, year by year, is central to smart Retirement Tax Planning
How a Donor-Advised Fund lets charitably inclined retirees give appreciated shares without paying tax on the gain
Why doing nothing about a concentrated position only compounds the problem instead of solving it

Tweetable Quotes:

"When we're working and we have a salary and income coming in, if a stock goes down 20, 30, 40 percent, it's not as big of a deal because there's still income coming in the door." - Murs Tariq

"If you just stay in this place of doing nothing, you only are compounding the problem. It's not getting better." - Radon Stancil

Episode 375 - The ROUTE to Retirement - A Complete Evaluation of Your Retirement Plan Jul 13, 2026

Show notes

In this Episode of the Secure Your Retirement Podcast, Radon and Murs discuss what really happens during an evaluation appointment, the first Financial Advisor Meeting most people have when they start exploring what it actually takes to plan for retirement. They break down the five critical areas that determine Retirement Success, known as the ROUTE to Retirement: Retirement Risk Management, Retirement Income Planning, Medicare Planning and Long-Term Care Planning under one unified healthcare umbrella, Retirement Tax Planning, and Estate Planning. If you've ever wondered what separates a real Retirement Financial Plan from a portfolio review with a nice title, this episode lays out exactly where most plans quietly fall short.

Listen in to learn about why a simple one-to-ten risk question reveals more about your Retirement Readiness than any account statement ever could, how a written Retirement Investment Strategy and a real Social Security Planning conversation change decision making for the better, and why Retirement Tax Strategies put in place before the calendar year ends can outweigh almost any other move you make on the road to retiring comfortably.

In this episode, find out:

Why the risk scale used in every evaluation appointment skips the number seven, and what your honest answer reveals about your true Retirement Readiness
How a written retirement income plan and clear Social Security Planning turn a stressful guessing game into a Retirement Financial Plan with actual data behind it
Why Medicare Planning and Long-Term Care Planning are treated as one Unified Healthcare conversation, and what a dedicated Medicare specialist changes about that experience
Why most people's Retirement Tax Planning happens too late to matter, and how proactive Retirement Tax Strategies executed before December 31st can beat any adjustment to an investment strategy
What a five-year-old estate plan gets wrong, and the real story of a client who needed updated documents in a single week before leaving for a cruise

Tweetable Quotes:

"Retirement planning is a bunch of knobs, and if you turn one, you're turning all the others." - Murs Tariq

"It's something people don't want to talk about, and it's easy to procrastinate on it because, hey, I'm good, I'm healthy." - Murs Tariq

Whether you're years from retiring or already retired, this episode doubles as a retirement checklist for anyone planning retirement who wants a second look at whether their plan for retirement actually holds up across all five areas. Retirement isn't one decision; it's five connected ones, and this episode walks through exactly how those five come together to help you secure your retirement with real confidence instead of a guess.

Resources:

To access the course, simply visit POMWealth.net/podcast.

Episode 374 - Markets, Rates, and Retirement A Mid-Year Economic Check-In Jul 06, 2026

Show notes

In this Episode of the Secure Your Retirement Podcast, Radon and Murs discuss retirement planning 2026 with returning guest Tom Siomades, chief market economist, for a mid-year Economic Check on everything that's shaped the markets so far. From the Iran conflict's effect on oil prices and inflation to a new Kevin Warsh Fed chair trying to find footing amid inflation and interest rates that refuse to cooperate, this Markets update covers the headlines retirees are hearing everywhere and translates them into what actually matters for your plan.

Listen in to learn about why stock market volatility has made 2026 feel like a tale of two markets, with AI stocks 2026 and tech stock names like SpaceX carrying much of the S&P 500 outlook while the rest of the economy absorbs energy prices US pressure and shifting consumer spending trends. Tom shares his honest read on recession risk, why Federal Reserve rate cuts have stalled out, and where the market uncertainty of the SpaceX IPO and the AI rally could go from here.

In this episode, find out:

Why 2026 has followed a strikingly similar path to last year, and what that pattern means for retirement advice going forward
How the Iran conflict pushed oil prices and inflation higher, and why gas prices don't fall as fast as oil does
What Kevin Warsh Fed chair is up against, and why Federal Reserve rate cuts have all but disappeared from this year's forecasts
Why Tom is cautious about chasing AI stocks 2026 and tech stock hype, including his candid take on the SpaceX IPO
What Tom is watching for the rest of the year, and why he still sees a path to retiring comfortably despite the market uncertainty

Tweetable Quotes:

"We sit here in the middle of 2026, and it's amazing how quickly it's gone by, but there's also been a lot of bumps in the road." – Murs Tariq, Secure Your Retirement Podcast

"It's amazing if you think about how important oil is to just making the world go round, not just gas, but manufacturing, shipping, and every cargo carrier out there." – Murs Tariq, Secure Your Retirement Podcast

Whether you're actively working on your retirement checklist or still in the early stages of planning retirement, this Economic Check is a reminder that a real Retirement Planning strategy has to hold up no matter what the headlines say. Retirement isn't about predicting the next SpaceX IPO or timing the next rate cut. It's about building a plan for retirement sturdy enough to absorb inflation and interest rates, tech stock swings, and everything in between.

Episode 373 - GLP-1 Medications and Medicare - What Retirees Need to Know Jun 29, 2026

Show notes

Medicare's new GLP-1 Bridge Program gives eligible retirees access to Wegovy and Zepbound for $50 a month — but there are three financial catches worth knowing before you enroll.

In this episode of the Secure Your Retirement Podcast, Radon and Murs discuss one of the biggest Medicare developments of 2026 — the new GLP-1 Bridge Program, launching July 1, which allows eligible Medicare beneficiaries to access popular GLP-1 weight loss medications like Wegovy and Zepbound for a flat $50 copay per month. Joined by Peace of Mind Wealth Management's in-house Medicare specialist Sean Southard, they break down exactly what this program is, who qualifies, how the approval process works, and what the financial implications look like for retirees on fixed incomes.

Listen in to learn about the three financial angles every retiree needs to understand before enrolling in the GLP-1 Bridge Program, including why that $50 copay sits completely outside your normal Medicare Part D protections, what happens when the program ends in December 2027, and how GLP-1 medications and Medicare prescription drug coverage fit into a broader retirement planning conversation around healthcare costs, budgeting, and long-term affordability.

In this episode, find out:

What GLP-1 medications are, why Medicare historically excluded them for weight loss, and what changed in 2026 to make the GLP-1 Bridge Program possible
Who qualifies for the program based on BMI and health conditions, and how your doctor submits a prior authorization request through Medicare's centralized system
Why the $50 flat copay does not count toward your Medicare Part D deductible or annual out-of-pocket maximum, and what that means for your retirement budget
What retirees need to plan for when the program's temporary status ends in December 2027 and costs could jump significantly
The health considerations and side effects of GLP-1 medications that matter most for older adults, and why this conversation belongs with your doctor and your financial planner

Tweetable Quotes:

"Retirees need to avoid assuming that this benefit program is going to be permanent forever. Plan for what happens if that $50 copay jumps back up to several hundred dollars a month." — Murs Tariq

"This is both a healthcare conversation and a financial planning conversation. Retirees should evaluate long-term affordability, potential future coverage changes, and how chronic disease management fits into an overall retirement plan." — Shawn Southard

Resources:

To access the course, simply visit POMWealth.net/podcast.

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected