The Rob Berger Show

Latest Episodes:

RBS 142: 7 Timeless Investing Principles That Never Change Jul 15, 2024

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Change is everywhere: AI, the climate, interest rates, global conflict, and inflation, to name a few. So often, investors try to predict where all this craziness will take us so they can position their portfolio. Perhaps a better question to ask is what isn't going to change.
Here are 7 timeless truths about successful investing that apply no matter what the future throws our way.
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RBS 141: The New IRA Gift Annuity--Make A Charitable Contribution & Get A Lifetime Fixed Annuity All In One Jul 12, 2024

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The new Secure Act 2.0 introduced the IRA Gift Annuity starting this year. It allows you to make a one-time charitable contribution out of an IRA for as much as $50,000 and get monthly income for life.
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RBS 140: How Does Your Investment Advisor Compare To A 3-Fund Portfolio Jul 10, 2024

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So you've been using an investment advisor to manage your investments. They have your money in 10, 15, 20 or even more funds! And you start to wonder just how the performance of this absurd portfolio compares to a simple, 2, 3 or perhaps 4 fund portfolio.
Here's how to evaluate your advisor's portfolio with a free tool.
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RBS 139: Flexible Spending and Early Retirement: A Perfect Match or Just a Myth? Jul 08, 2024

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Can one retire early if they have the ability to significantly cut back on discretionary spending during retirement if they must? A recent article on the MadFientist blog claims that following a Discretionary Spending Rule in retirement can significantly increase a retirees Safe Withdrawal Rate. And with a higher SWR, one can retire early.
Karsten Jeske (Big ERN) of Early Retirement Now responded with his own article. He called flexibility in retirement a myth, and detailed why he thinks the Discretionary Spending Rule won't work.
In this episode I give my take on both articles. We also look at a free Safe Withdrawal Calculator you can use to model your own retirement plan.
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RBS 138: At What Age Should You Claim Social Security? Longevity vs Actuarial Method Jul 05, 2024

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When should you claim Social Security? It's an important question. One study found that retirees have lost $3.4 trillion because they started taking Social Security too early. In this episode we'll look at two strategies. One optimizes Social Security assuming you and your spouse will live long past your life expectancy. The other optimizes the claiming strategy based on life expectancy.
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RBS 137: Maximizing FDIC Insurance: How to Ensure Your Bank Accounts Are Fully Protected Jul 03, 2024

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With the collapse of SVB and Signature Bank, I've received a lot of questions about FDIC insurance. In this video, we'll cover the basics of how FDIC insurance works. I'll also show you a free tool from the FDIC you can use to calculate your FDIC coverage.
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FDIC FAQ: https://www.fdic.gov/regulations/reso...
FDIC Calculator (EDIE): https://edie.fdic.gov/

RBS 136: Vanguard Class Action Lawsuit Over Target Date Funds to Move Forward Jul 01, 2024

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In December 2020, Vanguard made some changes to its Target Date Funds. The changes benefits large, institutional investors by lowering costs. But it hurt small, retail investors who held target funds in taxable accounts. The result was that in 2021, these small investors got hit with massive capital gains.
In response, a class action lawsuit was filed against Vanguard and related parties. The defendants moved to dismiss the case. They argued that the plaintiffs didn't have standing to sue, meaning they hadn't been harmed. Vanguard even went so far as to claim that the capital gains hit benefited the small investors because, theoretically, they may have to pay even more at some point in the future.
Vanguard also moved to dismiss the case, arguing that it hadn't breached any duties of care or loyalty to the investors.
The judge in the case has ruled largely in favor of the plaintiffs. The case will be forward to the next phase--discovery.
Here's a copy of the judge's ruling: https://www.bloomberglaw.com/public/d...
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RBS 135: How to Implement the 4% Rule Jul 01, 2024

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A viewer asked me a series of questions about the nuts and bolts of using the 4% Rule. I do my best to respond to his questions in this episode.
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RBS 134: How Much Cash Should You Hold in Retirement? Jun 28, 2024

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Many things change when we retire. There’s the obvious change–we stop working. And there’s a less obvious change–how we approach cash.
Before retirement, we might have an emergency fund of three to six months’ worth of living expenses. After retirement, we need cash for so much more. The ideal cash reserve depends on individual circumstances, including income stability, potential emergencies, and comfort level during market volatility.
In this episode, I’ll walk through the seven main reasons retirees hold cash. For each, we’ll look at how much cash one should have for each reason and the type of account best suited to hold the cash.

RBS 133: Decoding The "Chance of Success" In Your Retirement Plan Jun 14, 2024

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You enter your income, expenses, investments, and liabilities into your favorite retirement planner. You click a button, the software does some kind of calculation, and out pops a single number.
It may be 87%. Maybe it’s 72%. Or it could be 15%. Whatever the number, you’re told it represents your retirement plan’s “Chance of Success.”
What exactly does that mean? How is it calculated? And what “Chance of Success” should you aim for? We’ll tackle these and other questions in this video.
You'll find my article on this topic as well as links to the tools I use in this video in this article: https://robberger.com/decoding-the-ch...

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