The Rob Berger Show

Latest Episodes:

RBS 222: The New Tax Law Changes and How They May Affect Retirement Jul 23, 2025

Show notes

The passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act has brought us a number of changes to the tax laws. Some changes are "permanent," meaning it would take an act of Congress and the President to change them. Some are "temporary," meaning they expire at some point in the future. Almost all of them can affect how we plan for retirement, particularly when it comes to Roth conversion strategies, tax-gain harvesting, and even traditional retirement account distributions.
In this video, I walk through the key tax provisions of the OBBBA, and then cover how they may affect retirement planning.
NOTE: ProjectionLab has updated its software to account for the OBBBA tax changes
https://robberger.com/tools/projectio...
Resources
Andy Panko's article: https://static.twentyoverten.com/5d25...
U.S. Bank Tax Bracket article: https://www.usbank.com/wealth-managem...
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RBS 221: What's the Best Option for Cash: Money Market Funds or T-Bill ETFs? (FQF) Jul 19, 2025

Show notes

Here are the five questions we cover this week in Five Question Friday:
1. Should we park cash in a money market fund or a t-bill ETF?
2. Are Robo-Advisor Tax-Loss harvesting features worth it?
3. What is the Retirement Spending Smile?
4. What rate of return assumption should you use in retirement planning software?
5. Which IRA account types can be combined?

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RBS 220: How the New $6,000 Senior Bonus Deduction Affects Roth Conversions (FQF) Jul 12, 2025

Show notes

In today's Five Question Friday we look at the following questions:
1. How should the $6,000 senior deduction affect Roth conversions?
2. Are short-term bonds a reasonable alternative to intermediate-term bonds?
3. Are tax-managed balanced funds ok in a taxable account?
4. How should I invest money I'll use to pay the rent in retirement?
5. Boldin vs ProjectionLab for Roth conversion analysis?Join the Newsletter. It's Free:
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RBS 219: 3 Smart Alternatives to the 4% Rule (No Initial Safe Withdrawal Rate Required) Jun 24, 2025

Show notes

One of the challenges of the 4% Rule is what your initial safe withdrawal rate should be. While the name of the rule suggests one should start with 4%, there are countless reasons why that start point may not be right for you. For example, you may retiree early, you may not use the same asset allocation the rule was based on, you may have concerns about future stock market returns, inflation or both.
Enter withdrawal strategies that don't require you to use 4% or any other initial safe withdrawal rate. In this video we'll look at three such strategies:
1. Variable Withdrawal Percentage
2. Spend Safely in Retirement Strategy
3. Chance of Success Strategy
Resources mentioned in the video
FICalc: https://ficalc.app/
Empower: https://go.robberger.com/empower/yt-3...
Boldin: https://go.robberger.com/boldin/yt-3-...
VWP Article & Spreadsheet: https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Varia...
Spend Safely in Retirement Article: https://robberger.com/spend-safely-in...
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RBS 218: Individual TIPS vs TIPS Funds--Which Offers Better Inflation Projection? (FQF) Jun 22, 2025

Show notes

In today's Five Question Friday (FQF), we look at the following questions:
1. TIPS Funds vs Individual TIPS--which provides the better inflation protection?
2. Is a 4% withdrawal each year with no inflation adjustment a reasonable withdrawal strategy?
3. Can tax loss harvesting reduce IRMAA payments?
4. How can you estimate the annual income of an investment portfolio?
5. How do I track my net worth?
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RBS 217: Are Growth Stocks Best for a Roth IRA? (FQF) Jun 13, 2025

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We look at the following questions in today's Five Question Friday:
1. Are growth stocks best for Roth IRAs?
2. How should you pay taxes on retirement account withdrawals?
3. How should you invest in retirement if you are scared of the stock market?
4. What's the ideal set-it-and-forget-it retirement portfolio?
5. Should you withdrawal cash from investment accounts to create an emergency fund?
Schwab RMD article: https://www.schwab.com/go-digital/rmd
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RBS 216: Is the 4% Rule Now The 5% Rule? (FQF) Jun 06, 2025

Show notes

In today's Five Question Friday video we cover these questions:
1. Why has Bill Bengen gone from 4% to 5%?
2. Is it ok to put Social Security bridge money in a money market fund?
3. How do Fidelity's Zero Funds compare to Vanguard Index Funds?
4. Should cash count towards your asset allocation?
5. Should you convert Vanguard Mutual Funds to ETFs?
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RBS 215: How To Invest In Your 20s (It's easier than you think) Jun 03, 2025

Show notes

I viewer named Eileen asked about how her children, who are in their twenties, should invest. Here's her question: Can you do a video on constructing a retirement account (Roth) for my 20 year old kids? They are contributing 15%. I am thinking 10% VGSLX, 10% VSIAX, 30% VTIAX and 50% either VTSAX or VVIAX. Your thoughts please.
In this video I'll walk through the 3 goals of long-term investing, evaluate Eileen's proposed portfolio, and look at one alternative.
Empower: https://go.robberger.com/empower/yt-20
Morningstar: https://www.morningstar.com/
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RBS 214: Does a Market Crash Change the 4% Rule? (FQF) May 30, 2025

Show notes

In today's Five Question Friday we look at these 5 questions:
1. Does a Market Crash Change How to Use the 4% Rule?
2. How do bond ETFs generate returns?
3. Are Timothy Funds a good option?
4. Is Fidelity HSA a solid account?
5. What's better in retirement, Schwab Intelligent Portfolios or a TDR Fund?
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RBS 213: I Attended a Free Dinner Investment Seminar--Here's what happened. May 28, 2025

Show notes

In this video, I share my experience attending a free dinner investment seminar. The seminar was allegedly to help investors handle volatility in the markets. Instead, it turned out to be a sales pitch for expensive, complex investing products like a leveraged options strategy.
Here are links to the resources I mention in the video:
SPIVA Report: https://www.spglobal.com/spdji/en/res...
Concentration of SP500: https://www.visualcapitalist.com/sp/v...
Vanguard Lont-Term Bond Fund: https://www.morningstar.com/funds/xna...
Paper on Tax Loss Harvesting: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.c...

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