Retirement Planning Education, with Andy Panko

Episodes

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  #218 – "Real" person retirement planning chat with Mark 20.08.2026 1h 41m

  Andy chats with a real person (not an advisor) doing their own retirement planning. In this episode, Andy talks with Mark. They talk about a wide array of retirement planning topics such as when he started getting serious about planning for retirement, how he got comfortable going from accumulation to decumulation mode, how he and his wife are navigating health insurance prior to Medicare eligibility, why he randomly showed up in Andy's office one day, and more! Links in this ep...
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  #217 - Q&A edition...unrealized gains in brokerage accounts, variable withdrawal strategies, unused 529 funds, protecting against fraud from advisors and MORE! 13.08.2026 1h 9m

  Listener Q&A where Andy talks about: How to sell and rebalance positions in a brokerage account when they have unrealized gains and you're trying to be tax-efficient about it ( 7:06 )His thoughts on a few different variable portfolio withdrawal strategies, namely Amortization Based Withdrawals ("ABW"), Total Portfolio Allocation Withdrawals ("TPAW") and Big ERN's CAPE-based approach ( 14:10 )Converting to a Roth IRA money you plan on spending in the near-term, instead of outright di...
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  #216 - Trump accounts: what they are, how they work, and use cases 06.08.2026 1h 36m

  Andy discusses the ins and outs of Trump accounts: Legislative backgroundHow to open themHow to fund themInvesting inside themHow to distribute from themReporting around themTaxation of themThe two potential worthwhile use cases I see for them Links in this episode: My in-depth write-up of Trump accounts, including all of the links I referenced in the show - Trump accounts: what they are, how they work, and use cases Tenon Financial monthly e-newsletter - Retirement Planning InsightsYouTube...
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  #215 - Summary of the 2026 annual Social Security trustees report 30.07.2026 55m

  Andy summarizes the recent 2026 annual Social Security trustees report, including what it would actually mean if the system's trust fund were to deplete, and what changes can be made to ensure that doesn't happen Links in this episode: The full 2026 Social Security trustees report - hereSummary of the recently proposed PROMISE Act - hereThe recent episode of Inspired Money with me, Wade Pfau and Mary Beth Franklin discussing all things Social Security - here Tenon Financial monthly e-newsl...
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  #214 - Q&A edition...Roth conversions, directionality vs precision, separately managed accounts, tax return extensions and MORE! 23.07.2026 1h 8m

  Listener Q&A where Andy talks about: Should Roth conversion analysis look at marginal or effective tax rates ( 4:21 )His thoughts on why qualified Roth account distributions might eventually be included in certain measures of Modified Adjusted Gross Income ("MAGI") ( 8:28 )What other MAGIs are potentially impacted and should be watched out for with doing Roth conversions ( 12:38 )The difference between "directionality" and "precision" in retirement planning ( 20:40 )Is it reasonable...
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  #213 – "Real" person retirement planning chat with Tom 16.07.2026 1h 17m

  Andy chats with a real person (not an advisor) doing their own retirement planning. In this episode, Andy talks with Tom. They talk about a wide array of retirement planning topics such as when he started getting serious about planning for retirement, why he went back to work as a consultant a year after retiring, why their plans of relocating to a different state have since changed, what his Roth conversion plan is, and more! Links in this episode: Tenon Financial monthly e-n...
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  #212 - "Hot topics" edition...Andy and Tanya Nichols talk about having mortgages in retirement, when to start spending down HSAs, what might happen to Social Security and MORE! 09.07.2026 1h 38m

  Andy and Tanya Nichols from Retire Agile share their thoughts on a handful of current events and "hot topics" relating to retirement planning. Specifically, they talk about: How we help clients get over the hurdle of actually spending their savings ( 10:27 )Their thoughts on having mortgages in retirement ( 22:27 )What they think is likely to happen to the Social Security system, and what changes might be made in advance of the trust fund depleting in a few years ( 34:56 )When people should...
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  #211 – 8 common tax planning mistakes often made in retirement 02.07.2026 1h 13m

  Andy discusses common tax planning mistakes often made in retirement. Additionally, he shares insight on how to attempt to prevent such mistakes, and/or fix them after they've happened The 8 common mistakes are: Not paying enough income tax timely throughout the year, and having underpayment penalties as a resultMissing or not taking the correct amount of Required Minimum Distributions (“RMDs”)Having improper beneficiary designationsNot properly applying Roth account withdrawal rulesNot und...
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  #210 - Q&A edition...Mega backdoor Roth contributions, nonqualified annuities, exceptions to the IRA early withdrawal penalty, when to hire an advisor, how much is too much to pay for an advisor and MORE! 25.06.2026 1h 9m

  Listener Q&A where Andy talks about: Are tax return amendments needed if info from a 1099-R was left out but doesn't impact the return's gross or taxable income ( 4:08 )What are the pros and cons of using average cost basis tracking for mutual funds ( 8:36 )Tax implications of nonqualified annuities and surrendering vs annuitizing it ( 13:55 )Is there a more optimized way to pay taxes on in-plan Roth conversions as opposed to having additional taxes withheld from your paycheck ( 23:...
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  #209 – "Real" person retirement planning chat with Mark Ross from the Rock Retirement Club 18.06.2026 1h 27m

  Andy and Mark Ross from the Rock Retirement Club talk about Mark's journey in retiring to become an "encorepreneur" by starting a coaching business, and spending more time creating art. They also address some of standard "real person" planning questions such healthcare before Medicare, Social Security claiming, the emotional transition to leaving the corporate world, and more! Links in this episode: Mark's coaching website - https://www.nextthinggroup.com/Mark's Instagram site...
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  #208 - "Hot topics" edition...Andy and Adam Grossman talk about analyzing annuities, retiring to a different state, bonds vs bond funds, inflation and MORE! 11.06.2026 1h 41m

  Andy and Adam Grossman from Mayport Wealth Management share their thoughts on a handful of current events and "hot topics" relating to retirement planning. Specifically, they talk about: How to analyze an existing annuity and whether to keep it, exchange it to another annuity or surrender it ( 11:44 )The different things to factor in when considering retiring to a different state ( 23:18 )What to do with your investments regarding concerns about the U.S.'s national debt, potential inflation...
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  #207 – Roth conversion analysis: more than meets the eye 04.06.2026 1h 18m

  Andy discusses the various areas of consideration and analysis that go into deciding whether Roth conversions might potentially be of value. Furthermore, he explains why it's impossible to actually quantify how much tax savings, if any, Roth conversions might potentially create. And what to consider when figuring out how much to convert in any given year Links in this episode: Vanguard's "Break Even Tax Rate" Roth conversion analysis white paper - hereTenon Financial's June 2026 Newsletter/...
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  #206 - Q&A edition...Social Security spousal benefits, tax withholdings on Social Security, bonds vs bond funds, separating basis out of IRAs and MORE! 28.05.2026 54m

  Listener Q&A where Andy talks about: Claiming your own Social Security benefit at 62 and then later switching to collecting a spousal benefit after your spouse starts their benefit ( 5:45 )It's said by comedians that there are just a small number of basic jokes and everything else is just a variation. The same could be said about financial planning, where there are just a few core topics, and everything else is a variation on a core topic ( 11:18 )What is meant when it's said the st...
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  #205 – "Real" person retirement planning chat with Daryl 21.05.2026 1h 5m

  Andy chats with a real person (not an advisor) doing their own retirement planning. In this episode, Andy talks with Daryl. They talk about a wide array of retirement planning topics such as when he started getting serious about planning for retirement, how he's gotten comfortable spending from his nest egg, what he's doing for health insurance since he's not yet on Medicare and what his claim to fame was with being on television... Links in this episode: Tenon Financial month...
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  #204 - "Hot topics" edition...Andy and Brad Flood talk about portfolio withdrawal strategies & sequence of returns risk, financial planning software limitations, balancing optimization and simplicity, and MORE! 14.05.2026 1h 30m

  Andy and Brad Flood from Tenon Financial share their thoughts on a handful of current events and "hot topics" relating to retirement planning. Specifically, they talk about: Portfolio withdrawal strategies for addressing sequence of returns risk ( 10:44 )Using financial planning software and dealing with its limitations ( 26:25 )Thoughts on Medicare surcharges known as IRMAA, and how much they should be factored into tax planning ( 40:25 )Dealing with legacy investments in client's accounts...
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  #203 – Options for holding cash and cash equivalents 07.05.2026 1h 21m

  Andy discusses the different options for holding cash and cash equivalents (i.e. things that are principal protected, offer some amount of interest and are highly liquid and readily accessible) The options are: Physical bills and coinsChecking accountsSavings accountsCertificates of Deposit, or CD'sMoney Market Mutual Funds or Exchanged Traded Funds that invest like Money Market Mutual FundsMulti-Year Guaranteed Annuities, or MYGA's (but hear why he doesn't fully consider them cash equivalent...
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  #202 – Guest host Mark Rosinski discusses Treasury obligation interest, basis in inherited IRAs, RMD aggregation rules, doubling up contributions to 457 plans, and ways to invest during the Social Security delay period 30.04.2026 1h 10m

  Guest host Mark Rosinski, CFP®, CPA, RICP®, from Dunes Financial does a "hot topics" episode where he talks about: US Government obligation interest and what to look for on your consolidated 1099 to make sure you properly reflect the state income tax treatment on your tax return ( 9:06 )Understanding and tracking after-tax "basis" in inherited IRAs ( 20:14 )Required Minimum Distribution ("RMD") aggregation rules ( 25:03 )Potentially doubling up contributions to governmental 457 employer retir...
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  #201 - Q&A edition...A.I. and financial planning, the "withhold and replace" method of paying taxes, step DOWN in basis, TIPS ladders and MORE! 23.04.2026 58m

  Listener Q&A where Andy talks about: Correction to a previous Q&A episode regarding taxation of lump sum Social Security benefits paid in one year for benefits attributable to the prior year ( 9:54 )His thoughts on artificial intelligence and how it can impact the financial planning industry ( 13:00 )The "withhold and replace" method of paying taxes when doing IRA distributions or conversions and using the indirect 60-day rollover approach to ultimately pay taxes out of your ban...
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  #200 – 200th episode special edition: my observations about the financial services industry 16.04.2026 1h 6m

  Special edition 200th episode where Andy shares some of his observations about the financial services industry from his time working in it: Creating good and consistent content is hard to do and do well ( 9:32 )A lot of content is just clickbait to get your views and/or advertise something to you, and not actually good content ( 13:15 )Personal finance is a lot more personal than it is finance ( 17:40 )The vast majority (all?) of long-term retirement planning is ultimately just a lot of educa...
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  #199 - "Hot topics" edition...Andy and Jonathan Vance talk about opportunities in the current market environment, 2026 tax updates, questions to ask advisors and MORE! 09.04.2026 1h 35m

  Andy and Jonathan Vance from Vance Financial Planning share their thoughts on a handful of current events and "hot topics" relating to retirement planning. Specifically, they talk about: Given current world affairs and their impacts on the markets, should you do anything different with your investments, or are there any other planning opportunities to consider ( 14:20 )Tax updates for 2026, and some recap of tax takeaways for 2025 now that the 2025 tax return season is mostly behind u...