Think
Retirement
Now.

The smart way to build retirement wealth  is with a smarter financial bucketing plan to segment and sequester your capital into clear and distinct financial buckets, each with its own specific task and time deadline. Each dollar should have a job to do, and be good at doing it.  Traditionally, bonds were the tool of choice for protecting a portfolio from market loss while providing competitive income. That is no longer the case. Steve will tell you about a new solution that you won’t want to miss. Then, health insurance and Medicare expert Shelley Grandidge joins us for the Q & A.   MASTERING MONEY is on the air!!

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Many people invest in bond funds with the motive of preserving capital and reducing risk. While it sounds sensible and has worked for many decades in the past, it is not working now because interest rates are at historic lows.  As of today, nearly 80% of Morningstar’s taxable bond funds and over 90% of municipal bond funds have lost money so far this year. For example, the Vanguard Total Bond Index fund has lost 1.6 percent this year, even after factoring in a 2.6 percent yield! Find out why bond funds are losing so much money and could KEEP losing money for the next five years. A great show today you don’t want to miss  MASTERING MONEY is on the air!!

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Today on Mastering Money, a very special guest joins us.  But first…..Very few investors would consider basing their entire life savings around owning just one stock. The reason is obvious. Even with the best company on the planet, times change, things go wrong, competitors emerge and the stock price can fall.   At first glance, some investors believe diversification simply means SPREADING your risk. But is that really all there is to it? If all it took to be successful was to own lots of different stocks, without regard to WHY you own each and every one of them, then there would be no losers on Wall Street.   Everybody would win every day, and all the time. Because we know there are more losers than winners on Wall Street, it is important to truly diversify your portfolio in the smartest way possible–and according to your age.   A power packed show you don’t want to miss, MASTERING MONEY is on the air!!!

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Every time you think the market can’t go higher, it does. Many investors are bewildered by the rise of the stock market since COVID 19.  Milestone after milestone has been hit, including Dow-30,000 even with the economy on one leg. As remarkable as it sounds, stocks still have room to run according to top Wall Street analysts. Pent up demand is building on the half of the economy that is nearly shut down, and the vaccine could get things back to normal. But there is another KEY REASON WHY the market has risen and likely to KEEP rising in 2021 no matter who is running the White House or the Senate. We’ll explain that key factor in detail, with data from the Wall Street Journal. Then Steve reviews the 2021 strategy for the Black Diamond and Blue Diamond portfolios. A very timely show you DON’T want to miss…MASTERING MONEY  is on the air!!!

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As you get closer to the day when your salary goes away… and everything you’ve accumulated up to this point has to be the source of ALL your future paydays… your decisions need to become more accurate. You can’t afford the mistakes you made thirty years ago.  On an increasing basis, the news literature in the financial world states that you will need more than a million dollars to retire and to make sure you don’t go broke.   A million is a nice sum of money, but unless you properly diversify, allocate, and conserve it, you run the risk of seeing it get cut in half by a combination of market declines, income withdrawals, RMDs, taxes, politics, fees, inflation, and poor timing when it comes to retirement. Today, we”ll tell you the story of Doug and Diane, who found out the hard way. Then Medicare Specialist Shelley Grandidge joins us for the Q & A. Don’t miss today’s show  MASTERING MONEY is on the air!!

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While the stock market may dip due to the PSYCHOLOGICAL effects of a recession or unexpected event, there is a big difference between a dip and a crash. As an investor, you are wise to understand that difference.  Unfortunately, scary headlines about BOTH often push skiddish investors to do the exact opposite of what they should do when a recession, a dip, or surprising event occurs.  Rather than seeing OPPORTUNITY, like professional investors do, many investors panic,  and end up selling high quality holdings at precisely the wrong time—destroying any chance of being successful over the long run.  They climb back in later, after licking their wounds, and locking in losses. Today, we’ll lay out the clear steps for protecting your retirement portfolio from the unexpected and setting yourself up to achieve long term goals. Then Medicare specialist Shelley Grandidge joins us for the Q & A.  A timely show you don’t want to miss… MASTERING MONEY is on the air!!!

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Question: do the rich GET rich at the expense of the poor? Many people believe that the rich ONLY become rich at the expense of OTHERS. This world view is called “zero-sum thinking” because its adherents regard economic life as a zero-sum game, just like tennis, where one player has to lose for the other to win. Dr. Rainer Zitelman, writing in Forbes pointed out the flaw of zero-sum thinking. Zitelman was awarded his first doctorate in 1986 and his second Ph.D. in 2016– and has written 22 books. In Forbes, Zitelman recalled the German poem: “Said the poor man with a twitch: Were I not poor, YOU wouldn’t be rich.” Today, we’ll explore how Zitelman blows up that myth in a special evidence-based report you don’t want to miss. Then Steve reveals cutting edge tips for building retirement wealth the SMART way. …MASTERING MONEY is on the air!

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So, what happens if you retire at or near a Market Peak? Have you thought about that? Statistically, people are more inclined to retire during the top end of a bull market. It only makes sense. That’s when confidence and peace of mind are higher. The trouble, as we all know, is that “what goes up also comes down” and if it comes down soon after we retire, that’s a problem. Also, statistically, the ten year periods following really strong ten year periods are not so hot. Withdrawing steady income from a declining balance can run a retirement off the road. Today, we’ll tell the story of Donna, whose great grandparents, grandparents, and parents ALL retired during market peaks going back to 1928, 1973, and 1999, and what Donna has decided to do with her retirement. Then Medicare specialist Shelley Grandidge joins us.
Don’t miss today’s show MASTERING MONEY is on the air!!!

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Although many people DON’T think about owning life insurance, many, many people do. Life insurance has evolved from just a few choices in the old days, like whole life and straight term, to more advanced and flexible forms of Universal Life insurance which can be tailored to fit your needs for tax advantaged  retirement income that does not trigger taxes on Social Security, leaving a tax free legacy, and tax planning goals.  Unlike the policies of old, today’s next generation of cash value life insurance can deliver the goods on multiple benefits with the same dollar. For example, quite a number of cash value life insurance policies on the market can double as a LONG TERM CARE funding vehicle. You get triple the benefits with the same insurance dollar. Today we’ll review these policies and show you why many people are converting IRAs to tax free life insurance, rather than ROTH IRAs.  An important show you don’t want to miss  MASTERING MONEY is on the air!!!

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People who don’t like losing money in the stock market are often described as “risk-averse”. In reality, behavioral scientists will say that you may not be RISK averse, but rather LOSS averse. There is a difference, and it matters when you are designing your financial plan.
Las Vegas is loaded with people who are not risk averse. In fact, they take pleasure  in taking a risk.But all of them are LOSS averse. Today, we’ll clearly define the difference and why you need to know it when determining HOW to allocate your investments for retirement, and it may SHOCK you! Then health insurance and Medicare expert Shelley Grandidge joins us for the Q & A.  An important show you don’t want to miss….MASTERING MONEY is on the air!!

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