How to Retire on Time

Michael Decker, NSSA® answers a viewer question on the widow tax, and why a surviving spouse can end up taxed at close to double the rate on roughly the same income.The following is from Mike’s weekly webinar.Ready to build a retirement plan around your life, not a product? Get the free book and tools 👉https://RetireOnTime.com/Free  This is for educational purposes only and is not financial advice. 

Michael Decker, NSSA® answers a viewer question on what a financial advisor can actually offer that you can't get on your own, and where that access matters most.The following is from Mike’s weekly webinar.Ready to build a retirement plan around your life, not a product? Get the free book and tools 👉https://RetireOnTime.com/Free  This is for educational purposes only and is not financial advice.  

Michael Decker, NSSA® answers a viewer question on how Social Security timing can affects the rest of a retirement plan, well beyond just maximizing the benefit itself.The following is from Mike’s weekly webinar.Ready to build a retirement plan around your life, not a product? Get the free book and tools 👉https://RetireOnTime.com/Free  This is for educational purposes only and is not financial advice.  

Michael Decker, NSSA® answers a viewer question on tax planning for retirement savings under $1 million, and why the right approach is more subtle than it looks.The following is from Mike’s weekly webinar.Ready to build a retirement plan around your life, not a product? Get the free book and tools 👉https://RetireOnTime.com/Free  This is for educational purposes only and is not financial advice.  

Michael Decker, NSSA® answers a viewer question on whether he's concerned about the markets right now, and explains why a flat market worries him more than a crash.The following is from Mike’s weekly webinar.Ready to build a retirement plan around your life, not a product? Get the free book and tools 👉https://RetireOnTime.com/Free  This is for educational purposes only and is not financial advice.  

Michael Decker, NSSA® answers a viewer question on the most common leaks he sees in a retirement plan, and the first one is tied to how much AI exposure people don't realize they have.The following is from Mike’s weekly webinar.Ready to build a retirement plan around your life, not a product? Get the free book and tools 👉https://RetireOnTime.com/Free  This is for educational purposes only and is not financial advice.  

Michael Decker, NSSA® runs the same million-dollar IRA forward in two different ways, one converting aggressively to a Roth and one does not. Only one of them still has money left at 95.The following is from Mike’s weekly webinar.Ready to build a retirement plan around your life, not a product? Get the free book and tools 👉https://RetireOnTime.com/Free  This is for educational purposes only and is not financial advice.  

How do you fit the large bills in your retirement plan? New roof? New car? Michael Decker, NSSA® answers a viewer question on planning around a big one-time expense and why it may make more sense to be dynamic about your future expenses as opposed to trying to map everything out. The following is from Mike’s weekly webinar.Ready to build a retirement plan around your life, not a product? Get the free book and tools 👉https://RetireOnTime.com/Free  This is for educational purposes only and is not financial advice.  

Don’t let yourself auto-renew your current plan. Big changes could cause you to want to shop this season before you commit. Michael Decker, NSSA® covers what's changing with Medicare this year.The following is from Mike’s weekly webinar.Ready to build a retirement plan around your life, not a product? Get the free book and tools 👉https://RetireOnTime.com/Free  This is for educational purposes only and is not financial advice.  

Is there an AI bubble and if so, can you time your exit? Michael Decker, NSSA® answers a viewer's question on whether he believes AI stocks are a bubble, and why he says timing the exit is nearly impossible, even for the best.The following is from Mike’s weekly webinar.Ready to build a retirement plan around your life, not a product? Get the free book and tools 👉https://RetireOnTime.com/Free  This is for educational purposes only and is not financial advice.  

Where your money goes and when you want to pull it out shapes the planning on where you should place it in the first place. The 401(k) is only one place to save for retirement. Michael Decker, NSSA® answers a viewer question on where to put retirement savings, and why the right answer depends on how old you are, when you want to retire, and what tax opportunities are available.The following is from Mike’s weekly webinar.Ready to build a retirement plan around your life, not a product? Get the free book and tools 👉https://RetireOnTime.com/Free  This is for educational purposes only and is not financial advice.  

There is no such thing as a perfect investment, product, or strategy, which is why the comparison between a 30-year treasury vs an indexed annuity is so interesting. Michael Decker, NSSA® takes a viewer question comparing a 30-year treasury bond to an annuity, and when you would consider one or the other and vice versa. The following is from Mike’s weekly webinar.Ready to build a retirement plan around your life, not a product? Get the free book and tools 👉https://RetireOnTime.com/Free  This is for educational purposes only and is not financial advice. 

Michael Decker, NSSA® walks through the tax risk, longevity risk, healthcare risk, and other risks unique to the spouse who lives longer, and what many people miss when putting together a retirement plan. The following is from Mike’s weekly webinar.Ready to build a retirement plan around your life, not a product? Get the free book and tools 👉https://RetireOnTime.com/Free  This is for educational purposes only and is not financial advice.  

Michael Decker, NSSA® takes on a market-crash reserves question and a Roth conversion sizing question back-to-back, and why the right answer to each one depends entirely on the person asking.The following is from Mike’s weekly webinar.Ready to build a retirement plan around your life, not a product? Get the free book and tools 👉https://RetireOnTime.com/Free  This is for educational purposes only and is not financial advice.  

Michael Decker, NSSA® answers a viewer question on retiring before 65, and how the options for covering healthcare before Medicare actually compare.The following is from Mike’s weekly webinar.Ready to build a retirement plan around your life, not a product? Get the free book and tools 👉https://RetireOnTime.com/Free  This is for educational purposes only and is not financial advice.

Michael Decker, NSSA® breaks down complicated investments like non-traded REITs, private credit, structured notes, and gold and crypto pitches, and the risk that gets left out of the sales pitch for each one.The following is from Mike’s weekly webinar.Ready to build a retirement plan around your life, not a product? Get the free book and tools 👉https://RetireOnTime.com/Free  This is for educational purposes only and is not financial advice.  

Michael Decker, NSSA® walks through annuities, options trading, and "be your own bank" life insurance, what that word "guaranteed" does and doesn't actually promise, and much more. Discover why you need a plan first, and then you can figure out which products are right for you and which products are wrong for you. The following is from Mike’s weekly webinar.Ready to build a retirement plan around your life, not a product? Get the free book and tools 👉https://RetireOnTime.com/Free  This is for educational purposes only and is not financial advice. 

Two viewers ask about protecting their money after death, one from Medicaid and one from the IRS. The answers are more restrictive than either expected.The following is from Mike’s weekly webinar.Ready to build a retirement plan around your life, not a product?  Get the free book, access to tools, and more👉 https://RetireOnTime.com/Free  This content is for educational purposes only and is not financial advice. 

A high income earner asks about all the Roth conversion hype, and Michael Decker, NSSA® explains why her situation is when that advice falls apart.The following is from Mike’s weekly webinar.Ready to build a retirement plan around your life, not a product?  Get the free book, access to tools, and more👉 https://RetireOnTime.com/Free  This content is for educational purposes only and is not financial advice. 

Michael Decker, NSSA® runs the numbers on a million-dollar retirement account and shows how the advisor fee is twice as expensive as what the government actually charged.The following is from Mike’s weekly webinar.Ready to build a retirement plan around your life, not a product?  Get the free book, access to tools, and more👉 https://RetireOnTime.com/Free  This content is for educational purposes only and is not financial advice. 

There’s more to tax planning than looking at your income tax brackets Discover the different ways to take income and how to get the most out of your money while navigating different types of tax brackets.The following is from Mike’s weekly webinar.Ready to build a retirement plan around your life, not a product?  Get the free book, access to tools, and more👉 https://RetireOnTime.com/Free  This content is for educational purposes only and is not financial advice. 

Many advisors talk about converting to a Roth before taxes go up. Michael Decker, NSSA® says most retirees with a million dollars or less should be doing something else entirely.The following is from Mike’s weekly webinar.Ready to build a retirement plan around your life, not a product?  Get the free book, access to tools, and more👉 https://RetireOnTime.com/Free  This content is for educational purposes only and is not financial advice. 

Selling a rental property can trigger a bigger tax bill than most landlords expect, and Mike Decker walks through two lesser known ways to exit instead.The following is from Mike’s weekly webinar.Ready to build a retirement plan around your life, not a product?  Get the free book, access to tools, and more👉 https://RetireOnTime.com/Free  This is for educational purposes only and is not financial advice. 

One line on your tax return could be quietly costing you thousands a year, and Mike Decker ties it straight into the biggest Social Security filing mistake he sees.The following is from Mike’s weekly webinar.Ready to build a retirement plan around your life, not a product?  Get the free book, access to tools, and more👉 https://RetireOnTime.com/Free  This is for educational purposes only and is not financial advice. 

A question about retiring in your fifties and a question about hyperinflation turn out to have the exact same answer.The following is from Mike’s weekly webinar.Ready to build a retirement plan around your life, not a product?  Get the free book, access to tools, and more👉 https://RetireOnTime.com/Free  This is for educational purposes only and is not financial advice. 

Every retiree says the same four words about risk tolerance, and Mike Decker says all four of them miss the point.The following is from Mike’s weekly webinar.Ready to build a retirement plan around your life, not a product?  Get the free book, access to tools, and more👉 https://RetireOnTime.com/Free  This is for educational purposes only and is not financial advice. 

There's a retirement conversation almost no one wants to have. Skipping it is exactly how a surviving spouse ends up blindsided by taxes and decisions they were never part of.The following is from Mike’s weekly webinar.Ready to build a retirement plan around your life, not a product?  Get the free book, access to tools, and more👉 https://RetireOnTime.com/Free  This is for educational purposes only and is not financial advice. 

There's a version of the answer that would let you pay the least possible tax on your retirement money.The following is from Mike’s weekly webinar.Ready to build a retirement plan around your life, not a product?  Get the free book, access to tools, and more👉 https://RetireOnTime.com/Free  This is for educational purposes only and is not financial advice. 

Live on the show, we asked an AI chatbot whether you should buy long-term care insurance. Its answer says a lot about why this decision trips up almost everyone.The following is from Mike’s weekly webinar.Ready to build a retirement plan around your life, not a product?  Get the free book, access to tools, and more👉 https://RetireOnTime.com/Free  This is for educational purposes only and is not financial advice. 

There's a specific kind of retirement-income ad that sounds like a great deal, and once you see why it isn't, you'll spot it everywhere.The following is from Mike’s weekly webinar.Ready to build a retirement plan around your life, not a product?  Get the free book, access to tools, and more👉 https://RetireOnTime.com/Free  This is for educational purposes only and is not financial advice. 

The single biggest factor in whether a retirement plan actually holds up has almost nothing to do with the portfolio inside it.The following is from Mike’s weekly webinar.Ready to build a retirement plan around your life, not a product?  Get the free book, access to tools, and more👉 https://RetireOnTime.com/Free  This is for educational purposes only and is not financial advice. 

The withdrawal number most retirees have memorized might be based on market conditions that no longer exist.The following is from Mike’s weekly webinar.Ready to build a retirement plan around your life, not a product?  Get the free book, access to tools, and more👉 https://RetireOnTime.com/Free  This is for educational purposes only and is not financial advice. 

There are at least four different ways to plan for long-term care costs, and the one most people assume is the "safe choice" usually isn't the best fit.The following is from Mike’s weekly webinar.Ready to build a retirement plan around your life, not a product?  Get the free book, access to tools, and more👉 https://RetireOnTime.com/Free  This is for educational purposes only and is not financial advice. 

An income annuity isn't actually an investment at all, and once you see what it really is, the whole "annuities are good or bad" debate stops making sense.The following is from Mike’s weekly webinar.Ready to build a retirement plan around your life, not a product?  Get the free book, access to tools, and more👉 https://RetireOnTime.com/Free  This is for educational purposes only and is not financial advice. 

Most retirement plans start with picking a product. This breaks down why that's backwards, and walks through the order that's supposed to come first, illustrated with a real client's numbers.The following is from Mike’s weekly webinar.Ready to build a retirement plan around your life, not a product?  Get the free book, access to tools, and more👉 https://RetireOnTime.com/Free  This is for educational purposes only and is not financial advice. 

There's a simple test that separates a real financial planner from someone just collecting a fee to watch your portfolio. Mike lays it out, plus the one line that sums up his entire philosophy on retirement risk.The following is from Mike’s weekly webinar.Ready to build a retirement plan around your life, not a product?  Get the free book, access to tools, and more👉 https://RetireOnTime.com/Free  This is for educational purposes only and is not financial advice. 

From annuity RMDs to inherited IRA deadlines to which spouse should convert first, Mike untangles three of the most confusing tax questions retirees ask him every week.The following is from Mike’s weekly webinar.Ready to build a retirement plan around your life, not a product?  Get the free book, access to tools, and more👉 https://RetireOnTime.com/Free  This is for educational purposes only and is not financial advice. 

The economist who won a Nobel Prize for inventing the 60/40 portfolio didn't actually put his own retirement money into it — here's what he did instead.The following is from Mike’s weekly webinar.Ready to build a retirement plan around your life, not a product?  Get the free book, access to tools, and more👉 https://RetireOnTime.com/Free  This is for educational purposes only and is not financial advice. 

The following is a clip from Mike’s weekly live show on Zoom.  Forget the debate over whether Roth conversions are good or bad — Mike says there's really only one number that should make the call for you.Ready to build a retirement plan around your life, not a product?  Get the free book and tools 👉 RetireOnTime.com/Free  This is for educational purposes only and is not financial advice. 

The following is a clip from Mike’s weekly live show on Zoom.  Mike walks through the entire lineup of tools retirees can use to dodge market risk that has nothing to do with bonds, most of which most advisors never mention.Ready to build a retirement plan around your life, not a product?  Get the free book and tools 👉 RetireOnTime.com/Free  This is for educational purposes only and is not financial advice. 

The following is a clip from Mike’s weekly live show on Zoom.  A real listener's question about which account to withdraw from first turns into a masterclass on saving tens of thousands in taxes and healthcare premiums most retirees never claim.Ready to build a retirement plan around your life, not a product?  Get the free book and tools 👉 RetireOnTime.com/Free  This is for educational purposes only and is not financial advice. 

The following a clip from Mike's weekly live show on Zoom. Mike breaks down the exact mechanics that could pop the AI bubble, then flips the whole conversation with one line: risk isn't a feeling, it's a math problem about time.Ready to build a retirement plan around your life, not a product?  Get the free book and tools 👉 RetireOnTime.com/Free  This is for educational purposes only and is not financial advice. 

The following a clip from Mike's weekly live show on Zoom. Mike overhears two very different retirees in a bakery line, and the contrast reveals why the most confident-sounding advice in the market right now might be the most dangerous.Ready to build a retirement plan around your life, not a product?  Get the free book and tools 👉 RetireOnTime.com/Free  This is for educational purposes only and is not financial advice. 

The following is a clip from Mike's weekly show. A listener defends his annuity rider, and Mike publicly disagrees with him on air instead of just nodding along.Ready to build a retirement plan around your life, not a product?  Get the free book and tools 👉 RetireOnTime.com/Free This is for educational purposes only and is not financial advice. 

The following is a clip from Mike's weekly show. Mike walks through a real dollar-amount scenario showing how a market crash can actually hand you a tax advantage most retirees never use.Ready to build a retirement plan around your life, not a product?  Get the free book and tools 👉 RetireOnTime.com/Free This is for educational purposes only and is not financial advice. 

The following is a clip from Mike's weekly show. The guy who sells annuities just told his own audience not to buy too much guaranteed income, and the reason why flips the usual retirement advice on its head.Ready to build a retirement plan around your life, not a product?  Get the free book and tools 👉 RetireOnTime.com/Free This is for educational purposes only and is not financial advice. 

The following is a clip from Mike's weekly show. One word retirees use to describe their money is quietly costing them thousands.Ready to build a retirement plan around your life, not a product?  Get the free book and tools 👉 RetireOnTime.com/Free  This is for educational purposes only and is not financial advice.

The following is a clip from Mike's weekly show. One word retirees use to describe their money is quietly costing them thousands.Ready to build a retirement plan around your life, not a product?  Get the free book and tools 👉 RetireOnTime.com/Free  This is for educational purposes only and is not financial advice.

The real question isn't how much cash you need, it's which of the three reserve strategies fits your retirement so a market crash never forces your hand.Ready to build a retirement plan around your life, not a product?  Get the free book and tools 👉 RetireOnTime.com/Free This is for educational purposes only and is not financial advice. 

When one spouse passes, the surviving spouse doesn't just lose income, they get bumped into a higher tax bracket, lose one Social Security check, and watch their Medicare costs climb.Ready to build a retirement plan around your life, not a product?  Full episodes on all podcast platforms. Search Retire On Time.  This is for educational purposes only and is not financial advice.