Épisodes

  • The 5 Must-Do’s In Year One of Retirement
    Oct 9 2025
    Well, you’re retired. Now what? Some people subscribe to the “first year rule” which says that the majority of your best retirement months will all take place in the first year of retirement. So how can you be strategic during that first year and set the tone in the right way, both emotionally and financially? Helpful Information: PFG Website: https://www.pfgprivatewealth.com/ Contact: 813-286-7776 Email: info@pfgprivatewealth.com Disclaimer: PFG Private Wealth Management, LLC is an SEC Registered Investment Advisor. Information presented is for educational purposes only and does not intend to make an offer or solicitation for the sale or purchase of any specific securities, investments, or investment strategies. The topics and information discussed during this podcast are not intended to provide tax or legal advice. Investments involve risk, and unless otherwise stated, are not guaranteed. Be sure to first consult with a qualified financial advisor and/or tax professional before implementing any strategy discussed on this podcast. Past performance is not indicative of future performance. Insurance products and services are offered and sold through individually licensed and appointed insurance agents. Marc Killian: Well, you're retired. Now what? Some people subscribe to the first year rule, which says that the majority of your best retirement months will take place in that first year. So how can we be strategic during the first year and set the tone the right way, both emotionally and financially? Let's talk about it this week here on Retirement Planning Redefined. Hey everybody, welcome in once again to another edition of the podcast with John and Nick from PFG Private Wealth, as we talk about the five must do categories in year one, or things at least to be thinking about when we get to that first year of retirement. John and Nick have helped many families get to and through retirement, so it's a good conversation for us to have and get some insight from the fellows this week. If you need some help, go to pfgprivatewealth.com. That's pfgprivatewealth.com. Nick, what's going on, buddy? How are you? Nick: Good, good. Just staying busy. Can't believe it's already almost October, so time flies. Marc Killian: Yeah. By the time we drop this, it might be closer to November, so time definitely flies for sure. John, my friend, how are you doing? Are you hanging in there with the family? John: Yeah, doing well, doing well. Family's good, the girls are getting back into gymnastics, I'm trying to get them into basketball, so having some fun. Marc Killian: Okay, nice. John: Got some solar panels put up on the house before the tax credit goes away, and I'm excited to try those out, I'll keep you posted. Marc Killian: Nice. Yeah, look at that, being efficient. So share some of that information with the listeners out there in case they want to, because that's a great point, the tax credit may be going away, I think pretty soon, so maybe something worthwhile. John: Yes, end of the year. Marc Killian: Yeah. Well, let's get into this first year conversation, guys. We'll start with some financial, then we'll transition to the more touchy-feely side of things, although it's not that touchy-feely, it's just important stuff to think about. But I guess you've got to learn how to adapt, that's going to be probably the overarching theme, that first year is a heck of a gear change from the working life to the retired life, so learn how to adjust financially, I suppose. John, you want to start? John: Yeah. So the first few years, I'd have to say, are typically the most difficult for retirees to adjust. I just had a meeting actually yesterday, and the person did a great job saving, actually had a pension, good retirement accounts, and there was this fear of how much should I be spending, what should I be doing? So it was that one month, two month shock of, all right, how do I get a paycheck and what should I be doing with my time? So it's important to take a look at what was on your bucket list, what do you want to accomplish, and like we say with anything, and I know Nick's going to jump into this a little bit more, what's your strategy for income moving forward? Nick: Yeah. Especially the first year, clients tend to break into A or B as far as the structure of how they like income. So for example, we'll go through the exercise, get the expenses on paper, go through the plan so we've got a pretty good idea of what the expenses are going to look like, and then create their distribution schedule for the first year. And some people like to look at the numbers and say, let's just say that their number works out to them needing income from their investments at 8,000 a month, so some of them, and it's interesting because you kind of see the mindset, some of them will start to say, "All right, well, hey, we built in a bunch of buffers in there, I want to make sure we're not spending ...
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    16 min
  • IRMAA: The Hidden Medicare Penalty You Might Be Paying
    Oct 2 2025
    Medicare isn’t always as free as you think. In this episode, we'll explain IRMAA—the income-based surcharge that can raise your premiums and shrink your Social Security check. Learn what triggers it, who’s most at risk, and a few smart planning moves to help keep more money in your pocket. Helpful Information: PFG Website: https://www.pfgprivatewealth.com/ Contact: 813-286-7776 Email: info@pfgprivatewealth.com Disclaimer: PFG Private Wealth Management, LLC is an SEC Registered Investment Advisor. Information presented is for educational purposes only and does not intend to make an offer or solicitation for the sale or purchase of any specific securities, investments, or investment strategies. The topics and information discussed during this podcast are not intended to provide tax or legal advice. Investments involve risk, and unless otherwise stated, are not guaranteed. Be sure to first consult with a qualified financial advisor and/or tax professional before implementing any strategy discussed on this podcast. Past performance is not indicative of future performance. Insurance products and services are offered and sold through individually licensed and appointed insurance agents. Episode Transcript Think Medicare is free once you hit 65. Well, not quite. If your income's too high, there's a hidden surcharge that can quietly shrink your social security check by thousands a year. It's called IRMAA, and we're going to talk about that today here on Retirement Planning Redefined. Hey everybody, welcome into the podcast. Thanks for hanging out with John and Nick and myself as we talk, investing, finance and retirement. And guys, we're going to talk about Aunt Irmaa this week instead of Uncle Sam. Seems like there's these two relatives that got their hand in your pocket. I've always been taught to call IRMAA, the Aunt Irmaa that comes by and pinches your cheeks really hard instead of the cool one that gives you candy when you're a kid. So we're going to talk about IRMAA, and what it is and why it exists and all that good stuff this week. How you doing, John? John: I'm doing all right. How are you? Speaker 1: Hanging in there. Doing pretty good. Looking forward to chatting with you guys about this, learning a little bit about what is IRMAA and what does it do to us. And Nick, my friend, how are you? Nick: Pretty good. Staying busy in the red zone for wedding planning and all that kind of stuff. And we are in football season so- Speaker 1: There you go. Nick: ... I've had to adjust my sleep schedule a little bit. Speaker 1: Exactly. So between planning and football, you're burning the candle at both ends. John: Monday is a little slower for Nick- Speaker 1: Little slower. Gotcha. John: ... the last three weeks, especially with the Bills, how good they look. Speaker 1: Yeah, for sure. Yeah, my Lions look pretty good on Monday night this pastime. Nick: You sure do. Speaker 1: Yeah. Well, let's get into the conversation a little bit, guys. What is IRMAA and why does it exist? Whoever wants to start? Nick: All right, I'll go ahead and start. So essentially IRMAA is an acronym that refers to essentially an income related monthly adjustment for the cost of Medicare part B and D. So essentially back in '03, as the plans both Medicare and social security continually get reevaluated due to the pressure that they're under from the standpoint of expenses and flows in, they decided to put this into place where to kind of tier it where people that were earning income currently, so if you're single earning income greater than 106,000 or married filing jointly earning income greater than 212,000, the premiums for part B start to go up. So this is something that we've dealt with quite a bit with clients. It's based upon modified adjusted gross income, which nobody knows what that means, but it is a term that everybody's heard or most people have heard. As a reminder part A, there is no premium charge as long as you worked you or your spouse or former spouse work 40 quarters. This applies to the part B and part D. And it's not a penalty from the perspective of how they look at it. It's not like you're doing something wrong. It's more along the lines of almost just like tax brackets where lower income, lower bracket, the same thing on this, lower income, lower premium. Speaker 1: Gotcha. Yeah. And that interesting piece that catches people is that it's a two year ago look back. So they're going to adjust it based on what you made two years back. So as you move into retirement, that could feel a little... You're like, wait a minute, why is this going up? But they're looking at maybe the last couple of years. Nick: Yeah, for sure, and there is a form that people can fill out. We oftentimes help people fill them out. I think we've done it twice in the last two weeks where you can basically contest it. So especially if you've just retired and you were previously high ...
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    16 min
  • Understanding Estate Planning: Trust Mistakes And Issues (Part 4)
    Aug 27 2025
    We're excited to welcome back estate planning attorney Bill McQueen of Legacy Protection Lawyers! This episode dives into common estate planning mistakes, the nuances of trusts versus wills, and strategies to protect your assets and heirs. From funding trusts correctly to understanding step-up in basis, Medicaid planning, and safeguarding inheritances from creditors, Bill breaks down complex topics in a clear, practical way. Learn more about Bill and Legacy Protection Lawyers Contact info: www.legacyprotectionlawyers.com Phone 727-471-5868 Helpful Information: PFG Website: https://www.pfgprivatewealth.com/ Contact: 813-286-7776 Email: info@pfgprivatewealth.com Disclaimer: PFG Private Wealth Management, LLC is an SEC Registered Investment Advisor. Information presented is for educational purposes only and does not intend to make an offer or solicitation for the sale or purchase of any specific securities, investments, or investment strategies. The topics and information discussed during this podcast are not intended to provide tax or legal advice. Investments involve risk, and unless otherwise stated, are not guaranteed. Be sure to first consult with a qualified financial advisor and/or tax professional before implementing any strategy discussed on this podcast. Past performance is not indicative of future performance. Insurance products and services are offered and sold through individually licensed and appointed insurance agents. Marc: It's time once again for another edition of Retirement Planning Redefined with John and Nick, Financial advisors at PFG Private Wealth. Find them online at pfgprivatewealth.com. That's pfgprivatewealth.com. And we're excited to have our guest speaker, Bill McQueen, back with us to continue our conversation about estate planning, and trusts, and probate, and all these pieces that we need when it comes to our retirement strategies. And, of course, Bill is from Legacy Protection Lawyers based out of St. Petersburg, Florida, and we appreciate your time once again. Bill, welcome in. How are you? Bill McQueen: Doing wonderful. Thank you. Marc: Absolutely. Good to have you back. Nick, my friend. What's going on this week? You doing all right? Nick: Oh, yeah, just fighting the Florida heat. Marc: Well, if you picked Florida, right, it's hot. Nick: I will lose. Yeah, I will lose, for sure. Marc: I mean, versus Buffalo, right? You got your choice there. Nick: Yeah. Rochester, yeah, close enough. But, yeah- Marc: Oh, yeah. Okay. Nick: ... for sure. This time of year, I'd rather be there, but it's understandable. Marc: Par for the course? All right, I got you. Well, we're happy to have Bill back. And, of course, if you guys have questions about estate planning, definitely reach out to he and his team at LegacyProtectionLawyers.com. That's LegacyProtectionLawyers.com. And Bill, we were talking a lot about, obviously, trusts and funding them, and all the different kind of pieces that go in there. So, on this final episode, this part four of the series, we want to talk about some of the common mistakes and things that you guys see as professionals, then try to help people avoid these or highlight some of the things. So, we talked as we finished off about the funding issue of a trust. What are some other common mistakes that you tend to see? Bill McQueen: First off, I would say it might not be considered a common mistake, but a common misconception. A lot of people who think that, "Well, hey, I've created this revocable trust, and so my assets aren't in my individual name. Now they're held by my trust. And so, if something were to happen and I were to be sued, for some reason, my wealth is protected inside this trust." And unfortunately, that's not the case with a revocable trust. Again, the revocable trust just acts as a substitute for your last will and testament. And because the person who creates it has so much control over those assets, they can do anything they want with those assets. If somebody were to sue them, there'd be a lawsuit of some sort, and a judgment was entered against that person who created that trust. Those creditors can get at those assets that are inside the revocable trust no differently than if they were held in the person's individual name. So, that's something that we always need to advise clients that they're well aware of. There may be other ways to protect their wealth from creditors, but putting them in a revocable trust does not give them credit or protection from that standpoint. The other thing that comes up fairly frequently is, I have real estate, and should I put it in my revocable trust or not? If that real estate is something that's not your primary home or your residence here in Florida, we would definitely say do that, and especially if the clients own real estate outside the state of Florida. They might have a vacation home in North Carolina or something like that. If they own that home in ...
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    22 min
  • Understanding Estate Planning: Trust Types with Bill McQueen (Part 3)
    Aug 20 2025
    This episode, we welcome estate planning attorney Bill McQueen of Legacy Protection Lawyers to break down the essentials of trusts and why they matter. Bill explains the key differences between wills and trusts, clears up common misconceptions, and highlights the importance of properly titling assets to avoid probate. You’ll also learn why beneficiary designations can override your trust, the pitfalls of leaving your trust unfunded, and how working with both financial advisors and attorneys ensures your plan truly carries out your wishes. Learn more about Bill and Legacy Protection Lawyers Contact info: www.legacyprotectionlawyers.com Phone 727-471-5868 Helpful Information: PFG Website: https://www.pfgprivatewealth.com/ Contact: 813-286-7776 Email: info@pfgprivatewealth.com Disclaimer: PFG Private Wealth Management, LLC is an SEC Registered Investment Advisor. Information presented is for educational purposes only and does not intend to make an offer or solicitation for the sale or purchase of any specific securities, investments, or investment strategies. The topics and information discussed during this podcast are not intended to provide tax or legal advice. Investments involve risk, and unless otherwise stated, are not guaranteed. Be sure to first consult with a qualified financial advisor and/or tax professional before implementing any strategy discussed on this podcast. Past performance is not indicative of future performance. Insurance products and services are offered and sold through individually licensed and appointed insurance agents. Marc: Time once again for another edition of Retirement Planning - Redefined with John and Nick from PFG Private Wealth. We're continuing our conversation, our great conversation, with the folks from Legacy Protection Lawyers. Nicole Cleland was on the podcast, and Bill McQueen is going to be joining us now on this episode as we talk a little bit more in-depth about what they do, and some of the differences when it comes to getting these financial and legal documents into place. As always, Nick's here with me. Nick, my friend, how are you doing? Nick: Doing great. How about yourself? Marc: Doing pretty good. We had John on the last episode, so good to have you here with us, and Bill McQueen is joining us. So Bill, welcome in. Thanks for being here. Bill: It's my pleasure. Thank you all for having me. Marc: Absolutely. Looking forward to chatting with you. And again, you guys are from Legacy Protection Lawyers, and you can find you guys online at LegacyProtectionLawyers.com. That's LegacyProtectionLawyers.com. Give us a little background on you, Bill. You've been doing this for how long, and all that good stuff. Tell us a little bit about you first. Bill: Certainly. Well, I've actually been an attorney for almost 40 years, but I sort of had a circuitous professional career. I was a CPA for my first few years out of undergrad and then I went back to law school, practiced law for about seven years, but then I actually ran a family business. My father died when I was getting out of law school, so I took over a family business and ran that for about 15 years, and then came back to the practice of law about 15 years ago now, after I got a Master's of Law in Estate Planning, and so that's where my full focus has been over the last 15 years or so. Marc: Nice. Gotcha. Yeah, I mean, so obviously you've been doing this for a while, and you guys work with Nick and John, occasionally helping them out with some of their client situations as well? Bill: Yes, yes. We work closely with Nick and John and they help our clients out with financial planning and wealth management, and we help out in the estate planning arena when his clients need that. Marc: Nice. Nick, how long have you guys known each other? Nick: Bill, when you said 15 years, I was thinking about that, so I think it's got to be close to 10 years, something like that? Around 10 years? Bill: Been at least that, because I started the firm back up in, I guess, 2013, so too soon after that. I met you through your other former partner and we started doing seminars and stuff together. Nick: Sure [inaudible 00:02:11] Marc: We all lose time in that COVID era, right? It seems like everybody always does that. We're thinking about time and we're like, "Oh, man, there's like a three, four-year window I've lost when trying to think of some things." Well, let's get into our conversation today. When Nicole was on, we kind of left off, Bill, where she was talking a lot about probate. She went through a lot of great topics and kind of broke some stuff down for us, needing an estate plan, what makes an effective estate plan, things of that nature. We kind of wrapped up a little bit on the probate conversation, and then we started to get into trusts, and she said you were the man when it comes to talking about trusts, so we thought we'd kind of kick things off there. So, tell ...
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    24 min
  • Understanding Estate Planning: Wills and Probate with Nicole Cleland (Part 2)
    Aug 13 2025
    This episode, we welcome back estate planning expert Nicole Cleland to discuss important topics such as how property passes after death, the rights of spouses and blended families, challenges minors face when inheriting, and the benefits of avoiding probate. Whether you’re single, married, or navigating a complex family dynamic, this episode offers valuable insights to help you protect your legacy and plan effectively for the future. Learn more about Nicole and Legacy Protection Lawyers Contact info: www.legacyprotectionlawyers.com Phone 727-471-5868 Helpful Information: PFG Website: https://www.pfgprivatewealth.com/ Contact: 813-286-7776 Email: info@pfgprivatewealth.com Disclaimer: PFG Private Wealth Management, LLC is an SEC Registered Investment Advisor. Information presented is for educational purposes only and does not intend to make an offer or solicitation for the sale or purchase of any specific securities, investments, or investment strategies. The topics and information discussed during this podcast are not intended to provide tax or legal advice. Investments involve risk, and unless otherwise stated, are not guaranteed. Be sure to first consult with a qualified financial advisor and/or tax professional before implementing any strategy discussed on this podcast. Past performance is not indicative of future performance. Insurance products and services are offered and sold through individually licensed and appointed insurance agents. Marc: Time once again for another edition of Retirement Planning Redefined with John and Nick from PFG Private Wealth. And once again, we're going to continue our conversation with Nicole Cleland on estate planning. So really happy to have her back on this chat with us. And if you've got questions, need some help when it comes to the legal side of things, reach out to them at legacyprotectionlawyers.com. That's legacyprotectionlawyers.com. And of course, if you've got some questions on the financial side, reach out to John and Nick at pfgprivatewealth.com, pfgprivatewealth.com. Nicole, welcome back in. Thanks for being here again. Nicole Cleland: Thanks for having me again. Marc: Lovely to talk with you. And John, my friend, thanks for being here as we continue this chat with Nicole. We covered a lot of stuff and I want to kind of circle back to a few pieces. We were talking about property, how it passes on death. Who should inherit your assets? I think that's kind of maybe a big question for people in general. Nicole Cleland: So this is what we call testamentary intent, meaning you can leave your assets to whomever you want. There is no restriction or requirement on who takes from your estate. However, most states, Florida included, has a law that says if you are married, you cannot disinherit your spouse. And sort of the philosophy behind that is if you had, back in the old days, husbands were the breadwinners, wife stayed homemaker. And if husband wanted to leave assets to someone else, his children, a mistress, something like that, the law would not allow you to disinherit that spouse. And that's sole control. So the law presumes that spouses are meant to be taken care of and you cannot leave your spouse less than a certain percent. In Florida, that percent is 30%. So although you can disinherit the rotten children, you can't disinherit the spouse. Marc: Okay. I like that. John: So I'd also say this becomes very important when you have blended families. I'll say that. Nicole Cleland: Absolutely. John: Working with clients where it's second marriage, kids. This becomes a very important topic that I think most people I'll say that haven't gone through an estate plan or just haven't made that decision yet to go through it, have no idea this even exists. And also I've even talked to some pretty savvy attorneys that I've talked to and I mention it, like, "What are you talking about?" And they look it up and they're like, "I had no idea." Nicole Cleland: Yeah, it's one of those things that a lot of people don't realize because again, circling back to that testamentary intent, you should be able to leave your assets to whomever you want, but the law's not going to say that for a spouse. And you're right on the money there, John, with the blended family situation. And I usually try to even say it's not always that later-in-life marriage couple. So if you've got a husband and wife that get married later in life, they both have children from prior relationships, we usually find that they honor that testamentary intent, meaning, all right, husband, whenever you pass, you can leave your money to your children and then I'm going to leave my money to my children. We don't need to leave anything for each other. We're getting married later in life. We've built our wealth so we don't need to support each other. But what ends up happening is if my husband passed away and I'm still alive, I might be older and a little bit ...
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    18 min
  • Understanding Estate Planning: The Fundamentals with Nicole Cleland (Part 1)
    Aug 6 2025
    In this special episode of Retirement Planning Redefined, John and Nick welcome their first-ever guest, Nicole Cleland of Legacy Protection Lawyers, to kick off a new estate planning series. Nicole shares key insights into what estate planning really involves, who needs it (hint: it's not just for the wealthy), and how proper planning can help avoid confusion and conflict later. They cover the differences between estate planning and elder law, the importance of incapacity planning, and how assets actually pass after death. Learn more about Nicole and Legacy Protection Lawyers Contact info: www.legacyprotectionlawyers.com Phone 727-471-5868 Helpful Information: PFG Website: https://www.pfgprivatewealth.com/ Contact: 813-286-7776 Email: info@pfgprivatewealth.com Disclaimer: PFG Private Wealth Management, LLC is an SEC Registered Investment Advisor. Information presented is for educational purposes only and does not intend to make an offer or solicitation for the sale or purchase of any specific securities, investments, or investment strategies. The topics and information discussed during this podcast are not intended to provide tax or legal advice. Investments involve risk, and unless otherwise stated, are not guaranteed. Be sure to first consult with a qualified financial advisor and/or tax professional before implementing any strategy discussed on this podcast. Past performance is not indicative of future performance. Insurance products and services are offered and sold through individually licensed and appointed insurance agents. Marc: Once again for another edition of Retirement Planning Redefined with John and Nick from PFG Private Wealth, and we've got a special show this week. We're going to be talking about understanding estate planning. We've got a little series planned around this. We've got some special guests coming up also. So really looking forward to today's conversation. John's going to be joining me along with Nicole Cleland, who is our special guest from Legacy Protection Lawyers based outside of St. Petersburg, Florida. And we're going to have a great conversation around understanding those estate planning basics and some other details and information. So it's going to be an excellent episode, so stay tuned and we'll get right into it. John, my friend, how are you this week, buddy? What's going on? John: Hey, I'm doing all right. I'm excited to have Nicole as our first guest that we've ever had on our podcast here. Marc: Yeah, our very first guest here on this, so it's excellent to have Nicole here. Nicole, welcome in. How are you? Nicole: I'm doing great. Thank you both for having me. I'm really excited to be here today. Marc: Absolutely. So we'll jump in real quick. Just tell us a little bit about you and your firm, what you guys do. Nicole: Sure. So we are a boutique trust and estates firm, meaning this is all we practice is trust and estates. We do primarily planning, and secondary administrations of estate planning documents, and we also do a little bit of litigation and a little bit of tax planning as well. So we do have a trust and a estates only litigation lawyer and a tax lawyer with us too. Marc: Okay, excellent. And Bill McQueen is going to be joining us as well on probably the next episode, so we'll get into some conversation with him. But for now, let's just kick things off and get started. Although I do have to ask, I was looking at the website and I see that you are a super lawyer. What is a super lawyer? Nicole: Yeah, it means that we get a cape every year. Marc: Nice. Nicole: No, a super lawyer designation is a designation that you receive from other lawyers in the area and about 5% of practicing attorneys get this designation. So I'm very honored to have been a rising star super lawyer for seven years now, I think. Marc: Awesome. Nicole: And yeah, it's nice to know that the professionals that I work with enjoy working with us in our firm too. Marc: Yeah, that's great. John, you need something like that? You need super advisor or something. John: I don't know if there's a super advisor, but if there is one, I'm about to see how I can get that. Marc: There you go. John: I feel like got as much work as I do, I need a cape as well. Marc: There you go. Yeah, capes are good. Well let's get into our conversation here. So I wanted to kick things off with just a really simple question for you, Nicole, because a lot of people, I think it's probably changed through the years and you can maybe talk about that as well, but people, I think around estate planning, even financial advisors, tend to think that, well, this is for the ultra wealthy. Those kinds of things are for people that really have a lot of money, and I don't think that's the case. So explain, do you really need an estate plan and if so, why? Can you give us some kind of parameters and some breakdowns on that? Nicole: Yeah, that's a really great ...
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    21 min
  • The 4 Things You Can Control in Retirement
    Jul 3 2025
    Markets crash. Taxes shift. Congress waffles on Social Security. You can’t control any of that. And stressing over it won’t help. What will? Focusing on the four things that actually move the needle in retirement. Helpful Information: PFG Website: https://www.pfgprivatewealth.com/ Contact: 813-286-7776 Email: info@pfgprivatewealth.com Disclaimer: PFG Private Wealth Management, LLC is an SEC Registered Investment Advisor. Information presented is for educational purposes only and does not intend to make an offer or solicitation for the sale or purchase of any specific securities, investments, or investment strategies. The topics and information discussed during this podcast are not intended to provide tax or legal advice. Investments involve risk, and unless otherwise stated, are not guaranteed. Be sure to first consult with a qualified financial advisor and/or tax professional before implementing any strategy discussed on this podcast. Past performance is not indicative of future performance. Insurance products and services are offered and sold through individually licensed and appointed insurance agents. Marc: Market crashes, taxes shift, Congress waffles on Social Security, you can't control any of that, and stressing about it will not help. So, let's talk about the things this week that we can control in our retirement. Welcome into the podcast, everybody. This is Retirement Planning - Redefined with John and Nick from PFG Private Wealth, and guys, we're going to talk about a couple of examples of stuff we can control in our retirement world, because there's a whole lot of stuff we can't control, right? So, let's have a chat about some of that this week. What's going on, John? How you doing, my friend? John: Doing good. I'm doing good. How are you? Marc: I'm hanging in there. We were just chatting before we jumped on here about the AI getting crazy. We can't control that either, so we got to factor that in, right? John: No, no. I think [inaudible 00:00:50] right now. Marc: Yeah, we got to factor that in when we're looking up information and things of that nature, so that's another piece we can't control, so be careful out there with that. Nick, what's going on, my friend? How you doing? Nick: Good, good. Staying busy. The heat is on here. Marc: The heat is on. That's right. Nick: Yeah, we are inching our way into summer. Marc: Yeah, well, it's that time of the year. It's hot and rainy on a regular basis, but let's get into this conversation this week here. I got a couple items I want to run through. Like I said in the teaser, you can't control what happens in the market, guys, right? Look what happened earlier this year. We knew the tariff thing was going to start. Took a bit of a beating for a while, then it started to rebound pretty well, but you can control how you're positioned, right? That's obvious, but people forget that. When they see the market taking that dive, they panic, "Oh, my gosh, it's going down. The S&P is down 12%, that means I'm 12%." Well, no, John, not really. Not if you're not 100% exposed to the market risk, right? That's the point. John: Yeah, that is. This is actually perfect timing for what's been going on this year. Marc: Exactly. John: We're doing some of these reviews, and we really kind of pride ourselves on making sure people are invested in the right asset allocation per their goals and their plan and their risk tolerance. So, when people put on the news, it seems like doom and gloom, and we're doing some of these reviews and it's like, "Oh, okay, that's good to hear." And part of that is you can't control what the market's going to do, you can't control what politicians are going to do and how that might affect the market, but you can control how you at least take a look at your overall investment portfolio and how you structure it to be able to ... Not saying you're going to weather every storm, but to limit some of the volatility that's happening. Marc: Sure. Yeah, I can't even begin to say how many advisors I'd talked to where most of them only had a few nervous Nellies, right, and that's okay. It's understandable. A couple would call here there during the height of some of that there in April and saying, "Oh, my God, I see it every five seconds. It's down 12%. I need to go through my numbers." And so they'd run through the portfolio with them and they're like, "You're only down about two at this moment," because they're like, "Oh, well, two's a whole lot better than 12." Well, yeah, so that's the point of not buying into just the straight media all the time and understanding what your risk tolerance is and how much you're exposed to it, so that's one area. Nick, another area is kind of the same thing. It's the great multi-risk multiplier. It's our longevity. We don't have a stamp on us that says when we're going to pass away. It would make things easier and scary all at the same time. But you can ...
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    15 min
  • Should You Gift Money While You’re Alive or Leave A Legacy?
    Jun 26 2025
    You’ve worked hard, saved well, and now you’re thinking about giving back—maybe to your kids, your grandkids, or a cause you care about. But should you wait and pass that wealth on later, or give while you’re still around to enjoy the impact? Let’s talk about how to make that decision with confidence. Helpful Information: PFG Website: https://www.pfgprivatewealth.com/ Contact: 813-286-7776 Email: info@pfgprivatewealth.com Disclaimer: PFG Private Wealth Management, LLC is an SEC Registered Investment Advisor. Information presented is for educational purposes only and does not intend to make an offer or solicitation for the sale or purchase of any specific securities, investments, or investment strategies. The topics and information discussed during this podcast are not intended to provide tax or legal advice. Investments involve risk, and unless otherwise stated, are not guaranteed. Be sure to first consult with a qualified financial advisor and/or tax professional before implementing any strategy discussed on this podcast. Past performance is not indicative of future performance. Insurance products and services are offered and sold through individually licensed and appointed insurance agents. Marc: Welcome in once again to another edition of Retirement Planning, Redefined with John and Nick, and we're going to talk about gifting money while you're alive or leaving a legacy. You work hard, you saved well, so let's talk about how to gift and leave a legacy. Welcome into the podcast everybody. Thanks for hanging out with John and Nick and myself as we talk about these topics this week. And guys, it's gifting, right? So I want to go over some basics here. It seems like there's been a trend the last couple of years for people to enjoy their retirement legacy with the family versus the old way of you pass and you'll leave a check, right? Here's your inheritance, we're gone, that kind of thing. So let's talk about that a little bit this week on the show and just kind of see what you guys are seeing in your neck of the woods. How you doing this week, Nick? Nick: Good, good. How about yourself? Marc: Doing pretty good's. How's the wedding action coming? Nick: Planning's moving along. Marc: Nice. Nick: Did some, hopefully we got the food picked out, so trying to check off all the big things, so. Marc: That's important. Got to have that good food going on for sure. Well, good. Kudos. Good. Glad to hear that. And John, my friend, how are you this week? John: I'm good. I'm good. Summer just started for the kids, so getting used to waking up in the morning and they're hanging out with me as I'm getting ready for work- Marc: And they're ready to go. John: Versus me just dropping them off. Yeah. Marc: That's right. John: It's a lot of fun. Marc: There you go. Are you guys seeing this trend that I talked about, not necessarily a new trend. It's been going on for a number of years now, but I think where people just want to maybe enjoy some experiences with their loved ones while they're still here versus just leaving that check, so to speak? Are you guys seeing that in your practice as well? Nick: Yeah, I'd say so. We've had, what are we on now? A 14, 15 year bull run from the standpoint of people have kind of exceeded what their perspective on goals was for the money that they might have in retirement and, so especially I would say, at least from what I've seen, the vacation side of things is kind of the biggest thing that people have been doing where they'll do a large family vacation and pay for the kids and their families to go so that they can all enjoy that together. Marc: Yeah, that's very cool. And we'll talk about some of the numbers and things in just a few minutes, but John, I'll kick this over to you. I'd say the first step probably still should be, make sure you are covered first, right? We all want to leave and do things for our kids and loved ones, but don't sacrifice your own retirement in order just to do that. Is that a fair place to start? John: That is 100% where you should start. The last thing you want to do is start gifting and spending money on a vacation, and then you look at it and you're like, "Oh man, I don't have enough money to live anymore." So first thing we do in this situation where it comes up with clients is like most things we say, we look at the plan and we will stress test it and look at different scenarios to make sure, hey, if this were to happen, how does your plan react to it? So we'll throw out some scenarios out there, whether it's healthcare, inflation, social security, things like that. And if the plan looks solid, we will typically give somewhat of a green light of, we think you should budget X amount for this. Or we can also look at scenarios where Nick talked about vacation, but we've seen some others where it's like, "Hey, I want to help my son, daughter with a home purchase." And with the way ...
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    14 min