Losing your spouse, especially suddenly or in retirement, is a devastating yet common aspect of life. It’s a painful and emotional life event, which makes it very difficult for married couples to plan for, especially from a taxation standpoint.

That’s why we created our Retirement Road Map, designed for all five areas of your financial well-being. From income, investments, taxes, healthcare, and legacy planning–we’re here to support our clients so they’re prepared when facing life-changing circumstances.

Today, Keith Ellis, Jr is joined by two advisors from SHP, Joe Anderson and Anthony Finocchiaro, to talk about what happens when a spouse passes away and what we do with our clients to ensure that the surviving spouse is taken care of.

We discuss the immediate impacts of death on your finances, how to plan for the unexpected to protect yourself in emotionally trying times, and how to organize your estate at any time in your life to preserve your legacy.

In this podcast interview, you’ll learn:

• Why losing a spouse rarely cuts the living expenses in half.
• What you can do to take financial uncertainty out of this worst case scenario.
• How the best financial advisors minimize the overwhelm that people face when losing a spouse and life partner.
• The two goals of any good financial plan.
• The tax conversations you should be having with your advisor now to protect yourself in retirement.

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To get access to the full show notes, including audio, transcripts, and links to all the resources mentioned, visit SHPfinancial.com/podcast

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If you’ve made smart financial decisions, secured your nest egg for retirement, and accumulated enough wealth to leave behind, you’ll undoubtedly have questions about minimizing estate taxes.

It’s one thing to pay your fair share of taxes, but nobody wants to send more money to Uncle Sam than they have to. And that’s where having expert advice can help save thousands of dollars and leave more to your loved ones than the government.

Here to share some strategies to create a tax-efficient legacy plan is Attorney Matthew Karr of the Heritage Law Center. We’ve been working with him for nearly 10 years, and we’re thrilled to have him on the podcast today.

In this conversation, we dig into the key elements an estate and legacy plan, strategies to minimize estate taxes, and what to look out for in the wake of the latest changes to the tax code.

In this podcast interview, you’ll learn:

• How estate taxes are structured and how they work.
• Helpful tips for naming a trustee to settle your estate.
• How gift taxes and gift exemptions work to safely pass on money tax-free.
• Why every financial and tax situation requires a unique approach.

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To get access to the full show notes, including audio, transcripts, and links to all the resources mentioned, visit SHPfinancial.com/podcast

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Alternative investments: Perhaps you’ve heard of them or even dabbled with them in your portfolio. The alternative marketplace has grown rapidly over the past few decades, with no signs of stopping. If you have questions about what they are and how they can add value to your portfolio, we’ve got you covered.

We’re excited to have Mike Prescott on the podcast today to help guide us through this landscape. Mike is a Trading Specialist here at SHP Financial and a level 2 CAIA (Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst) with over 10 years of experience in the industry.

In this episode, Mike walks us through some of the most common types of alternative investments (including private equity and private credit), how to determine when investing in alternatives is right for you, and the critical questions you need to ask any advisor before you take the plunge in the alternatives marketplace that continues to grow in popularity.

In this podcast interview, you’ll learn:

• What defines alternative asset classes and the five most common types.
• What alternative asset classes all have in common–and what sets them apart.
• Questions to ask any advisor managing an alternative investment before making those decisions.
• The three common structures for alternative asset classes.
• How Trading Specialists like Mike vet alternative assets before recommending them to clients.

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To get access to the full show notes, including audio, transcripts, and links to all the resources mentioned, visit SHPfinancial.com/podcast

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What’s happening in the markets? What indicators should we look at right now, and what can we expect to see in the coming months?

In today’s episode, Matthew Peck is joined once again by SHP Financial’s Laura Russo to answer these questions in a special podcast edition of our quarterly update.

We’ll explore how AI continues to power large-cap positions, what to expect from the Feds with potential interest rate cuts, and what that means for the bond markets. Matt also shares an important message as we steam full speed ahead into another election and the impact that changes in the government have on the markets. Enjoy!

In this podcast interview, you’ll learn:

• Why we still recommend people own bonds–and why they deserve their place in a diversified portfolio.
• Why indicators show that global economies are continuing to do well despite worldwide political uncertainty.
• How AI spending is expected to transform our economy over the next 5-10 years.
• Why 10 companies are driving 37% of the S&P 500 right now–and why this could be worrisome.
• The dangers of FOMO when it comes to rational investing.

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To get access to the full show notes, including audio, transcripts, and links to all the resources mentioned, visit SHPfinancial.com/podcast

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Today’s digital world is full of thieves and scammers looking to access your information and use scare tactics to steal your hard-earned money from you and your family. Victims of these fraud scams are often retirees and the elderly, who are so scared that they send thousands and thousands of dollars before realizing what is happening.

To help you protect yourself and loved ones from the seemingly infinite number of cyber criminals out there, we’re chatting with former FBI agent Dave Chaves. Dave investigated some of the biggest scammers in the world, and he remains an expert in his field.

Today, we talk about red flags to watch out for to determine if you’re about to get scammed, what to do if you fall victim to a scam, and how AI is making the scams of tomorrow so much more believable.

In this podcast interview, you’ll learn:

• The common traits of almost all online scammers, including romance and investment scams–and why the IRS will never call you asking for money.
• How the prevalence of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency has made scams so much worse and harder to recover from.
• What you should and shouldn’t do if a scammer reaches out to you.
• Why email phishing scams have gotten so much more effective and why you now need to be very careful with confirmations from UPS, Amazon, and other businesses.
• Steps you can take to improve the security of your most sensitive accounts right now.

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To get access to the full show notes, including audio, transcripts, and links to all the resources mentioned, visit SHPfinancial.com/podcast

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At SHP Financial, we help our clients with many common or technical questions such as, “What is a required minimum distribution?” or “What’s a Roth conversion?” However, one of the most popular questions we hear is, “How much money do I need to retire?”

It’s a difficult question to answer because the magic number isn’t the same for everyone. There’s so many factors involved like inflation, bear markets and healthcare expenses to name a few, that just thinking about it is stressful and brings out a lot of fear and emotions for many people.

With that in mind, today’s episode is all about the process we go through to figure out those magic numbers. Ultimately, it all boils down to creating a plan and having some honest conversations about what an ideal retirement should look like. With proper guidance, you’ll enjoy the peace of mind that having a plan provides so that you’ll worry about retirement a lot less and perhaps even enjoy the last few years of working a lot more.

In this podcast interview, you’ll learn:

• Why the decision to stop working and retire is as emotional as it is financial.
• The danger of winging your retirement without a plan in place.
• How to determine the cost of your lifestyle and make adjustments after you stop working.
• Why so many clients find work much less stressful once they realize that they can safely retire.
• The important questions to ask to help ensure you get the most out of your retirement.

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To get access to the full show notes, including audio, transcripts, and links to all the resources mentioned, visit SHPfinancial.com/podcast

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Health insurance, Medicare, and long-term care are deeply intertwined with your taxes and legacy plan. If you’ve done well and saved money for retirement by making sound financial decisions in your working years, we want to help you preserve those assets so you can enjoy your retirement without worrying about healthcare expenses.

To help our clients untangle this complex relationship, we’re joined by Scott Hokanson, the founder and President of Brabo Insurance. We’re thrilled to have Scott back on the podcast today to discuss the challenges so many retirees face when budgeting for healthcare.

In our conversation, Scott explains why healthcare is critical to a successful retirement plan, two choices you can make when signing up for Medicare (and the advantages of each one), and how to create a strategy to get ahead of your premiums.

In this podcast interview, you’ll learn:

• Why so many retirees struggle to get access to care.
• How medical care in retirement compares to employer-provided insurance.
• Why HSAs are an amazing investment vehicle.
• When to choose a Medicare Advantage plan.
• Why insurance has dramatically improved in the United States over the last 20 years.

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To get access to the full show notes, including audio, transcripts, and links to all the resources mentioned, visit SHPfinancial.com/podcast

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Losing a loved one is one of the most challenging and emotional periods in anyone’s life. When assets, such as property and investments, are left to their beneficiaries, many families have a difficult time knowing where and how to start the process of settling the estate.

In today’s episode, we’ll focus on estate planning, specifically the responsibilities and tax implications that a beneficiary has when they inherit those assets. I’m joined by our very own Mark Kenney and Amanda Glennon, who both have years of experience guiding families through this process to ensure that the actions and decisions that are made won’t have financial consequences later.

In our conversation, you’ll learn how changes to the SECURE Act have impacted how inherited assets are taxed and distributed, the new estate tax exemption rules for Massachusetts residents, and why developing a relationship with an advisor to create an estate plan makes the entire process easier to handle during such an emotional time.

In this podcast interview, you’ll learn:

• How changes to the SECURE Act have accelerated the timeframe to deplete inherited assets for non-spouses.
• What cost basis means and how it applies to inheriting property or investments.
• The values of an estate that are excluded from state and federal estate taxes.
• How long a beneficiary can expect to wait before the estate is settled.
• The difference in taxation from inheriting an IRA and a Roth IRA.
• The added value in dealing with a Financial Advisor in person vs over the phone when handling an estate.

Want the Full Show Notes?

To get access to the full show notes, including audio, transcripts, and links to all the resources mentioned, visit SHPfinancial.com/podcast

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