Your Life Your Wealth

July 7, 2023

Estate planning is a critical part of your overall retirement plan. Your retirement accounts, such as IRAs and 401ks typically pass directly to a beneficiary you’ve selected, and not through a trust you may have created for your other assets. With these accounts, a separate retirement plan trust may be required to get the asset protection and guidance you are seeking. Logan, Baker, J.D., LL.M., MBA, Lead Senior Wealth Strategist on the Estate Planning Team at Mercer Advisors joins host John Walker, Regional Vice President, Mercer Advisors, to discuss the importance of implementing a retirement plan trust specifically for the protection of your retirement account beneficiaries.

June 30, 2023

Anchoring bias can place a disproportionate amount of merit on something you hear or read. It can shape how you make future judgements, and it can have a negative effect on everything from the purchases you make to the success of your financial planning. Today, John Walker, Regional Vice President, Mercer Advisors, further explains anchoring bias in greater detail and how to avoid it.

June 23, 2023

Would you like to maintain your pre-retirement spending levels and standard of living after you’ve retired? Some, however, intend to spend more heavily in their early retirement years, believing they will spend less as they age. These spending considerations are an important part of your retirement planning, and there is often a disparity between spending intentions and spending reality. Today, John Walker, Regional Vice President, Mercer Advisors, discusses retirement spending patterns and how they relate to good planning.  He also discusses a recent Boston College Center for Retirement Research study that looks at how retirees intend to spend vs. how they actually spend what they’ve saved.

June 16, 2023

The biggest transition of wealth in history may be upon us.  Over the next couple of decades, most aging Baby Boomers and Gen Xers are expected to pass along about $73 trillion of their wealth to their heirs. This transfer of wealth can be made after you die or while you’re alive to see and experience your loved ones enjoying what you’ve shared. Today, John Walker, Senior Vice President, Mercer Advisors, and Tim Joseph CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional and CPA at Mercer Advisors, discuss several options you may have to make those gifts safely, and in a tax-efficient manner.

June 9, 2023

It’s difficult to overlook the long-standing investment success of the so-called Oracle of Omaha. Today, John Walker, Regional Vice President, Mercer Advisors, discusses some of the investment principles followed by Warren Buffett.

June 2, 2023

In addition to financial planning for your retirement, it’s wise to also consider what living your everyday life will be like after the structure of working each day gives way to nearly total freedom. Today, John Walker, Regional Vice President, Mercer Advisors, welcomes Fritz Gilbert, author of “Keys to A Successful Retirement: Staying Happy, Active and Productive in Your Retired Years” and writer/publisher of The Retirement Manifesto Blog. Fritz shares practical and useful advice from first-hand experience.

May 26, 2023

People who are saving for retirement sometimes fail to consider how living longer will affect how much they’ll need once they stop working. Today, John Walker, Regional Vice President, Mercer Advisors, discusses retirement planning strategies to avoid longevity risk.

May 19, 2023

Retirees sometimes second-guess, or even get a bit uneasy, about spending their hard-earned savings when the regular weekly paycheck from their employer has stopped. Today, John Walker, Regional Vice President, Mercer Advisors, discusses strategies to help you more comfortably spend and enjoy the retirement dollars you’ve accumulated. There is likely no need to deprive yourself of things that make you happy and you may easily afford.

May 12, 2023

Recent market volatility and the changing economic landscape are among the most common reasons investors give for not taking full advantage of their retirement savings opportunities. If you’re nearing retirement and want to maximize your 401(k) benefits, there are several mistakes you should avoid. Today, John Walker, Regional Vice President, Mercer Advisors, is joined by Mercer Advisors colleague Dennis Jablonoski, Chartered Retirement Plan Specialist. They discuss ways to help you along the path to a more secure retirement.

May 5, 2023

In order to reduce their tax burden, some retirees move to states that don’t assess personal income taxes. Depending on your lifestyle however, there may not be any real tax savings since revenues in these “lower-tax” states are often made up in other ways. Today, John Walker, Senior Vice President, Mercer Advisors, and Tim Joseph CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional and CPA at Mercer Advisors, help sort fact from fiction for those planning to move out of state to reduce their overall tax liability.