Podcast
Stay Wealthy Retirement Podcast
Hosted by Taylor Schulte, CFP® · EN
Retirement is too important to leave to guesswork, headlines, or conflicting advice.
The Stay Wealthy Retirement Show is an award-winning retirement podcast designed to help you make smarter decisions with your money, reduce taxes, invest wisely, and create a retirement income plan you can trust.
Want to avoid overpaying the IRS in retirement? Prepare for the next stock market downturn? Optimize retirement timing? Turn your investments into reliable income without second-guessing every decision?
You're in the right place.
I'm Taylor Schulte, a Certified Financial Planner™ and retirement tax planning expert. Each week, I simplify the biggest retirement planning questions so you can feel more informed, more confident, and better prepared to "stay wealthy" in retirement.
24episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Why Saving for Your Future Self Won't Buy a Better Retirement (And What Will)
4d ago00:43:48Tap to summarizeYou spend 30 or 40 years protecting your future self. Then you finally retire... and the person you were saving for never quite arrives. There's always an older version down the road who still feels like they need protecting. So you keep saving for tomorrow while postponing the life you could enjoy today. But more money for "future you" isn't what makes retirement better. In this episode, Hal Hershfield, Ph.D. — a UCLA professor of Behavioral Decision Making and author of Your Future Self — joins me to explain why. Here's what you'll learn: → Why your brain treats your future self like a stranger (and how that shapes every money decision) → How "projection bias" distorts irreversible choices like when to retire or claim Social Security → The "denominator problem" that stops retirees from spending + a simple reframe to help The distance we feel from our future selves is real and well-documented. It is also, with the right perspective, something we can learn to close. *** 📆 BOOK A CALL WITH OUR TEAM: Your retirement involves complex, interconnected decisions—taxes, income, healthcare, estate planning, investments. See how they fit together in one coordinated strategy built around your numbers. 👉 Learn More and Book a Call *** EPISODE RESOURCES: → Grab the Episode Show Notes → Join the Stay Wealthy Retirement Newsletter → Learn About the Total Retirement System™
Transcribe →The 3 Questions That Reveal Your Real Inflation Risk in Retirement
2w ago00:18:56Tap to summarizeWhen inflation makes headlines, it can feel like one of those retirement risks you just have to endure. Saving, investing, tax planning, income strategy... those are levers you can pull. Rising prices feel different. They feel like something that happens to you. But the inflation number you see in the news is rarely the number that matters most for your retirement plan. Two retirees can live through the same inflation environment and face very different risk — and the gap between them often comes down to a few things they can actually control. In this episode, I'm simplifying how retirement savers should think about inflation. You'll learn: → The 3 questions that reveal your true inflation risk → Why headline inflation can mislead retirees in both directions → How to protect your income, spending power, and retirement confidence A strong retirement plan doesn't require a perfect inflation forecast. It just needs to be built for the reality that uncomfortable periods will happen, and prepared for them before they arrive. *** 📆 BOOK A CALL WITH OUR TEAM: Your retirement involves complex, interconnected decisions—taxes, income, healthcare, estate planning, investments. See how they fit together in one coordinated strategy built around your numbers. 👉 Learn More and Book a Call *** EPISODE RESOURCES: → Grab the Episode Show Notes → Join the Stay Wealthy Retirement Newsletter → Learn About the Total Retirement System™
Transcribe →5 Umbrella Insurance Mistakes That Leave Retirement Savers Exposed
3w ago00:30:20Tap to summarizeUmbrella insurance isn't usually the first thing people think about when they picture retirement planning. Most conversations focus on saving enough, investing well, reducing taxes, and creating income. But in retirement, one unintentional accident can create a very different kind of risk. Not just a temporary setback, but a threat to savings you may no longer have decades to rebuild. In this episode, I'm simplifying how umbrella insurance works for retirement savers. Specifically, I'm sharing: → Why liability risk doesn't necessarily disappear after your working years → What umbrella insurance does and doesn't cover → 5 common mistakes people make when buying or reviewing a policy → A simple 4-part formula for estimating how much coverage you actually need You'll also learn why the common "match coverage to net worth" rule can be misleading + why coverage may still make sense even when the math says you don't technically need it. *** 📆 BOOK A CALL WITH OUR TEAM: Your retirement involves complex, interconnected decisions—taxes, income, healthcare, estate planning, investments. See how they fit together in one coordinated strategy built around your numbers. 👉 Learn More and Book a Call *** EPISODE RESOURCES: → Grab the Episode Show Notes → Join the Stay Wealthy Retirement Newsletter → Learn About the Total Retirement System™
Transcribe →Why 2 Retirees With the Same $1M Plan Ended $3M Apart
4w ago00:23:40Tap to summarizeTwo retirees. Same $1 million portfolio. Same 60/40 allocation. Same 4% withdrawal rate. Same 30-year retirement. The only difference? One retired in 1973. The other retired in 1975. Fast forward 30 years: one finished with about $280,000 and the other finished with over $3 million. Same plan. Just two years apart. In this episode, I'm breaking down new research that analyzes nearly a century of market history to answer a question most retirement plans don't spend enough time on: "How much does your exact retirement date shape the outcome of your plan?" Here's what you'll learn: → Why retirement timing may matter more than your withdrawal rate or asset allocation → Why a larger nest egg at retirement has historically led to worse outcomes → A 3-part playbook, in priority order, for protecting your plan when the starting point looks unfavorable Most retirement strategies focus on what happens after you retire. But this research suggests the year you walk away from work may deserve a much bigger seat at the planning table. *** 📆 BOOK A CALL WITH OUR TEAM: Your retirement involves complex, interconnected decisions—taxes, income, healthcare, estate planning, investments. See how they fit together in one coordinated strategy built around your numbers. 👉 Learn More and Book a Call *** EPISODE RESOURCES: → Grab the Episode Show Notes → Join the Stay Wealthy Retirement Newsletter → Learn About the Total Retirement System™
Transcribe →The Real Reason Wealthy Retirees Still Wake Up Anxious (And the 4 Pillars That Fix It)
May 1400:20:31Tap to summarizeMany retirement savers assume the anxiety will lift once they hit a certain number. Maybe it's $1 million. Maybe $2 million. Maybe $5 million or more. And then the account crosses the line, the headlines turn ugly, and the worry is still there. A recent Wall Street Journal headline put it bluntly: "Even Rich Retirees Fear Outliving Their Money." In this episode, I'm sharing new research from Fidelity that helps explain why having "enough" so often still doesn't feel like enough. I'm also sharing the four things I consistently see in retirees who feel genuinely secure. Here's what you'll learn: → The retirement planning factor that more than doubles confidence → A cognitive concept that explains why retirement anxiety has very little to do with your account balance → The question many well-prepared retirees still can't answer — and why ignoring it can be so costly Not one of the four pillars has anything to do with the size of your portfolio. Which raises the real question: what's actually keeping wealthy retirees up at night? *** 📆 BOOK A CALL WITH OUR TEAM: Your retirement involves complex, interconnected decisions—taxes, income, healthcare, estate planning, investments. See how they fit together in one coordinated strategy built around your numbers. 👉 Learn More and Book a Call *** EPISODE RESOURCES: → Grab the Episode Show Notes → Join the Stay Wealthy Retirement Newsletter → Learn About the Total Retirement System™
Transcribe →Why Waiting Until 70 for Social Security Can Backfire (And the Question to Ask Instead)
May 700:15:07Tap to summarizeThe math behind "wait until 70" for Social Security is real. Hold off claiming from 62 to 70 and your monthly benefit climbs by roughly 77%. So why would anyone walk away from a number that big? The short answer is that the standard break-even analysis only measures one variable. And for retirees with healthy pre-tax savings, there are other factors at play that can make "waiting" a more expensive decision than it looks. In this episode, I'm turning the mic over to Josh Rendler — a partner at our firm — who walks through a case study of a 62-year-old woman with a $1.5 million IRA and the question most retirees are wrestling with. Here's what you'll learn: → The reframe that makes "wait until 70" fall apart for retirees with healthy pre-tax balances → How Social Security timing and Roth conversions compete for the same bracket space (and why claiming earlier can actually EXPAND your conversion runway) → The planning window that opens at 61, and what gets harder to fix once it closes The biggest claiming-age check isn't always the biggest after-tax outcome. And a well-built plan shouldn't make you choose between doing the math right and actually enjoying the retirement you spent 35 years earning. *** 📆 BOOK A CALL WITH OUR TEAM: Your retirement involves complex, interconnected decisions—taxes, income, healthcare, estate planning, investments. See how they fit together in one coordinated strategy built around your numbers. 👉 Learn More and Book a Call *** EPISODE RESOURCES: → Grab the Episode Show Notes → Join the Stay Wealthy Retirement Newsletter → Learn About the Total Retirement System™
Transcribe →3 Things to Review on Your Tax Return (And a Fresh Take on Social Security Timing)
Apr 3000:40:23Tap to summarizeTax season is finally over. The returns are filed, the stress is behind you, and the last thing you probably want to do is think about taxes again. But the weeks right after tax season are one of the most valuable windows you have all year. Every number from last year is fresh, every missed opportunity is still visible, and every mistake you just uncovered is a clue about what to fix going forward. In this episode, I sit down with Josh Rendler, CFP®, a partner at our firm and someone who spends his days deep inside client tax returns. Together, we're answering some of the biggest questions we're hearing from retirees right now. Here's what you'll learn: → The 3 numbers on last year's return that reveal your biggest 2026 planning opportunities → How to know if charitable giving belongs in your plan (plus the QCD detail that keeps it "invisible" to the IRS) → A fresh, counterintuitive take on Social Security timing While last year's return is still on your desk: what's hiding in there that could make 2026 better? 🤔 *** 📆 BOOK A CALL WITH OUR TEAM: Your retirement involves complex, interconnected decisions—taxes, income, healthcare, estate planning, investments. See how they fit together in one coordinated strategy built around your numbers. 👉 Learn More and Book a Call *** EPISODE RESOURCES: → Grab the Episode Show Notes → Join the Stay Wealthy Retirement Newsletter → Learn About the Total Retirement System™
Transcribe →The Most Overlooked Retirement Decision (It's Not Your Portfolio)
Apr 2300:21:50Tap to summarizeOne of the biggest decisions you'll make in your 70s and 80s has nothing to do with your portfolio. It's not about Social Security timing. And it's not about Roth conversions. It's about where you'll live and, more importantly, how care will be delivered, coordinated, and paid for if your health changes later on. Most people think of this as a lifestyle decision. But in reality, it's a housing-and-care decision, and it's one most retirement plans barely address. In this episode, I'm breaking down the later-life housing choices most retirement savers haven't fully thought through. Here's what you'll learn: → The four main housing options later in life—and how they differ in cost, care, and flexibility → What Continuing Care Retirement Communities (CCRCs) actually are (+ a little-known tax planning tip) → The four types of risk every housing decision really involves → When this decision usually needs to be made, and what can happen if you wait too long Because "we'll just stay in the house" isn't a plan...it's an assumption. And assumptions tend to get tested at the worst possible moment. *** 📆 BOOK A CALL WITH OUR TEAM: Your retirement involves complex, interconnected decisions—taxes, income, healthcare, estate planning, investments. See how they fit together in one coordinated strategy built around your numbers. 👉 Learn More and Book a Call *** EPISODE RESOURCES: → Grab the Episode Show Notes → Join the Stay Wealthy Retirement Newsletter → Learn About the Total Retirement System™
Transcribe →The 6-Digit Code That Can Drain Your Retirement Account (And How to Stop It)
Apr 1600:19:15Tap to summarizeAccording to the FBI, Americans lost nearly $21 billion to cyber-enabled fraud last year—a 26% increase from the year before. And the single largest category? Investment-related fraud, with more than $8.6 billion in losses. But what's most unsettling isn't the scale... it's how simple some of these scams really are. A retired couple recently lost thousands of dollars from their IRA after a scammer tricked them into sharing a single six-digit verification code over the phone. No hacking. No stolen password. Just one text message and one phone call. In this episode, I'm breaking down how "account takeover" scams work, why they're so effective, and the specific steps you can take to close the security gap. Here's what you'll learn: → The 3-step pattern behind most account takeover scams → Why your personal information may already be compromised (and what that means for your account security) → What to do—and what not to do—when a financial institution contacts you about suspicious activity → 3 simple upgrades to better protect your accounts that most people overlook In a world where scammers only need a few seconds to strike, your ability to slow down and take back control of the moment may be the most valuable layer of protection you have. *** 📆 BOOK A CALL WITH OUR TEAM: Your retirement involves complex, interconnected decisions—taxes, income, healthcare, estate planning, investments. See how they fit together in one coordinated strategy built around your numbers. 👉 Learn More and Book a Call *** EPISODE RESOURCES: → Grab the Episode Show Notes → Join the Stay Wealthy Retirement Newsletter → Learn About the Total Retirement System™
Transcribe →The Real Cost of a Financial Advisor (And Why the 1% Math Is Misleading)
Apr 900:23:13Tap to summarizeA viral claim keeps making the rounds: that a 1% advisory fee will drain hundreds of thousands of dollars from your retirement savings. The math looks alarming... and that's exactly the point. But as with most things in finance (and life!), the truth is more nuanced than a headline or social media post makes it seem. In this episode, I break down research from Derek Tharp, Ph.D., CFP®, that puts this widely shared math to the test and reveals where it falls apart. Here's what you'll learn: → The misleading assumptions behind the popular "1% fee" calculation → How alternative fee models can be 3x more expensive using the same math → What academic research says about quantifying the value of a good advisor → A smarter way to evaluate whether hiring an advisor makes sense for your specific situation This episode isn't about defending any particular fee model. It's about making sure you have the right information to evaluate the cost, the value, and the role financial advice may play in your retirement planning. *** 📆 BOOK A CALL WITH OUR TEAM: Your retirement involves complex, interconnected decisions—taxes, income, healthcare, estate planning, investments. See how they fit together in one coordinated strategy built around your numbers. 👉 Learn More and Book a Call *** EPISODE RESOURCES: → Grab the Episode Show Notes → Join the Stay Wealthy Retirement Newsletter → Learn About the Total Retirement System™
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