The Tax Playbook

We’re talking about the 4-step process to get to a tax-free retirement. Step one, recognize that tax rates are going to go up. Step two, recognize that in a rising tax rate environment, there's a mathematically perfect amount of money to have in the taxable bucket and the tax-deferred bucket. Step three is anything above and beyond those ideal balances in the first 2 buckets should be systematically, year by year, over a period of time, repositioned to the tax-free bucket. Step four is to make sure that you're getting some good diversity within your tax-free streams of income. Make sure that once you decide what’s the ideal amount of money to be shifted to tax free, that it gets funneled into a few different places.

The burning question that retirees have, who also have a pension, after having been convinced that tax rates in the future are going to be higher than they are today is, “Well, what can I do if I have a pension? Can I still have a tax-free retirement? This podcast answers that question.

There are really only four ways to resolve our fiscal crisis. You decide what you think the most likely solution will be. There are really only for options: Cut expenses, borrow more money, print more money, or raise taxes. It's much easier to raise taxes than it is to get rid of a government program.

Tax-deferred vs. Tax-free. Which one is better? Which one should you be pouring your money into? The true purpose of a retirement account is NOT to give you a tax deduction. The true purpose of a retirement vehicle is to maximize cash flow at a period in your life when you can least afford to pay the taxes and that is in retirement.

We’re talking tax buckets again. If you don’t remember there’s 3 of them...Taxable, Tax-deferred and Tax-free. Today we talk about the tax-free bucket and what truly constitutes a tax-free investment.