Episode 242: Why Playing It Safe in Retirement Can Actually Be Risky

In this episode of ‘Retire with Style’, Alex Murguia and Wade Pfau dive into various aspects of retirement planning, focusing on Social Security benefits, military survivor benefits, essential expenses, investment strategies, and the comparison between bond ladders and annuities. They discuss the implications of Social Security trust fund depletion, the importance of reliable income sources […]
Episode 241: Can AI Build Your Retirement Withdrawal Strategy?

In this Q&A episode of Retire With Style, Alex and Wade tackle several questions about building and managing a retirement income strategy, beginning with whether AI is ready to recommend optimal withdrawal strategies and where human expertise still matters. They discuss how retirees can assemble a coordinated team of financial, tax, and estate-planning professionals before […]
Episode 240: Does Sequence Risk Last Longer than You Think?

In this episode of ‘Retire with Style’, hosts Alex Murguia and Wade Pfau delve into various aspects of retirement planning, focusing on asset allocation, risk capacity, and the importance of Social Security strategies. They discuss In this episode of Retire with Style, Alex Murguia and Wade Pfau explore how to manage retirement portfolios through the […]
Episode 239: Are You Overinvested in Bonds? The Retirement Math May Surprise You

In this episode of ‘Retire with Style’, hosts Alex Murguia and Wade Pfau delve into various aspects of retirement planning, focusing on asset allocation, risk capacity, and the importance of Social Security strategies. They discuss the household balance sheet approach, the differences between risk capacity and risk tolerance, and the pros and cons of annuities […]
Episode 238: SpaceX, Mega-IPOs, and Indexing: When to Buy, When to Wait

In this episode of ‘Retire with Style’, Wade Pfau and Alex Murguia dive into the implications of the SpaceX IPO, exploring its unique characteristics, the risks associated with investing in IPOs, and the historical performance of such investments. They discuss the impact of index funds on IPOs and the broader lessons investors should consider when […]
Episode 237: Should You Spend Your HSA or Let it Grow?

In this episode of ‘Retire with Style’, Alex Murguia and Wade Pfau dive into tax planning strategies, focusing on Roth conversions, effective marginal tax rates, and withdrawal strategies for retirement. They discuss the implications of current tax rates, the importance of blending techniques in tax planning, and the necessity of tax diversification for a successful […]
Episode 236: Are Annuities Better than Bonds in Retirement?

In this episode of Retire with Style, hosts Alex Murguia and Wade Pfau address various listener questions regarding retirement planning. They discuss the implications of long-term care and Medicaid, explore the ARVA framework for retirement income, and delve into variable spending strategies. The conversation also covers healthcare options for early retirees, methods to mitigate sequence […]
Episode 235: Are Stocks Enough to Protect You From Inflation?

In this episode of Retire with Style, Wade Pfau and Alex Murguia continue to answer listener questions, including how stocks perform during inflationary periods, whether equity investments can be viewed through a bond-duration lens, the tradeoffs between buying a deferred income annuity today versus waiting to purchase a SPIA later, and how QLACs interact with […]
Episode 234: Cash in Retirement: When to Hold It, When to Invest It

In this final part of the Retire With Style Live Q&A, Wade Pfau and Alex Murguia answer a wide range of retirement planning questions covering annuities and life insurance surrender charges, the financial impact of losing a spouse, Roth conversions as a hedge against the “widow’s tax penalty,” tax-loss harvesting through direct indexing, dividend reinvestment […]
Episode 233: Should You Worry About Social Security Running Out?

In Part 2 of this Live listener Q&A episode, Wade Pfau and Alex Murguia tackle several retirement planning topics, including Social Security claiming strategies for spouses with age differences, how younger workers should think about Social Security’s long-term solvency, whether to assume future benefit cuts in retirement projections, the impact of the “widow’s penalty” on […]