A recent study analyzed Google Trends and revealed the top six financial topics that people search. In this episode of The Retirement Huddle podcast, Mark Howard explains what they are and what you should know about them.
Income taxes
Income taxes are very complicated, but they shouldn’t be. It would be nice if we could simplify our tax code.
“It creates a disincentive for people who go out and work hard and do well,” said Mark.
Overall, taxes are an important part of a retirement plan.
Insurance
Insurance is designed for protection and is a wonderful way to take the risk out of retirement.
A lot of people feel like they’re over insured, but it depends on your circumstances. We’re not big fans of long-term care insurance.
Mortgages
Mortgages are a debt instrument and are incredibly important to have paid off by the time you retire.
“A mortgage that’s paid off in retirement is a wonderful thing,” said Mark. “It takes a lot of risk out of the plan.”
Retirement accounts
A quick Google search will pull up a lot of articles about retirement – the best retirement plans to build nest eggs, 10 retirement accounts you should know about, etc.
People ask us all the time how much they should be contributing to retirement. We often advise people to get Roths because they are so beneficial. If you’re 20 or 30 years old and open a Roth, you shouldn’t have any financial problems when you’re 65.
College expenses and estate planning
We often help people entering retirement who have kids going into college. Some of them haven’t saved for college and need advice.
With estate planning, we help people determine what they want their legacy to be. About 8 out of 10 people say they want to leave money to their grandkids, church or charity. We’ve also found that a lot of people don’t have a will.
Listen to the full podcast to hear more of Mark’s thoughts on these topics. Thanks for listening! We’ll be back for another show every other Thursday.
Today’s Rundown:
[1:03] – Income taxes
[5:13] – Insurance
[7:36] – Mortgages
[9:21] – Retirement accounts
[11:52] – College expenses and estate planning
