Changing Rules in Retirement & DIY Risks | Uncertainty with Social Security & A.I.'s Ever-growing Role

right there's some of these decisions we make in retirement that once you sign the dotted line they're locked in and of course that could trigger higher taxes penalties or even the loss of future planning opportunities so let's talk about some of those things you've seen over the years i know you do this every single day what are those big retirement mistakes folks make and more importantly how do you help them steer clear of it ultimately

Well, I mean, ultimately, I see a lot of DIYers out there, right? They're just going to do it themselves.

They've got it all figured out.

They're going to go ahead and make a Roth conversion because the markets are down.

They're going to take some losses or whatnot.

And the fact of the matter is there's too many moving pieces and there's too many moving parts.

And the IRS is kind of happy when you make a mistake, right? They're happy, right? Because you've just jumped a tax bracket.

You've just jumped an IRMA bracket.

So you're going to pay Medicare surcharges and that's going to maybe quite, you know, that could double or triple those charges for both you and your spouse moving forward.

You may jump a tax bracket, right? What happens if you go to 24 to 32 or 32 or 24 to 37? Oh my gosh.

So this is not a DIY project.

You know, Roth conversions are the big one.

That can trigger so many implications.

And you're going to end up stepping on a huge tax bomb as well as an Irma bomb.

And so like I said, the Medicare premiums could increase.

Taxes on Social Security benefits are definitely going to increase.

So you're going to pay yourself less.

potentially moving forward.

There's all kinds of consequences.

So how do we steer clients away from that? We say, okay, give us all your information.

Let's take it all down.

What is your current tax bracket? What are you currently making per year? What are we trying to accomplish? And can we do this over maybe a three-year period, a four-year period, five-year period? Let's do some partials over and let's extend it out over time.

That way the IRS isn't smiling come tax season, right? right? We've laid underneath those brackets.

That way we've protected ourselves going forward.

And we have the best software in the United States when it comes to getting out of making those mistakes.

right there's some of these decisions we make in retirement that once you sign the dotted line they're locked in and of course that could trigger higher taxes penalties or even the loss of future planning opportunities so let's talk about some of those things you've seen over the years i know you do this every single day what are those big retirement mistakes folks make and more importantly how do you help them steer clear of it ultimately

Well, I mean, ultimately, I see a lot of DIYers out there, right? They're just going to do it themselves.

They've got it all figured out.

They're going to go ahead and make a Roth conversion because the markets are down.

They're going to take some losses or whatnot.

And the fact of the matter is there's too many moving pieces and there's too many moving parts.

And the IRS is kind of happy when you make a mistake, right? They're happy, right? Because you've just jumped a tax bracket.

You've just jumped an IRMA bracket.

So you're going to pay Medicare surcharges and that's going to maybe quite, you know, that could double or triple those charges for both you and your spouse moving forward.

You may jump a tax bracket, right? What happens if you go to 24 to 32 or 32 or 24 to 37? Oh my gosh.

So this is not a DIY project.

You know, Roth conversions are the big one.

That can trigger so many implications.

And you're going to end up stepping on a huge tax bomb as well as an Irma bomb.

And so like I said, the Medicare premiums could increase.

Taxes on Social Security benefits are definitely going to increase.

So you're going to pay yourself less.

potentially moving forward.

There's all kinds of consequences.

So how do we steer clients away from that? We say, okay, give us all your information.

Let's take it all down.

What is your current tax bracket? What are you currently making per year? What are we trying to accomplish? And can we do this over maybe a three-year period, a four-year period, five-year period? Let's do some partials over and let's extend it out over time.

That way the IRS isn't smiling come tax season, right? right? We've laid underneath those brackets.

That way we've protected ourselves going forward.

And we have the best software in the United States when it comes to getting out of making those mistakes.