Episodes

This week's episode includes some reader questions, and a review of the The Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019 (the SECURE Act). The SECURE Act has passed the House of Representatives, and a similar bill is working in...

Current reports show there will only be enough money coming into Social Security to pay about 75% of Social Security Benefits. Even if we have record-setting economic numbers, we're very close to being too little, too late. Can a President make...

90% of contested probate cases were between the surviving wife and the children of the deceased man. We received an email from a listener whose widowed father met a new woman and let her into his life. However, the kids have some concerns about the...

Spring is here, and it's a great time to do some financial spring cleaning. Devin and John go over a few things you want to do: A fee audit Double-check your beneficiary designations. ...and more For more information, visit the show notes at

"Medicare for All" has been in the news a lot lately. Senator Bernie Sanders thinks insurance companies should be abolished and everyone should get Medicare. So this week, Devin and John talk about the pros and cons of different ideas about expanding...

An exclusive interview with Congressman John Larson about the proposed changes to Social Security in the SS2100 Act. For more information, visit the show notes at

A trust is a legal entity, just like a corporation or an individual person. All trusts will have an exchange of property and three categories of people: The people who create it, called the grantors, or the settlers, or the trust-makers The people in...

Are illegal immigrants going to cause the collapse of the Social Security system? The Social Security trustees reports that more immigration is a benefit to the system. Devin and John of Big Picture Retirement look at both sides and get to the truth...

Danielle Roberts of BoomerBenefits.com is back again this week, talking with Devin about more Medicare issues. Danielle is an expert on Medicare supplements and Medicare Advantage plans, and runs the Boomer Benefits company to help seniors with their...

Danielle Roberts explains the different parts of Medicare to us in a way that is easy to understand and follow. This is Part 1 of a 2-part series with Danielle Roberts of BoomerBenefits.com. For more information, visit the show notes at

How do you figure out how much money you're spending on your investments? In this encore presentation, Devin and John talk about the types of fees you might be paying, and how you can figure out what they are. For more information, visit the show...

David Stein, host of the Money For The Rest of Us podcast, will explain the importance of trade, and how the trade, and trade wars, might impact you and your retirement. For more information, visit the show notes at

Devin and John continue working their way through some of the listener questions that have been coming in. John has a question about making a trust the beneficiary of an IRA, and then Devin has a question about Social Security benefits for public...

John received a question from a listener with a blended family. The wife needs long-term care, and the assets to support such an expense! He talks about “Medicaid estate recovery” and other recommendations for power of attorney, etc. Then Devin...

What kind of rights do grandparents have? John Ross from the Big Picture Retirement Show deals with a lot of people in retirement, and many of those folks have grandchildren. He shares some harrowing stories and tips you can use to makes sure your...

CRUTS are Charitable Remainder Trusts. Any time you are dealing with charitable planning, you must first have the charitable intent. You can find some tax benefits that go along with that charitable intent, but you have to start with the charitable...

Part 2 of the conversation about active versus passive investing with guest Rick Ferri, author of Smart Money. For more information, visit the show notes at

This week, Devin welcomes Rick Ferri to the show to talk about active versus passive investing. But before the interview gets started, John and Devin have an entertaining conversation about the recently released 2019 Social Security and Medicare...

In light of the recent market activity, Devin and John thought it would be useful to re-broadcast their original episode on the lessons they've learned from past market declines. Lesson 1: Market declines are normal Lesson 2: No one can consistently...

On the surface, Social Security survivor benefits seem pretty simple: at the death of the first spouse, the surviving spouse is eligible to receive his or her own benefit, or the benefit of the deceased, whichever is greatest. In today's show, Devin...

Important benefits offered by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) are changing. Devin and John talk about: Improved Pension with Aid and Attendance Clearly Defined Assets Test Adding A Look-back Period For more information, visit the show notes at

Part 3 in the Big Picture Retirement series on Drawdown Strategies: Brandon Renfro talks about "setting a floor." For more information, visit the show notes at

Part 2 in our series. In this episode we answer the question "How are you going to take your money out so that it lasts?" Then, once you have a plan for which accounts you should access in which order, how are you going to figure out the amount of...

When you stop working, you've put aside some money into different types of accounts, and maybe you have a pension, or some rental property, or other investments. How do you start converting those assets into an income stream that will last for the...