Retirement Pathfinder with Barbara Lane & Phil Guske

Getting Started: A Financial Plan’s First Steps

For some folks, the idea of putting together a financial plan can be overwhelming. But it’s less threatening if you just focus on a first step to get you started. But depending on your situation, your most logical first step could be one of several thing. Barbara will help you figure out what the right first step is for you.

Mailbag: Too Much Life Insurance, Roth Accounts, Inflation, And Retirement Empowerment

We've got another batch of great questions from listeners to the podcast. Marie wants to know if her three life insurance policies is too much. Later, Daniel wonders how to estimate inflation when planning for retirement. Barbara Lane will answer those questions and more on this episode of The Retirement Pathfinder.

Mailbag: Do I Have Enough For Retirement?

Clark in Roscoe wants to know if his family's $1.5 million is enough to have saved for retirement. It's a common question that the Pathfinder team gets. So, how much is enough to get you through retirement without having to worry about your money? Phil points us in the right direction on this week's podcast.

Storytime: A Few Of The Right Things

Pay yourself first. Compound interest. Be an owner, not a loaner. If you embrace those three mentalities, you'll be on your way to having a well prepared retirement plan. On today's podcast, Phil Guske makes his first appearance on the show and shares with us a little bit about his background. He'll tell us how the lessons he learned from a mentor in the Army led him into the financial industry. And he'll also show us how you can embrace some of the same philosophies that he did in order to experience a successful retirement future.

Mailbag: Ex-Husband's Social Security, Tax Changes, Long Term Care, And Living On A Forced Budget

The mailbag edition of the show gives us the chance to answer questions from folks like you around the Rockford area. We'll field questions about drawing social security from an ex-spouse, adjusting to the recent changes in the tax code, and whether it's possible to get long term care coverage without long term care insurance. Plus, Carrie has a question about an advisor who is "forcing" her to live on a budget. Do advisors often have rules and limitations they push their clients into? We'll ask Barbara if that's norm.

An Important Question: How Do You Know?

One of the most important questions you can ask is, “How do you know _____?” The blank is where we fill in the most crucial elements, the building blocks, of financial planning. On this podcast, we’ll cover what items you need to put in that blank and provide the guidance to help answer the different questions that arise