Today’s episode looks at the top 6 reasons why doing a Roth conversion may be the right move for you. The disastrous fiscal condition of the U.S. is the first reason why you should consider doing a Roth conversion. David explains why debt in and of itself isn’t the issue – and what the real problem with it is. Doing a Roth conversion with today’s l…

David McKnight explains how a lack of knowledge about Roth 401(k) distribution rules can lead to unexpected taxes and penalties. This episode dives into practical insights to help you steer clear of unwelcome surprises from the IRS. David illustrates what happens if you withdraw from your Roth 401(k) before age 59½, and how these rules differ from …

In the past, David McKnight has been critical of gurus like Dave Ramsey. However, this episode looks at a video in which Ramsey seems to have slightly changed his views. Ramsey emphasizes that one key benefit of a Roth IRA is the potential to drastically reduce or even eliminate Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs). David explains that the decisio…

In a recent video, real estate influencer Grant Cardone made some bold claims, advising against attending college, owning a home, and he even suggested that people should cash out their 401(k)s to invest in real estate. David McKnight calls this advice irresponsible, dangerous, and lawsuit-worthy. Far more Americans achieve millionaire status throu…

This episode explores the easiest and most hassle-free way to achieve millionaire status. According to Fidelity, the number of 401(k) millionaire accounts they manage has skyrocketed from 100,000 in 2017 to nearly 500,000 in 2024. “The slow and steady approach to building wealth is the best way to become a millionaire today,” says David McKnight. D…

In this episode, Ben Shapiro shares his insights on the growing national debt and its potential trajectory under a Kamala Harris administration. Shapiro provides a historical overview of U.S. interest payments, starting from the 1960s. He highlights the alarming rise in the national debt, which has doubled in the last decade, and examines Harris’ p…

This episode answers the question, “How do I do a Roth conversion, and what forms do I need to fill out with the IRS?” David explains that there are three basic steps to convert your IRA to a Roth IRA. Carrying out these three steps will likely take a few weeks – the process could be slightly shorter if everything is handled by the same financial i…

This episode is part of David McKnight’s interview with Mark Byelich, founder and owner of Attleboro Wealth Management. David and Mark discuss why the money inside a Life Insurance Retirement Plan (LIRP) "bucket" is treated differently for tax purposes and benefits from low fees. When it comes to life insurance, David recommends "having as little o…

This episode looks at the recent IRS updates on the required minimum distributions due for 2024 and 2025. David touches upon which accounts are and which aren’t subject to RMDs. Historically, when someone missed their RMD, they had to pay a 50% penalty on whatever they were supposed to withdraw but did not… David goes over what the new regulation f…

Today’s episode addresses how to create multiple tax-free income streams that don’t show up on the IRS’s radar and that contribute to you being in the 0% tax bracket in retirement. Having some money in a tax-deferred account, like an IRA or 401k, is the first way high-income earners can create tax-free wealth for retirement. Contributing to your Ro…

David starts the conversation by explaining what IRMAA is, if you should be worried about it when doing a Roth conversion, and whether there are ways around it. David defines the acronym IRMAA, Income-Related Monthly Adjusted Amount. This is an additional charge you could be required to pay on your Medicare Part B premiums. As your income goes up i…

This episode addresses Suze Orman’s epic IUL rant on her Women and Money podcast. Suze Orman begged her audience not to do Index Universal Life insurance policies. This very broad brush and no nuance approach of every financial guru is what David’s upcoming book The Guru Gap touches upon. David explains why the generic approach financial gurus tend…

David and Mark Byelich talk about why people don’t want to pay a tax before the IRS absolutely requires it of them. David touches on the 2018 documentary The Power of Zero: The Tax Train is Coming. Mark Byelich explains that the longer someone hasa tail of the overage in their IRA hanging out there, the more risk they have. Mark discusses what happ…

Today’s episode is part of David’s interview with Mark Byelich. David and Mark address Mark’s concept of “suddenly single”. David once met an Uber driver who had saved $1.5M. All financial advisors gave him the same advice “don’t change anything” but David had something different to share. A Roth conversion is something married couples should consi…

This episode addresses the 8-step plan for a successful retirement plan that was recently shared by Dave Ramsey’s “sidekick,” George Kamel. Just like in any field of life, a good financial plan benefits from assessing where you are, where you want to be by a given date, and what needs to be done to get there. David dislikes the approach of painting…

Today’s video comes from David’s interview with Dave Christy. They discuss how life insurance and annuities can help maximize your retirement. They start by describing the three different ways cash value life insurance can positively impact your financial plan. David reveals how IULs can be an excellent replacement for the bond portion of your port…

Today’s video is part three of David’s interview with Dave Hall. They discuss whether Trump will extend the tax cuts if re-elected. David cites a recent report from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget that says that if they extend the tax cuts, the government will have to borrow $5 trillion to pay for those tax cuts. David explains why h…

Today’s episode is part 2 of David’s interview with Dave Hall. David shares his thoughts about moving the retirement age to what it currently is. Dr. Larry Kotlikoff has suggested raising taxes to 4% – 2% on the employee and 2% on the employer – as a way to solve the issues around Social Security. David sees the combination of pushing back the reti…

Today’s episode is part 1 of David’s interview with Dave Hall. David shares what he considers the fundamentals of his financial movement: “numbers don’t lie.” David cites a recent Penn Wharton study that illustrates two things that should be done by 2043 – and what will happen if these conditions aren’t met. Dave and David discuss the debt-to-GDP r…

Today’s video is part four of David’s interview with the co-founder of Power of Zero, Larry DeLegge. They discuss whether AI will replace financial advisors and if Congress will take away the tax advantages of cash value life insurance. According to David, financial planning is more of an art than a science. This is why he is not all that convinced…

Today’s episode is part 1 of David’s interview with Power of Zero co-founder Larry DeLegge. The two talk about value life insurance policies, children, and whether life insurance can serve as a viable volatility shield in retirement. David shares his thoughts regarding the “IUL vs. whole life insurance policy” debate. For David, starting a life ins…

This episode is part 3 of David’s interview with Power of Zero co-founder Larry DeLegge. The two discuss the most dangerous retirement advice from Suzie Orman, Dave Ramsey, and Ken Fisher. Financial gurus in the business of dispensing one-size-fits-all financial planning advice is David’s biggest pet peeve. Why do they do it? To appeal to a broader…

Today’s video is part six of David’s interview with financial advisor Chris Martens where they discuss the fatal flaw in Dave Ramsey and Suze Orman's retirement planning advice. They discuss David’s new book, “The Guru Gap,” and how America’s financial gurus are leading people astray. David believes that Dave Ramsey and Suze Orman have done an incr…

Today’s episode is from David’s conversation with CFP Adam Olson. They discuss why mega-CPA firm Ernst & Young is saying that if you want to maximize your income in retirement, you should put 30% of your retirement savings into a cash value life insurance. David reveals what percentage of your savings you should put into a life insurance retirement…

Show host Arturo Johnson shares his experience with coming across David’s content – and how it has changed his perspective. David mentions a study that illustrates the benefits of putting 70% – and not 100% – of your retirement savings into a Roth 401k and the balance into cash value life insurance. Dave Ramsey is famous for stirring up a hornet’s …

David talks about what tax brackets will look like starting from January 1st 2026. One of the things that will change in 2026 are the actual tax rates – with an increased percentage of tax attached to a given range of income. In 2026, tax rates will return to what they were in 2017. David points out that some people online mistakenly believe that, …

David talks about the Power of Zero “philosophy,” as well as a recent Penn Wharton study saying that, if all we do is continue on this same course, by 2043 there will be no arrest in the financial collapse of our country. 95% of Americans have the lion’s share of their retirement savings sitting in what we call tax-deferred vehicles like 401(k)s an…

How much of your social security is getting taxed, at what rate, and is there anything you can do about it? Unfortunately, the IRS doesn't make it easy for people to understand how much of their social security is taxable and at what rate. David explains that the best way to understand social security taxation is to first know about provisional inc…

This episode addresses whether the mainstream financial planning community is justified in avoiding Indexed Universal Life. Lately, social media has been filled with videos praising the virtues of a financial tool known as Indexed Universal Life (IUL). David explains why the IUL has been taking such a beating from traditional financial planners. Da…

David discusses how much of your IRA you should convert, in what amounts and over what time frame. If you’re not convinced by the possible dramatic increase in tax rates in 2031 to bump you into the 32% bracket, you’re not alone… A whole battery of experts predict that tax rates will have to rise dramatically to help service the national debt and w…

David addresses Clark Howard’s viewpoint that seems to want to invite people to never consider a fixed index annuity. Despite interacting with thousands of financial advisors who offer fixed index annuities every year, David has never heard one of them describe them the same way as Clark Howard. Since financial gurus have to get their points across…

This episode explores the two different five-year rules for Roth IRAs instituted by the IRS to prevent people from abusing them. The first five-year rule applies to earnings on Roth contributions and determines whether those distributions can be taken tax-free. The second rule concerns Roth conversions and lets you know whether conversion principle…

At a recent Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholder meeting, Warren Buffett shared his thoughts on why he sees financial advisors as the worst people to trust with your money. Buffett believes that financial professionals in aggregate can’t do better than the aggregate of the people who just sit tight. David agrees with Buffett’s view on active versu…

George Kamel recently released a video on index universal life. On the surface, it looks like a ruthless exposé of a financial scam that millions of Americans are falling for. But when you scratch just below the surface, his critique of IUL is a steaming cesspool of half-truths and outright lies that are designed to sell you a term insurance policy…

According to David, Ken Fisher’s hate toward annuities is visible in what can be considered “one of the most successful attacks on any financial product in history”. David discusses why, in his opinion, Ken Fisher sees annuities as the perfect marketing tool to build his own asset management firm. There are two things annuities can do that no other…

Financial expert and author Ric Edelman has stated that, in his opinion, anyone following Dave Ramsey’s 8% retirement withdrawal strategy is…doomed! The 4% rule has been the distribution rates’ gold standard for over 30 years. However, Suze Orman said that she wouldn’t use the 4% rule on any level. David touches upon what he considers a “massive un…

A recent Penn Wharton study found that the federal government will have to dramatically raise taxes within the next 20 years to avoid sliding into a debt spiral of high interest rates and debt payments. Former comptroller General David Walker has stated several times that taxes would have to double by 2030 or the U.S. will go broke as a nation. Whe…

Former comptroller general of the federal government, David Walker, believes that tax rates will have to double, in order to avoid a financial collapse. The U.S. Government should be helped in preventing their growth. David McKnight points out a potential course of action that should be followed to avoid a possible financial collapse. Permanent sol…

Today’s episode is part 4 of David’s interview for Jesse Wright’s podcast, and it addresses the best way to figure out how much money you’ll need to be able to retire. David explains how to be able to identify what your retirement shortfall is going to be. There are different approaches and each one comes with its unique traits – David discusses hi…

Today’s episode is part three of David’s interview on Jesse Wright’s podcast. They discuss the best way to ensure your savings last as long as you do. Jesse shares a shocking stat: 65-year-old married couples have an 18% chance that at least one person in the relationship will live to be 95 years old. This means that there is a very real chance tha…

Today’s episode is the second part of David’s interview for Jesse Wright’s podcast. Beware of what you see on social media, says David. A lot of that content is by wayward life insurance agents employing pretty despicable tactics. David shares an example of bad advice and highlights why this is advice you should stay away from. For David, 99% of Ti…

Today’s episode is part 1 of David’s appearance on Jesse Wright’s podcast. Jesse asks David where one should start from when thinking about retirement. David points out that the types of accounts which one saves money for retirement really matter. According to David, there’s essentially two ways to save money for retirement. The first is to get a t…

David and Khalen Dwyer discuss HonestMath.com's research proposing a conservative 4% annual withdrawal for a 30-year retirement--contradicting Ramsey's long-standing advice of an 8% withdrawal rate. Khalen explains how Ramsey's assumptions defy both mathematical principles and historical data. He also reveals the financial instability retirees may …

David makes a clear preface: “If anyone ever tells you to cash out your 401k and put it all into an IUL, you’re to turn around and run the other way!” This episode addresses what David refers to as “the worst IUL TikTok video I’ve ever seen; a video that’s so replete with manipulative sales tactics and lawsuit-worthy financial advice.” David points…

One of the things Dave Ramsey is famous for is telling his audience that they can take sustainable 8% distributions from their stock market portfolios in retirement. David has two issues with this recommendation: it ignores reams of academic data on sustainable withdrawal rates, as well as the concept of sequence of return. David points out the pot…

David talks to Tom Hegna, an economist, author, and popular industry speaker considered by many to be the retirement income expert. David reveals how he learned about the unstable fiscal trajectory of the U.S. and why he wrote the book, "The Power of Zero." The book emphasizes the importance of preparing for higher tax rates. It offers strategies t…

David talks to Jay Disberger, the caller on Dave Ramsey's viral 4% rule meltdown. They start the discussion by describing why the clip went viral and how people can get their questions answered live on the Dave Ramsey Show. Jay's motivation for the call: To get clarity on how best to withdraw your money in retirement and get Dave to take a stand on…

Dave Ramsey recently eviscerated his co-host George Kamel for preaching the 4% rule. According to George, withdrawing only 4% of your savings is the easiest way to guarantee your money lasts throughout retirement. George further adds that the 4% rule is a math-based approach to sustainable withdrawals in retirement. For Dave Ramsey, the 4% is sense…