Retirement For Life

From Booms to Bubbles: What Retirees Should Know About Today’s Market - Ep 46

• Christian Cyr, CPA, CFP® • Season 2 • Episode 46

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To get the full RFL experience, watch the episode here at https://youtu.be/QPZ7kevkAjI

Markets have been on a heater—and that’s exactly when discipline matters most. We unpack a rare three-year streak of strong S&P 500 returns, compare it with the only two times history saw something similar, and explain why one period led to a decade of gains while the other opened the door to a brutal bust. Rather than chase predictions, we share how to build a retirement that stays on track whether AI-fueled momentum keeps running or volatility returns in a hurry.

We get practical about diversification and call out a common trap: spreading accounts across four or five institutions and calling it risk management. Real diversification lives inside the portfolio, not across a stack of statements. You can own thousands of securities through a single, well-structured account, simplify life for your spouse or heirs, and still control asset mix, tax location, and rebalancing. We pair that with a clear risk budget and rules that trim overheated positions back to target—so your long-term income doesn’t depend on market mood.

We also break down the new catch-up contribution rules slated for January 2026, including Roth-only catch-ups for earners above 145,000 dollars and the enhanced catch-up for those in their early 60s. While the government favors near-term tax revenue, retirees can benefit from greater Roth balances that cut future tax drag and add flexibility to withdrawal strategies. Layer in stress tests, a funded income floor, and spending guardrails, and you get a plan that absorbs shocks without panic selling.

If you’re wondering whether to lean into AI winners, rebalance after big gains, or consolidate scattered accounts, this conversation gives you a straight path forward—no fear-mongering, no crystal balls. Follow and subscribe for more data-driven retirement planning, and leave a review with your biggest question about navigating strong markets responsibly.

We love hearing from you!! Record your retirement questions anytime at www.RetirementForLife.com


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Christian Cyr, CPA, CFP®:

Things maybe have been too good in the stock market lately. And so uh I told a story on our last video, our talking head video about Joseph Kennedy Sr. I talked about on the podcast last time. And essentially the story is about how when markets are going very well, typically it's a time where maybe you should be a little bit more weary of what's coming up.

Intro:

Retirement for life. Your passport to a comfortable and confident retirement. The podcast that's equal parts education and entertainment, where we break down the retirement with a natural fun and a heap of wisdom from your host, Christian Steers DPA, the passionate retirement specialist, and president of Steer Financial Wealth Advisor, the independent, registered investment advisor specializing in a retirement system.

Christian Cyr, CPA, CFP®:

Alright, welcome to Retirement for Life Podcast episode. Guys, what did we just say? Episode 46. I actually thought this was 47, but I was wrong. Brooke corrected me several times. Today is going to be a great, great alphabet soup. We are doing something different. I challenged Emma and Andrea to have one topic for today that's going to absolutely amaze our retirees. I have one that I am very passionate about. And I don't know, we didn't decide about who's going to go first.

Andrea Brannon, CFA®-IF:

You should go first.

Christian Cyr, CPA, CFP®:

Why do I get to go first?

Andrea Brannon, CFA®-IF:

Because you like to talk more than us.

Christian Cyr, CPA, CFP®:

All right. Well, so today I promise you three amazing topics. Amazing. Is that a strong word?

Andrea Brannon, CFA®-IF:

Maybe. Yeah, I think it's a little strong according to what you were saying this morning.

Christian Cyr, CPA, CFP®:

Before we get started, this is funny. So Emma comes in this morning, and we have uh every year we have our pumpkin decorating contest at the firm, and everyone has to decorate a pumpkin. And so Emma bring bringing in her pumpkin, she's got kind of a frown on her face. Did I tell you this yet? No. And she goes, My husband hates my podcast topic.

Emma Bean, CFA®:

Oh no. He said it was cheesy, so I did scrap it and I have a new topic.

Christian Cyr, CPA, CFP®:

Maybe we could do both today, like a bonus tip or a bonus nugget.

Emma Bean, CFA®:

I'll skip it if it was cheesy.

Christian Cyr, CPA, CFP®:

So before we get started, I want to talk about the person off camera first. Brooke, want to tell us what happened last night to your dog?

Brooke Fay:

Yeah, my husband and I were coming home from a meeting and we always let our dog George outside to go pee.

Christian Cyr, CPA, CFP®:

What a cute name for a dog, by the way.

Brooke Fay:

Yeah. And uh I was in my my bedroom and I we have all the windows open and I could smell the skunks. We have horrible skunks in our town. And I yelled at my husband. I said, Did he get sprayed? Because he just got sprayed not too long ago. And lo and behold, he did.

Christian Cyr, CPA, CFP®:

So you clean a dog that's been. Have you has any of your dogs ever been skunked?

Andrea Brannon, CFA®-IF:

Thankfully, no. Close calls, though. Yeah. Yeah. It's awful.

Christian Cyr, CPA, CFP®:

It smells really bad, obviously. And how long does it take to get out?

Brooke Fay:

I mean, I I don't know. Like it takes like two weeks for it to like fully be gone, the smell. So he's got over the last one. Yeah. Yeah. Literally.

Christian Cyr, CPA, CFP®:

And you said it went maybe in his nose.

Brooke Fay:

Yeah, I think it got on his face this time. That's what you want to do, right? Yeah, exactly. Scrub the dog.

Christian Cyr, CPA, CFP®:

I wonder what a dog thinks when they get sprayed by skunk. Like, oh shoot.

Brooke Fay:

Or yeah, he he came back with his head between he was hanging his head.

Speaker:

Aww.

Christian Cyr, CPA, CFP®:

Alright, so I want to go first. And I am convinced that what I'm about to say is gonna become a viral clip. Brooke is gonna make a clip out of this, and it's just gonna go viral because I believe everything I say is just so impactful. I think I want to start by saying I want to talk about what I've been on lately. Um, I get on tears, I get on rolls, I I find something that I love, and I keep saying it, I keep saying it, I keep saying it. I'll do it for two or three months at a time. You know, earlier this year, about three or four months ago, all I want to talk about was don't put your money in a 401k. Do your Roth conversion. There's a certain window, and that's all I thought about for three months, as Andrew would say, sadly. And now I'm on a new kick. My new kick is about how things maybe have been too good in the stock market lately. And so uh I told a story on our last video, our talking head video, about Joseph Kennedy Sr. I talked about on the podcast last time, and essentially the story is about how when markets are going very well, typically it's a time where maybe you should be a little bit more weary of what's coming up. And uh, you know, stock market's been up 15 the last 17 years, all this stuff. So, first of all, let's take a stop. Can I do a ask the numbers game? Guess the numbers game?

Intro:

Guess the number game.

Christian Cyr, CPA, CFP®:

2023, United States stock market, SP 500, total return was 26%. Great year. Would you say great?

Andrea Brannon, CFA®-IF:

Yeah, yeah, sure.

Christian Cyr, CPA, CFP®:

Last year, 2024, the stock market, total return, SP 500, 25%. Another great year.

Andrea Brannon, CFA®-IF:

Yeah.

Christian Cyr, CPA, CFP®:

This year is not over. Today is October 21st. What total return is right around 15%. All right. Hence me, the bald guy, telling people be careful, things have been too good. There's a story about a guy in 1929, JFK's dead. He warned everybody the stock market went down 90%. We should be careful, right? All right, but to some degree, it's also like an old guy starting to get concerned, and really all he cares about is his customers, and they don't like when they lose money, and I don't like when they lose money, so maybe we should be more conservative. I'm seeing all these retirees come in and they're like, hey, this the sky's never gonna fall. I have this recency bias. So if you take those last three years, average annual return is 22%. Okay, that's what it is. How many times do you think in the history of the SP 500, that's 1926, the index goes back to, have we had three years in a row of 22% or better? On average, right? So it could be 54%, 1%, 23. It could be 22, 22, 22. Average annual return over a three-year period over 22%.

Emma Bean, CFA®:

My number.

Christian Cyr, CPA, CFP®:

I mean, I would I had I had no idea. So this is not like don't feel bad that you don't know. I didn't know.

Emma Bean, CFA®:

I'm gonna say once. I was thinking twice.

Christian Cyr, CPA, CFP®:

The answer is twice. The answer is twice. Now here's the point both times that this has happened prior, we've said we've seen different circumstances, different outcomes. Okay. So the first time was 1943 to 1945. This goes back to my Joseph Kennedy story, right? 1929, he says, I'm gonna get out of the stock market, stock market crashes. It took, depending if you encounter inflation or not, if you take into account dividends or not, it took uh 20 years for the stock market to come back. So this was the tail end of that. 20 years of terrible stock market, everyone's down the dumps. Finally, it comes back 43, 44, and 45. Stock market had an average return of higher than 22 percent. Wow. Okay. So the question I ask is what happened the next 10 years? The next 10 years were fantastic. In other words, stock market after three great years kept on going, going, and going post-World War II recovery. So the point is that yes, we've had three great years, 23, 24, 25. It's happened before, 43, 44, 45, 10 years afterwards, great.

Emma Bean, CFA®:

Okay.

Christian Cyr, CPA, CFP®:

And that's what you always say, Emma, right?

Emma Bean, CFA®:

Yeah, there's like I see a lot of research about bull markets, and a lot of times if the market's been up, like in our case three years in a row, there's been a lot of examples in history where it keeps going at least for another two or three years.

Christian Cyr, CPA, CFP®:

Yeah. And we have this AI revolution, which I think is a real thing. Okay. I'm like people talk to me about Bitcoin, crypto. I don't know what that is. I don't know if it it's going down lately. Did you guys see that?

Emma Bean, CFA®:

Yeah. It's all over.

Christian Cyr, CPA, CFP®:

It's just it's just like a volatile asset that has nothing tangible behind it, but whatever. But I do believe in AI. I've seen it in action. I believe it's like the World Wide Web, fast forward to 2025. I believe it's driving the economy. Here's the second time we had three great years. Ready for this? 1995, 1997. I remember being a kid in the Gulf of Mexico, first time I've ever been on a plane. And I'm trading Cisco, Yahoo! Lucent Technologies. I'm trading all of these tech stocks, and I'm telling my father-in-law about how great the stock market is. And he says, How good is it, smart Chris? Uh, the guy who's just married my my daughter. And I'm like, it is the greatest thing ever. We're making money hand over fist. So at the time, Yahoo, 1997. How much do you think Yahoo went up? Just guess. How much Yahoo? Brooke, how much do you think Yahoo went up in 1997? She hates when I call him. How much do you think Yahoo went up in uh 1997? Typical year would be 10%.

Brooke Fay:

Okay. Uh 25%.

Christian Cyr, CPA, CFP®:

Okay.

Brooke Fay:

50. Yeah, I was thinking 50.

Christian Cyr, CPA, CFP®:

Try 500%.

Brooke Fay:

Wow.

Christian Cyr, CPA, CFP®:

500%. And I'm sitting there, I'm a young kid, I'm like, hey, this is great. I am making money. Hand over first. Dell Computer. You guys remember it? Now you're old enough to know.

Andrea Brannon, CFA®-IF:

I remember Dell.

Christian Cyr, CPA, CFP®:

Dell, and then they had Gateway. And those are the two competing computer companies. And you remember Gateway, their logo was you don't remember what I don't remember. They had a cow. The box would come and it would be like black and white cows. Yeah. Gateway, no longer in business. Dell still in business. How much do you think Dell went up? The stock Dell went up in 1997. Not as much as 100%.

Emma Bean, CFA®:

Yeah.

Christian Cyr, CPA, CFP®:

Yeah, it went up 200%. Okay. Here's what happened. The second time, stock market three years in a row, 22%. Right. What happened in the next 10 years? We know the story. It was awful. Okay. Um, so so my point when I'm making a video about 1929 crash, Joseph Kennedy Sr. Market is going to fall. Is not because people, I can just see, we have not released the video yet, but I can just see the comments on YouTube right now. Oh, this guy thinks that the stock market's about to crash, oh, he's trying to sell fear, and he just wants people to watch him. I am not saying the stock market is going to go down. We just talked about yesterday. When we are looking at a person's retirement plan, all I want to do is make sure that if possible, when we have the worst case scenario in your retirement for the next 30 years, no matter what happens, you should be okay. I don't want people to think that I'm forecasting a crash, but I do want people to understand that it definitely, definitely, definitely could happen tomorrow. It could happen tomorrow, okay? Because uh Yahoo went up 500% in 1997. Guess what went up 340% last year? The AI baby Dow Palantir Technologies, PLTR. Dell went up 200% in 1997. Guess what up 171% last year? Nvidia, the AI chipmaker. Okay, you know, this is kind of rhyming to me. And so um that's what I have to say about the stock market. Now, what did the customer email you the other day about this interview? What did he say to you?

Emma Bean, CFA®:

So I had a client reach out and ask basically about the Andrew Sorkin interview on 60 Minutes, and he was asking, How is my portfolio hedged against what he's saying? Basically, yeah, what are we gonna do?

Christian Cyr, CPA, CFP®:

Right. So Andrew Ross Sarkin, uh, Brooke, throw a picture of him up. Everyone should recognize him. Uh we watch him a lot, right? Because he's in our business.

Emma Bean, CFA®:

Yep, yep.

Christian Cyr, CPA, CFP®:

He's a very good reporter, uh, I have to say. Uh for some reason, I think he he loves to be an entrepreneur also.

Emma Bean, CFA®:

Yeah.

Christian Cyr, CPA, CFP®:

And so in 2009, he writes a book, Too Big to Fail. Yeah. And it was about the 2008 financial crashes. You guys know that that book was on New York Times bestseller list for six months. And then HBO paid him a bunch of money so they can make a movie about it. Okay. He did very, very well financially. So I didn't even know that he wrote a book, but now he's written another book and it's called 1929.

Emma Bean, CFA®:

Yeah, it's basically like saying we're reliving the Great Depression. It could be basically worst-case scenario for the market. Um, and you know, that type of view is obviously very extreme, and it does scream like marketing. I want to kind of write my book and get people to buy it.

Christian Cyr, CPA, CFP®:

I'm mad at Andrew Ross Sorkin for two reasons. Number one, he's got my client in a tizzy thinking that the market's about to crash. He's saying things in interviews like there's a bubble, it's a massive, I don't know when it's gonna happen. So I decided I was gonna take a look and see what he was saying. I listened to a podcast that he was on, and he basically, uh, when it comes right down to it, he's not really saying it's gonna happen. He's like, I uh here's the exact quotes that I wrote down from a podcast called All In Podcasts. He assumes we're in the bubble. He doesn't know when it's gonna happen. Of course, he doesn't know how big or how little it might be. And he goes out to say, actually, it could work out in the end. Okay.

Andrea Brannon, CFA®-IF:

Yeah. Which is what we hear all the time, right?

unknown:

Yeah.

Andrea Brannon, CFA®-IF:

You have one person saying everything's gonna be great, and you have the other person saying everything's going to crash.

Christian Cyr, CPA, CFP®:

I don't appreciate Andrew Ross Sorkin trying to sell books and scaring my customers. Yeah.

Emma Bean, CFA®:

Well, he I mean, he definitely doesn't know he can't predict the market. We can't predict the market. Really, the only thing we can do is try to prepare for all scenarios.

Christian Cyr, CPA, CFP®:

Right. So Andrew Ross Sorkin trying to scare people and buying a book. That's my opinion. Chris Sear, retirement specialist, that guy right there. I want to help people understand that things have been good lately. I'm not saying there's going to be a crash, but I am here's what I'm selling a confident retirement where you don't give up if the stock market goes down or not, because you're being okay.

Andrea Brannon, CFA®-IF:

Right.

Christian Cyr, CPA, CFP®:

All right. Andrew Ross Sorkin, stop scaring my clients. Now, who's gonna go up next here?

Andrea Brannon, CFA®-IF:

Mine kind of ties in with what you're saying. So I told you a couple weeks ago I was at a family function, and one of my family members said that they have multiple accounts everywhere. They are yeah, they have things everywhere. So they in their mind, they don't want to have all their eggs in one basket.

Christian Cyr, CPA, CFP®:

Are they gonna be new customers?

Andrea Brannon, CFA®-IF:

No, probably not. Because, you know, a lot of times we get new clients and they do have stuff everywhere. And a lot of people think that means that they don't have all their eggs in one basket. And that's a frustrating phrase for me because people don't understand that really that phrase just means to be diversified. That doesn't necessarily mean you need to have your accounts at five places.

Christian Cyr, CPA, CFP®:

Totally agree.

Andrea Brannon, CFA®-IF:

And, you know, for me, it's not just, you know, that that's difficult for them to deal with. They have statements coming in from all these places, but also down the road, your your spouse or your beneficiary is gonna have to deal with that mess. Yeah.

Emma Bean, CFA®:

How many people have we helped where their parents had accounts here, there, there, and it's it's impossible to get a hold of them, try to consolidate things. It's it really is a nightmare.

Andrea Brannon, CFA®-IF:

Yeah. And I just feel like, you know, I would love to be able to get across to people that you don't need to have accounts everywhere. You just need to be diversified within your portfolio, which that alone will help against what you're talking about. You know, I agree. You know, if the market's going to go down, you want to make sure your portfolio is ready for that.

Christian Cyr, CPA, CFP®:

I you know how I like to king myself the king of or crown myself the king of analogies. Okay. This is the way I see what you just explained. And Emma, you're right. We see it all the time. Okay. I like a lot of different TV shows. Okay. Um I theoretically could have five big screen TVs in my living room. So I can watch I need to be diversified. I need to have five TVs, right?

Andrea Brannon, CFA®-IF:

Right.

Christian Cyr, CPA, CFP®:

But I don't need to because I have this thing called YouTube TV. I have 300 channels all on one TV, right? And people, you're right. It just it's manning when people think the way to make sure they can watch the five best programs is that they need five TVs. No, you've got YouTube, 300 channels, you don't need five TVs anymore. You can just switch channels. It's the same thing. You can be uh diversified in one account. Every single asset you own can be in one account. Yeah, you can diversify it with uh 10,000 stocks if you want to.

Andrea Brannon, CFA®-IF:

Right.

Christian Cyr, CPA, CFP®:

You don't need to have seven, eight, nine accounts.

Andrea Brannon, CFA®-IF:

Yeah.

Christian Cyr, CPA, CFP®:

People will never get that though.

Andrea Brannon, CFA®-IF:

I know.

Christian Cyr, CPA, CFP®:

All right, Emma, I got your next. But before you are going on the amazing thing, tell us about the barista story.

Emma Bean, CFA®:

Okay, when's the last time you guys have been to Starbucks and bought a drink?

Christian Cyr, CPA, CFP®:

I still don't even know what's large, medium, and small.

Emma Bean, CFA®:

Like, it's insane. I think the last time I went, you know, just for fun, it was like seven dollars for a drink. Yeah, yeah, it's crazy.

Christian Cyr, CPA, CFP®:

There's a line out the door.

Emma Bean, CFA®:

I don't know.

Christian Cyr, CPA, CFP®:

The drive-thru is packed with like no, we have an espresso machine on our counters.

Emma Bean, CFA®:

Yeah, so I've been really building up my my home barista. I have an espresso machine. I've got the picture of this, Brooke.

Christian Cyr, CPA, CFP®:

Yes. Home barista.

Emma Bean, CFA®:

My my latest endeavor is just trying to like recreate the drinks that they have at Starbucks. Cold foam. You guys have had cold foam? Yeah. Yeah, you can make it at home. It's really good.

Andrea Brannon, CFA®-IF:

Don't make it, I buy the stuff.

Emma Bean, CFA®:

Yeah. But I've I've got like a full cafe. You guys can stop by, like drive-through style. I I just can't believe it's like seven dollars for a drink, and you're right, there's literally a line out the door every time.

Christian Cyr, CPA, CFP®:

I feel like last night while Brooke was trying to tend to her skunked dog, she should have stopped over at your house for like a cold phone.

Emma Bean, CFA®:

Yeah, that would have been nice. Yeah, give you some energy up all night scrubbing down the dog. Oh my gosh.

Christian Cyr, CPA, CFP®:

Yeah, I I said that for years. I remember years and years and years ago taking a picture of the Starbucks drive-thru, and there's just a line of cars. That's been a great start uh stop.

Emma Bean, CFA®:

Yeah.

Christian Cyr, CPA, CFP®:

Did you ever listen to there's a podcast uh called How I Built This?

Emma Bean, CFA®:

Yeah.

Christian Cyr, CPA, CFP®:

Not Guy Ritchie, Guy Somebody.

Emma Bean, CFA®:

Not Guy Ritchie, I don't think.

Christian Cyr, CPA, CFP®:

In my opinion, the best podcast out there. Although after a while, I think people don't want to be on his podcast or he can't get it. But it's it's amazing stories about how founders of companies started their company. I love stories like that.

Emma Bean, CFA®:

I think I remember like 10 years or so ago, you would always say like it's basically a phase. Who's really paying six dollars for a coffee or like a cookie from crumble or whatever? But I think that's the new thing. People are willing to spend on treats like that. Yeah.

Christian Cyr, CPA, CFP®:

That guy, I can't remember his last name, Howard something. He's no longer uh he's kind of retired now, but he starred Starbucks, and the story is just amazing.

Emma Bean, CFA®:

Yeah.

Christian Cyr, CPA, CFP®:

Who thought to charge five, six, seven dollars for a coffee? He did.

Emma Bean, CFA®:

Yeah. And it worked.

Christian Cyr, CPA, CFP®:

Everyone else would have said you're crazy. Imagine going to a bank right now and saying, I got this great idea for a company and I need a hundred million dollar loan, which basically what he did.

Emma Bean, CFA®:

Yeah.

Christian Cyr, CPA, CFP®:

And uh I'm gonna sell coffee mugs right here for eighty dollars. They'd be like, You're crazy, it'll never work. But he made it work. Yeah, you know. Um, I'm just suppressed.

Andrea Brannon, CFA®-IF:

And the best part is there's how many plate people that are his competition that are doing just as well.

Christian Cyr, CPA, CFP®:

Yeah, yeah. Right. Yeah. And how many Starbucks are there? There's like and they're in so many countries.

Andrea Brannon, CFA®-IF:

Well, there's what, three in just Peru? Yeah. Right. They're in a mile of each other.

Christian Cyr, CPA, CFP®:

Like let's guess the number game. How many Starbucks are there in the world?

Brooke Fay:

In the world, yes.

Christian Cyr, CPA, CFP®:

Brooke, you go first.

Brooke Fay:

Oh Lord. Um I'm gonna say in the world. Um eight hundred thousand. Oh wow.

Emma Bean, CFA®:

Is that a lot? I'm gonna say six thousand. I don't know. Really? I was gonna say like fifty thousand.

Christian Cyr, CPA, CFP®:

That's pretty good. Uh now, disclaimer.

Emma Bean, CFA®:

There's in like airports and stuff, too.

Christian Cyr, CPA, CFP®:

Yeah, this is recorded. This is uh Gemini. The current figures indicate that Starbucks has over 40,000 locations worldwide.

Brooke Fay:

I was yeah, you do find a lot of a little line.

Christian Cyr, CPA, CFP®:

Specifically, sorry. Yeah, uh, the last financial report they had, which would have been uh over a year ago, a company said they had 40,199 total locations in 87 countries.

Andrea Brannon, CFA®-IF:

That's crazy. Yeah, and Duncan's just as bad. When when we were in New York, me and Mason, when we were walking down the streets, would we were counting, it was a game, who could count the most Dunkin' donuts as we walk through New York. So it was just as bad with that, too.

Christian Cyr, CPA, CFP®:

Yeah. Well, that's great. All right, sorry, Alan. Thanks for the brief stuff.

Emma Bean, CFA®:

But have you guys heard of the new ketchup contribution rules? So we're gonna throw it back to the Secure Act in 2022, but this is just now being implemented for tw January 2026. They changed the rules for the ketchup contribution for people, you know, that are 50 year older.

Christian Cyr, CPA, CFP®:

Really old.

Emma Bean, CFA®:

Yeah. So if you're 50 or older, you you know, you can you do an extra contribution to your 401k ketchup. Anybody that's making over 145,000, their ketchup can only go towards their Roth, which I thought was really interesting.

Christian Cyr, CPA, CFP®:

I did read that.

Andrea Brannon, CFA®-IF:

Yeah, it's interesting.

Christian Cyr, CPA, CFP®:

And also, isn't it like I said really old, I was talking about myself, right? I can I'm making a catch up contribution. But isn't there another level, I think, also for older people?

Emma Bean, CFA®:

Yeah, they call it the enhanced catch up, and that's specifically for two 63, 60 and older.

Christian Cyr, CPA, CFP®:

Yeah, it's kind of like a 64 and older?

Andrea Brannon, CFA®-IF:

There was a specific one for 63, I think it's age old. The government's so great.

Christian Cyr, CPA, CFP®:

What do we say about Social Security? Like they make uh 70 delayed and they make 62 uh but it's the same thing, enhanced it's a really call it what it is.

Emma Bean, CFA®:

This is the contribution for old people, and this is the contribution for really old people, but anyway, you don't want to so the the catch up um for 50 plus is 8,000 and and 60 plus is like 11,500. But now if you make over 145,000, it has to be going to your Roth. And I think we tell people a lot of time, you know, we see a lot of people that are maxing out their 401k and taking advantage of the catch up, but a lot of the times they're putting it all into pre-tax dollars. Yeah. So I think that this Roth rule, I mean, it's for the government to get their tax money right away, but also it could be a very good opportunity for people that are saving, not putting it all into that pre-tax bucket where it's going to be taxed eventually. Right. But I just thought that was an interesting rule and something that's a very important thing.

Christian Cyr, CPA, CFP®:

Has to go into the Roth.

Emma Bean, CFA®:

Yeah.

Christian Cyr, CPA, CFP®:

I wonder why they're making that rule.

Andrea Brannon, CFA®-IF:

I I I think just because they don't want them to put more pre-tax money, right? They just want the taxes. But I mean, we would prefer that anyway that they put into the Roth, right?

Christian Cyr, CPA, CFP®:

They want money now.

Andrea Brannon, CFA®-IF:

Right.

Christian Cyr, CPA, CFP®:

But you know what also that does? And I'm I'm loving this as I'm thinking this through. It solidifies, you know, one of the biggest risks to the Roth conversion is that four years from now, they could say, no longer can you put money into a Roth. Right. Yeah. And that's a big another frustrating thing. When I'm telling people do a Roth conversion, they're like, well, what if they get rid of Roth conversion? I'm like, you don't get it. The point is to get into a Roth to get grandfathered in before they take it away at your opportunity to do this. But this kind of um gives more stability to the Roth accounts, I think. Right.

Emma Bean, CFA®:

It's kind of like how to find another route to to put money into a Roth, and maybe that extends or it gives people a little bit more hope that you know the government's recognizing the Roth and hopefully in the short term not going away.

Christian Cyr, CPA, CFP®:

Well, you know what is interesting also, uh, as I said earlier, earlier this year, my big push, my big charge was very, very few people that I encounter should be putting money into a traditional 401k or traditional IRA. Very few people does it make sense for, right? You can't make a blanket statement like nobody should do it.

Emma Bean, CFA®:

Right. Like I just told one of our clients the other day they should be saving into their 401k, but that's pretty rare.

Christian Cyr, CPA, CFP®:

But here I am, two or three videos, about a half million views. It's resonating with people. And yet I am not able at our firm to walk the same walk that I'm talking about because I don't have a retirement, or we up until you know next year, we didn't have a retirement plan at Sear Financial where we could put money into a Roth. So I don't know at what point I realize if I'm convincing literally millions of Americans to put money into their Roth, I should have a retirement account that has a Roth option. So and but I'm getting the catch-up contribution. All right, you're gonna have your editing chaps uh tested here today, Brooke. So that is all for episode 46. You guys are great. I I like us just talking here, yeah, because I think uh there's always things that we think about. And I said this earlier uh when we were planning this episode. I mean, how many times in the last 14 years do you just randomly send me stuff like check this out, you know?

Andrea Brannon, CFA®-IF:

All the time.

Christian Cyr, CPA, CFP®:

So when we have those, those are the things that we could talk about. And um, yeah. Thanks for watching Retirement for Life Podcast. This is episode 46, and we'll see you guys in two weeks for episode 47.

Speaker:

Bye. Investment advisory services provided by Sier Financial Inc., SEC Registered Investment Advisor. All content on this podcast is for information purposes only and should not be considered investment, legal, or tax advice. Material presented is believed to be from reliable sources, and no representations are made by our firm as to another party's informational accuracy or completeness.

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Christian J. Cyr, CPA, CFP®

Host
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Andrea Brannon

Co-host
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Emma Bean, CFA

Co-host