What do you need to know when working with an advisor?

Dan and Scott examine the annuity. We look at the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Beer
Scott drinks a #9 Not Quite Pale Ale from Magic Hat Brewing Company of Burlington, Vermont. Dan drinks an Otra Vez Gose-Style Ale from Sierra Nevada Brewing Company of Chico, California.

Dan and Scott talk with Lynn O'Shaughnessy of the College Solution, a website designed to help parents and students navigate the often stressful process of applying to and paying for college. Topics covered include: the absurdity of college rankings; the dangers of focusing on a handful of schools; the metrics that lead to a happy college student; why research universities may not be the best choice for undergrads; and the realities of athletic scholarships.

Beer
Scott drinks an Islander IPA from Coronado Brewing Company of Coronado, California. Dan drinks a Grapefruit Sculpin IPA from Ballast Point of San Diego, California.

Dan and Scott continue their talk with Lynn O'Shaughnessy of the College Solution, a website designed to help parents and students navigate the often stressful process of applying to and paying for college.

Beer
Scott drinks an Islander IPA from Coronado Brewing Company of Coronado, California. Dan drinks a Grapefruit Sculpin IPA from Ballast Point Brewing Company of San Diego, California.

Dan and Scott talk with Ed Mills a.k.a. The Millionaire Educator. Ed and his wife, who is also a teacher, saved $104,000 in 2015. Not only are he and his wife hard-core savers, they are also willing to move from one school district to another to gain access to better 403(b) investment choices, or to trigger the separation from service provision that allows them to move their 403(b) assets to lower cost investments.

Beer (and Wine)
Ed drinks a red "Black Box" cabernet wine. Scott drinks a Chain Breaker White IPA from Deschutes Brewery of Bend, Oregon. Dan drinks an Adobe Igloo, a winter style brown ale by Santa Fe Brewing Company of Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Dan and Scott take a look back at their 2015 investing successes and failures. They also share 2016 savings plans and investing goals.

Dan and Scott visit Amy Biehl Charter High School in downtown Albuquerque, NM where every senior takes a hybrid economic and financial literacy course. This isn’t your typical course. Topics covered include: political ideology and economic policy, predatory lending, and red lining along with financing college, cars and mortgages. Dan and Scott interview students Jonathan, Alicia, Serina, and their teacher Bryan Wehrli.

Beer 
Dan and Scott drank the following beer at Dan's AFTER the interviews were conducted: Bosque Lager by Bosque Brewing and Elevated IPA by La Cumbre.

Dan and Scott interview fiduciary planner Sheryl Garrett, CFP, owner of the Garrett Planning Network. Founded in 2000, the Garrett Planning Network has grown into a national network of hundreds of hourly-based, fee-only financial planners. The Network exists "to make competent, objective advice accessible to all people." Sheryl has been singled out by president Obama for her support of advisor fiduciary standards. In this interview, Sheryl discusses a variety of financial planning topics including what the Garrett Planning Network is and why it was needed. She also discusses the fight to get a fiduciary standard in place.

Beer (and Hard Cider)
Sheryl drinks a Wicked Apple hard cider by Redd's of Milwaukee, WI.; Scott drinks a Pumpkin Ale from Saranac Brewery of Utica, NY; Dan, who has a cold, drinks a Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride tea by Celestial Seasonings.

Dan and Scott interview Warwick, N.Y. based planner Ken Ford owner of Warwick Valley Financial Advisors. Ken has begun to focus on working with K-12 teachers in the Warwick, N.Y. area. He talks about his effort to serve what he believes is an underserved market: K-12 teachers.

Beer
Ken drinks an Imperial Pumpkin Ale from Southern Tier Brewing Company of Lakewood, NY; Scott drinks a #9 Not Quite Pale Ale from Magic Hat Brewing Company of South Burlington, VT; Dan drinks a Slice of Hefen Wheat Ale from La Cumbre Brewing Company of Albuquerque, NM.

Dan and Scott interview Scott Senseney of Fidelity's Tax Exempt Market Business. Topics covered include: Fidelity’s approach to the K-12 market (they have approximately 4,000 client accounts); how to get Fidelity in your school district; Fidelity’s approach to the college/university and tax-exempt markets; and Fidelity's recent success at winning single vendor RFPs. We also asked Scott about the challenges of increasing enrollment in public K-12 403(b) plans, how Fidelity personalizes service, and his prediction for the public (non-ERISA) 403(b).

Beer
Dan drinks a Salted Caramel Brownie Brown Ale which is collaboration beer from New Belgium of Fort Collins, CO and Ben & Jerry's of Burlington, VA.; Scott drinks a Mission St. Hefeweizen from Trader Joe's of Monrovia, CA.

Dan and Scott interview Dave Grant, a Certified Financial Planner who specializes in working with teachers. Dave grew up in England and came to the United States because of a girl — a teacher — who is now his wife. Dave talks about his business model, working with teachers, and a new financial initiative he just launched called: The Finance for Teachers Network (FFTN). The goal of the network is to bring educator-focused financial advisors from across the United States into one place to learn best practices from each other, understand how to further their skills in working with K-12 and college educators, and get coaching in how to serve more educators than they currently are. 

Beer
Dan drinks a Bosque Lager from Bosque Brewing of Albuquerque, NM.; Scott drinks an Arrogant Bastard Ale from Stone Brewing of San Diego, CA.

Dan and Scott interview Mark Luckinbill of Aspire Financial Services. Mark is head of 403(b), 457(b) and IRA products for Aspire. One way to describe the firm is an aggregator of mutual fund companies and investment products. Through the Aspire platform educators or staff can get access to most of the popular mutual fund companies including low cost, no-load funds like Fidelity and Vanguard. Aspire is available in more than 3,500 school districts across the country.

Beer
Dan drinks a Pumpkick Ale from New Belgium Brewing of Fort Collins, CO; Scott — in our continued effort to "Draft" Massachusettes Senator Elizabeth Warren" to share a beer with us and discuss financial issues — drinks a Downtime Pilsner from The Boston Beer Company of Boston, MA.; Mark drinks a Freak of Nature Double IPA from Wicked Weed Brewing Craft Beer of Asheville, NC.

Dan and Scott interview retired teacher and 403(b) advocate Steve Schullo and husband Dan Robertson. The couple, who co-wrote Late Bloomer Millionaires, share how they met, talk about their financial mistakes and successes, and discuss the financial challenges of same sex couples.

Note: Dan Robertson passed away shortly after the release of this episode. Words cannot express the loss we feel. RIP Dan Robertson.

Dan and Scott critique the podcast to date, explain the meaning of the phrase Teach and Retire Rich, discuss recent market volatility, and Scott announces a movement to get a certain financial hero of ours on the podcast.

Beer
Dan drinks a Black IPA from Santa Fe Brewing Company of Santa Fe, NM; Scott drinks an Inversion IPA from Deschutes Brewery of Bend, OR.

Dan and Scott interview retired Los Angeles teacher Steve Schullo, who almost single-handedly started the 403(b) reform effort. After being duped into buying a high-fee variable annuity as a new teacher, Steve began a decades long effort to help teachers get better investment choices. He’s battled administrators, benefits officials, unions, and financial industry lobbyists. Steve, along with husband Dan Robertson, co-wrote Late Bloomer Millionaires which details their investing mistakes and successes. Steve talks about growing up on a farm in northern Wisconsin, his service in Vietnam, teaching, 403(b) advocacy, investing, and meeting his partner Dan Robertson. Note: Dan Robertson passed away not long after the release of this episode. Words cannot express the loss we feel. RIP Dan Robertson.

Beer
Dan (Otter) drinks an Outlaw lager from Rio Grande Brewing Company of Moriarty, NM; Scott drinks an Inversion IPA from Deschutes Brewery of Bend, OR.

Dan follows up with 6th grade teacher Joe Minnuto about the bad 403(b) choices available to him and his wife, who is also a teacher. Dan and Joe also talk Buffalo sports including “Wide Right” and “No Goal!”

Beer
Dan drinks a Wet Mountain IPA from the Canteen Brewhouse of Albuquerque, NM; Joe drinks a Tangier IPA from Southern of Tier Lakewood, NY.

Dan and Scott try to help 6th grade teacher Joe Minnuto with his bad 403(b) choices. Topics covered include: 90-24 outside-of-plan exchange, 403(b) vs. a Roth IRA, Third Party Administrators (TPAs), Vanguard and TPAs, Aspire and open architecture plans, investor share class vs institutional share class, and the 457(b).

Beer
Dan drinks a Happy Camper IPA from Santa Fe Brewing Company of Santa Fe, NM; Scott drinks a Tower 10 IPA from Karl Strauss of San Diego, CA; Joe drinks a Buffalo Lager from Flying Bison Brewing Company of Buffalo, NY.

Dan and Scott offer advice on what to do if stuck with bad 403(b) choices. Topics covered include: How to know if you have a bad 403(b); Steps to take to get a better plan; and Foregoing a 403(b) for a Roth IRA. They also discuss the fee-finding resource 403(b)compare.com; Dan shares a bit about his recent trip to England where he took in a Liverpool football (soccer) match at Anfield. Scott shares a bit about his recent trip to Hawaii.

Beer
Dan drinks a Farmer's Tan Red Ale from Tractor Brewing of Albuquerque, NM; Scott drinks a Diesel Punk from World Brews of Novato, CA.

Dan and Scott continue their discussion on the much misunderstood 403(b). Topics covered include: pre-tax 403(b) contributions; post-tax Roth 403(b) contributions; options for a 403(b) when leaving an employer; penalty-free acess to the 403(b); hardship withdrawals and what happens to a 403(b) during a divorce. Scott gives his verdict on Dan's 2001 decision to roll over his CalSTRS pension into an IRA when he left California.

Beer
This is part 2 of our podcast on the 403(b) which was recorded right after part 1 where we drank beer. While two beers in one day of recording sounds like a good idea, it probably wouldn't make a good podcast. Two beers in one sitting might make us do something really unwise like recommend high fee variable annuities.

Dan and Scott discuss the much misunderstood 403(b) retirement plan. Questions addressed include: What is it? How does it work? How can it be invested? How much can be contributed? When can it be accessed?

Beer
Dan drinks a Riverwalker IPA from Bosque Brewing of Albuquerque, NM. Scott (with apologies) drinks a Blue Moon from Coors Brewery of Conglomerateville, INC.

Dan and Scott discuss how teacher pension plans work. Dan describes how in 2001 when he left the state of California he rolled over his CalSTRS pension into a Vanguard Rollover IRA. Scott is not sure that was a good idea.

Beer
Dan drinks a Wildflower Wheat from Marble Brewery of Albuquerque, NM; Scott drinks an Orange Wheat from Hanger 24 Craft Brewing of Redlands, CA.

Dan and Scott describe how they got into teacher retirement plan advocacy. They also lay out their vision for the Teach and Retire Rich Podcast.

Beer
Dan drinks a Red Ryeot from La Cumbre Brewing Company of Albuquerque, NM; Scott drinks an Upheaval IPA from Widmer Brothers Brewing of Portland, OR.