Are Roth Conversions before RMDs start a smart idea?

On today's episode, we are discussing a question that maybe not a lot of people ask: should you change your financial advisor when you retire, or at least within close proximity to retirement?

CIO David Rath and advisor Pat Kalish break down what's driving current market volatility — oil prices, rising interest rates, and geopolitical risk — and what retirees should (and shouldn't) do with their portfolios right now.

David Rath tested Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, and Grok to build a retirement portfolio. The results were surprisingly similar — and revealed exactly what AI still can't do that a fiduciary advisor can.

Under the Secure 2.0 Act, unused 529 funds can now roll into a Roth IRA. Learn the 5 rules, the $35,000 lifetime cap, and how high earners can use this as a backdoor Roth alternative.

Passive investing has real advantages — but for retirees, sequence of returns risk makes "set it and forget it" a gamble. We break down when this strategy works and when it quietly fails.

There are 21 exceptions to the IRS early withdrawal penalty — and 5 you should actually know. Learn how the Rule of 55, SEPP, and other strategies let you access retirement funds before age 59½ without the penalty.

We distilled 40 major institutional outlooks to answer what investors need to know for 2026 — AI's market impact, whether bonds are back, global diversification, and how to position a retirement portfolio heading into uncertainty.

The shift from saving to spending is the hardest part of retirement. David Rath outlines the 3 steps every new retiree must take — including how much cash to set aside before touching your investment portfolio.

Not every "financial advisor" is legally required to act in your best interest. Learn the difference between fiduciary and suitability standards, the 3 red flags to watch for, and the questions to ask before hiring anyone.