What The Wealth Retirement Podcast

Hosted by Jonathan Bednar II, CFP

Business Investing Education

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Episodes

138

Latest episode

Oct 2026

Language

EN-US

About the show

When it comes to financial planning and investing, many of us have more questions than answers. The “What the Wealth?!” Retirement Podcast offers sound financial information and guidance on numerous concerns to help Gen X and Y families and professionals as well as 50-Forward individuals create the lives they love. Jonathan P. Bednar, II, CFP, joined Paradigm Wealth Partners in January 2010, where he is in partnership with his father, Jon P. Bednar. As a Wealth Advisor, Jonathan enjoys guiding his clients to make informed financial decisions and planning as a means to solve their investment and retirement concerns.Securities offered through LPL Financial. Member FINRA/SIPC. Investment advice offered through Paradigm Wealth Partners, a registered investment advisor and separate entity from LPL Financial.

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60 recent

October 26, 2026Episode 13913 min

"We've Got $1.2M, Can We Retire in Three Years?" (139)

Three years out from retirement is where the plan either gets real or quietly turns into stress. We take a tight-margin case study a 60-year-old couple with $1.2 million saved who want to retire at 63 and show exactly why the final 36 months matter more than most people think. The numbers “work” once Social Security kicks in, but there’s a dangerous gap first: The bridge years between leaving work and claiming benefits at 67. We talk through what happens when most of your money sits in tax-deferred 401(k) and IRA accounts, why that creates a tax-heavy withdrawal problem, and how a thin taxable brokerage account can make the early retirement years feel shaky. We also dig into the parts people avoid until it’s too late: confirming your real retirement budget, pricing health insurance before Medicare, and stress testing for a market drop right after you retire. Then we lay out a simple year-by-year retirement planning framework: Year one is verification (12 months of spending proof and real projections), year two is positioning (building bridge-year liquidity and a separate cash reserve or war chest, plus evaluating Roth conversions and tax strategy), and year three is the rehearsal (living on the retirement budget and writing down withdrawal rules so you’re not winging it in a downturn). If you’re aiming for an early retirement, this is a practical roadmap to turn “hopeful” into “ready.” 🗓️ Meet with me: https://paradigmwealthpartners.com/begin-your-journey/#calendly ↔️ Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jbednarii/ 🌐 Paradigm Wealth Partners (website) – Financial planning for career professionals who want to retire and stay retired: https://paradigmwealthpartners.com/ 🌐 What the Wealth (website) – Adding clarity to difficult financial topics: https://whatthewealth.com/ ▶️ YouTube: Paradigm Wealth Partners If you or someone you care about could use the help of a financial advisor and sees the value in establishing a financial plan, please reach out to me. Thanks for Listening! Jonathan

October 12, 2026Episode 13810 min

Pension Plus + Social Security: What You Need to Know (138)

A pension and Social Security can feel like the retirement “finish line,” but guaranteed income is only the starting point for a plan that actually holds up in real life. We walk through the planning gaps we see most often when someone retires with a pension, including the hidden ways a comfortable income today can turn into a squeeze 10 or 20 years from now. We start by flipping the usual script: Retirement readiness isn’t determined by how much you’ve saved, it’s determined by whether your income can support the lifestyle you want. Using simple numbers, we compare pension income to what an investment portfolio might produce under the 4% rule. A $4,000 monthly pension can resemble the income you’d need around a $1.2 million portfolio to generate, which helps you evaluate your situation based on cash flow instead of account-balance envy. Then we dig into inflation risk and cost of living adjustments (COLA). Social Security typically rises with inflation, but many pensions don’t, and that difference can quietly erode purchasing power over time. We also get practical about budgeting for retirement by calculating spending from reality, not memory, including irregular expenses like property taxes, home maintenance, travel, gifts, and medical costs. Finally, we cover survivor planning for couples: What changes when one Social Security benefit ends and a pension may reduce, even though many household bills barely drop. If you’re within a few years of retirement and want a clearer picture of your retirement income plan, listen through to the end. Subscribe, share this with someone who has a pension, and leave a review with your biggest retirement planning question. 🗓️ Meet with me: https://paradigmwealthpartners.com/begin-your-journey/#calendly ↔️ Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jbednarii/ 🌐 Paradigm Wealth Partners (website) – Financial planning for career professionals who want to retire and stay retired: https://paradigmwealthpartners.com/ 🌐 What the Wealth (website) – Adding clarity to difficult financial topics: https://whatthewealth.com/ ▶️ YouTube: Paradigm Wealth Partners If you or someone you care about could use the help of a financial advisor and sees the value in establishing a financial plan, please reach out to me. Thanks for Listening! Jonathan

October 5, 2026Episode 1378 min

You Inherited an IRA – Do You Know What to Do With It? (137)

Your kids inherit your IRA and the rules don’t “wait until they’re ready.” The SECURE Act puts most non-spouse beneficiaries on a 10-year deadline, and that single change can turn a well-built retirement account into a forced tax event right when your children are earning the most. We dig into what the 10-year inherited IRA rule really means for traditional IRAs, 401(k)s, 403(b)s, and yes, inherited Roth IRAs too. The part that surprises almost everyone: The taxes. When heirs pull money from an inherited traditional IRA, those withdrawals land as ordinary income on top of salary, often pushing them into higher tax brackets in their 40s and 50s. Then we shift to the years where you actually have leverage, the stretch between retirement and age 73 when required minimum distributions (RMDs) begin. That window can be prime time for Roth conversion planning, because your taxable income is often lower and you can choose how much to convert each year. To make it real, we run a numbers-based story with David and Beth and an $800,000 traditional IRA. Converting strategically can mean a dramatically smaller total family tax bill, and it can also change what the account is allowed to become: a tax bill your kids rush to pay, or a decade of tax-free Roth growth they can let compound before withdrawing. If you care about retirement income, estate planning, and leaving a cleaner legacy, this conversation connects the dots. 🗓️ Meet with me: https://paradigmwealthpartners.com/begin-your-journey/#calendly ↔️ Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jbednarii/ 🌐 Paradigm Wealth Partners (website) – Financial planning for career professionals who want to retire and stay retired: https://paradigmwealthpartners.com/ 🌐 What the Wealth (website) – Adding clarity to difficult financial topics: https://whatthewealth.com/ ▶️ YouTube: Paradigm Wealth Partners If you or someone you care about could use the help of a financial advisor and sees the value in establishing a financial plan, please reach out to me. Thanks for Listening! Jonathan

September 28, 2026Episode 1369 min

Where Does Your SS Check Rank in 2026? (136)

Your Social Security check has a rank, and the “average benefit” doesn’t tell you where you actually stand. I’m using the latest 2026 Social Security Administration data to put real numbers around a question most retirees never answer: "What percentile is your monthly benefit compared to everyone else already collecting?" We walk through the benefit ladder from bottom 10% to top 1%, including the dollar amounts that mark each tier. You’ll hear why $2,071 a month as the January 2026 average can be a misleading yardstick, why the median matters, and what it really means if you’re around $1,900, $3,200, $3,700, or $4,700+ per month. We also talk about the true ceiling for 2026 and why even high earners don’t automatically land at the top, since Social Security is progressive and your claiming decisions can override your income story. Then we get practical. I break down the biggest levers that can move your Social Security benefit and your percentile: Delaying past full retirement age for roughly 8% per year in delayed retirement credits, making sure you understand how your highest 35 earning years are used (and how “zero years” can quietly drag you down), and coordinating benefits as a couple to protect spousal and survivor income. We also flag the earnings test, which can reduce benefits if you claim early and keep working above the limit. If you want help running the numbers against your specific retirement plan, check the link below to schedule a call. 🗓️ Meet with me: https://paradigmwealthpartners.com/begin-your-journey/#calendly ↔️ Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jbednarii/ 🌐 Paradigm Wealth Partners (website) – Financial planning for career professionals who want to retire and stay retired: https://paradigmwealthpartners.com/ 🌐 What the Wealth (website) – Adding clarity to difficult financial topics: https://whatthewealth.com/ ▶️ YouTube: Paradigm Wealth Partners If you or someone you care about could use the help of a financial advisor and sees the value in establishing a financial plan, please reach out to me. Thanks for Listening! Jonathan

September 14, 2026Episode 1356 min

New IRS Tax Brackets: How The 2026 Senior Deduction Works, Who Loses It (135)

A new 2026 tax deduction is about to create a lot of confusion for retirees and a lot of quiet disappointment at tax time. If you are married and both 65 or older, the new “senior bonus” can be worth up to about $12,000, stacked on top of the standard deduction and the additional age 65+ amount. That sounds like found money, but the real story is what happens when your income is higher than you expect once you combine Social Security, a pension, and withdrawals from retirement accounts. We walk through the exact phaseout trap that starts for married couples at $150,000 of household income. Using a simple Mark and Diane example at roughly $200,000 of combined income, we discuss how the bonus gets reduced behind the scenes and why you may never see the full deduction you planned on. This is where retirement tax planning pays off: Coordinating withdrawals, Roth conversion timing, and taxable income so you understand the thresholds before you cross them. We connect that same income to Medicare IRMAA. Medicare premiums use a two-year lookback, so a big RMD, a one-time gain, or a large Roth conversion can raise your Medicare bill two years later, long after you have forgotten what caused it. If you get hit with a surprise surcharge, we also explain why Form SSA-44 may help you request a recalculation based on current income. If you want more guidance on tax planning, Medicare IRMAA, Roth conversions, and RMD strategy, subscribe, share this with someone nearing retirement, and leave a quick review so more people can find it. 🗓️ Meet with me: https://paradigmwealthpartners.com/begin-your-journey/#calendly ↔️ Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jbednarii/ 🌐 Paradigm Wealth Partners (website) – Financial planning for career professionals who want to retire and stay retired: https://paradigmwealthpartners.com/ 🌐 What the Wealth (website) – Adding clarity to difficult financial topics: https://whatthewealth.com/ ▶️ YouTube: Paradigm Wealth Partners If you or someone you care about could use the help of a financial advisor and sees the value in establishing a financial plan, please reach out to me. Thanks for Listening! Jonathan

September 4, 2026Episode 1347 min

$1.6M for Retirement — Seemed Like Enough? (134)

You can do everything “right,” hit a big retirement number, and still find out you can’t afford to retire at 60. That’s the uncomfortable math behind Robert and Susan’s $1.6 million plan and it has nothing to do with under-saving. The real issue is where the money lives and how withdrawals show up on your tax return. When your nest egg is concentrated in a traditional 401k and IRA, the IRS takes a bite of every distribution as ordinary income, turning a simple spending goal into a much bigger tax problem than most people expect. Let's dig into the five-year gap before Medicare and why Affordable Care Act marketplace subsidies can vanish if your household income crosses a hard line. For a couple, going even $1 over the threshold can wipe out the subsidy completely, which can make health insurance dramatically more expensive right when you’re trying to keep retirement expenses predictable. If you’re planning early retirement, the way you sequence withdrawals matters as much as your investment returns. 🗓️ Meet with me: https://paradigmwealthpartners.com/begin-your-journey/#calendly ↔️ Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jbednarii/ 🌐 Paradigm Wealth Partners (website) – Financial planning for career professionals who want to retire and stay retired: https://paradigmwealthpartners.com/ 🌐 What the Wealth (website) – Adding clarity to difficult financial topics: https://whatthewealth.com/ ▶️ YouTube: Paradigm Wealth Partners If you or someone you care about could use the help of a financial advisor and sees the value in establishing a financial plan, please reach out to me. Thanks for Listening! Jonathan

August 31, 2026Episode 1336 min

Three Common RMD Traps — Avoidable (133)

(Short episode) One small assumption can turn a routine Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) into an IRS penalty, and it happens to smart retirees all the time. We walk through the real-world RMD mistakes we see most often, using simple examples that make the rules stick without the jargon overload. The “married filing jointly” trap: Why you still cannot satisfy two spouses’ IRA RMDs from one person’s account, even if the household withdraws the right total. Then we get practical about aggregation rules, because not every retirement account plays by the same combining logic. Traditional IRA RMDs can be aggregated across multiple IRAs, but 401(k) RMDs generally cannot. We also explain the 403(b) exception, and why mixing up IRA, 401(k), and 403(b) rules can create an accidental shortfall on the account you never touched. We cover the rollover mistake that surprises people consolidating an old 401(k) into an IRA after reaching RMD age. RMDs cannot be rolled over, and skipping that step can lead to an excess IRA contribution and an ongoing penalty until it is fixed. If you care about retirement tax planning, RMD rules, and avoiding unnecessary IRS penalties, this is a quick listen that can save real money. 🗓️ Meet with me: https://paradigmwealthpartners.com/begin-your-journey/#calendly ↔️ Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jbednarii/ 🌐 Paradigm Wealth Partners (website) – Financial planning for career professionals who want to retire and stay retired: https://paradigmwealthpartners.com/ 🌐 What the Wealth (website) – Adding clarity to difficult financial topics: https://whatthewealth.com/ ▶️ YouTube: Paradigm Wealth Partners If you or someone you care about could use the help of a financial advisor and sees the value in establishing a financial plan, please reach out to me. Thanks for Listening! Jonathan

August 6, 2026Episode 13214 min

Believe It or Not: Paying Off Your Mortgage Has a Cost (132)

That “debt-free” feeling is powerful, but the number on your mortgage statement may not be the real price of paying it off. A retirement planning trap that catches a lot of homeowners: Using taxable IRA or 401(k) withdrawals to wipe out the loan, then realizing the tax bill turns a $300,000 payoff into something closer to $395,000. If you’ve been tempted to write a big check for peace of mind, this conversation helps you slow down and measure the full trade-off. 🗓️ Meet with me: https://paradigmwealthpartners.com/begin-your-journey/#calendly ↔️ Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jbednarii/ 🌐 Paradigm Wealth Partners (website) – Financial planning for career professionals who want to retire and stay retired: https://paradigmwealthpartners.com/ 🌐 What the Wealth (website) – Adding clarity to difficult financial topics: https://whatthewealth.com/ ▶️ YouTube: Paradigm Wealth Partners If you or someone you care about could use the help of a financial advisor and sees the value in establishing a financial plan, please reach out to me. Thanks for Listening! Jonathan

July 22, 2026Episode 1315 min

The Fisherman & The Businessman — What's the Real Point of Retirement Planning (131)

A simple fable can reveal a brutal truth about retirement: Sometimes the “plan” you’re chasing is the life you already have. We tell the story of The Fisherman and the Businessman to highlight one of the biggest mistakes we see in retirement planning and financial planning: Focusing on building the biggest pile of money instead of building the freedom to live the life you actually want. 🗓️ Meet with me: https://paradigmwealthpartners.com/begin-your-journey/#calendly ↔️ Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jbednarii/ 🌐 Paradigm Wealth Partners (website) – Financial planning for career professionals who want to retire and stay retired: https://paradigmwealthpartners.com/ 🌐 What the Wealth (website) – Adding clarity to difficult financial topics: https://whatthewealth.com/ ▶️ YouTube: Paradigm Wealth Partners If you or someone you care about could use the help of a financial advisor and sees the value in establishing a financial plan, please reach out to me. Thanks for Listening! Jonathan

July 13, 2026Episode 13019 min

A Real-Life Early Retirement Plan Under Pressure (130)

A retirement plan can look flawless on paper and still feel wrong the moment real life changes. We start with Tom and Janet, a couple with a paid-off home, no debt, and a strong nest egg, who originally planned to work a few more years and claim Social Security at 67. The numbers checked out. The stress tests looked great. Then Janet hit burnout and gave herself two days to confirm whether walking away from work was actually possible. What reshaped everything was time. After Tom’s father was diagnosed with a terminal illness and passed sooner than expected, Tom stopped thinking of retirement as a date and started thinking of it as a limited window of health, energy, and freedom. We walk through how that mindset shift changes the goal of retirement planning, from chasing the biggest possible portfolio to building a sustainable retirement income plan that supports a life you love. In this episode I break down the key retirement planning levers in plain language: How their net worth and investable assets fund retirement, what a Monte Carlo probability of success really tells you, how retiring at 61 compares with waiting until 67, and how Social Security timing at 62 versus full retirement age affects the plan. We also discuss the practical realities people forget to model, like spending more in the early active years and covering healthcare costs before Medicare. If you’re exploring early retirement, worried about running out of money, or stuck chasing “perfect” certainty, this conversation will help you think more clearly about tradeoffs and choices. 🗓️ Meet with me: https://paradigmwealthpartners.com/begin-your-journey/#calendly ↔️ Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jbednarii/ 🌐 Paradigm Wealth Partners (website) – Financial planning for career professionals who want to retire and stay retired: https://paradigmwealthpartners.com/ 🌐 What the Wealth (website) – Adding clarity to difficult financial topics: https://whatthewealth.com/ ▶️ YouTube: Paradigm Wealth Partners If you or someone you care about could use the help of a financial advisor and sees the value in establishing a financial plan, please reach out to me. Thanks for Listening! Jonathan

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