Retirement Answer Man

Roger Whitney, CFP®, CIMA®, RMA, CPWA®

Retirement Planning

Social Security

Financial Planning

Retirement

Financial Independence

Personal Finance

Behavioral Finance

Investment Strategies

Fire Movement

Financial Security

Marriage

Medicare

Investment Strategy

Tax Management

Roth Conversions

Asset Allocation

Inflation

Travel

Financial Management

Private Equity

A top retirement podcast. Roger Whitney, CFP®, CIMA®, CPWA®, RMA, guides you on how to actually do retirement well financially and personally. This retirement podcast isn't afraid to talk about the softer side of retirement. It will teach you how to retire with confidence. Two-time PLUTUS winner for best retirement podcast / blog and the 2019 winner for best financial planner blog. This retirement... more

1.4k ratings

Publishes	Weekly	Episodes	661	Founded	12 years ago
Number of Listeners		Categories	Self-ImprovementEducationBusinessInvesting

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Latest Episodes

Summer Reruns: Retiring Single with Tanya Nichols

August is encore month on the Retirement Answer Man podcast, giving Roger an opportunity to step back, reflect, and revisit some of the show's most impactful conversations. This week, he replays his discussion with Tanya Nichols on retiring single—a ... more

Today • 24 min

Retirement Toolkit: Never Worry About Money Again with Jesse Mecham

What if budgeting wasn't about restriction, but about giving every dollar a purpose? This week, Roger sits down with Jesse Mecham, founder of YNAB (You Need A Budget), to discuss the power of intentionality with money. Together, they explore how aski... more

29 Jul 2026 • 1 hr 5 min • Most popular

Retirement Toolkit: How do you Balance Optimization with Simplification

How do you know when it's worth optimizing your retirement plan and when it's better to keep things simple? This week, Roger answers a listener question by exploring Aristotle's concept of the "golden mean," arguing that the best retirement decisions... more

22 Jul 2026 • 53 min

Retirement Toolkit: How to Rebalance a Retirement Portfolio

This week Roger explains why rebalancing is one of the most important disciplines in retirement planning. In the Retirement Toolkit, he explores the difference between a traditional investment allocation and a retirement allocation, explaining how to... more

15 Jul 2026 • 55 min

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Number of Listeners

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Recent Guests

Jesse Mecham

Founder of YNAB (You Need A Budget)

YNAB

Episode: Retirement Toolkit: Never Worry About Money Again with Jesse Mecham

Jordan Grumet

Physician with hospice experience and retirement planning perspective

Speaker/Guest on show

Episode: Take the Retirement Leap of Faith with Jordan Grumet

Lindsey Hardegree

Organizational expert associated with Marie Kondo's organization

Marie Kondo Organization / KonMari

Episode: Decluttering for Retirement: Your Step-by-Step Plan

Wade Pfau

Author of The Retirement Planning Guidebook; researcher and creator of the RISA

Retirement Researcher / The Retirement Planning Guidebook

Episode: Retirement Talk with Dr. Wade Pfau

Dr. Harry Reiss

Professor focusing on interpersonal relationships, co-author of How to Feel Loved

University of Rochester

Episode: How to Feel Loved with Dr. Harry Reis

Cesar Aguirre

Author of Retirement with Purpose, focusing on the 10 R's for Joyful Retirement

Self-published author

Episode: The 10 R's for a Joyful Retirement with Cesar Aguirre

Dr. Bobby

Discusses health topics related to diet and nutritional choices

Episode: How to Navigate Goals as Life Unfolds

Erin Coe

An enrolled agent and team member who loves the tax code

Episode: The Difference Between an IRS Late Payment Penalty and Interest

Peter Lazaroff

Chief Investment Officer of Plancorp

Plancorp

Episode: Don't Get Cute with Your Retirement Investments

Host

Roger Whitney

Host of Retirement Answer Man; retirement planning expert guiding listeners through financial strategies and life aspects of retirement.

Reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars from 1.4k ratings

Balances the financial and emotional sides of retirement
Timely and varied information to round out the retirement experience. One of the trifecta of retirement podcasts with the others being The Retirement and IRA Show and Retirement Planning Education
Apple Podcasts
5
PJM-NYC
United Statesa month ago
About your money, and your life
I so appreciate Roger’s knowledge and perspective. This podcast helps build and maintain your nest egg, sure. But Roger also helps me think through the personal and ethical implications of my decisions, in an exceedingly non-judgmental way. And he helps listeners improve the quality of their retired years, beyond their net worth.
Apple Podcasts
5
debh
United Statesa month ago
How to build a diversified Portfolio
This episode starts with a “what if I know nothing” approach, and built up to a much more sophisticated Q and A for an investor with a $10M portfolio.
That’s what I love about these >600 episodes. There is always a new nugget you can build upon if you can stomach the redundancy (or fast forward). It reinforces sound advice about Timeframe and building the 3 key buckets: Contingency, liquidity, and growth funds.
Thanks Roger
Apple Podcasts
5
Semi-Retired in Colorado
United States3 months ago
My favorite podcast!
Roger's personality and speaking style make this podcast the most pleasant to listen to. While he seems very relatable and down to earth, he shares very helpful insights regarding financials and other retirement aspects. He covers multiple topics in each episode and keeps the pace lively, but easy to digest. This is my absolute favorite podcast!
Audible
5
Terri B.
United States4 months ago
Roger's personality and speaking style make this podcast the most pleasant to listen to. While he seems very relatable and down to earth, he shares very helpful insights regarding financials and other retirement aspects. He covers multiple topics in each episode and keeps the pace lively, but easy to digest. This is my absolute favorite podcast!
Audible
5
Terri B.
United States4 months ago

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Listeners Say

Key themes from listener reviews, highlighting what works and what could be improved about the show.

Guests are consistently high-quality and insights are actionable.

Many appreciate the blend of financial planning and non-financial life topics.

A few critiques mention episode length or occasional political commentary.

Listeners praise practical, well-researched retirement guidance.

Chart Rankings

How this podcast ranks in the Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube charts.

Apple Podcasts	#64	United States/Business/Investing
Apple Podcasts	#230	United States/Business
Apple Podcasts	#153	United Kingdom/Business/Investing
Apple Podcasts	#231	Canada/Business/Investing
Apple Podcasts	#159	Ireland/Business/Investing
Apple Podcasts	#198	New Zealand/Business/Investing

Talking Points

Recent interactions between the hosts and their guests.

Retirement Toolkit: Never Worry About Money Again with Jesse Mecham

Q: Christine asks how to refill the contingency and income buckets during rebalancing, and whether to draw from the growth bucket.

The host explains that while a spreadsheet could model this, real life is dynamic; contingencies and income reserves should be recalibrated yearly based on uncertainty and actual spending, and then rebalanced with the upside portfolio as appropriate.

Retirement Toolkit: How Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) Work

Q: What are required minimum distributions and which accounts do they apply to?

RMDs are the IRS rule that requires you to start taking distributions from tax-deferred accounts like traditional IRAs, 401(k)s, and similar plans once you reach a certain age; each account has its own RMD, but you can aggregate the total across accounts when withdrawing.

Retirement Toolkit: How Does Step Up in Cost Basis Work

Q: Hi, Roger. My name is Tom and I'm calling from Arizona. Just wanted to say I love the show and I've learned a lot. I'll also be looking into potentially joining the club this summer when it opens up as well. I'm 57 years old. My wife is 56. We both just retired this year. I have $450,000 in cash and a high-yield savings, and approximately 1.8 million in a 401k slash Roth and a 55-45 split between stocks and bonds. We'll be getting about $75,000 a year in Social Security, both collecting at age 67. I've built a fairly elaborate do-it-yourself retirement plan using a lot of the different AI models and comparing them with each other. My plan is to model spending and ensure it aligns with inflation, etc. My question is, is it fair to do the 120k flat spend nominal dollars, or should I model towards the retirement spending smile to be more realistic, including inflation?

The host advises using inflation-adjusted spending in models rather than a flat nominal number. He suggests factoring in a realistic inflation rate (2.5-3%) and considering the spending smile as informative but not prescriptive for an individual. He emphasizes tailoring assumptions to the actual life and goals of the couple, especially since they are overfunded, to avoid dying with too much money. He recommends breaking down spending into base needs plus a sequence of discretionary expenses and stresses aligning spending plans with life priorities rather than population-based studies.

Retirement Toolkit: How Does Step Up in Cost Basis Work

Q: Our next question comes from Allison related to pulling money from the TSP, the Government Retirement Account. Allison says her Government Retirement Account disperses withdrawals pro rata, meaning I can't pull only from money market fund. Is this common? If I move the savings to another firm, would this rule still apply? TSP has very low fees and I trust them, but it makes a bucket strategy difficult.

The host confirms this is a common constraint with the TSP: withdrawals are pro rata across the fund mix, which challenges a strict bucket strategy. He notes there aren't good workarounds within the TSP; moving to an IRA could allow true bucket strategy management by targeting specific buckets. If overfunded, the constraint may be tolerable; otherwise, transitioning to an IRA provides more flexibility, though it comes with choosing new low-cost options and managing buckets.

Retirement Toolkit: How Does Step Up in Cost Basis Work

Q: Hi, Roger. My name is Mike and I am a relatively new listener, but have been binge listening to most of the episodes over the last five years, as I am getting ready to retire in January. I am working with an advisor who is recommending adding a whole life policy to our plan, partially for the legacy aspect, but that's secondary from his point of view. He primarily likes the ability to have some tax exempt income come off of that once it's fully funded, and to have the ability to take loans off of it to help with the volatility of the plan, giving an alternative area to pull income when the market may be down. On the surface, it all sounds pretty good as a replacement for part of the bond portion of the portfolio. But I hadn't heard you speak to that at all. And I was wondering if you had any thoughts on some of the positives or negatives of this type of addition to the plan, period.

The host frames a disciplined approach: start with a solid plan built from organic investments (stocks, bonds, cash) and a cash flow model, then assess feasibility and resilience before considering insurance products. Whole life is usually not the preferred first option for guaranteed income due to higher costs, surrender charges, and commissions; alternatives like deferred or immediate annuities may be more tax-efficient and flexible. The advice emphasizes ensuring the advisor uses a prudent, product-agnostic decision process and that illustrations used in proposals show worst-case guaranteed outcomes rather than optimistic projections.

Audience Metrics

Listeners, social reach, demographics and more for this podcast.

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Frequently Asked Questions About Retirement Answer Man

What is Retirement Answer Man about and what kind of topics does it cover?

This show centers on practical retirement planning that blends financial strategy with the non-financial side of aging. Episodes often cover income planning, Social Security, healthcare costs before Medicare, and longevity assumptions, while weaving in real-world scenarios, listener questions, and expert guest insights. A standout element is the authoritative yet approachable voice that translates complex concepts into actionable steps, using storytelling and a holistic view that includes relationships, health, and lifestyle. The format frequently mixes theory with templates (like three retirement buckets) and invites audience participation, making it a dependable resource for near-retirees and financial professionals alike who want to rock... more

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Which podcasts are similar to Retirement Answer Man?

These podcasts share a similar audience with Retirement Answer Man:

1. Retirement Starts Today
2. Stay Wealthy Retirement Podcast
3. Retirement Planning Education, with Andy Panko
4. Ready For Retirement
5. Sound Retirement Radio

How many episodes of Retirement Answer Man are there?

Retirement Answer Man launched 12 years ago and published 661 episodes to date. You can find more information about this podcast including rankings, audience demographics and engagement in our podcast database.

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What guests have appeared on Retirement Answer Man?

Recent guests on Retirement Answer Man include:

1. Jesse Mecham
2. Jordan Grumet
3. Lindsey Hardegree
4. Wade Pfau
5. Dr. Harry Reiss
6. Cesar Aguirre
7. Dr. Bobby
8. Erin Coe

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