For most of your career, retirement planning is about putting money away and letting it grow. But eventually, the decisions you made during those accumulation years start showing up on the other side of the equation, and the tax consequences can be much larger than expected.

For higher-income households especially, a little planning before retirement — or during those first few years after leaving work — can create significantly more flexibility later. Today, we're going to look at one area where that planning can make a surprisingly big difference.

Topics Discussed:

• Why RMD planning starts years before you're ever required to take one.
• How a large IRA can keep your tax bill high long after you stop working.
• Why where your money lives can matter as much as how much you have.
• When a "smart" retirement contribution can quietly create unnecessary tax.
• Two common RMD moves that seem reasonable but can backfire.

Resources Mentioned:

• ERdocadvisor.com

Today's mortgage rates are creating financial decisions that weren't nearly as common or as important just a few years ago.

Buyers are having to think more carefully about how they structure a loan, how much cash they bring to closing, and whether paying more upfront can actually improve the long-term numbers. In this episode, we're going to break down one of those tradeoffs and how to think through it before making a decision.

Topics Discussed:

• What a mortgage point really buys you, and why it's not the same everywhere.
• The simple math that tells you whether paying points is worth it.
• Why "I'll just refinance later" might be riskier than it sounds.
• Is there a hidden cost of paying points that most buyers overlook?
• Points, down payments, and lender credits: which one actually wins?

Resources Mentioned:

• ERdocadvisor.com

With the 2026 midterm elections approaching, investors are once again asking what the results could mean for their portfolios. Election years bring plenty of headlines, predictions, and reasons to believe that this time could be different.

But instead of trying to predict what happens next, we're going to look at nearly a century of market history to see what elections have actually meant for investors—and what, if anything, you should be doing about it.

Topics Discussed:

• Why midterm elections have a reputation for making investors uneasy.
• What nearly 100 years of history reveal about markets after the votes are counted.
• Why "I'll wait until the election is over" is harder than it sounds.
• How you can call the election correctly and still get the investment move wrong.
• What's actually worth doing with your portfolio when election anxiety kicks in.

Resources Mentioned:

• ERdocadvisor.com
• ERdocadvisor.com/ask