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In Episode 73, we welcome Jeff Porter and Barbara Schelhorn from the financial planning group, Sullivan Bruyette Speros & Blayney.\nWe start with Jeff\u2019s background. He was a contemporary of Meb\u2019s at the University of Virginia. The guys share a laugh recalling running out of class to check stock quotes back in the Dot Com boom.\nAs the conversation turns to investing and financial planning, Meb asks about changes in the industry \u2013 with the rise of robo-advisors, indexing, target date portfolios, and so on, how does Jeff, as a financial planner, continue to add value on the investment side?\nJeff tells us how the aforementioned products can be great for many investors, but less so for others. For investors who need more handholding, and/or have more complex financial situations, advisors can add significant value.\nWhat follows is a great discussion on questions Jeff asks his clients as he seeks to evaluate the right market strategy for them, as well as the right implementation. There are myriad issues: what\u2019s the best asset mix? Do you add hedges? Active or passive? Factor tilts? And so on.\nJeff looks to understand what his clients need from a return perspective in order to reach their goals, as well as their ability to handle risk. This includes variables such as when will the client need to take withdrawals. This leads to an interesting conversation about those risky years shortly before and after retirement begins. If luck is against you, and the market is down in those years, it can make a huge difference in your portfolio\u2019s balance and therefore, your retirement lifestyle. Jeff tells the story of how retiring at two different points in time led to two very different outcomes.\xa0\nThe conversation drifts toward allocating cash and savings. But one of the problems is that many investors have way too much cash sitting in accounts earning nothing. At a minimum, they could use that cash to pay down various debts or mortgages. Meb makes the point that countless investors are bad at optimizing the cash/debt equation. He says there are simple techniques to easily turn cash earning 0% into cash earning 1% per year.\nMeb continues to steer the conversation toward traditional financial planning topics: Social Security, retirement benefits, health and liability risks, and so on\u2026\nBarbara provides some wonderful information on insurance and long-term health care. As an interesting aside, she tells us that most of her male clients don\u2019t want to waste their money on long-term health care, while her female clients find it to be more of a need. Barbara says the reality is somewhere in between.\nThis hardly even begins to scratch the surface of what\u2019s covered in this episode. (It\u2019s our longest to date!) You\u2019ll hear about umbrella insurance policies (and why Meb could use one for some property he owns in Colorado)\u2026 The importance of proper titling of your assets and how it can protect you from litigation\u2026 Gifting loved ones with stock rather than cash to get around big capital gains\u2026 Effective financial strategies using tax bracket trends\u2026 SEP IRAs versus 401Ks vs Roth IRAs\u2026 When to start taking Social Security\u2026 And way more.\nAnd of course, you\u2019ll hear Jeff and Barbara\u2019s most memorable investments. While Barbara\u2019s is interesting, Jeff\u2019s involves a huge market loss thanks to a bad tip from a certain college friend (you guessed it \u2013 Meb was to blame).\nWhat was Meb\u2019s bad investment advice that cost Jeff thousands? Find out in Episode 73.\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices