The Power Of Zero Show

David McKnight addresses Doug Andrew’s recommendation of turning your IRA into an IUL.

David agrees with some of Andrew’s views, including his objection to rolling a 401(k) into an IRA, and then leaving it there until you die.

Given the exploding national debt, most experts predict that taxes 10 years from now will have to rise dramatically to keep the U.S. solvent…

Doug Andrew lists Indexed Universal Life as his “favorite financia...

This episode of The Power of Zero Show revolves around a recent Ray Dalio video in which he issued warnings about the U.S. debt crisis.

In the clip, Dalio appears to be giving America three years to get their act together and to right the fiscal ship of state.

Dalio mentions the draft of his new book that goes through the mechanics of the debt – and highlights the supply-demand problem he believes will occur if the deficit doesn’t ...

David McKnight looks at why many people wait until the fourth quarter to do a Roth conversion, the potential penalties, and what can be done to avoid having to pay underpayment penalties to the IRS.

David begins the episode by highlighting the fact that a lot of investors wait until Q4 before they do a Roth conversion – and they prefer to pay taxes on it in cash instead of simply having the taxes withheld by the IRS.

From a mathema...

In today’s episode, David McKnight focuses on whether you should do a Roth conversion, how much you should convert per year, and whether it’s possible to over-convert to Roth.

David explains that an effective tax rate is the actual percentage of your income that you pay in taxes after accounting for deductions, exemptions, and credits.

For David, the only reason you should do a Roth conversion is if you believe that your effective ...

David McKnight looks at Target Date Funds (TDFs) and why their set-it-and-forget-it approach to investing is NOT something you should rely on.

David kicks things off by explaining how TDFs work, including why they tend to be a popular option for novice investors.

While it sounds like an excellent approach, David points out two major flaws.

“A lot of the problems with TDFs come down to sustainable withdrawal rates in retirement,” sa...

In this episode of the Power of Zero Show, host David McKnight discusses the scenario in which you have maxed out your 401(k) and are wondering where you should invest the rest of your money.

The episode kicks off with David addressing the type of 401(k)s you should be investing in first.

There are two types of 401(k)s: the traditional pre-tax 401(k) and the Roth 401(k).

Should you go for a traditional 401(k) or a Roth 401(k)? It a...

In this episode of the Power of Zero Show, host David McKnight addresses the claim that sees Paul Atkins owning 54 life insurance policies for an astounding 10% of his $327 million net worth.

Someone may ask themselves why someone with such a massive net worth would own so many life insurance policies…and even why someone who has equity in Chinese tech giant Alibaba, holdings in cryptocurrency, and stakes in venture capital firms w...

In this episode of the Power of Zero Show, host David McKnight looks at every possible tax or cost that may result from a Roth conversion.

The first tax you’ll have to pay when executing a Roth conversion is federal income tax. 

Whatever portion of your IRA you convert to Roth is realized as ordinary income and piled right on top of all your other income.

David is an advocate for not converting to Roth unless you think your federal...

This episode of the Power of Zero show explores whether you should be taking more risks in your Roth accounts than in your other investments.

Host David McKnight kicks things off by stating that if you have Roth IRAs or Roth 401(k)s in your portfolio, you should be allocating 100% of these dollars to a stock allocation.

That’s because these are your most tax-efficient investments and they’ll remain tax-free right up until your deat...

In this episode of The Power of Zero Show, host David McKnight looks at Doug Andrew’s recent video in which he implored his audience to never use a Roth IRA or a Roth 401(k) again.

Andrew sees Indexed Universal Life insurance (IUL) as far superior and believes it should be the source of the vast majority of your distributions in retirement.

While David likes IUL in certain circumstances, he isn’t a fan of sales strategies that deba...

What percentage of your retirement savings should you allocate toward traditional IRAs and 401(k)s vs. Roth IRAs and Roth 401(k)s? That’s what this episode explores.

Traditional financial guru advice says that it’s impossible to predict where tax rates are going down the road.

Therefore, you may hear that your best bet is to simply have 50% of your money in tax-deferred and 50% of your money tax-free.

David is somehow perplexed by ...

David McKnight goes through his five cardinal rules for doing a Roth conversion.

The first principle is simple: don’t do a Roth conversion that bumps you into a tax bracket that gives you heartburn.

Not sure about what a heartburn-inducing tax bracket looks like? David shares a simple “rule of thumb” you can follow.

In your zeal to get your Roth conversion done before tax rates go up for good, don’t bump into the 32% tax bracket al...

Wondering when you should start thinking about a Roth conversion? That’s exactly what David McKnight dives into in this episode of The Power of Zero Show.

The retirement valley is that dip in taxable income that happens after you retire but before RMDs kick in – at age 73 or 75, depending on your birth year.

David walks through an example: you’ve got $2 million in your IRA and want to convert all of it to Roth.

If you take action d...

David McKnight addresses the most efficient order in which to spend your assets in retirement.

Online programs and algorithms that forecast and run calculations related to your retirement assets suggest starting with your tax-deferred assets like 401(k)s or IRAs.

Such tools recommend spending down your tax-deferred assets now, when tax rates are low, and your tax-free assets later – when tax rates are likely to be higher than they ...

Today’s episode of The Power of Zero Show looks at a recent podcast episode in which Suze Orman recommended having three to five years of living expenses in cash during retirement.

Experts have long debated the rate at which retirees can draw down their assets while maintaining a high likelihood of not running out of money before they die.

Since the early ‘90s, the gold standard for sustainable distributions has been the 4% Rule.

A...

Today’s episode addresses five reasons why a Roth IRA is one of David KcKnight’s favorite tax-free investments. 

Unlike other retirement accounts, Roth IRAs give you 100% liquidity on all contributions.

While David isn’t necessarily suggesting that you use your Roth IRA as an emergency fund, it’s nice to know that you won’t have to wait until age 59 ½ to be able to access those funds.

If you happen to take out your Roth IRA contrib...

This episode of The Power of Zero Show is part of David McKnight’s podcast interview with Caleb Guilliams and Tom Wall, PhD.

David touches upon a recent Ernst & Young study where whole life insurance was used as a buffer-type strategy.

When it comes to the “risk continuum”, David sees IUL as slightly on the right side of whole life insurance.

IUL is something worth doing only if you think that risk premium can get you a slightly hi...

Today’s episode of The Power of Zero Show features part of David McKnight’s conversation with Caleb Guilliams and Tom Wall, PhD.

David kicks things off by addressing the liquidity issue.

Handing a chunk of your retirement savings over to an insurance company in exchange for a stream of income that’s guaranteed to last as long as you do sounds great in principle, but people often have consternation about it…

The thought of losing li...

This episode of The Power of Zero Show is part of David McKnight’s conversation with Caleb Guilliams and Tom Wall, PhD.

David touches upon the “dangerous partnership” between the American people and the IRS.

David is an advocate for a balanced, comprehensive, approach to tax-free retirement – he explains why that’s the case.

One of the things David likes about IULs is the fact that they can perform specific applications that no oth...