Cover Your Assets with Logan and Don

Most people enter retirement with a collection of accounts—but no real structure behind them. In this episode of Cover Your Assets, Logan Marcus and Don Spini break down what it takes to move from scattered assets to a coordinated plan that actually works. They cover the key components of a real strategy—income planning, tax efficiency, portfolio management, and estate alignment—and why each must work together, not in isolation. Th...

Most people think they have a retirement plan. In reality, they have a collection of accounts—investments, tax-deferred savings, and disconnected decisions that were never designed to work together. In this episode of Cover Your Assets, Logan Marcus and Don Spini break down the difference between having a portfolio and having a plan—and why that gap becomes expensive over time. They explain how money without a defined purpose under...

Most retirement plans are not designed—they are assembled over time. In this episode of Cover Your Assets, Logan Marcus and Don Spini break down what happens when portfolios are built around performance chasing, tax deferral, and assumptions instead of structure. They explain why reacting to market movements creates costly long-term outcomes, and how many investors unknowingly operate with a trader mindset—making short-term decisio...

If your portfolio is driving your emotions, something is off—and it is not the market. In this episode of Cover Your Assets, Logan Marcus and Don Spini break down why reacting to volatility quietly derails retirement plans—and what a properly structured strategy is supposed to do instead. They uncover the hidden tax problem inside IRAs and 401(k)s, explain how the IRS can become your largest silent partner, and walk through how Rot...

If watching the market makes you feel like your future is on the line, that is not normal. It is a warning sign. In this episode, Logan Marcus and Don Spini break down why stress around your money is not emotional—it is structural. Too much risk, no income strategy, and portfolios built without purpose leave people exposed. They cover why advisors often stop advising when markets are calm, how retirees end up pulling income from do...

Your advisor may not be as independent as you think. Your 401(k) may not be doing anything at all. And your plan may not actually be a plan. In this episode of Cover Your Assets, Logan and Don break down the hidden structure behind advisory firms, the limitations most clients never see, and why control matters more than credentials. They dig into the reality of old 401(k)s left unmanaged, portfolios built without intention, and str...

What looks “fine” on paper is often where retirement plans break down. In this episode of Cover Your Assets, Logan Marcus and Don Spini expose hidden fees, the illusion of diversification, and advisors who default to convenience over strategy. They challenge the myth of choosing between safety and growth and explain what a real portfolio should do. But the real issue is lack of coordination—no true income plan, unfunded estate docu...

Your COLA raise got taken, the markets dropped, and your advisor has not called you about any of it. A lot moved this week and none of it was small. The Social Security Administration quietly overhauled how it operates — starting today — and that 2.8% cost of living raise you got in January? Medicare already took most of it back. Then the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran, oil surged, and a lot of people woke up Monday morni...

Retirement income isn't a number — it's a system. This week, Logan and Don dig into the real cost of passive money management: forced IRA distributions you didn't ask for, estate documents that are signed but not funded, and tax strategies that most advisors leave on the table. If your retirement plan hasn't been touched since you filled out a risk questionnaire decades ago, this one's for you. Because doing not...

Are you loyal to your advisor—or just stuck? In this episode of Cover Your Assets, Logan Marcus and Don Spini call out lazy advising, mutual fund complacency, and the false security of “set-it-and-forget-it” portfolios that quietly finance your advisor’s retirement instead of your own. They break down the difference between owning real companies and being pushed around inside pooled funds, explain how registered index linked annuit...

In this episode of Cover Your Assets, Logan and Don take on the most expensive retirement mistake of all: doing nothing. From unfunded estate plans and lazy advising to the ticking tax time bomb inside traditional IRAs, they break down how procrastination quietly benefits the IRS and underperforming advisors — not you. Retirement should not feel like an oasis you never reach. With real income planning, tax strategy, and proactive g...

Half of America is struggling to pay housing costs right now — and it has nothing to do with real estate and everything to do with income not keeping pace with inflation. Logan and Don break down exactly what that means for your retirement, why the probably fine feeling is the most dangerous place to be financially, and what a real fiduciary advisor should be doing for the fees you are paying. They close with five questions that ev...

Most “estate plans” are just paperwork until they are funded, beneficiary designations are cleaned up, and powers of attorney actually work when life happens. Logan Marcus and Don Spini break down the trust-funding gap that blindsides families, then pivot to the other quiet threat: big IRAs that are really a joint account with the IRS, and how strategic Roth conversions can keep taxes and Medicare penalties from detonating later. F...

Too many retirement plans are running on autopilot—and that is exactly how they fail. In this episode of Cover Your Assets, Logan Marcus and Don Spini expose the hidden risks most retirees never see: IRAs that are really joint accounts with the IRS, Roth conversion opportunities missed through inaction, advisors who stop advising once the portfolio is built, and income strategies that rely on selling assets instead of planning. The...

Too many retirement plans run on assumptions that are never challenged. In this episode of Cover Your Assets, Logan Marcus and Don Spini expose how unchecked advisory fees, poorly timed Roth conversions, income strategies built on selling assets, and disconnected estate plans quietly create risk. They explain why taxes, income, and estate planning cannot live in silos—and why plans that look fine on paper often break down in real l...

Silence is not advice. A quiet fee is not real planning. Logan Marcus and Don Spini kick off the new year with a blunt reality check: too many retirees are paying for comfort instead of control. From lazy advising and missing income plans to sequence-of-returns risk, Roth tax time bombs, and unfunded estate documents, this episode dismantles the illusion that “nothing going wrong yet” means you are protected. If your retirement run...

Most people think they are "protected" because nothing has gone wrong yet. This week, Logan Marcus and Don Spini dismantle that false sense of security—starting with the missing estate “wall” that leaves families exposed to probate, courts, and chaos. They call out advisors who collect fees without delivering real planning, expose the Roth tax time bomb hiding in plain sight, and explain why selling shares on demand is no...

You spent decades building your retirement — but the IRS wants the biggest slice. Logan and Don reveal why most retirees unknowingly make the government their largest beneficiary and how measured Roth conversions let you buy them out while taxes are still on sale. They expose the brutal cost of doing nothing — missed tax windows, forced distributions, probate traps, and loyalty to advisors who collect fees but deliver no plan.