Retirement Planning Education, with Andy Panko #189 - My background and prior experiences and how they shaped my views and approach to retirement planning and starting my own firm and creating this podcast
Jan 29, 2026
He traces a long finance journey from sales and pensions to market risk, hedge fund analysis, and private credit research. He tells how researching Social Security for his mother triggered a shift toward fee-only, planning-focused advice. He explains launching an advisory firm, early marketing flops, and growing an engaged Facebook community that fueled his educational channels.
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Value of Advisor Communities
- Andy hosted a New York meetup for XY Planning Network with about 40 advisors and enjoyed the community.
- He values peer networks of fee-only advisors that prioritize client-first practices.
Turned Off By Commission Sales
- Early jobs at Primerica and cold-calling experiences turned Andy off commission-driven sales.
- He refused recruiting friends and family and walked away from multi-level sales models.
Institutional Experience Became A Technical Edge
- Andy's institutional roles taught him deep investment operations and fixed-income risk, not retail advice.
- That background gave him a technical edge when later applying tax-aware retirement planning for individuals.