The Power Of Zero Show

David sits down with certified financial planner Mark Byelich to discuss why the middle class could soon be paying 45% effective tax rates. When asked what investors should pay attention to in 2023, David says it's now do or die for those looking to take advantage of the Trump tax cuts that are set to expire in December 2025. According to David, the most important thing you can do to help your money last longer in retirement is to pay taxes now at historically low rates. David believes taxes have to double by 2030, or the country might go bankrupt - gone are the days when people could get away with 10 and 12% tax rates. Will the Trump tax cuts be extended past the 2025 deadline? David thinks they will, but there are no guarantees in life. Mark echoes David's comments and says that the Trump tax cuts will be extended no matter who's in office. Mark feels extending the tax cuts is a terrible economic move but a smart political move for those looking to stay or take power. David predicts that when taxes go up, we might end up with 1960-like tax rates where the lowest marginal tax bracket was 22% and the highest was 88%. Mark and David agree that the middle class could soon be paying 45% effective tax rates when tax rates go up. David dissects what eight financial experts are saying about rising tax rates. If you're an investor looking to plan for retirement, David believes your best move right now would be to have at least six streams of diversified tax-free income. Your goal for 2023 and beyond should be to take advantage of everything in the IRS tax code and focus on getting to the zero percent tax bracket. Mentioned in this episode: David's books: Power of Zero, Look Before Your LIRP, The Volatility Shield, Tax-Free Income for Life and The Infinity Code DavidMcKnight.com PowerOfZero.com (free video series) @mcknightandco on Twitter  @davidcmcknight on Instagram David McKnight on YouTube Get David's Tax-free Tool Kit at taxfreetoolkit.com Mark Byelich's LinkedIn

David sits down with financial advisor Daniel Rondberg to discuss how to dramatically lower the tax bill on your Roth conversion.  They start the conversation by describing why the Power of Zero message is crucial to tax-free retirement. According to David, stress-free retirement often comes down to only worrying about the things you can control.  David and Daniel talk about the Power of Zero movie and what gave it great legitimacy.  David explains how interest rates can affect your retirement. David reveals why he moved to Puerto Rico and the tax benefits he gets from living in a foreign country.  Daniel and David discuss whether it makes sense to pay taxes on Roth conversions using LIRP loans. Thoughts on reverse mortgages and why only 1% of children want to inherit their parents' home. David shares why he is a big fan of IULs and what you can do to get the most out of them. David reveals that 70% of the time, people are motivated to take on LIRPs because they promise to pay for long-term care in advance of a person's death.  Daniel and David discuss what happens to unused long-term care insurance benefits if a person never needs the care. Will the family get the money back? Did you know that you could get your social security tax-free for the rest of your retirement if you got yourself to the zero percent tax bracket? Mentioned in this episode: David's books: Power of Zero, Look Before Your LIRP, The Volatility Shield, Tax-Free Income for Life and The Infinity Code DavidMcKnight.com PowerOfZero.com (free video series) @mcknightandco on Twitter  @davidcmcknight on Instagram David McKnight on YouTube Get David's Tax-free Tool Kit at taxfreetoolkit.com Comeback America: Turning the Country Around and Restoring Fiscal Responsibility by David M. Walker

David starts the conversation by describing why it makes sense to have indexed universal life insurance.  Did you know that any taxes you pay in your taxable brackets are, ironically enough, optional? David reveals that the ideal amount of money you should have in your taxable bracket is six months of living expenses. Once you've maxed out your IRA, David believes an IUL becomes a great avenue to reposition surplus money into a tax-free investment bucket. David explains that IULs are great because they have no income limitations and no contribution limits.  According to David, IULs don't require you to take market risks, so they can serve as a suitable bond alternative with lower risks and higher returns over time. If you're married and over age 60, an IUL makes it possible to get your death benefit in advance of your death for the purpose of long-term care.  David highlights the 3 main reasons people hate traditional long-term care insurance: It's getting more and more expensive with time. It's hard to qualify. Something like a bad back can mean you never get accepted. If you pay and die peacefully in your bed, the benefits pay for somebody else's care.  Mentioned in this episode: David's books: Power of Zero, Look Before Your LIRP, The Volatility Shield, Tax-Free Income for Life and The Infinity Code DavidMcKnight.com PowerOfZero.com (free video series) @mcknightandco on Twitter  @davidcmcknight on Instagram David McKnight on YouTube Get David's Tax-free Tool Kit at taxfreetoolkit.com

Learn about the importance of evaluating financial stability in an indexed universal life (IUL) carrier, the challenges of interpreting company rankings, and the five essential attributes of a good IUL. Discover important provisions for IUL policies, such as over loan protection, interest in arrears versus interest in advance, and daily sweeps for growth potential. Find out how to choose the right IUL carrier, product, and advisor, and why death benefits and avoiding unrealistic claims are important considerations.

David starts the conversation by describing the difference between a Social Security tax and a Social Security penalty - and whether it's possible to avoid them both. David explains that although some people use them interchangeably, a Social Security tax is different than a penalty. The first step to protecting your Social Security is understanding the main drivers behind taxes and penalties. The Social Security penalty arises when you begin drawing from your account before your full retirement age while also earning above the minimum allowed threshold. David shares how the Social Security penalty works and how the damages can affect your retirement. David breaks down the minimum allowed income threshold and what the IRS counts as earnings. According to David, understanding the IRS's views on provisional income is the best way to learn how Social Security taxation works. David highlights the unexpected income streams the IRS counts as provisional income - some of which might shock you. David highlights situations where up to 85% of your Social Security can become taxable at your highest marginal tax bracket. Even if you reach full retirement, you can continue to pay taxes on your Social Security in perpetuity if you don't keep your provisional income in check. Mentioned in this episode: David's books: Power of Zero, Look Before Your LIRP, The Volatility Shield, Tax-Free Income for Life and The Infinity Code DavidMcKnight.com PowerOfZero.com (free video series) @mcknightandco on Twitter  @davidcmcknight on Instagram David McKnight on YouTube

David debunks the top 3 unsubstantiated claims that pro-life insurance agents on social media make about IULs. David starts the conversation by explaining why we need to be clear on what an IUL is and what it's not. David is a big fan of IULs because he believes they form a crucial part of a balanced and comprehensive approach to tax-free retirement. Claim #1 - An IUL can beat the stock market - a TikTokker even went as far as to claim that there's an IUL that averaged a 15.3% rate of return over a 20-30 year period.  David highlights that IULs were not designed to replace the stock portion of your portfolio - plus, there is no way an IUL can average a 15.3% rate of return. A good IUL with a dependable carrier should average somewhere between 6 to 8% over a 20 to 30-year time frame. Claim #2 - You cannot lose money in an IUL.  David explains that although you will never be credited less than a zero in an IUL, there is always the risk that your policy could take a hit during a flat year. Claim #3 - The IUL is a silver bullet.  No investment path is a true silver bullet. All an IUL does is give you the upsides of the stock market up to a cap with protection on the downside.  David reveals that IULs cannot match stock market returns or a 100% guarantee against loss - but they are a fantastic alternative to bonds. According to David, an ideal tax-free retirement approach should have between four and six streams of tax-free income. Mentioned in this episode: David's books: Power of Zero, Look Before Your LIRP, The Volatility Shield, Tax-Free Income for Life and The Infinity Code DavidMcKnight.com PowerOfZero.com (free video series) @mcknightandco on Twitter  @davidcmcknight on Instagram David McKnight on YouTube

David goes through five unique strategies to transform a $1 million inheritance into a tax-free asset. Although a non-qualified inheritance is tax-free, the step-up in the basis rule will lead to a huge tax problem as your asset grows over time. Strategy #1 - Pay the taxes on your Roth conversions. Remember, the worst way to pay taxes on a Roth conversion is on the IRA itself.  Strategy #2 - Max out your Roth 401K for you and your spouse. Use your earnings to max out the $60,000 limit for both you and your spouse, and use the inheritance to fund your lifestyle.  Strategy #3 - Fully fund your Roth IRA. Not a year should go by when you and your spouse are not fully funding your Roth IRAs.  Strategy #4 - Use the inheritance to fund your retirement. If you're already retired, it may make sense to use the inheritance to support your lifestyle instead of going after your IRA. Strategy #5 - Contribute money to a life insurance retirement plan. If you still have some money left after implementing the above four strategies, consider taking advantage of the flexible contribution limits of a LIRP. David explains how you can productively grow your money in a LIRP tax-free.  According to David, if you inherit $1 million and leave the money in a taxable bucket, you will be paying taxes over the balance of your lifetime. Mentioned in this episode: David's books: Power of Zero, Look Before Your LIRP, The Volatility Shield, Tax-Free Income for Life and The Infinity Code DavidMcKnight.com PowerOfZero.com (free video series) @mcknightandco on Twitter  @davidcmcknight on Instagram David McKnight on YouTube

Dave Ramsey and other financial gurus claim that indexed universal life insurance(IUL) is expensive and a ripoff. Are they right?  Suzie Orman even says you should never work with an advisor that recommends IULs as a possible investment option.  According to David, when someone tells you that IULs are expensive, the first question you should ask them is, compared to what?  David compares the fees you would likely pay in a traditional tax-free investment versus a lifetime IUL.  David explains that judging IUL fees only makes sense if you calculate the expenses over the product's lifetime and not the first 5 years when the fees are the highest.  In today's example, David uses a 40-year-old man investing $20,000 a year into an IUL and compares the fees if the same man followed Dave Ramsey's investment advice.  In the first year, the man will pay $3502 for the IUL compared to $300 on Dave Ramsey's SmartVestor Pro program - maybe Dave Ramsey was right, after all. However, by the 10th year, IUL expenses will have gone down to $2702, while the SmartVestor Pro will have risen dramatically to $3962.  David reveals that it gets worse for the SmartVestor Pro by the 40th year - while IUL fees remain low at $2964, SmartVestor Pro fees will have gone to an astronomical amount of $31,263.  This just proves that the expenses of an IUL are higher as a percentage of the balance in the earlier years but are much lower as a dollar amount in the later years.  In contrast, David explains that the SmartVestor Pro fees are much lower as a percentage in the earlier years but become much higher as a dollar amount in the later years of the plan.  David points out that IULs are meant to replace bonds and not the stock portion of your portfolio, as Dave Ramsey claims.  Mentioned in this episode: David's books: Power of Zero, Look Before Your LIRP, The Volatility Shield, Tax-Free Income for Life and The Infinity Code DavidMcKnight.com PowerOfZero.com (free video series) @mcknightandco on Twitter  @davidcmcknight on Instagram David McKnight on YouTube

What are some of the most outrageous anti-IUL claims on the internet today? David debunks some shockingly misleading claims presented by social media influencer Chris Kirkpatrick. Claim #1: Indexed universal life insurance (IULs) were born from insurance companies wanting to scale down on whole life insurance policies because they could no longer pay guaranteed dividends and needed a new profit center just to break even. This is just false because IULs were a result of the stock market crash of the early 2000's.  Insurance agencies created a product that allowed investors to link the growth of their cash value to the upward movement of the stock market index. Claim #2: Insurance companies lure you in with artificially high cap rates, only to reduce them once they've sucked you in.  According to David, cap rates change from company to company. However, the one he uses averaged a 7.09% rate of return since 2006 - this is quite impressive considering all the chaos witnessed in the markets during that period. Claim #3: IULs are 100% guaranteed to perform worse than initially promised.  This claim is just laughable considering David saw an averaged 7.09 rate of return in the IULs he currently uses.  Claim #4: Insurance companies drop cap rates early in the surrender period when the sting of cashing out is the greatest. Yes, surrender charges are harsh in the first 5 years of the policy. However, what Kirkpatrick fails to mention is that this is also the period when it least makes sense to cash out because average rates of return are usually higher - over 7.5%. David admits that IULs are not perfect, but neither are whole life insurances. Kirkpatrick is just a creative agent whose main agenda is to sell you whole life insurance at the expense of an IUL. According to David, when you choose an IUL, you sacrifice guarantees for higher rates of return. In contrast, when you choose whole life insurance, you sacrifice higher rates of returns for guarantees.      Mentioned in this episode: David's books: Power of Zero, Look Before Your LIRP, The Volatility Shield, Tax-Free Income for Life and The Infinity Code DavidMcKnight.com PowerOfZero.com (free video series) @mcknightandco on Twitter  @davidcmcknight on Instagram David McKnight on YouTube

What are Dave Ramsey's thoughts on Indexed Universal Life Insurance (IUL)? David debunks the 5 myths presented in Dave Ramsey's article on why you should run away from IULs. Myth #1: IULs never perform to their full capacity because the cash portion of the portfolio gets eaten up by the super-high fees. Yes, the fees will be higher at the start of the program but will reduce dramatically the longer you keep the policy. In fact, when you average the fees over the entire program, the costs translate to less than 1% of your balance per year. Myth #2: IULs contain numerous fees ranging from surrender charges, administrative charges, premium expenses, etc.  David explains that IULs only work if you keep them for life - so fees should only be calculated after the contract expires, which often translates to 1% per year. Myth #3: When you cancel your insurance policy, you give up your death benefit and almost all the cash value you've managed to build. For David, this is by far the most ridiculous of all Dave Ramsey's claims on IULs. Not only is it misleading, but it is actually opposite to how cash-value life insurances work. Myth #4: Excessive fees keep returns relatively low, so your IUL will never beat inflation.  This claim is just ridiculous, considering IULs were never designed to be a substitute for the stock market portion of your portfolio. Myth #5: Market performance will affect your premiums - the higher the rates, the more likely you are to lose your policy. According to David, this is a careless and poorly researched claim. Here, Dave Ramsey's primary goal is to lead you to strategically positioned links inviting you to buy term life insurance from him.  David believes the only reason Dave Ramsey is against IULs is that he wants you to drop your IULs in favor of his term life insurance policy, with no regard to the losses you might incur or where you are in the surrender period.     Mentioned in this episode: David's books: Power of Zero, Look Before Your LIRP, The Volatility Shield, Tax-Free Income for Life and The Infinity Code DavidMcKnight.com PowerOfZero.com (free video series) @mcknightandco on Twitter  @davidcmcknight on Instagram David McKnight on YouTube