Today on Mastering Money...It’s a MOTLEY FOOL MONDAY!! The Motley Fool Money Show is one of the most popular stock market talk shows in America, featuring top market experts and heard by millions of listeners coast to coast—including Saturdays right here on Money Radio! After an update of the markets and today's breaking financial news stories, we'll take you to an exclusive broadcast of the Motley Fool Money Show--plus money-making and money-SAVING ideas from Steve you won't want to miss! -- MASTERING MONEY IS ON THE AIR!

American millennials are approaching middle age in worse financial shape than every living generation ahead of them, lagging behind baby boomers and Generation X despite a decade of economic growth and falling unemployment. New data show that millennials may never catch up with the generations of Americans that came before them. The Fed analyzed income, debt, asset, and consumption data and found that millennial households had an average NET WORTH nearly 40% less than Gen X households had in 2001, and about 20% less than baby boomer households had in 1989. At the same ages, Gen X men working full time earned 18% more than their millennial counterparts do now, and BABY BOOMER men earned 27% more when adjusting for inflation, age, and other variables. How could this affect YOUR retirement? Stocks may not keep their values due to weakening demand and the Social Security system may deplete faster than we thought. Today, we'll review the Wall Street Journal report. That and much more..don't miss it!...MASTERING MONEY  is on the air!!! 

Retirement is supposed to be easy.  This is the time in your life when you want to start relaxing and enjoying your life. You have put in your time…you want to reap the rewards. Twenty years ago, the secret to retirement was to move half of your  money to bonds paying five to seven percent…. You got the SAFETY you needed-- and typically enough interest  to keep you from worrying about your money. But twenty years ago,  you were likely PERTURBED because the rate on a ten  year treasury was dropping all the way “down” to five or six percent!   Today, a ten year treasury bond is paying less than one point seven percent!   Yet the advice you get from a big-box-brokerage like Vanguard, Fidelity, or Edward Jones,  is to keep buying those bonds paying the lowest interest in one hundred years. Today, Steve and I will break down what a huge risk you may be taking, and how to fix it. Then CPA Nick Stefaniak joins us for the Q &A to talk taxes. Don't miss today's show MASTERING MONEY is on the air!

Because fewer people are retiring with pensions, the demand for annuities is growing, and is likely to KEEP growing. On an increasing basis, as reported in Kiplinger, more and more retirees are choosing to include ANNUITIES as all or part of their rollover to an IRA from their 401k, 403b, or other retirement plan. There are four different types of annuities, and all four kinds are allowed by the IRS to fund an IRA. There are NO TAXES due when you roll over 401(k) funds to an IRA annuity. Unfortunately, many investors in or near retirement find themselves in non-guaranteed bond funds paying less than two percent that cannot support income in retirement, and could lose value if interest rates rise. Worse yet, the stock market could fall at the same time interest rates rise, devastating a lifetime of saving. Today, we'll review three strategies  to double your income and eliminate bond risk. Then, health insurance and Medicare expert Shelley Grandidge joins us for the Q & A.  A fact filled show you don't want to miss, MASTERING MONEY is on the air!!!

When most people hear about insider selling, they think about the infamous Ivan Boesky trading scandal from the 1980s that inspired Michael Douglas' Gordon Gekko character in the movie "Wall Street."   …Or they think about Martha Stewart… selling shares of the biotech company ImClone just days before the FDA announced it wasn't approving a new ImClone drug.    But most insider selling today isn't illegal for that matter. It is something that is tracked and some investors actually make decisions based on whether CEOs are buying or selling shares of the company they manage.  The key lies in WHEN they place the  buy or the sell order, because there are TWO TYPES of insider trading: LEGAL and IL-Legal!  Today, we'll learn more about the difference and it may shock you. Then Mortgage expert Mitch Boxberger joins us for the Q & A.  An interesting show you don't want to miss....MASTERING MONEY is on the air!!!

Today on Mastering Money...It’s a MOTLEY FOOL MONDAY!! The Motley Fool Money Show is one of the most popular stock market talk shows in America, featuring top market experts and heard by millions of listeners coast to coast—including Saturdays right here on Money Radio! After an update of the markets and today's breaking financial news stories, we'll take you to an exclusive broadcast of the Motley Fool Money Show--plus money-making and money-SAVING ideas from Steve you won't want to miss! -- MASTERING MONEY IS ON THE AIR!!!

When the U.S. Congress passed the Revenue Act of 1978, it  resulted in the first 401(k) plan, which took the costly burden of financing retirement pensions off of the backs of employers and onto the backs of employees. At one time, over 80 percent of workers retired with a pension. Today less than 18 percent of American workers have a pension in place.   And if many companies get their way, they will be carrying fewer and fewer pensions as time goes on. Many pensions are underwater or will be because of the lowest interest rates in U.S. history on bonds, causing pension plans to take more risk. We'll explain why its happening and what you should do if you are offered a lump sum. Then Fox News Contributor Gary Kaltbaum joins us for the Q & A.   A great show you don't want to miss MASTERING MONEY is on the air!

Although many people don’t think about owning life insurance, many, many people do. Life insurance has evolved from just a few  choices in the old days, like whole life and straight term, to more advanced and flexible forms of Universal Life insurance which can be tailored to fit your needs for tax advantaged  retirement income that does not trigger taxes on Social Security, leaving a tax free legacy, and tax planning goals.  Unlike the policies of old, today’s next generation of cash value life insurance can deliver the goods on multiple benefits with the same dollar. For example, quite a number of cash value life insurance policies on the market can double as a LONG TERM CARE funding vehicle. You get triple the benefits with the same insurance dollar. Today we'll review these policies and show you why many people are converting IRAs to tax free life insurance, rather than ROTH IRAs.  An important show you don't want to miss  MASTERING MONEY is on the air!!!

The investment community and the financial media tend to obsess over interest rates—which represent the cost that consumers and corporations PAY for the use of someone else's money. Why is it such a big deal?  Well, if you understand how interest rate changes ripple through the economy and cause major, trillion dollar mutual fund companies to buy or sell things, you will be more clear on what is making the market tick.   You or I can’t possibly keep up with robotic, computer-driven models used by the major mutual fund managers. They have responsibility for more than fifteen trillion dollars in the market . ...And .their jobs DEPEND on staying a step ahead of YOU! Today we'll show you how to get that step back!!   Then, Estate and Probate Attorney Libby Banks joins us to reveal  how to choose beneficiaries under the new Secure Act. Don't miss it!  ...MASTERING MONEY  is on the air!!!