Nicole Newman, Attorney at Law joins Joe Anderson, CFP® and Big Al Clopine, CPA on YMYW podcast episode 35 to discuss the most important estate planning mistakes people need to avoid. Later in the hour, they dive into Social Security, investments and taxes. Does your Social Security strategy line up with your retirement plan?  Original publish date June 4, 2016 (hour 1). Note that content may be outdated as rules and regulations have changed.

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Learn more from Nicole Newman: 10 Gruesome Estate Planning Mistakes to Avoid

00:00 - Intro 02:47 - “We have seen Social Security benefits reach a million dollars [before]” 06:35 - “When you get really good rates of return, there are risks involved no matter what the investment vehicle is” 08:40 - “Cash flow is king when it comes to retirement. Do you have a strategy and plan in place to make sure that you can provide the income that you need?” 10:00 - Start of interview with Nicole Newman 11:52 - “What happens if you fail to plan for your death is that each state has their own back-up plan for you..” 12:59 - “They tend to interchange the terms will and trust all the time…actually that’s mistake number two in my seminar” 13:39 - “A will does NOT avoid probate…that’s a very common misconception” 14:18 - “Here in California probate is very lengthy, so it usually takes about 12 to 18 months as long as there are no problems…if there are problems then it can turn into years very quickly; whereas other states’ probate can be very simple and very quick” 17:47 - “We see this quite often, where we’ll see children from a prior marriage cut out simply because of the lack of planning…when you have a blended family you definitely want to have a living trust” 19:22 - End of interview with Nicole Newman 24:41 - “Each year that you wait after your full retirement age, Social Security will guarantee an 8% delayed credit to the benefit, plus you also get the cost of living benefit” 28:48 - “In retirement you have more control [over your taxes] than any other time in your life” 36:29 - “There are a lot of other things that you can do; you could push out your retirement a couple years or you could look at some tax planning strategies that will carry out your dollar a little longer…making sure you have the right portfolio set up to give you the income that you need”