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. They also explain why estate plans that are signed but not funded leave families exposed—and why income, tax strategy, and estate planning must work together as one system. If your retirement plan has not been actively stress-tested, coordinated, and updated, this episode explains what quiet risks tend to surface later—and how to fix them before they do.

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 life. If your retirement strategy has never been stress-tested, this episode shows you what most people miss until it is too late.

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 runs on hope, inertia, or unchecked assumptions, this is your wake-up call.

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 not an income plan—it is liquidation. This episode is a wake-up call for anyone who thinks comfort equals control.

Logan and Don pull back the curtain on pooled mutual funds, exposing hidden fees, lack of control, and why “headline gains” often turn into fluff when you actually need income. Then they show how real planning—stress-testing your portfolio, building reliable income streams, and putting a simple, funded estate plan in place—creates a wall that protects both your lifestyle now and your family later.

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.

A will is not enough, an unfunded trust is just paper, and an IRA without a strategy is a tax bomb waiting to go off. Logan and Don break down why families end up in probate, why “lazy advising” can cost retirees dearly, and why your advisor’s plan may be clearer than your own.
If you want protection, clarity, and a real income plan—not guesswork—this episode shows you how to get inside the wall.

You built your retirement like a castle — but if the drawbridge is down, the IRS is already inside and waiting to take a bite out of your savings. Logan and Don break down the tax time bomb, the power of Roth conversions, and how to seal your financial walls before rates rise.