Wisdom for Your Wisdom Years
Hosted by Matt Murphy, a CFP and founder of Benetas Wealth, this podcast focuses on retirement planning and living well in later life. Each episode explores financial strategies, lifestyle adjustments, and unconventional ideas designed to help listeners build a retirement on their own terms. The show blends practical money guidance with broader conversations about purpose and passion in the wisdom years.
Episodes
Diversification Means Disappointment
The idea of diversification is pretty simply -- own a variety of investments in different asset classes and industries so that if one particular industry, asset class, or security tanks, the others will offset any major losses. This sounds reasonable and most people are on board with the idea... until it comes to actually living with a diversified portfolio. Then emotions, impatience, and FOMO oft
Blocking and Tackling: Focusing on the Fundamentals of Investing
Matt shares a recent story about Carolina Panthers head coach Dave Canales, who spent an entire week of practice drilling fundamentals with his players -- blocking and tackling, footwork and positioning. With some of the best athletes in the world (and some highly experienced veterans among them) at his disposal, Canales chose to focus on the most basic skills of the game. And it's wise practice:
What You Can Learn From an NFL Player's Salary
What can you learn from an NFL player's salary? Despite the huge numbers, a lot actually! Logan Ryan earned over $80 million during his 11 seasons in the NFL, and by his own account barely spent a dime of it. Matt shares Ryan's unusual financial story from a league where short-lived careers often end up with short-lived financial prosperity. Matt points out that, once you get past the large number
What Every Dollar Represents
Every dollar in your portfolio has a story behind it -- a struggle or sacrifice, a triumph, or perhaps just a consistent habit of saving and living on less than you earn. It's easy to get lost in the comparision game, thinking about your portfolio as merely a number, a measuring stick, and wonder whether you measure up to your peers. Recalling The Gap and the Gain book from episode 47, Matt enco
Inside the Planning Room: Investing with a Personal Touch
In the second installment of the series, Matt Murphy sits down again with Matt Reynolds to discuss all the factors and decisions that go into selecting investmetns for a client. Just like the financial plan in general, investments are tailored to each individual's unique circumstances and needs -- there are no cookie cutter investment allocations. Matt selects investments and investment allocation
The Corvette and the Pickup
Which is better, a corvette or a pickup? Kind of a hard question to answer, right? If you want to go fast, a corvette is the obvious choice. If you need to haul a ton of dirt, the pickup wins easily. "Better" depends on context, and what the vehicle needs to do for you. When discussing investments, Matt Murphy likes to make analogies like these to help his clients understand where each of their in
What Are the Wisdom Years, Anyway?
Matt takes a moment to reflect on what the "wisdom years" part of the podcast actually mean. Many people assume that wisdom comes with age, but in Matt's experience that's not the case. Wisdom comes with actively grappling with change, and working through the new roles and responsibilities and focus that different chapters of life present. Many people get to retirement age having saved and prepare
What "Fee-Only" Fiduciary Actually Means
Matt ran across an interesting statistic recently, that only about five percent of financial advisors operate on a fee-only basis. This is not an official SEC or FINRA statistic, but it does highlight something important about the industry of financial advice. Most advisors are getting paid fees for assets under management and commissions from selling certain products like mutual funds, annuities,
The Best Investment Question I've Ever Heard
Matt reflects on a question Warren Buffet posed in a talk from the early 2000's: if you could own 10% of any person's lifetime earnings, who would you pick? And why? Conversely, if you had to short any one person's lifetime earnings -- that is, you had to pay out 10% of their earnings -- who would you pick? Buffet set out a few rules: it has to be someone you know, and it has to be their earnings,
Everything You Need to Know About Trump Accounts
Matt breaks down the mechanics of the new Trump Accounts, which are savings vehicles for kids. He discusses the tax deferred status of the accounts, what the funds can be used for, how they can be invested, who owns the account, and how the account can be divested, spent, or tranferred into an invidividual retirement account (IRA) when the child turns 18. Matt also discusses how these accounts dif
Lessons from Pinehurst: Moments That Become Memories
Matt recently returned from a family trip to Pinehurst, an iconic golf resort in North Carolina and the home of US Kids Golf World Championship, which his daughters have competed in, and as always with such trips, with a fresh point of view. In today's episode, Matt shares his perspective on life, memories, and the moments and phases that we often don't appreciate until they are in the rear view m
The Most Important Number in Retirement Is Not Your Rate of Return
Most people when they think about investment portfolios and retirement are concerned with the rate of return of the portfolio. How much does it earn every year, how much will it grow over time, is it matching or beating the market (i.e. the performance of a broad stock market index)? While these are reasonable questions to ask, they miss an important point. What matters is not how much your portfo
Inside the Planning Room: How a Financial Plan Gets Made with Matt Reynolds
Before you sit down at the conference table to with Matt, many hours of work go into your financial plan -- gathering information, reviewing your accounts, optimizing your tax situation, coordinating with accountants and attorneys, and much more. In today's episode, Matt Murphy invites the newest advisor at Benetas Wealth, Matt Reynolds, to talk through everything he's learned in his first year ab
Life Comes In Seasons, Your Financial Plan Should Too
Life moves through seasons, and one characteristic of a season is you often don't realize you're in it until it has passed. You grow up, start working, kids come along, all of a sudden you're in the thick of parenting. Then, as children grow the nature of parenting changes, along with your schedule. And then, they're gone, and you are supporting them from afar. At each stage of the process, there
Why Emotion Is the Enemy of Good Financial Decisions
Matt draws an analogy between the movie Man on Fire and the character of Crecy, who teaches a young protege how to think under pressure -- to solve a puzzle, not react emotionally -- and the process of investing. One of the most dangerous things an investor can do is get emotionally invested (pardon the pun) in the securities they are evaluating, looking for ways to confirm why they should buy the
The Retirement Questions Your Portfolio Can't Answer
Follow Matt Murphy Web: https://www.benetaswealth.com Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/jb7SNc LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattmurphycfp Advisory services offered through Commonwealth Financial Network®, a Registered Investment Adviser. This material is intended for informational/educational purposes only and should not be construed as investment advice, a solicitation, or a recomme
The Gap and The Gain
Your life's journey is full of wins and losses, and however lumpy, it is a journey, a movement toward something, which means it is also full of gains. One common trait of successful people is they set goals and, having achieved them, move onto the a new goal, the next thing. Wherever they perceive a gap -- in their knowledge, experience, their financial position, etc. -- they seek to close that ga
How AI Is Changing Investing
Matt tackles a common question from clients: will traditional investing work with AI? AI is changing how businesses operate, with explosive increases in scope and scale over the past couple years. There is enormous hype around AI technologies, with some people comparing it to the advent of the internet or even the invention of electricity. Naturally, many retail investors are wondering how to inve
Why Simplicity Becomes More Valuable With Age
Simplicity isn't just a nice feature of plans and documents, it carries real value. When things are complex, whether it's your investment allocation (or the investments themselves) or your estate plan documents, it costs you more than just money to maintain and administrate. It also costs brainpower and attention. As you age, your energy for managing these things may decrease. Inevitability, your
The Hidden Cost of Working One More Year
Follow Matt Murphy Web: https://www.benetaswealth.com Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/jb7SNc LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattmurphycfp Advisory services offered through Commonwealth Financial Network®, a Registered Investment Adviser. This material is intended for informational/educational purposes only and should not be construed as investment advice, a solicitation, or a recommend
Before You Buy Gold, Ask Yourself This Question
Gold and other precious metals have been used as stores of value for thousands of years, so naturally investors are curious about adding them to their portfolio. Curiosity typically peaks not when the markets are quiet and things are going well, but when things are volatile and the future is uncertain. Whereas common investment classes like stocks and bonds generate growth and income for a portfol
What to Do When You Have a Windfall
Follow Matt Murphy Web: https://www.benetaswealth.com Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/jb7SNc LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattmurphycfp Advisory services offered through Commonwealth Financial Network®, a Registered Investment Adviser. This material is intended for informational/educational purposes only and should not be construed as investment advice, a solicitation, or a recommend
Why Taxes Feel Higher In Retirement
Retirement income is not like income from a job. It's a layered system, and it can be confusing. Matt explains how retirement income shows up on a tax return, and how each piece -- IRA distributions, Social Security, etc -- builds up to your taxable income. He also explains why people are sometimes surprised by their tax bill in retirement, and why financial planning that looks at your income thro
What Happens to Your IRA When You Die
Matt walks thorugh exactly what happens with your IRA as you approach end of life and death, including required minimum distributions, changing Medicare thresholds (IRMA), and the changing tax brackets upon death as the surviving spouse inherits the account and, therefore, the additional income stream. Matt also covers how IRA's transfer to children and the income and tax implications of the remai
What Growth Really Means for an Organization
Growth for a company tends to be talked about in simplistic ways: revenue, profits, employee count, new locations, etc. However these are simply outputs. When an organization grows, it's responsibility grows as well -- at least the way Matt looks at it. As Benetas grows he's looking carefully at how he can preserve good communication and relationships, to make sure that important conversations are
What Rory's 2026 Masters Win Can Teach Us About Investing
Two weeks before this episode aired, Rory McIlroy won the Masters championship for the second time, and a back to back win at that -- a veryrare feat in golf. Rory became the fourth to ever do it, alongside the best golfers of all time Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods (Nick Faldo also went back to back in 1988 and 1989). Heading into the final day of the tournament, Rory had a commanding six shot lea
Market Volatility: Turning Stress Into Opportunity
When markets become volatile, many people start to get nervy. It feels like a time to pull back, to move to cash and wait until the storm blows over and things return to "normal." As Matt counsels, however, for a well designed financial plan volatility isn't bad, it's actually an opportunity! Follow Matt Murphy Web: https://www.benetaswealth.com Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/jb7SNc LinkedIn: ht
How Smart People Get Scammed
Every time a scam hits the headlines, most people think to themselves: "this wouldn't happen to me." And yet, scams happen all the time, even to smart, well-informed people! Many think scammers are bottom feeders, spamming poorly-worded, suspicious looking emails, texts, and links that are too obvious to fool any but the most gullible. While there are plenty of those kinds of scams in the world, t
Before You Can Advise Others, You Have to Understand Yourself
Matt recently spoke at the University of Central Florida to students interested in pursuing a career in wealth management. One student asked him a prescient question: how did he learn how to talk with clients about money, especially the psychological side of the conversation? Matt's response wasn't about technical knowledge, or certifications and credentials. It was about, as Socrates says, knowin
Is Your Advisor Asking the Right Questions?
Matt reviews a few conversations he's had with clients that came seeking a second opinion about the financial advice they had gotten. The conversations highlight a common problem that is unfortunately not talked about much. Meetings with financial advisors often focus primarily, maybe even exclusively on portfolio performance, missing the context of the bigger picture -- things like tax strategies
The Myth of Integrated Financial Advice
Some wealth management firms offer integrated financial advisory, in which they combine investment management, tax planning, estate planning, insurance and more under one roof. The concept is attractive -- you have one place with one point of contact for managing your complete financial life, and your service should be coordinated between professionals. Investment decisions should align with tax p
Tax Planning for Roth Conversions with Abbie McGuire, CPA
Abbie returns to the podcast to talk with Matt about the many tax implications of Roth IRA conversions in retirement. Roth conversions are useful tools for managing your cash flow in retirement and avoiding the retirement income snowball (discussed in episode #25). Roth conversions can also help you avoid required minimum distributions in your later years. As always, the key is planning well ahead
Tax Advice Is Not Tax Planning
CPA's are skilled and useful practioners, and important tools in making sure that you are compliant with the tax code and don't pay more taxes than you legally owe... this year. Many people mistake the advice of their CPA for tax planning, that is, the long-term positioning of your income, assets, and other unique circumstances to minimize your tax burden in the future. Matt reminds us that taxes
Who Owns Your Financial Plan?
Attorneys, accountants, investment advisors -- they all have their place in your financial life. Most of them provide sound advice as well, but they are specialized professionals and their expertise and scope of work is inherently limited. Herein lies a trap in retirement planning. While you may get good advice on setting up trusts, allocating your investment assets, purchasing long-term healthcar
Your Permission Slip to Spend In Retirement
Matt explores the psychology behind a conversation he has often with clients, which revolves around the fear of spending in retirement. Even when the math is done, the spreadsheets are double checked, the modeling shows high confidence in your financial stability... many clients hit retirement and have trouble shifting into a "spending" rather than a "saving" mindset. After decades of saving and d
When the Paychecks Stop: One Year of Clarity at Benetas Wealth
Today is the one year anniversary of Benetas Wealth, which has Matt reflecting. For over twenty years he was a professional financial advisor at a big firm, but after stepping out to run his own practice that chapter, he realized, had closed. All of a sudden he was responsible for getting clients, making payroll, operations... Matt realized that what people often refer to as uncertainty when makin
Two Mistakes That Can Break Your Financial Plan
Financial plans don't fail in spreadsheets, they fail at stress points -- parents that need more help and care than expected, a business sale that took longer than anticipated, prolonged market volatility. As Matt has observed during his career, it's not the stressors themselves that cause problems with the financial plan, it's the behavior around those stressors. A good financial plan includes fl
The Hidden Risks of Chasing Liquidity
Liquidity -- how quickly, easily, and efficienly you can sell your assets to raise cash or reinvest -- is an attractive quality for many investors. It's a safety blanket, like having a lot of cash in the bank or a healthy income stream. But liquidity comes at a cost, and being too liquid could be an expensive mistake. As Matt explains, liquid investments present a few important behavioral risks
It's Not 2020 Anymore: Interest Rate Risk Is Back
Matt takes a walk through the interest rate environment of the past several years, from the near-zero rates of the COVID era to today's rates hovering nearer the historical average. Matt explains how the policy decisions of 2020-2021 (and before) suppressed interest rates, sending them steadily downward. During this period interest rates were predictable -- they would go down steadily -- and retir
How to Avoid the Retirement Income Snowball
Many smart, sophisticated investors get caught by this trap -- the retirement income snowball tax trap. Like most retirement income problems, the income snowball happens slowly, building over many years. At first things seem fine in retirement. Income is sufficient, taxes are low, but if you have deferred a lot of income in previous decisions -- social security, benefit plans, portoflio RMD's -- t
How to Get Started Investing Pt. 3: Indexes, Mutual Funds & ETFs, Active vs Passive Investing
In the third and final installment of the investing miniseries, Matt Murphy and Matt Reynolds discuss the common investment products most investors will use during their lifetime. Matt breaks down the difference between active and passive fund management, and why investors over the past few decades have flocked to passive index funds, which hold a basket of stocks that mirror market indices like t
How to Get Started Investing Pt. 2: Risk, Target Date Funds, & Consistency
In part 2 of a three-part Q&A series about investing, Matt Murphy and Matt Reynolds discuss the concept of risk in investing and how new investors, young and old, should think about risk. Everyone is familiar with the concept of risk in everyday life (a popular slang term today is FAFO, for instance), and the idea is simiilar in investing. There are many investments you could make, some higher ris
How to Get Started Investing Pt. 1: Stocks, Bonds, and Asset Allocation
Matt and Matt team up again for another Q&A episode, this time focused on how to get started with investing. Matt Murphy clarifies basic investing terms you need to know, such as stocks and equities, bonds and fixed income, and lays out the basic roadmap for investing through your lifetime. The key word with all things investing: patience. Results (wealth) from investing come from repeated good de
Everything You Need to Know About Trusts: An Estate Attorney's Guide
Trusts and estate planning in general can be daunting and confusing, but with the right team around you it can be a smooth process that protects you and your family's interests throughout your life and beyond. In today's episode, estate attorney Jodi Murphy returns to the podcast to explain what trusts are, how they work, why you would want want, and how to set them up. She also walks through a fe
Are Annuities Worth It? 5 Questions to Ask Before You Buy | Pt. 3
In the final part of the miniseries on annuities, Matt discusses whether annuities are ever worth it, and if so, the scenarios in which he might recommend them. Following the story of Jim and Carol from the previous episode, he details how he he worked through their complicated stack of annuities to help them simplify their financial plan and align their investments with their priorities. The firs
How Annuities Work: Uncovering the Hidden Fees, Risks, and Fine Print | Pt. 2
In the second part of this three-part miniseries on annuities, Matt peels apart the layers of the complex financial machinery that makes annuities tick. He examines how insurance companies make money with annuities, and how various risks are spread between the underwriter of the annuity and the annuitant(s). Matt also breaks down how the various fees for annuities are calculated, including the cru
The Truth About Annuities: Types of Annuities & How They Work | Pt. 1
In the first part of a three-part miniseries about annuities, Matt breaks down the different types of annuities and how they work. Matt frequently works with new clients who have annuities, and are unsure how exactly they work or how they fit into their financial plan (if they fit in at all). Unfortunately for many, annuities not only aren't a good fit for their circumstances, they can also carry
Personal Finance 101: What You Need to Know in Your 20's and Beyond
In today's episode, Matt brings on his intern Matt Reynolds (another Matt!) to ask him a series of questions about personal finance and investing. Emergency funds, IRA's, 401(k), index funds and much more -- Matt gives a crash course in all the major concepts and investment vehicles you need to know to get started on the right foot in your financial life. As Matt emphasizes, it's not about getti
How Do Investment Funds Work? Understanding ETF's, Mutual Funds, and More with Jeromey Thornton of Avantis Investors
In today's episode, Matt chats with Jeromey Thornton, Senior Investment Director at Avantis Investments, about the inner workings of the investing and portfolio management industry. Jeromey explains how the investment funds you invest in are set up, how they operate, and what kind of strategies they use to differentiate themselves in the market. He also explains how the exchange traded fund, or ET
Understanding Medicaid and VA Benefits in Retirement with Estate Attorney Jodi Murphy
There are a number of benefits available to retirees through Medicaid and, for veterans, the VA. Understanding what you qualify for, how to apply, and how to best manage your assets and retirement income to maximize your benefits can be VERY confusing and complicated. In today's episode estate attorney Jodi Murphy returns to the podcast to help you navigate the minefield of retirement benefits, an
Tackling the Big Beautiful Bill with CPA Abbie McGuire
In today's episode, Matt invites his CPA and frequent collaborator Abbie McGuire to talk about a the tax implications of the Big Beautiful Bill in detail, including changes to the standard deduction, estimated tax payments, new temporary tax deductions, and more. They also discuss why it's important to build a relationship with your tax provider and plan ahead for future tax changes by engaging wi
How to Find a Trustworthy Advisor: Know Your Fiduciaries!
The industry of financial advice is filled with both good and bad actors, and it can be difficult to determine which advisors can be trusted, especially if you have limited knowledge of financial jargon and industry practices. It's important how different advisors structure their practice, how they get paid, and what incentives they have for selling investment products. A key term is fiduciary, an
Bringing Kids and Families Together Through Golf: US Kids Golf with John Kim
Golf is a game that can bring people together, but it can also bring families together in a powerful way. To that end, US Kids Golf has a mission to create opportunities for kids to learn to play golf, form bonds with other kids, and create lasting memories on the golf course. John Kim is the Senior Director of Communications and Foundaton Relations at US Kids Golf, and has seen firsthand how thos
How is Social Security Taxed? How the BBB Changes SS and Retirement Tax Strategy
As a follow up to episodes #7 and #8 on the Big Beautiful Bill and the numerous implications it has on retirement and taxes, in today's episode Matt clarifies how Social Security income is taxed. He breaks down the important concepts to understand for SS taxation, including the difference between adjusted gross income and provisional income, and the brackets for single and married filing jointly t
Don't Be Like Prince! Planning Wisely for the End with Estate Attorney Jodi Murphy
The artist known as Prince died in 2016, leaving behind a substantial estate including real estate, a vast catalog of released and unreleased music, and publishing rights... with no will in place or plans for how the estate should be divided up amongst his heirs. This is a surprisingly common occurence, and while you may not have an estate like Prince valued in the hundreds of millions, a little b
What Does Benetas Mean Anyway? Financial Wellness Put Into Practice
Matt gets frequent questions about the name "Benetas" in Benetas Wealth. It's a made up word, a portmanteau of the Latin bene, meaning wellness or rightness, and -tas, a suffix indicating a state of being. But it's meaning runs deep. Benetas is a state of wellbeing, in particular a state of financial wellbeing which radiates into the rest of life. Matt believes in helping people achieve financial
How the "Big Beautiful Bill" Will Affect Roth Conversions and Your Taxes in Retirement
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act changed a lot of things in the tax code, including your tax treatment in retirment. Matt walks through how these changes may affect your tax situation, and whether you should consider converting your 401(k) or traditional IRA funds to a Roth IRA. This is a complex and multifactorial analysis, so Matt always recommends you talk with your advisor about how to minimize
The "Big Beautiful Bill:" What You Need to Know for Your Retirement
On July 4, 2025 President Trump signed into law the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, a sweeping piece of legistlation which includes a number of substantive revisions and additions to the tax code. Matt walks through the highlights of the bill and how it affects retirees and business owners, including changes to social security income tax, bonus depreciation, short term rental tax treatment, and more.
Golf, Common Bonds, and Commonwealth with Kyle Martin, CFP
As he has mentioned in previous episodes, Matt Murphy partners with Commonwealth Financial Network for their broker/dealer and support services. It is much more than a business relationship, however; there are family ties as well! To that end, Matt invites Kyle Martin of Murphy Financial Group, a third generation wealth advisor and Matt's cousin once removed. Like Matt, Kyle grew up with a deep lo
Rethinking the 4% Rule: How Much Money Do You Really Need to Retire?
One of the old saws of the personal finance space is the "4% Rule," which states that in retirement, you can withdraw 4% of the value of your investment portfolio each year without risking running out of money by the end of your life (that is, your portfolio will continue to grow at a rate that offsets the amount you are withdrawing, such that it will never be drawn down to zero). If 4% of your po
Roth Conversions & Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCD's)
Roth IRA's have some notable advantages, one being their tax advantaged status. Roth distributions are tax-free providing certain conditions are met. Savvy seniors can manage their tax burden by using Roth IRA's and managing their adjusted gross income. Certified Financial Planner Matt Murphy lays out a strategy for converting funds in traditional and other retirement accounts to Roth IRA's, and u
Your Physical 401k: Starting Strength Coach Pete Troupos Explains Why Strength Training Is the Most Important Physical Skill In Retirement
In today's episode, Matt talks about the physical side of preparing for retirement, or enjoying retirement if you're already there. He is joined by Starting Strength Coach Pete Troupos, who has been coaching people of all ages to get strong using barbells since 2016. Pete is the head coach of Starting Strength Orlando, and also helps train and develop new coaches in the Starting Strength Community
Tariffs, Trade Wars... What Does It Mean for Your Portfolio?
The news is ablaze with tariffs and trade wars these days, as the Trump administration enacts tariffs, or taxes essentially, on foreign produced goods entering the US. The news being what it is, of course every outlet's take is biased toward whichever end of the political spectrum they support, with plenty of supposition and fearmongering. In today's episode, Matt Murphy cuts through the noise and
How to Manage Your Cash Flow in Retirement
In today's episode, Matt reviews common strategies for managing your cash flow in retirement, and outlines the major risks to your income you need to plan for in retirement. Many people focus on the big number, the total amount of savings they need before they can safely retire. There's a lot more to it than that, however. When you retire you will need to a certain amount of cash live on, month to
Living Your Wisdom Years to the Fullest
Retiring is just the first step of life after work. Matt Murphy, Certified Financial Planner, wants to help you retire well, with a life of fullness, meaning, and generosity. Each week Matt delivers episodes on retirement planning, investing, tax strategy, as well as staying healthy in your retirement years with fitness and good nutrition. Matt also shares some golf and travel tips, and other ways
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