The Retirement Fiduciary Podcast

Welcome to The Retirement Fiduciary Podcast! Your classroom for no BS financial education. A place where we have authentic discussions about retirement planning, investment management, tax reduction strategies, insurance, estate planning, and more. Thanks for listening & please be sure to SUBSCRIBE!Hosted by Adam Koos, CFP®, CMT® of Libertas Wealth.

The Retirement Fiduciary Podcast is a business podcast hosted by Unknown Host, with 171 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Unknown Host hosts The Retirement Fiduciary Podcast, a business show with 171 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

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  Episode #172

  The 5 Money Personalities That Shape How You Invest

  Aug 18, 202624 min

  A date night conversation about Dr. Gary Chapman's The Five Love Languages got Adam Koós thinking about something he sees every day across more than 300 client families: everyone relates to money a little differently. In this solo episode of The Retirement Fiduciary, Adam borrows the love languages idea and applies it to money, walking through the five "money love languages" that shape how people save, invest, and feel about their financial lives. From the family steward who cares most about protecting the people they love, to the accumulator focused on growth, Adam explains why knowing your own money personality is the first step toward becoming a calmer, more consistent investor. He also digs into the emotional pitfalls of fear and greed, why risk tolerance shifts over time, and the single biggest reason good retirement plans fall apart. Episode Timestamps Approximate. Verify against the final audio before publishing. 00:00 - Why your "money love language" matters 03:00 - A quick primer on the five love languages 05:00 - The five money love languages (starting with the family steward) 10:00 - The less common types (and who probably isn't a fit) 13:00 - Fear, greed, and neither 17:00 - Your risk "speed limit" 20:00 - The real reason plans fail (and the GPS analogy) Key Takeaways Before you can be a calm, consistent investor, you have to understand who you are and how you react to risk. Most people are "family stewards." Their planning is really about protecting the people they love. Investors tend to get cautious right when markets fall and bold right when they climb, which is backwards. Risk tolerance is not fixed. It shifts with life events and market conditions, and it usually drops after a scare. Plans rarely fail because of the market. They fail because people abandon them during short-term volatility. Key Quotes Pulled from the transcript. Confirm exact wording before publishing. "Investors are conservative when the market's going down and aggressive when it's going up." "If investing is exciting, you're probably not doing it well." "The number one reason financial plans fail is that people abandon their plan." Connect with Libertas Wealth Facebook: https://facebook.com/libertaswealth Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/libertas.wealth Threads: https://www.threads.com/@libertas.wealth LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/libertas-wealth/ Twitter / X: https://x.com/LibertasWM TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@libertaswealthmanagement YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@libertaswealth Podcast YouTube Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhkYzW1XyJA0Ef_Hf7nUCMGLSlmfHt43v Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/29Jrqu0MV1VrpRGqgm6seV Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-retirement-fiduciary-podcast/id1029927148 Website: https://www.libertaswealth.com Email: info@libertaswealth.com Phone: 614-543-1350 Connect with Adam Koós, CFP®, CMT, CFTe, CEPA LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamkoos Website: https://www.libertaswealth.com

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  Episode #171

  Wolves of Wall Street, Part 2: How to Spot a Fake Fiduciary

  Aug 4, 202633 min

  In part two of the Wolves of Wall Street series on The Retirement Fiduciary, Adam Koós keeps pulling back the curtain on the parts of the financial world most people never get to see. This time he walks through the tactics that can make someone look like a trustworthy advisor on the surface while something very different is going on underneath. From insurance agents who set up nearly empty advisory firms just to call themselves fiduciaries, to attorneys quietly selling annuities on the side, to the long list of designations that sound impressive but carry almost no education behind them, Adam breaks it all down in plain English. He closes with a simple, free way to find a true fee-only fiduciary near you, so you can tell the difference before you ever hand someone your life savings. Episode Timestamps Approximate, please verify against the final audio. 00:00 – Part 2 intro and the "tomorrow's front page" standard 01:30 – Insurance agents posing as wealth managers 06:30 – Attorneys running advisory firms on the side 10:00 – Paid advertorials dressed up as real news 12:00 – Questionable designations to watch for 17:00 – The designations that actually mean something 24:00 – Why the right firm for the job matters (the Jiffy Lube rule) 27:00 – How to find a true fiduciary (NAPFA) 29:00 – Fee-only vs fee-based, explained 31:00 – Final takeaways Key Takeaways A registered investment advisory firm on paper doesn't always mean real advice. Some are set up with barely a client inside, just so someone can use the word fiduciary. Letters after a name can be earned the hard way or basically bought. Learn which designations have real education behind them and which are mostly marketing. The right advice depends on the right firm. A discount brokerage or an insurance company simply isn't built to deliver comprehensive, unbiased planning. A true fiduciary can't earn commissions. Take away the brokerage and insurance licenses and you take away the conflict, so the advisor gets paid the same no matter where your money goes. Fee-only and fee-based sound almost identical, and the gap between them can quietly cost you. You can find a real fee-only fiduciary near you by searching your zip code at napfa.org. Key Quotes "We like saving people. I like saving people from bad advice." "We pretend as if everything is gonna be on tomorrow's front page. And that's how you do it." "You wouldn't go to Jiffy Lube to get new brakes and tires." Connect with Libertas Wealth Facebook: https://facebook.com/libertaswealth Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/libertas.wealth Threads: https://www.threads.com/@libertas.wealth LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/libertas-wealth/ Twitter / X: https://x.com/LibertasWM TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@libertaswealthmanagement YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@libertaswealth Podcast YouTube Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhkYzW1XyJA0Ef_Hf7nUCMGLSlmfHt43v Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/29Jrqu0MV1VrpRGqgm6seV Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-retirement-fiduciary-podcast/id1029927148 Website: https://www.libertaswealth.com Email: info@libertaswealth.com Phone: 614-543-1350 Adam Koós, CFP®, CMT, CFTe, CEPA LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamkoos Website: https://www.libertaswealth.com

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  Episode #170

  Wolves of Wall Street, Part 1: Financial Advice Red Flags to Watch For

  Jul 21, 202634 min

  In this episode of The Retirement Fiduciary, Adam Koós pulls back the curtain on the parts of the financial world most people never see. This one started with a client request. Go find the bad advice floating around out there and shine a light on it. So Adam does exactly that. He walks through the conflicts of interest, sales tricks, and flat out scams that quietly cost everyday investors real money, and he keeps the whole thing in plain English so you can catch the warning signs early. This is part one of a two part conversation. Adam covers commissions and conflicts of interest, how a true fiduciary is actually held accountable, churning and reverse churning, the annuity moves that drain savings, mis-sold insurance, and two real fraud stories that will make you look twice at anyone promising something too good to be true. Part two lands in two weeks. Episode Timestamps 00:00 – Intro and why Adam made this episode 02:00 – Commissions and conflicts of interest 06:00 – Churning, explained 07:00 – The "moving annuities" trick 08:00 – The "there are no fees" myth 11:00 – Reverse churning 14:00 – Mis-sold insurance policies 17:00 – Whole life and overfunded life insurance (LIRPs) 20:00 – Two real Ponzi scheme stories 29:00 – Proprietary investments and products 32:00 – A look ahead to part two Key Takeaways A true fee only fiduciary legally cannot earn commissions, so they get paid the same no matter where your money is invested. Churning is trading your account just to generate commissions. Reverse churning is the flip side, parking your money and doing little while still charging you. If someone says your annuity is "maturing" and it's time to buy a new one, slow down. In most cases it isn't, and a new one can mean a fresh commission for them. "There are no fees" is one of the biggest myths in the industry. There is always a cost somewhere. Insurance companies are good at insurance. Holistic planning covers taxes, estate, investments, and risk, so know what you're actually getting. When a return sounds too good to be true, ask questions before you sign anything. That instinct can protect your life savings. Key Quotes "How you do anything is how you do everything." (Martha Beck, quoted by Adam) "There's always a cost. There's always a fee somewhere. And in many cases there's lots of fees." "Commissions create conflicts of interest." Connect With Libertas Wealth Facebook: https://facebook.com/libertaswealth Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/libertas.wealth Threads: https://www.threads.com/@libertas.wealth LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/libertas-wealth/ Twitter / X: https://x.com/LibertasWM TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@libertaswealthmanagement YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@libertaswealth Podcast YouTube Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhkYzW1XyJA0Ef_Hf7nUCMGLSlmfHt43v Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/29Jrqu0MV1VrpRGqgm6seV Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-retirement-fiduciary-podcast/id1029927148 Website: https://www.libertaswealth.com Email: info@libertaswealth.com Phone: 614-543-1350 Connect with Adam Koós: Adam Koós, CFP®, CMT, CFTe, CEPA LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamkoos Website: https://www.libertaswealth.com

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  Episode #169

  What Your Dad Got Wrong About Money (and What You Should Do Instead)

  Jun 16, 20269 min

  Happy Father's Day! Adam walks through the money lessons a lot of us picked up from our dads and grandfathers. The advice came from a good place and from real experience. The trouble is that the world they lived in looked almost nothing like the one we are retiring into now. Pensions are mostly gone, people are living longer, healthcare costs keep climbing, and the tax code is more complicated than it has ever been. Adam goes through the old rules one at a time. Cash is king. All debt is bad. Never touch the principal. Social Security has you covered. The stock market is a casino. He explains what still holds up, what quietly works against you today, and where a fiduciary actually earns their keep. There is plenty here for everyday savers and a few good reminders for advisors too. It is a warm, honest conversation, and a pretty fitting tribute to Dad. Episode Timestamps 00:00 – Why following outdated money advice can quietly cost you 01:00 – Father's Day setup and how Dad's financial era was different 02:00 – "Cash is king" and the hidden cost of inflation 02:40 – Why hating all debt can work against you 03:30 – "Never touch the principal" and modern income planning 04:30 – What Social Security was really designed to do 05:30 – The market scar that became a family money philosophy 06:30 – Why retirement doesn't reward improvising 07:30 – Honoring Dad by getting your own house in order Key Takeaways 💡 Playing it too safe has its own risk. Cash feels secure, but inflation can quietly cut its buying power over a long retirement. 💡 Hating debt is not the same as being smart about it. A low-rate mortgage may be worth keeping if your money can do more elsewhere, and that is a planning call, not a gut call. 💡 "Never touch the principal" can backfire. Modern income planning, like dynamic withdrawals, total return investing, and bucket strategies, can actually help a portfolio last longer. 💡 Social Security was built to supplement your income, not replace it. When and how you claim can swing your lifetime benefit by hundreds of thousands of dollars. 💡 The market is rarely the real enemy. Most retirement damage comes from a poorly built portfolio with no time horizon and no plan for the down years, which is exactly where a fiduciary earns their keep. Key Quotes 🗣 "The stock market over long periods of time has been the most reliable wealth-building engine in American history. Not gambling, not speculation. Investing." 🗣 "Playing it too safe is still playing with fire when it comes to our retirement savings." 🗣 "If your dad is still around, have this conversation with him. And if he's not, honor him by getting your own financial house in order." Connect with Libertas Wealth Facebook: https://facebook.com/libertaswealth Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/libertas.wealth Threads: https://www.threads.com/@libertas.wealth LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com//libertas-wealth Twitter: https://x.com/LibertasWM TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@libertaswealthmanagement YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@libertaswealth Podcast YouTube Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhkYzW1XyJA0Ef_Hf7nUCMGLSlmfHt43v Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/29Jrqu0MV1VrpRGqgm6seV?si=d98161c1ec484a85 Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-retirement-fiduciary-podcast/id1029927148 Website: https://www.libertaswealth.com Email: info@libertaswealth.com Phone: 614-543-1350 Connect with Adam Koós Adam Koós, CFP®, CMT, CFTe, CEPA LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamkoos Website: https://www.LibertasWealth.com

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  Episode #168

  The Owner Dependency Trap: How to Build a Business That Runs Without You

  Jun 2, 202641 min

  Most business owners will tell you they built their company for freedom. But somewhere along the way, the business stops working without them in it. It becomes something they can't step away from, can't sell, and can't scale past their own bandwidth. In this episode of The Retirement Fiduciary, Adam Koos, sits down with Tiffany Helton, operational scaling and profit strategy expert at Cultivate Advisors, to talk about what founder dependency actually costs, how to build a business that runs without you, and why exit planning is really just good business strategy, no matter how far out your timeline is. Episode Timestamps 00:00 – Intro & guest background: Tiffany's path from busing tables to building and scaling multi-unit restaurant groups 05:00 – What founder dependency really looks like, and the test every owner should run on their business 10:00 – The $20/hour trap: why owners doing low-value tasks is killing growth and exit potential 15:00 – The financial risk of being too important to your own company (death, divorce, disability, and deals) 20:00 – Business transition and exit planning: why it's not about leaving, it's about growing 25:00 – Profitability vs. revenue growth: what your financials are actually telling you 31:00 – Delegation vs. operational leadership: the difference and why it matters 35:00 – The $523/hour question: backing into your real hourly value as a business owner 38:00 – What buyers actually look for, and how to set your business up to attract them 40:00 – Final takeaways and where to start if you want more freedom in your business Key Takeaways 💡 If your business can't survive without you, it's not a business. It's a job, and a risky one. 💡 Exit planning isn't about leaving. It's the most effective growth strategy most owners never use. 💡 Only about 20–30% of businesses have clean, organized books on day one with an advisor. Most owners don't know what they don't know. 💡 Almost zero founder-led businesses have a three-year financial forecast. That's where the biggest growth opportunities are hiding. 💡 The difference between delegation and operational leadership is critical. One removes tasks. The other builds leaders who think like you. 💡 80% of businesses don't sell. They dissolve. And 80% of business owners have most of their net worth tied up in the company. 💡 Know your real hourly rate. If you're answering phones or managing your own calendar at $523/hour potential, something has to change. Key Quotes 🗣 "If I remove you from your business, what's gonna happen? If the answer is no, it can't survive without you, you have to fix that." — Tiffany Helton 🗣 "Exit planning is simply taking you from wherever you are today to wherever you want to be." — Adam Koos 🗣 "It's not easy. But it is simple." — Adam Koos 🗣 "Does your business actually support your personal financial goals? A lot of my clients are totally disconnected in that way." — Tiffany Helton 🗣 "We can always make more money. We can't make more time." — Adam Koos Connect With the Guest Name: Tiffany Helton, Cultivate Advisors Email: tiffany@cultivateadvisors.com Website: https://cultivateadvisors.com/our-advisors/tiffany-helton/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tiffany-helton-a0239b8/ Connect with Libertas Wealth Facebook: https://facebook.com/libertaswealth Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/libertas.wealth Threads: https://www.threads.com/@libertas.wealth LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com//libertas-wealth Twitter: https://x.com/LibertasWM TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@libertaswealthmanagement YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@libertaswealth Podcast YouTube Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhkYzW1XyJA0Ef_Hf7nUCMGLSlmfHt43v Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/29Jrqu0MV1VrpRGqgm6seV?si=d98161c1ec484a85 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-retirement-fiduciary-podcast/id1029927148 Email: info@libertaswealth.com Website: www.libertaswealth.com Phone: 614-543-1350 Connect with Adam Koós LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamkoos Website: https://www.LibertasWealth.com

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