Episode 70: The Boulder Home Decision, What "Complex" Really Means, and Generational Wealth Stewardship with Lisa McCurdy

August 17th, 2026  |  33 mins 48 secs

charitable giving, concentration risk, estate planning, estate tax exemption, gifting strategies, inheritance planning, legacy and family stewardship, sbloc, tax planning, trust strategies

Stephan works through two listener questions this week. First, a couple weighing three ways to buy a $2.8 million second home in Boulder and disagreeing about whether an SBLOC belongs on the table. Then, a listener with a $35 million net worth concentrated 80 percent in one stock who wants to know why every advisor he meets calls his situation "complex" when it feels pretty simple from where he sits. In From the Field, legacy planning attorney Lisa McCurdy joins to explain why the human side of estate work, not the paperwork, is what determines whether a plan actually holds up across generations.

Episode 67: FIRE at 45 and the Underspending Problem, Public Company Board Seats, and Art in Your Estate

July 27th, 2026  |  49 mins 1 sec

art collections, asset protection, board seats, charitable giving, charitable remainder trusts, estate planning, executive compensation, financial independence, fire, inheritance planning, ipo planning, physician finance, retirement planning, tax planning, trust strategies,  family limited partnerships

Retired at 45 with a $200,000 spending plan and can't get above $100,000 — the FIRE underspending problem. What to actually ask before joining the board of a company going public. And attorney Asher Rubinstein on keeping art and collectibles from becoming an estate tax problem, from family limited partnerships to charitable remainder trusts.

Episode 65: IPO Access, Dynasty Trusts, and Bitcoin Arbitrage Funds

July 13th, 2026  |  26 mins 11 secs

alternative investments, concentration risk, cryptocurrency investing, dynasty trusts, estate planning, financial independence, gifting strategies, inheritance planning, ipo planning, tax planning, trust strategies

Three listener questions this week: a Bay Area tech executive working out how to get real access to IPOs after landing only 13% of his SpaceX allocation, a family pressure testing whether the ongoing costs of an irrevocable dynasty trust actually pencil out for long-horizon private investments, and a listener weighing whether Bitcoin arbitrage funds are as market neutral as they appear on paper.

Episode 61: Preparing the Spouse Who Doesn't Manage the Money, When Vacation Rental Income Disappears, and Preparing Heirs with Jessica McGawley

June 15th, 2026  |  29 mins 9 secs

asset protection, estate planning, family business, family governance, family wealth transfer, financial literacy, gifting strategies, inheritance planning, real estate investing, retirement planning, spousal financial planning, trust strategies, vacation rental

A wife who has managed every dollar of her family's $19 million for thirty years faces the reality that her husband doesn't know where any of it is. A couple at 63 lose their beach house rental income overnight when a zoning change kills VRBO on their street. And in From the Field, Jessica McGawley of Dallington joins us on preparing the next generation for wealth, not just preparing the wealth for them.

Episode 57: Q&A Speed Round with Noah and Evan: AI Investing, Living Off Dividends, 529-to-Roth, and More

May 18th, 2026  |  25 mins 28 secs

bond investing, charitable giving, concentration risk, education funding, estate planning, gifting strategies, inflation planning, international planning, investment strategy, retirement planning, tax planning, trust strategies

A Q&A speed round with Associate Financial Advisors Noah Lewis and Evan Mills, tackling eight listener questions across investing and planning. Topics include AI as a structural shift, international allocation, dividends versus selling shares, gifting tuition to grandkids, BIV versus money markets, I-bonds and TIPS, the 529-to-Roth rollover under SECURE 2.0, and charitable remainder trusts versus donor advised funds.

Episode 54: Mortgages, Trusts, Hedge Funds, and More: Live Q&A from Our Annual Conference

April 27th, 2026  |  35 mins 10 secs

estate planning, financial literacy, gifting strategies, incentive stock options, inheritance planning, live q&a, real estate investing, real estate syndication, retirement planning, stock option exercise, talking to kids about money, tax planning, trust distribution, trust strategies

This week, we're bringing you something a little different. This episode was recorded live at our 2026 annual personal wealth conference at the Grove Park Inn in Asheville, North Carolina. Stephan is joined by Deon Strickland, Ph.D. and Derek Cheshire, CFP®, EA for a live Q&A panel, fielding questions submitted on the spot by conference attendees. Topics include the pros and cons of paying cash for a home, annual gift tax exclusion strategies for large families, structuring inheritances for young adults, trust disputes between beneficiaries, troubled real estate syndications, ISO exercises and AMT credits, talking to your kids about money, evaluating a hedge fund, and navigating a parent's estate after a spouse passes.

Episode 51: Rachel Cruze of The Ramsey Show on Raising Money-Smart Kids, DAFs vs. Private Foundations, and Getting Into Alternatives

April 6th, 2026  |  36 mins 25 secs

alternative investments, charitable giving, donor-advised funds, estate planning, family business, family philanthropy, financial literacy, generational wealth transfer, gifting strategies, inheritance planning, parenting and money, private equity investment, private foundations, real estate investing, rental property, tax planning, third-generation wealth, trust strategies

Rachel Cruze, author and co-host of The Ramsey Show, joins us to talk about how financial values are formed, passed down, and sometimes lost across generations. We also look at when a private foundation makes more sense than a donor-advised fund for a family giving $200,000 a year, and whether rental real estate is a smart entry point into alternatives — or just trading one set of risks for another.

Episode 47: AI Concentration Risk, Concierge Medicine, and Avoiding Trust Disputes

March 9th, 2026  |  34 mins 22 secs

concentration risk, concierge medicine, estate planning, fiduciary litigation, financial independence, healthcare planning, market timing, portfolio rebalancing, retirement planning, tech concentration, trust strategies

In this episode, we discuss how to manage concentrated exposure to AI-driven tech gains without turning rebalancing into market timing, evaluate whether catastrophic coverage paired with concierge medicine is a rational strategy after financial independence, and speak with fiduciary litigator Ellen Morris about what families can do to proactively reduce trust and estate conflicts.

Episode 42: Managing Inherited Property, Protecting Physician Wealth, and Inside the Bourbon Market

February 2nd, 2026  |  42 mins 57 secs

asset protection, bourbon collecting, concentration risk, estate planning, financial literacy, inheritance planning, inherited property, legal exposure, ownership tradeoffs, passion investing, physician finance, real estate investing, tax planning, trust strategies, vacation rental

In this episode, we answer two listener questions that highlight common tradeoffs as wealth and complexity grow. We discuss how to approach inherited real estate when illiquidity and emotional attachment are involved, how high-net-worth physicians can think about asset protection as income and exposure rise together, and close with a From the Field conversation on what actually drives quality and value in the bourbon market.

Episode 37: Qualified Opportunity Zones, IDGTs, and Modern Estate Management

December 29th, 2025  |  38 mins 25 secs

business exit strategy, business sale planning, estate management, estate planning, family business, high-net-worth home management, inheritance planning, intentionally defective grantor trust, liquidity event, qualified opportunity zones, real estate investing, tax planning, trust strategies

Evaluating Qualified Opportunity Zone investments after a large business sale requires balancing tax incentives with risk and liquidity.

IDGTs can help transfer future business growth, but they introduce meaningful cash flow and complexity considerations.

In our From the Field conversation, Peter Hansen explains what modern estate management looks like and how staffing and systems help homes run smoothly.