Good morning:
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​Reminder: The next live show will be Monday, October 20th at 7 pm ET. You can subscribe to the YouTube channel where the show is broadcast here.

Special Live Show: On Tuesday, November 11th at 2 pm ET, I'll be interviewing Larry Kotlikoff, the founder of Maxifi and a professor of economics at Boston University. You can submit a question you'd like me to ask Prof. Kotlikoff using this form.

3 Things

1. RMD Timing: The First Dollars Out Are RMDs, and Other Considerations (Mike Piper)

2. Why I Have a Financial Planner (Christine Benz)

3. 7 Changes Coming to Medicare in 2026 (AARP)

My Videos & Articles

• How Much Does Medicare Really Cost Each Month?​
• How to Invest $15 Million
• Retirement Planning With Pralana and Bill Hines | Live Q&A
• Hey, It's Rob Berger! (2 Bald Guys Talk Retirement - Ep. 7)

ICYMI

• You Have 12 Shots In Life (X)
• Can the Gold Rush Continue? Warning Signs for Investors (Amy Arnott)
• Three Things – Weekend Reading (Discipline Funds)
• Two useful AI tactics (Seth Godin)
• I’ll Inherit Big Money Someday. What Do I Change Now? (Jesse Cramer)
• Best of Investment Truisms, Are They True? (The Falling Knife)
• Satellites Are Leaking the World’s Secrets: Calls, Texts, Military and Corporate Data (Wired)
• Saying Goodbye to ‘Stranger Things’ (Variety)
• When Should You Sell a Stock? (A Wealth of Common Sense)
• All the Money, None of the Satisfaction (Of Dollars And Data)
• New Planning Method Replaces 4% Rule With TIPS-Based Strategy (FA)
• You’re Not Supposed to Remember the Book (Horace Bianchon)
• The Periodic Table of Cognition (KK)
• Technological Optimism and Appropriate Fear (Jack Clark, co-founder of Anthropic)

What I'm Reading, Listening To, Watching, and Thinking About

• I started reading Andrew Ross Sorkin's 1929: Inside the Greatest Crash in Wall Street History--and How It Shattered a Nation. It's really good.
• I listened to three historians debate the Trump presidency. Obviously a very political subject (you've been warned), but I found their discussion of current geopolitical issues and higher education enlightening.
• I've almost finished reading Taking Religion Seriously by Charles Murray. Recall that Murray co-authored The Bell Curve, a controversial book on intelligence and race published in 1994. His current book describes the reasons behind his transition from an agnostic to a Christian. Oddly enough, it's not an overly religious book in my view. I enjoyed his discussions on science and the historicity of Jesus, subjects I find endlessly fascinating.

Tools I use

• Monarch Money: Get 50% off the First Year Discount Code: ROB50
• ProjectionLab: 10% Discount Code RBERGER-10, I also use Boldin.
• Kubera: My choice to track investments and net worth. They offer a 14-day free trial. An excellent free alternative is Empower.

Resources

• Get free Medicare guidance from Chapter (410) 220-5494
• For a limited time, try the AI-powered budgeting app Origin for just $1 the first year.
• You can see a list of all of my Youtube videos here.
• You can see a list of the budgeting, investing and retirement planning tools I use here.
• You can view past issues of the newsletter here.
• DIYRetirement Subreddit

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Best,
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Rob Berger
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P.S. Feel free to hit reply and send me a message. I read every email.