Can you lower your income on purpose to hit the 0% capital gains bracket? Should you pull the trigger on Roth conversions while still making peak salary? And is there ever a good reason to make a non-deductible Traditional IRA contribution if you aren't doing a Backdoor Roth?

On this mailbag episode, Dan and Ross answer three tactical listener questions about managing tax brackets, avoid the IRS pro-rata rule, and time income strategies before retirement.

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Interest rates are in the headlines again, but what does a higher-rate environment actually mean for your money? In this episode, we look at the shifting landscape through four critical lenses: Are cash savers g? How are home buyers and borrowers supposed to navigate a mortgage market where cheap money is a distant memory? Is fixed income finally back as a serious contender for bond investors, and how is the stock market adjusting to a world where money isn't free anymore? Tune in as we break down the questions every investor needs to be asking right now.

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Send your questions for upcoming show to checkyourbalances@outlook.com
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Long-term care insurance used to be a staple of a conservative retirement plan, but spiraling premiums and shifting policies have completely rewritten the rules. In this episode, Ross and Dan break down whether traditional coverage has officially priced itself out of relevance. If you have under $1 million in assets, the cost of protection can easily derail your broader strategy—yet high-net-worth investors often have the scale to self-insure. So where does that leave everyone else? Tune in as the team debates who actually needs this product today, alternative ways to manage late-life care risks, and how to avoid falling into the middle-class coverage trap.

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Send your questions for upcoming show to checkyourbalances@outlook.com
@checkyourbalances on Instagram