
The Perfect Game Retirement Podcast is brought to you by Black Oak Asset Management, serving the greater Atlanta area with offices in Alpharetta, Lawrenceville and Macon. Former professional baseball player and now financial coach, Ryan Ledden, is your host. This is the show that’ll help you make the right decisions, so you can pitch a “perfect game” in retirement.
Don’t forget to subscribe to the show on YouTube and your favorite apps, so you never miss an episode.

The Perfect Game Retirement Podcast is brought to you by Black Oak Asset Management, serving the greater Atlanta area with offices in Alpharetta, Lawrenceville and Macon. Former professional baseball player and now financial coach, Ryan Ledden, is your host. This is the show that’ll help you make the right decisions, so you can pitch a “perfect game” in retirement.
Don’t forget to subscribe to the show on your favorite apps, so you never miss an episode.
Subscribe On Your Favorite App
Podcast Archives
Ep 60: Do You Concur? Picking Sides In Important Financial Debates
On this episode, we’ll try to pick sides in some important financial debates. From bonds to life insurance, credit card debt to starting Social Security, we’ll propose several different topics to see which sides of the debates you and your advisor should probably fall on.
Ep 59: Mailbag: True Diversification
It's a mailbag edition of the show! We will be answering some listener questions that have come in. This time around, we will discuss the tax implications when you sell an inherited home, what true diversification is, and long term care considerations.
Ep 58: What to Do as You Count Down the Days to Retirement
We’ve assembled a list of priorities to keep in mind as you count down the days to retirement. From getting healthy to thinking about a post-retirement career, what do we do as we count down the days to retirement?
Ep 57: Reasons You Should Get Life Insurance
Sure, life insurance is one of the more boring topics to cover on a podcast. And a lot of what you hear is going to warn you why you should NOT get various types of life insurance. But our goal on this episode is to focus on the positive and analyze the reasons why you should get life insurance, or at least consider it. Many people think that once the kids are out of the house, you don’t need insurance anymore. But there are some other reasons why life insurance can be a useful part of your retirement plan.
Ep 56: The Most Important Birthdays In Retirement Planning
There are certain age milestones where you should really pay attention to your retirement planning progress. On this episode, we’ll look at the most important birthdays as you approach retirement and cover the exact things you should be checking off your to-do list at each age.
Ep 55: Home Run Retirement Planning – How Baseball Principles Also Score Financial Runs
After listening to today’s episode, you’ll never attend another baseball game with the family and look at it the same way. We’re going to show you how taking some of baseball’s most basic principles can also lead to financial success in your retirement portfolio. So, grab your peanuts and crackerjack, and let’s take the financial field.
Ep 54: Murky Issues That Make Retirement Planning Harder
This USA Today article points out 3 murky issues that increase retirement planning’s degree of difficulty, especially in today’s economic climate. On this episode, we’ll breakdown the article to see if it’s worthwhile advice, if the murky issues are actually that threatening, and what you can do about all of it if you’re concerned.
Ep 53: Who Even Needs A Financial Advisor?
Some people feel that they’ll save money by handling their investments themselves instead of working with an advisor. Others may like the challenge of doing it themselves. Still, others just don’t know who to trust so they end up not working with anyone. Let’s talk about some reasons that you might need an advisor…
Ep 52: Do You Have A Money Bias? And How Much Is It Costing You?
On this episode, we’ll break down a recent CNBC article that analyzes a recent Morningstar study. The study found that most of us have at least one money bias, some of us more than one, and that those biases are very possibly costing us money in our checking, savings, investing, and retirement accounts. Listen to see if you might be impacted by a specific money bias and for strategies to get it back under control.
Ep 51: How Children Become Part of the Retirement Discussion
If you have kids, often they come up in the discussion when you’re talking about your retirement plans. Let’s talk about some of the ways those discussions play out, the role your advisor should play in navigating these conversations, and the overall impact on you and your family’s financial goals.
Ep 50: Don’t Fumble Your Retirement in the Financial Red Zone
The financial red zone is a crucial time leading up to retirement. Big mistakes are going to be harder to recover from, so you have to keep your plan protected. Let's discuss exactly what the financial red zone is and how you should navigate this important time period.
Ep 49: 5 Signs You’re In Good Financial Health
If retirement is on your mind, then listen up to today’s show for a 5-part checklist that’ll help measure if you’re in good financial health and setting yourself up for retirement success.
Ep 48: 22 Money Resolutions for 2022
You might not be able to follow through on all 22 of these resolutions, but implement even just a few of these and you’ll be well on your way to a more prosperous financial life in the coming year.
Ep 47: Mailbag: Pension Options
We open up the mailbag to answer some of our listener's questions on today's podcast. We will cover managing your risk tolerance, options for a pension, and early retirement considerations.
Ep 46: Unreasonable Requests
Certainly, none of our podcast listeners would be guilty of making unreasonable requests, but let’s talk about some of the unreasonable requests we hear from others in the financial world. We’ll explore what makes them unreasonable and what proper expectations look like instead.
Ep 45: Tax Consequences – Pros & Cons of Various Account Types
There's a variety of different tax accounts to choose from, and while some seem good in the short term, they also carry long-term consequences. Let's further examine the different types and what pros and cons that accompany them.
Ep 44: How Overconfidence Can Lead To Financial Ruin
Confidence is always important when it comes to a financial plan, but sometimes being overconfident can also be the demise of that plan.
Ep 43: Financial Mistakes Couples Often Make
Getting husbands and wives on the same page with their retirement plan can often be a challenge. Let’s talk about some of the things that couples often mess up.
Ep 42: Mind The Gap
If you’ve ever ridden the subway in London, you’ve probably seen the “Mind the Gap” signs warning you to be aware of the gap between the train door and the station platform. Let’s talk today about minding the gaps in retirement planning.
Ep 41: Mailbag! Answering Your Financial Questions
We dedicate this show to answering some mailbag questions. Today we will discuss estate taxes, planning out a retirement with a significant age gap, and robo advisors.
Subscribe On Your Favorite App
Episode Show Notes
Ep 60: Do You Concur? Picking Sides In Important Financial Debates
On this episode, we’ll try to pick sides in some important financial debates. From bonds to life insurance, credit card debt to starting Social Security, we’ll propose several different topics to see which sides of the debates you and your advisor should probably fall on.
Ep 59: Mailbag: True Diversification
It's a mailbag edition of the show! We will be answering some listener questions that have come in. This time around, we will discuss the tax implications when you sell an inherited home, what true diversification is, and long term care considerations.
Ep 58: What to Do as You Count Down the Days to Retirement
We’ve assembled a list of priorities to keep in mind as you count down the days to retirement. From getting healthy to thinking about a post-retirement career, what do we do as we count down the days to retirement?
Ep 57: Reasons You Should Get Life Insurance
Sure, life insurance is one of the more boring topics to cover on a podcast. And a lot of what you hear is going to warn you why you should NOT get various types of life insurance. But our goal on this episode is to focus on the positive and analyze the reasons why you should get life insurance, or at least consider it. Many people think that once the kids are out of the house, you don’t need insurance anymore. But there are some other reasons why life insurance can be a useful part of your retirement plan.
Ep 56: The Most Important Birthdays In Retirement Planning
There are certain age milestones where you should really pay attention to your retirement planning progress. On this episode, we’ll look at the most important birthdays as you approach retirement and cover the exact things you should be checking off your to-do list at each age.
Ep 55: Home Run Retirement Planning – How Baseball Principles Also Score Financial Runs
After listening to today’s episode, you’ll never attend another baseball game with the family and look at it the same way. We’re going to show you how taking some of baseball’s most basic principles can also lead to financial success in your retirement portfolio. So, grab your peanuts and crackerjack, and let’s take the financial field.
Ep 54: Murky Issues That Make Retirement Planning Harder
This USA Today article points out 3 murky issues that increase retirement planning’s degree of difficulty, especially in today’s economic climate. On this episode, we’ll breakdown the article to see if it’s worthwhile advice, if the murky issues are actually that threatening, and what you can do about all of it if you’re concerned.
Ep 53: Who Even Needs A Financial Advisor?
Some people feel that they’ll save money by handling their investments themselves instead of working with an advisor. Others may like the challenge of doing it themselves. Still, others just don’t know who to trust so they end up not working with anyone. Let’s talk about some reasons that you might need an advisor…
Ep 52: Do You Have A Money Bias? And How Much Is It Costing You?
On this episode, we’ll break down a recent CNBC article that analyzes a recent Morningstar study. The study found that most of us have at least one money bias, some of us more than one, and that those biases are very possibly costing us money in our checking, savings, investing, and retirement accounts. Listen to see if you might be impacted by a specific money bias and for strategies to get it back under control.
Ep 51: How Children Become Part of the Retirement Discussion
If you have kids, often they come up in the discussion when you’re talking about your retirement plans. Let’s talk about some of the ways those discussions play out, the role your advisor should play in navigating these conversations, and the overall impact on you and your family’s financial goals.
Ep 50: Don’t Fumble Your Retirement in the Financial Red Zone
The financial red zone is a crucial time leading up to retirement. Big mistakes are going to be harder to recover from, so you have to keep your plan protected. Let's discuss exactly what the financial red zone is and how you should navigate this important time period.
Ep 49: 5 Signs You’re In Good Financial Health
If retirement is on your mind, then listen up to today’s show for a 5-part checklist that’ll help measure if you’re in good financial health and setting yourself up for retirement success.
Ep 48: 22 Money Resolutions for 2022
You might not be able to follow through on all 22 of these resolutions, but implement even just a few of these and you’ll be well on your way to a more prosperous financial life in the coming year.
Ep 47: Mailbag: Pension Options
We open up the mailbag to answer some of our listener's questions on today's podcast. We will cover managing your risk tolerance, options for a pension, and early retirement considerations.
Ep 46: Unreasonable Requests
Certainly, none of our podcast listeners would be guilty of making unreasonable requests, but let’s talk about some of the unreasonable requests we hear from others in the financial world. We’ll explore what makes them unreasonable and what proper expectations look like instead.
Ep 45: Tax Consequences – Pros & Cons of Various Account Types
There's a variety of different tax accounts to choose from, and while some seem good in the short term, they also carry long-term consequences. Let's further examine the different types and what pros and cons that accompany them.
Ep 44: How Overconfidence Can Lead To Financial Ruin
Confidence is always important when it comes to a financial plan, but sometimes being overconfident can also be the demise of that plan.
Ep 43: Financial Mistakes Couples Often Make
Getting husbands and wives on the same page with their retirement plan can often be a challenge. Let’s talk about some of the things that couples often mess up.
Ep 42: Mind The Gap
If you’ve ever ridden the subway in London, you’ve probably seen the “Mind the Gap” signs warning you to be aware of the gap between the train door and the station platform. Let’s talk today about minding the gaps in retirement planning.
Ep 41: Mailbag! Answering Your Financial Questions
We dedicate this show to answering some mailbag questions. Today we will discuss estate taxes, planning out a retirement with a significant age gap, and robo advisors.