Q&A: $21M in Sales, Investing as a Widow, & $100K Invested at 23

March 12, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

The episode opens with a listener who owns a business generating $21 million in annual gross sales at age 26, yet operates on just 1 to 2 percent net margins and variable cash flow between $250,000 and $700,000. This sets the tone for a series of questions that revolve around moving money between accounts, balancing control with professional help, and deciding when to take on debt or simplify holdings.

Self-managed portfolios versus paid advice

One listener managing roughly $500,000 across Roth IRAs, traditional IRAs, and a taxable brokerage at Empower wants to eliminate the 0.79 percent annual fee. The hosts note that an in-kind account transfer, often called ACATS, avoids most taxable events when moving to a self-directed platform. They emphasize that the real decision is whether the investor wants ongoing responsibility for allocation, rebalancing, and emotional responses to market drops. A 30 percent correction on half a million dollars removes $150,000, and without an advisor to reinforce a long-term plan, some people sell at the bottom. The hosts contrast this with a true fiduciary wealth planner, who may bundle tax strategy and estate structure into the fee, versus a pure robo-advisor that only handles investments. They suggest writing down target ETFs, back-testing the mix, and keeping a fallback option such as returning assets to professional management if volati

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What you'll learn

1 (01:00) **Episode Introduction & Housekeeping** - Austin and Robert kick off the Q&A edition, with Austin apologizing for low energy due to illness. They thank the audience for their support since February 2023.
2 (03:35) **Question 1: Leaving Empower for Self-Management** - An anonymous listener with ~$500K managed by Empower at 0.79% wants to move to self-managed accounts without triggering taxable events.
3 (10:02) **Question 2: UTMA Account for a 5-Year-Old** - Carlos, an NYPD detective, opened a UTMA for his son and asks about contributing after the son turns 21.
4 (13:26) **Question 3: Widow with $500K in Cash** - Vincent asks how to help his girlfriend's mother, a recent widow, who has $500K sitting in cash from a 401(k).
5 (16:56) **Question 4: Keep or Sell the St. Louis Rental?** - Chris, 41, with a $500K household income, is moving to Ohio and deciding whether to keep his St. Louis home as a rental or sell it for ~$250K in equity.
6 (22:40) **Question 5: $21M Business with Thin Margins** - An anonymous 26-year-old with a business doing $21M in gross sales at 1-2% net margin asks how to deploy $250K-$700K annual cash flow.
7 (29:52) **Question 6: $100K Invested at 23** - Melissa, a 23-year-old engineer with $96K in a brokerage, a maxed Roth IRA, and no debt, asks about her employer's HSA and whether to buy real estate.

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Show Notes

In this week's episode of the Rich Habits Podcast, Robert Croak and Austin Hankwitz answer your questions!

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