You just downloaded Retirement Analyzer. You clicked the icon. Now what? In this episode, Brooke Thomas and Steve Goldstein walk you through everything you need to know to get started — fast, confident, and with zero anxiety.
This is your new user's roadmap for the first 30 days with Retirement Analyzer. From the very first session to your first real client appointment, Brooke and Steve break down the exact steps that turn brand new users into confident RA advisors — and reveal the full support and training ecosystem that Thomas Gold has built to make sure you never feel stuck or alone.
Plus, don't miss this episode's RETIREMENT BS segment, where we call out one of the most dangerous myths in financial planning: "I don't need to update my plan... I just did it last year."
In this episode, you'll learn:
- The single most important thing to do in your very first RA session
- How to walk through the software tabs (and why Tabs 1, 2, and 3 are all you really need to start)
- Why the Thomas Gold Power Line is unlike any support you've ever experienced from a software company
- How the team's support staff have insurance licenses and Series 65 credentials — and what that means for you
- What the Thomas Gold Bootcamp is really like (80 advisors, 16 hours, breakfast and lunch included)
- Why the RA advisor community has shifted from competition to collaboration — and how that benefits you
- The #1 mistake new advisors make in their first client session with RA (and exactly how to avoid it)
- What the first "wow moment" with Retirement Analyzer actually feels like
Chapters:
00:00 — Cold Open: What If You Could Retire With Confidence?
01:00 — Welcome & Introductions (Fully Caffeinated Edition)
02:00 — The First Session: You Clicked the Icon. Now What?
03:15 — Pro Tip #1: Run It On Yourself First
05:00 — Walking the Tabs: Income, Assets, Expenses — and the Red Line
06:15 — The Thomas Gold Power Line: We Actually Answer the Phone
08:00 — The Most Common "I'm Stuck" Calls From New Users
09:00 — Steve Takes a Support Call From Costco on a Saturday Morning
11:00 — Your Support Team Are Financial Coaches (With Licenses to Prove It)
13:00 — The Full Training Ecosystem at Thomas Gold
14:15 — Live Daily Training Sessions: Bring Your File, Bring Your Questions
15:00 — 150 Videos Inside the Software (And Steve's Famous Outtake)
17:00 — The Bootcamp Experience: 80 Advisors, 16 Hours, A to Z
19:00 — Thomas Gold Talk: Community, Collaboration, and Study Groups
21:00 — Zero to Hero: What Explosive Growth Looks Like in RA
23:30 — Rising Tide: Why RA Advisors Share Instead of Compete
25:00 — Your First Client: Paper Fact Finders, Client Portal & More
26:00 — Garbage In, Garbage Out: Getting Your Data Right
27:30 — Run RA on Every Client — Regardless of Age or Net Worth
28:00 — The Education-First Mindset That Eliminates Objections
30:30 — The #1 Mistake New Advisors Make (And How to Avoid It)
33:30 — The First "Wow Moment": Watching the Red Line Disappear
35:00 — Conservative Rates Are Your Best Friend
36:00 — 🚨 RETIREMENT BS: "I Don't Need to Update My Plan — I Just Did It Last Year"
39:00 — How to Start Your Free Trial of Retirement Analyzer
40:00 — Audience Challenge + Next Episode Preview
The What If Show
What if your next client appointment was your best one yet?
The What If Show is the podcast for financial advisors and financial planners who want to show up to every client meeting with confidence, clarity, and a plan that actually answers the hard questions. Hosted by Brooke Thomas and Steve Goldstein and powered by the team at Thomas Gold Solutions the company behind Retirement Analyzer... each episode explores the strategies, tools, and mindset shifts that help advisors deliver better retirement planning outcomes for their clients.
Because in retirement planning, every client walks in with the same unspoken question: Am I going to be okay? The best advisors don't just answer that question — they answer every "what if" that comes with it.
From debunking retirement planning myths in the Retirement BS segment to deep dives with industry experts, practitioners, and the people behind one of the most advisor-trusted planning platforms in the country, The What If Show gives you the insights and inspiration to become the advisor your clients can't stop referring.
New episodes drop regularly. Subscribe now and start answering the what ifs with confidence.
Brooke Thomas is the co-founder of Thomas Gold Solutions and one of the most experienced voices in retirement planning software in the financial services industry. Her story with Retirement Analyzer starts at the very beginning — she was the first person recruited by RA's original creator, Chuck Cravens, to test whether the platform could work for someone brand new to the business. At 23 years old, fresh out of college, with zero sales experience, Brooke went out and proved it could, turning over $150,000 in commissions in her first year.
That experience — knowing firsthand what it feels like to sit across from a client and need the right answer right now — shapes everything about how Thomas Gold operates today. Brooke oversees training, customer support, and product development with one guiding principle: advisors deserve a partner who actually picks up the phone.
Steve Goldstein spent 22 years as a trader on Wall Street before the market changed and he decided it was time to change with it. He became a financial advisor in the early 2000s — and quickly discovered that what he loved most about the work wasn't the products. It was the teaching. The moment a client actually understood their financial picture. The aha.
That obsession with clarity led him to Retirement Analyzer, and eventually to co-founding Thomas Gold Solutions with Brooke Thomas in 2010. Today the company serves more than 6,000 financial advisors and Steve is still the one who answers the phone on a Saturday morning from the aisle at Costco if that's what it takes. He travels the country leading bootcamps and training sessions with one mission: helping advisors become the most confident, capable version of themselves in every client appointment.