How fast can a financial advisor show a prospect or client that they are genuinely worth their time and trust?
In Episode 3 of The What If Show, host Mike Langford sits down with Retirement Analyzer co-founders Brooke Thomas and Steve Goldstein to answer that question with practical, specific strategies advisors can use starting in their very next meeting.
Brooke and Steve walk through the exact moments that create an immediate “aha” for clients — starting with something as simple as showing a prospect a sample plan before you ever ask them for a single piece of personal data. They dig into the power of the itemized expense plan and why breaking down a clumped monthly spending number can mathematically show a client they can spend more money in retirement and still come out ahead.
The conversation shifts to one of the most in-demand topics in the RA community: tax planning.
Steve and Brooke explain how advisors can have high-impact tax conversations with their clients without being a CPA — covering Roth conversions, the cumulative tax chart, the “retirement time bomb” sitting inside large qualified accounts, and why tax risk may be more dangerous than market risk for many clients.
From there: why becoming an educator instead of a salesperson is both more effective and more compliant, how RA’s archived annual plans make the advisor’s annual review one of the most powerful relationship-building moments in the business, and Steve’s favorite question to ask a client who has a positive monthly cash flow (hint: the room goes silent).
And in Retirement BS with Brooke and Steve — the segment where conventional retirement wisdom gets put to the test — the topic is the 401(k). Specifically: is it always the right move to maximize your contribution? Brooke and Steve break down when the answer is yes, when it is no, and how to use Retirement Analyzer to show your client the actual math.
Start your free 14-day trial of Retirement Analyzer at RetirementAnalyzer.com.
Learn more about Thomas Gold Solutions at ThomasGold.com. And if you have a topic you would like Brooke and Steve to tackle on a future Retirement BS segment, drop us a message — we read every one.
Chapters:
00:00 Intro — What is The What If Show?
01:00 The Aha Moment: Showing All the Numbers in One Place
04:00 The Sample Plan Trick: How to Lower Client Resistance Before You Start
07:00 The Expense Plan Deep Dive: Why Itemizing Changes Everything
09:00 The $10K Example: How Itemizing Can Let Clients Spend MORE
13:00 Tax Planning Without a CPA License
16:00 Quick Clips & Progressive Taxes: How to Explain It Simply
17:00 Roth Conversions: The Biggest Tax-Saving Move in RA
19:00 The Cumulative Tax Chart: Showing Clients Their Tax Pain Points
22:00 Becoming an Educator, Not a Salesperson
26:00 Compliance & Confidence: Why RA Is a Track to Run On
28:00 Annual Reviews & Archived Plans: A Powerful Show of Value
30:00 Personal Inflation: Why the Budget Conversation Never Gets Old
32:00 Continuous CE: Educating Advisors AND Their Clients
36:00 Product as the Launching Pad — Not the Lead
38:00 The Positive Cash Flow Question That Stops Clients Cold
39:00 ⚠️ RETIREMENT BS: Should You Always Maximize Your 401(k)?
43:00 Wrap-Up: What to Take Away and Try This Week
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.