The #SerenityWealthNow Show

🤖 SWN 120 - 10/25/26 | Artificial Fear, Real Opportunity 🤖

 This week on The #SerenityWealthNow Show, we sit down with Chris Caplinger of Lonocode. A software builder who takes businesses all the way to the goal line, finishing the job most off-the-shelf solutions leave stuck at the twenty.

🎙️ Join Chris Cooper and Chris Caplinger as they debug the doom and gloom about AI making humans obsolete, explain why it matters which country wins the data center race, and share one simple move that can protect your family from voice-clone scams this Cybersecurity Month.

Every leap forward has come with its share of doom and gloom, and the people who tune out the noise tend to be the ones positioned for what comes next. Growth and protection were never opposites, and the best plans tend to make room for both.

Don't fear the future. Protect it.

Visit Lonocode

👻 SWN 119 - 10/18/26 | Don't Let the Ghosts Catch Up to You 👻

This week on The #SerenityWealthNow Show, we sit down with Cathy Conner of Conner Roofing. A family business opening their newest office in St. Charles County, with five-star reviews that are earned, one honest job at a time.

🎙️ Join Chris Cooper and Cathy as they call out the storm chasers who ghost you the second a job gets hard, resurrect the zombie 401(k)s left wandering behind at old jobs, and explain why hiring local beats hoping for the best.

An old 401(k) doesn't die when you leave a job behind. It just sits there, wandering around for direction, and can quietly drift away from the goals you have in life.

Chase off the ghosts. Put the zombies to work. Take the scare out of your story.

Visit Conner Roofing

🕯️ SWN 118 - 10/11/26 | Choose Your Benefits Department 🕯️

This week on The #SerenityWealthNow Show, we sit down with Holden Kiefer of Guiding Light Benefits. A benefits expert who acts as the benefits department for retirees, so you're not decoding plan changes alone every year.

🎙️ Join Chris Cooper and Holden as they shine a light on the annual notice of change sitting on your counter right now, which plan "extras" everyone shops for rarely get used, and how one big income year can impact your Medicare premium two years later.

Plans change every year, and today's decisions can quietly show up down the road. The right people in your corner can turn the fine print into a decision you make with confidence.

Nobody likes surprises. Especially the ones that arrive two years late.

Visit Guiding Light Benefits

The COLA Raise That Won’t Feel Like a Raise
Serenity Wealth Live on the Vic Porcelli Show: 10/16/26

Chris joins Vic and Ken on NewsTalkSTL to break down the new Social Security cost of living adjustment, a 3.6% increase, and why it won’t land the way you’d expect.

Before you celebrate the raise, remember Medicare premiums are expected to rise too, since medical costs typically outpace general inflation, and that comes straight out of the same check. It’s a good reminder that most people never look closely at what’s actually being withheld from their pay or benefits until it’s too late to plan around it.

A cost of living increase isn’t extra money. It’s proof the cost of living already went up.

A Rate Hike & Controlling the Decisions You Can
Serenity Wealth Live on the Vic Porcelli Show: 09/18/26

Chris joins Vic & Ken for a timely read on the Fed's latest quarter point rate move, plus a prelude to 3 Decisions that get made for you if you don't make them first.

The recent quarter point interest means a little more yield in your savings accounts and perhaps some short term pressure on bond prices. The flip side is higher borrowing rates in an effort to stabilize inflation. As inflation woes settle, rates will likely decline as well.

The key is to control what you can. And that means being comfortable with uncomfortable conversations. Estate Planning, Long-term Care Planning, and Tax Planning. All risks you can't control, but you can control how you plan for them.

The market may decide the rate. But you get to decide your readiness.

Maximize your Giving
Serenity Wealth Live on the Vic Porcelli Show: 08/21/26

Chris joins Vic to talk tax-smart charitable giving, with a special highlight to the mission of the MO Better Foundation. An organization built to enhance the lives of Missourians with physical disabilities.

When it comes to giving, we want "MO" of our money going to the great causes we support. Strategies like Qualified Charitable Distributions, Donor-Advised Funds, or donating appreciated stock can stretch your generosity farther, by reducing your tax bill.

Take $5,000 out of your IRA, write a check to your church, and it's taxable income. Send that same $5,000 straight from your IRA to the church, and it is a non-taxable distribution. Same gift, same charity, stretched farther. That's tax-efficient giving.

Giving makes a difference. But Giving Smarter, can make an even greater impact.