Get ready for a focused, fact-driven breakdown of the trends reshaping retirement planning, housing affordability, and market expectations in 2025. Wes Moss and Connor Miller bring forward clear context, fresh data points, and timely observations to help listeners understand today’s shifting financial landscape. • Examine why 50-year mortgages are gaining attention, outline how stretching payments over five decades changes total interest obligations, and discuss how some households are assessing this structure amid historically high home prices. • Review how today’s “K-shaped economy” reflects widening differences in income and asset growth, and highlight demographic shifts—including the rising age of first-time buyers—that show how access to homeownership is evolving. • Compare how mortgage length, rate volatility, and affordability pressures interact to shape monthly housing costs and broader financial planning decisions. • Reference long-term savings and investment participation data to illustrate how steady financial engagement has historically contributed to stronger overall preparedness. • Summarize how recent government shutdown developments intersected with market sentiment, and describe how Federal Reserve rate considerations may be influenced by delayed or incomplete economic data. • Emphasize that comprehensive, well-organized financial planning consistently appears in research as a characteristic reported by retirees who experience greater financial structure and clarity. Stay engaged with thoughtful, research-backed conversations that help to support informed financial decision-making. Listen and subscribe to the Money Matters Podcast for ongoing context on retirement planning, market behavior, and today’s evolving economic environment.