Atlanta Pride Preview and a Conversation About Aging

Episode 29: Audio automatically transcribed by Sonix

Episode 29: this mp3 audio file was automatically transcribed by Sonix with the best speech-to-text algorithms. This transcript may contain errors.

Speaker1:
Any examples used are for illustrative purposes only, and do not take into account your particular investment objectives, financial situation or needs and may not be suitable for all investors. It is not intended to predict the performance of any specific investment, and is not a solicitation or recommendation of any investment strategy. Welcome to Take Pride in Retirement, the podcast dedicated to helping members of the LGBTQ+ community protect and grow their hard earned money. Get set for a show full of education and insights with your host and advisor, Matt McClure. We recognize every family is unique. The goal of the show is to help you achieve financial freedom so you and your loved ones can have the retirement you've always dreamed of, a retirement you can take pride in, no matter who you are, where you're from, or who you love. So now let's start the show. Here's Matt McClure. Well, hello there once again. Yes, it's me, your pal, your friend, your confidant, your, uh. I don't know, just your buddy, your advisor, your financial guy here on Take Pride in Retirement. Yep. Matt McClure, thank you so much for being a part of things. Really, really do appreciate it. As always, when you join me on the show, it is a great time here in in my life as I prepare at this moment and in the life of the show. As I prepare for the big celebration coming up on October 12th and 13th, that is the time when I will have a booth for Take Pride in Retirement at Atlanta Pride.

Speaker1:
It's the largest pride celebration in the southeast and I am just so, so excited. I will be there. I'll have a lot of folks who kind of help out behind the scenes with the show. I'll have some friends helping out and and we're just gonna, you know, be spreading the good word about, you know, retirement planning and solutions for the LGBTQ plus community and how I am working through the podcast to be able to help folks achieve the retirement of their dreams, the retirement that they can take pride in. I am so, so excited about this, and I really hope to see you there. If you're in the southeast, come by and go and, you know, stop by the booth for take pride in retirement would be kind of right in the middle of the action for the Pride Marketplace at Piedmont Park. I'm going to be talking more throughout this week on the socials and on the podcast feed, potentially as well about Atlanta Pride and about celebration and what it's all going to entail. So you won't want to miss that either. But I will say I am super excited about it. Look for the Take Pride in Retirement booth at Atlanta Pride, the largest pride celebration in the southeast. It is coming up on the 12th and 13th of October. Hope to see you there. So so excited about that. Also excited about the show today. And I'm excited because of a couple of things right.

Speaker1:
Number one, I'm excited to talk about some common problems and helping you solve them. Right. I'm going to go through a few of those here in a little bit. It's kind of going to be the meat of the show today. Um, when we talk about just a couple of of really common problems and how I can help you solve them, um, not only, of course, you know, solving just some things, maybe to get you thinking about solving some things, at least here on the show, but also offering you a free consultation to get started on a retirement plan for yourself. And we, you know, can hopefully structure something for you that is going to be advantageous to give you that retirement that you can take pride in. That's what it's all about. I mean, that really is, you know, helping folks out who are members of the LGBTQ plus community or not. No matter who you are, no matter where you are, no matter where you come from, no matter who you love, no matter how you identify any of those things, I want you to be able to have that retirement that you can take pride in. Also, I'm looking forward to having a bit of a chat coming up just a little bit later on with Deb Whitman of AARP talking about aging, and she actually has a new book called The Second 50 that is, I think, just a really great sounds like a wonderful.

Speaker1:
I haven't had the opportunity to read it yet, but she's going to tell you how you can get your hands on it. Of course, AARP. Org is one place where you can get your hands on it. Local bookstores as well, but it's called the Second 50. Her name is Deb Whitman, and she's going to talk about some different aspects of of preparing for aging And, you know, not only preparing for, you know, being over 50, but also being in that time and really thriving and, and doing more than just making it through, which I think is so crucial for people of all stripes. But, you know, especially LGBTQ plus folks, where our situations, you know, may differ from others and your experience may differ. What is that old disclaimer from commercials, anyway? Your experience may not be the same. But anyway, so I'm really excited about that. I'm going to play that conversation here in just a bit. First, though, I wanted to say you are encouraged by me right now to go to the website Take Pride in retirement.com. It's Take Pride in retirement.com. Of course that's all one word as I'm sure you know. You can go there. You can get all the past episodes of the show. You can hear a lot of, you know, wonderful Tips and and tips and tricks and all the things about retirement planning. Hopefully. Got some insights on your, um, you know, particular situation just from hearing maybe some similar issues that other people have had that I've talked about on the show.

Speaker1:
Maybe that'll be the case for you today. If this is your first time listening to the show, I am so glad that you are a part of it as well. Um, you can also schedule a free consultation there and I'll talk more about that coming up. Also to schedule the consultation to talk to me personally about your individual situation. You can also call 85524692118552469211. Search for take pride in retirement on the socials as well. We're on Facebook, we're on Insta, we're on threads. Um, also search for Take Pride in Retirement on YouTube as well. So just search for it. Take Pride in retirement on YouTube. You can find a lot of highlights from this show. Some special content there as well. A lot of YouTube shorts and longer form videos and things, and we're just excited to keep that growing and growing. And I want you to like and subscribe to the channel there and like the videos as well. Also subscribe to the podcast. You can do that wherever you listen to podcasts. All right. Stick around now though, because we're going to get into those common problems that are faced by a lot of folks that we can help you work through, through the work that I do each and every day. And I'll tell you exactly how. First, though, let's get some inspiration for our conversation with our quote of the week.

Speaker2:
And now for some financial wisdom. It's time for the quote of the week.

Speaker1:
And this week's quote comes from anonymous, a very famous, very famous person called anonymous. Um, and uh, yeah, I love the quotes by anonymous. Anonymous. Um, I don't know. Anyway, I'm just just trying to find a cheesy joke in there somewhere, which usually I'm better at. But today I don't know about it, but this quote from an anonymous person is this start facing your problems head on. It isn't your problems that define you, but how you react to them and recover from them. And I feel like as members of the LGBTQ plus community, we are. That's a lesson that we have to learn. Um, maybe earlier than a lot of other people, right? Because you get picked on, um, you face potential bullying, you face discrimination in in different ways. And hopefully luckily, that's gotten less and less over the years. But it's still, you know, can be a problem. Those, those types of things. So as LGBTQ plus folks, we have to sort of grow a thicker skin Earlier on in life and learned to face those problems head on because it really is not our problems that define us. It is how we react to them, how we recover from them. That is what really, truly matters in the long run. Right. That's what defines us. How we're able to react to our problems, to our issues, and how we're able to recover from those. And, you know, as we get closer to retirement, we may also be facing discrimination.

Speaker1:
We may be facing, um, feelings of loneliness. Perhaps if you, um, are not someone who has a partner or a spouse or, you know, a very tight knit group of friends or any of those things, you could be facing burdens of caregiving. You know, for elderly loved ones, um, or for friends who might have been, you know, kind of your chosen family, and you are the one who ends up caring for them, which is a blessing, right? To be able to do that, especially for someone who has been your chosen family and, and, you know, just is so special. But it can also be a burden emotionally, financially, all of those things. So those are things that can be seen, of course, as problems and things that need to be overcome. So how do you prepare for all of that? Right. That's the question that I love to help people answer. How do you prepare for what is next? No matter what is next? There are different ways that we can do that and approach it, and it's all based on your situation. And I want you to feel free to go to the website once again, that web address. Take pride in retirement. Com take pride in retirement.com. Go to the website there and you can actually schedule a free consultation. And I will be very glad to help you out with whatever problem you might have.

Speaker1:
We can meet, we can talk. We can meet via zoom. If you're in the Atlanta area or surrounding areas, we can meet in my office. If you want to do that face to face, we can meet either over the phone or via zoom, anything like that. And I would be glad to help you out with whatever situation you are facing. As a fiduciary, I have to approach things with your best interest in mind, not my own right. I have to do what is in your best interest, not what's in the best interest of me. As the advisor, I have to do what is in the best interest of you as a client, as someone I'm working with, that is what I'm morally, legally obligated to do, and I look forward to hopefully doing that with you and for you, working for you and with you both in order to give you that retirement that you can take pride in. So that's the goal with everything that we do here. And I really want to be able to do that for you to help you out. All right. So one problem that is common for everyone today, kind of getting to sort of the meat of the show here. One common problem that a lot of people face is just concern, right. And stress about market volatility, because we've seen a lot of it here lately.

Speaker1:
And what I want to give you here is, is just one big sort of move that you can make to reduce risk and increase income no matter what's happening in the markets. Right. Because if there's a lot of market volatility, you are facing potentially greater risk. Risk of loss, risk of um, you know, the money that you have worked so hard to save that you've worked so hard to invest over the years, losing a good chunk of that because it's at risk in the market. All of it is at risk in the market. You could potentially, theoretically lose it. All right. Because it's all at risk in the market. But we can tell you how to protect that. We're going to go through a lot of that today. You know, a lot of people wondering what to do with their investments in more volatile, more uncertain times. And I want to show you and tell you some ways that you can actually give yourself peace of mind that your money is not going to go away because you haven't made a decision to actually do something about that unless you've taken action. And I want to help you take that action. Right. I'm here to help. So I've been hearing, you know, more and more from people expressing concerns about potential market downturns. Um, you know, luckily over the long run. Right. The markets do go up, but what goes up must come down eventually.

Speaker1:
It's just how far down is it going to go. And so people feel like we're, you know, maybe overdue for a correction, maybe that the election results coming up may have an influence on what happens in the market with their retirement portfolio and or their investment portfolio. Things like that. Recent global conflicts could negatively impact their investments as well. Those are a lot of the worries. People are also concerned about the October effect, right. Investopedia is defining that as a psychological anticipation that financial declines and stock market crashes are likely to happen in the month of October. The Bank panic of 1907 Stock Market crash of 1929. Black Monday, 1987. Those are things that all happened in the month of October. Now, does that mean something big and bad and awful is going to happen this October? Absolutely not. You know, there's no crystal ball. We do not know what is going to happen. But what we can do is protect you no matter what does happen. Right? So the solution here. So that's the problem, right? A lot of people hearing those voices in their heads saying something could go wrong. Something could absolutely go. Something could go wrong at any point in time, not just during the month of October. So what we want to do is give you peace of mind to be able to say, okay, I, as you know, Jane Doe or John Doe or whoever you are out there don't have to worry about whatever happens in the market.

Speaker1:
You because you know, you've got a certain amount of protection with your investments. So what you probably are experiencing in your life, financially and your life mentally as well, is that your risk tolerance is going down as you age. It's natural for that to happen, right? You don't want to take as much risk as you age, especially as you get closer to retirement. If you're in what we call the retirement red zone, a few if you're within a few years of retirement or you just retired within the past few years, if you've been kind of in a buy and hold sort of, uh, environment. As an investor, as you save for retirement. Well, now could be some time or now could be the time, I should say, to take some of that risk off the table. If you are, you know, someone who has set it and forget it, like the old infomercials used to say, right? Set it and forget it. That is not especially during volatile times, necessarily the best strategy. So maybe take some of that risk off the table. And you can do that with a solution that contains a word that a lot of people get scared of. And I'm going to say the word, but I don't want you to get scared.

Speaker1:
Right. It's fixed index annuities. Now, a lot of people are going to say, I have heard really bad things about annuities. So what I want you to think of this as instead of if you don't like that word because you've heard bad things about annuities, because these are not your grandfather's annuities, these are not your grandmother's annuities. These are not even your aunt or uncle's annuities. These are, you know, newer type vehicles that can offer a lot of protection and a lot of growth at the same time, potentially, of course, that safety that you need when you get close to retirement can be coupled with market like growth. So you get that market like growth without the market like risk thanks to a fixed indexed annuity. So you can think of it more as a personal pension. Right. Because when you retire and you start making withdrawals from that particular account, it's not even like you're withdrawing in the traditional sense. It's paying you like a pension. You get that check every month or that direct deposit every month whenever you elect to take that right. And there are different options and a lot of different products out there. But that annuity, yes, that fixed indexed annuity is something that is guaranteed not to lose money so you won't lose your principal. It's guaranteed by the claims paying ability of the issuer, which is an insurance company, to not lose money.

Speaker1:
And we only work with the highest rated insurance companies out there who offer these. Right. So the ones that are financially strong. So they offer a lot of different, you know, guarantees that go along with it so you can build up you can accumulate a lot of money in there potentially before you retire. But then when you do retire, you turn on that income stream. And that income stream is guaranteed to always be there. It can potentially increase as well each and every year or every other year for as long as you live. But it's definitely at least guaranteed to be a payout for as long as you live. So you create an income stream, much like a pension that is going to be there for as long as you live. So that's why I like to think of these as personal pensions, right? They're long term investments that protect and grow your savings for retirement. You can make a lump sum deposit, or you can transfer funds from an existing retirement or investment account. I help clients do that kind of thing all the time. Your investments performance is tied to the market, but not directly invested in the market. That's why you can get the market like growth, because it's tied to the gains of a specific index, but it's not actually directly in the index. So you don't have to ride the ups and downs.

Speaker1:
You participate in the gains without the possibility of loss, and you protect against the loss of principal. So that means you won't lose any of the money that you've put into a fixed index annuity. And you can establish that income stream once again for retirement that you can never outlive. So my question to you is, do you want to just wait and see what the market's like when you decide to retire? Or do you want to get to the guarantees and start planning what you're going to do with the paychecks and the paychecks that you are guaranteed to receive each month because that's what you're going to be. That's the situation. You're going to find yourself in guaranteed income for the rest of your life. Which boy doesn't? Don't you like that word guarantee? You can guarantee an income stream for yourself for the rest of your life. And so if that is more you, if you want to get to those guarantees, if you want to have that guaranteed income for the rest of your life, no matter how long that life is, you live to be 120. That income stream is still going to be there. I can start working with you today. You can give me a call 855246921185524692 11. You can also go to take Pride in retirement.com. That is take pride in retirement.com. Request a free no obligation consultation and we'll discuss your financial goals.

Speaker1:
We'll get a look at your vision for retirement. What do you want to be doing in retirement? What are your hopes and dreams? Who are you going to be spending time with? We'll take a look at your current plan, your portfolio of assets. We'll work on building that, accumulating more, protecting it. Walk you through the recommended plan that we build for you and work with you on together, and answer as many questions as you have about your retirement, your particular situation. Once again, take pride in retirement.com. You can schedule a consultation there on the website directly with me. It's absolutely free of any charge and any obligation. All right, so as promised, I've got an interview here to share that I did not that long ago at all. It was just this week, as a matter of fact, with Deb Whitman of AARP. She's got a new book out called The Second 50. It's sounds like a wonderful piece of literature for you to add to your collection, and we'll talk about it more on the other side of this interview, I'm am speaking with Deb Whitman with AARP. She's actually the executive vice president and chief public policy officer, their former staff director for the Senate Special Committee on Aging, as well as an author, economist and global aging expert. Deb, thank you so much for spending some time with me. I am looking forward to this conversation.

Speaker3:
Thank you so much for having me today.

Speaker1:
It is a great conversation to have because it's about your new book called The Second 50 answers to the seven Big Questions of Midlife and Beyond. Um, this is obviously something that, I mean, you know, you've you've focused on aging, um, for quite a long time. Um, you know, why are you so passionate, really, about helping people through this sort of second half of their life?

Speaker3:
So I've been working on aging for 25 years. Um, and then I was about to hit 50 and realized there was so much that I didn't know that I was curious about and wanted to learn. I looked at my bookshelf and there were things like what to expect when you're expecting? Or my kids were about to go to college. So I had tons of books about that. But there was no what to expect when you're aging. And so I wrote down a list of questions that I wanted to know, and those became the chapters of the book. Nice.

Speaker1:
And so talk about those, if you will. And kind of maybe what are some of those seven big questions that you've kind of, you know, ventured to answer here?

Speaker3:
Yes. Some are basic, like how long will I live? Will it be another second, 50. Will they be healthy? I looked at practical questions like how long am I going to work and will I have enough money? And then I asked some tough questions like, um, will I lose my memory and how will I die? And I talked to experts all over the country. I did a survey of the American population, and I talked to people and heard their stories, and that's all came together in the book. And I'll say, you know, some of the things that I knew. And then when there was a lot that I didn't.

Speaker1:
Yeah, I was going to say, you know, what are maybe some things that, that you discovered in there that surprised you in the research and writing process.

Speaker3:
I think one thing that surprised me was how important our relationships and our mindset are to our health and longevity. So most of us know about the five healthy habits that we should do. Things like eating right and exercising, not smoking, not drinking, maintaining a body weight that's going to gain you about a decade of life. But if you have don't have relationships and you feel isolated, that's the same as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. So we need to maintain our relationships. And then even more surprising to me was how important our mindset is to our future aging. So if you view aging as a positive time, if you think about growing older as a time of meaning and purpose and the ability to give back to your family and your community, you live seven and a half years longer, you are more healthy and even your brain volume is higher. So things like relationships and mindset are just as important as eating right and exercising.

Speaker1:
Wow. And that really is I think that goes to to a lot of what we talk about in a lot of our shows on Retirement Radio Network. And that is, you know, stress particularly because we talk a lot about money and preparing for retirement and all of that. And stress can really do a number on your health. People say, oh, well, you know, I'm stressed out and just, you know, it makes me feel stressed out. It makes me feel bad in the moment. But it can take its toll over time. So I think that that is a great point to bring up here. And obviously something that that you've covered in the book. Um, and, you know, I mean, this is such a growing part of our population as well. So I think this is such an important, um, you know, topic to cover in a book like this. Um, you know, I think it was by 20, 31 in 5 Americans are going to be 65 or older, right? So so what do you think maybe are some of the most pressing policy issues as this sort of, you know, uh, baby boomer generation and then even into Gen X gets into sort of retirement age.

Speaker3:
So you're right. We have a growing aging population, and we need to look at all of our programs like Social Security and Medicare, and even understand that there's a growing need for things like long term care, not just to help older people, but the families that have to take care of them. And we need to make sure that those programs are are strong for older people today, but also there for future generations who are going to need them even more.

Speaker1:
Yeah. Absolutely. Right. Well, just about time for us to start wrapping up things here, Deb. But I just want to give you the last word. If there's anything that you wanted to mention that we haven't talked about here that comes to mind, or, you know, maybe where folks can go and and find out more about the book.

Speaker3:
Well, you can find it in your local bookstore or you can go to AARP. Org slash second 50. And just point given your your topic of your show is how important our work is to our later life. We have, um, two times as many people over age 55 who are working today than in the 1990s. So retirement is no longer time without work. It is often a time where you're still working a gig job, or a part time job, or just a job you love doing. Yeah.

Speaker1:
That's right. I mean, you can retire. You could reinvent yourself. There are so many different things that you can do in those traditional retirement years there. Well, um, Deb Whitman, AARP AARP's executive vice president, chief public policy officer, and author of The Second 50. Thank you so much, Deborah. Really do appreciate your time.

Speaker3:
Thanks for having me today. Well, I really do.

Speaker1:
Thank Deb for being a part of the show this time around. I really do think that that it sounds like such a great, um, a great, you know, opportunity to find out a lot of insights from all of the research that she has done in these different areas and all these different aspects of aging. Um, you know, it's scary. Of course it's scary. Everything in life can be scary depending on how you look at it. Right? But aging can definitely be scary. But here's the thing it's much better than the alternative. So get educated. Get those resources that you need that you can so that you can have a retirement that you can take pride in. First of all, and I can definitely help you with the financial aspects of your life, getting those straightened out, some security there for you, some guarantees built into your retirement plan. That's what it's all about. And then also, you know, all the other different aspects of your life, like we just talked about there with with Deb. So great, great discussion there. And again really appreciate her. And I appreciate you joining me for this edition of Take Pride in Retirement. That's going to be all the time that I have, but stick around for more coming up on the podcast feed and the socials this week as I get prepared once again to take part in Atlanta Pride. So I really do appreciate you though being a part of the show. Hope to see you at Atlanta Pride and I'll give you more information about that of course, as we go forward here. But until next time, take pride in yourselves and take care of each other. We'll see you next time. Thanks for listening to Take Pride in Retirement. Members of the LGBTQ plus community deserve to work with the fiduciary financial advisor who puts their needs first. To schedule a free, no obligation consultation with Matt McClure and the team at Active Wealth Management. Call 855 2469211.

Speaker4:
Or go online to take pride in retirement. Dot com investment advisory services offered through Brookstone Capital Management LLC. Bcm, a registered investment Advisor, BCM and Active Wealth Management Incorporated are independent of each other. Insurance products and services are not offered through BCM, but are offered and sold through individually licensed and appointed agents.

Speaker1:
Fixed annuities, including multiyear guaranteed rate annuities, are not designed for short term investments and may be subject to restrictions, fees, and surrender charges as described in the annuity contract. Guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying ability of the issuer. Registered investment advisors and investment advisor representatives act as fiduciaries for all of our investment management clients. We have an obligation to act in the best interest of our clients and to make full disclosures of any conflicts of interest. Please refer to our firm brochure, the Adv2 to item four for additional information.

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