Building a Smart Vision for Your Retirement Years – No Matter Your Situation

Episode 7: Audio automatically transcribed by Sonix

Episode 7: 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.

Speaker2:
Welcome to Take Pride in Retirement, the podcast dedicated to helping members of the LGBTQ plus 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.

Speaker1:
Hello once again, welcome to Take Pride in Retirement. I'm Matt McClure, your host, your advisor. And, um, hopefully your your friend, your pal, your buddy for this next hour or so ish that we spend together here on the podcast. That's one of one of the reasons I love doing a podcast as opposed to radio, which I've done for years and years, is, uh, I have to worry about like, you know, taking commercial breaks at specific times and stuff like that. It just it makes life easier. And that is the point of this show, is to make your life easier, no matter who you are, no matter where you come from, no matter who you love. And, um, I am here also this time around to wish you a very happy holiday season. Um, I am, uh, if you're watching the video version of the show or video highlights from the show, um, on our YouTube channel or on our website, you can. And by the way, the website is Take Pride in retirement.com. Um, you'll probably see I'm kind of wearing a little bit of a, a little bit of a festive getup today. I'm not, you know, it's not like an ugly Christmas sweater or anything, but it's at least a holiday color. Um, but I hope you're having a great season. Um, I also know that it can be a difficult season for a lot of people.

Speaker1:
Um, we lost my dad a couple of years ago, um, just after the holidays, beginning of 2022. And so last year was our first Christmas without him. And it was difficult. It was it was that year of firsts, you know, it was our first time without him on Thanksgiving and in the summer for the summer holidays, which he really loved, and, um, for Christmas and New Years and his birthday and all of that. And so I know how difficult it can be, uh, for many people, regardless of your family situation and for many different reasons than what I just sort of mentioned there. Um, so if you are having, um, a not so great holiday season because of any of the above, um, my, um, thoughts, my prayers, my good wishes go with you this holiday season because it is, uh, as I say, not the easiest time for all of us. And, um, so yeah, just know that that goodwill, that positive energy is coming from me here at Take Pride in retirement. Well, um, a lot of great stuff to get to. Uh, we've got a little bit because it's coming up here on the end of the year. We've got a little bit of a holiday theme. Uh, in just a little bit. Uh, the PNC Bank, um, actually does a survey each year or a report each year on the 12 days of Christmas, but it's they they actually call it their Christmas price index, the CPI, which if you know anything about like economics.

Speaker1:
So the CPI is usually the consumer price index. And that is what the federal government uses to measure inflation. And so the PNC has decided to do their version of the CPI, the Christmas price index, to measure the inflation of the items given as gifts in the 12 days of Christmas. I love it. I think it's actually a kind of a fun way to look at inflation, which is not a fun subject for anybody. So, um, we'll get there in just a little bit. I also wanted to do a quick reminder here for you. You know, we are getting toward the end of the year. December 31st is not that far away. And so if you are of a certain age, that age being 73, um, for most people, then you need to do before the end of the year, uh, required minimum distribution. The IRS requires this. If you have a qualified plan, a plan like a 401 K, uh, or a traditional IRA, not a Roth, but a traditional IRA, you have to take required minimum distributions before the end of the year. And that's basically Uncle Sam saying, look, you have had tax advantages of this account like a 401 K. You put that money in before taxes, right? All of your working life goes into a 401 K before taxes.

Speaker1:
So then you get into retirement and you reach a certain age and Uncle Sam says, wait a minute. I need some tax money on this. Uh, some some tax payments made on all this money that you've enjoyed tax free for decades. I need I need some of this. So that's why there are required minimum distributions that are, uh, levied on seniors. Most people ages 73 and older, uh, are the ones who are required to do that. Now, if you have a Roth, you don't have to pay from that account. Obviously, you don't have to take that into account when you pay those required minimum distributions. So that's good news. If you're not 73, if you've got a ways to go ask about a Roth conversion, um, where we can take your traditional IRA, your 401 K and those other types of retirement plans and convert those into a Roth account, which a Roth means you pay taxes now. But if you believe, as most people do, uh, most economists, most analysts, most experts, most people who are smarter than I am, if you believe who, uh, what they believe, um, taxes are going to go up in the future. And so you'll need to take a look at your situation and see if a Roth conversion could be advantageous for you, because if you go ahead and pay the taxes now, when the taxes are at lower rates on that money, convert to a Roth.

Speaker1:
And then when you take the distributions from the Roth later on, you don't have to pay taxes on that. You get that completely tax free. It's one of the only two tax free investments that you can make, the other being life insurance. So, um, just make sure and, um, ask about that if you think it's something that you might want to explore. Hopefully you do, because you can save a pretty penny, uh, if it's right for you. And that's what we always say, I don't. I don't make many blanket statements about what people should do with their particular financial situation. I will talk about things. I'll educate you about options. But that's just what they are. They are options. It all depends on your particular situation and your particular needs. So that's kind of where all of that is. Rmd is required minimum distributions. People don't like them. Um, and I had to kind of don't blame them. But if you are 73, that's something you need to do before the end of the year. Take pride in retirement.com once again is the website folks that's take pride in retirement.com. We're also on YouTube. Just search for take pride in retirement. There you'll see highlights from the show. We've got shorts from Take Pride in retirement also that uh you can you can see little mini highlights from our proceedings here.

Speaker1:
And um, yeah, we try to, you know, do one of these episodes, um, at the very least every couple of weeks and hopefully, uh, we'll have another new one before the end of the year. Uh, if things don't get too crazy. But, yeah, you know how the holidays go and, uh, otherwise, you know, of course, we'll see you in 2024 with many, many more episodes and just, uh, you know, re-upping our dedication to being part of your life and your financial life and helping you out no matter what. Again, no matter what your family situation looks like, no matter what your individual situation is, no matter who you love and, um, no matter what your sexual orientation, gender identity, no matter who you are. I want to be there. I want to be of help to you, um, in difficult financial times and in the good times as well. And we can get there, um, together, and you can prepare for the bad times ahead of time. We can do all of that by coming up with a plan for you. So. Okay, we got a lot, um, to get to here on the show today. Quote of the week coming up in a second. Uh, also, we're going to do something today called the Smart Retirement Plan. We're going to take a look at, um, a portion of the smart retirement plan that, um, I don't know that we've looked at before.

Speaker1:
We're going to talk about smart, safe, smart inspection, smart risk, um, all of those things. And, you know, what do we what do we mean when we say a smart retirement plan? Well, there are a couple of different ways to look at it. Smart. You can just, you know, say okay, the word smart, right? You want to you want a retirement plan that makes sense. That's good for you. That's best for you that you have someone has looked at for you and planned ahead and made sure that all your ducks are in a row, your I's are dotted, your t's are crossed, and all of that. But there's also another way to look at the word smart. And that's as an acronym for your retirement plan. And that takes each of those letters and makes, uh, makes them into a word, which is the way that acronyms work. I know, but s uh, is for specific M is for measurable, A is for achievable, R is for relevant. And T is for time based. So you want to make sure that all of those things are involved in that plan. And we can we'll go through some of that as we talk about the smart retirement plan, and also talk about what it's like to work with me, to work with the people at Active Wealth Management that I work with, as well as we have experts who specialize in things like Medicare.

Speaker1:
If, you know, we just went through the annual enrollment period, if you have questions about Medicare going forward. Any time, not just during annual enrollment. Please, please, please reach out and we can get you in touch with someone who is an absolute Medicare expert. Um, we've got, uh, one of my, um, colleagues, actually, the founder of Active Wealth, is now a registered social security analyst. And so he has always known a lot about Social Security, but now has taken the time to get this new designation and really knows Social Security inside and out. Um, myself, of course, I am a life and health insurance licensed, which means that I do life insurance and annuities also series 65 license. So that's investment. Um, advice investment advisory services, uh, that I provide as a representative of Brookstone Capital Management, which is my Ria registered investment advisor. And so, um, we've got experts in all of these areas. And we would love, love, love to help you with your specific situation. We'll also do that, um, Christmas price index from PNC. That's going to be part of our inflation demonstration this time around. Got a lot to get to here. So let's start out by taking a look at our quote of the week.

Speaker3:
And now wholesome financial wisdom. It's time for the quote of the week.

Speaker1:
And this time around, our words of wisdom come from Warren Buffett, who not only has been, you know, someone who has been supportive of LGBTQ folks, he is also known as the Oracle of Omaha because he is such a prolific investor, such a great, great investor, one of the most successful, if not the most successful of all time. Um, he was born in 1930. He is the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. And, uh, that is one of the world's most successful investment firms as a result of his leadership there. And, um, really not only one of the most successful investors now, but really of all time. So Warren Buffett said this first or that said this one time, rather, the quote is the most important thing to do if you find yourself in a hole is stop digging. I mean, I have been there. I have been there where I find myself in a financial hole. And I couldn't stop myself from digging in the past. Um, you know, it's like I would be. This is especially true of when I lived in New York. Things are just really, really expensive. Love New York, love the city, love the people. Good Lord, it's expensive. And so I, um, you know, found myself just getting behind, getting in some debt. And then. So what would I do? I would take out another loan to pay off some other debt, and then that would snowball. And it was it was a snowball effect and not in the way that you want a snowball, right? Sometimes we'll talk about the debt snowball, where you pay off the smallest balances of your debt first and then start paying off larger and larger amounts so it snowballs and you then, you know, pay off, um, larger amounts until you've paid off everything.

Speaker1:
Which is a great way to do that, by the way. But. I will say. I had the snowball going the other direction where it was not the debt payoff that was getting bigger and bigger, it was just the debt getting bigger and bigger. So yeah, you know, if you find yourself in that situation, an important thing to do, even if you think that there is nothing else for you to do, stop digging. I can tell you that from personal experience. Stop digging, because it can take you years and years and years after that to then be able to climb out of that hole, to be able to make a better situation for yourself can take a long time. If you just don't consciously stop yourself from digging in deeper financial hole. Explore your options otherwise, and there are always other options out there probably, that you didn't know existed. And that's why you should reach out to an expert. And right here, um, is an expert at Take Pride in Retirement. That's me, Matt McClure. And so you can of course, go to the website that once again is Take Pride in retirement.com.

Speaker1:
You can give me a call anytime. And I mean that anytime. If I don't answer, just please leave me a message. I'll call you back. But it's 855246921185524692 11. You can also email me Matt at Take Pride in retirement.com. Or you can just go to the website. As I said it's take pride in retirement.com there. And um, I would absolutely love to talk to you. You can set up a free consultation. We can go through your financial situation and talk about how it can look better, and I'll go more in depth into that in just a little bit. When we talk about, um, you know, what it's like to work with us and, and the things that we can provide for you. So what we're going to do now is talk about the smart retirement plan. This is a kind of a series that we, um, have have talked about a little bit, maybe in the past, but I wanted to sort of take a little bit of a different tack this time. So there are many different aspects of a smart retirement plan. And again, as I said, um, you know, specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time based, those are all of the different aspects of being smart, smart about your retirement plan. And so all of those aspects are in here. And we're going to talk about why it's important to have a smart retirement plan. First of all, if you are of a certain age or getting there, um, you know, 75 million Americans, mostly baby boomers.

Speaker1:
Expected to retire by the year 2030. It's actually being called the Great retirement. Right. So as many people look to, um, leave the workplace, start the next chapter of their lives, it's really, really important to have a plan in place for it. You know, the State of Retirement Planning survey from Fidelity Investments actually shows 1 in 4 Americans are less confident about their retirement now than they were before Covid. 71% are very concerned about the impact of inflation on retirement preparedness, and can't blame him for that. 31% of Americans don't know how to make sure that their retirement savings keep up, I would. Pose the theory that that is actually a low number. I think that it's probably more than 31% of Americans not really knowing how to make sure their retirement savings keep up, and different surveys will show different things, but that's this particular one from fidelity. So the very first part of a smart retirement plan. Is having a smart vision. I sort of look at this like. A your financial GPS, right? Because if you have a GPS, if you get in your car, you're going somewhere new. What's the first thing you do? What you put in your destination, right? You know where you are if you have that, um, basic knowledge. Then you put in your destination because you got to know where you're going. So a smart vision is like that destination where you want to end up.

Speaker1:
And so there are some questions here to consider. Things to ponder before you start planning your future. Number one, what are you going to be doing in your retirement years? What do you want to do? What do you envision yourself doing in your retirement years? Who are you with? Husband. Wife. Partner. Other loved one, a child that you have, a niece and nephew that you've taken care of. Um, friends? Chosen family. Who are you with in your retirement? Who are you taking care of? A lot of us will be taking care of people, whether it be that spouse, that partner, that chosen family member, older family members as well, a mom or a dad or, um, you know, etc.. Do you have any specific goals for retirement? Do you want to travel a lot? Is that your big goal? Do you have like a bucket list of places that you want to go? Do you have some big ticket item that you want to buy? And that's like your retirement goal, like you want. Maybe you do want to travel, but you want to do it in some big, nice, fancy RV and do that around the country, around the continent. Great, great goal. Sounds like a lot of fun, but how are you going to get there? What are you going to do to make sure that happens? Do you actually want to retire or do you want to relaunch? A lot of people go into retirement.

Speaker1:
And are bored to tears. And it's just not for them, you know, it's not for everybody to to kind of, you know, sit on the couch and maybe take a trip every once in a while. That's not, um, necessarily a thing that everybody wants to do or can do. So do you want to retire or do you want to relaunch? Do you want to reinvent yourself? Do you want to turn a hobby that you've had your whole life? Woodworking, painting, uh, doing, you know, whatever kind of craft or hobby with your hands, something like that, or some area of expertise that you've always had. Take that and turn it into a business to make money in retirement. To either supplement that income or make the majority of your income from that in retirement. Is that what you want to do? The big question, though, is how are you going to fund all of it? Really is the biggest question of all. And I encourage everybody. To sit down with their spouse or family or partner or whomever chosen family, whomever you envision when you answered that, who are you spending your time with in retirement? Question. Whoever that person is, sit down with that person. And talk about goals for retirement. And that's really going to help you determine. What you need to know in order to make that plan. Um, you know, talk about what you want during retirement and then you can make a plan to get there.

Speaker1:
Because, look, retirement looks different for everybody regardless, though, of whether you want to travel. Like I said, spend time with family, start a new business, pick up some new hobbies. Even that's going to depend on adequate cash flow. To fund those expenses that it takes to do all of those things and achieve those goals. So do you have that smart vision for your future and retirement? Here. The holidays are a great time to sit down with your family and really think about what your future retirement looks like, or think about it yourself. If you're somebody who is, uh, there are a lot of people out there who are single by choice or single because, um, you know, maybe they're, uh, part of the LGBTQ plus community that is doesn't have that, um, you know, as part of their, uh, their wants or desires or, um, part of their orientation or their identity that they, they just don't want to be with anybody else, and that's fine. That is absolutely fine. And don't let anyone tell you otherwise, because if they do, they're wrong. And that's all I'll say about that. But. Think about or talk about what your future retirement is going to look like. And the first step in planning a successful retirement is deciding what that dream looks like to you. So just visit our website once again. Take pride in retirement.com. Take pride in retirement. All one word.com. You can email me Matt at take pride in retirement.com or call me (855) 246-9211.

Speaker1:
That's 855246 9211. And that is how to get in touch now of course. All right. So we talked about smart vision right. What you want the future to look like. How about where you are right now? Um, and taking an in-depth look at where you are right now and how that roadmap is going to plot itself between getting from point A to point B. All right. So a smart inspection. Of your retirement savings. That is the next part of this smart retirement plan we're going to talk about. And for every listener. Who reaches out. What I'm going to do. Is a few things. If you want that free consultation, I will absolutely be so, so glad to do it for you. Going to take a look at your accounts. Do a nice in-depth review of those that meaning IRAs 401. Any where you hold assets, including cash. If you've got cash in the bank, maybe just in a savings account or, you know, under the mattress, God forbid, where it's not doing anything for you other than just sitting there? Um, I'll do that. I'll do that review for you. Uh, we'll assess those current account balances. We'll, um, you know, go through, uh, the fee structures as well, you know, how much are you paying in fees? Do you even know how much you're paying in fees? If not, you need to know. And chances are, we can find a plan that does better.

Speaker1:
That eliminates a lot of those fees. Um, what are you currently paying in the fees for the management of those funds? If it's, you know, maybe a 401 K, things like that. Those include management fees, especially if you're invested in, say, a mutual fund, a lot of fees there. So a lot of people really get surprised by the fees that they're paying. They don't realize all of the fees that are involved with their current retirement plan. Look, if you don't if you don't have a retirement plan right now, let's say that you have been self-employed, you have been an independent contractor. You have been someone who, uh, maybe is, um, an actor, like my husband. My husband's an actor. If you are in that particular situation. And you have not started an IRA. Or Roth or or, you know, any sort of individual. Um. Sort of account for your retirement investment account. Then we'd also love to get you started down that road. Because you know what? It's never too late. Would you have been better off had you started earlier? The answer to that is pretty much always yes, but, um. The the, you know, of course, the best time to start. Uh, getting a retirement plan in place is as early as possible. So, like, you know. 20 years ago, or however long you've been in the workplace, for example. Or the second best time is right now. And so that's what will help you with many people, though really surprised about the fees that they're paying, really and truly.

Speaker1:
And we'll take a look at your rates of return as well. If you do have a plan in place, if you do have those accounts, we'll take a look at your rates of return over the last year, three years, five years, and see what those are, and project out some returns on a plan that we set up and see how those compare. We'll determine the answer to this question, which is one of the most important questions anybody can ask about your retirement plan. And that is do you have an income gap or an income surplus? You know, retirement is so much more about retirement income. And not just having one big pot of money. Not having one, you know. $1 million, $2 million, $100,000. Whatever your goal is, or whatever the size of your, um, your retirement accounts when you reach that age. That big, huge number. Is not at nearly as important is how does that translate into income during retirement? Because income is how you are going to live and pay your expenses. And do you have a retirement income that you can't outlive? That's another great question. And yes, that is a possibility because if you just kind of go into retirement blindly, let's say you've got, you know, this money in a 401 K or whatever other account you got good bit sitting in your savings and all that. Oh, I've got this money.

Speaker1:
That's great. If you don't have a plan on how to draw it down without it running out before you graduate off the planet, then. And you got some issues in your plan and you could really and truly, you stand a great danger of running out of money before you run out of life. And that's a good place to be in. So we don't want that to happen to you. We want to make that situation better. We're going to do is do an annuity x ray as well. For any annuities that you might have. A lot more people are getting into annuities these days. And I think that's a great thing because of the fact that annuities today are not your grandfather's annuities, not your grandmother's annuities. You know, those used to be you would give money you to the insurance company, and they'd just basically hold on to it. And then later when you wanted to draw that down, when you wanted to start annuity payments, you would pay them a fee for getting for the privilege of getting your money back. That is not the way that it is today. Um, and you know, by and large, in all of the annuities that I have the opportunity to offer through my practice. That is definitely not the case. The other really good thing too, is that we only work with established insurance companies that offer these annuities. So we're talking like those insurance companies that have been around for a long, long time.

Speaker1:
Um, you know, one of the most, uh. The most recognizable names that that we work with is, uh, nationwide. And, um, there is a particular annuity that offers a big upfront bonus, 20% bonus on your principal, um, 8% interest roll up. So, I mean, a lot of things. Let's talk about that. Let's explore that for you because it's a fixed indexed annuity. Right. So basically what that means is you can take part in the gains of a particular stock index. Or an, um, you know, any kind of equity index you can take part in the gains. But when that index falls. You don't lose a penny of that principle or that, or the gain. Your floor is always where you are right now. And really kind of. So the sky is almost the limit. Not not literally, but your your gains keep going up, but you don't lose over time right. So let's let's talk about that. Those are always good options. And that's that option that I was talking about where you can have an income that you cannot outlive. Because when you turn on income in retirement in one of those types of accounts, you will not outlive that. Those are guaranteed payments to you for the rest of your life. I can tell you how much that's going to be. Because it can be a pretty pain, depending on how much you have right now and how much you want to invest in that annuity or a different annuity in the future.

Speaker1:
Because you could turn multiple streams of income in retirement, and that's a great thing to do. That's actually recommended, um, to do, um, for most people in your retirement years. So we'll x ray any annuities that you might currently have and see if there are better options out there for you to protect your hard earned savings. We're going to determine if you have a tax problem. Remember those RMDs I talked about at the top of the show? Um, if you're overly exposed in those tax deferred accounts, that's what the things like a 401 K, you don't pay taxes on them now you pay taxes later when you make the withdrawals. That's tax deferred, right. So if you're overly invested in those you could be facing a big retirement tax bomb. It's just ticking. And when you are required to take those RMDs or when you start taking those withdrawals, you got a lot of taxes to pay. But if you do a Roth conversion, which is something you might want to explore, you can get rid of those future taxes, delete them, say bye bye to them, not have to pay them in the future by going ahead and paying them now at most likely lower tax rates. We're also going to consider any real estate assets. You know, things like your family home, any rental property or land that you might own. Does it make sense to still own that? Um, if it's a, you know, a piece of property that's sitting there that you might not use it, might it make sense to sell that? Might it make sense to, um, get more rental properties if that's something that you want to do in retirement, if you enjoy having that rental income, that's just basically mailbox money every month.

Speaker1:
Yeah. Let's explore that to the the options are open for you in this particular scenario here when you work with us. Um, also going to review any life insurance you might have. Did you know, by the way, that there are life insurance products that can provide a source of income for you in retirement that will also grow kind of similar to the fixed indexed annuity that I was talking about. They will grow based on the performance of a particular index. But then when that index goes down not go down. You know, it's like if you've ever seen a. Stock chart of, say, S&P 500, something like that. You know, a lot of times, especially if you look at it, take a wide view of it, um, over several days or a month or a year, whatever. It can look like an EKG, you know, like up and down and up and down and up and down. Um, but if you look at the performance of an annuity, it's like a stair step. It's not going down. It's only going up incrementally over time. And so that is such a great thing to explore for so many people.

Speaker1:
It may or may not be right for you in your situation, but for so many people, it really is the right thing to do for their situation. If you want to get rid of a lot of that market risk, but still experience market like gains. Um, also provide you with a Social Security maximization report. How can you maximize your Social Security? What's the best time for you to take it? What's the best age for you to take it? Based on the, um. You know, you and and your spouse. If you know one of you has a much higher Social Security payment than the other when delaying one of those payments until it is maxed out, until you get that maximum payment. Would that be an advantageous thing to do? We can explore that for you. All right. So that's kind of like the, the, um, smart inspection. Deal here. What about smart safe? You know, we talked about fixed indexed annuities, and I won't go into too much more detail about them because I've already kind of, uh, you know, explained the basics there. But what about bond replacement with fixed indexed annuities? Bonds had a tough year in 2022. The, you know, the old 60 over 40 portfolio, 60% stocks, 40% bonds. It was the standard for so long it had its worst year. They had a long, long time, maybe ever, but in a definitely in a long, long time in 2022.

Speaker1:
So a lot of people now, and I think this is a great strategy for a lot of folks, is doing a bond replacement with fixed indexed annuities, because that will remove those bonds, which have been really underperforming for, you know, the past couple of years, really. That will remove those in favor of fixed indexed annuities, which have had over the past couple of years in general, higher returns than bonds. Bonds have really been suffering because when interest rates go up, the bond yields will go down generally. And that's really what's been happening even as, um, you know, the stock market was going through a rough patch. Bond values were also going down. And so that's why you saw the big, um, 6040 portfolio, uh, destruction, I guess you could say, in 2022. So but there are other advantages really to replacing bonds. Why would you want to do it? You would want to delete the fees. On a portion of your overall portfolio, 30 to 50%, maybe even more if you're, you know, perhaps a little bit older, you've moved more into what has traditionally been a safer investment in the bond market. Well. If you reduce the fees or get rid of the fees on that particular portion of your investment portfolio. Boy, that gives you a much better expense ratio. You're not spending nearly as much money for your own money and for the growth on that money. And by replacing the bonds there with certain fixed indexed annuities, you may receive a bonus on that principle.

Speaker1:
I alluded to that when I spoke about that nationwide product a little bit ago. Is the nationwide pink ten, um, annuity. And you may actually receive that bonus on your principal. And that allows you to get a boost on your savings growing starting day one. You can participate in stock market gains. The market like gains without the market risk, basically because you're not investing directly in the stocks. It's just the growth of that annuity is tied to the growth in that index. But if the index goes down, you don't lose a penny. You can eliminate interest rate risk from that same portion of your portfolio as well. And fixed indexed annuities may be good for you if. I got several ifs here, so this encompasses a lot of people. If Social Security is not enough to cover your expenses, chances are that is the case. If you are concerned that you may outlive your savings. Like I was talking about a minute ago, it's important to have that stream of income for your entire life with a fixed indexed annuity. Or other types of annuities that we can explore with you. That is, um, something that is going to be a concern that will be really eliminated, because if you have a guaranteed income for life, then you know that's there. Of course, it's always have to say based on the claims paying ability of the issuer, but when you work with issuers who are very well established, then you know that those guarantees are are in place for a reason and so that it can give you some peace of mind as well.

Speaker1:
If you want to reduce risk and protect part of your retirement savings, that can also be, um, a big thing that can lead you toward a fixed indexed annuity. And if you want to reduce or delete fees on part of your portfolio as well. So what is it like to, um, to work with me in coming up with a smart retirement plan for you? And here's why I mention this. You know, some people are really, um, nervous or intimidated meeting with a financial advisor, but I really help ease those concerns. Right. So in the initial consultation. It's really going to be an easy thing. It's not going to be intimidating. I promise I'm a nice person. It's not going to be anything that you need to be intimidated about. It's not going to be anything that you need to be overly concerned about. It's not a high pressure situation. It's literally getting to know you first of all and then answering some simple questions. Some of the things we mentioned before, right. Like what is a retirement? A successful retirement look like to you? What are you doing? Who are you going to be with? What are you looking to accomplish? Do you have any specific goals? That are set for your retirement.

Speaker1:
Do you have that smart vision? If not, let's let's explore that. And how do you plan to create income each month? Ah, the biggest question. The biggest, biggest question. There. Are you 100% sure that you're going to have a great retirement, or do you have some doubt? If you do have some doubt. If it's just a little doubt. If you have some doubt, let us help you get started. And I can do a complimentary consultation that's focused on your specific situation and your goals. We'll get a free, uh, retirement plan, a comprehensive retirement plan. And it's based on your situation. It's not based on anybody else's situation or life. It's based on yours. So we talked about smart safe. Let's talk a little bit about smart risk here. And um, one of the things that you can do is consider structured notes a little bit of an alternative investment. But it's a smart risk option for some people. And you can actually do a structured note ladder as well. A lot of people will do that to provide some additional protection, um, and additional uh, returns as well. That's all. Something that we can look at and, and talk about in more detail when you give us a call. And by the way, that number is 85524692118552469211. Take pride in retirement.com is the website. So. As part of smart risk tactical asset allocation. You want to make sure that you are working with an advisor. Hoo hoo a you can trust.

Speaker1:
B takes you seriously, treats you like a human being, and not just an account number. And see. Uses a tactical asset allocation strategy. There are a couple of different strategies that that you can use. The one that we like is tactical asset allocation. And that is more of an active portfolio management strategy. So it involves really shifting your investments around in your portfolio to take advantage of pricing anomalies or strong market sectors, getting out of weak market sectors at that time, going into stronger market sectors, or, you know, having a look at where is the economy headed, where are we in the cycle of the economy? Because, you know, the economy, you know, has its ups and downs and of course, all the midpoints along the way. And so where are we in the economic cycle and where do we need to rotate our assets based on that, to give you the biggest return on your investments? It also tactical asset allocation. That active portfolio management strategy gives extra value to you because your portfolio will benefit from advantageous market changes. That's what I'm saying is like, you know, we invest and make changes based on that economic cycle, based on what's happening in the markets, based on what's happening in the world. You can take advantage of those cycles. And get more growth than you would have otherwise by just a buy and hold strategy. There are, you know, obviously risks involved with either strategy because you're invested in the market.

Speaker1:
There are always risks there. But. That being said, you can potentially get higher gains by using this tactical asset allocation method to move things around as needed. Really being involved in your investment? Um, portfolio. It's considered really a moderately active strategy because the portfolio manager will return their investments to their original arrangement once the desired profit is achieved. So that really means it's a kind of a moderately active strategy, right? So it's sort of you're always kind of go back to home base. Um. Because you have a a, um. An arrangement. An asset allocation that's based on your particular goals and objectives, right? Then, if you can take advantage of some particular market conditions, market activities and things like that, great. Then if it is proper, if it is, if it is the right thing to do, move it back to the original allocation so that you are allocated where you want to be and where you set your goals. Also, you know, consider how you can reduce your expense ratio by, you know, getting rid of the fees and investing in fee efficient alternatives. One thing that I will say, um, is that by and large, you should avoid mutual funds. That have excessive fees like the 12 B1 fee, which can be really, really big. And if you want to explore that or any of the things that we've talked about so far, just give me a call that number once again 855246921185524692 11. Or you can also go to take pride in retirement.com.

Speaker4:
Want to know where your hard earned money is going. It's time for an inflation demonstration.

Speaker1:
Okay, so now for the fun part. Um, you know, I mentioned this a little earlier, and and I've been looking forward to it the entire show, but this is the PNC, CPI, not the consumer price index, but the Christmas price index. And, uh, PNC has been doing this for 40 years now. Um, basically taking the song the 12 Days of Christmas and, you know, all of those gifts that your true love is given to you. Um, the partridge in a pear tree all the way to the 12 drummers drumming and pipers piping in the lords, a leaping and all of the things. They take all of those things and estimate the costs based on inflation, based on current wages and, uh, other expenses and things like that. And they come up with the Christmas price index, not to be confused with the consumer price index, which is a big measure of inflation that the US government comes out with each and every month to measure inflation overall. So, um, it's really kind of a fun way to look at this. And, uh, you know, even if you don't have five gold rings on your Christmas list this year, you can still learn a lot by checking out the ways that these, uh, prices have increased or maybe decreased year over year. And so I'm going to go down every now, and some of them stay the same. Some surprising ones have stayed the same this year.

Speaker1:
So let's look here at the partridge in a pear tree. Up 13.9% this year to $319.18. Yeah, the rents are rising again for the Partridge in 2023. The price of the bird itself actually stayed flat, but the tree that it lives in, that price grew by 15%. And that reflects the overall growth in housing costs. The Partridge got to have somewhere to live. Right. So the pear tree. The costs are going up for that. Two turtle doves have gone up by 25%, $750 for two turtle doves. My goodness. Um, it's the most volatile gift in the index this year, growing by the biggest percentage, 25%. As I say, the price it really does in does reflect their rarity. You don't see turtle. I can't can't tell you the last time I've seen some turtle doves. So they're pretty rare birds. Not like going out and buying a couple of pigeons, which you could probably just pick up off the street. Anyway. Not that I am encouraging that at all. Um, Peta, I love animals. Just saying. All right, so three. Three French hens up 3.5%. So not nearly as much of an increase as our two previous gifts here. Three French hens grew modestly in price this year to $330. Um, and that is due to, uh, rising labor and energy costs. They say they're still among the most affordable birds in the index, though.

Speaker1:
Uh, now for calling birds easy to budget for them. They're the same price as last year. Didn't increase, didn't decrease. Just shy of $600. The five gold rings also did not go up in price this year, which is, you know, surprise, surprise. Um, they don't start singing the song from Instagram plays or TikTok or wherever. Um. Surprise, surprise. Okay. Um, before I get the copyright, people on my butt. Um, five gold rings, $1,245. Also the same as last year. So that's good. I mean, if you want to buy five gold rings, there they are. Uh, if you got a little over 1200 bucks, you're in good shape. Six geese a laying $780. That's up 8.3% this year. And, um. The six geese a laying have been on a growth run really in recent years, according to PNC. Since 2018, they've grown in total price by almost $500. Why in the world are geese so expensive? Now? Seven swans a swimming. Generally. The most volatile gift on this index. The seven swans of swimming actually stayed the same this year, compared to last $13,125, though. So the good news is that they stayed flat this year, growing nothing. 0% growth in that price. The bad news is there's still more than $13,000. For seven swans of swimming, eight maids a milking, 58 bucks. That was no growth. And it's been the same for years, because the price there is, based on the minimum wage and the federal minimum wage has not increased in going on, what, 20 years now, which is insane.

Speaker1:
And it should be a crime that it has not gone up that much or has not gone up at all. Rather, in so many years, $58 for the eight maids a milking, nine ladies dancing. They're more expensive if you want them to dance for you. Hair, $8,308.12. They rose quite a bit last year, the prices apparently 10% higher in 2022 this year. No increase though. Um, and the price to hire a dance company stayed flat for 2023. Uh, ten Lords a leaping up 4% to 14,500 bucks and a little bit of change. Boy. The Lords are. They're expensive. They are, uh, the most expensive gift in the index. Holding off the stagnant swans who were also, uh, what, 13,000 bucks? Uh, so the ten Lords, a leaping 14,500 bucks and change, um, a 4% increase, as I say, for the ten Lords, a leaping 11 pipers piping up 6% this year, $3,200. Um, you better get ready to pay for that piper to pipe, because a tight labor market is leading to that increase of more than 6%. Also the same increase 6%. A little more, uh, for the 12 drummers drumming to $3,400 and some change. And, um, they're kind of facing those same labor conditions as the 11 Pipers piping. So here we go if you want to know.

Speaker1:
What the total Christmas price index is, I will reveal it. So it represents the total cost of all of the gifts bestowed by true love. True love gave to you all of these gifts when you count each repetition of the song totaling 364 presents. Oh, spreading cheer throughout the year in 2023 cost 2.5% more than last year. The total Christmas Price index. For 2023 is $33,604, and $0.86 are $33,600. And so that's a marks a big increase from when PNC started doing this in 1984. The cost was $20,000 and change. So that's a big, big jump from 1984 that almost, um, going on 40 years ago. Well, really is just about 40 years ago, uh, now, um, because this is their 40th year. So anyway, you do the math, but big, big jump. And that is your inflation demonstration for this week. All right, quickly here before we close things out. Eight ways baby boomers run out of money in retirement. I'm going to run these down. Um, and I want you to avoid them. All right. This is from a Yahoo finance story, by the way. Number one, carrying a balance on credit cards. Boy, pay those off each month. Don't carry an interest bearing balance. That is going to be a rotating balance like that a revolving balance. Because compound interest is not your friend. I will tell you from experience. Collecting Social Security too early.

Speaker1:
Yeah. It could be much more advantageous for you to wait. If you file at age 62, you're going to lose 30% of the total full Social Security benefits that you would have received at age 67. If you file at 64, you'll lose 20% of the full benefit. So delay as long as you can is a generally a great strategy for most people. Some people not so, others absolutely delay as long as you can. Selling investments when the market drops. That's number three on our list of the ways baby boomers run out of money in retirement. Don't sell low and buy high. That's exactly the opposite of what you want to do. And don't try and time the market. That is not a winning strategy for you. It's very hard to get it right twice, especially right. So if you, um, you want to buy low and sell high, but. One of those things is probably pretty easy to do. It's very difficult to get both of those things right. Paying too much in housing costs, you know, I mean, you live in some huge house, um, that you have, you know, when all the kids were at home and that sort of thing, you live in that big house and you stay there and you're paying all of the utilities and expenses and all of the things for the big house, but you don't need the big house anymore. Not a great strategy.

Speaker1:
Maybe time to downsize or do a little something that, um, you know, might be a little bit more creative there and get rid of those costs. Having an unrealistic budget. Um, you know, I mean. A lot of people don't realize what their spending habits are and are unable to control their spending habits. So that leads to unrealistic budgeting. So be real about what you spend, and if you need help in that, go to take Pride in retirement.com and request that free consultation. We'll take a look at it. Number six is not having a plan at all. Boy, there's a way to run out of money if you're just willy nilly spending here and spending there and don't realize how much is going in and what's coming out and not having any sort of income plan for the future, that is not a winning strategy. Waiting too long to adjust a plan. There are many times, many different scenarios when you need to adjust your plan in retirement. It may be that you need to make several adjustments over time. That's not a bad thing. Know when to do it and make it happen. Not planning for the unexpected. That is number eight. You know, in retirement, you know, unexpected expenses, medical bills, emergency repairs, those things are going to happen. Have a plan for them in place and we can help you do that. Um, go to take pride in retirement.com.

Speaker1:
Take pride in retirement. Dot com is the website I want you to go there. I want you to request a free consultation via the contact page. You can also email me directly. Just uh email Matt at take Pride in retirement.com. That's Matt at take pride in retirement.com or call me 85524692118552469211. Listen, no matter what you do, no matter who you are, no matter who you love, no matter where you come from, no matter which holidays you celebrate. I hope that you have the best holiday season this year that you have ever had nothing but the best to you and yours. No matter what your family situation is. I hope that you have just the absolute best season this year and a great 2024. I will talk to you again very, very soon here on Take Pride in Retirement. Remember to call me, reach out on the website, uh, email me whatever you need to do to get in touch. If you have any questions about any of the things that we've talked about today, I hope you do, because I just I love working with folks who need help, and I love helping people, and that is why I'm doing this to help you. Thanks so much once again for joining me on tape Pride and Retirement, and I will see you once again next time. As always, take pride in yourselves and take care of each other.

Speaker2:
Thanks for listening. To Take Pride in Retirement. Members of the LGBTQ+ community deserve to work with a 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) 246-9211 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:
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 disclosure of any conflicts of interest, if any, exist. 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. Any bonuses mentioned may be subject to additional restrictions and regulations based on the offering annuity company. You may not receive the bonuses if the contract is fully surrendered, or if traditional annuitization payments are taken, and if the policy is partially surrendered, it could result in a partial loss of bonuses. Because these are bonus annuities, they may include higher surrender charges, longer surrender charge periods, lower caps, higher spreads, or other restrictions that are not included in similar annuities that don't offer a bonus feature.

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