Controlling What You Can in Uncertain Times

Episode 33: Audio automatically transcribed by Sonix

Episode 33: 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.

Speaker2:
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.

Speaker1:
Hello and welcome once again to another edition of Take Pride in Retirement. Matt McClure here with you, your hosts, your advisor, your pal, your confidant. I thank you so much, as always, for joining me for another edition of the show. You know, I say it pretty much every time, but you could be doing anything right now. And the fact that you are spending just a bit of time with little ol me is it really does mean a lot. It means the world. And so I really appreciate it every time that you are able to join. If this is your first time joining me here on the show. This is a place for retirement solutions, specifically for the LGBTQ plus community geared toward LGBTQ plus folks. But really, a lot of this applies to each and every person. So whether you are a member of the community, whether you're an ally, whether you are, um, you know, just someone who is curious about retirement and how you can plan better for it. That is the reason the show is here. There is a place for you here because, I say, and my husband, who does the intro to the show every week, he says, no matter who you are, no matter where you come from, who you love, or it can add to that how you identify any of those things. No matter any of that, you deserve a retirement that you can take pride in.

Speaker1:
And that is the point of the show, right? So just go online, take pride in retirement.com. If you would like to learn more about the show. Once again that website is Take Pride in retirement.com. You can also give me a call to schedule a free consultation. I'll talk more about that as the show goes along here. The number though is 85524692118552469211. I will give that number um, more as we go along here several more times, I am sure, as we go along here, um, throughout this show Today, I want to just take a second here at the top of the show to do a little check in and see how you're doing. I hope you're doing well. Um, I know that for a lot of folks, it has been a difficult week. Um, for others, not so much, but for a lot of folks, it's been a difficult week, and I don't get into politics really here on the show except to, you know, if it's something that affects directly what we're going to be talking about on the show or, um, you know, retirement plans and retirement planning, specifically those types of sort of policy questions. But I know that a lot of folks, um, have had a rough week. And so I just want to say that you're not alone and that I am, um, here to hopefully give you if you are someone who is struggling with kind of like the unknown right now, the entire show today is actually going to be about controlling the things that you can control.

Speaker1:
I say this quite often, and it's true because exactly. You know, things like this week, huge presidential election, you, you know, nobody knows ever what's going to happen, right, in elections or, or other things, you know, prognosticators and all of that can get things wrong, as many did this time. So you can think you can go into a situation and you think you know what's going to happen. And then you come out on the other side of it being shocked and surprised. And so that's why to me, it's so important when it comes to you, your money, your retirement, your your safety, your security, that you have a plan in place that is going to be a plan that is in place no matter what, something that you can count on, get to the guarantees in life. And that really is what it's all about, you know, controlling the things that you can control because there are so many things we can't. There are so many things that we cannot control, and by taking the reins and controlling the things that you can. Making a difference within your sphere of influence. For example, controlling the things that you can control when it comes to planning for your retirement, planning for your future, making sure your ducks are in a row, the t's are crossed, the i's are dotted.

Speaker1:
All of those types of things, right? Doing all of that is so, so important. And I think that, you know, it just highlights this week highlights. You don't know what's going to happen all the time. And so going forward let that give you resilience and strength and and let it make you focus on the things that you can directly have an influence on, indirectly have an influence on, and all of those things. Right. So that's that's going to be my my sort of spiel for that. And then I think we, we have a good quote of the week here coming up momentarily that will also kind of, um, highlight that that same sentiment. We will start with that momentarily and also talk about seven decisions that could be disastrous for you and things that you will want to avoid to have a better financial future. Right. I'm going to give you those sort of, um, landmines, if you will, to avoid so that you don't make some mistakes that maybe, perhaps others have made or that could be detrimental to you and your retirement plan and your your financial future in general. Right. So and then we'll also talk about, uh, an experience from one of my clients.

Speaker1:
Actually, I was meeting at several client meetings this week, and one of them, I had a client who listens to the show, so you know who you are because you're probably listening to this episode. But I want to share something that that he shared with me in our meeting this week that I thought was, um, that I thought was very poignant and very important to bring up, especially during, you know, kind of uncertain times. Right? So during these times that may not be as certain as we had hoped. Um, you know, I want to help you make some smart adjustments as we approach 2025 as we get ready for the next few years, whatever that brings and how you can have more security in your retirement, I want to help you along in that road. That is going to be what the entire show is about today. And then also, I want you to do a couple of things for me. If you have not subscribed to the podcast, please do on whatever, um, you know, channel, a podcast channel, podcast provider you listen to us on. And I would love that. You know, we're on Apple, Spotify, iHeart, uh, we're on Pandora. We are on, um, Amazon podcasts, audible like anywhere you get your podcasts. That is where we are. So, um, subscribe, leave a great rating and review.

Speaker1:
That really helps. The algorithm helps push us out to more folks. Really would appreciate that. Also do the same on YouTube, go to YouTube, open up the app or go online youtube.com and search for Take Pride in Retirement. Please, please, please subscribe like the video highlights that we put up there. There are video highlights from the show. There are some shorts there as well. There are a lot of great things. And then of course don't hesitate to reach out. Go to take Pride in retirement.com. You can contact me there via the contact page. That'll send an email directly to me, or you can actually schedule an initial consultation so that I can meet with you. Discuss how to help you reach your financial goals. Start with your retirement plan or adjust your retirement plan if you have one in place. If it needs it. Talk about risk management, estate planning a whole lot more, because building sound financial plans for listeners and for people who become clients of mine, that is what I do. Once again, the website Take Pride in retirement.com. You can go there and click on schedule a consultation. Okay, let's get on with it. Now, this is just after this lovely sound that you're about to hear. This is going to be the way that we start our conversation is the quote of the week.

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

Speaker1:
And this week's quote comes from Catherine DeVries, who I wasn't actually all that familiar with, but I've looked up a lot of her work now. Um, she's an Australian, um, motivational speaker, author and that kind of thing. She's actually a world traveler as well. I was just looking up, um, her Instagram this week and boy, she shares beautiful photos from all over the world and places that she's able to travel now. And, um, anyway, just a lot of great, inspiring words now that I've seen and read. And when I ran across this quote, I had to share it with you because it is this week specifically. So this week's quote comes from the motivational speaker and author Katherine DeVry. And it is this focus on what you can do rather than stress about what you have no control over. I'll say it again for the people in the back this week, focus on what you can do rather than stress about what you have no control over. Because guess what? If you stress about the things you have no control over, that's not going to change anything except make you feel worse. Uh, potentially, you know, work up an ulcer or, you know, any of those kind of things, right? So don't stress about the things that you have no control over. Don't stress about the things that you can't really do anything about. Focus on what you can do. That is the message this week from Catherine DeVries.

Speaker1:
And I think she says it very, very well. Focus on what you can do rather than stress about what you have no control over. And taking control over the things that you can and should is the main focus of the show. Um, this week, you know, I mean, we we saw, um, a lot of talk during this previous election season, which I mean, hey, if nothing else, no more election ads. Oh, boy, isn't that good news? Isn't that great news for everyone involved, no matter where you fall on the political spectrum? I don't have to see one more God forsaken ad, so that's good news. But there's a lot of talk, of course, about the economy as there is in every election season. Um, there was a, you know, a lot of emphasis on inflation, which has the rate of inflation has come down to more of a normal level, which is now why why we see the Federal Reserve bringing down interest rates. Right. So the rate of inflation rises and it rose, of course, during the pandemic it rose because of a lot of supply chain issues. There was an influx of money going into the economy at a time when, you know, people weren't really going or doing much of anything. And so, you know, there was a lot of demand that was built up by people, you know, having a lot of money and time on their hands. But then at the same time, the supply chains just came to a halt.

Speaker1:
And that's really what led to inflation really getting the better of us for quite a while. It has come down, down, back down to earth to a much more normal level. So the inflation rate went up, interest rates went up to battle inflation to try and tamp down on that demand. Because if it's more expensive to, you know, get a loan or to to put money on your credit card or all of that stuff that discourages people from doing that, so that tamps down demand and then inflation comes back down. That's why the Federal Reserve does what it does in this particular instance. And it's, you know, it's a simplification of that concept. But that's that's one of the the layers there. And so then when inflation comes back down as it has here in more recent years and months. The Federal Reserve now bringing down interest rates to try and keep some balance in the economy as far as supply and demand and all of that. So that's that's inflation and interest rates 101 here for you on this edition of Take Pride in Retirement. Thank you. Thank you. Um, but you know, there's been of course, a lot of over the past couple of years talk about the sticker shock at supermarkets and restaurants. But there are actually a lot of things out there that are separate from inflation that retirees of all stripes have to worry about.

Speaker1:
I mean, some greater financial risks out there. So I've got some money. Money moves here that are things that could be disastrous for your retirement plan. And I'm going to come back in a little bit and relate this, this back to something that I spoke with a client about today, not today, but this week. Earlier this week, when we were meeting, checking in on his portfolio, um, and getting actually getting another account open for him in the process. Um, but let's talk about these, um, things that you need to avoid that could really hurt your daily life and then, you know, have a lot of detrimental impacts on your retirement as well. Number one is relying on equity as retirement savings. If you if you sell your home and maybe move into an apartment to live off the equity, you've opened yourself up potentially to a major financial error here, let's say. Of course, I'm in in Atlanta, but let's say you are in Chicago. You sell your home there and you pocket about $400,000 in equity as your main source of savings. Well, a two bedroom apartment in the Lincoln Park neighborhood, which is pretty trendy in Chicago. It averages about $3,450 a month. So you'll spend $41,000 annually, or more than 10% of your equity on an annual basis. So even with no rent and this is just your rent, it's not even counting utilities and and all the other things it takes to just live.

Speaker1:
But even with no rent increases, that money would last under ten years, and it would leave you without any assets to pass down to anyone who might be a beneficiary, whether that is your spouse or whether that is your partner, whether that's your kids, if you have them, or nieces or nephews, that kind of thing. Um, you don't have anything to leave them as far as any, any sort of equity to, to pass along some value or some actual, you know, money or real property to pass along to them. Number two is, you know, relocating without researching the area. We've we've talked a lot about, you know, the best places to retire. I actually just did I think on the last show it was it was the last 1 or 1 before. Everything is a blur after this week. But they have last show or the one before about like, you know, the top places to retire in the country. And a lot of the, the top ones kind of, uh, are surprising because, you know, people think traditionally that Florida is a great place to retire. Um, and that is true in a lot of different ways, you know, I mean, you can there's an argument to be made, of course, that given the current political environment, it may not be the best for LGBTQ plus folks. Um, but if you live in certain areas of the state, that could be, you know, something that you're you're willing to to trade off there.

Speaker1:
But Smartasset ranked three Florida cities actually in the top 11 for net inflows of people over the age of 60. After analyzing some Census Bureau data. Saint Petersburg, Clearwater and Cape Coral. But here's the thing. Not only do LGBTQ plus folks have to worry about the sort of, you know, different policies that might be in place in the state. You also antibody and everybody has to worry about all of the hurricanes that have come through and have created soaring costs for residents there. I mean, you know, we're talking about Saint Petersburg, Clearwater, Cape Coral, those places have really been devastated by hurricanes. A lot of places have been very heavily damaged. You know, I work with, um, helping produce his radio show with an advisor who lives and works out of that area. And, um, you know, he actually has to sort of pause his own marketing for his business and his radio show and all of that for a while, to be able to clean up his house and his property and make repairs, and then not to mention homeowner's insurance that cost if you're even able to get homeowner's insurance to begin with in that area. That cost has just gone through the roof because dozens of home insurance companies have actually left the state to reduce their exposure to risk. And the six most expensive cities for coverage are on the Atlantic coast of the state of Florida. So you've got to be vigilant about doing your research before you relocate somewhere.

Speaker1:
Um, make sure that it's a place that you can easily move to that's not going to break the bank. That's going to be good for you and your situation. And I'm not going to tell you exactly where I think that you should move or anything like that, but, hey, um, you know, bounce ideas off of me or something, uh, when you're when when we meet. Because that would be, uh, that'd be a good, you know, thing to at least, you know, chat about that. Not part of my fiduciary responsibility or anything like that to tell you where to move, but, um, it's a good conversation to have at least anyway. And there are actually some places that are international, you know, that actually make it pretty easy for folks to move. There are LGBTQ plus friendly and, and all of that and, and have a lower cost of living and all that as well. So that might be something that interests you also. And um, yeah. So just do your do your own research there. Falling for elder scams is number three falling for elder scams. You know the FBI lists eight financial swindles. I love it the way that they put that eight. Financial swindles, scams that continue to be the bulk of fraud against older folks. And those include romance scams. Criminals are, you know, using a fake online identity. In that instance, they're gaining a victim's affection, they gain their trust, and then they gain their money.

Speaker1:
Right. Um, that can be a dangerous one. It's not just the old email from the Nigerian prince. And if you send $2,000, I'll send you 2 million, that kind of thing. It is more complicated than that these days. Tech support scams are big as well. Fake IT workers trying to fix a computer issue, but they, you know, are able to log in and gain access to your personal information. The grandparent scam, somebody's actually impersonating a child or a grandchild in dire financial need. I've heard about this one more and more and more, especially as AI takes hold and people are able to, you know, clone someone's voice, for example, um, like, you know, the grandparent ruse that we're seeing here uses that AI voice cloning software to give crooks the ability to use audio snippets to create voice samples of a loved one, and then you fall victim to sending someone you don't know a bunch of money. So my advice to you is, if you ever were to get a call like that, hang up the phone and then call the person back who is supposedly the one who's calling you, call them back directly from your end. Right. Make sure that it's a legit thing. Number four counting on post-retirement work to pay the bills. Here's the thing. You shouldn't work in retirement unless you want to. You should not work in retirement because you have to.

Speaker1:
It's one of my big, big goals in the, you know, working with the people who I, I work with that I get them to a place where they don't have to work in retirement if that's a concern for them. Now, if they want to work in retirement, if they want to work well into their 70s or even beyond, great. If they want to reinvent themselves, if you want to reinvent yourself in your retirement. So maybe you want to retire from, say, the boring corporate job that you've done for 40 years or something like that, and then you want to do something that has been a hobby for you. You want to take that hobby and turn it into something that is a is a business or something that you can make money from because it's something that you love and enjoy, but you might be able to actually make a living, or at least some extra money doing that thing. Great. But I want you to be in a place where you don't have to work to pay the bills in retirement. And actually, a Federal Reserve survey a couple years ago found that a little over half, 54% or so of American families have a dedicated retirement account that should be 100% or at least close to it. Right? And that implies countless seniors are actually counting on working after retirement to pay the bills. But here's the thing. You know, if you're counting on working your your retirement years are the years when, of course, you're older and the body tends to start breaking down and you're maybe not going to be able to work forever, right? I get it, if you can't be one of those people who sits on the front porch and sips mint juleps all day, that's if that's not your thing for retirement, and that's not part of your retirement vision for yourself.

Speaker1:
That is just fine. If you want to get a part time job, if you want to get, you know, as I say, something that is a reinvention. Going for yourself. Great. But then, of course, it could also be much harder to find work. The older you get, you know, even people who haven't hit the age of 60 yet struggle to land work. A lot of the time, despite being qualified or maybe even too qualified for whatever job they're finding. And it can be easy to fall behind on the latest skills that are commonly sought after as the years progress, especially in technology related fields and things like that. So don't count on post-retirement work to pay the bills if you want to get a plan going. By the way, to make sure that you don't have to rely on working after you are retired to pay your bills, to just make ends meet, go to take pride in retirement.com that website. Take pride in retirement.com. At the top of the page you'll see schedule a consultation.

Speaker1:
I want you to click that and it'll actually take you directly to my calendar. You can see my real time availability and schedule a consultation with me directly right there at whatever time is convenient for you, because that's what it's all about. You know, I often use the word fiduciary because that's the responsibility that I have when I'm working directly with someone. Of course, the podcast here is for informational purposes. I'm not giving you personalized advice, but if I do meet with you and I give you personalized advice, I have a fiduciary responsibility, which means that I have to work in your best interests, right? So that's what I want to do for you. Get you to a place where you don't have to work in retirement to make ends meet. I want to have that relationship where I can actually get in and do a deep dive of your financial situation and make sure that you are on the right track. If you are, I'll say, great, you're on the right track. This is this is wonderful. There's no obligation to meet with me any further unless you just want to. And, you know, you. We get along and you want to meet with me again. That's great. But you don't have to work with me unless it's right for you. Right? That's already also part of the fiduciary responsibility because it's it's whatever is best for you as the individual.

Speaker1:
You can also call me 85524692 11 85524692 11. That'll get you connected directly with the office. A number here. And then of course, if I don't answer immediately, just leave a voicemail. I will get back to you as soon as humanly possible and get you set up with that consultation that is free of any cost or any obligation. Number five, on this list of sort of financial landmines to avoid here as you approach retirement or get into retirement is overspending. You know, there was a retirement confidence survey done by the Employee Benefit Research Institute. They asked 1200 people about their spending, and actually a little more than 1200 people about their spending. They found more that more than one third of retirees said that their travel or leisure expenses were actually higher than expected. So if you work with me, I can get you on track to have a retirement that you can take pride in. Number one, which is kind of the whole point of the show. No matter who you are, where you come from, who you love, how you identify any of those things. But I also can get you set up with, or at least on track toward getting set up for a retirement income that you can never outlive. Take pride in retirement.com if you want to learn more about that. It's we kind of refer to it as a personal pension, right? You know, you used to work for a company for 40 years.

Speaker1:
You get the gold watch and a pension after the end of that 40 years when you retired and they'd say, good luck to you. Enjoy the money that we'll be sending you for the rest of your life. That is like finding a a, I don't know, unicorn dinosaur combination. I think these days they just don't exist, at least not that often. But you can have a personal pension that you can create yourself, and I can help you go through that again. Take pride in retirement. Comm number six mistake here to avoid jumping the gun on Social Security. Now this is all sort of dependent on your individual situation because circumstances might be that taking Social Security as soon as you reach the age of 62, that could be the best thing for you in your situation. Often, though, it's not the best for Everybody. And I'll put it this way. Let's say that you were born in 1960, but if you started your benefits at the age of 62, which would have been a couple of years ago for you, your monthly income would actually be 30% lower compared to full retirement age, which is either, you know, 66, depending on when you were born, right? 66, 66 and some months or the age of 67. That'll be your full retirement age. So instead of if this scenario were to fit you, if you started taking a couple of years ago at the age of 62, if you were born in 1960 instead of a thousand bucks a month, you'd receive just 700.

Speaker1:
According to the Social Security Administration. Those born in the year 1963 are going to turn 62 next year, but their full retirement age is 67, and a $1,000 monthly benefit claim that year would be reduced to 700. But if they wait until the age of 70, you would actually end up getting 132% of your monthly benefit in return for just pushing it off for another 48 months. So that is, I think, something that is going to be advantageous, of course, for a lot of people, depending on your individual situation. And that is what I have to say because everybody's situation is different. It's a whole other reason that I started the show, right, is because everybody's situation is different. And and obviously your relationship status, your sexual orientation, your personal situation in life, your identity, gender identity, whatever you know, you might be thinking about or the reality, whatever the reality might be for your life. Everybody's situation is different. And those are one aspect of that. You know, those those different types of identities and situations. And but based on any of those number of factors or anything else, it could be best to wait until age 70 to start claiming Social Security. Or it could be best to go ahead and take it at 62, or wait until your full retirement age. It all depends on your individual situation.

Speaker1:
And number seven here. Big mistake to avoid borrowing from your retirement fund. Yeah. You know, 401 K's are the most common sort of vehicle for retirement at least retirement accumulation of funds. Those employer based plans like that and 401 K's are pretty tempting. At least they can be as a cash source for things like, you know, paying kids tuition or to pay down credit card debt or things like that. But what I want you to do is actually explore other loan options First, let's say like if you are paying, um, college tuition, for example, for your kid or even for a niece or nephew or a grandchild, something like that. Think about a parent plus loan for college students, or think about a debt consolidation loan if you want to pay down credit cards. Because when you take money away from your retirement fund, you are not doing yourself any favors because that money is not growing for you. It's actually costing you. Now, whatever money you remove from that plan, plus tax implications and all of that. So avoid borrowing from your retirement fund if at all humanly possible. Now, I want to reiterate here that a lot of these mistakes that you want to avoid are dependent on your individual situation because, as I say, the one, especially the one about Social Security a moment ago, um, it could be fine for you or, and and best for you to take Social Security, start claiming your benefits at the age of 62.

Speaker1:
It could also be not great, and it could be really bad for you to do that in comparison to your other options. So what I would encourage you to do is actually go to take Pride in retirement.com. Click on schedule a consultation that's right there at the top of the screen, and book a meeting with me so that I can go over your situation with a fine tooth comb, so that I can make sure that your current situation is set up for success, and we can make any improvements that we might need to. Once again, the website is Take Pride in retirement.com. All right. I also wanted to before we before we run here in a few minutes um to talk about a situation that, um, really has to do with, you know, again, controlling the things that you can control because that's kind of the whole theme today. And I was actually speaking with this is what I was alluding to earlier. I was speaking with a client of mine earlier this week, and he said, have you ever talked about this on the show? And I actually have, but not, you know, I sort of not as a as kind of a big thing, more of as an aside within a larger context of another conversation. Right. So I wanted to take a moment to actually talk about this thing that he mentioned, and he said, you know, I really loved like when and I bet that I am not the only person, um, this is him talking, saying, I bet I'm not the only person who feels this way.

Speaker1:
I'm not the only person who has the concerns and who, um, you know, felt this way about my own individual, um, situation as far as the management of my retirement accounts. And I said, no, you're not, because I work with a lot of people and a lot of people are this way. He was one who had been sort of going it alone on his retirement planning. And, you know, was sort of managing his own investments and, and things like that. A lot of, a lot of it was kind of a set it and forget it kind of a thing. And when I met with him initially, you know, I looked at the way that his, um, assets were allocated. And he is right at the age of 60. And, you know, I said, look, you know, if you want to retire in a few years, you are taking way too much risk inside your investment portfolio. He was about taking like, um, if I remember correctly, it was thinking about 70 or 80% risk and only had about 20% or so safety within his investments. Now, if you are 30 years old, that's great. If you're 60 years old, not so great. You want to be, as you get closer to retirement, decreasing the amount of risk that you are taking.

Speaker1:
And the whole idea is, you know, the older we get, the less time we have to make up for any losses that we might experience. And so during any uncertain times, and for I know for a lot of people, these are uncertain times right now dealing with uncertain times. You want to make sure that you are getting that balance right. And he just was not. And he also admittedly, and I say this with his permission, and I say this with with love and admiration for this particular client as well. It was a bit stubborn, um, wanting to always kind of managed everything himself, kind of more passively managed it, but it had all been under his control and he was sort of reluctant to give up that control. Right. So speaking of controlling the things you can control, he was trying to control those things. Um, but he sort of had to get past a little bit of looking at it as if he were giving up control and get to the point of seeing it as working in a partnership with someone who does this every day with me as a fiduciary, as a financial advisor, with the licenses, the education and all of that, to be able to do this, to get the allocation right, to manage things on his behalf. He had to sort of, you know, get get comfortable with that because it was a bit of a struggle, right. If you're used to doing everything yourself.

Speaker1:
Yeah, it can be difficult to give up some of that control. But he said this to me during our conversation this week. He said, you know, it was difficult to to give up that control. But, you know, he's glad that he did. Right. Because otherwise, you know, let's say if he just just to throw out a number here, let's say he had, I don't know, $1 million in his portfolio. And it was all in mainly in stocks, a little bit in bonds. But he was he had, you know, let's say he had 100, a 100% of that at risk in the market. So $1 million, 100% of it is at risk. Let's say the bottom fell out of the market next year. And we had like a 2008 type situation where the bottom just fell out. Or, you know, in previous times as well, we've seen the market drop big time, um, due to big unforeseen events. And so let's say that that that happened and they lost 50% of his money because it was all at risk in the market, and he just didn't have great allocation, let's, let's say, and all of that. And so he experienced even more losses than maybe the market did. So he ended up losing half of his investments. And again, this is just an illustration here. But the next year let's say he gained 50% right back. You might think if you don't think about it too much you might think, oh great.

Speaker1:
Well he got his money back. No he didn't. He lost 50% of that 1 million. So where is that leaving 500,000. Then the next year, if the markets are up 50%, if his investment is up 50%, well, what's 50% of 500,000? That's 250,000. So that's what he gained. So he's at 750 now. He's not back up at a million. He still has not broken. Even so. Yeah, you have to. If you lose 50%, you end up having to double your money just to get back to even. And that is why it is so important to take risk off the table as much as you possibly can, as close the closer you get to retirement. And I was able to actually, in his particular situation, take a lot of that risk off the table, get him into an annuity, a fixed indexed annuity that is, um, a particular kind that has a 20% bonus on the income benefit base up front. He's going to be able to turn on income in a few years that is guaranteed for the rest of his life and may actually increase, um, based on the performance of a particular index, may actually increase every other year as he goes throughout his retirement as well, and that that income is going to be guaranteed for the rest of his life. And that investment is safe. It's 100% principal protected based on the claims paying ability of the issuer.

Speaker1:
Of course, but 100% principal protected. So he knows he's not going to lose that principal. He knows he's not going to lose any gains that are credited to the account over time. And so now he's got a lot more safety, a lot more peace of mind, and the potential for still market like growth inside that portion of the portfolio. And then we were able to take the rest of his portfolio and, and get it more balanced toward the way that his allocation should be based on his age, his risk tolerance, and all of those types of things. So that is where things stand with that particular client. And that's actually what he wanted me to share with you. Yes. Control the things that you can control. Obviously, that is the that is the goal of the entire show. The theme of the entire show this time around. But just because you work with someone who is a financial advisor, who is working in a fiduciary capacity, so has to have your best interests in mind at all times and work toward that first and foremost. That is what that fiduciary responsibility is. That's the way that I operate and am obligated to operate. I would do it anyway because it's the kind of person I am, but I am obligated to operate in that capacity as well. But just because you you work with someone doesn't mean that you're actually giving up control of things.

Speaker1:
It means that you are taking more control honestly, because you are getting to a place where, you know, as you get closer to retirement, you're going to have more guarantees, you're going to have more safety with your investments, but you're also still going to get growth. You've got someone working on your behalf and working with you to make sure that you are going to have a retirement you can take pride in. All right. That is what it's all about for the show. This time around, obviously having a retirement you can take pride in that is the goal of everything that we talk about each and every show. But having a retirement that, um, is going to be one that you can control instead of it controlling you. Right. Instead of all of the other things that you can't control, really just sort of leaving you at their mercy. You can actually take control of your retirement and I can help you along in that process. That's the whole point. I want to do that for you again, no matter who you are, where you come from, who you love, how you identify, or how much money you have. Now, I mentioned my client a few minutes ago and I just put a number out there. This wasn't the exact number by any stretch, but I said, you know, I just threw out there $1 million. You don't have to have $1 million. You don't have to have 500,000.

Speaker1:
I don't have a minimum amount of money at all that you have to have to be able to work with me. And you might hear advisors on TV or on the radio or on podcasts or whatever that say, if you have X number of dollars at least, then you can work with me. That's not the way I operate. I operate to help people. And so that is what I want to do, and I want to do that for you. Take pride in retirement. Com is the website take pride in retirement. Com you can schedule that free no obligation consultation there. You can also give me a call 85524692118552469211. Well that is going to be it for this edition of the show. I thank you once again for joining me. I really do appreciate it each and every time you're able to spend some time with me. Because, as I say, you could be doing anything. And the fact that you're spending time with me, hopefully learning something, getting something positive out of the show just means a whole lot. And, um, my, uh, you know, thoughts and and all the positive energy heading your way, uh, no matter what your situation is and no matter how you are reacting to the things that have happened this past week, I really do appreciate you taking time out to join me and to hopefully learn more, as I say about your retirement. So until the next time around, take pride in yourselves and take care of each other. We'll see you next time.

Speaker2:
Thanks for listening to Take Pride in Retirement. Members of the LGBTQ+ 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 46 9211 or go online to take pride in retirement. 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. Matt McClure, an active wealth management, are not affiliated with or endorsed by the Social Security Administration or any other government agency.

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 disclosures of any conflicts of interest. Please refer to our firm brochure, the Adv2 to item four for additional information. 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.

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