From Fear to Freedom: Building a Retirement Plan That Lasts

TPIR Ep 118 Full Show.mp3: Audio automatically transcribed by Sonix

TPIR Ep 118 Full Show.mp3: this mp3 audio file was automatically transcribed by Sonix with the best speech-to-text algorithms. This transcript may contain errors.

Speaker 1:
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.

Speaker 2:
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.

Speaker 1:
Well, hello there and welcome to another edition of Take Pride in Retirement. Matt McClure here with you, your host, your advisor, your friend, your pal and your confidant. Thanks so much for being a part of things, as always.

Speaker 2:
And I am Josh retinal, the attache to the advisor, aka co-host, aka Matt's hubby.

Speaker 1:
Indeed. And today's episode is about something. I think that people feel this a lot, but they don't talk about it openly or honestly. Really.

Speaker 2:
Yeah, this one feels a little heavier than some of the other ones.

Speaker 1:
Yeah. And it is. But you know, we're not it's not going to be all doom and gloom. We're talking about the number one fear that Americans have when it comes to retirement. And spoiler alert, it is not death. So we're not talking death here today. We'll mention it. But that's not the not the subject. Um, but thank you for listening and or watching this show. Really do appreciate it. Like this video. If you're on YouTube, subscribe to the channel, please. We would love that. Leave a comment. That really helps the algorithm. Um, and, you know, start a conversation about all these different things that we talk about here on the show. And also a couple of different things I want you to do as well. Subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts. That's number one. Number two. Also follow us on social media. Take Pride in Retirement is all over the place on Instagram, on threads, on blue sky, on all the things. So just follow us there. Really would appreciate that. And go to the website, take pride in retirement.com. Take pride in retirement.com. You can sign up there for a free consultation. It's absolutely free 100% of any, uh, free of any cost, free of any obligation. So I'd appreciate it if you would do that. You can also give me a call if you'd like, 85524692178552469211. We'll give that number away here, um, in just a little bit as well as in several, several different times as we go through the show, uh, now, but all right, so let's get into it here.

Speaker 2:
All right, so the fear that won't go away. So you got my attention with that. If it's not death, what is it?

Speaker 1:
Aha. I teed it up. Um the, the fear the number one fear. And this has been something that is not new, uh, fear, but it keeps getting proven over and over again in surveys like this, according to a brand new survey, um, 67% of Americans. So about two thirds of Americans say they fear outliving their money more than death itself. And so it's as I say, it's not new. That's actually been the top answer for what is it, five straight years. And the gap is actually the widest that it's ever been.

Speaker 2:
Mm. As my late mother would say. Well that's interesting. Kind of staggering. Right.

Speaker 1:
It is pretty staggering. I mean, it's like, you know, if you um think about it, it really does tell us something that's important here. It's not just a financial issue, it's a stress issue. It's an emotional issue. People are worried about losing their independence. They're losing their you know, it's got a lot to do with dignity. It's got a lot to do with control over your life as well. So yeah, it's, it's a big deal.

Speaker 2:
And I would imagine that fear hits differently for our community, for the LGBTQ plus folks, right?

Speaker 1:
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, you know, we always say, no matter who you are or where you come from, how much money you have, who you love, how you identify any of those things. You deserve a retirement you can take pride in. And this is one of those things that kind of can chip away at that and even chip away at like your confidence in being able to have that retirement. Because if you're constantly worried about this, this big dark cloud that's looming over you, it's, it's not a good feeling. And so a lot of people in our community live alone, for example, or at least more likely to more likely to not have kids who can, you know, take care of them in their old age, uh, to rely on either financially or from a care standpoint. And they face, you know, systemic financial barriers over time. So that idea of running out of money isn't just a scary one, which obviously it is, but it can feel very personal as well.

Speaker 2:
So why isn't this getting any better? Because we've got so much more information than ever. More tools, more awareness.

Speaker 1:
Yeah. And yet, as you point out, that fear keeps growing. And a couple of reasons. I mean, one, people are living longer, right? Life expectancy on average, about 79 years old, according to some recent numbers. But of course, many people live into their 80s and 90s. And we've got more people now living to 100 than we have, um, probably, possibly ever, at least as far as I'm aware here. Um, inflation still hitting hard. So you've got, you know, prices rising over that longer lifespan. And health care costs are kind of leading the way really as far as rising prices. Pensions have mostly disappeared. If you missed our last episode, we talk about building a personal pension. Great episode to go back and listen to, especially as we, you know, talk about how this the disappearance of pensions really adds to that anxiety of running out of money. Uh, over, over time. And then, you know, Social Security, there's some uncertainty there about the the stability of the program, the trust fund, possible benefit reductions in the future if nothing changes, which we've talked about on the show before as well. So a lot of different things there that lead to this anxiety really hanging around.

Speaker 2:
So it's like more years to fund higher cost and less certainty.

Speaker 1:
Right, right. It's, it's kind of like a perfect storm of elements, you know, coming together and just creating that a lot of turmoil for people.

Speaker 2:
Yeah. And when you say people are afraid of running out of money, what are they really worried about underneath all of that?

Speaker 1:
Well, that's a, that's actually a really good question. Um, you know, the data gives us a kind of a deeper look at kind of what underlies this and kind of the other concerns that people have that lead them to that fear of, of running out of money. And the number one fear when we're talking about that is long term care needs. You know, that is, um, and that's huge because, you know, most of us are going to need long term care. Medicare doesn't pay for it. So you've got to have a plan that accounts for that. And there are different ways to, to do that, whether it's through long term care insurance, whether it's through, um, you know, say an annuity contract or a life insurance contract that has living benefits there. So if you are confined to a long term care facility that you can, um, go into that with having a way to pay for it for, for example. Um, and then that's followed closely by cuts to social security. People are worried about those and then also, uh, outliving their savings as well. And so a lot of concerns kind of underlie underlying and underpinning that overall concern of running out of money more than death itself.

Speaker 2:
So it's not just money, it's what money has to cover.

Speaker 1:
Yeah. Um, that's absolutely right. It's the specific things that people are, um, really scared of not being able to pay for. I mean, the average assisted living cost is about 6000 ish a month according to recent numbers, and that's more than $70,000 a year. And that's just the average really. I mean, it gets really, really expensive.

Speaker 2:
And that's not sustainable for most people without a plan, right?

Speaker 1:
I mean, and that's the point people, especially the closer you get to retirement people, that becomes real for people. And they know that. And that's that's borne out in the numbers here.

Speaker 2:
And so if people are this worried or do they at least have something to do about it, like is there what can they do?

Speaker 1:
Well, they aren't doing too much, at least not as much as you would expect right now. Um, and so only about 29% of Americans, uh, are regularly planning for retirement, just about 31% work with a financial professional or a licensed advisor to help them plan for their retirement. And so those are not, um, not great signs that people are actually doing anything.

Speaker 2:
So most people are just running around in fear without a plan.

Speaker 1:
Yeah. I mean, if you look at it, I mean, it's like fear without a plan is just anxiety really. But if you have fear and you create a plan to address that fear, you get that clarity, you get that peace of mind.

Speaker 2:
And that's a big difference.

Speaker 1:
Huge, huge difference. And, you know, for LGBTQ plus folks as well, the planning gap can be even more dangerous because of the lack of those safety nets, you know, that are traditional that we talk about a lot here in many cases. And there's often less margin for error among LGBTQ plus folks as well.

Speaker 2:
Yeah. Well, let's shift gears here just for a second. So if someone's listening and thinking, yep, that's me. What can they actually do?

Speaker 1:
Yeah. Uh, if you have those fears, you can actually take those, use those as motivation to actually do something right. You can turn that fear into action. Um, and so the kind of the first Step really is to know your real numbers. And when I say that, I don't mean just like, oh, your account balances and that kind of, oh, I have this much in my 401 K. I've got this much in my IRA. That's great to know, but know what that looks like when you take that big number and turn that into monthly income. So that's, that's, I think a big, a big first step, getting that idea taken care of.

Speaker 2:
Yeah. So it's not just about that big number. It's about the paycheck.

Speaker 1:
Yes. And, and, you know, it's about the paycheck. And it's also about the play check. As uh, Tom Hegna puts it, it's the it's paychecks and paychecks. You know, you can create both, uh, with products and again, go back and listen to the previous episode, one episode before this one. Um, talking about personal pension, how to build that with an annuity. Um, it's like really, uh, you know, a great, great tool and something that's, as we said during the episode, very misunderstood. Um, number two here, address that long term care concern head on. You can get long term care insurance. It can help protect against that big, big risk for you of just not being able to pay for the very, very expensive long term care. And it's often more affordable than people might think. And, you know, talking potentially a fraction, just a tiny, tiny little fraction of the cost of one month in a care facility. Um, that is just so like jaw dropping when people say, oh, I can have a policy that will cover all of my costs in long term care facility, like for months or years in a long term care facility. But the initial cost of that insurance could only be a fraction of what I would pay just for one month in that facility. That can be a game changer. Talk about giving you a lot of peace of mind and more money in your pocket. That's a good, good thing, right? Um, then what you need to do, build an income plan, right? You've got Social Security, you've got your investments, right? Your 401 K, your IRA, any you know, if you've got a brokerage account that's just a regular investment account, you've got those investments, possibly the annuity piece that I've been talking about and mentioning here and there for guaranteed income, that personal pension, the goal of all of this is predictable and sustainable income and not just guessing, not just, you know, throwing at the wall and seeing what sticks.

Speaker 2:
Yeah. And this feels like one of those areas where having a, you know, someone like you for guidance really matters.

Speaker 1:
It absolutely does. I am, um, obviously, you know, I'm a big proponent of having a, an advisor, somebody who knows what in the world they're talking about, who does this each and every day, uh, help you out with coming up with this because it's not something like these, obviously, the fears are very real. So you want a real plan to address those very real fears, right? And so you want a professional, somebody who does this, as I say, all the time, and a good advisor can help you connect those dots. Like there may be things in your current situation that should be connected, that aren't connected, or that the dots are not connected. They're not, you know, connected on the page. They're not connected in your brain or in your plan. Um, they, a good advisor can help you avoid any big costly mistakes that you might make. Build a strategy that fits your life and your, um, life style that you want to lead. I mean, it really is something that can just be, it can make all the difference in the world. It really, really can.

Speaker 2:
So the fear itself that that isn't the problem, right?

Speaker 1:
That fear is the symptom, you know, and I mean, it's like, you know, you can treat the symptom or do you want to treat the underlying problem? Well, if you treat the underlying problem, then you can actually address the symptom. And if fear can actually be useful, like I said, it's that motivation. It can be that signal. It's that red flashing light telling you to do something about this. You know, it's telling you that this matters and it's calling on you. It's telling you to take action. And so the danger is ignoring that. And so and by the way, I wanted to I did want to mention, too, that these numbers that we mentioned earlier did come from an aliens survey. So I wanted to make sure to mention that in case people wanted to kind of look that up and check those numbers there and get more information about the overall survey here. Um, but, you know, I mean, the numbers bear this out. And this aliens survey was not the only one to show it by far. There have been many, many surveys to show that the number one fear of retirees is outliving their money even more than death itself. And if that fear is, you know, of outliving your money, if you're watching or if you're listening, keeps kind of showing up for you. If you lay your head down at night and you're like, I can't get a good night's sleep because this is, you know, retirement is creeping up on me.

Speaker 1:
And I don't know that I'm going to be able to live the rest of my life on what I have. Don't let that be something that just sits there and stews and and all of that, right. If you don't have a plan for it, let's fix that. Let's let's fix it, you know? Call or go to the website and I'll give you the website and the number in just a sec. But if you reach out for that consultation, I can take a deep dive into your current financial situation. I can translate that to English so that it makes sense to you. We could actually translate what you have into real usable income. Like, you know, to take that one big number that you've got and say, okay, here's what it's going to look like if we turn this into income and we can show you different ways that you can still get growth and get income and all those things, identify the risks that may be there underlying your current plan. Long term care, like we were talking about inflation as well. Build that personalized income strategy just for you for your retirement. So you can have those paychecks and those paychecks so that you can actually enjoy your retirement and give you that peace of mind and, you know, give you clear answers and not not guesswork, right? You don't want to just be guessing at your retirement. I mean, it's too important. It's too important to just leave it up to chance.

Speaker 1:
It all starts with just a simple conversation. And I want you to go to the website, take pride in retirement.com. Take pride in retirement.com. You can click on the Get Your Plan button. That's up there up there on the upper right hand part of the screen. You can also give me a call, 85524692118552469211. And um, yeah, if listen, if you are unsure about your retirement picture, your retirement income picture and whether you're going to be able to have an income that you're not going to outlive. Uh, give me a call or go to the website. I'd appreciate that. And also like and subscribe, subscribe below. Sultry subscribe, I love it. Yes. And if you want to listen, if you like this episode, please do us a favor. Share it with someone who might need to hear it too. Because that's what this podcast is for. It's absolutely right. We do this for you out there in, in podcast land and in YouTube land and social media land so that you can have a retirement you can take pride in. It's right there in the name of the show. So there we go. Yeah, yeah, it's, it's, uh, it's almost like I named it that on purpose. Look at that. I am a piece of work, let me tell you. Well, um. Well, Mr. Attache, uh, thank you for being a part of things, as always, keeping me on track and asking those clarifying questions, I appreciate it.

Speaker 1:
Thank you, Mr. McClure. Nice doing business with you, Miss Morgan. All right. So, uh, thank you for listening and or watching the show. Really do appreciate it as well. Again, we say it and we sing it. At least Josh sings it. Uh, like and subscribe. Really do appreciate that. Uh, if you would do that, uh, on all the different places, the socials, the YouTubes and the podcast channels, uh, and just spread the word about take pride in retirement. And until next time, take pride in yourselves and take care of each other. We'll see you then. Thanks for listening. To Take Pride in Retirement, members of the LGBTQ plus community deserve to work with the fiduciary financial advisor who puts their needs first. To schedule a free, no obligation consultation with Matt McClure and the team at Active Wealth Management, call (855) 246-9211 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. Any comments regarding safe and secure investments and guaranteed income streams refer only to fixed insurance products. They do not in any way refer to investment advisory products. Rates and guarantees provided by insurance products and annuities are subject to the financial strength of the issuing insurance company, not guaranteed by any bank or the FDIC.

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