Inflation, Income and Pride

Episode 31: Audio automatically transcribed by Sonix

Episode 31: 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+ 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 take pride in retirement. Matt McClure here with you. I am your pal and your confidant, your good buddy, your friend, your advisor, all of the things I thank you so much for taking time to listen each and every week. When we put a new one of these episodes out, I am going to tell you it has been such a fantastic week. Um, I was at as many of you know, if you were listening to the show in previous weeks, I had been announcing, you know, trying to build up the momentum and the excitement for Atlanta Pride. Uh, had a booth in the marketplace at Atlanta Pride this past weekend. And I have to say, it was just insanely wonderful. It was such a great time. It was such a, um, I don't know, it was just such a wonderful experience to get to meet so many people, people who had listened to the show previously, people who, you know knew what I was doing but maybe had not listened to the show, people that I knew actually saw a great friend of mine that I graduated high school with that I haven't seen in almost 20 years. Um, and so it was just fantastic. And then also to introduce new people to the show and to what we do.

Speaker1:
And I've had so many meetings this week with people who are like, okay, I want to know more. I want to know more about the things that you talk about on the show. I want to know more about the services that you can provide to help, you know me, make a retirement and build a retirement that I can take pride in. That is just so fulfilling, so encouraging. And, you know, I just can't say enough about how wonderful this past week was. And this whole entire week has been both before, during and after Atlanta Pride. So if I met you, thank you for tuning in. Now, after meeting me at Atlanta Pride, I really do appreciate it. Please subscribe. Please leave some great reviews for us. I would love that. And you know that helps the algorithm and helps us, you know, spread the word to more folks. The show is entirely about you as a human being. No matter who you are, where you come from, who you love, how you identify, how much money you have, it does not matter. I want to help you. And that really is what the show is about. You know, it's about spreading the word that there are options out there for everyone when it comes to retirement. No matter what your situation is and no matter who you are or any of the other things that I just mentioned there, whatever categories you might fall into, those things that we like to use as human beings to define ourselves, right? No matter what your definition is, I want to help you both through the show and by offering you my services.

Speaker1:
I am a fiduciary. I am a financial advisor. I work here in the Atlanta area. But if you are in, you know, Walla Walla, Washington or wherever, uh, we'll do a zoom meeting. Let's do a zoom call or whatever, you know, Google Meet or Microsoft Teams or whatever. Uh, Skype, if that's your thing. Uh, that seems like fewer people are using Skype these days. But if you want to use Skype, I'll do it. Or on the phone or whatever. I would love to speak with you regarding your retirement. How how I can help you build a better one. Build one that you can take pride in. If you want to set up a consultation, all you have to do it's very, very easy. Just go to the website. Take Pride in retirement.com. That's take pride in retirement. All one word.com. And then you can click the Schedule a consultation button. It's right there at the top of your screen.

Speaker1:
And I will be glad to meet with you that that schedule a consultation button actually takes you directly into my calendar. And so you can see real time availability of when we can meet. There are options for in-person and remote, and so I would love to be able to meet with you either of those ways, either in person or remote, and come up with a plan, you know, learn more about you, then come up with a plan based on your individual situation so that you can know that you're on the right track and that you can generate an income in retirement that you cannot outlive. Those are the big goals, and those are the things that I love to do for folks. And I love to take something that's complicated, like retirement planning and like, you know, planning for income and retirement planning for all of the different scenarios and situations that may come up because there are so many things that we can't control in life. Let's get together and control the things that we can. And I can show you what those things are and how you can control them, that it really is what it boils down to. So go to take pride in retirement. Com you can also call me that's, uh, reminds me of that old, uh, thing on family Guy.

Speaker1:
Call me. Um, 85524692118552469211. And I'll be glad to, uh, return your call there, get a meeting, set up, or answer any questions you might have. I'm also on the socials. Look me up on Facebook, take pride in retirement. Same deal on Insta or also on YouTube with special show highlights and things. There different aspects of things on the show, and I also do some bonus episodes here on the podcast feed as well. Um, each and every week, pretty much with interviews that I've done with some great folks on different subjects. So all that being said, that big spiel leads me into what in the world are we going to talk about today? Well, if you clicked on the episode, you probably know It's all about inflation and Social Security. This week you mentioned Social Security and the cost of living adjustment in last week's show. Going to go into that kind of reiterate just a little bit of that this week, but then also get into retirement income and inflation and how you can have have sort of a hedge against inflation for your retirement. We'll talk about that. But first let's get some inspiration for our conversation, shall we. We'll do that as we do each and every week with our 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 the one and only Chaz Bono. Yes, Chaz Bono, the son of Cher, not the son of Sam, the son of Cher. Chaz Bono said this fears are not facts. Fears are not facts. I love that because it goes hand in hand with the things that we talk about each and every week, right? Each and every time here on the show, we talk about how I want you to be prepared for retirement. Not scared of it. So many people who I meet with have met with, will continue to meet with, I'm sure are people who have, you know, concerns about retirement. You know, we all have concerns about our retirement, our retirement plan, our retirement years. Am I going to have enough money to last as long as I last? Am I going to run out in retirement? Very legitimate concerns. Right? So all of those things are are very concerning. But with some prior with some proper prior planning, I should say proper prior planning, you can prevent pitifully poor performance. Or however that saying goes but you can do it. If you do have the proper prior planning, you can be prepared and not scared. And so that's really what the show boils down to, is being prepared before retirement gets here. You know, if you find yourself up against retirement without any sort of formal plan in place, you can be in a very fearful position, a very fearful frame of mind, right? Because you just don't know what is happening, what's going on in your life.

Speaker1:
And you don't you can't predict the future, really. None of us can predict the future, but you can prepare yourself for the future no matter what happens with the plan. And you might say, oh, well, I've got a plan. I've got a 401 K. That's my plan. Well, no, that's a type of retirement account. But that's not the same thing as a plan. Oh, man. I work for the federal government and I have a I have a TSP. That's a that's my plan. Again, that's really a type of account. Not so much a plan. Same thing with an IRA. A 403 b even a, you know, a Roth IRA, that kind of thing. Those are good elements to have as part of your plan, but they are not a retirement plan. So if you want to get a full plan in place, you just go to take pride in retirement. Com that's take pride in retirement.com. Click on schedule a consultation and I'll be glad to meet with you and talk with you about your situation and exactly what the the deal is. And hopefully we can get a better plan in place for you. Or you could be actually just kind of psyching yourself out a little bit and you could be on the right track, you could be in a good place. And if that's the case, I'll tell you now, that's my job as a fiduciary is to really be, uh, always working with your best interests in mind.

Speaker1:
If you're a client or, you know, a prospect, even someone who is, is possibly working with me or someone who does work with me, I have to act in your best interest, not my own. That is the very definition of a fiduciary responsibility, right? So that is what I do as a fiduciary each and every day act on the best interests of my clients, the people who I work with. Hopefully I can add you to that number. And if not, as I say, I will tell you what's in your best interests and say, oh, I think you might actually be on the right track, or I think you might want to see, you know, somebody else who could help you, maybe a little bit more than I could. If you have a very specific situation, you know, I mean, there are so many options and so many things out there that I can help you with, though, that I am confident we can find some way to make your situation better. But if that's not the case, I will direct you in whatever direction you need to go, because that's the kind of guy I am and I'm a fiduciary. So there we go. So facts don't have anything to do with your fears, right? Fears are not facts. As Chaz Bono said. And I say, be prepared, not scared for your retirement.

Speaker1:
That's how all that ties in this time around. All right, so, you know, last week we mentioned Social Security, the cost of living adjustment going up 2.5%. That's the Cola for Social Security. And no, it's not, you know, Coca-Cola or Pepsi or RC Cola or any of the Colas. This is the cost of living Adjustment Cola, and it happens each and every year. Well, I should say each and every year there's a possibility of a Cola, right? There's a possibility of an increase in your Social Security benefits when you start claiming. And I'll say that there's a possibility because if there is no significant inflation, if there is no inflation, in other words, then there will be no cost of living adjustment. We've had that over the past ten years. It's maybe happened once or twice. It does happen on occasion. More often than not, though, there is an increase in Social Security benefits This year, 2.5%. That's the lowest since 2021. And it's kind of a two edged sword, right? You've got the fact that the reason that the cost of living adjustment is not as big as it's been in in recent years is a good reason inflation has come down. But that also means that your increase in your cost of living adjustment for Social Security recipients, beneficiaries, that is not going up as much, you know, as a result. So a little bit of a trade off there. But the 2.5% Cola is less than that 3.2% adjustment that people received in 2024.

Speaker1:
But it's roughly in line with the historical norm. You know, it's averaged 2.6% over the last 20 years. So there we go. In 2023, there was the largest Cola largest increase in the cost of living adjustment Now in decades. I mean, since the early 80s, because inflation was so high, it was almost 9% that year. For 2023, beneficiaries saw an 8.7% increase that particular year. And the Social Security Administration will actually apply the 2025 Cola to the December 2024 payment. But because it pays Social Security checks the month after the month they're due, you won't actually get the first new amount that increased amount until January. So of course, you know, they have to kind of make it confusing a little bit. And here's the thing too. If you have questions about your benefits, if you're a current Social Security beneficiary or if you're not, because and I say this to people who are not Social Security beneficiaries yet I say this because it's such a huge part of your retirement plan. It should not be your entire retirement plan. You know, I was talking a few minutes ago about your 401 is not a retirement plan. It's a it's a retirement, um, vehicle. It's a retirement account, but it is not a retirement plan. Right. That in mind, Social Security is not a retirement plan. It was never meant to be. It was never intended to be a retirement plan.

Speaker1:
It was. It was intended to be an income supplement. And as a matter of fact, when Social Security was first introduced back, uh, you know, in the New Deal era, the FDR days, you were supposed to have been dead for a couple of years before you could even start claiming Social Security back then. So it was not meant to be as huge of a program as it is now, at least as far as the amount of payouts and everything. And the ratios have really changed too. But the number of people paying into Social Security versus the number of recipients, mainly because of the baby boomer generation. There are so many baby boomers now who are claiming Social Security and the following generations. Those of us who are paying in still are not, you know, as in as high a number of individuals paying into the system as those who are claiming. So, at least as compared to previous years, that ratio keeps getting more and more lopsided, in other words. And so that is kind of the situation of why we're looking at some potential issues with Social Security in the future over the next decade or so. You know, it's expected to run out of money. The the Social Security Trust Fund, the Old Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund is expected to run out of money. And so they're going to have to cut benefits unless something is done, something should be done.

Speaker1:
But Social Security, again, such a big part of your retirement plan should be. And so you need to take that income into consideration and make sure that you are taking all the different aspects of it into consideration. When should I start filing? When should I take my benefits? What is that going to mean for me if I have a spouse, what's that going to mean for the both of us? Should one of us claim before the other? It's important to take a look at both of those issues at the same time, and then put that plan in place, and then put that plan in motion. All right. And if you want to get a plan that includes a Social Security maximization report, I would be glad to do that for you. Just go to take pride in retirement.com. That's take pride in retirement.com schedule an initial consultation absolutely free of any cost and any obligation. I would love, love, love to have you be a part of this growing sort of family that we have here now of folks who are looking to have a retirement that they can take pride in. That's really what it is all about. I love coming up with plans to give people in the LGBTQ plus community and beyond safety and growth, and then turning that nest egg that you build up into retirement income in those retirement years. Take pride in retirement once again is the website.

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

Speaker1:
You know, it's been a minute since I've done an inflation demonstration on the show, but we're going to do one this time around because the price growth that is price growth, no price growth is continuing to impact Americans despite cooling inflation. Saw this in CNBC and wanted to bring it to your attention. Inflation is cooling but it's still upending people's retirement plans potentially. So you need to have a hedge against inflation. We'll talk about that more momentarily. And you know the pace of inflation has has subsided from its peak in, you know, 2022 when in the middle of 2022, a little over two years ago, it was 9.1% in June of 2022. 9.1% year over year inflation. The fed wants it to be around 2%. So yeah, that wasn't happening back in 2022. Now we're closer to that. We're down right about 3% or so. So we're much closer to that target right now. And that's why the fed has started to bring down interest rates right. That's why interest rates went up. The fed wanted to cool off the economy so that you can bring supply and demand back into better balance. And then that would then, you know, hopefully bring down the rate of inflation. And then they could start bringing down interest rates. Well now we're starting to see that bear out right in the actual, uh, interest rate situation. The fed is starting to bring those down now as things improve in the economy. But people are still making significant changes not only to their daily spending but to their retirement plans.

Speaker1:
Prudential out with a survey here recently that showed many respondents say that they are going to Outlive their savings. At least that's what they're worried about. And that includes 67% of people age 55, 59% of 65 year olds, and 52% of 75 year olds. So the younger you are, of course, the longer time horizon you have to worry about, right? And so the more worried you are about outliving your money. Now, my goal is no matter who you are or where you come from, who you love, how you identify, how much money you have. I don't care about any of those things. I care about helping you have a retirement that you can take pride in. So that is what the goal is. So we got some growth in our prices that we're paying. Unfortunately, Social Security recipients, as we were mentioning earlier, have some growth in their monthly benefit amount But you still need more than that to combat inflation. The cost of living adjustment. Really? You know, there's a lot of question as to whether or not it actually keeps up with the real pace of inflation. Some economists say, you know, it's kind of close. Others say no, it doesn't keep up at all. And so what do you do, especially knowing that that's the case, that there's some, you know, disagreement there as to whether or not the cost of living adjustment actually does keep pace with the real rising costs of things that, you know, we have to buy to live, you know, including health care and things like that.

Speaker1:
Health care costs have just skyrocketed over the past, you know, few decades, definitely, and have continued that upward trend. So what do you do? Well, you need especially and here's the thing, because so many people asked this when I was at pride and I love sharing this with folks and I'll share it here. I've shared it before on the show, but I'll share it again because it's so important to me. The reason that I do what I do, and the reason that I wanted to reach out to my community, the LGBTQ plus community in particular, is because everyone's life and situation is different. Now, that's true of everybody. But at the same time, the diversity of the LGBTQ plus community goes so far beyond, I feel like society as a whole kind of. There are people from all walks of life as part of our community. There are people from all different places, all different countries, all different, um, you know, backgrounds as far as their socioeconomic situation, different backgrounds of all types, different identities, different marital situations. Up until 2015, we didn't even have the opportunity to get married nationwide. My husband and I luckily lived in New York at the time. We got married back in 2011, so we were able to have our wedding in our very own church in New York, and we were one of the very first actual, you know, legal same sex marriages in New York in 2011.

Speaker1:
It was an absolute honor to to do that and to marry the love of my life in that place and in that time. And then it was about four years later when the Supreme Court ruled in the Obergefell v Hodges decision that there was a nationwide right to marriage, regardless of your gender, regardless of your sexual orientation, all of those things. So, you know, I mean, you know, your marital status is a thing. A lot of people have chosen to remain unmarried. A lot of people have chosen to get married but still file taxes, maybe separately. You know, the whole married filing separately situation. Maybe that makes more sense for them. You know, it could make more sense for you to do that, depending on your your particulars of your situation. But the reason that I do what I do is because I love solving people's problems, and I love helping people out regardless of their situations. This is this is the other part of it, too. I feel like most financial advisors are because it's such a it's it's very much and I love my I love my industry and I love so many people who work in this industry. But at the same time, it's a lot of times very focused on a husband and wife situation. Two and a half kids, the white picket fence, the dog and the cat and the, you know, your typical American family.

Speaker1:
As if you're watching an episode of Lassie from 1955, you know, that, that sort of idea, that kind of thing. And so when you have that in mind and you know that that's fine. And that's actually great. That's wonderful. If that is your family and that's your situation. I don't mean to sound negative about that at all, but what I will say is that if that's not your situation, a lot of times, and I've heard this story and this experience many, many times, people would go into a financial advisor and they would say, oh, so what is your what is your wife do? Like, are you are you married? Yes. Okay. What does your wife do. Oh well this is this is actually this is my husband right here. And and and then the mood completely changes. They don't understand. They don't quite get it. All of that. And and there could be some bias there as well. Same situation where, you know, if a woman were to go in or someone who's non-binary or whatever the situation. And so I just approach everything with an open mind and being part of the community really helps with that. I am part of the community. I understand I've seen so many different situations and I want to help you no matter what your situation is. So take pride in retirement. Dot com is the place to go. Take pride in retirement.com. Click on the Schedule a consultation button.

Speaker1:
It's absolutely free of any cost and any obligation. I just want to help you and we'll sit down. I'll get to know you and your situation, find out more about you, and then start working on a plan, and then we can move forward if you decide that it's the right thing for you. If if you like. And trust me and I like you and I feel like I can help out your situation, that's the standard. Really. If I can do better for you, let's let's do it. Let's work together. Take pride in retirement.com. Of course, once again is that website. But here's the thing. I want to go quickly here through three reasons that you need to meet with me. Three reasons you need to go to take pride in retirement. Com and meet with someone who understands you and who if I haven't been in the exact same situation as you, which you know, chances are I haven't been in the exact same situation as you. The chances are I have seen a situation similar to yours, or experienced something similar to you, or at the very least, am willing to understand your situation rather than just show you the door like so many other people might be. Right. Um, that I feel like should give you some peace of mind. And so I want to help. So here are three reasons why you need to meet with me and protect your retirement savings from inflation. Because the compounding effect of past inflation is number one.

Speaker1:
And it really is such a concern and something that it's easy to, to overlook. You know, previous inflation has already led to higher prices for goods and services. And even if inflation rates stabilize, we're not talking about prices actually going down. Most of the time that would be deflation, which is not usually a good thing. But if inflation rates stabilize That still means that you're paying the higher prices, because past inflation has already led prices to be higher. So even if inflation doesn't go up by much from here, you're still here, right? You've still seen inflation go up. So that forces retirees to spend more to maintain their previous standard of living. Increased retirement expenses. The consumer price index rose roughly 22.5% over recent years. So retirees are facing significantly higher costs for the same goods and services. And that means an increase in annual spending. And then third, reduced purchasing power goes hand in hand with those other two, right? The increased cost of living means that your dollar does not go as far as it used to, and that diminishes your ability to sustain your current lifestyle. You don't want outside forces like inflation, especially forcing you into a lifestyle change and eating away at your financial security. So having a strong income plan matters. And and you know, I brought up the different situations that people, especially in the LGBTQ plus community find themselves in a lot of the time. And and here's another sort of reason why you need a plan.

Speaker1:
Because everybody's situation is different. And I feel like just based on my observation, this is my opinion that we in the LGBTQ plus community, because there's so much uncertainty around us and kind of always has been because our if we if you are married as I am, your marriage hinges on a single vote on the Supreme Court. And so there's that uncertainty. There's the fact that, you know, laws can change and be, um, you know, things can can always, uh, be altered in the law or via court rulings or all of these other things and even just, you know, based on who wins the presidential election, perhaps, you know, federal government policies at the different agencies and the executive branch could change, and that could really affect what happens. So there's always so much uncertainty. So what I love providing people is certainty. And so you want a strong income plan. You want income that is guaranteed for the rest of your life. Building up a great nest egg. And that accumulation phase of your life is wonderful. If you have, you know, you know, $1 million. Oh my gosh, that is amazing. If you don't have anywhere near that, if you don't have anywhere near $500,000, if you don't have anywhere near $100,000, that is fine. We can get you there. But once you've built up that nest egg, what are you going to live on? What are you going to use to then live on the rest of your life? I can come up with a plan for you and working with you that'll say, okay, here is what you can live on, and here is what we can generate in income for you and that income will be guaranteed for the rest of your life.

Speaker1:
Write the absolute rest of your life, guaranteed by the insurance carrier. The annuity carrier. The whatever carrier we we use there. Um, but that but the carrier guarantees that that payout is going to continue for the rest of your life, no matter how long that life is. If you live to be 120, you'll get that income until you're 120 years old. There are so many different options for that and for growth inside that particular account and all of those things. I would love to talk with you about it. I want to start taking a look at your portfolio, your assets, discuss your financial goals and your vision for retirement. Take a look at your current plan. Walk you through the recommended plan that we come up with for you, and answer as many questions as you have about your retirement. All you have to do to start along that road is just go to the website. As I said, take pride in retirement. Com take pride in retirement.com. Click on the Schedule a consultation button there at the top of the window. You can also call me if you would like 855246 9211. That's (855) 246-9211.

Speaker1:
All right folks, well that is going to do it for this edition of Take Pride in Retirement. I hope you've enjoyed it. I hope you've gotten something from it and have maybe learned a thing or two. Um, and yeah, continue to spread the word. I really do appreciate you spending time with me. I know I say this every, every episode, but I really and truly mean it. You could be doing anything right now. The fact that you are listening to my voice means the world to me. You're taking time out to listen to me, hopefully because you enjoy listening to the show, and hopefully because you are getting information that you can use from the show, or maybe some inspiration, maybe just, you know, lighting a fire underneath you to to get you to take action. And really, you haven't made a decision about anything unless you've taken action. So take action on planning for your future. Today. I want it to be one that you can take pride in. All right. Take pride in retirement. Dot com is the website. I would love to provide you with a free consultation and see how we can get to those guarantees that we discussed on today's show for you in your life. There are so few of those out there. Let's control the things we can control and get to the guarantees. All right, well, that's going to do it again for this time around. But until next time, take pride in yourselves and take care of each other.

Speaker2:
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. 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. Matt McClure and 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. 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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