Staying Financially Strong in Uncertain Times: LGBTQ+ Wealth & Well-Being

Episode 41: Audio automatically transcribed by Sonix

Episode 41: 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 once again, and welcome to another edition of Take Pride in Retirement. Matt McClure here with you, your advisor, your buddy, your friend, your pal and your confidant. I really do appreciate you joining me each and every time. We have the pleasure to get together. And I do consider it a pleasure and an honor every time that I am able to do the show. Because, you know, it really just is kind of humbling that I even get to do this and get to, you know, really just help my community. This is the show that's geared toward the LGBTQ plus community when it comes to financial planning and retirement planning, and I hope that you get something out of it each and every single week. And I know that I get something out of it each and every week as well. Um, you know, we try to have on a lot of great guests, uh, as well, going to be doing that more and more here in 2025. It's kind of one of my New Year's resolutions, having on more guests because, you know, my my dulcet tones. I only take you so far. Uh, but I do have a great guest scheduled for the next episode of the show. We're going to record that next week. So, um, everybody stay tuned for that. I won't spoil it. I won't give too much away.

Speaker1:
But that is, uh, the the case. Um, you can always go, of course, to take pride in retirement, take pride in retirement to, uh, check out past episodes of the show. You can also look up, uh, how to contact me there. There's a contact form on the page. Read some more about me, watch some more about me. Um, and why I do what I do. Kind of the why behind all of this. And, uh. Yeah, I mean, there's a lot of great stuff there on Take Pride in Retirement. Com including a link directly into my calendar, which shows you my real time availability and allows you to set up an initial consultation with me. Do that if you will, and if anything sparks your interest on this particular episode of the show. All right, let's take Pride in retirement.com. You can also give me a call if you would like. 85524692 11 69211. All right. A lot of great stuff to come here on the show. Uh, today we're going to be talking about financial planning in uncertain economic and political times. Right. I'm not going to, you know, dwell on politics and all of that. Uh, too, too much. But it's sort of the background for the conversation today. So, yeah, it'll get a mention here. And we're going to focus more, though on the positive and how to stay resilient during difficult times.

Speaker1:
All right. That is going to be job number one for the show here today. So stay tuned for that. It's going to be um you know a lot of detail. And I really do think that this is probably one of the best, uh, or not best, but most important, uh, episodes of the show, at least so far. All right. We're going to talk about how to understand, uh, US market cycles, like just, you know, kind of understanding the ups and downs of the market like we've seen here lately. Um, also going to talk about some historical market corrections and crashes. Just to kind of put things in perspective, right. We got to have that perspective, taking a look back and then some steps to take to help keep yourself resilient during uncertain times. Um, also wanted to mention as well check us out on YouTube. Uh, the YouTube channel continues to grow. And, uh, that is something that I'm very grateful for. Just search for Take Pride in Retirement on the old YouTube. And of course I'm on the socials as well. Um, like us on Facebook, on Instagram. Give me a follow. Really would appreciate that as well. Okay, so we're going to get right into things and not delay any longer as we, uh, get some inspiration for our conversations this week with our quote of the week.

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

Speaker1:
This week's quote comes from Audre Lorde, who was an activist, professor, and poet, died back in 1992. But Audre Lorde said this when I dared to be powerful, to use my strength in service of my vision, it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid. I love that. Let me just give that to you one more time. When I dare to be powerful, to use my strength in service of my vision, it becomes less and less important. Whether I'm afraid you know someone who was really, at least on on the exterior, such a brave person and did so many things as an activist for minority communities, for LGBTQ, plus people as well, for someone to just kind of, you know, admit that on the inside. Yes, she's afraid, but doesn't let it really show on the outside because she's taking that step to be powerful, to use her strength in service of her vision. And so I think that that is powerful in and of itself, really, because we just need to take that kind of as inspiration. And I think that this particular moment in time is a time where we really need that. I feel like more than in recent history. Right. So, you know, there is a lot going on. And this, um, episode I think matters quite a bit because, you know, the economy is experiencing volatility. We've seen that in the stock market here very recently, um, with some ups and downs, you know, some potential trade wars breaking out and all of that, uh, potentially causing some economic turmoil.

Speaker1:
We got, you know, once again, egg prices are back in the news because of the bird flu that's widespread out there. Egg prices kind of at all time highs, you know, can probably trade your carton of eggs for a house in some places. Um, but it's kind of, you know, you're going to laugh to laugh, to keep from crying, sort of a situation when it comes to that. Um, but also, you know, LGBTQ+ individuals who really often face wage gaps and employment discrimination have to take extra care in securing their financial futures. We do securing our financial futures because I am, of course, a part of the community as well. But, you know, I mean, it really is important for everyone to weather this storm and to know how to weather the storm. But it's also, I think, even more important, at least in my humble opinion, for LGBTQ+ folks to take extra care in securing your finances because of those issues that I just mentioned. You know, wage gaps historically, employment discrimination, which, you know, we see in, you know, even from the federal government itself no longer recognizing basically that trans people exist. But they do. But only, you know, saying, okay, there's only two genders, basically, and all of that. So we see that in really employment discrimination, because I don't know how many trans people there are working for the federal government, but I would imagine hundreds if not thousands, potentially at least hundreds.

Speaker1:
And you can only imagine how that feels to have that coming from your boss, basically. So that leads, of course, to a lot of uncertainty on a personal level as well. Um, but, you know, for everyone, I think right now it's really important to understand that, yeah, the market has ups and the market has downs. They do not move in a straight line. It's cycles. Right. So those ups and those downs, you can actually sort of take that up and down kind of pattern and make it into a circle. Right. Because it is it is a cycle. So it's like, what is the market doing at any particular time? Well, history has shown us that the markets behave a certain way. Does that mean that we know, you know, with our crystal ball or whatever? Do we know like what the market's going to do tomorrow? No. But generally speaking, we have an idea because of what we have experienced in the past, what the market does over a longer period of time. So understanding the cycles of the market really does help you stay calm. And it helps you make smarter decisions. So there are four phases of a cycle in the financial markets. Number one is the accumulation phase right. This is where if things are going up it happens after the market has hit a rock bottom right.

Speaker1:
So think of after 2008 2009. You know, that time period, the financial crisis that led to the the Great Recession that then, you know, the markets after they hit rock bottom. Where did they go? They started to accumulate. They started to climb. So large institutional investors take this time to see opportunities to buy shares at lower prices. And prices may fluctuate, but they remain relatively stable. Again, 2008 2009. Right after that, the 2010 through really the Covid pandemic, just about with some exceptions in there. But you know, there were some down years, but we saw this sort of slow, steady climb over that time. Um, but, you know, smart investors really will start accumulating shares cautiously during that first phase, that accumulation phase. Then comes number two, the mark up phase. Now the market then begins to steadily climb as confidence comes back, more investors, including those who were hesitant previously, now jump in because they see people, you know, more and more people jumping in to the markets and investing. Prices rise rapidly. Market optimism then grows. The phase that we're talking about here often sees the biggest gains in the shortest amount of time. The distribution phase follows that. That's kind of the peak of the cycle. Investors begin, you know, selling their holdings. Prices sort of level off a bit. Market sentiment gets mixed. Some expecting continued growth, others anticipating a downturn.

Speaker1:
Right. So there's there's not really universal agreement as to what the markets are going to do. And so that creates obviously some uncertainty there. And people start to worry. And then people may start selling their shares to get out while the getting's good. To coin a phrase there. And then number four is the markdown phase. This is the downside of that roller coaster. The big scary hill on the roller coaster. The marked down phase. The decline begins as more investors start panic selling. Fear spreads and that causes downward momentum. And it kind of is a snowball effect. At that point, the market falls sharply, sometimes due to external triggers like geopolitical events or economic shifts. You know, we saw that in, again, 2008, 2009. We saw that, of course, in 2020, with the Covid pandemic and the big drop there. We'll go through a bunch of those kind of events that led to these big market downturns here momentarily. But what does this all mean for you? Well, you know, every market cycle has those ups and those downs and being prepared ahead of time, no matter who you are, where you come from, who you love, how you identify or how much money you have. As I always say, being prepared ahead of time can really help you avoid those kind of knee jerk reactions, right? And the emotional decisions that could have a negative impact on your future in retirement and even before.

Speaker1:
So you got to be prepared. Are you prepared for the next cycle shift? I can actually help you build a plan that includes a guaranteed lifetime income, regardless of market conditions. So, you know, go to take pride in retirement. That's take pride in retirement.com and click on the um make an appointment page there or schedule a consultation page there. I should say on that link. It's right at the top of the page, and you can go right into my calendar and schedule a consultation with me, and I'll take a look at your own personal situation. You know, here on the show I talk about things in general terms. This is like for educational purposes, um, and informational purposes for you, the who are listening, but I don't know your individual situation. So when I get to speak with you and meet with you one on one, that's when I can do a deep dive into your individual situation and really, you know, do my fiduciary duty, which is to act in your best interest. Right. So that is the goal. Go to take pride in retirement to make an appointment for that. Um, and so okay. As promised a history of stock market corrections and crashes here. You know, market downturns are to be expected, as we've said. But, you know, history shows that these are temporary kind of events, right? It's not forever.

Speaker1:
So let's look back at some of the historical, you know, significant market corrections and um, beyond beyond a correction, a market crash, really. And the biggest one that anybody, um, remembers or recalls through through history, reading about it in history books or if you were, maybe you were alive back then, who knows what was going on 100 years ago now. But if you if you were alive back then, I want to speak to you. Um, but it was the Great Depression, 1929. You know, the Dow lost nearly 90% over three years. Excessive speculation, lack of regulation played a role there as well, a big role. And you can see, you know, if you look back at when a lot of the financial regulations that were put in place and are still in place today when a lot of those were enacted, were back in the, you know, late 20s, 1929 up to, you know, the early 30s and even mid 30s in response to the Great Depression, you know, regulators and, you know, lawmakers and the president and all of that. Everybody in Washington basically said, look, we got to do something about this to prevent such a disaster from ever happening again. And that's why a lot of that that still exists today exists in the first place. In 1987, this one actually was during my lifetime. I don't really remember it because, you know, I was I was a youngin, but it was Black Monday in 1987, a one day drop of 22.6%, and it was triggered by computer driven trading and investor panic.

Speaker1:
Ah, it was it was the emotional roller coaster that hit that, you know, top of that big hill and just went way down 22.6% drop in a single day. That's why they call it Black Monday. Not a fun thing to experience. In 2000, this one I do remember and I remember it well. I was just starting my career in news at the time, and I was, you know, reporting on this, the.com bubble. I was 19 when it burst, but I was in college and I was working at a radio station and working in the news department at a radio station while in college. And so, yeah, I did talk about this on the air. The.com bubble bursting. And it was, you know, overvalued tech stocks, all these different websites. Remember, um, was it Pets.com? I think it was. That was huge. But it was way overvalued. And it like many others that are not not around anymore, just really their stocks just collapsed and that erased get this $5 trillion in market value back in 2000. I mentioned this one 2008 The Great Recession, a housing and banking crisis led to a 50% market drop in just one year. A 50% market drop in just one year in the Great Recession because of that housing and banking crisis. And we can all probably remember that pretty well.

Speaker1:
Covid 19 crashed back in 2020, mentioned this one as well. A rapid 34% drop in the markets, but then one of the fastest recoveries in history. A nice big bounce back after the market really cratered out. Right. So look, here's the thing. I've got some reasons why you should meet with a financial advisor. Myself. Somebody else. I just want you to get help. Right. I want you to get help and make sure that you're on the right track for your own retirement and for your own, you know, well-being. And so that you can make sure that you have a good, a good, strong vision for what you want your retirement years to look like, and that you've got a plan that's going to get you there. So with that in mind, if you don't have a formal retirement plan, then reach out. If you don't understand the risk that you're taking with your investments, you need to reach out as well. If you don't know what you're paying in fees, that's a big one, because not a lot of people do know what they're paying in fees. If you don't understand how to manage risk in your portfolio as you get older. That's another reason. If you don't know if you should pay off your house or not. Another reason there to reach out and see if that might be something that you should consider taking into account all of your financial picture, the entire picture, not just one little corner or this little corner over there, but every aspect of your finances will go through them with a fine tooth comb, analyze them, come up with a plan that we feel is best for you, and work in your best interests.

Speaker1:
Because, as I mentioned, that is the fiduciary duty that we have and that I strive to live up to. And I do live up to each and every day with each and every client that I work with. You go to take pride in retirement. Click the Schedule a consultation button right there at the top of the screen. Take pride in retirement. You can also call me at 85524692178552469211 to reach out with any questions seriously. Or you can just, you know, reach out and hopefully schedule a consultation and I'll get to work on analyzing your situation and come up with that plan that, that I just discussed there. So some things that you should do, given the current situation and especially as an LGBTQ+ person, what should you do? Given all that's happening in the world, you know, in the economy, in the stock market and, um, you know, in, in the country in general, around the world in general. Well, one good thing is to review and diversify your investments. Make sure that you are not overly invested in one particular area. Right. If you were back, you know, going back to those market crashes that I just talked about, if you were overly invested in tech or in the in dot coms back before the.com bubble burst and you had all your eggs in that basket.

Speaker1:
That was not a good situation for you. After the.com bubble burst and the market, you know, came down as a result of that. But it really was if you were overly invested in that particular sector, you were not not doing so well. Um, so that's one thing. Avoid making emotional decisions. I'll have more about that momentarily. Avoid those emotional decisions that are based on short term market fluctuations. Right. So I'll have more about emotional investing and why it's important to avoid it coming up momentarily. But another big one that I enjoy. Consider working with an LGBTQ+ friendly financial advisor. Like this guy who's talking to you right now, actually a member of the LGBTQ plus community. Someone who understands the community's unique financial needs. Everybody's situation is different. And yeah, there are some generalities that are true for for a lot of people in a kind of a wider swath of folks. But everybody's situation is different. I'm someone who understands and works with the LGBTQ+ community all the time. And so I would love to help you out as well. And once again, the website Take Pride in retirement.com. Um, increase your emergency savings. That's a big one. Aim for 6 to 12 months of expenses in an emergency fund, especially given the economic uncertainties right now.

Speaker1:
Legal uncertainties out there as well. Um, because of, you know, some of the executive orders that have been handed down and that kind of thing, there just really is a lot of uncertainty that the mood in Washington may be really significantly changing. Um, and that leads to a lot of fear. But you want to be as prepared as you can. And one way that you can do that is to increase your emergency savings and keep those savings that those funds, those dollars and cents in safe, accessible accounts. You know, maybe something that's like a higher yield savings account or something that's liquid that you have access to, right? Not anything that's going to be locked away. Don't put it in the bank CD, because it's going to be locked away in a bank CD. And then you might find yourself having to wait a year or two, or even more, depending on the term of the CD. If you are in a situation where you need access to that money, um, you know, the bank is not going to not going to be too friendly to you in that particular situation. Protect your income with insurance as well. You know, I mean, life insurance is crucial for protecting partners, protecting chosen family members as well financially, financial benefits that they can accrue. God forbid, should something happen to you, maximize your retirement and Social Security benefits as well.

Speaker1:
Folks who are members of the LGBTQ plus community who are married Should really make sure. Really make sure that you're maximizing spousal Social Security benefits. Right. Make sure that you are maximizing spousal Social Security benefits. And that really is crucial because you know, you want to if if you have that maximized because if something were to happen to the other spouse, you're one of those Social Security checks is going to go away. It'll be the lesser of the two, but the higher payment will remain. But still, you're going to lose. Possibly, you know, a third to a half of your Social Security income when that happens. So you got to make a plan for that. Right. Trans individuals who change their gender marker with the Social Security Administration should really confirm their benefits calculation. That that remains correct because of these new executive orders. I would imagine there's a lot of confusion in the Social Security Administration about that very thing right now. Um, of course, you know, I'm not affiliated with the Social Security Administration. Uh, not affiliated with any other government agency. Uh, but that is just my guess looking from the outside in. Um, also be aware of discrimination in housing and employment. Uh, you know, document any potential workplace or housing discrimination. And then you really ought to know your rights. Right. Um, organizations like, say, Lambda Legal. Uh, the National Center for Transgender Equality.

Speaker1:
They provide advocacy and legal support as well. Should you find your self needing that? We also want to, you know, when when the political climate kind of like it does like it is right now becomes hostile toward members of the LGBTQ plus community. People really benefit from collective financial strength and community driven solutions. So consider community banking. All right. Lgbtq plus owned financial institutions could, you know, be a place to have your, uh, funds if there's, like a local, uh, bank or regional bank, something like that. Look into impact investing in companies that support LGBTQ+ rights. If you want to be, you know, sort of ethically invested in that manner, then talk to me and we'll make it happen. Right. Support LGBTQ plus businesses directly supporting LGBTQ plus businesses strengthens community economic power. We are, as has been said, many times, stronger together. Mutual aid funds as well. You know, those networks really help those facing financial hardship due to discrimination or job loss. So mutual aid funds and mutual aid networks really a good place to look at helping as well and build strong legal and financial networks. You know, join LGBTQ plus financial planning groups or advocacy organizations, just, you know, network with others who are in a similar position as yourself. Encourage local and state policy advocacy for stronger legal protections. You know, no matter where you are, you deserve to be treated like a human being and like an equal member of society.

Speaker1:
And so advocate for that. Absolutely do. Now, here's the thing that I was talking about earlier. You know, don't be an emotional investor, right. And I mentioned that I was going to go into more detail and I will here. But it's like, you know, don't be like, you know, on Black Monday 1987 that I talked about earlier, it was sort of driven by, um, that, you know, computer related trading and then also the panic selling that came as a result of that. And so you don't want to be a Be a panicky investor on either side of things. You know, people do tend and we're humans. We're emotional beings, right? So many people really let emotions drive their decisions when it comes to investing, and that can lead to costly mistakes. But I would say you need to implement a smart plan. And if you want to get a smart plan in place, go to take Pride in retirement.com and reach out to me. So investing there's a lot of psychology that goes along with investing. And as a matter of fact, I'm seriously considering it at some point in in the future in the not too distant future. To quote one of my favorite TV shows, Mystery Science Theater 3000. In the not too distant future, somewhere in time and space, the, um. I'm thinking about getting a certification, taking some classes and all of that in basically investing psychology, because in like behavioral finance, essentially because I think it's so interesting why people do what they do with their money.

Speaker1:
And really, there is a lot of psychology that's involved with investing. A lot of times there's fear. Like I was talking about panic selling. You know, when markets decline, a lot of the investors like they have in the past will panic and then sell, sell, sell to avoid further losses. But history shows markets tend to recover. And those who sell at the bottom often miss out on the best days of market rebounds. You're locking in your losses if you sell at the bottom. Greed, FOMO, fear of missing out. Those are two considerations here as well. There. You know, go into the psychology of investing. During bull markets, investors rush to buy stocks at inflated prices driven by excitement rather than any sort of logic. There's hopping on the next hot stock, right? And then buying high then leads to disappointing returns when there's some sort of market correction, and instead of saying disappointing returns, I will say could lead to some big losses when the market faces a correction because you've bought high and could be potentially selling low, right. So it's the opposite of what you want to do. Don't try to time the market. Recency bias investors will tend to overemphasize recent market trends. Right. And there are people who will just sit and watch, you know, market charts and graphs and the numbers all day long and look at them over, you know, period of weeks and months and things like that and go by the trends that have been happening now.

Speaker1:
They believe a lot of folks that that those trends will continue kind of indefinitely if they're an emotional investor. But that ignores the long term market history and the trends that we've seen, the things that we know are coming eventually. We don't exactly know when. Right. Again, crystal ball is broken, but Lights. You want to not be emotional in a way that you just look at what's happened recently and you and you think, oh, well, this this is great. This is going to continue without, you know, sort of taking a step back, working with a trusted advisor, a trusted professional, someone who can help you take a step back and look logically at the situation. And so I again encourage you to go to take Pride in retirement.com and reach out, because it's super important that you have the support of someone who knows how to, you know, take that step back and keep you from emotionally investing. Some common mistakes include chasing hot stocks. If you're an emotional investor, investing in those stocks simply because, like I said, they're popular or they're rising quickly, and then the bottom falls out and the trend, you know, is reversed. And that can lead to a lot of losses.

Speaker1:
Trying to predict the market, trying to time the market the highs and lows. That is pretty much impossible. I say it all the time. I just said it a minute ago. My crystal ball is broken. I don't know what is going to happen when. Um, but you know, there are different strategies and everything to protect you from whatever happens in the market. And that's something that we can go into and talk about when we meet one on one. But if you try to predict the, you know, what the market's going to do, you might get it right once you know at the time to buy or the time to sell. But getting both right usually just never happens. Nobody's ever really right both times. So it's pretty much impossible. And you can miss critical recovery periods if you sell low. Overreacting to news headlines. I mean, sensationalized news stories can really cause investors to make impulsive decisions. Here's the thing. Staying informed. Yeah, that's important, but reacting emotionally to short term events can really lead to just changes in your portfolio strategy that are not necessary and can be detrimental to your financial future. Neglecting diversification, emotional investors do this. They may concentrate their investments in one sector or asset class, and instead of taking away risk, that actually increases the risk that you're taking. You know, I mean, you got to have a diversified portfolio that spreads the risk across different types of investments, not only different market sectors, but different types of investments.

Speaker1:
You know, stocks, bonds, mutual funds, ETFs, um, annuities, potentially, uh, CDs, uh, different types of investments. Spread the spread the wealth around literally in this case, and diversify yourself to protect against market volatility. It is so, so crucial. So if you're concerned about it, about what's been happening in the market, you consider a diversified portfolio. Market cycles are inevitable. But that balanced strategy there really can help smooth out that scary, scary ride. So before we go here are some strategies to avoid emotional investing. Yes. Here is the meat on the bone for you to chew on here on the emotional investing part of our conversation. Have a long term plan and stick to it. All right. Have a long term plan and stick to that plan. Now, do situations change? Yes, absolutely. That is going to be something that I talk about momentarily, but have a plan. Stick to the plan. And then if the plan needs to change because of something that's happening, you can do that, right? But you've got to have a solid investment strategy that's based on your goals. It's got to be based on your risk tolerance, your time horizon. How long do you have to invest? How close are you to your retirement years? All of that can help weather the storm and weather those big fluctuations in the market.

Speaker1:
Dollar cost averaging is another thing that I really encourage. Investing a fixed amount at regular intervals reduces the impact of market volatility. Does it get rid of volatility? Does it magically go away when you invest a fixed amount at regular intervals, which is known as dollar cost averaging, and it doesn't magically disappear? No. But what it does do is remove the pressure of timing the market. You get rid of, you know, looking at things emotionally. You look at things logically and you invest a fixed amount at regular intervals. And history shows. You know, we've shared some studies before that have shown that dollar cost averaging works, and it's one of the more successful investment strategies over the long term, at least according to those particular studies. Rebalance your portfolio regularly. Now here's the thing. I told you, situations change, right? So what do you want to do if a situation changes in the market, in the economy, in the world in general, um, that affects the markets and affects your investments. Rebalance. So you want to make sure that your portfolio still is aligned with your long term objectives. You know, if your long term objective is to grow as big of a nest egg as you can by the time you retire, make sure that your portfolio is aligned with that. If your goal is income from your investments, make sure that your investment portfolio is aligned with that, not just by your short term emotions again.

Speaker1:
Don't be an emotional investor. That's what this whole section is about. Don't be an emotional investor. Invest with logic and rebalancing your portfolio regularly, and working with a financial advisor like myself to go in and make sure that it is balanced according to those things that we talked about your risk tolerance, your time horizon, your goals as well, the things that you want to happen in your retirement years. And then, of course, you know, consider professional advice because I'll tell you, working with a financial advisor can really, as I mentioned, help remove the emotional bias that you may have toward investing. If you tend to be emotional about money, then yeah, working with a financial advisor. Highly highly recommended. And that will help keep your strategy aligned with what your goals are and keep you on track because, you know, we can make those adjustments Cements. Logically, we can make any adjustments that need to be made as we go along, but we'll have a plan. We'll stick to the plan. We can work the plan. We can adjust the plan as we as we go along as well. Um, if the, you know, things in the world and in the markets and all of that dictate that we should, but don't do it with emotion, do it with logic. And here's the my sort of final bit of advice on this, um, or a tip on this I should say, is to focus on the fundamentals, not on noise.

Speaker1:
Right? Don't react to the daily market fluctuations. Focus on the fundamental value of your investments and their long term potential. If you are invested in a company, I'm not going to mention any companies by name, but let's say it's a company that has been around for 100 150 years, something like that. It is well established. It is not going anywhere. That's you know, the long term trend has been an increase in prices over the long haul. And, you know, has a couple of bumps along the road for maybe a day or two. Don't let that freak you out and say, okay, I got to sell, sell, sell. You know, no focus on the fundamental value of that investment, whatever that investment may be, and the potential long term right. Those underlying factors that are the true value of the investment and the potential that it has going forward. So take the emotion out of it, especially during times like this when there's so much uncertainty. And so, you know, I want to focus as we go forward as a community, not only on this show, obviously, for take pride in retirement, but as the LGBTQ plus community in general To focus on hope, to focus on action, to focus on the things that we can control. Control the controllables because there are a lot of things that happen in this world that we cannot control.

Speaker1:
You want to control the things that you can, because that's how you take action and take proper action, and that's what gives you hope, really. And and focus on hope. Focus on action over fear that you might be feeling. So rather than focusing on that that fear, you've got to focus on the resilience, the preparedness, the empowerment that you can have yourself and that you can spread around the community. Right. Lgbtq+ people and couples have faced for decades and decades and decades and centuries, real challenges in the past and overcome them many, many times by taking proactive financial steps and even legal steps. If you want to do things like your estate plan and all of that. By doing those things now, you can build security even in uncertain times like we might be in right now. Because, you know, there is a lot of uncertainty, there is a lot of fear. But don't focus on the fear. Focus on what you can do. Focus on what you can control and focus on. If you can't control it yourself, you don't feel like you can control it yourself, like you know in the proper way and effectively. Then reach out for help. Reaching out for help is not something to be embarrassed about, no matter what it is. If it's, you know, your mental health, it's certainly not something to be embarrassed about reaching out for help with that.

Speaker1:
If it's, you know, heck, I'm not a car mechanic, so I'm not going to try and fix my car. If something goes wrong with it. I'm going to take it to the local garage to the mechanic who's someone who is, you know, a professional and does this all the time and can fix whatever the problem is. So seek professional help with your finances. If you don't know if a you have a solid plan right now. If you don't have a plan in writing at all, it's certainly important. But you know, also, if you have that plan and you're not certain that it's the right plan for you, you want to make sure you're on the right track. I have, you know, helped a lot of folks do that and just check in with me now. There's no pressure to continue on, you know, working with me if we decide that. Hey, your plan. Yeah. You're actually on track right now. You're in a good spot. Maybe make an adjustment here or there, but whatever. You know, you. And even if that's not the case, even if I do present you with what I feel is great, solid plan, and you agree, and then you decide not to work with me because I wear a shirt that you don't like one day or something. That's fine. It's a no pressure situation. There's no obligation. When you reach out to me for a consultation, right? There is no pressure.

Speaker1:
I'm not a high pressure guy anyway. I just think that you. If you need help or if you're not sure if you need help, should reach out. Go to take pride in retirement comm again the website. Take pride in retirement. Com I click on the schedule a consultation button that's right there at the top of the screen. You could also call me at 855246 9211. That's a toll free number by the way. (855) 246-9211 no matter where you are in the country. Well that is going to do it for this edition of Take Pride in Retirement. I hope that you've gotten something out of it. I told you, this is a really important topic today, and I really do hope that you can take something from this and hopefully a little hope and some, some, you know, encouragement to move forward in a way that's positive and to not let all of the uncertainty overwhelm you. And seek help if you need it. All right. Once again, take pride in retirement. Dot com is the website. Please do reach out. I would be glad to help you no matter your situation, because no matter who you are, where you come from, who you love, how you identify, or how much money you have, I want to help you have a retirement that you can take pride in. That'll do it for this episode. But until next time, take pride in yourselves and take care of each other. We'll talk to you then.

Speaker2:
Thanks for listening to Take Pride in Retirement. Members of the LGBTQ+ community deserve to work with a fiduciary financial advisor who puts their needs first. To schedule a free, no obligation consultation with Matt McClure and the team at Active Wealth Management, call (855) 246-9211 one 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 ADV To.a item for. 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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