On this week’s show, Matt previews what is sure to be a wonderful Atlanta Pride celebration this weekend. Plus, he welcomes Jenn Jones of AARP to discuss the just-announced Social Security cost of living adjustment (COLA) for 2025. And you’ll hear some helpful tips about mistakes to avoid when preparing for – and entering – retirement.
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About Take Pride in Retirement:
Welcome to Take Pride in Retirement: A podcast dedicated to retirement planning solutions for the LGBTQ community. Our goal is to help educate you about ways to protect your hard-earned money while experiencing market-like growth at the same time.
Matt McClure is the host of Take Pride in Retirement. He is a licensed fiduciary financial advisor and Certified Annuity Specialist. The Institute of Business & Finance (IBF) recently awarded Matt with the only nationally recognized annuity designation, CAS® (Certified Annuity Specialist®). This graduate-level designation is conferred upon candidates who complete a 135+ hour educational program focusing on fixed-rate and variable annuities.
Matt currently lives with his husband and two dogs in his home state of Georgia but spent more than 10 years in New York City. While in the nation’s #1 media market, he worked for The Wall Street Journal Radio Network, Spectrum News NY1 and WCBS Newsradio 880. A highlight of Matt’s career has been reporting regularly from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.
Episode 30: Audio automatically transcribed by Sonix
Episode 30: this mp3 audio file was automatically transcribed by Sonix with the best speech-to-text algorithms. This transcript may contain errors.
Speaker1:
Any examples used are for illustrative purposes only, and do not take into account your particular investment objectives, financial situation or needs and may not be suitable for all investors. It is not intended to predict the performance of any specific investment, and is not a solicitation or recommendation of any investment strategy. Welcome to Take.
Speaker2:
Pride in Retirement, the podcast dedicated to helping members of the LGBTQ+ community protect and grow their hard earned money. Get set for a show full of education and insights with your host and advisor, Matt McClure. We recognize every family is unique. The goal of the show is to help you achieve financial freedom so you and your loved ones can have the retirement you've always dreamed of, a retirement you can take pride in, no matter who you are, where you're from, or who you love. So now let's start the show. Here's Matt McClure.
Speaker1:
Hello and welcome once again to another edition of Take Pride in retirement. Matt McClure here. Your pal and your confidant and your your host, your advisor, your friend, your buddy, all of the things I really do appreciate it. I say it every time and I really do mean it. Thank you so much for being a part of the show because the show is not about me. The show is about you and about making your life better as an LGBTQ plus person, as an ally, as whoever you might be. Because as we always say, no matter who you are, no matter where you come from, no matter who you love, no matter how you identify, you deserve a retirement that you can take pride in. And that is the just the encapsulation of what this show is all about and what I do every day. That's what it is all about for me. And I hope to see you at Atlanta Pride this weekend. If you are going to be in Piedmont Park for Atlanta Pride, I will be there. That's kind of why this edition of the show is going to be a little bit shorter and sweeter than usual. Um, at least slightly here. But yeah, a lot going on. Getting prepared for Atlanta Pride. And I'll be out there, of course, promoting the podcast and also promoting the work that we do with active wealth management and helping people just improve their lives and get ready for retirement in a way that they can be proud of, so that they can have that retirement they can take pride in.
Speaker1:
And that includes you. Of course, any time you want to get in touch with me, you can do it a few ways. The easiest way is to just go to take pride in retirement comm, fill out the contact form there, or if you would like to set up a meeting. That initial consultation is absolutely free of any cost and any obligation. You can do that on the website. Take pride in retirement.com. Is that address once again. And yeah, just go there. Click the Schedule a consultation button that'll take you directly to my calendar where you can actually just set up an appointment right then and there. So yeah, it's constantly updated with my availability. So, you know, if you want to schedule something with me at a time that's convenient for you, you can do that. All right. A lot to get to and not a whole lot of time to do it here this week. But what I'm going to do is start off our conversation, as we do each and every time around 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, the only Dolly Parton. Yes, I have, of course, shared a few quotes from Dolly over the course of the show. About a year now that we've been doing this. And that is, you know, for good reason. Number one, I just love Dolly, and she's an amazing human being and does a lot for the LGBTQ plus community and people all across the country, you know, in storm ravaged areas here recently, she's donated a whole lot of money to those causes and and to really help people rebuild their lives. She's just a one of a kind human being, and she also is just has a way with words. You know, she's this wonderful songwriter and lyricist, but she also just she speaks in such a, like, quippy, catchy, plain way about things. And I love that. And so this quote is another one from Dolly and it says this storms make trees take deeper roots. I think that that that's obviously very appropriate for the folks who have been, of course, in our thoughts, our prayers, and we've been sending all the great vibes to people in Florida with the storm there. Storms there, I should say, but also across the southeast in in Georgia, here in my home state, a lot of people devastated by the storm, the Hurricane Helene a couple of weeks back now and then also in the Carolinas, especially in the western part of the Carolinas, like upstate South Carolina, western North Carolina, just really a lot of communities there just devastated by a lot of that flooding and the wind and the and the rain and all of the above.
Speaker1:
So that's one reason that it's appropriate. And of course, we send all of our best to the folks who have been affected by the storms. The other part, though, is that it kind of goes to, you know, what we talked about last week on the show and a little bit more about what I'm going to talk about this week on the show is that it's not what happens to you that matters, right? It's how you respond to it. So how does a tree respond to a storm? It takes deeper roots, right? It kind of it kind of gets stronger. It's almost like that. That which doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Right? It's that same kind of concept. And so when you may face a financial storm in life, when you may face, you know, hardships, when you may have shortcomings, when you may have things that happen to you that are out of your control. You're not responsible for the things that are out of your control. What you are responsible for is the way that you respond to those things, and how you control the things that you can control. And so that's a little bit of what I want to talk about here on the show.
Speaker1:
This time around, I also have a wonderful conversation with a representative from AARP coming up here in just a few. We talk about these Social Security cost of living adjustment for next year. Yes. If you are on Social Security, you're going to be getting a raise. It's not going to be as big of a raise as you've gotten over the past couple of years, but you'll find out exactly. They've just announced it here, and I'll tell you more about it and get some analysis from Jen Jones with AARP. All right. So stick around for that coming up here in just a few minutes. There was though, this article that I wanted to to discuss. Just a couple of points from uh, on MSN is where we saw it. And, and, you know, talking about the mistakes that too many pre-retirees and retirees are making. And I wanted to give a couple of these that I really, really want you to avoid if you are approaching your retirement years. One of the biggest issues is that you may be carrying debt into retirement. Now, you know, if you might, you might have your house payment. That's one thing. Pay off your house if you can. Because really, the happiest retirees that that we work with have paid off their mortgage and they own their home free and clear. And so they don't have that burden. But, you know, you don't want to be carrying this high interest debt, especially.
Speaker1:
So things like credit cards, personal loans, home equity lines of credit, car payments, all of that pay off all of those things if you can, before you retire. The thing is then then you'll have more money, of course, to enjoy your retirement, right? Another thing that you don't want to do is skip a retirement budget. Budget is like that four letter word that actually has six letters. You know, people don't like it. It's not the most fun thing for a lot of people. But here's the thing. It's much more effective in, you know, when you're when you're planning for retirement or when you are retired to have a budget working for you. Otherwise, you're just going to be, you know, treading water essentially, and and potentially sinking rather than swimming in your retirement. So you want to know what's coming in, what's going out. And so you can make things a priority that you want to make a priority. Because here's the thing. Retirement should be all about what you want to do, right and what you prioritize. And so make it that way. Again, the controlling the things that you can control, budgeting and retirement. That's something that you definitely can control. And if you don't want to call it a budget, call it a spending plan, call it a beautiful butterfly, call it something else. That's not as scary as the word budget might sound to you.
Speaker1:
Okay, so do that and you'll be a lot happier in your retirement years. And one more here that I wanted to go over before we get to this discussion on the Social Security cost of living adjustment for the next year. This one, I feel like is the most important. Not having a financial plan. That's a big mistake we want you to avoid in your retirement years. And a financial plan is not just about your monthly budget, right? We just talked about a budget, but you also want to take into account your overall investment portfolio, get a good idea of all that you have as far as your assets going forward. And your financial plan really should include your investments like your retirement funds, any real estate you might have, as well as those necessary expenditures each month. And make sure you also consider things like Social Security and Medicare depending on when you expect to start. Either you know, being a part of Medicare or your Social Security when you start claiming that. All right. And the good news is, I know all of this can sound like a lot. It can sound overwhelming. It can sound like, okay, Matt, how in the world am I supposed to understand all of this and make heads or tails of it? Well, I'll tell you, I can help. I have taken the time to get the proper education, the proper certifications, the licenses, all of that to be able to help you with all of these things.
Speaker1:
And I am, you know, someone who works, especially with the LGBTQ plus community, being a part of the community myself. And that's the kind of the focus of my business. It's not the only focus there. I will work with anyone who needs help. But at the same time, if you are a member of the LGBTQ plus community, I do want to work with you to help you plan your retirement, to help you have a better life, to help you have that retirement you can take pride in. All right, so all you have to do visit the website. It's take pride in retirement.com. Book a free consultation. And yes, when I say free I mean there's no cost, there's no obligation. We'll sit down, we'll do a deep dive into your finances. We'll look at what you've got and we'll come up with a plan for you. We'll show you what is possible with that plan in place, so that you can have a much better, uh, financial situation going forward, especially into your retirement years. And the earlier you start, the better. I'm not saying that if you are, you know, waiting for, you know, decades, if you feel like you've. If you feel like you've waited for decades, if you're in your 50s or even your 60s at this point and you're like, okay, now I probably need to start getting a plan in place.
Speaker1:
Yeah, you do, but if you've waited that long, don't feel like all hope is lost, right? The earlier you start, the better. But if you feel like you need to catch up, we can help you catch up as well. Once again, take pride in retirement. Com that is take pride in retirement.com. Now a moment ago I spoke about Social security and Medicare and those being kind of, you know, considerations for your retirement years and your retirement um your retirement plan. Right. And when you're going to start taking Social Security and all of those things, well, that is also part of an interview. As part of the topic that I discuss with Jen Jones of AARP. I just had this conversation with her that I thought was very enlightening about the Social Security cost of living adjustment for the upcoming year, for the 2025 benefit year, for Social Security recipients. We've just found out how much that's going to be. She provides some great analysis and insights into that, as well as Social Security in general. All right. So I'm going to speak with her about that. And then we'll wrap things up for the show this week. On the other side I am speaking with Jen Jones. She's the AARP vice president of government affairs. Jen, thank you so much for taking some time for me. Really appreciate it.
Speaker4:
Oh, thanks so much for having me.
Speaker1:
You know, over the past few years, we've gotten big cost of living adjustment for our seniors, for our Social Security recipients in the country this year, not quite as large as we've seen in the past. Kind of good and bad there because that means inflation is coming down. So that's the good, right? But the bad part, I guess, is that the cola, the cost of living adjustment not so big, 2.5% this year. Talk about what that means for our Social Security recipients in the US.
Speaker4:
So thanks so much, Matt. Yes. Um, not as big as it has been in prior years, but you are absolutely correct. Um, a lower Cola means lower prices at the pump, lower, lower grocery prices. And so it's a it's a good thing, even though it doesn't exactly feel that way for many retirees. This cost of living adjustment, this annual increase is honestly essential for ensuring that Social Security recipients receive the full value of their earned benefit. And we know just how important that is given that, you know, for 40% of older Americans, Social Security is their primary source of retirement income.
Speaker1:
Yeah. And that really is essential as this essential lifeline for so many people. Um, are there basic, you know, sort of, um, you know, I guess guidelines or thoughts about, um, when Social Security recipients, when, when they're eligible. I know that we it sort of depends for, for us, at least as far as our shows on retirement radio network. Um, that it kind of we were always sort of tell people it kind of depends on your individual situation about when people should start claiming their Social Security benefits. Um, is that sort of the the advice that you would give to folks as well?
Speaker4:
Absolutely. So we get this question all the time. We know that, you know, you can collect Social Security as early as 62, but if you do that, you'll lose part of your earned benefit, right? So we often encourage people to wait if they can, um, to full retirement age, which is 67. Um, you know, it's it's a hard question to answer. So we typically tell people to sort of think about sort of your financial position. Right. How much have you saved for retirement? Um, think about how much debt you're currently carrying. Think about your physical health. Write. All of those things are important to think about when making this decision, because if you can, we want you to get as much of that earned benefit as you possibly can. So we want you to wait as long as you can. But we're also really clear that for some people, that's just not an option.
Speaker1:
Yeah, that's absolutely right. And once again, as you said, it really depends on your individual situation and what's best for you. And I think a lot. Do you find that a lot of people sort of have this maybe misconception ahead of time to start claiming their Social Security benefits, that it's kind of this one size fits all sort of thing, and there aren't many decisions that need to be made when it comes to claiming Social Security, but it really it really is more individualized than, than people kind of realize.
Speaker4:
Absolutely. And, you know, honestly, you know, I think most people don't really start thinking about it until they hit sort of 50 ish. And then they're like, oh, am I? I got to start thinking about what it means or what retirement could look like for me, but there's so many decisions involved. And so we encourage people to sort of start planning as early as you can. And we also do a ton of work at AARP around retirement security and retirement savings. And so we encourage people to start thinking about their future and what they want that to look like as early as possible. Um, you know, I often say that, you know, Social Security was never meant to be the sole source of retirement income, but it's turned out to be that for, you know, again, over 40% of older Americans in this country. And so the earlier you start thinking about sort of what you want your life to look like in retirement, and you start saving for that, the better off you'll be.
Speaker1:
Yeah, 100%. And that fact that you just shared there, that it is a sole source of income for so many people, really highlights the need to shore up Social Security as well, because, you know, there are concerns, there are projections that within the next decade or so, the Social Security Trust fund, the one that that funds retirement benefits for people, is going to is going to run dry. And so what is what kind of work is AARP doing to sort of, you know, advocate for Congress to help shore up Social Security for the future?
Speaker4:
So, you know, I often say that it's not as if we didn't see this coming, right? We have known for a long time that, you know, with, um, sort of lessening revenue with and serving more people. The trust fund was starting to sort of the, the, the amount of money in the trust fund was starting to sort of lesson, um, you know, we have been urging Congress to sort of come together in a bipartisan fashion and come up with a comprehensive solution for Social Security's financial future. Right? It is simply too important to millions of people to leave this to the last minute. Right. Um, you know, but, you know, Congress, as we know, moves at its own pace. But, you know, AARP, in its 38 million members are advocating every day to make sure that Congress is aware that this is important to us. Here is the impact, and Congress needs to act soon.
Speaker1:
Yeah, getting, you know, people in D.C. to agree that the sky is blue on any given day seems like a like a task these days. So thank you for that work on behalf of the seniors and Social Security recipients in this country. Um, so just about time for us to wrap things up here, Jen. But anything else that you would like to add before we have to run?
Speaker4:
Yeah. You know, generations of Americans have been able to count on Social Security to help them live their retirement years with some measure of dignity and independence. Um, it's something that older Americans care about deeply, not only for themselves, but for their kids and their grandkids. So, you know, protecting and strengthening Social Security has been and will continue to be one of AARP's top legislative priorities. So if you want to engage, if you want to get involved and you want to join us in that fight, I encourage all of your listeners to visit Aarp.org. Join us.
Speaker1:
Wonderful. Jen Jones with AARP. We really do appreciate your time. It's been a pleasure. Hope to talk to you again soon.
Speaker4:
I love it. Thanks so much man.
Speaker1:
Really do appreciate Jen having that discussion with me. Very, very insightful and very helpful discussion there about Social Security and of course the cost of living adjustment for the next year. Aarp. Org is the website to go to. She as she just said that you can find all of the resources there. Some more information that you need to know. And I thank you for joining me as well for this edition of Take Pride in Retirement. That is going to be it for this time around here on the show. But I will say it once again, Atlanta Pride is this weekend. If you are in the southeast, if you are traveling to Atlanta, if you are going to be in Piedmont Park, I hope to see you there. Wave at me. Say hi. Come by the booth and pick up some little freebies that we'll be giving away and. And meet me and a lot of people who help out with the show behind the scenes as well. Uh, my husband's going to be there also. Also wearing a Pride in Retirement T-shirt. Look for the look for those will be matchy match. The husband and I will be along with some other people. But, you know, we kind of. We look a little bit alike as well. Some people think that we look like brothers sometimes, which is kind of creepy, but, you know, I don't see it. Maybe that's just because I'm. I'm me and I know who I'm married to. Anyway, I hope to see you there at Atlanta Pride this weekend. It's at Piedmont Park in midtown Atlanta. Otherwise, I will see you next time for another edition of the show. Take pride in retirement. All right. Until next time. Take pride in yourselves and take care of each other. We'll see you next time around.
Speaker2:
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.
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