Retirement planning has unique challenges for LGBTQ+ individuals, from legal nuances to healthcare disparities. In this episode, Matt dives into the most common mistakes and shares strategies to help you build a retirement plan that reflects your unique needs and goals.
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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 39: Audio automatically transcribed by Sonix
Episode 39: 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 another edition of Take Pride in Retirement. Matt McClure here. Your advisor, your host, your buddy, your pal and your confidant. I really do appreciate you taking the time to join little ol me here on the podcast. Hey, a lot of great stuff to get to today. I really do want to just take a second, though, and say thank you once again for joining me. You know, I say it every week, but without you there is no show because you are the reason that I do the show. Hopefully I am doing a good job spreading the word about, you know, just just solutions for LGBTQ plus folks when it comes to retirement planning and when it comes to finances in general. That is the whole goal here. And, you know, hopefully you are getting something out of it each and every week that I put out a podcast. So really, really do appreciate it so, so much. And this time around here on the show, I'm going to be listing out some mistakes to avoid when planning for retirement. And these are mistakes that are really geared toward LGBTQ plus folks. They're there. Mistakes that I've seen people make in my own practice as a financial advisor. There are mistakes here that I know that others have made outside of that. And there are mistakes that, you know, you just really do need to avoid. That may apply to, you know, members outside the LGBTQ plus community as well.
Speaker1:
Um, but all of it is going to be something that you can take with you and really, I think, apply and hopefully it sparks your curiosity a little bit. And then that leads you to reach out to me via the website that's Take Pride in retirement.com. You can do one of two things when you go there. I actually can do a lot when you go there. You can find out more about me. I've got a nice little welcome video there on the homepage. You can watch that. You can read about me and all of that. Um, you can also do a couple more things. You can see all of the past episodes of the show listed right there on the episode's page. There's also the podcast page, and it lists pretty much all of the different providers that we're on. As far as the different podcast providers that are out there, we're going to be on your favorite app. Basically, it's what I'm getting at here. It's a long list and it's got all the episodes there in podcast form also. And then you can do a couple more things on the website. The original two that I was talking about, you can do one of those things, which is to click on the contact page, and that will send me an email directly. You can ask questions, you can say, hey, um, what is it like to work with you and all that kind of thing? Whatever you want to do via the contact page, you can do it now, within reason.
Speaker1:
Now you can also just click directly on schedule a consultation that's right up there at the top right hand part of the screen as well on the website home page and take pride in retirement. Com and you can that'll take you to my calendar. You can schedule an appointment directly with me. If you happen to be in the metro Atlanta area, you can schedule an appointment to meet me in person at the office in Midtown Atlanta. Or what you could do is and we have another couple of offices and locations as well around the metro Atlanta area. So let's say if you're in like North Metro, maybe it's better for you to meet in like Alpharetta at our office there. I'll be glad to meet you there. Um, and so that's that's the option for in person for, you know, those who might or might not be in the metro Atlanta area. If you are anywhere else across the country, the lower 48 states, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, any of the other territories, wherever you are, and you would like to talk to me about your retirement plan or lack thereof. Schedule a consultation. You can do that remotely with me. We can do it via zoom or through any other, you know, type platform like that that you would prefer. And we'll get you started along the road to a better retirement, one that is tailored for you and that can give you a lot of peace of mind knowing that no matter what happens, you've got a plan in place that's going to account for it.
Speaker1:
I don't know what's going to happen in the future, right? I always say my crystal ball is broken. It's been in the shop for a long time now. I still don't know when it's going to be fixed, but until it is fixed, maybe when pigs fly, then. Until it's fixed. You're going to need a plan that that really does provide for all of the situations that could possibly happen. Right. So you need a plan that's good no matter what, so that you can get to retirement and you can have a retirement that you can take pride in. That is really what it comes down to here. So again, thank you so much for listening to me. I really do appreciate it. Go to the website again it's take pride in retirement. Com if you would prefer you can actually call 855246 9211. That's toll free anywhere in the country. 855246 9211 is the Is the number to reach out. Um, of course you can also check me out on YouTube. Just search. Take pride in retirement. There are a lot of clips, a lot of shorts, a lot of great things happening on the YouTube channel. Subscribe and like please, please, please and do not hesitate to reach out. I mean, I would love to meet with you, discuss how I can help you reach your financial goals and, um, you know, things like retirement planning, risk management, estate planning, a whole lot more.
Speaker1:
We can help you with all of that. Building sound financial plans. That's what I do. All right, so give me a shout at any of those options I just mentioned. And I'll mention again here in the show as well. So coming up I've got some common mistakes made by a lot of people, including a lot of mistakes here that are specifically geared toward LGBTQ plus folks, things that you need to watch out for when retirement planning, things that you should, uh, keep in mind, and things that you might not have thought about. Probably a couple of these things here you haven't thought about or considered. And so I want to give you those and some ways to avoid them. Also do a little bit of a cost cutter of the week here. Um, if you are paying too much in fees you say, Matt. Well, I don't know if I'm paying too much in fees. If you don't know, I'll help you find out. And if you are paying too much in fees, and you do know that I can help you with that as well. And hopefully cut those unnecessary fees that you might be paying. All right. All right. First of all, though, let's get a little bit of inspiration for our conversation. It's 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 one of my favorites when it comes to things money. You know, my favorite person to give you quotes from is probably Dolly Parton. Because yes, I'm that kind of person and I love me some Dolly. Um, this is just one of those things that I always said. If I were able to meet Dolly Parton ever, I would probably just lose control of bodily functions. But as far as quotes directly dealing with money and with investing in particular, Warren Buffett is probably my my favorite here. And that is because he is the Oracle of Omaha. He is probably the most prolific investor of our time. Really, really is and has made a lot of money doing what he does. And so he knows what he's talking about. And Warren Buffett said this. It's good to learn from your mistakes. It's better to learn from other people's mistakes. It's good to learn from your mistakes, but it's better to learn from other people's mistakes. Said Warren Buffett. And I think that that is great, that that is great advice and knowledge to put out there, because I will say, and I can attest to this, in my own life, I've had to learn from my own mistakes quite a bit. Because I'm kind of stubborn. A lot of the time I made money mistakes earlier on in my life. I'm still not perfect now, but I've come a heck of a long way. But those money mistakes have led me to where I am today, where I have gotten myself the education, the certifications, the licensing and all of that to be able to help people better their situation as a fiduciary, working in a fiduciary capacity.
Speaker1:
I have to work with your best interests in mind, right? So my mistakes in the past have led me to learn to then seek to get more education. And then on top of that, to help other people because of the fact that I've made mistakes. Not the only reason, but a big reason that I do what I do is because of those mistakes and the fact that I've learned from them. But I will say something else too, that it's pretty painful to have to learn from your own mistakes, right? And this doesn't just go with money. It goes all aspects of our lives. And trust me, I know about this too. Learning from our own mistakes can be very painful, because a lot of times you have to learn the hard way, right? So if you can learn from other people's mistakes, then you can learn the lesson that you need to learn, but you don't have to learn it the hard way. You can learn it in an easier way, a less painful way, right? And that's really the whole point of the show today. Um, I want you to retire smarter. I want you to retire with pride. Of course. Have a retirement that you can take pride in.
Speaker1:
So here are some mistakes to avoid that I'll mention in just a moment, actually. But first I wanted to say, you know, before I get to the mistakes, what does kind of a holistic retirement plan look like? A nice, solid retirement plan. Well, it's one that includes a clear vision for what you want your retirement to look like, a plan for when you'll take Social Security, an income plan that will allow you to beat your budget. Not just meet your budget, but beat your budget. Right. And a sound investment strategy for any retirement accounts that you may have. And you know it. Those are kind of seemingly simple principles, right? But behind that is kind of a really complicated set of ways that it can go wrong. And so that is what the discussion about is today, LGBTQ+ folks do face unique challenges and opportunities as well. It's not just the challenges. It is the opportunities that we have because of who we are. And here are some common mistakes I'm going to go through that LGBTQ+ people might face when planning for retirement, and some suggestions on how to avoid them. And I'll have, you know, kind of one big one a little bit later on, a suggestion about how you can you can avoid really all of these in one. But first, let's start going down this list. Okay, got a few of them here. And number one is the mistake would be not considering unique legal and financial protections.
Speaker1:
So the mistake would be, you know, assuming that you have equal access to spousal benefits or inheritance laws in your particular jurisdiction wherever you might live, without verifying that that's the case. So you need to ensure that there is legal recognition of partnerships through marriage or registration of a domestic partnership, if that's needed where you are. You also need to update wills, trusts, beneficiary designations. That's so important to reflect your intentions, especially if you are maybe estranged from your biological family. If you know, maybe you came out to them, you revealed who Who you are to them. And that conversation, God forbid. Didn't go so well as it unfortunately does for many people in the LGBTQ plus community. I think thankfully, fewer these days than it used to, but still too many don't have a good experience coming out. So if you are estranged from your biological family, it's an important thing to do to update wills and trusts and beneficiary designations and all of that, because otherwise your wishes are not going to be carried out when you are gone, when you graduate from this planet. Right? The thing that you need to really keep in mind there is just to keep all of that current. And then I'll also say, you know, if you've been divorced, that is something to keep in mind as well. Make sure those beneficiary designations, your wills, any trusts or anything like that are also up to date.
Speaker1:
Because if you have been previously married and I actually had someone not long ago reach out to me because he had he had been previously married to a woman, was now married to a man. But the ex-wife was still the beneficiary on some, uh, some plans and some accounts that he had. And so he wanted to get those switched over. And so that was something that we could, of course, help him out with and make sure that all of that was up to date. So that is a good thing to do. So the mistake would be not considering unique legal and financial protections. And of course, the solution there is to make sure everything's up to date and make sure that you take into account local laws and regulations when you are planning. Number two is overlooking healthcare needs, overlooking healthcare needs, you know, failing to plan for potentially higher healthcare costs due to discrimination or due to specific medical needs. You know, even things like, um, hormone therapy or surgeries for trans individuals. Right. If you, um. And, you know, those, uh, types of things, God knows, with the new administration in, uh, we've already seen some even just recognition that trans people exist, uh, kind of under attack in Washington. And so you really need to make sure that you take these things into account when you're planning and and plan for that. Right. And there's, you know, you worry that, that you might not have a solution out there.
Speaker1:
I guarantee you that there probably is there there is a great chance that we can find you a solution to a problem that you might face when it comes to health care based on, you know, things like the need for that hormone therapy, the need for surgery, the need for any other type of care that might be, you know, just based on who you are. So, you know, one thing that that you can do on your own is to research inclusive health care providers, make sure that the providers that you are visiting and that you are entrusting with your your care, they're caring for you are those who see you as a whole person, not just, you know, half a human being or, you know, anything like that. You need to consider long term care insurance needs to address your future needs as well. You know, as you age, you'll say, okay, well, now I'm going to get to, you know, 65 and I'm going to be able to rely on Medicare and they'll just, you know, it'll just take care of all that. And I won't have to worry about things like long term care. Well, no, because Medicare does not cover long term care hospital stays up to a certain number of days. Yes. You know, certain doctor visits and and things like that, depending on which part of Medicare and what type of Medicare either supplement or, um, you know, medical Medicare Advantage type plan, you might have that sort of thing.
Speaker1:
Your coverage differs. You know, Medicare Part D covers drugs. That's why it's part D, it's prescription drug coverage. Right. And so but that coverage, um, you know, is a little bit up in the air as well. Although, you know, the previous administration did uh, enact uh, in the secure act 2.0, I believe, or it was the inflation, actually, it was the Inflation Reduction Act that had in it a provision that beginning this year, there's a $2,000 per year cap on out of pocket expenses for Medicare drugs. So that is a good thing, right? That is something that at least we can cling on to in that particular case when it comes to Medicare. But Medicare does not cover long term care. So think about long term care insurance. Think about something like, um, if you are also planning for retirement and you want some, uh, retirement income, like, say something like a personal pension that we can help you build and establish for yourself in the future as part of that. There are a lot of different plans out there that have options for long term care coverage written into that plan. So, you know, get in touch with me if you'd like, if that's something you'd like to explore, because I would love to to help you out with that. Again, take pride in retirement.
Speaker1:
Take pride in retirement. Com is the website and you can click on the Schedule a consultation button at the very top of the page. And I'll be glad to talk with you about anything that we talk about here on the show. Or, you know, that particular long term care issue specifically. Another solution build a healthcare directive to ensure that your wishes are honored. So a healthcare directive is like a living will, right? If x, y, z were to happen, here's what I want to happen in that particular situation. If I am unconscious, if I am going to be a vegetable, like whatever, then here's what I want to happen under different circumstances, you can actually spell out right now when you are of sound mind and body, what you want to happen under certain medical circumstances in the future. So that's another health care related thing that you can go ahead and take care of right now. Another mistake is neglecting either family or support networks. Now, the mistake would be to assume that biological family will provide care, especially if, as I was saying earlier, those relationships are strained. And the mistake would also be then either neglecting family if they are supportive. Right. And making sure that, you know, you maintain that good relationship with them. And then also. Neglecting any support networks that you might have chosen, family, friends who you rely on, that kind of thing. So a solution here would be to cultivate strong social networks or chosen family, as I mentioned, for support and explore community based or LGBTQ+ specific senior living facilities.
Speaker1:
They are out there, and so that might be something to explore for yourself and to, you know, take into account the acceptance of LGBTQ plus individuals at other facilities that might not be, you know, specific or specifically for LGBTQ+ folks in those facilities, right? Another mistake here, not accounting for the potential need to move to a more inclusive area, which may have a higher cost of living. You don't want to underestimate the cost of living in retirement. No matter who you are. But it's very much important for LGBTQ+ folks because, you know, if you live in a rural area or somewhere that might be, you know, in an area that's not particularly rural, but not particularly urban, but not also particularly the most accepting of LGBTQ+ individuals, you might want to move at some point in your life. You might want to move in retirement. You might want to move before that. So not accounting for the potential need to move to an area where the the cost of living is probably going to be higher because chances are it's going to be an urban area if that's the that's the case, and the cost of living will be higher because you're gonna be paying more per square foot to live somewhere. Uh, you know, going out to eat, it's going to be more expensive.
Speaker1:
Parking is going to be more expensive. Unless you, you know, were to live somewhere like New York, where you could just get rid of your car and just take the subway everywhere. Uh, but and I say that from experience. And the cost of living definitely higher there than it than it is in Atlanta. Certainly. And than it is a lot of places. But what you should do is, you know, just spoke about, um, LGBTQ friendly retirement communities. Research those or research LGBTQ+ friendly cities. New York I just mentioned was was one of them. Obviously there are the big ones like San Francisco and, um, you know, Chicago, Atlanta certainly is a very LGBTQ friendly city. There are a lot of them out there, large and small. Asheville, North Carolina, has been known for a long time as a very LGBTQ+ friendly city. And it's just kind of, you know, your medium sized city. Of course, it was recently devastated by one of the hurricanes that came through. All the floodwaters came through there as well. So they're sort of in the process of recovery still, but it is an inclusive area. So maybe research that and see what your options might be. If this is something that you need to do or want to do for your life. As I said, whether in retirement or before, adjust your savings goals to accommodate those potential costs. Right. So you might want to save a little more, have a little more standing by, have a little bit more invested perhaps, or in a money bucket where you're going to get some growth but have some safety involved as well.
Speaker1:
You might want to adjust all of that to accommodate those potential costs of the higher cost of living in those situations, right. The other mistake. Another mistake. This is number five here is to fail to maximize Social Security benefits. If you missed last week's show, we talked a lot about Social Security and talked a lot about the benefits there and different issues that LGBTQ plus people need to, um, take, take heed of, take advantage of the opportunities that we have to maximize their benefits. But, you know, a big mistake that a lot of people make is missing out on spousal or survivor benefits due to lack of awareness or misinformation that could be out there. You know, they might say, oh, well, yeah, if you're a domestic partner or if you have just been living with someone for a long time, they'll give you the survivor benefit and all that. No. Only married couples are eligible for the survivor benefit in Social Security, so educate yourself about those things. A great place to start is to go to take pride in retirement. Com or search. Take pride in retirement anywhere you get your podcasts and go to last week's episode. It'll be the one from the 17th of January 2025, and it talks a lot about Social Security, a lot about Social Security, specifically Social security issues pertaining to LGBTQ+ folks.
Speaker1:
So go there, educate yourself about it, and understand the benefits that are available for you. Know yourself if you are single, if you're unmarried, or those who are married. And I will say, and this is one that I will say, probably over and over again as the episode continues here, um, consult with a financial advisor who understands LGBTQ+ issues. I can look in the mirror and say that I am an advisor who understands LGBTQ+ issues. So I hope that you will reach out to me. If you have any questions about any of the things that that I've been talking about so far, and we'll talk about. But once again, the website is take Pride in retirement. Com take Pride in retirement.com. You can go to the homepage there. And you can click on the top of the page where it says um schedule a consultation. The consultation is free of any cost and any obligation. You only work with me if we decide that it's best for you and the ultimate decision is yours. I'm not going to pressure you into anything at all. Uh, kind of. What you see and what you hear is what you get with me. I'm not just not a high pressure kind of person. Right. So, um, I will present you, you know, go through with a fine tooth comb your situation right now, analyze everything, tell you how much you're paying in fees, tell you how much better you could potentially do with a plan that I put together for you.
Speaker1:
With the help of my good, wonderful colleagues at Active Wealth Management and Brookstone Capital Management. Um, and then we'll come up with that plan for you. I will present it to you and you can compare the two. Compare and contrast will show you where you could end up right now if nothing changes with your current plan, if you stay on the same road that you're on right now, or if you were to go with our recommended plan, then I will show you that. Also tell you how much we'll charge you in fees and that kind of thing. And I can say a lot of the time, most of the time, really, the vast majority of the fees that we charge are lower than other places, but you're going to get a lot more value from any fee that you pay with through us as well, because, you know, we really do work hard each and every day to make sure that you understand what's going on with your money, that you feel comfortable with, what's going on with your money, and that you know that you can reach out at any point in time to myself, to anybody else who I work with that we can, you know, answer those questions or the concerns that you might have or make any adjustments to your plan.
Speaker1:
Working together with you, in concert with you, not against you, not telling you what to do, that kind of thing. We will work with you to make sure that you have a retirement you can take pride in. You can also call me at 85524692118552469211. Again is that number. And I'll be glad to get with you there on the phone as well. And we can schedule that consultation for you also. Um, and then okay, so number six now is a is a big one. Uh, is a big mistake that people will make. Um, and that is overlooking discrimination risks. Really. And assuming that a retirement facility that you might be interested in or, or might be looking at or a retirement service that you might be interested in is LGBTQ friendly. Well, it very well might not be. Even this day and age. Yes. So, you know, visit those places, vet any retirement communities to make sure that you assess their inclusivity and ask about anti-discrimination policies. You know, don't don't just take their word for it that, oh, yeah. You know, you're, uh, you'll be welcome here. Sure. You know, ask him. Say, do you have any anti-discrimination policies and what are they? And that is a great thing to do to make sure that you are included in, you know, the life of the facility where you might be and spend a good portion of your life. Mistake number seven is delaying planning due to past economic inequalities.
Speaker1:
You know, postponing savings or investments due to historical challenges in Challenges in employment or income equality. That is a big mistake because the earlier you plan, the better off you will be in your retirement years and the more that future you will thank you, the more that future you will look at you back in time and say, I really appreciate that you did that. Thank you so much for planning early and making contributions often, making sure that you had a plan in place because now you know future You is standing there saying, I am all set up, I'm good to go. I've got a steady income that's going to be there. I know it will for the rest of my life. I've got not only that, that steady income, but I've also got an investment portfolio that's done well. I've got, you know, savings that have done well. I've got my emergency fund that's built up. So if something, you know, crazy happens, I can not only make sure I can pay the bills, but I can pay for the new HVAC. I can, you know, get the driveway paved or the roof fixed or the whatever, or the, you know, have to buy a new car if mine breaks down or blows up or something, God forbid. So you want to plan as early as humanly possible despite any, um, you know, challenges that you might face or might have faced, even if you save in small amounts to begin with.
Speaker1:
You know, even if you're just able to put by a few bucks a week, it is better than nothing, right? So just make sure you make it a priority to put money by as much as you possibly can and leverage catch up contributions. If you're 50 or older, you can take advantage of catch up contributions and put even more aside when you reach the age of 50. You know, chances are you are, um, you're making more, you know, than you were several years back and you're getting closer to retirement. So if you are behind but you're over 50, you can take advantage of those catch up contributions to then catch up on your retirement plan. Um, another big mistake that people make when planning for retirement is an LGBTQ plus person is ignoring emotional well-being or focusing solely on the financial aspect of retirement, and neglecting things like mental health. Neglecting social needs. This is huge, huge folks, and it's something that I really want to focus on, not only here on the show, but in, you know, my everyday sort of practice in working with people because it's so important that you can, you know, you can have all the money in the world and be miserable if you don't focus on your mental health needs, your physical health needs, your social needs, social interaction, actually getting out there, being with people, right? Plan for those things.
Speaker1:
Activities that you like. Doing. Things that you like to do. Don't just sit at home and be alone and that is just not good for anyone, at least not all the time. Maybe you're an introvert and kind of like me, and you like being alone, but, you know, I mean, there have been times where I have been alone. My husband's an actor, and every once in a while he will travel across the country and, you know, do a show somewhere and be gone for a month or two at a time. And as much as I am fine with being alone, it kind of drives me crazy. Especially eventually anyway. And especially if it happens in the wintertime, because there's that alone feeling and there's like cabin fever and the seasonal affective disorder, or the fact that the sun goes down so super early and all of that, you know, your dark hours are so much longer. So, yeah, it's, um, not fun to say the least. So take care of yourself mentally. Take care of yourself socially and physically as well, and explore LGBTQ+ friendly counseling if needed. Get engaged with your community. Get engaged with any hobbies or activities that you might enjoy, and just really take care of yourself from those emotional, uh, needs and social needs from that standpoint, right? And the last one I'm going to mention here is sort of an overall thing. And I told you earlier, you know, that I was going to mention a mistake, that, um, one of the solutions is going to be sort of universal for all of these.
Speaker1:
And so here it is, the last mistake, number nine that I will mention is not seeking LGBTQ+ specific financial advice. The mistake would be working with professionals who are not informed about any of these issues, any of the issues that pertain to LGBTQ+ communities or, you know, lack any sort of cultural competence, quite honestly. So you as an LGBTQ+ individual need to seek out a financial planner or, you know, someone who is an advisor like myself with experience serving LGBTQ+ clients. Or even better, like myself, who is a member of the LGBTQ+ community. Someone who can understand your needs. Even if I haven't maybe lived your specific situation, I can understand it because chances are I've worked with someone who's had a situation that's very similar. I, you know, will be empathetic to your situation because, you know, we're all members of this beautiful tapestry of the LGBTQ+ community. And I feel like today, now more than ever, we really need to band together to stick together and, you know, seek out each other in life, support each other and hopefully you will let me do that for you from a financial standpoint. Um, take pride in retirement. Com is the website that's take pride in retirement. Com. Schedule a free consultation and you know you can schedule it there via the schedule a consultation button which is right there on the page.
Speaker1:
That one's pretty self-explanatory, huh? It's, uh, take pride in retirement. Com click on schedule a consultation or the contact us page. You can do that and ask me any questions you might have. And then you can also if you would prefer, give me a call at 855246 9211. That's toll free (855) 246-9211. Now is the time, folks, to meet with a licensed financial advisor and take advantage of the things that that I can provide you. Because here's the thing. Regular consultations with a financial advisor really do provide valuable And make sure that you are on track to meet your retirement goals. A lot of people might think, oh, it costs too much to work with a financial advisor or another professional. But actually, I can help you save money working to protect and grow your hard earned assets in the process. So you'll have more. And you'll end up in a better position than you would have been otherwise in that scenario, right? Because you'll end up saving money, and your investments and your retirement plan will be on more solid footing. And of course, you know, we can't guarantee because once again, my crystal ball is broken. I can't tell you what the S&P 500 is going to do, or the Dow Jones Industrial Average is going to do, or any individual stock if it's going to go up or down or whatever. We can of course go through the analysis and all of that and and plan.
Speaker1:
But at the same time, we will invest with the knowledge that you have a certain level of risk tolerance, for example, that you are a certain age, that you are an LGBTQ+ person, you're married, you're not married, you have kids, you don't have kids. All of those different scenarios are taken into account. And then we tailor make a financial plan for you. And let me also say this because it's so important. I will come up with a plan for you. I will work with you no matter who you are, no matter where you come from, no matter who you love, how you identify, or how much money you have, you know there's no minimum to come in and work with me. You know, there are a lot of advisors out there that will say, oh, you have to have if you've got $500,000 in the bank or $500,000 in assets, then you can give me a call. Otherwise, we're not even going to work with you. Forget that. I am not that way. No matter how much money you have. I will work with you to build a plan, and one that you can feel secure. That you'll be able to take pride in your retirement years. Right. So no matter how much money you have, your money is important to you. So it's definitely important to me. Reach out at take Pride in retirement.com.
Speaker4:
Here's the cost cutter of the week.
Speaker1:
So in the cost cutter segment this time around it's been a while since we've done one. So I figured, hey, let's do one and let's make it about fees this time. And do you know even how much you're paying in fees for your retirement plan or to to your advisor, to your broker, to whomever? Well, one of the easiest ways to actually cut unnecessary costs is to get rid of unnecessary fees that you're paying within your retirement accounts. So a few of the most common fees that are out there that you might be, uh, paying and a lot of these, you might be paying and not even know because it's kind of, you know, hidden on a brokerage statement somewhere, that kind of thing. But be aware of these mutual funds. They charge operating expenses. Some kinds of funds have higher expenses than others as well. Investment management fees charged as a percent of the total assets managed. And so that is one of the things that we'll go over when you meet with me is how much we charge in fees. Yeah, it's it's a very small percentage of the overall number of, uh, assets, the overall, uh, dollar amount of assets that that are under our management. It'll be a percentage fee. And it is set up that way for a reason, because it's fair and because we'll charge a reasonable fee.
Speaker1:
And. We will also keep that as low as possible. So it's as affordable as possible for you. But also at the same time when it's set up is that percentage. Because when you do better and your dollar amount goes up and up and up, we do better. Because when your investments grow, then that means that we, you know, the fee will come a little bit more to to us as well. That means that the percentage, even though the percentage number hasn't changed, the dollar amount will. And so when you do better, we do better, right? But keep in mind, we always have to act in your best interest. I am a fiduciary, so I have to act in a fiduciary capacity, which means that I buy, you know, moral creed and by the law have to act in your best interests and not in my own. Another fee to be aware of is that many brokers or brokerages, brokerage houses, will they charge a transaction fee each time in order to buy or sell a mutual fund, or a stock is placed. They got front end loads. They got back end loads. Those are commissions for certain folks that you might work with. We don't work that way. We don't operate that way. So those aren't fees that you would have to pay with us.
Speaker1:
Brokerages may also charge an annual fee to be custodian of funds. So really you should be asking yourself this important question. It is really important. How much am I paying in fees on my retirement savings? If you don't know the answer to that question, or if you can't quickly look it up, you really do owe it to yourself to find out. As I said earlier, a lot of people think, oh, it's way too expensive to work with a financial advisor. I think it's way too expensive not to because a, you know, if you're working with someone like me who operates in a fiduciary capacity, well, I will work Working your best interest. I'll have your best interests at heart and we'll come up with the best plan for you. So it'll be tailor made for you. Not some one size fits all thing. Right. So that's number one. So that's the value prop that we're getting that we're offering here. But also you know you are you can you can rest assured that you are working with someone that cares, that is a member of the LGBTQ plus community as well, operates with empathy and really sees you for who you are and takes it all into account. That's really what I do and what I work to do each and every single day.
Speaker1:
So if you don't know how much you're paying in fees, if you've got any questions, I'd be more than happy to take a look and identify the current expense ratio. That is the number that will say, okay, here's how much you're paying in fees. So the expense ratio of your retirement savings and investment accounts take pride in retirement.com once again is the Is the website its take pride in retirement. Com. You can also give me a call at 85524692178552469211. Well folks that is going to do it for this edition of the show. Really do appreciate you joining me here over the last, uh, about, you know, almost 45 minutes or so. Uh, but you are the reason that I do this. So I thank you so, so much from the bottom of my heart for staying with me, staying with the show, and hopefully learning something each and every time we get together. Um, I know that you, you know, enjoy my dulcet tones. If you've made it this far into the show, know I really do appreciate it that, you know, you get something out of the show and that's why you listen. Um, and that really just means the world to me. Uh, the show really is, you know, spreading the good word about LGBTQ plus retirement solutions.
Speaker1:
It's the reason that I wanted to start this show is because, you know, as I was becoming a licensed financial advisor and doing all my studying and everything, I said, I was, you know, out there looking for resources for retirement planning for LGBTQ plus people. And it was like there were a couple articles that were in some magazines and online magazine. That's kind of it. So, yeah, um, there, there needed to be another resource. And I, I'm trying to be that resource. So I thank you for helping me spread the word. Tell your friends. Tell your family. Tell anybody about the show. Remember to go to YouTube, search for take pride in retirement, subscribe, like our videos and spread them around. We really do appreciate that. You can also follow me on the Take Pride in Retirement page on Facebook. We're also on Instagram and elsewhere. Uh, certainly will be very shortly as well. Well, thank you so much once again for joining me over this last a little bit of time here that we've spent together. I do hope that you've gotten something out of this week's show. And of course, I will see you next week for another edition of Take Pride in Retirement. Until then, take pride in yourselves and take care of each other. We'll talk to you next time.
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 or go online to take pride in retirement 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.
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