Ten Retirement Facts That Matter to the LGBTQ+ Community

Episode 14: Audio automatically transcribed by Sonix

Episode 14: 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 plus community protect and grow their hard earned money. Get set for a show full of education and insights with your host and advisor, Matt McClure. We recognize every family is unique. The goal of the show is to help you achieve financial freedom so you and your loved ones can have the retirement you've always dreamed of, a retirement you can take pride in, no matter who you are, where you're from, or who you love. So now let's start the show. Here's Matt McClure.

Speaker1:
Hello and welcome once again to take pride in Retirement. I'm Matt McClure, your host, your advisor, your pal, your good buddy, all of the above. Thank you so much for being a part of things here once again, this time on the show. I am so glad that you have done just that. Of course. Take pride in retirement.com as always, is the website that's take pride in retirement.com. You can call 855246 9211 as well. That's (855) 246-9211. Or you can shoot me an email at Matt at Take Pride in retirement.com. That's it. My name is Matt and so my email address is Matt at Take Pride in retirement.com. Decided to keep it easy for you. I really do appreciate it. So if this is your first time tuning in to the show, downloading us or you know from the website, maybe if you found us that way, if you found this show via any of your favorite podcast platforms, thank you for giving us a chance. Thank you for subscribing. I hope you will be entertained and informed over this next however long this episode is going to last here, probably about 45 minutes or so, I would, I would guess, but I hope that it's not just me flapping my gums. I hope that I would, you know, say some things that encourage you, inspire you and really educate you because that's what it's all about. It's about, as the opening says. And that, yes, was my husband, Josh, who does the voiceover for the opening of the show, talking about no matter who you are, where you come from, who you love. All of those things.

Speaker1:
All of the things. No matter how you identify, no matter what, you deserve a retirement you can take pride in. You deserve to have a retirement that will allow you to thrive in the way that you want to, and and spend your time the way that you want to spend it in retirement and don't have to worry about the financial side of things. Know that you will be taken care of no matter what happens. That is, the whole goal of this show is to educate you about how to do that, no matter who you are. Um, and as I have said probably a couple times on the show and I'll say it here again, um, my sort of inspiration for doing a show like this was because there weren't any shows like this. There weren't shows and resources dedicated specifically to the LGBTQ plus community. And as a member of the community, I want to change that. And so I took action to change it, and I hope that you are glad that I did, because I want to help you have a better retirement. How's that? Um, very, very glad that you have joined me for the show here today. I've got a lot to get to. Um, why? Retirement planning looks like in 2024, and that's going to be through the lens of several sort of little known facts about retirement. Right. So what life is like for retirees right now in America, maybe some things that you didn't know that you weren't aware of, that you might be surprised by, or that you might have already known.

Speaker1:
But I'm going to shed a little bit of light, a little bit of insight as to the why behind some of these things. All right. So a lot of that to come. We're also going to talk a little bit about personal pensions and why right now you could create your own personal pension. And why right now is probably the best time to set up your own personal pension and how I can help you do that. Uh, also talk about being proactive and not reactive when it comes to your retirement. Always super important and more if time allows. Um, also, you know, I mentioned the podcast at the very top. Um, and you can also find it, you can listen to previous episodes and take pride in retirement.com. Uh, anywhere you get your podcasts, you can download, subscribe, leave us a good, uh, nice five star rating on whatever service you use for your, uh, your podcast listening. Um, do that. We'd really appreciate it. Also, you can check out things on YouTube. Uh, the videos are there. We do video, video shorts and all all of the above and starting to get more active in that space. So just search for Take Pride in Retirement on YouTube. And again, don't hesitate to call if you have any questions. That number once again is (855) 246-9211. Because I'd love to meet with you. We can do it virtually. So no matter where you are across the country, uh, you can always or even worldwide, as long as, uh, you know, you were, uh, a US citizen. Really? Uh, I can help you. Um, but if you happen to be on vacation in Bora Bora and have a good internet connection, let's meet via zoom, shall we? Um, because I would love to meet with you.

Speaker1:
Really? To discuss how I can help you reach your financial goals in retirement. If you are. You know, even if you're. You're like me, if you're in your 40s, if you have a husband and two dogs and that's your family makeup, I want to help you. If you are in your 50s and you are, uh, pair of husbands, you are a pair of wives. You are a pair of whomever's. You are not a pair if you're alone, if you're by yourself and you have the dog, the cat, or whatever, maybe you have children from a previous marriage. I want to take all of that into account. Whatever your picture is, if you're in your 30s, even if you're in your 60s, if you're in your 70s, I want to be able to help you, and I can, I feel like, so I can help you with retirement planning and help you with risk management, estate planning a whole lot more and building financial plans that are sound. That are going to stand the test of time. That is what I love to do for listeners to the show. Okay, so before we get any deeper into kind of the meat on the bone, uh, today in, uh, our big segment on what retirement planning looks like in 2024, let's get some inspiration for our discussions this week. And we do that each 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:
Our quote once again, we've had a couple of quotes, I think, from Warren Buffett. And we're going to do it again because he is the Oracle of Omaha, after all, and he has a lot of wisdom to share and says this someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago. Um, on the day that I'm recording this, actually, it's a beautiful day and I was just outside, uh, with my husband for lunch, sitting in the shade. We were technically under an umbrella, so nobody planted that tree, uh, a long time ago. Because it was. It was an umbrella in, like, this outdoor food court area where we'll go sometimes. Beautiful, beautiful day. Uh, but yesterday, actually, we did, um, you know, we were in the shade for a while out at the local park here. And also a beautiful day. And I am so thankful to the people who planted those trees a long time ago, because, uh, that means we were able to sit in that shade and enjoy being out of the hot sun, being out of the heat. And that really is true as far as your finances go as well. Because when was the best time to plant a tree? Oh, you know, 20 years ago, something like that. 25 years ago, you got to have time for it to grow and blossom and flourish. Right? So time is your friend when it comes to retirement planning. You want to sit in the shade in your retirement, or you want to travel a lot in your retirement.

Speaker1:
You want to sit on your front porch in retirement. Sip a mint julep every day. You know, whatever your whatever your plan is. Now. Now I want suburban. Um, whatever your plan is, you will want to start planning for that vision that you have in your head. And you chances are need some help doing it. And we're going to go through a lot of reasons why you'll need some help doing it today as we continue our discussions here on the show. And we will do that with ten little known facts about retirement in America today, ten little known facts. And here's the thing. I was talking to somebody about this earlier as I was prepping for the show, and I said, oh my gosh, this first stat that I'm going to share is really making me start to feel old here. Um, and I say that and facetiously and, um, and humorously because I know I'm getting older, but generation X is retiring in droves. That is the first statistic. And I sort of, I sort of was taken aback by that. Gen X is, is the generation, if you're unfamiliar, it's in between the baby boomers and the millennials. Typically, it's looked at as people being born between 1965 and 1980. And people in that generation, yes, are starting to retire and they're doing it in large numbers. Because if you look at that, you know, 1965 people are just, you know, turning about to turn 60.

Speaker1:
They're starting to really get in that retirement mode. And so if it sounds like you, particularly if you're in your 50s now, now is a fantastic time to meet with a financial adviser like myself. Start putting together a formal retirement plan. Start putting that in place. Because you have time on your side. Still, if you are in your 50s especially, especially, you know, if you're in your 40s or 30s, even better, we can have more time to set you up for success in retirement, right? The earlier you start, the better off you'll be. But still in your 50s. You've got time on your side, and there's a lot you can do to improve your financial situation for the future. In many Gen Xers. Now, of course, as I said, starting to reach the age of retirement. And that's leading to a significant increase in the number of retirees. Here's the thing, though Gen X retirees face unique challenges, unique considerations like balancing their financial responsibilities while still caring for aging parents. That's something we're going to get into in a little bit because there's longevity. Risk is something that we're going to talk about. People are living longer today, and that not only affects you when you're planning for your finances, it could also affect you when you're talking about, you know, what do I need to be doing in my years leading up to retirement? Because, you know, a lot of people's parents will be living longer as well, thank God.

Speaker1:
But are you going to help take care of them? Are you going to be there to be kind of in a caregiver, sort of a role that takes time, takes finances, it takes planning. Plan for your own future. If you are part of generation X and I can help you do it once again. Take pride in retirement. Dot com is the website number two here on our list of little known facts about retirement in America today. This kind of goes hand in hand with the last point that I was making there in that first one, and that's that family responsibilities don't end in retirement. They don't just stop. You know, you don't quit the workforce and say, hey, I've worked 40 years. Thank you for the gold watch and the pension. If you still have a pension, thank you for all of those things. Now I'm going to go off and, you know, I guess you could go off live on an island somewhere. But generally speaking, financial family responsibilities don't end just because you quit the workforce and get your gold watch and all of the other things, you know, retirees often find themselves continuing to support their adult children. A lot of people find themselves supporting their grandchildren. I mean, you know, it's a true thing that a lot of people that I have known, that I have grown up with, especially a lot of people in the LGBTQ+ community, I feel like.

Speaker1:
Have been raised by grandparents. You know, I mean, it's family situations can sometimes lead to some difficulties where the parents are not able to take care of the kids. So the grandparents end up doing the work of taking care of their grandkids. And that has a significant impact on your own financial future. Whatever your role in that whole situation and whatever your situation is. Of course, as LGBTQ+ folks, we know that not everybody has kids. You may have kids that you have adopted. You may have kids that you've had through surrogacy. You may have kids that you've had through, um, some other means through a previous marriage or something like that. It's. Just an absolute, uh, cornucopia of potential situations. But it all impacts your your financial future, right? So you got to plan for whatever it might be. And balancing those family obligations with personal financial goals. It can be a challenge for retirees. And so that requires some careful planning. It also requires careful communication. Because you may need to set boundaries and establish clear expectations to make sure that your own financial stability is ensured, that you can actually achieve what you want to achieve, but still support your loved ones that you want to support and be there for. Right? So many of our family members have done so much for us. It's difficult not to return that favor, right? I was there, my husband and I both have been there with our parents.

Speaker1:
My, uh, husband's mom and dad both, sadly, have passed. My dad passed a couple of years ago. So we know all about that. And so if you want help in sort of navigating that space, trust me, I am someone who can speak from experience on that score. Number three here on our list of little known facts about retirement, one third of retirees, one third, 33% of retirees live on Social Security alone. This is disheartening and a bit scary because of course, you know, Social Security plays a big role in financial well-being of a lot of people, a lot of retirees. A substantial portion, though, rely on it as their primary source of income. That is the situation that we want you to avoid. That's the situation that I want to help you avoid. Right. And here is the why behind it. Because living on Social Security alone. Chances are it's not going to be enough because the benefits are not going to cover all of your expenses. Chances are. So it's crucial that you explore additional sources of income, personal pensions. We're going to talk about that in depth coming up here in just a little bit. Investments part time work perhaps if that's what you want to do and you're still physically able to do it when you get a little bit older, a little bit up there in years. And you want to do those things to supplement your Social Security benefits, because I want you to be in a situation where you're not reliant on Social Security for all of your income.

Speaker1:
But here's what you are doing. You have a plan in place where you have an income that you know you're going to be set up for life with, right? You've got an income for life. And, you know, 100% that that's going to be there, that you're not going to outlive your money. And then Social Security is the cherry on top. Social security is is the gravy, so to speak. Social security is not what you're relying on for your income in retirement, but it is what you are getting as that benefit you've paid into for decades and decades and decades. Right? But it's. The extra. It is what makes life a little bit easier. It's not. What is the thing that you're relying on solely for income in retirement? Well, if you're concerned about Social Security, I mean, you're not alone. A lot of people are. And so I really do want to provide you with a comprehensive Social Security maximization plan. That is customized with you. And if you're married, your spouse's benefit information. Because if you are married. Like me if you are married, um, and you know, you and your husband, you and your wife, you and whatever significant other. We want to take consideration, want to take both of your Social Security benefits into consideration because.

Speaker4:
The.

Speaker1:
The rub here is that when you plan to retire, how much your benefits are going to be. How long your life expectancy is, all of those things and more. Many, many more. Dozens of other decision points are there throughout the planning for Social Security. So we want you to be ready for it. We want you to be comprehensive in the things that you consider for your retirement, and have a plan in place where you are not going to be, you know, getting to to retirement age and then say, okay, now I'm retired, what do I do? You know, we want you to have it planned so you know what's coming. You know what to expect, right? Take pride in retirement. Dot com is the website. Go there. Click the free no obligation consultation button and I would love to contact you back. And I will do that in short order and get you set up with a free consultation. It is 100% free of any cost and any obligation. I'll tell you more about kind of what that entails. Coming up in just a little bit. You can also call the number on the screen if you're watching the video part of this on YouTube. 855246921185524692 11. Is that number as well? Okay. So we're up now to number four in our list of little known facts about retirement in America today. Number four is that most retirees have not budgeted for retirement.

Speaker1:
Seems like you would want to do that right. You want to have a budget for retirement. And I know a lot of people, myself included, I have been scared in the past of this word budget. It's almost like a four letter word, right? It's kind of like, uh, the the other four letter word that we talk about around here. Taxes sometimes. Right. That seems like a four letter word. Uh, it's going to it's going to kill my wealth in retirement and all of this. What you want to do though. And the reason that you shouldn't be scared of this word is because you want to tell your money where to go, instead of looking back and wondering where it went. Taking a look around you. Oh, well, where did that money go? Where did. What the. What the heck? No, that's not what you want to be doing in retirement or any other time of your life. You want to tell your money where to go, not wonder where it went. So retirees need to create a comprehensive budget. Or here's the thing. If you if you feel like it, if you are still scared of that that term, the term budget. Call it a spending plan. Call it whatever you want to call it. Just call it something and put one in place that accounts for all of your expenses, including health care, including housing, including leisure activities, unexpected emergencies as well, because then that is going to allow you to have a clear understanding of your financial situation, the way that it stands right now.

Speaker1:
And, you know, I talked about very briefly a few minutes ago your vision for retirement, right. Like what you want to be doing in retirement if you want to retire to Bora Bora, great. If you want to, you know, sip mint juleps on the front porch, as I joked about earlier. Great. But budgeting is going to let you know where you are now. And so how can you know where you're going if you don't know where you're starting from? Right. So we're going to find out where you're starting from, where you want to go and how you get from point A to point B. We're going to give you those points in between and get you there with a plan, because you got to have a plan to get there, a roadmap to get you there along the way. Number five stat here that we'll share about some little known facts about retirement today in America. Number five, your standard of living is probably going to change in retirement. Probably going to change. Because here's the thing. If you are, you know, seeing a change in your lifestyle, you're not going back and forth to the office every day. You're not driving back and forth to, you know, whatever you do for work every day, um, you're not doing the things that you've always done for your entire working life.

Speaker1:
So your lifestyle changes, your spending habits change. You have to adjust to a fixed income. Potentially. Your priorities are different, too. You've got more time to spend with friends. You've got more time to spend with family. You've got more time to go on vacations and do all of the things. So you probably need to make some adjustments to your spending, like downsizing your home. Perhaps. Maybe that's a good idea for you because you downsize the house. You downsize the house payment. Today. That's a little bit more difficult to do because of the interest rate environment and the high price of housing. But still, think about the overall picture, because you're looking at if you if you downsize into a much smaller house, let's say, you know, a little like a little ranch or something like that. Instead of the, you know, 2 or 3 storey home that you may be in right now if you do that in retirement, not only is that pretty much guaranteed to cut down on the cost of your housing month to month, like just the basic mortgage payment part of things, even with the higher interest rate environment right now, downsizing is also going to mean much less in utilities. It doesn't take nearly as much to keep the house that size cool or hot as it does the big house.

Speaker1:
Right? And I'm not talking about jail. I'm talking about the large house that you likely live in right now. Um, but if you're like me and you live in a, you know, small apartment in midtown Atlanta, then there you go. You don't have to worry about it, but downsizing if necessary. Um, you know, cutting back on discretionary expenses, perhaps finding cost effective alternatives to some things. I mean, those are all things that really can help. You navigate a new standard of living and maintain your financial stability and enjoy a fulfilling retirement that is within your means, because that's what you want to have, right? A fulfilling retirement, but you don't want to overspend. The number one fear of retirees is running out of money even more than death itself. Even more than death itself is running out of money. And so, you know, I mean, you want to be prepared for whatever happens. And we're going to talk about in just a bit some ways that you can do that to make sure that you are prepared to have income for the rest of your life. And that is peace of mind and that you really can't put a price on. But of course we can talk about it in a free consultation, so I'm not putting a price on it, because the consultation is absolutely free of any cost or any obligation.

Speaker1:
You can check it out. Take pride in retirement.com. Once again is the website okay. So number six here. Little known fact about retirement today. This one was disheartening for me as well to learn about because poverty is getting worse for retirees. Poverty is getting worse for retirees. The latest stats that we have access to here 10.3% of retirees as of 2021 living in poverty. 10.3%. And with the inflation picture and all of the other things going on, the, you know, higher costs have, uh, things like Social Security payments, the cost of living adjustment and all of that. Have those kept up with inflation? They they often try they always try actually to keep up with inflation. It is indexed to inflation with an increase in those payments each and every year. That's the cost of living adjustment. Some years there's a big increase like a couple of years ago. This year the increase was smaller because inflation fell kind of came back down to earth at least a bit still higher than anybody wants it to be. But it came came back down to earth from where it was and. You know, it's they try to keep up with the rising cost of living. There's some debate over whether or not the index that they use to measure inflation and adjust the, you know, cost of living increase potentially each year with the Social Security Administration, whether that actually measures the true cost of inflation.

Speaker1:
There's some debate over that, but at least it tries anyway with that sort of being the picture. But probably a bigger portion of retirees are facing financial hardship and live below the poverty line today than back in 2021. So I don't want you to become a statistic. That's the bottom line here. And that's why I offer a 100% complimentary consultation for all of the listeners who reach out to me. And many people are looking for a solid plan to avoid that. Number one fear of retirees that I talked about running out of money. So call 855246 9211. (855) 246-9211. You can also go to the website. It is take Pride in retirement.com. That's take Pride in retirement.com. And click on the consultation button there and we'll get you all set up okay. Number seven is 80% of retirees never leave their state. I feel like maybe this is a little bit less true with LGBTQ+ folks. Um, because we tend to, especially if you grow up in a smaller area like I did, I, you know, I moved away from Georgia for ten years. I lived elsewhere. So it's like, I feel like a lot of LGBTQ+ folks do end up leaving their state, at least in their working years. Maybe they retire back home closer to, you know, friends, closer to family. If you have, um, you know, family that you get along with that you want to be close to, um, you know, it's just, uh, a comfort level thing, right? But 80% of American retirees overall never even leave their home state.

Speaker1:
And they often choose to stay in their home state because of those things the familiarity, the family ties, the friends, the social networks. They also know that their doctors there, they have community resources there. They're familiar with the way that things work in the local community. So. That's just one stat. That is, I thought maybe a little bit on the higher side than I that I thought it would be. But 80% never leaving their home state. Number eight here in our little known facts about retirement. Most people and this is sad. Most people have a retirement portfolio that is not keeping up. It's not where it needs to be. Because a lot of people face the challenge of their investment portfolios, just really not generating enough returns, any sufficient returns to really kind of sustain their desired lifestyle. Throughout retirement. A lot of people. Really need to assess or reassess their retirement savings and investment strategies and take advantage of what we offer here, which is a complimentary 400 1KX ray. And explore some alternative investment options and ensure that the plan is going to be able to generate your desired income level for your retirement years. So here's the thing if you are preparing for retirement, or if you've recently retired, you probably saw your assets drop over the last 3 to 5 years.

Speaker1:
We had Covid, that caused a big issue, obviously in the stock market. Then we had the supply chain issues, then we had inflation and we had all of these other issues that caused market turmoil. And it's been a bit of a roller coaster. So what I want to do is really encourage you to reach out because, you know, you could be at risk of running out of money in retirement. And that is, of course, as I said, the number one fear of retirees. So a 401 K X-ray and a portfolio analysis is what we offer to our listeners here. And if you're consistently saving for retirement but you aren't happy with the rate of return you're receiving, you probably need a 400 and 1KX ray and a portfolio analysis. Same's true. If you feel like your money isn't working as hard as you do. If you aren't receiving much or any help from your work based retirement plan. The people who service that plan or the HR department, which God loved them. They've got a hard job. And they probably will give you an 800 number to call because they're not investment experts. They are not retirement planning experts. Why don't you hand over your finances and work with someone on your finances? I should say that that's their job.

Speaker1:
That's what they do. Rice. Take pride in retirement.com. Click the free consultation button there and we can get you set up with a call. And we'll do it remotely over zoom. If you're in the metro Atlanta area or nearby, we can come here to our office and I'll be glad to meet with you in person and talk about it. More than 35% of retirees still have a mortgage at age 65. This was pretty surprising to me. Uh, that's number nine on our list, by the way. So hitting the home stretch here, uh, but 35% actually a little bit more than that. Still have a mortgage at age 65. And here's the thing. It can be an issue because carrying a mortgage into retirement can impact your cash flow and your financial flexibility. And that's probably going to consume one of the two Social Security payments. If you're a married couple that are coming into the household, if you are a single person approaching retirement and you are going to rely on Social Security, you do not want a house payment because that's going to eat up like all of your retirement income, right? So, you know, consider if it's best for you. And of course, all of this is dependent on your particular situation. Everything that I talk about is informational, just, you know, providing sort of general overview of these things, but based on your specific situation, it may make sense for you to consider something where you have your mortgage paid off before retirement.

Speaker1:
Maybe refinancing if it makes sense. Again, with the the environment of higher interest rates today it may not, but. You could reduce your monthly payments if you refinance. Even just, you know, based on how long you've been paying that on that mortgage or, you know, any other number of factors when you enter retirement, you're really starting to become, um, part of the decumulation phase of your life. So you've been spending your entire life, your entire working career, accumulating, contributing to your 401 K. Your 403 B, your IRA, your Sep, IRA, your, um, uh, you know, whatever TSP. If you're a federal employee, all of the other, you know, types of accounts that you might have access to to contribute to. So that's the accumulation phase, your phase. You are accumulating your money that you're going to have in retirement, right. So that is what you're doing during your working phase? Well, during your working years. Rather accumulation phase. Well, now when you retire, you start the accumulation phase. You're drawing down that money. You withdraw assets to live and to meet your expenses. So don't let debt become another drain on your portfolio. Get rid of it before you turn age 65 or whatever. You know, age you want to retire. And here's the thing number ten. This one was a bit surprising to me, but.

Speaker1:
It's I think once you understand the whys here, it's probably very true. Early retirement could actually be bad for your health. Yeah. You know, it may seem appealing to kind of call it quits earlier than your coworkers, right? But early retirement can have unintended consequences on your physical and your mental well-being. Now if you just have to retire early because work is driving you insane. Fine. But. Many people who retire early. Could experience feelings like, you know, a loss of purpose, a loss of social connections, mental stimulation. All of those things can negatively impact your overall health. So it's really important for you to consider early retirement really carefully. And really go over and evaluate in your head the potential effects on your health and well-being before making that, which is a huge decision. So I want to help you. No matter what your situation is, no matter who you are, where you come from, who you love, any of the things I want to help you. I want to help you reach your retirement goals. And I'm pretty sure I can do that. Because we have a lot of different plans, a lot of different, uh, methods that we can use. To make your retirement goals a reality. And if you call the number at 855246 9211 (855) 246-9211 or go to take pride in retirement.com. Here is what you get when you give us a call and book your free consultation.

Speaker1:
Or you can go online and do that same thing. As I just said, we'll do a comprehensive analysis. That's number one, thoroughly assessing your financial situation, helping build a personalized plan that aligns with your retirement goals and dreams. That's a personalized plan. Notice I didn't say, oh, it's a one size fits all thing, and you just come and see me and I'll sign you up for it and you're done. No, we have to assess your financial situation and really work out a plan that is right for you. Because I am a fiduciary financial advisor. That means that I have to act in your best interests. And if I was just here, you know, doling out advice that's generic and is the same for everybody, well, what's good for, you know, Bob down the street might not be good for Jill. Two blocks away. It could be, maybe, but chances are they have different financial situations going on. And so I have to personalize that advice that I give. I can't just give out generic advice. Also, chances are you're paying too much in fees in your retirement portfolio. So we'll do a fee evaluation, discover exactly how much you're paying in fees for your retirement savings accounts, help you identify the unnecessary costs, and find ways to optimize your investments as well. We'll also take a look at something that we're going to talk about in depth here momentarily.

Speaker1:
And that's personal pensions income planning as well. Learn how to set up that personal pension to secure a reliable income stream for your retirement that you cannot outlive. We'll do some Social Security planning as well. You know, as I talked about earlier, if you're unsure about when to take Social Security, we'll guide you through the process. Actually work with someone who is a registered social security analyst, who's been through a lot of training and has worked with a lot of clients over the years on their Social Security to really understand the process, understand the ins and outs of it, and I'll get you in touch with him. And that'll really make sure that you make informed decisions that are based on your unique circumstances. Okay, so take pride in retirement. Dot com is the website. (855) 246-9211 is the number. And we want you to get in touch with us very soon. All right. Now last part of the show here that I'll go through today is this. And it's talking about a personal pension now okay. So so talking about pensions is kind of like talking about unicorns or, uh, the dodo bird or, you know, like the, uh, I don't know, dinosaurs, you know, some things that are that are extinct or mythical that never existed. Right? Because pensions are just very few and far between. I think it's something like 14% of private companies offer pensions, if I remember my stats correctly.

Speaker1:
Somewhere in that neighborhood, though, um, the federal government still offers a pension to employees. Some other government agencies in different cities and states will offer pensions. But for private companies not not seeing it a lot. And so what do pensions do? Well, they provide income for life. So if you don't have that, like if you're putting money in your 401 K okay, great. Like that is it's pretax money. You're going to be taxed on that when you, you know, get into retirement and make withdrawals. But how are you going to turn that into income in retirement. Well, an annuity is a great way to do that. A fixed indexed annuity is one that we really recommend to a lot of folks, just because of a few of the things that I'm about to go through here. But. If you are someone who you know likes the sound of guaranteed income for life, then you'll want to listen up. Because a lot of people are, you know, fearful of potential recession down the road. If not in the immediate short term, then maybe in, you know, the next few years here, just because there's so much uncertainty right now. And we actually at Active Wealth Management, the company that I work for, we receive regular calls from listeners, people who've been clients as well, concerned about the impact or possible impact of another recession and what that could do to their retirement, because 2008 was a few years back now, but it's still fresh in a lot of people's minds because talk about that.

Speaker1:
Time and you go back and think about that. People lost 50%, probably even more. A lot of them in their retirement portfolio. And and that's a scary proposition. So with uncertainty out there. People are. Just kind of fearful that that could happen again. But people, here's what you have to understand. Those who have invested in fixed indexed annuities are not at risk of losing money from that portion of their portfolio because your investment is 100% protected and backed up in reserves. So that makes it into a makes it rather a great alternative to bank CDs and other types of investments, which we'll go into here in a moment. So if you're someone who is not looking to take a lot of risk with your. A retirement investments, but you're still looking to protect and grow your money for retirement. One of the best things that that you can do, I believe, is replace the bonds that you currently hold with a fixed indexed annuity, but not just any fixed indexed annuity or FIA. Uh, the right one. Right. So when you invest in a fixed indexed annuity, you put a floor on that portion of your portfolio, and that means that you cannot lose money.

Speaker1:
The value of that account can only go up. It can never go down. So you know your what you invest and at any growth that is credited to that from say, year to year, for example, that money. Is becomes your new floor after that year passes. If the stock market or whatever index that your investment is tied to, like not invested in directly, but if it's tied to the performance of an index. So when that goes up, great, you go up, you get a portion of the of that growth. If that index goes down, though, your investment does not go down, it is protected. So you can get market like gains without the market risk. That's really where the rubber meets the road. On the annuity side, a lot of people concerned about banks, you know, we had a couple of banks, uh, go under last year, uh, a little over a year ago now, a couple of, um, regional banks that, um, you know, could not meet their obligations to, you know, give people their money back, basically. And so those couple of banks just collapsed 2008, 2007, we had the collapse of Lehman Brothers. We had, remember, Washington Mutual WAMU. Yeah, that went out of business. Um, because it you couldn't do business anymore either. Um, that was a very, very large bank. And so, you know, banks as well. I mean, they don't have reserve requirements to the level that annuity companies do.

Speaker1:
So annuity companies and insurance companies, they have to have a minimum of 100% reserves. So whatever you put into it. They have to keep that money in reserves. So if you, you know, if some crisis happens and you come want your money, they have that money on the books. They have that money locked away, protected for you. Right. Banks are not that way. I mean, a lot of them are only required to keep 10% of their deposits in cash reserves, some even less. They have $100 million or less or less than $100 million, I should say, in total deposits, they're not required to keep the 10%. They have less strict requirements in, you know, those sort of regional local banks. Interest rates going up means that the value of your bonds goes down. So you'll want to replace those bonds with a fixed indexed annuity potentially. That's why we really encourage a lot of folks to do that, to look at bond replacement with a fixed indexed annuity, because it's the safe portion of your portfolio, right. That's what bonds have always been. Your money's at risk in the stock market. But bonds are safe. That's what the the common thinking, the the general consensus has always been. But we've seen a lot of really poor performance in the bond market. In tandem with the stock market over the last couple of years.

Speaker1:
So that's turned that on its head. Fixed indexed annuities, however, have seen growth as the market goes up. So to fixed indexed annuities. And then when the market goes down that portion of your portfolio is protected. No loss in it in what's in that fixed indexed annuity. Go to take pride in retirement.com. And we'll give you the latest rates and the bonuses, the features offered by some highly rated annuity companies that we work with. And we really want you to take advantage of that. Because it could be great for you. But of course it's based on your individual situation. There are tax benefits as well. It's tax deferred growth. You don't pay taxes on any of the interest you earn in a fixed indexed annuity until you're in retirement, you withdraw funds. So there's a tax benefit that goes along with an FIA as well. Also, this is what I was talking about earlier. You know protection from that longevity risk. People are living longer according to the CDC. Go CDC. It's based right here in Atlanta. The life expectancy in 1900 was under 50 years old. I would be a senior citizen if it were 1900. By 1950 it was 68 years old. Well, today life expectancy is right around 77, but more than 6300 US citizens turn 90 every day, and there are more than 100,000 US citizens age 100 or older.

Speaker1:
It's like the fastest growing part of our society, right? The fastest growing age group. And so what happens is a fixed indexed annuity can provide lifetime income. You know, you you invest in a fixed indexed annuity. You see that market like growth without the market risk. And then you get into retirement, you turn on income and that income comes your way for life, no matter how long you live. So if you end up being one of those people who's 100 or older and God willing, you will. You're set up, that income's not going anywhere. You know you can rely on it. I mean, your assets in the stock market can lose value in the blink of an eye, but the annuity is providing you with an income you can never outlive. You cannot draw it down to zero in retirement. If you take that lifetime income. I mean, really though, why would you try to systematically withdraw your assets that you have saved up when there's actually a safer option that's going to provide you with a personal pension for life? You turn on income and you know that it is there for the rest of your life. Boy, talk about peace of mind. A lot of. Different products that we work through, work with different carriers that we work with, rather, I should say, offer products that have bonus feature on your principal. For example, we offer one from nationwide.

Speaker1:
We've worked with them for quite a while. Some others as well are offering bonuses of up to say, ten or even 20% of what you invest. So like if you have a $500,000 portfolio, let's say, and you invest that 40% bond portion, so it's the old 6040 portfolio. They're 60% stocks, 40% bonds. You take that bond portion, the 40%, which is 200,000, and you invest that into a fixed indexed annuity. You could receive up to a $40,000 bonus on your principal. And that increases the value of the annuity, which in turn increases the monthly payouts you receive when you annuitize when you turn on income later on. So we want you to be set up for success with things like annuities, personal pensions. We don't want you to rely solely on Social Security in retirement. You know, we want you to have those multiple streams of income in retirement so that you can have a retirement that you can take pride in. That is the whole point of the show. You know, it's it's. No matter who you are, no matter where you come from, no matter who you love, if you are part of the LGBTQ plus community or not, if you are an ally, if you are, you know someone who just happened to stumble upon the show. Whatever your situation is, I'm talking to you and I am telling you you deserve a retirement that you can take pride in and I want to help you get there.

Speaker1:
All you have to do is call the number. It's 855 2469211855246 9211. You can also go to the website Take Pride in retirement.com. I'd love to help you out folks. Let me do it okay. At least explore it. No cost, no obligation for that phone call or sending that message. Well, that is going to do it for this edition of Take Pride in Retirement. I really do appreciate you being a part of things today. Um, thank you so much for listening to the show, for continuing to help our numbers grow. Spread the word, if you will. Would really appreciate that. Um, you know, like us on online, wherever you find us, subscribe to us on YouTube. You can get notifications of any of the, uh, latest and greatest videos that are out there. I've got some new guests interviews coming up as well, some new guests in the works here, so you'll want to stay tuned for that and be notified, of course, of any of the new episodes as they come out. So subscribe to us on your favorite podcast platform. Really would appreciate that as well. Thank you so much once again for joining me for Take Pride in Retirement. This time around. That is going to do it for this episode. But as always, take pride in yourselves and take care of each other. We'll see 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. 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, an active wealth management, are not affiliated with or endorsed by the Social Security Administration or any other government agency.

Speaker1:
Any bonuses mentioned may be subject to additional restrictions and regulations based on the offering annuity company. You may not receive the bonuses if the contract is fully surrendered, or if traditional annuitization payments are taken, and if the policy is partially surrendered, it could result in a partial loss of bonuses. Because these are bonus annuities, they may include higher surrender charges, longer surrender charge periods, lower caps, higher spreads, or other restrictions that are not included in similar annuities that don't offer a bonus feature. Fixed annuities, including multi year guaranteed rate annuities, are not designed for short term investments and may be subject to restrictions, fees and surrender charges as described in the annuity contract. Guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying ability of the issuer. 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 interests of our clients and to make full disclosures of any conflicts of interest, if any, exist. Refer to our firm brochure, the ADV Two.a, page four for additional information. Any comments regarding safe and secure products and guaranteed income streams refer only to fixed insurance products. They do not refer in any way to securities or investment advisory products. Fixed insurance and annuity product guarantees are subject to the claims paying ability of the issuing company and are not offered by BWA.

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