The Power of “Results in Advance” Planning

Episode 8: Audio automatically transcribed by Sonix

Episode 8: 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 once again, welcome to Take Pride in Retirement. I'm Matt McClure, your host, your advisor. Hopefully by now your good friend, your buddy, your pal and all around cheesy person. Um, no, I really do appreciate you taking your time, uh, to join me for this, uh, new, new edition of Take Pride in Retirement. I really have a lot of great stuff to get to. Also have some great guests lined up for the show. You know, recently we had Gabrielle Claiborne talking about trans issues on the show. Um, and we're also going to, uh, next time around, have a wonderful guest who I also met through the Georgia Business Alliance. Um, she is going to talk about mental health issues with the LGBTQ plus community and how that relates to your retirement, your financial planning in general, and how you can overcome a lot of those struggles that we that we go through as human beings and as LGBTQ people. Um, thank you so, so much once again, for being a part of things. Take pride in retirement.com is the website take Pride in retirement.com of course. Um, this show is all about educating you as part of the LGBTQ plus community and how you can, you know, take pride in your retirement. You can go to take Pride retirement.com, as I mentioned, or just send me an email Matt at Take Pride in retirement.com.

Speaker1:
Easy for you to remember. And you can also give me a call here at the Active Wealth Midtown Atlanta office. The number for the show specifically for listeners of the show is (855) 246-9211. That's (855) 246-9211. Uh, for take pride in retirement. A lot of great stuff to get to this time around as, um, you know, we're going to talk about something that we refer to as results in advance. Now, does that mean that we have a crystal ball? So we can get your results in advance and you know exactly what's going to happen. Going to know my crystal ball has been broken for quite some time. It's in the shop. They can't tell me what's going on with it. Uh, but it, um, you know, we're human beings. We can't see into the future. What results in advance planning is, is knowing that knowing that we cannot plan for stuff that we don't necessarily know is going to happen. It's you plan for whatever may happen, right? You don't, um, say that. That you have a crystal ball and you can predict the future because nobody can, but you can prepare for the knowns. And the unknowns. Right? So that's what we're going to do and talk about today here on the show. Once again remember folks go to the YouTube channel as well youtube.com or the Open up the YouTube app, however you prefer to get to it.

Speaker1:
Uh, just go there and search for take pride in retirement and you will find us. Um, it is a great spot for, of course, video highlights from the show as well. So a lot of great stuff there. Uh, on the socials and on the YouTubes and all over the interwebs. All right. I'd absolutely love to meet with you, by the way, and discuss how I can help you reach your retirement goals, your financial goals. Building plans for listeners is what I love to do. And, um, I can help you not only retire, but I can help you relaunch if you want to do that as well, and have the capital to be able to do that in retirement. We come up with a plan to get there once again. Take pride in retirement. Dot com all one word is the website. All right. So coming up here on this edition of the show uh we're going to start our discussions of course, with a quote of the week which we always do, how to achieve and receive results in advance for your retirement. We'll do a step by step look at that. Um, we'll also talk about, as part of that, how you can delete the IRS at least as much as possible, minimizing your taxes in retirement. You know, Uncle Sam, he is a partner with you in your retirement.

Speaker1:
Um, and you don't necessarily want that to be the case, right? I mean, there are people like, uh, you know, my my husband and I, I want to spend my retirement years with him. I don't want to spend it with him and Uncle Sam. Uncle Sam's not a fun third wheel, right. So we're going to talk about that. How you can minimize your tax burden in retirement and how I can help you do that. Um, also deleting unnecessary portfolio fees. Boy, there are so many fees that people don't even realize they're paying in retirement. We're going to talk about them, how you can eliminate them as well. Also how to generate more retirement income. There is, you know, so many people think of retirement as a big nest egg. And oh, how can I save up whatever dollar amount, you know, nest egg number that I have, um, sort of always imagined or thought about or dreamed of or planned for whatever. The thing is. Retirement is actually so much more about income. Then it is about that big nest egg number. You know, I mean, you can have a big nest egg and of course, building as much in that as you humanly can, that is that's great. That's a that's a good thing. It's not a bad thing.

Speaker1:
I'm not saying that. But how do you turn that into income? Because that's how you're going to live in retirement. And making sure that that big nest egg number can last as long as you do and longer. Right. You don't want to run out of money before you run out of life. And so that is what we're going to talk about there. Um, and, and also we're going to do a problem solver and, and show you how we were able to help people just like you, um, who were, you know, listeners to the show and, uh, really helped improve their situation. All right. Wonderful couple there that we'll talk about. Um, and then, you know, give you some details on how I can help you and how we can help you. Uh, the good folks that I work with at Active Wealth Management here in Atlanta, Georgia, we can help you and and or get you connected with folks who can help you no matter where you are. Uh, around the country. Around the world. Um, preferably, of course, we do business here in the United States. So there's that. But okay, so we're going to get things started off here on this new edition of Take Pride in Retirement. And we're going to do it as we do each and every time with our quote of the week.

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

Speaker1:
So this time around, our quote comes from a very famous person called unknown. They sometimes go by the alias anonymous, and this quote says retirement is not the end of the road, it's the beginning of the open highway. I love that because so many people think, and you hear the word retirement and you think, oh gosh, this is the end. This is this is where it all ends for me. No it's not. It's a beginning of a new chapter and probably one of the longest chapters of your life. You know, as life expectancy, even even during the Covid years, life expectancy has continued to either remain high or go up. Um, so, I mean, it really is a situation where people are living longer than ever before. And so we need to be prepared for that. Right? You need to be, um, excited about those years. You need to make sure that they are going to truly be your golden years as they should be, as we all hope and pray that they will be right and make them golden. But it's it's not just a situation where you hope. It's not just a situation where you pray that they will be hope and prayer is are not a strategy. That's not a plan. We got to get a plan in place to make that happen, because retirement is the beginning of an open highway full of so many possibilities. And whatever you want to do, no matter who you are, no matter where you come from, no matter who you're going to spend that time with, and no matter what you're going to do, as I say in retirement, I want to help you have a better retirement and make it as great as you can possibly make it.

Speaker1:
So it's a retirement that you can take pride in. And we're going to start out our discussions today on doing that by getting results in advance. I find so many people who are part of the LGBTQ plus community. There is such uncertainty around and and there historically has been around what the future is going to hold for our community. We are part of a community where, like myself, for example, my marriage is, you know, hangs on the string of one vote in the Supreme Court in 2015, in the Obergefell decision. Right. People who are not part of the LGBTQ plus community may not necessarily understand that, and how that could possibly be taken away at some point in the future. And it's a scary proposition, right? So what we need to do is build that results in advance. Retirement plan that no matter what happens, you are taking care of your spouse, your partner, your children. Should you have them, they are taken care of. Whatever your family dynamic, whatever that looks like. You're taken care of in your retirement years. And whoever is here after that. Yeah. You were taken care of beyond those retirement years and beyond your lifetime.

Speaker1:
All right. So as we get into our discussion, we're building a results in advance retirement plan. And we're going to do that via step one now. And that is to delete the IRS and minimize your taxes in retirement. I mean, obviously I am of the belief and it's just it's it's reality that paying taxes is a reality. It's part of life. But you don't have to leave the IRS a tip in retirement. You want to pay your fair share, right? You want to pay what you owe, but don't pay anything more. Don't give more than you have to. Because, you know, I mean. There are, you know, the huge corporations that end up paying zero in taxes because of ways that they're able to get around that. Um, if they're able to take advantage of the tax system as these big, huge corporations, let's minimize your tax bill as well. We'll do it in a legal way. Obviously, we're not going to do it in a way that is going to be anything that's going to be shady or illegal. We want you to pay what you owe and pay what you have to pay, but not pay anything more than that. So there are a couple of investments here that you may or may not have heard of or thought about for your retirement that are tax free. And you say, oh my gosh, how is that even possible? But yeah, there are a couple of tax free investments, really, only two of them.

Speaker1:
The first one that you can take advantage of is called a Roth. And you've probably heard like a Roth IRA Roth 401 K. Well, a Roth IRA actually does allow for tax free growth. And tax free distributions in retirement. So what you can do is a couple of things to put money into that. Roth. Right. You can just put money put post tax dollars. So money that you've paid the taxes on already. Now you put that into a Roth account. And then that grows tax free. You get into retirement, you take the distributions tax free. All right. That's number one. Number two you can actually convert. The funds from other types of retirement accounts. Your 401 K, for example, a traditional IRA, you can do a conversion into a Roth IRA. And with that particular type of scenario, it has to be carefully planned out because you don't want to then, um, you know, take distributions from your, uh, traditional IRA, your 401 K or whatever, and have that throw you into a higher tax bracket. So then you end up owing more in taxes to begin with. No, that's not what we want to do. What we want to do is make sure that you stay within your current tax bracket. So if you've got some room there that's always a plus. And then we do those conversions over a period of a few years so that you don't pay more taxes now than you have to.

Speaker1:
And then in the future you get that distribution tax free and you say, well, Matt, okay, I'm paying taxes one way or the other. What does it matter? Well, taxes very likely are going to go up in the future. Hasn't happened in a while. Uh, during our lifetimes really we haven't seen tax the tax rates go up. But in the future here, possibly end of next year. Tax rates are going to go up the individual tax rates. So take care of that now so that you can get that Roth conversion in place or get a Roth account established in place. You pay the taxes now at current rates, which are the lowest that they've been in quite a long time, um, during our lifetimes, surely. You know, unless you're, I don't know, very old, I guess. I don't know, but if you are, um, you know, of generation X or the or, uh, you know, the greatest generation even or of the baby boomer generation, whatever age, you are pretty much seeing the lowest taxes that we've seen as far as the individual tax rates go. And so you want to take advantage of that, because in the future, taxes are going to go up and you don't want to pay those higher rates. Plus you're paying the rates on the seed and not the harvest. Right. You're paying those tax rates on the um, what the current you're paying taxes on the current rates, the rates that they are right now.

Speaker1:
And you're also paying on a, on a lower amount right before all the growth has happened. So you're paying on the seed instead of on the harvest, which is also a good thing. Then when we talk about. The tax free investments that you can take advantage of. Number two is life insurance. And you say, well. I what am I going to do with life insurance as far as an investment? Because all I think about when I think of life insurance is, you know, I get life insurance. If something were to happen to me, God forbid, if I were to pass away or if my loved one who has a life insurance policy were to pass away, then my beneficiaries or their beneficiaries would receive a death benefit. And you know what? That's very true. That is an advantage of life insurance. That's the part of it that's called death insurance, really. At least the way that I look at it refer to it is money for dying, right? That death benefit part of life insurance. But there's another part these days that you can take advantage of as well during your life. In the likely scenario and the hopeful scenario, right? That you don't die unexpectedly. Um, money that is invested in the right types of life insurance policies. And we can help you determine those. The money that's invested in those types of life insurance policies can be withdrawn.

Speaker1:
Tax free. You can make tax free withdrawals and get money for living. And the reason that this is important still, I will say, is that that current 24% tax bracket as an example, was actually 56%. 56% in the early 60s. 1960 to 1963. That is twice the current tax rate for the 24% tax bracket, right? That's twice that plus 8%. So yeah, it's um, it taxes could be a lot higher and taxes are going to go up in the future. That's almost for sure. Um, because, you know, we have government budget deficits and we've got things that we have to take care of. And so generally speaking, they're taken care of on the backs of you and I, or at least on our wallets anyway. So if you're one of those people, if you're kind of like me, you're concerned about rising tax rates in the future. What I want you to do is give a call to (855) 246-9211. That's 855246 9211. You can go to take pride in retirement.com. That's the website for the show. Take pride in retirement. All one word.com. You can get a free consultation and I will talk more about that coming up here in just a little bit as the show goes along. Because I want to build a smart tax plan for you. Now, I am not a tax attorney. I don't even play one on TV. I didn't even stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night. But what we can do is put a plan together for you to minimize your tax burden in retirement, both now and in retirement.

Speaker1:
Really, when it comes right down to it, that's what we want to do because the cost of taxes will significantly affect your retirement if you don't have a plan. So put a plan in place and not only planning for your taxes, but also having a proper estate plan in place. Super important. That's going to really affect, uh, the retirement that you're able to live and enjoy. Um, but also the retirement that your partner or husband or wife is going to enjoy, or your family is going to enjoy those that you leave behind. Right. And remember, too, when we're on the subject of taxes, you know, Tax Day is coming up on April 15th. And so those two types of tax free investments, Roth IRAs and life insurance, they really come into focus, uh, because, you know, people are like, oh gosh, how can I save in taxes? How can I not have to pay taxes on something? Right? Roth IRAs and life insurance. A lot of people also think municipal bonds are tax free. And while the the definition of them is generally that's the case. Not necessarily though, because they're really sometimes at least subject to federal, state and local taxes. And they can also impact Medicare costs for higher income earners as well. And so that is something to take into consideration. That's why I don't include muni bonds, municipal bonds in those types of tax free investments, Roth IRAs, life insurance, those are the ones that you, uh, are going to find are tax free all the time, right? So why consider a Roth conversion? Well, five big reasons here that I have for you.

Speaker1:
One is that tax free accumulation of wealth we talked about. Two is the tax free income that you can gain in retirement. Three is protection from future tax increases. It's no matter what the tax rates are in the future, you don't have to worry about it. When it comes to taking money from your Roth account. It's not even a consideration. And boy, isn't that just like, ah, that's even sounds like such a relief, right? You are protected from those future tax increases. There's also and this is a huge one, no required minimum distribution. If you are someone who has a traditional account 401 K IRA, that is not a Roth. You are. And if you're especially if you're in retirement, you've reached a certain age. You are probably familiar with the good ol required minimum distribution. That is, when you reach a certain age 73. Now is the required minimum distribution age. Thanks to the Secure act 2.0, it went up by a year. Um, but they are make you the government makes you take a distribution from those types of retirement accounts, those tax deferred retirement accounts because they've been put in there with pre-tax dollars. Right. So and they've been growing tax free.

Speaker1:
So the government says look. I don't. Mind you, having this tax advantage. Of not paying taxes up front. But eventually, once that money sat there for long enough, I kind of want my money. And so the age of 73 now is when that is the case. The government wants those distributions. It makes you take distributions so that you can then pay taxes on that. It's Uncle Sam saying, okay, you've been you've had this advantage, this tax advantage for so long. Now time to pony up the tax money on this amount that you have to take with the required minimum distribution. So that's what an RMD as we call it is. But you don't have to worry about that with a Roth. You take what you want when you want because you're not going to have to pay taxes on it when you make a withdrawal. So the government kind of doesn't care when you make a withdrawal because it doesn't affect the federal government. And a big one too. If you have, like I say, a partner, husband, wife, family, leave a tax free benefit to your beneficiaries when you are gone from this world. All right. So that is talking about taxes in retirement, right. And how you can get results in advance through taking advantage of the tax system and doing it legally and absolutely ethically, just minimizing your tax burden, not leaving Uncle Sam a tip number two. Step two I guess I should say in results in advance, is is deleting unnecessary portfolio fees.

Speaker1:
So many people. Just don't even know what they're paying in portfolio fees, period. You know, so many people who call with, you know, or meet with us at Active Wealth just don't understand the fees that they're actually paying inside their portfolio, because they're probably wrapped inside that portfolio in such a way that. There. They're hidden. Really? And you don't really know. What they are, and a lot of people don't even bother necessarily to find out, especially if it's a 401 K, you're like, okay, I just I set up my, um, contribution amount when I start a job or, you know, every year hopefully, or every time you get a raise, hopefully you increase that amount. Um, and you hopefully at least contribute enough to get the company match. That is my advice to you on that. But, um, with all of that being said. A lot of people just sort of set it and forget it, right? They don't even look at what the fees are because they're, you know, could be a lot of, um, a lot of mutual funds in those, a lot of target date funds in those. And so there will be management fees involved with the management of those funds. And a lot of people just don't necessarily understand that. And so what? We love helping people do is quickly eliminating any excess fees, especially on underperforming assets. Because if it's.

Speaker1:
If it's underperforming and then you're paying a fee on top of it, that's you're just losing more money than you should be. So we don't want to get you out of underperforming assets, period. And then want to get you into a vehicle that is going to make you not not only more money on the performance side, but cost you less money on the fee side. So. I mean, it is your money. Don't you want to get the most out of it? That's the big question here, because you worked hard to earn your money and worked even harder to save it. So let's help you put that money into a vehicle where it's going to work for you and work just as hard for you as you did for it. We want to give you an income that you and your family can count on during retirement. And again, the whole point of this show is no matter who you are, no matter where you come from, no matter what that family looks like. I care about you. I care about your future. Especially, um, those of you who are like me, uh, member of the LGBTQ+ community. And we are a community, and we need to take care of each other, right? So what I want to do as far as this goes. As far as deleting as many fees as you possibly can. Is help you take advantage of fee efficient strategies while also generating safe, predictable income streams that you can never outlive.

Speaker1:
And that is, oh boy, that's one of the best things that you can have, is that assurance that you're going to have an income that you can't outlive, so that actually the number one fear of retirees, according to several surveys, is running out of money. And we can help you establish those income streams so that you don't run out of money and you never will. And you can establish a personal pension by replacing the bonds in your portfolio with fixed indexed annuities and deleting the fees on the bond portion of your portfolio, because those are going to have fees as well. And we'll talk about exactly how to do that coming up here in just a few minutes. And also, you know, I would love to help you delete fees completely from a significant portion of your portfolio, maybe even 50% or more, by replacing those underperforming bonds with the more fee efficient and market efficient investment option. So if you're interested in learning how to do that, just of course go to take Pride in retirement.com. That is take pride in retirement.com. You can also call 855246 9211. That is toll free 855246 9211 um to get in touch with me and and start working with me and I'll help you make sense of it all and. Help you save money on these fees that we're talking about. Because one thing that you need to know, a number that you need to know about your, uh, your particular situation.

Speaker1:
Is an expense ratio. And you're probably saying, oh gosh, I think I remember hearing about an expense ratio maybe in an economics class, uh, 30 years ago or something like that. Um, it's an important thing to know, and it's because it tells you how much you're paying in fees. Right? The expense ratio is basically the management fees divided by the total investment in whatever fund you're invested in or whatever investment vehicle you are using. And that'll give you the expense ratio. And you want that to be as low as possible. And so if you don't know the answer to that of what your expense ratio is or you can't quickly pull it up. You owe it to yourself to find out, and I'd be more than happy to take a look and identify the current expense ratio and what it can be. And if you work with us. All right. Again, take pride in retirement. Dot com is the website. Well step three and results in advanced planning is generating more income from your savings. So step one reducing taxes right. Step two reducing fees. And step three now generating more income from your savings. I said it before. I'll say it again. Retirement is more about income than it is about the size of your nest egg. You know, people will say when they give a call to the office, they'll be like, okay, how much do I need to have saved in order to successfully retire? And they're talking about that big nest egg, right? Well, reality, though, is that the size of the nest egg doesn't matter nearly as much as how much retirement income you can generate using those hard saved dollars.

Speaker1:
So you need to build a smart income plan. And it starts with taking a look at your expected income sources during retirement. For most people, that's Social Security. That could be pensions. If you still are lucky enough to have a pension from an employer. Personal pensions, that's where the fixed indexed annuity comes in, and they're often established using an FIA. Those personal pensions are FIA fixed indexed annuity. And so those are actually if you if you haven't heard of them before. I love this type of product because it really solves a lot of issues in one fell swoop, right? Um, it does generate a guaranteed income stream in retirement, and it's actually an insurance contract. It's not something that is done with an investment firm or with a with a bank or anything like that. This is an insurance contract. It's a fixed indexed annuity. And don't get them confused with old school annuities where, you know, you gave, um, your money to an insurance company. And then in retirement, the insurance company would charge you a fee simply for getting your own money back. That's kind of the old school annuity. That is not what we are talking about here. What we're talking about here is a safe accumulation alternative to traditional bonds and to traditional CDs.

Speaker1:
Because the performance is oftentimes better than a traditional CD and a traditional bond, and they are guaranteed by the claims paying ability of that issuing insurance company. And we only work with insurance companies that have been around for not only decades and decades, but even more than a century plus. Right. So insurance companies that you can can count on actually being there. And the most important thing here to know is that they provide a solution. For investors looking to protect their hard earned retirement savings from market volatility. You know, markets go up, markets come down. But Feas are designed to provide protection from market downturns while still maintaining accumulation benefits for growth. So, I mean, the thing is, ask yourself, how much of my hard earned money am I willing to risk in the market? And that should be. The maximum that goes into the market, right? So then you have to look at the other portion of your assets and say, could I invest that in a fixed indexed annuity? And here are some of the benefits. You know I just talked about professional protection rather from market volatility. Um, because FIA is provide that protection because they're linked to the market performance of an underlying index. But the income is not directly inside that market index. It's linked to the that performance. But it's not directly affected by short term market fluctuations or any market volatility.

Speaker1:
So that makes them an attractive option for investors who are looking for a steady and reliable income stream. And I will say, you know that often when it comes to fees, we say zero is your hero, right? So imagine, if you will, if you are listening to the the podcast, the audio only version of the show. Imagine if you will, a stock chart performance or stock performance chart rather. If you look at it in your mind, it kind of resembles an EKG, right? It goes up, it goes down, it goes up, it goes down, it goes up, it goes down. Now. Take that picture away from your mind for a moment and picture stair steps, because that is what a chart for a fixed indexed annuity generally will look like, because your principle is protected. And then the growth on that principle is protected each period of that annuities life. So like point to point, um crediting period is generally what we see in these. And it could be a year, it could be two years. So let's say if, if over that year, for example, um, your market index is the S&P 500. And that's what the growth of your FIA is tied to. And that is up, uh, you know, 2%. Let's just say that, um. Hopefully it'll be up a lot more than that. But let's say 2%. So then whatever percentage, uh, of, uh, that your annuity contract says, you get credited, that growth gets credited.

Speaker1:
But then let's say the next year that market index is down 10%. Yours stays the same. Zero is your hero because that says the worst you can ever do in any given year is zero growth. No losses, zero growth. That's it. While everybody else is freaking out because they're, um, you know, like, say in 2008, their investments lost 50%, for example. They're freaking out over that. But you are sitting pretty and not freaking out because you have a good portion of your investments in a fixed indexed annuity. And you had zero growth that year. Sure, but you didn't lose anything. And that. Is certainly good news. In that situation. You didn't lose a thing. And that's why I say it looks like a stair step, because you don't. You see the ups, but you don't see the downs. You got tax deferred growth as well. That means that any earnings on the annuity are not subject to taxes until you make the withdrawals later on. You get the lifetime income that is available, you know, whether you live to be 90, 100, 110, 120, it's not too far outside the the realm of possibilities for a lot of us. Companies continue to make payments as long as you live in these types of products. Account value can go to your beneficiaries as well. You know, it can help you invest in the right annuity that actually provides a lifetime income for you and your spouse, your partner, while still providing a death benefit for your beneficiaries when you pass away.

Speaker1:
And in the opinion of this financial adviser, fixed indexed annuities are suitable investments for, depending on your situation, up to about 70% of your portfolio. And that is my opinion based on what I've seen and heard, uh, during my time in this business. Now. Could it be different for you? Of course, because that is the beauty of working with a fiduciary financial advisor like me. I'm going to personalize things for you. Typically our clients use FIAs for about 25 to 50%, maybe a little bit more of their retirement savings. The rest is in smart risk. Investments that provide further opportunity for additional growth may be subject to some market volatility, taking a little bit more risk with that investment, but a good portion of it is in a fixed indexed annuity. Call (855) 246-9211. If you would like to maybe explore a fixed indexed annuity. And get that guaranteed income for life. Boy, that's really, um, a great thing. Guaranteed. You don't hear that a lot in the financial industry. And and for good reason. A lot of them can't make these guarantees. But this is a situation where we can say guaranteed because it is guaranteed, uh, and backed by the claims paying ability of the issuing company where you will have a guaranteed income for life with this product. Take pride in retirement. Dot com is the website once again that is take pride in retirement. All one word.com.

Speaker4:
It's time for this week's Problem Solver.

Speaker1:
All right. I always love that dramatic introduction. Um, Stephanie and Nancy are who we're talking about, and they are some long time listeners to the show. Uh, who gave a call to us, uh, last month, actually heard one of the, uh, episodes online and said, hey, what can you do for me? So I want to help them make 2024 the year that they established a retirement plan. Right. And they have been together quite a while, I love them. Stephanie is 73, Nancy just behind Stephanie at 71 years young. They're married now. Yay! They want to see their retirement results in advance, they said, so that they could, you know, really enter their golden years in confidence. So we were able to quickly determine that their investments for retirement had drastically underperformed over the last three years. They were overly invested in bonds. Number one, Stephanie's 401 K from work was invested in a target date fund that was dragging down the overall performance of that portfolio, and they had actually lost market value in their retirement portfolio each of the past three years. And really needed help moving forward so that they could stop digging that hole for themselves. So Stephanie and Nancy, they they want more retirement income that they can count on, not just a nest egg that could be affected by a volatile stock market. They're active. They're healthy. They plan to travel in retirement, obviously active and healthy. They're they're both, of course, still working into their 70s.

Speaker1:
They want to help fund a family vacation once a year, uh, with some some kids and some grandkids that they have as well. So that is also amazing. Now, what we did was to solve that problem. We performed a detailed X-ray of their entire portfolio and an annuity X-ray on a couple of older annuities that they were still invested in. Those were the type, like I was talking about earlier, where the annuity company was going to just charge you to get your money back where, you know, not quite the best option for for you, for really anybody these days. We helped them choose a fee efficient managed portfolio that matches their actual risk tolerance. And we aligned that portfolio of smart risk options to their overall plan. We also converted one underperforming annuity into a fixed indexed annuity, a new one that's going to pay an immediate percent, immediate 20%, rather 20% income bonus on their money. And it includes an 8% guaranteed interest roll up each year that they defer withdrawals by giving themselves an 8% raise each year that they defer. The FIA. It's from nationwide, actually. It also includes a 330% participation rate in the underlying index, providing significant potential for market like gains 330% participation rate. So if the market index that they are invested in goes up 10%. They're going to go up 33%. Over that year, and then the next year, if that market index is down, they don't lose a penny.

Speaker1:
Talk about a good deal for them. We also helped Stephanie and Nancy turn on income with the other existing annuity to double their current retirement income, which is an amount more than the current required minimum distributions that Stephanie has just begun to take. Because I told you, she's 73 now. And we took charge of their retirement nest egg. We reduced the bond exposure in their portfolio, replaced those bonds with a highly rated fixed indexed annuity, a structured note ladder brokerage CDs as well. We replaced the mutual funds they had in their portfolio with ETFs. Exchange traded funds, and that really reduced their fees and their expense ratio dramatically. And finally, reduce the standard deviation of their portfolio. That's standard deviation is a measure of risk. How much does your, um, your portfolio move around in comparison to the overall market. Right. Standard deviation. It's by decreasing the high correlation of assets is how we do that. We diversified basically. So they had a lot of assets that were correlated in one particular area. Tech stocks happen to be the case for them. And so what we did was we diversified and we got rid of that high correlation. And now they're much less highly correlated in one particular area. So that if tech stocks, which they've been on a bumpy ride here over the past couple of years, really they they're more protected. They don't see bigger losses, uh, like they had before. And so basically tell you all this because now Stephanie and Nancy are in a much better spot for their retirement years, and I want to help you do the same thing.

Speaker1:
So what I want you to do is pick up the phone or go online and reach out to me. Take pride in retirement.com. Matt at Take Pride in retirement.com is the email address. And I want to provide you with a comprehensive consultation. For listeners of the show, it is absolutely no cost, no obligation to continue working with me. You only will do it if it's best for you. I hope it is. But you know, if we discover that, you know, maybe you're already doing okay or you have an existing financial advisor relationship that is actually going well for you or my particular training and skill set and all of the experience and all those things can't necessarily help you in your situation. I can connect you with someone who can. Would love to do that for you if that's the case. But what I will do for you during this complimentary consultation is and it's comprehensive, by the way, I'm going to analyze your financial situation, discover exactly how much you're paying in fees, help you cut the unnecessary costs like we talked about in the IRA, that you might have your 401 K any other retirement savings account. You can also help you with Social Security planning, figuring out the appropriate time to start taking benefits. And the thing is, if you have not heard from your advisor lately, please get a second opinion.

Speaker1:
I can help set you on the path to the retirement that you have always envisioned for you and for your family, no matter what that family dynamic might look like. Well, that's going to do it here, folks, for this edition of Take Pride in Retirement, I thank you for for being a part of things. I hope that you've gotten something out of this episode. I really, really do. And I, um, you know, this is such a wonderful opportunity for me to be able to share my thoughts, my expertise in this area, with you, the listener to the show. It's an honor, actually, for me to be able to do this and hopefully you get something out of it. If you do give me a call. If something piques your interest, I would love to help you out in your situation. Once again. 855246 9211. That's 855246 9211 or go to take pride in retirement.com. Well, thanks again for joining me for this edition of Take Pride in Retirement. Stick around. We'll have another episode very, very soon just in a matter of days here for take Pride in retirement. I'm Matt McClure, your host, your advisor, your friend. And I thank you so much again for joining us. Uh, it's been great. And we'll speak to you next time. Until then, take pride in yourself and take care of each other.

Speaker2:
Thanks for listening to Take Pride in Retirement. Members of the LGBTQ+ community deserve to work with the fiduciary financial advisor who puts their needs first. To schedule a free, no obligation consultation with Matt McClure and the team at Active Wealth Management, call (855) 246-9211 or go online to take pride in retirement. Dot com investment advisory services offered through Brookstone Capital Management LLC. Bcm, a registered investment Advisor, BCM and Active Wealth Management Incorporated are independent of each other. Insurance products and services are not offered through BCM, but are offered and sold through individually licensed and appointed agents.

Speaker1:
Registered investment advisors and investment advisor representatives act as fiduciaries for all of our investment management clients. We have an obligation to act in the best interest of our clients and to make full disclosure of any conflicts of interest, if any, exist. Fixed annuities, including multiyear 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. 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.

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