Trans Issues in Financial Planning – Interview with Gabrielle Claiborne

Episode 4: Audio automatically transcribed by Sonix

Episode 4: this mp3 audio file was automatically transcribed by Sonix with the best speech-to-text algorithms. This transcript may contain errors.

Producer:
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.

Announcer:
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. Hello and welcome.

Matt McClure:
Once again to Take Pride in Retirement. I'm Matt McClure. I'm your host, your advisor, and I am thrilled to be back here with you once again. On Take Pride in Retirement. It's a show for the Lgbtq+ community, especially to help in planning for retirement, giving you a retirement that you can take pride in, that you can be proud of, no matter who you are, no matter where you come from, no matter who you love, everybody is welcome and deserving of a retirement that they can be proud of. Big show today. I've got my first guest here actually live and in person in studio, and I will bring her in in just a moment. I wanted to remind you, though, first to go to the website TakePrideInRetirement.com that is Take Pride in Retirement all one word.com. You can also email me Matt at Take Pride in Retirement or you can call me at (855) 246-9211. That's 855246 9211. And I think actually I mentioned this I think on another episode of the show not all that long ago, but it bears repeating that I chose that number. You know how sometimes now you can go through and actually pick a phone number if you see one that you like or there's a special number two. You actually chose that number because there was and is the first one I came across, had an 11 in it and 11 has always been kind of mine and my husband's lucky number because we got married on 11, 11, 11. So there we go. It's every day at 1111, we text each other and it's just a you know, it's a cute little sappy thing.

Matt McClure:
And that's that's just the way I am. I'm kind of sappy that way. All right. So we're breaking format just a little bit here on the show. And we'll get to our quote of the week and some other segments coming up just a little bit later on. Right now, though, you know, you were promised a guest. And I am going to bring in that guest right now. Gabrielle Claiborne is joining me here she is. We met actually not all that long ago at the one of the events for the Georgia Business Alliance. Gabrielle, welcome to Take Pride in Retirement. Well, you know, it's great to have you. And, you know, it was one of those things. It's so funny because we we had crossed paths I think, a lot over the past couple of years just at events and things. And it always kind of waved at each other and said hi and everything, but we didn't really ever get a chance to sit down, talk and, and, you know, share stories, talk about our lives and everything. And we got the chance to do that. And I was, you know, just so moved by a lot of the things that you had to say and the perspective, the unique perspective that you could bring to this particular show that I wanted to have you on. So it's an absolute thrill for me. Talk for a little bit as we start off here, just give the listeners a little bit about your background and you know where you come from and what your what your story is. I guess the the CliffsNotes version of Who is Gabrielle Claiborne Yeah, absolutely.

Gabrielle Claiborne:
It would definitely have to be the Cliff Notes. But I'm an Atlanta native, grew up here years. I've been here for a number of years and was raised in a very traditional faith family, knew something was different about me at the age of nine, and consequently because I didn't have the language, nor did I have the context. So of what it meant to be transgender, I moved through life the way culture expected a straight cisgender man to move through life. I married, I had a great education at Emory University in Georgia Tech. I married a beautiful woman. We had three beautiful kids, talented kids. I owned a numerous construction companies in the construction industry. And I was in actually in that industry for 30 plus years. And I was a leader in a large, prestigious church here in in Atlanta, Georgia. So, you know, by all outward appearances, if you looked at me and my family, we were the ideal family. But in reality, I was living a life of turmoil because of this internal gender dilemma, which I still had no words to describe. But when I finally saw myself in the mirror at the age of 50, I knew that this was me and this set me on the course. Matt of. Taking those first courageous steps in the direction of finding finding who I was to be all along, and also finding what I was to do. So this resulted in me coming out to my workplace, coming out to my family, coming out to my friends, my, my faith community. And as you can imagine, the world, my world turned upside down. And this was like 13 years ago. And as a result of being on this journey for 13 years, I have now rebranded myself vocationally, having started a diversity equity inclusion firm with a trans and non-binary focus. So me and my business partner travel the world, helping organisations, global organisations create cultures of belonging for trans and non-binary folks. I'm also a published author, a TEDx speaker very involved in local, national and international advisory boards. So in many ways, Matt, I live my work.

Matt McClure:
That is very, very true. And, and you know, I mean, it's so funny because you actually also then the night that we met officially at the Outdoor Business Alliance, you also met one of my very dear friends, Amanda, who works for Wells Fargo, and she's on the Pride board, actually leads the Pride Board for the region for Wells Fargo and does a lot of great work there as well. And and she that night I remember her saying, she goes, you know that Gabriel she's always here and and I've never actually met her. I've got to meet her tonight. And so I was sort of feeling the same way. So I'm glad that we got to connect. And I'm and I'm glad that you have the opportunity as well to to share your story here. I know that you do a lot of of, you know, sharing your story on, you know, in different events and different speaking engagements and things like that around. But, you know, I think for this audience and the focus of this show, it's such an important thing to to be able to share that and to share your experience. You spoke about your your firm that you started. What's the what is the name of the name of it and the website, because I want to make sure and get that in before we get into the meat of the discussion here.

Gabrielle Claiborne:
Absolutely is transformation journeys worldwide so that would be transformation journeys ww.com very good.

Matt McClure:
Transformation journeys ww.com right awesome Hey got it right I love that. So you know when when you speak and this is one of the reasons I wanted to have you on is because when you speak about these issues regarding the trans community, obviously you speak from experience. And, you know, it's it's a difficult time. I feel it's not in modern history anyway. Been an easy time to be a trans person. But it's it's almost like, you know, we felt like, okay, we're finally making progress, you know, kind of slowly but surely, year after year. And then all of a sudden, these it feels like these past couple of years there's been this kind of onslaught of anti-trans, specifically anti-trans and, you know, other things as well, anti anti-drag and all of that also, but specifically anti-trans legislation. What and not to. I don't want to get overtly political here, but there's inherently a political nature of this. Where where does that come from? Is that is that just politics? Is it fear? What do you what do you think that is? Yeah, I.

Gabrielle Claiborne:
Think that that is based in fear, Matt, because, you know, when when a cisgender folks that is a person whose gender matches the sex that they were assigned at birth, when they try to understand a trans person as lived experience because it's perceived as so different from their own, then they they interpret our existence, our lived experiences as illegitimate as something that we are choosing to do, something that, you know, we're mentally ill. I mean, there's statistics out there that show how many in our culture still believe that trans folks are mentally ill. And I think a lot of this is based on fear because they just don't know what they don't know. But I, I want to encourage folks that if you don't have a trans friend or family member in your life, I encourage you to do a little research and educate yourself on what it means to be trans. Because at the end of the day, Matt, you know, when I share my story, a lot of times after folks hear that story, they realize that, Oh my goodness, we have more in common than not. And so if we're courageous enough to sit down across a table for one another and get comfortable being uncomfortable in the spirit of learning to do and be better, we might understand that we are all connected as a diverse humanity, right? It blows my mind, Matt, that that people will pay good money to go to the Atlanta Botanical Gardens and the Georgia Aquarium here in the Atlanta area to see the diversity of the animal and the plant kingdom. But when it comes to the diversity of the human family, that's when we struggle as a culture. So I think the the thing that helps us legitimize our lived experience is our the power of our visibility. And that's why visibility and representation is so important in these types of conversations. And this is one of the reasons that I'm glad to be with you here today.

Matt McClure:
Well, thank you so much for that because, yeah, it really is so important representation, that visibility, you know, I mean, I've often thought, you know, there's there's a show and this is not not too much of a tangent don't hope but there's a show now that comes on Netflix called Heartstopper. I don't know if you've seen it or not, but it's about this. It's a British show. It's about this, you know, young gay teenager who's bullied in school and he has a crush on this, you know, guy who's very it was like my high school experience. Yeah, he had a crush on this guy who is, you know, an athlete and all that, you know, star on the was it the rugby team, I think, and all of this and eventually they started the rugby team comes out it's based on a on a graphic novel series that that was already in existence. And it's just such a great story of and a very kind of presented in a very wholesome way of like any other teenager. They just happened to be two teenage boys. There's also a trans character who's very prominent. There's a lesbian couple that are very prominent as well, and it goes through kind of all their struggles. And and I was thinking I was like, you know, that kind of representation had I had that. Yeah. When I was growing up. Um, boy, what a difference that would have made in my, in my life, in my own development and in my own acceptance of myself. And I can imagine that that feeling is probably I don't want to speak for you, but I feel like it's probably magnified for you because there there has been at least there has been at least some gay representation, but there hasn't been much, if any, trans representation out there until seemingly very recently.

Gabrielle Claiborne:
Yeah, I mean, over the last 10 to 15 years, Matt, you're we're beginning to see more trans visibility. And, you know, I think this is one thing that I've learned over the course of my journey that being authentic is while it's very important for me to show up in this world and give the the world the best version of myself, being authentic is not just for me. It's for those who are, you know, grappling with their own identity and giving them permission that they, too, can be their authentic self. You know, the more we see representation in our world and our culture is just the invitation for folks to say, I can lean in. And regardless of the challenges, regardless of the fear that I may experience around what are going to what are people going to think, what's going to happen with my vocational journey? What will happen with my faith community? You know, the more we're visible, I think it gives folks more permission to lean in and be them, be their authentic self. And what happens is, is as they do, and they start. Realizing the benefits and the joy and the life giving power that comes from being authentic. They realize that the view on the other side of authenticity is beyond any wildest dream that they could have ever had.

Matt McClure:
I mean, that's I could not have remotely said that nearly as as good and definitely not better than you just did. That's that's awesome. And sort of piggybacking on on what you were talking about, talking about your own journey and you were mentioning before we started recording the show here that one thing because obviously the show is Take Pride in Retirement and that's what we talk about. We talk about financial planning, retirement and all of that. And the the main reason I wanted to have you on was to talk about, you know, the trans experience when it comes to financial planning and a financial journey. And there have been a couple of things that that in our discussions you have said to me that I that I didn't really necessarily even think about or knew were a thing. And we'll talk about both of those and hopefully more here over the next little bit. But one of them you actually had just mentioned a little bit earlier, and that was, you know, this whole, you know, deal with a settlement like a, you know, a divorce settlement or, you know, when the family breaks apart after someone comes out as trans. Talk about that. And, you know, sort of framing that in your experience, because that, I think, to me was something that I hadn't really necessarily considered. But that is, I can imagine, a devastating potentially thing.

Gabrielle Claiborne:
Yeah, I can tell you, Matt, a lot of the risks that trans people experience when they do finally embrace their true self is if they have a family, if they're in a relationship, if they have a faith community, definitely if they have a job, right. It's like, what is going to happen to all those moving parts and pieces in our lives? And many of us, once we go through this this journey of embracing who we are, who we've been all along, a lot of the form of those relationships, those types of situations, they change. And so consequently, many trans folks who are perhaps in a relationship and may have a family, there's a lot of unpacking that the family has to do around that individual transitioning, especially if it's a spouse or a parent. Right. And consequently, sometimes those the form of those relationships end. So in divorce and in estrangement. And so consequently, those things have potential financial implications. I know for me, when I began, when I made the decision to embrace my truth at the age of 50, I literally started my life over at Ground Zero. There was a divorce that was imminent with my spouse just because this was not something that she signed up for. And I completely understood that. But in order for me to equitably walk away from that situation, I felt like I had to recognize where she was and meet her where she was and provide some kind of closure for her. And this was this required me to and I made the choice to, you know, make that financial closure with her by giving her the house and everything that came with it. So consequently, I ended up having to start my life over financially. I lost my job. I got fired because I was trans. I was living in a Section eight housing complex. I had no money, I had no transportation. So I was literally clawing my way back up to existence from Ground zero. And that is the experience that many trans people experience as a result of coming out, losing a lot of our life as we once knew it.

Matt McClure:
Yeah. And that's, you know, not only do you, you know, lose so much of, you know, the life that you've built as far as the people who are in it and the relationships. Right. That that all of that. But you also lose the and it obviously takes an emotional and physical toll and and all of all of those things mental toll as well. But also you know you lose potentially quite a bit of money that you had been working really hard for setting aside for retirement for for years and years down the road. Right. And then all of a sudden, just like that, that is is gone. And that's a that's a tough thing to bounce back from. Yeah. And I don't think impossible, though, but it's a tough thing to bounce back from because then, you know, you're starting from ground zero once again, as you said, it's it's like you're you're you know, the the IRS obviously allows catch up contributions after the age of 50 on things like your. Oh one and things like that. And but, you know, if you this is almost like, okay, this I need a little bit more than just a little catch up contribution of a couple thousand here and maybe another thousand there.

Gabrielle Claiborne:
So steady income.

Matt McClure:
Exactly. And so and that's also, I think, one of the barriers for a lot of trans people, because going back to what we were talking about before, there is that fear. There is still that discrimination out there. And so that is a hurdle as well. Even just finding a job that is providing steady income enough to not only pay the bills and and take care of all the stuff that needs to be taken care of, especially if you find yourself newly single. You find yourself in a in a single income household being able to make sure that you have yourself in a situation where you can pay all those bills, meet all those obligations, and also plan for the future. Because you don't want to get into a situation where you're in retirement and all you have to rely on is Social Security, Right? Glad that it's there and hope that it's there forever. Fingers crossed, knock on wood that it gets shortened up and everything is good to go with it. But, you know, I mean, it's it's a struggle to make it on just just that Social Security check coming every month. Yes.

Gabrielle Claiborne:
And that's the reality for a for some folks. And some folks don't even have the Social Security blanket to fall back on because, you know, they have not developed that steady income throughout the years that they've been working to build, you know, that nest egg, which hopefully is going to be around when they need it. But, you know, a lot of folks don't even have that. And I think the other thing is, is not every trans person has a skill set. Matt. And so consequently, when you're facing a life changing moment like trans people experience, when they come out, you know, you may have to learn a new skill set and show up in a different way. And that is, you know, imagine starting your life over at 50 at an entry level position in a in a in a corporation when you were very successful as a cisgender person in the vocational that you spent years in. And this is the reality for many trans folks.

Matt McClure:
Yeah. And it's a it's a tough thing to have to deal with, obviously. And you know, adding that on top of a lot of other issues to deal with. One of the others that that I hadn't thought of that we were, you know, talking about when we spoke previously was the name change issue. And and I you know, it was this is one of those things where, of course, like I consciously knew that it was it was an issue that someone would have to deal with, but like the process to go through it, boy, you have to you might as well be a track and field star because there are a bunch of hurdles to jump over.

Gabrielle Claiborne:
Yeah, there are definitely some barriers that you have to navigate and quite honestly, it can be triggering for trans and non-binary folks too, depending on what your jurisdiction is. It's a plus or -45 day process where you have to submit an application. You have to run an ad in the paper just to make sure that for some for some reason, they want to make sure folks are not running away from, you know, financial obligation or debt or a record, a criminal record. So they're running this ad in the paper for 30 days just to give folks an opportunity to speak up and see if there's any kind of pushback for this petition. And then once that time frame goes by and it's cleared, everything is cleared. Then you have to make a scheduled court date with a judge. You got to stand in in front of a judge, which there's no guarantee that this judge is going to be supportive of you legally, changing your name and hope, hopefully over those 45 days, it goes smoothly and you walk out of the court with a name that actually aligns with who you know yourself to be. Right. But a lot of times, to your point, Matt, you know, when a person legally changes their name, then they go through the process of changing their name.

Gabrielle Claiborne:
And with the Social Security Administration on their credit cards, whether at the DMV, right. Any place, insurance documents, any place that their legal name was showing up, they go through the process of changing those names in all those places. Unfortunately, Matt, the Social Security Administration and the credit bureaus don't necessarily communicate in real time. I mean, for me, for example, when I legally changed my name, there was a gap even in my credit history. I'd I had no credit because I showed up nowhere because they were tracking my credit on. My old Pre-transition name. And so consequently I had no way of building credit. I couldn't get a credit card. I couldn't get I couldn't get approved for a loan. There was probably 3 or 4 years that I had to navigate before that was actually finally allowed. And then when it was aligned, then I had to start all over building my credit from Ground Zero. And that was a huge process. And I can tell you just in the last year or two, I'm now finally re-establishing my credit to a credit worthy place that was somewhat consistent and relevant to where I was before I transitioned.

Matt McClure:
Well, and that was again several years ago now. It was what, what 13 years ago. I think that's I.

Gabrielle Claiborne:
Mean, legally changed my name 12, 11 years ago now. And so there was probably a 3 or 4 year gap in just credit existence, credit history. And then when they did finally reconcile, that's when I had to start rebuilding my credit. And as any if anybody has, has ever had to rebuild your credit, you know, that's not a sprint. That is a marathon. And it took time. And I'm just now on top of the employment challenges and all that kind of stuff. It takes time to rebuild your credit, especially when you're having to face barrier after barrier after barrier.

Matt McClure:
Yeah. And that and again, that's one of those struggles that makes me and I don't want this to come out the wrong way, but it makes me glad that this show is here because it's the mission is to educate people about these issues. And, you know, it's as as LGBTQ folks, we have to be there to support each other. I feel like, you know, so, so often we can be we can sort of separate ourselves into little boxes and little, you know, communities here and there instead of, you know, recognizing that we are one big human community, first of all. And as LGBTQ people, we are our own special community as this as this wonderful, you know, sort of tapestry of all different colors, shapes, sizes, orientations, identities, all of it. And, you know, I think that one of the things that that I want to do with this show and hopefully I'm headed in that right direction, is to help that, you know, along and and help people recognize that that's the case. And I think awareness about others struggles is so, so important. Just as important as, you know, something like representation is the awareness of a struggle of somebody else is also super important because you have gone through things and will go through things that I have never had to experience because I mean, even when like my husband and I got married, we just we kept our we kept our names. I've never had to change my name. He's never had to change his name. You know, it's just it's one of those things. But this is it's something that is, I think, unique to as a as a community, a unique to the transgender community. Right. Where you have to deal with that name change on top of, you know, this is just sort of layered on top of that workplace discrimination that we we talked about. And also things like, you know, pay inequality, right? You know, because we're not all starting from when we go to plan for retirement. Right? We're not all starting from the same place.

Gabrielle Claiborne:
I it's definitely not a level playing field.

Matt McClure:
Right? It's very true. And this is the thing I like to always say. No matter who. No matter who you are. Everybody's situation is different, right? It's not like you go to the big box store down the street and you pick out on the shelf, oh, this is, you know, you got retirement plan A, B and C, Oh, I'm going to I'm going to pick out A and I'm going to you know, it's not a one size fits all or a one size fits most kind of a thing. Everybody's situation is different and especially true, I think, for for LGBTQ people because it's, you know, it's in, in the, the straight cisgender world. It's, you know, generally not always, but generally seen. And and this is how a lot of financial advisors go about their business. You know, husband, wife, two and a half kids in the white picket fence and a dog and a cat. And that's the the family that they most often deal with and the family that they sort of market to and all that. And it's in in this line of work because it's so much geared in that direction. That's why I want to do this and educate people about that. That tapestry that we talked about, um, talk, if you will, about, you know, what are some, some other struggles you think that might come to mind that. Are unique to the trans community that other people, especially when it comes to financial and retirement planning, that we might not have discussed yet, or that we, as I, as I mentioned otherwise, might not even think of. Yeah.

Gabrielle Claiborne:
Well, going back to the credit conversation, you know, if you think about the ripple effect of not having any credit alone, aside from not being able to get any kind of loan or any kind of credit card, think about applying for a job with no credit. Now, a lot of corporations check an individual's credit when they're looking to hire them if they have no credit. Imagine what a talent acquisition professional is going to do. They're going to question, you know, where is this person being you know, what is happened in their life that they're perhaps not closing. So there's a lot of assumptions that are made by HR professionals, talent acquisition professionals and the whole hiring process when there's a gap in credit history. So that's a barrier if a person doesn't have a lined legal documents, even getting into an organization where they can equitably show up is a challenge because a lot of, again, HR professionals and talent acquisitions don't even have a note, don't even know how to navigate that that reality. And that's one of the reasons we do our work at Transformation Journeys worldwide is to position those talent acquisition professionals and HR professionals in a way to where they can recognize these barriers that they don't know, that they don't know and provide, you know, ways around those things.

Gabrielle Claiborne:
The other challenge, Matt, is that a lot of times when trans people get hired into organizations, they stay at entry level positions. There's no plan to advance or promote, promote a trans person throughout an organization. And that's a huge barrier because trans people are just as competent as cisgender folks are. We got we have skill sets, we have education. And so because we a lot of times we don't see ourselves throughout the organization, a lot of trans people, including myself, we fall back on entrepreneurship. But then when a trans person considers entrepreneurship, they may not be financially literate to know how to, you know, manage credit, how to obtain credit, how to get funding, how to manage credit, right, how to make the money work for you, right? So there's barrier after barrier again, for a trans individual, if they find themselves hitting a wall with employment. And think about if you're not employed, you more than likely don't have health care coverage. There's certainly no future for retirement. So we are waking up every day thinking that we will work the rest of our life and unfortunately, that reality should not be a reality for the trans community. But for many it is.

Matt McClure:
Yeah. And that and you know, the goal, of course, is to make that not a reality and to, you know, help people along so that they can get out of that cycle. And there are so many there are so many things that need to happen. Of course, for that to be the case, there are, you know, societal issues that have to be taken care of. There are, you know, barriers that have to be overcome in the workplace. There's that workplace discrimination again, where not only do people not see themselves throughout the organization, but they don't get maybe the opportunities that some other people would because of even just unconscious or subconscious bias that exists within the management that's there. And and they don't look at that at this person as being someone who would be able to rise through the ranks. But they do like this person who may look like them or may look like someone else that they know. Right. And so those are those are all, you know, huge, huge issues. And I love that you talked about financial literacy there as well, because that's I'm huge on that because I feel like if if I had had again, going back to like the Heartstopper thing, if I had had that example as a as a kid or as a teenager, that representation, I would have found it probably a lot easier through my teenage years and my my 20s especially to to come out, to be accepting of myself and and to be prouder of myself at that age. But also if I had had proper financial education when I was in school, even when I was in college, you know, I, you know, took all these advanced algebra classes and and other, you know, advanced math courses throughout my educational career and economics, like you learn macroeconomics and it's like it's like, okay, well, here's what the economy of Germany is doing this and this is why.

Matt McClure:
And it's like, okay, this is okay. Tell me how to, you know, balance and apply to me. Yeah, exactly. It's like, how. How do I balance my checkbook or something like that? You know, it's like, just bring bring it home for me. That's what we need. I feel like a lot of times is a lot of financial education that really makes sense. And for me, you know, I mean, it's that's another part of the reason why I'm doing this show is to try and bring that home for people and let them know that just because they're in this particular situation right now, that doesn't mean that's where they have to stay. There are always options in ways that we can help them get out of a situation that they're in. Help them better plan. You know, we talk a lot about different financial products on this show, fixed indexed annuities, for example, where people can take a portion of their money, like if they do have some sort of nest egg that they've been able to scrounge up after overcoming all of these barriers, they can put that inside a fixed indexed annuity, which tracks a market index or another type of of index that that tracks a certain portion of the market and they can get market like gains, but no losses when those gains are credited.

Matt McClure:
If the market goes down the next year, they don't lose a penny. And so they've got those guaranteed gains that they can hold on to. So there are options for people who have because I feel like, you know, with all of the different risks and all the different hurdles that we've talked about today for trans folks specifically, I feel like a lot of people just want to get to those guarantees in life and be like, what can I do to make sure that I have a good retirement? What can I do? Because I don't want to, you know, look at the stock market and it scares me because it's up one year, down the next up one year down the next, especially here lately over these last few years with Covid and inflation and everything else. But I feel like, you know, a lot of people just want because of life experience, because of what they've been through, want and need and long for some sort of security and something that they can count on for the future. And that's like my one of my big goals in with this show and with my investment advisory practice. And what I do is to help people get to those those guarantees because there are so few in life. I think there's a lot of us find out. But you know what? You don't know if you have any thoughts on that about people just sort of looking for and longing for some guarantees and some some security.

Gabrielle Claiborne:
Yeah. You know, Matt, for many trans folks, we we just show up every day just trying to survive, right? If we had an option to flourish, thrive and prosper, then I feel like that there could be some opportunity for it to normalize our experience as just another expression of the human experience. So absolutely strategic steps that we could take in order to set us up for success in the long term I think could be a huge benefit not only to us as trans folks, but to the overall economy. So yeah, I think there's a there's a bigger conversation beyond what we're having today. I feel like around strategic steps of what a trans person and LGBTQ plus person can do to set them up for success in their financial wellness in the long term with retirement. Yeah, I think we should go there.

Matt McClure:
Yeah, absolutely. And you know what? I could literally talk about it all day long, but unfortunately I don't think we have quite that much time. But I do I would love to have you back on the show. Really, any time that you want to come back and expand on the conversation. And I just really look forward to to having that part of the conversation, hopefully one day fairly soon here in the in the future when we get together again. I would.

Gabrielle Claiborne:
Love that. Matt, Thank you.

Matt McClure:
Thank you. And Gabriel, just one last time, give the name again of your organization and the website so we can direct people there.

Gabrielle Claiborne:
Transformation Journeys Worldwide website is transformation journeys ww.com.

Matt McClure:
Very good. Gabriel Claybourne thank you so much for being on Take Pride in Retirement really appreciate it. Thank you Matt. 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.

Matt McClure:
Now. She is fantastic. Gabrielle Claiborne, so glad to have her on the show. I'm talking about, you know, trans trans issues, issues affecting the trans community that, you know, I as a cisgender male, don't think about and don't necessarily know about and don't have that, you know, extremely personal connection to. That's what it's all about, folks. That's it's about getting perspectives from people who might not necessarily be the same as you might have similar experiences that you do in a lot of ways, but might also have something to teach you. And that really is what it is about here. On Take Pride in Retirement. We still do have just a little bit of time on the show and I wanted to get to a little bit more of kind of the agenda that was set forth this this particular week, the agenda that was set forth. It sounds so formal, but yeah, so we've got a little bit about fees reducing fees and minimizing risk. You know, we talked with Gabrielle a lot about risk here, and it's true that. I think the older that we get as as people, no matter what our background, we want to minimize that risk. Right. But I think especially for marginalized people, that is magnified. That sense of I need to minimize risk. I need to have some experiences in my life that I can count on. And I think it's especially true for for trans people. I think it's true for the LGBTQ community as a whole.

Matt McClure:
And that really is what this show is about, is bringing that to light and telling you that, yeah, you know, we talked about a lot of struggles when with Gabrielle on the show. But you know what? It doesn't mean that it's got to stay that way. Right. It doesn't mean that just because other people. Have had struggles and that you have struggles and they're very, very real struggles. Right? Very real barriers to overcome. A lot of those things that we talked about with name changes, with divorce settlements, with things that are unplanned, unexpected, with things that you can't control, like workplace discrimination and not being able to advance in the workplace, things like that. Those are all issues that are very real. Those are all things that need to be overcome. It does not mean that it's impossible to overcome them. The point of the show is that there is someone here, namely me. Matt McClure, the host of Take Pride in Retirement. I'm a series 65 licensed financial adviser, an advisor who is a gay man myself, and who, if I might not necessarily have lived your personal lived experience. And you may have gone through things that I don't necessarily understand or I haven't gone through myself. But that being said. The main point of this. Is that I'm willing to learn. I'm eager to learn, and I'm eager to help. Because one thing that I do know, being a Series 65 licensed advisor. Is that? There are options out there for you no matter what your situation is.

Matt McClure:
I always say at the beginning of the show, no matter who you are, no matter where you come from, from no matter who you love. This is the show for you. If you are looking to get to a better place financially, if you are looking to plan a retirement that you can take some comfort in, take some pride in. This is the place for you. This is the show that you should be listening to. And I just love that I get to do something that is so fulfilling to me. And that's helping people. You know, I love to help people, and I hope that you are getting so much out of the show, especially after having such a great guest on like Gabrielle. We're going to talk a little bit about about fees and are you paying too much in fees? Chances are the answer to that is yes. And so we'll talk about that here in a few minutes. We will also talk about beating the bank CDs. That is a segment of the show. Our first time doing it, I think here on Take Pride in Retirement. But it's going to be something that will bring back over and over again. And we'll talk about that coming up here in just a little bit as well. Some other ways to minimize your risk. Also. First, though, let's get into the next portion of the show with our Quote of the week.

Producer:
And now wholesome financial wisdom. It's time for the Quote of the Week.

Matt McClure:
And this time around, the quote really goes back to something that Gabrielle was saying, you know, about people really being behind when it comes to financial planning. And, you know, trying to get things set for the future as, say, a trans person as she is. And that is, you know, a lot of circumstances like divorce, settlements and things like that can really set you behind, can put you in a place where you are starting over from ground zero. Once again, you have nothing really to your name. And so this I always try to put quotes in here from LGBTQ people or allies. This time around, though, this is a proverb that we want to share with you and it is this The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now. And I love that because it's very true. You know, the best time to if you want to, you need some shade in your yard, for example. Well, if you wanted to plant a shade tree, the best time to plant. That was 20 years ago. It'd be nice and grown up and. And you'd be sitting pretty in the shade right about now. But. The second best time to plan it is now. It's not too late. In other words, no matter what your situation, no matter where you are in life. You are someone who has hope. It might not feel like it sometimes, but there is hope and there is help.

Matt McClure:
And that is what I am here for, is to to help you with Take Pride in Retirement. And the you know, I work with active wealth management in Atlanta. We are, you know, also affiliated with Brookstone Capital Management and the investment advisory side. And so it's really a team effort here. It's not just me. I've got a whole team behind me and other professionals that I can connect you with if you need, you know, things like tax advice, tax planning, things like that. Estate planning will work to help you find the right resources there. Also, it's all encompassing, and even if you think you don't need it, you think, Oh, well, my financial situation is actually fine, I'm okay going into retirement, are you really? And do you know that for sure? Because. You know, when you when it comes right down to it. You may think that you're in a good spot and you might actually be in a good spot, but you could be in a better spot, right? Getting a second set of eyes on your financial plan is always a good idea. It's like if you go to the doctor and they give you a diagnosis that you're not quite sure about, what do you do? You go get a second opinion, right? If you already have a financial advisor who has given you some advice that maybe you're not quite so sure about, or if you're fine with the advice, but you just want to make sure, you know, you might have some questions rolling around the back of your head.

Matt McClure:
You might not. Whatever the situation, I'll take a second look at your financial plan, at your roadmap, where you're headed right now and where you could head as well. We'll run an analysis on everything. We'll get things lined up for you so you can see it in black and white, on a page on a screen and give you a visual where you are now, where you're headed and where you could be headed. If you choose to work with me. Matt McClure of Take Pride in Retirement and Active Wealth Management TakePrideInRetirement.com is the website. Go there, request a free consultation. It is absolutely free of any cost. It's free of any obligation. I'll do a deep dive into your financial situation and really see if we can do better for you. And don't worry if you think you don't have enough money to do it. You say, I don't need a financial advisor. Here's the thing. If you got five bucks in your pocket or you got 5 million in the bank, I want to work with you. I want to help you make whatever your situation is better. If it's already good, I want to make it even better. If it's terrible, I want to make it good or great or wonderful. Whatever we can achieve, let's do it together. You can also give me a call. (855) 246-9211. That's 855246 9211.

Producer:
Here's the cost cutter of the week.

Matt McClure:
So the cost cutter this time around is all about fees. Are you paying these fees? Chances are you are. And, you know, as a matter of fact, one of the easiest ways to cut costs is to eliminate unnecessary fees that you're paying within retirement accounts. Some of the most common ones. Here are some investment fees to be aware of. And beware of, you know, if you're if you're invested in mutual fund, well, they charge operating expenses. And some types of funds have higher expenses than others. Right. If you know A shares. B shares, that kind of thing, they will have different levels of funds, different percentages, different fee structures. Investment management fees are charged also as a percentage of the total assets managed. A lot of the time. So those are some fees that you need to be aware of. You'll many brokerages actually will charge a transaction fee each time in order to buy or sell a mutual fund or a stock is placed. So a per transaction fee. It's one of one of the reasons ETFs got so popular because people were like, Oh, I don't want to have to call my broker and have them make a trade. I can just make the trade myself, you know? But mutual funds or stocks, if you have a broker do that for you. There are transaction fees many brokers charge for that service. And I get it. I don't begrudge anybody making a living, but it's a fee that you might not necessarily need to be paying or you might not necessarily have to pay.

Matt McClure:
You've got to also look out for front end loads, back end loads. That's basically a commission that you'd be paying. Brokerages also may charge an annual custodian fee for the privilege of them holding onto your money. You know, you charge or are charged rather a fee every single year for that money, just just being there with them. And so one thing that I want you to ask here. How much are you paying in fees on your retirement savings and or investments? If you don't know the answer to that question, or if you can't just look it up very quickly. You really do owe it to yourself to find out. I'd be more than happy to take a look and to identify the current expense ratio of your retirement savings. And that expense ratio is just a look, a numerical representation of the amount of fees that you're being charged basically, and that you're paying. You know, what is the. Ratio of the money that you have in the investment. Whatever investment vehicle it might be and the fees that you're paying, what is that sort of percentage there? What what portion of that total sum of money is in fees. And you want that, of course, to be as low as possible. I can help you in that direction. Once again, folks Take Pride in Retirement. Dot com is the website.

Producer:
Need a higher rate of return from your safe money. Listen up it's time to beat the bank CD rates.

Matt McClure:
All right. So I was talking with Gabrielle earlier about safety and about how a lot of people in the Lgbtq+ community really do strive and long for safety. So when we're thinking about safe money, you know, and keeping our our investments safe, a lot of times people will think of things like a bank CD, for example, a certificate of deposit. And people will also say, well, I can earn a certain rate of return with a certificate of deposit as well. And that's true. You know, periods of high interest rates like we're in right now. A lot of the commercial banks are touting their CDs. And the current rates that are being offered. Oh, we've got 4%, 5%, whatever the case may be. Their rates we haven't seen in so long. And that's and that's true. But. And it's a big but. To quote RuPaul. Many retirees are using Maya's. To achieve the same goal, often with better results and more flexibility. Now, you might say, Matt, what in the world am I? Well, I will tell you, Amiga. It's m y g a it stands for multiyear guaranteed annuity. And. There are some reasons that you might want to consider a merger rather than a bank CD for your safe portion of your money. Right? You need to have some money that's at risk in the market if you are, you know, invested for your retirement years and you want to see, you know, be able to maximize some growth. Right. There's got to be at least some risk.

Matt McClure:
You got to take some risk for that reward. But there's also another good portion of that money, a good chunk of change that needs to be in your kind of safe bucket. And so how much does that need to be? It depends on the individual. It depends on your individual situation, your age, a lot of different things, your risk tolerance, a lot of different things that come into consideration there, your time horizon, all of that. And that's what we do is we will analyze that and be like, okay, here is what your kind of formula needs to be and we'll show you how to maximize those those gains. Put some money in safe vehicles, some money at risk in the market, but definitely not all at risk in the market and not all in those safe buckets either, because you're not going to see the rate of growth that you could potentially see when you actually take some risk. Because if you do take some risk, then again, you will reap potentially not always again, no guarantees, but there are potentially bigger rewards to be had when you do that, when you when you take some risk with your investments. Well, so some reasons that you might want to consider Omega and I'll run through these quickly here before we have to run for the end of the show. First one, higher interest rates. You know, Mike, is often provide higher interest rates compared to traditional bank CDs, and that can result in more substantial returns over the life of that annuity.

Matt McClure:
It can be especially important for retirees seeking to generate income from their savings. If you've got more a bigger pot of money at the end of it, at the end of that term, then you've got more to turn on income, right? Tax deferred growth. I mean, like bank CDs might offer a guaranteed return of that principal, but they provide another advantage here, and that is tax deferred growth, the interest earned on Omega. So if you've got Omega, let's say, just for a number to throw out there, this is not an actual number. Disclaimer, Not an actual number here, but let's say you've got a 5% return that's guaranteed. Great that return that you would earn on each yearly period that is tax deferred. You don't have to pay the taxes on the growth each year. You know, when maybe when the growth is credited to the account and anything like that. When you pay, that is, when you withdraw it later on, you draw it down. Then you pay the taxes on it after and just on the growth portion, not on the whole thing. Right. So the interest earned on Mike is not taxed until the withdrawals are made and that allows the annuity to potentially grow faster. Creditor protection. This is a big one. Depending on the state and the circumstances. Magus may provide better creditor protection than bank accounts, and that safeguards retirement assets from legal claims in many cases. That's another thing that could come in handy, like I was talking about with Gabrielle earlier, depending on your depending rather on your particular situation.

Matt McClure:
You know, if you find yourself in a situation where you have gone through a divorce or something like that, and then later on you get sued by someone, you know, just to throw that scenario out there because we were talking about something similar earlier. This could protect from legal claims of any creditors that might come after you at some point. Flexibility know they offer options. A lot of them, a lot of Magus offer options for partial withdrawals without any surrender charges. A lot of them do. And that provides some flexibility, really for some unforeseen expenses, some emergencies. The bank CDs, your money is pretty much locked up unless you want to pay a big hefty penalty for your early withdrawal. Financial security. Of course, migas provide retirees with a sense of financial security because they offer guaranteed returns and guaranteed income options as well. And that can really help alleviate concerns about market volatility affecting retirement funds and also diversification. So if you include migas in your retirement portfolio, that can really enhance diversification. That's so important for managing risk and achieving a balanced investment strategy. So look, if you are interested in what a Miga is and what rates are currently available, oh my gosh, just give me a call or go to the website. It's really that easy. It's a no pressure situation, folks. Am not. What you see is what you get with me. I'm not going to be somebody different and be some.

Matt McClure:
Suddenly I'm a sleazy sales guy. No, I'm not a high pressure sales person. That is not me. If that were me, I would probably be selling used cars right now. But I'm not selling used cars. I want to help you. And that's really the goal. And I'm not a high pressure individual. Like I said, we will go through this together. If you feel like you want to work together, we will. If you don't, we won't. And that's as simple as it is. So give me a call. Go to the website, we can discuss your goals. We can identify which option would work best in your specific situation. That is what it is all about. Tailor made solutions for your situation so that you can have a retirement that you can take pride in. Once again, Take Pride in Retirement. Dot com is the website that's TakePrideInRetirement.com. You can email me Matt at TakePrideInRetirement.com or give me a call at 855 246 9211 (855) 246-9211. Well folks that's going to do it here for this edition and rendition of Take Pride in Retirement. Once again I'm Matt McClure, your host and your advisor. I really do hope that whatever you're doing, wherever you are today, listening to this podcast, that you have the best day that is at all possible. I hope you have learned something and I hope that you will take pride in yourself and are able to take pride in your retirement. We'll see you next time, folks.

Announcer:
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 TakePrideInRetirement.com Investment Advisory services offered through Brookstone Capital Management LLC BCM A registered Investment Advisor. Bcm and Active Wealth Management, Inc. 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:
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 to a page four for additional information and 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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