You Can’t Control the Wind, but You Can Adjust the Sails

Episode 21: Audio automatically transcribed by Sonix

Episode 21: this mp3 audio file was automatically transcribed by Sonix with the best speech-to-text algorithms. This transcript may contain errors.

Speaker1:
Any examples used are for illustrative purposes only, and do not take into account your particular investment objectives, financial situation or needs and may not be suitable for all investors. It is not intended to predict the performance of any specific investment, and is not a solicitation or recommendation of any investment strategy.

Speaker2:
Welcome to Take Pride in Retirement, the podcast dedicated to helping members of the LGBTQ+ community protect and grow their hard earned money, get set for a show full of education and insights with your host and advisor, Matt McClure. We recognize every family is unique. The goal of the show is to help you achieve financial freedom so you and your loved ones can have the retirement you've always dreamed of, a retirement you can take pride in, no matter who you are, where you're from, or who you love. So now let's start the show. Here's Matt McClure.

Speaker1:
Hello once again, and welcome to a brand new Take Pride in Retirement. While at least it's brand new as of, you know, the time that I'm recording it and and the time that it gets posted. But, you know, by the time that you listen to it, which hopefully is soon. Um, soon thereafter. It may or may not be brand new, but as of right now, that's absolutely true. It is brand new. So thank you so much for joining me for this brand new edition of the show. I'm Matt McClure, your host, your advisor, your pal, your buddy, your good friend, your all of the above. Really. Um, I'm just thrilled and absolutely honored that you would take time out of your day to join little old me on my podcast where we talk about all things LGBTQ plus retirement. We do these shows on a on a regular basis here and just got through with Pride Month, of course, last month or now, kind of toward the middle of July, which is a little ridiculous, but I'm just glad that no matter what time of the year it is or what day it is, or whenever you're listening to this, that you're taking time to hopefully learn a little something and have a little fun and just, you know, maybe just enjoy, um, you know, just some financial information and things that are applicable to your life and your situation.

Speaker1:
Um, of course, you can always find us online. Take pride in retirement.com is the website that's take Pride in retirement.com. You can also email me. My name is Matt of course. And so you can just email me Matt at take Take Pride in retirement.com. Or you can give me a call 855246 9211. That's (855) 246-9211. Uh, really would appreciate you getting in touch with me at any of those, uh, vehicles using any of those vehicles, um, to do so, whether you prefer to do it old school, uh, you know, on the phone or sending me an email or going to the website and reaching out via the contact page there and set up a free retirement plan consultation for you. The show, of course, is focused on LGBTQ+ issues in retirement, and we're going to do a lot of that today. But of course, we're going to, um, not just focus exclusively on, uh, LGBTQ plus issues. When we look at your retirement, that's going to be a big part of it. If I, you know, do a full consultation with you. Um, but my whole goal with all of this is to work with you no matter who you are, no matter where you are in the journey of your life, no matter how you identify who you love, any of those things, I want to help you with your retirement.

Speaker1:
That's the goal. And whether, you know, we do that through the podcast, through, you know, just being here and providing this as an educational resource for you and hopefully clearing away some of the cobwebs that might be there with your retirement. That's great, I love that. Um, I can also offer you a free consultation. Absolutely no obligation to work with me unless it's right for you, unless we agree to work together and we both feel that it's right. You know, there's no obligation there. And so take a little bit of time and get that consultation. I'll take a deep dive into your finances and get you a plan that I think will work for you. And we've got a lot of proven strategies that we use to help our clients really make the most of their retirement, provide an income that they can't outlive. And that is I was just talking to a client the other day that was that's actually his number one concern is that he doesn't want to run out of money in retirement. Well, now we are putting him into a strategy where that cannot happen. He's there's also a little bit of uncertainty about his particular job that he is in. It's a contract position that may or may not go away at any point in time.

Speaker1:
He says, well, what what do I do if that's the case, if I need income in, you know, very short notice? Well, luckily for him, he's got a pretty good nest egg. And so we can take that and turn it into income pretty much immediately if that is needed. We've got plans. We've got strategies to do all of that planning for health care, planning for potential long term care, all the things we're getting all of those bases covered, uh, in retirement. That's what I do. I look look at things holistically. I don't just take one little aspect of your, you know, financial life and say, okay, well, I'm just going to deal with this. No. Everything affects other parts of your financial life. So we take a look at it all and get everything in line so that you can have a successful retirement. That's what it's all about. And again, go to take pride in retirement.com. You can contact me there. They'll send an email directly to my inbox if you use the contact page. And I look forward to hearing from you. All right. A lot of great stuff to come up here on the show. We've got some annuity insights for retirees. I've got to separate some fact from fiction here when it comes to annuities, because there are a lot of misconceptions out there.

Speaker1:
We just had Annuity Awareness month last month. We talked about that a little bit on the show, but after that has now wrapped up, I want to just take a few minutes of the show and kind of, you know, separate the fact from the fiction. Um, as far as, you know, some concerns that I heard during that time about annuities. So there are a lot of just misconceptions out there and a lot of room for improvement when it comes to the general public's understanding of what annuities are and what they do, and where they can fit in in your particular retirement plan. All right, so of course, everything is based on your individual situation. And I don't want to shortchange that at all because that is the most important thing. Everything that we talk about here is general information. But when we meet with you to plan your retirement, that's all based on your specific information. So we're not then speaking in generalities. We're speaking in very specific, uh, terms. You know, as far as the information goes, we're using your individual numbers, the amount of money that you have set aside or invested, all taking that into account and then putting together a plan in writing for you, so you know that you're going to have a secure and safe retirement.

Speaker1:
Also got an inflation demonstration, some new numbers showing that the buying power is dwindling for Americans. We're going to talk about why that is, what we can do about it as well. We've got a new forecast for the Social Security cost of living adjustment, and what retirees can expect from the annual increase that goes into Social Security as well. The good thing is, you know, there's obviously an increase that does happen. How big the increase is can be a different story. So we'll talk about that. It's indexed to inflation but a particular reading of inflation. And so is does it reflect the actual rising costs out there. And not usually. But we'll go into detail on it here in just a little bit. Also going to talk about income inequality and how that is hurting retirement savings. That's from an article on SoFi that I saw just the other day. And talk about that sort of issue and some potential solutions to close that gap. And we've got a quote of the week coming up here in just a moment from someone I know that you most likely love. You definitely know and most likely love. Because we all do. Okay, that's all I'm going to say for now. Until, I don't know, a few seconds from now when I give you the quote of the week.

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

Speaker1:
And this time around, our quote of the week comes from the one, the only, the legend herself of the biggest ally of the LGBTQ plus community that's out there and has been for decades Dolly Parton. I love me some Dolly. And this time around, the quote is from her, as I said, and it is this we cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails. We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails. I love that I often put it another way. A similar sentiment in the form of, you know, control the things you can control. You've. If you've listened to episodes of the show before, you've heard me say that, I'm sure. Well, this is a different way of putting that a more poetic way to put it a very dolly way to put it right. We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails. That means that, you know, there are things that are out of our control. But how do we respond to those things? And or how do we prepare for those things? Because if you you got to know how to operate the sails first right before you go out into the the potential storm out on the ocean in your sailboat. So, you know, you've got to know how to make the adjustments as you go along. But you got to know how the sales work. You got to know the fundamentals.

Speaker1:
So that's what I love to do, is sort of take people along and teach the fundamentals and give them the tools that they need to work alongside me to help make their financial situation better. No matter what happens, no matter what storm comes, we can adjust those sails and go along with whatever is happening, whether it's, you know, a huge bull run in the market or whether it is an economic downturn, we're not going to go directly with those winds toward that downturn, but we're going to take those sails and help them help point your boat in a direction that is going to lead to some protection, some positivity, some. Um, you know, uh, really, you know, some protection really is the big word there. And I already said it, but protection from that downturn, because that is the goal, is to provide some protection and still get substantial growth in your retirement accounts and in your plan so that you are all set when it gets to retirement. Now, of course, there are very few guarantees in life. There are zero guarantees when it comes to investing in the stock market and things like that, which is why we take part of your portfolio and we put it into a protected sort of vehicle. Right. A vehicle with some guarantees and something like an annuity does have guarantees, and it's usually a part of our retirement plans that we put together.

Speaker1:
Myself and the team at Active Wealth Management, that's my that's my local firm that I'm affiliated with in the Atlanta metro area. But of course, if you are somewhere else in the world, I'd be glad to work with you as well. But it's usually a part of those that we those plans that we put together for our clients, unless it's a particular scenario where they, you know, are already set up with a sizable pension or something like that, where they won't necessarily need an income through a personal pension, which is another way to think about an annuity. Right? It's essentially a personal pension. And we just had, as I mentioned earlier, Annuity Awareness Month in June. And so you you might have during that time come across some people who either don't understand the way that annuities work or understand the way that some annuities, but not all of them work, and they kind of tend to spread some myths or some misconceptions. Anytime annuities are kind of out there in more of the public consciousness. Right. So June was Annuity Awareness Month. So that was a good time for them to do that. But there are some misconceptions out there that they might have been spreading. And so I want to take a look at some of the more common ones here and separate the fact from the fiction busting the myth of annuities. Some of the myths surrounding annuities here.

Speaker1:
All right. So I want you to have the correct information about these particular vehicles, which can be in a lot of circumstances, very, very useful for your retirement plan. All right. So number one misconception here is that annuities carry hidden fees. Annuities carry hidden fees. Well, here's the thing. There are some annuities out there that potentially do carry hidden fees. Variable annuities, for example, are more fee heavy. They're more fee laden than any other kind of annuity that's out there. So you could make a case for that. You could make a case for, you know, the fees being kind of unreasonable in a variable annuity, depending on the type of variable annuity that the sort of subtype or the actual policy that's put into place, the agreement between you and the insurance company, that could be a thing, but it is a very rare occasion that I ever recommend a variable annuity to anyone, because there are plenty of other annuities that offer market like growth without the market risk and without the fees substantially less fees or no fees at all. I mean, really, depending on the type of annuity that you purchase, an immediate annuity, a fixed annuity, a fixed indexed annuity, some of the types that we tend to work with here. Your policy could have no charges in the form of fees at all. So that's good news. Now some annuities do have surrender charges on the withdrawals that are taken during your surrender charge period.

Speaker1:
That will all be explained to you in the contract. If you're working with a fiduciary financial advisor like myself, we are obligated to make sure that you understand that going in. Okay. So like let's say within the first certain number of years, a lot of them are, you know, like 7 or 10 years of the annuity contract. There may be a charge called a surrender charge on any withdrawals that exceed a certain amount. Usually that amount is 10%. That's the most common. So a 10% withdrawal, you can get that free of any of those surrender charges. But if you withdraw more than that from the contract because it's a long term vehicle, right? You don't want to just put, you know, your money into an annuity and then the next day try to withdraw 50% of it. That's not a useful thing. So that's in large part why these surrender charges exist, to encourage you to leave that money in there so that it can grow. And then you have more income in retirement. Right? So sometimes, yeah, there are many times, I should say there are surrender charges on withdrawals taken during that surrender charge period. Many fixed indexed annuities have additional fees that are in there, with some optional riders that you might elect to have be part of your particular plan.

Speaker1:
Um, some of those optional riders are for the guaranteed lifetime income, a specific growth rate, um, wealth transfer, even, you know, access to funds in the event of specific health needs, those types of riders and features that can be added to annuity contracts do provide more benefits and add more value to your policy. And they can come with some fees attached. It all depends on your needs. And we'll always weigh the pros and cons there of whether, you know, we want to add something to an annuity contract that's going to cost you more in the end. Now a lot of times, you know, you'll let's say you're putting up or purchasing rather a $500,000 annuity just to throw that number out there. You'll still put, you know, $500,000 into the contract. The fee will come out of that $500,000. So it's not like you're going to pay $500,000 plus a fee into the contract. You'll still just put your $500,000 in, and then the fee will be assessed from that 500,000. So you won't necessarily feel it. But sometimes there are fees that do get taken out of the the contract, and they're usually low fees with an annuity of the type that we like to work with. My favorite kind though of course are the no fee annuities. And you know, you get just usually more more bang for your buck there. But of course, if you add on to any annuity there could be fees attached to that.

Speaker1:
So annuities are those vehicles that carry a bunch of hidden fees. That is a myth that needs to be busted because there are, as I said, a couple of scenarios where you could see some fees. And there is one type of annuity that has a lot of fees, and that's a variable annuity. Don't usually recommend those. There are usually fees for certain other types of annuities, but they're not hidden. You will be told about them if you work with me anyway, you'll be told about them. Because I am a fiduciary financial advisor. I am obligated to work in your best interests, and I'll make sure that things are clear before you enter into any sort of contract with an annuity company and insurance company that provides annuities, or with me, with assets under management, anything like that. I want everything to be crystal clear so that you have no surprises down the road. And you know that I am working in your best interest, because that is really what it is all about here. The number two annuity myth that needs to be busted here is that annuities are complicated. Okay, look, here's the thing. Anything as complicated is as complicated as you make it, right. So if you are, um, you know, somebody who likes to get into the weeds of every different line of every contract that you ever take a look at? Yeah.

Speaker1:
I mean, you can make it as complicated as you want, but in general, an annuity is simply a contract between you and an insurance company. That is all that it is. And the guaranteed lifetime income benefit works something like Social Security or a pension. So it. No, it doesn't have to be anything that is overly complicated. The basics of an annuity are a contract between you and an insurance company. The annuity provider will be an insurance company. And then that money grows at a specified rate, either tied to a market index or at a guaranteed rate each year. And then that money gets credited to your account. So so the account grows. Then in retirement, whenever you elect to, you can then turn on income so that you have an income stream that you can never outlive. So that is the good news when When it comes to annuities, they are not overtly complicated. Now, as I mentioned earlier, you can get into adding this rider, that rider, this particular benefit, that benefit. And it could get a bit more complicated. But in the very basic definition of an annuity, no, it's just that it's it's pretty basic and easy to understand. But there's a lot of there's still a lot of misconceptions out there. So that's what this whole segment is about. Number three myth for annuities that we're going to bust here is that annuities are tied to the stock market.

Speaker1:
So I could lose my money. Annuities are tied to the stock market so I could lose my money. There is one type of annuity that is, uh, you know, has your money invested directly in the market. There's one type that's that type I mentioned earlier, which is a variable annuity. The word variable comes from, you know, the the word meaning change. It is a word meaning change. Obviously variable means change. So that is one of the reasons why I usually refer to those as variable annuities instead of variable annuities. For most people, I do not recommend them because your money is at risk in the market. This is supposed to be for me. What I look at an annuity for is the safe portion of your portfolio, and then getting some growth out of that money, turning on income in retirement. Then you have that income stream that you can never outlive. Right. So a variable annuity. Yes. Those types of annuities are invested in the stock market and you could lose your money in that contract. That's why I don't recommend them. Right. But the annuities that I generally do recommend, those are not in the market. A fixed indexed annuity is tied to the market. That much is true that first half of the statement there is true. Annuities are tied to the stock market. A fixed index annuity is tied to a particular market index, but it's not invested directly in the market.

Speaker1:
It's linked to an index, so your account value will go up if that index goes up. But if that index goes down, if that index loses value, you are protected. Zero is your hero. That's what we like to say around here. Zero is your hero when it comes to the fixed indexed annuities, because that is the least that your account can ever be credited. So think about, you know, a situation like 2022, when we had some pretty big stock market losses in the S&P 500in the major indices all down, we had losses as well. Um, in the big years that we often think about 2008, 2001, Um, you know, back in the.com bubble era, we had big stock market losses. Then if you had a fixed indexed annuity at the time, you didn't lose a penny while everybody else was afraid to open their 401 K and take a look at the balance because they knew that it was not going to be pretty. You were sitting pretty because you were protected from those market downturns in that portion of your portfolio. Now what I recommend putting every penny that you have into an annuity. Probably not, but the safe portion of your portfolio. Absolutely. I would recommend putting into an annuity, because that is going to be like your own personal pension, and you want that money to be guaranteed to be income, you know, for yourself in your retirement years.

Speaker1:
So linking to an index provides the potential to earn interest and your account value grows if that index increases but it does not go down if the index falls. All right. So a fixed indexed annuity that is the kind that I often recommend. It is not an investment directly in the market, it is tied to a market index as far as the performance goes, but only on the upside, not on the downside. That is why it's such a good vehicle for your investment portfolio as far as the safe portion of it goes. Number four annuity myth here is if I buy an annuity, I don't have access to my money. I don't have access to my money. Well, you know, a lot of people think that an annuity is kind of like a bank CD where you put the money in and it is locked away in a big safe somewhere, and you cannot get to it at all, ever, for any needs. That is not true. Um, many annuities out there do allow for penalty free withdrawals, though amounts in excess of the penalty free amount may be subject to surrender charges like we talked about before. So, you know, if you get if you withdraw more than 10% from your annuity contract at any point in time while you still have a surrender charge, in effect, usually in the first seven to 10 to 14 years, somewhere in there, that's usually the most common sort of time period where you will have a surrender charge.

Speaker1:
It gets less and less as time goes along, but if you take out more than, say, 10% of your annuity contract, then you'll face the surrender charge. But you can access up to, generally speaking, 10% with no surrender charge. There are also a lot of provisions in a lot of annuities, especially the ones that we like to recommend, where if there is a life altering event, like if you are, God forbid, diagnosed with a terminal illness of some kind, if If you are, uh, someone who ends up requiring in-home medical care or long term care where you go into a facility, you're confined to a nursing home for a certain amount of time. There are certain products that can double your annuity income. If you've already turned on income in retirement to take care of those things. There are also annuities that allow you to access the entirety of the contract value at no charge. So with no penalty based on the fact that you have that terminal illness or you have that long term care, need those sorts of things. So there are situations where you can access the entire thing, but you always have access. Generally speaking, in the annuities that we recommend, you always have access to at least 10% penalty free of your money.

Speaker1:
So there you go. Number six on the list of annuity myths. And this is the final one on the annuity myths side here. The final one that we have to bust. I have to pay the financial professional out of my own pocket in order to buy an annuity. I have to pay the financial professional out of my own pocket in order to buy an annuity. Absolutely not. As I said earlier, you are not required to pay a financial professional like myself directly in order to buy an annuity. You'll your full premium plus any bonuses can earn interest from the annuities effective date and annuities can actually help pre-retirees and retirees completely get rid of delete send to the trash bin advisory and portfolio fees on that portion of their portfolio, that safe portion of their portfolio. Where now, let's say the safe portion of your portfolio is in bonds, for example. Well, you're going to have advisory and portfolio fees on that because those are assets under management for a financial professional. So they're charging you to manage those investments with an annuity. You get rid of those advisory and portfolio fees. And you just, you know, make your deposit into the annuity. You transfer money into that annuity and you don't have to pay fees to the financial professional directly. And then your money still grows. You get that personal pension in retirement.

Speaker1:
That's an income that you can never outlive. And these are really important. By the way, if you are in the retirement red zone, that's a term that we talk about quite a bit here. And that that means if you're in the retirement red zone that you plan to retire in the next, say, ten years, or you've just retired in the last ten years, 5 to 10 years, let's say. Give me a call so that I can help you strengthen your financial plan, because you cannot afford to lose too much during those years. That's what we call sequence of returns risk, right? You lose money early on in your retirement or when you're about to retire. It takes a lot to make up for those losses, so keep your money as safe as possible. We'll talk about if you call me at eight, five, 524, six 9211. We'll talk about the different options that you have. Protection and growth are both key here. So schedule that complimentary financial and retirement consultation will take a look at your best personal pension options with guaranteed income. Again that number is 855246 9211. You can go online to the website. It is Take Pride in retirement.com. That is take Pride in retirement.com. Click on the contact page and you can contact me to set up a free retirement plan consultation for you. All right. And it'll all, as I said earlier be based on your specific needs.

Speaker4:
Want to know where your hard earned money is going? It's time for an inflation demonstration.

Speaker1:
All right. This time around, in our inflation demonstration, which is always so much fun. Protect and grow your money to maintain your purchasing power in retirement. That is the goal of all the plans that we put together. For those who are the ones who decide to work with us, and we want you to be that as well. Um, but there's a new some new numbers from Jackson, which is a financial services company here. The decrease in purchasing power over the last 12 months due to inflation. 2% for consumers with a financial professional. But double that. 4% for consumers without a financial professional, that's the decrease in purchasing power over the last 12 months due to inflation. So you're doing a lot better if you do have a financial professional who is protecting and growing your wealth for you. Inflation increases the prices of goods and services over time. That means that each dollar you own buys less than it did in the past. That erodes the value of your money. If your income does not increase at the same rate as inflation, your real income decreases because the dollar doesn't go as far right, and that limits your ability to purchase the same quantity of goods and services. And that leads to decreased real income, right. Decreased purchasing power again. And then it impacts your retirement funds. I mean, for retirees, inflation can erode the purchasing power of fixed pensions and retirement savings potentially affecting quality of life during your retirement years. So yeah, I mean prices have been rising. Those latest numbers are showing, though that you can mitigate the impact of inflation if you have a financial professional that you are working with.

Speaker1:
4% is the decrease in purchasing power over the last year for consumers without a financial professional and just 2% for consumers with a financial professional. So you're doing a lot better if you are working with an advisor like myself, who's a fiduciary, who works in your best interest. And of course, take pride in retirement. Com is the place to go to schedule a full retirement plan consultation. All right. So how many of you are, um, you know, someone who cares for a loved one? People in the LGBTQ plus community tend to be caregivers, right? We tend to fall into that role and that, you know, just I think more often than not happens because of different life circumstances and just the way that that life works. Um, we end up caring for a loved ones more often than, than our counterparts. So I actually spoke with someone here recently, and I want to share this conversation with you about some new technology that can actually make that whole caregiving process easier, maybe allowing for a little bit more independence for those who are being cared for and, um, greater peace of mind for the caregivers as well. I'm going to share this conversation with you. We'll continue with more of the show on the other side. I am speaking with Todd Houghton, president and CEO of Homewatch caregivers. Todd, thank you so much for taking a few minutes for me. I really do appreciate your time, sir.

Speaker5:
Thank you for having me today, Matt. I appreciate it as well.

Speaker1:
Well, you know, when we talk about issues of aging and, you know, caring for loved ones and, and, you know, us being the ones as we age who need care. Um, you know, there are so many different issues and aspects to that. It's something that we cover on our shows quite a bit. Um, for retirement radio. Um, talk, if you will, for a moment about how kind of things are changing in, in that space. Um, for seniors in, in the US today.

Speaker5:
Absolutely. So, you know, we're we're having many baby boomers, 10,000 plus turning 65 every day and that, uh, 77% of them want to live their aging years at home, wherever home might be. So the need for, uh, home care is inevitable, and we need to continue to evolve to focus on that connection and engagement of somebody's aging at home independently, to help reduce, you know, the the isolation and loneliness that they feel if they're at home alone. Yeah.

Speaker1:
And and that's, you know, so important. Like, I know that my loved ones in my family who have, you know, gotten older, like the last thing they want to do is go into some sort of facility where they are, you know, surrounded by people they don't know and, and all of that. And it can be a, can be a scary thing. Staying at home is so super important. What are some ways that children of aging parents and other loved ones of aging parents can really help in, you know, help help them stay. Just stay at home and, and, um, you know, keep that, um, keep their wishes, kind of, you know, in in place there.

Speaker5:
Yeah. So, you know, over 50% of the adult children live more than 60 miles away from, from their parents. So they're looking for that that peace of mind, that first and foremost. And there's so many resources out there, but it's really becoming educated that they don't have that, uh, that they don't have to carry the burden themselves. You know how much caregivers we offer in home care services. They can have a company like ours come in, do visits, uh, also through technology that we're bringing to the market, uh, to help really focus on engagement and connection with, uh, the family members, with doctors, nurses, uh, caregivers and such. So it's really critical that those adult children have access to the resources that are available. And there's many resources out there.

Speaker1:
Now expand on that, the technology aspect of it, if you will, for a second. What kind of things do you do you have that are available?

Speaker5:
Yeah. So we've recently come to market with our Home Watch Connect, which is our technology service offerings. We have uh, currently have two components to that. The biggest component is our smart camera device that works through the television. It provides a closed, uh, safe environment for the aging parent to be connected to other family members their friends, their grandchildren, their doctors, their nurses, their home watch caregiver office. It really provides that that virtual connection to focus on the silent epidemic, which is being lonely and isolated. 1 in 3, uh, seniors report being lonely or isolated, which absolutely contributes to the acceleration of cognitive decline. Uh, disease states like such such as dementia or Alzheimer's. So we're really focused on what can we do to help with that. The other component is we, uh, have sensor technology that goes in the home. This provides a proactive approach, right? It can identify, uh, movement. Uh, sounds, uh, air temperature, things that could, uh, contribute to perhaps a fall or another accident within the home, which then leads to a hospitalization. And we don't want that to happen. Uh, so we're really working on all those different technology aspects that keeps somebody safe, uh, and ability to live at home with dignity.

Speaker1:
Yeah. That is so important. The safety aspect, of course. And keeping them, um, healthy, keeping them engaged and and helping them not feel lonely. Because, as you said, you know, isolation can lead to a lot of, you know, health issues and, you know, mentally, physically and and all of the above here. Um, Todd, just about time for us to start wrapping things up. Anything else that you wanted to touch on that we haven't gotten to talk about yet that comes to mind?

Speaker5:
You know, I think we really touched on it's just critical that, um, the adult children know there's resources out there for them to really help with their parents, to help them fulfill their, their parents wishes of living at home. And you know, how much caregivers, not only do we have the the resources to be in the home to do visits, but with the technology aspect, it's just changing the way care is delivered and the keeping people safe at home.

Speaker1:
Wonderful. And if our listeners want to know more, where could they go for that information?

Speaker5:
Absolutely. They can go to homewatch caregivers. Com that's homewatch caregivers. Com they can learn all about our homewatch caregivers total care solutions that provides end to end resources and solutions for care in the home as well as Homewatch connect our technology solution.

Speaker1:
Very good. Todd Houghton is president and CEO of Homewatch caregivers. Todd, thanks so much for spending some time with me. Really appreciate it.

Speaker5:
Absolutely, Matt. Thank you. You have a great day. You too.

Speaker1:
And I want to thank Todd from Homewatch caregivers once again as well, for taking the time to give me a give me a chat here. And, you know, explain some of that. I think that a lot of that tech is really, really cool and can make a big difference in a lot of people's lives. So great. Great job there. All right. So as promised, the 2025 Social Security Cost of Living adjustment forecast is out. Um, a new forecast. There's been one, uh, kind of every month here for the last little bit. Uh, you know, talking about a projection for next year's Social Security cost of living adjustment. So here we go. The projected increase. How much will Social Security recipients receive in their increase for the cost of living adjustment next year due to inflation? The 2025 Cola is projected now to be 2.57%, 2.57% now. Good news and bad news there is. The good news is that means inflation has come down because it's tied to inflation. I'll tell you the exact sort of method for well, not the exact because we'd be here all day. But I'll give you the, the, you know, CliffsNotes version of exactly what goes into that sort of calculation here in a minute. But it is tied to inflation. So the fact that it's getting lower means that inflation has come down. But that also means that Social Security beneficiaries are not going to see as big of an increase as maybe we thought before.

Speaker1:
It's actually a slight decrease from the previous month's forecast. 2.66% was that number, and it's really quite a bit lower than the 3.2% increase that retirees got to start this year for 2024. And it's much lower, um, compared to the 8.7% increase seen in the previous year in 2023. Right? Um, the Cola is based on the calculation for the Cola. The cost of living adjustment is based on the consumer price index, but not just the basic sort of consumer price index that you might see reported on the news. It's based on the consumer price index for urban wage earners and clerical workers. It's the CPI dash w if you ever want to look that up. That index tracks the average price of a basket of goods. Comparing the prices in the third quarter of the current year with those from the same period of the previous year. Final figures are for the 2025. Cola will be determined based on the average inflation rate during the third quarter. So that's July, August and September. That is where we are right now. The official announcement is going to be made in October, and the adjustments will be applied to benefits starting in January of 2025. So here's the thing. If you are concerned about Social Security, if you are worried about future cuts to Social Security affecting your retirement, I want to provide you with a Social Security maximization plan that is customized to you.

Speaker1:
And perhaps if you are married to your spouse's benefit information, right, go to take Pride in retirement. Com that is take pride in retirement. Com to schedule that full free retirement plan consultation. I'll get that plan to you in a you know it'll be plotted out for you. How much money could you potentially bring in from Social Security at the age of 62? How much could you bring in potentially your full retirement age, whatever that might be? How much could you bring in by waiting to age 70? So you max out that benefit? We'll go through that and give you that analysis, and we can do that free of charge for you. And then you can also, if you don't want to go to the website and, uh, send me a message there through the contact page and take pride in retirement. Com what you can do is pick up the phone, call 855246 9211 11 (855) 246-9211. You can also go and I need to I'll get a for the video version. I'll get a graphic of this too and put it up. I just um have refined things online and gotten my calendly updated. So if you go to calendly.com/matt J. Mcclure. So that's calendly.com/matt J as in Joel McClary. Then you can set up a different kind of meeting with me, a 60 minute free consultation, either remote or in the office in Midtown Atlanta.

Speaker1:
Or you can set up a 30 minute phone call with me as well. You can do that on that Calendly page that I just mentioned. So feel free to reach out and get in touch with me in any of those ways. All right, so I saw this article not all that long ago, actually just a few days back. Now from Sophie. I hope I'm pronouncing the authors name correctly. Um, Anakin tape, I think is how you say it. Maybe. Tapi I don't know. I'm. My apologies to them for probably butchering the name. Um, but it's a very interesting look at income inequality and how it's hurting people's retirement savings here. Now, there's no specific breakdown as far as LGBTQ+ folks go, but there are some breakdowns here as far as, um, other types of minorities. Demographically speaking. So, um, you know, people of color, um, women in, in the workplace and all of that. So, you know, the article says, and this much is true, saving for retirement can be a big undertaking for most people, but some Americans are in a more disadvantaged situation than others, as income inequality makes savings goals harder to reach for some demographics, we've taken a look in the past, specifically at LGBTQ plus numbers here, and this is true for our community as well.

Speaker1:
Um, but gender and race do also play a key difference when it comes to Americans. 401 K balances the collaborative for Equitable Retirement Savings, which is a research institute co-founded by Morningstar. They did a report on this and found that white men nearing retirement ages 55 to 59 have stashed away an average of $403,000, compared with 328,000 for white women. Black men and women, though in that same age group, have have less than half of those savings 145,000 for black men, 130,000 for black women, respectively. That's per Axios, which analyzed this report. The wage gap across these demographics can be blamed for much of the disparity. And it's that simple. You know, if you make less money, you don't have as much to save, right? Black women between 55 and 59 participating in retirement plans earn an average of $85,500 a year, according to that report. That's compared to nearly 108,000 a year for white women. So there's the racial disparity, once again rearing its ugly head. However, the report also found that black workers tend to contribute a smaller percentage of their salaries to retirement accounts as well. For example, black women save 8% on average, white and Asian women save 11 and 17%, respectively. Black Americans were also the demographic most likely to borrow against 401 K balances, according to that report as well. Here's the thing, though. Um, that is encouraging as far as at least one avenue that the government's trying to step in and say, okay, we can help here.

Speaker1:
The federal government wants to close this gap because the 2022 Secure act 2.0 includes the Saver's match initiative, which is set to start in 2027. So for Americans making less than 71,000 a year, the program is going to match 50% of retirement contributions up to $1,000 per person, $2,000 for a married couple filing jointly so that Savers Match Initiative could increase account balances for black women by up to 21.5% if contributions are maxed out. That's according to that, um, report that just came out from Cfr's Cfr's, the collaborative for Equitable Retirement Savings, um, co-founded by Morningstar there. So that is at least some encouragement. But there is a big gap. And we've looked at, as I said before, kind of the struggles of the LGBTQ plus community specifically, that sort of mirror a lot of these, um, findings for this particular study that, you know, people who are not cisgender, people who are part of the LGBTQ plus community lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, um, intersex, whatever the case may be, etc. included in the plus at the end of that. Then if that mirrors you know exactly what is happening or not exactly. I guess it wouldn't wouldn't mirror it exactly. But, um, if it closely correlates with what people who are, you know, maybe people of color, men and women of color here that we're looking at in this particular study.

Speaker1:
Then it also goes to highlight the struggle that is still out there, still prevalent for a lot of people in our community. And it means that we need to just be proactive in making sure that educational resources are out there. Like this show. That's one of the main reasons I'm doing this show is to educate the LGBTQ LGBTQ+ community on a lot of different retirement topics. So the educational part of it is great. Also, the part of it is, you know, making sure that people have a plan in place, a written plan in place for their retirement years. And that's what I want to do for you. No matter again who you are, no matter where you come from, no matter who you love, how you identify any of the things, I want you to have a successful retirement. And I want you to go to take pride in retirement. Com listen to past episodes of the show there. Get yourself educated on all of the many different topics that we do talk about here. You can also reach out via Take Pride in Retirement Comm at the contact page. That's right there at the top of the screen. Just click on that link, fill out the form and get in touch with me. I do not ask for, you know, any crazy information, your blood type or your social security number or anything like that.

Speaker1:
What I do ask for is just, you know, your name, email address, phone number and, um, why you're reaching out. If you would like to reach out for that free consultation, I would love to talk to you again. It's take Pride in retirement.com. Or or you can call me 85524692 11 (855) 246-9211. Is that number. Well that's going to do it for this edition of the show. I really do appreciate you joining me once again. As I say, I am I am honored and humbled to have you along for this ride of retirement education. And, you know, just making hopefully the world a little bit better of a place here by educating the LGBTQ plus community and providing resources. Education, as I said, is as well. Can I say that word one more time? Yes. Education, providing that for LGBTQ plus folks and the public at large, but also working with you individually to provide fiduciary financial advice so that you can have a successful retirement. That is what it is all about. And I really do appreciate your time because I know how valuable it is. Thank you so much for joining me for being a part of the show. And I do look forward to the next time that we all get together. Until then. Take pride in yourselves and take care of each other. We'll see you next time.

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

Speaker1:
Registered investment advisors and investment advisor representatives act as fiduciaries for all of our investment management clients. We have an obligation to act in the best interest of our clients and to make full disclosure of any conflicts of interest, if any, exist. Any comments regarding safe and secure investments and guaranteed income streams refer only to fixed insurance products. They do not in any way refer to investment advisory products. Rates and guarantees provided by insurance products and annuities are subject to the financial strength of the issuing insurance company, not guaranteed by any bank or the FDIC.

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