Habits That Could Wreck Your Retirement Dreams

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8.29.25: 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 Retirement Results, the national radio show and podcast for listeners like you who want to protect and grow their hard earned money. In a world filled with so much uncertainty and financial risk, we seek to cut through the noise and build successful plans for hard working Americans on their road to financial freedom. Retirement results is powered by Active Wealth Management, a team of fiduciary advisors who always place your needs first. And now your host. He's a registered social security analyst, member of the Forbes Finance Council, and author of multiple books on retirement planning. Here's your chief financial adviser. Ford Stokes.

Speaker3:
And welcome to retirement. Results. Result. Drivers on Ford Stokes chief financial advisor. Got Sam Davis back here with us on the mic. Um, and we're so glad you're here with us again there, Mr.. Sam. Um, you you were back last week, too. But it's good to have you back, um, from Europe and all that stuff. And speaking of Europe, they named the US six additional members the captain's picks for the US Ryder Cup team. I know a lot of big Ryder Cup fans. I'm not sure there's two bigger us Ryder Cup team fans than Sam Davis and Ford Stokes. You actually went and saw them in Europe, in Rome. Unfortunately they lost that one. I went and saw them lose in Michigan. Um, when Phil Mickelson inexplicably decided to change golf club companies and specifically his driver seven days before the Ryder Cup when he went to move to Calloway and they lost that one. So. But you and I have seen a lot of wins, and we're pulling for them at Bethpage Black and just want to say congratulations to the US Ryder Cup team. Also, Keegan Bradley decided that he was not going to play and he did name Justin Thomas, Ben Griffin, Sam Burns, Patrick Cantlay, Collin Morikawa to the team in addition to the regular picks as well, of those regular picks being Scottie Scheffler, Bryson DeChambeau, Xander Schauffele and you can help me out with the rest there, Sam, but I it is a really big deal and I'm hopeful that the US is going to win. Please forgive Sam and me for talking about the US Ryder Cup but we are huge US Ryder Cup team fan so at least we need to do that.

Speaker4:
Yeah. Welcome to the weekend everybody. Thanks again for tuning in to retirement results. And Ford I think you're right. We've been talking about the Ryder Cup team since the end of the last Ryder Cup Two years ago. And you're right. It hasn't gone our way when either you or myself are on the ground. So the fans will be relieved to hear that we're not planning to go to Bethpage Black.

Speaker3:
We wanted to, but we decided that we could see it better and we'd better luck if we didn't go. So that was good. But we we thought about going. Our wives had really didn't have a lot of interest. So it was going to be just you and me or, and a couple other of my buddies thinking about going, but we decided not to go. Well, I almost went to Whistling Straits with a really good friend of mine. Uh, shout out to, uh, Jimmy Hollis and Lindsey Hollis. They're great folks. Um, but for his 50th, Jamie almost went with me to Whistling Straits. So I think he's about to be a number over there at Crystal falls. And so, I mean, a great golfer, better golfer than me. Um, but shout out to Jamie Hollis there. We're really hopeful that we're going to win this one, but we at least had to start the show off because we were able to see the US Ryder Cup team announced all the captain's picks and, uh.

Speaker4:
Yeah, absolutely. Next to my, uh, my home state, Kansas Jayhawks. My favorite team is any team that's wearing the Stars and Stripes. I got the chance to go to the Olympics in Paris last year and cheer on a lot of Americans, some some gold medal winners for team USA. And that was a great experience. And we look forward to the Ryder Cup here in about a month. So all you golf fans get excited. We're only a few weeks away and for all you college football fans, we've got the official week one of college football this weekend, so thank you for tuning in. Amidst all that's going on in the world, as we kind of turn the book from summer to fall.

Speaker3:
Let me go over this list again for two Georgia Bulldogs who actually automatically qualified Russell Henley and Harris English. Both are former Georgia Bulldogs and they qualified. Uh, Russell Henley played a lot with Scottie Scheffler the Presidents Cup last year. It'll be interesting I think, as Scotty will still be continue to be paired up with Sam Burns, who's according to a lot of people, but specifically to Captain Keegan. Bradley is the best putter on the planet, so that was good to hear. We'll see how that goes. Let's see what the pairings look like. But the entire team is Scottie Scheffler, JJ Spaun, Xander Schauffele, Russell Henley, Georgia Bulldog, Harris Inglis, Georgia Bulldog Bryson DeChambeau, who's an SMU Mustang, Justin Thomas, who is an Alabama Crimson Tide, Collin Morikawa, Ben Griffin, who I believe is a North Carolina Tar Heel. That's right Collin Morikawa, Plato he was a Stanford guy. Yeah. And Maverick McNealy did not make it. Keegan Bradley chose to leave himself off. Brian Harman, another Georgia Bulldog, was left off. And mainly because I think they wanted length and somebody to hit the ball a long way at Bethpage Black. And then, uh, Cameron Young did make it. And he is a New York State native. Um, and his dad was a PGA teaching professional for 22 years. So that was another interesting thing there. Um, I think that's going to be a big deal there. Also said that Bryson DeChambeau and and him play and Cameron Young play the same golf ball. So you may see them in the foursomes. Um so that's pretty interesting. Then Sam Burns rounds out the team. Um, and I thought they were all really great. Sorry for this long winded update on the Ryder Cup, but I at least wanted to share those two Georgia Bulldogs for our local flavor here. Um, and super excited about about how the team's going to shape up. And hopefully they'll beat the Europeans and, um, bring the Cup back to the United States this time.

Speaker4:
Yeah, well, no, I think it's great for it. I think we can all cheer on the United States, and everybody's excited to cheer on their college football teams and their NFL teams coming up here. Uh, as we turn the book over to September here on Labor Day weekend, and we just wanted to make sure that we're bringing you a new episode as we head into the holiday weekend this year. And, uh, Ford, what are we going to talk about on the rest of today's show?

Speaker3:
We're going to talk about four habits that can wreck your retirement dreams on this week's show. Plus, we're going to talk about why you must plan for your health care costs a little bit in retirement. Uh, but we're going to cover in depth the four habits to avoid when planning for retirement and how you really need to change these habits now for a better future. We'll also talk about, um, the Swiss Army Knife of Retirement. We'll share what that is here in segment three and segment four, and how to protect and grow your hard earned and hard saved wealth. And we've also got a really unique problem solver this week. I think you're going to like to hear this. Um, a lot of folks kind of deal with the same thing that this couple is dealing with, but I think they're in a good spot. So we'll walk through that problem solver in either segment two or segment three. But first, let's go ahead and share this week's financial wisdom quote of the week. And I love this one, because it comes from a gentleman who used to be a fed chairman. Really glad that he got rid of that. Governor Trump got rid of her because she committed or allegedly committed mortgage fraud. And they need to be held to a higher standard. Um, and so I thought that was the right move. And because of that, I think you're going to see interest rates drop precipitously, because I think Trump's going to have the votes amongst the Federal Reserve Board to start voting to reduce the rates. My hope is they'll actually get all the way to reducing by the 300 basis points, or 3% that Trump wants to do, because if that happens, this economy is going to really take off. And um, again, it's just great to see a quote from a former fed chair. So go ahead, Sam, and share that financial wisdom. Quote of the week.

Speaker5:
And now for some financial wisdom. It's time for the quote of the week.

Speaker6:
This week's quote of the week comes to us from Alan Greenspan.

Speaker4:
What a great name for the former Fed chair, Greenspan. And he once said, the number one problem in today's generation and economy is the lack of financial literacy. And I think this couldn't be more true for when we meet with people in the office. We've helped countless people, uh, actually cross that bridge into retirement and protect and grow their wealth. We work with a lot of smart people out there, people who call us off the radio show, people who just find us on Google, you know, people who have found our new office headquarters in Alpharetta. We work with a lot of smart people, and it's really just once you learn those things you didn't know, you can really make those best decisions for you and your money because you were smart enough to get to this point where you've saved all this wealth. Now we want to make help you make those smart decisions to protect and further invest your dollars that you've worked so hard for.

Speaker3:
Yeah, I mean, you've been in that accumulation phase for years and years and years, decades and decades. You've been trying to save even more, planning to catch up. And and also, if you're if you're in your 50s, folks, let's do everything we can to save at least 15% into our four K's in our in our IRAs, if we can. Um, and also, let's try to build and develop a taxable account, an investment account, so we can use some of that money to pay the taxes when we do conversions from IRAs to Roth IRAs. And then, uh, let's just do everything we can to do a great job at saving. Remember that your greatest wealth generator is your own personal income, and that's your personal net income. So let's watch the expenses. You can still enjoy life. And you know, as Andy Stanley, who is our pastor and, um, you know, we're we're actually a member of, of Browns Bridge Church, which is one of those. And shout out to Adam Johnson, who's our pastor at Browns Bridge, and, and his entire team. They did a great job. But Andy Stanley says it's far better to want than it is to owe. So I would say, let's be careful about how much we are satiating our desires to buy things. Um, and let's make sure we're saving as much as we can, especially as we're nearing the last even it's five, ten, 15 years before retirement. Let's try to save that money. And also, if we're in that retirement red zone of five years before retirement or five years after retirement, let's do a great job at making sure we're living within our means and, um, make sure we're we're starting with a positive retirement income surplus versus a negative retirement income gap. And we come back to the break. We're going to talk about these four habits that can wreck your retirement dreams. You're listening to retirement results right here on Am 920. Answer in one.

Speaker2:
Call (770) 685-1777 to schedule your free, no obligation meeting with us today. You're listening to retirement results. Schedule your free, no obligation consultation today by visiting retirement Results.com. Now back to the show.

Speaker3:
And welcome back. Result drivers to retirement results I'm Ford Stokes, your chief financial advisor. I've got Sam Davis here with us. He's our co-host and senior financial advisor on the show. Sam, we promised the folks that we would talk about the four habits that can wreck your retirement dreams. Let's go ahead and go through those one by one, and we'll try to help them get on the right path here.

Speaker4:
Yeah. So as we go through this list, if you feel like you could use some help with any of these items, please don't hesitate to reach out to us. You can find us at retirement Results.com. Or just give us a call right here in the Atlanta office. (770) 685-1777. And the first habit that could really wreck your retirement dreams is carrying high interest debt into retirement, or just too much debt in general. You know, when you are shifting into retirement, you're going to start accumulating all those assets that you've been saving up. It's a real mindset change for a lot of people, and it's certainly a tactical change in how you're managing your plan, because no longer are you seeing that increasing balance, you're actually starting to pull things off. And Ford, we do not want as much as we can help it. Too many debts like a mortgage payment or credit card debt and things like that, draining people's savings and monthly budgets.

Speaker3:
Yeah. It's just here's the deal. When you're on a fixed income, interest rates really can drain your savings and reduce the money available for daily living. Uh, another one is the happiest people that we deal with are folks who actually have have zero debt. They're ones that really can count on the money that comes in. And they can. And they spend it. They don't spend more than what they have. So let's try to do everything we can to focus on paying down high interest debt before you retire. So more of your income can really support your lifestyle.

Speaker4:
Number two on our list is lacking a tax strategy for your withdrawals. So just because you're shifting into retirement and kind of moving from that accumulation to decumulation doesn't mean that you can just start making withdrawals from your assets here and there with no real plan. You want to have a tax strategy because as you may be aware, different retirement accounts have different tax consequences. And we don't want you paying more taxes than is absolutely necessary when it comes to your retirement, because if you're going to be retired 25, 30 years, you're going to be paying taxes for three decades or more. So you want to manage that strategy effectively. And Ford, how do we help people do that?

Speaker3:
Yeah, I mean, one of the ways we do it is we look at a strategic growth ladder conversion. We're going to talk more about that in the problem solver in either segment two or segment three. But we want to do everything we can to limit the amount of time that we're going to be paying ordinary income tax on our retirement accounts. I would imagine most of our listeners do not really want to be paying ordinary income tax on money distributed from their IRAs, 20 years after they've worked the last day that they work. So if you're in retirement, you know, retirement is really the definition of retirement is to withdraw. Why wouldn't you want to withdraw from paying ordinary income tax from your retirement accounts? Unfortunately for many of us, the IRS is our partner in retirement on IRA accounts. 41434 57 Sep IRAs. Simple IRAs. At the same time, there's a real opportunity to do a strategic Roth conversion over time. Let's say it's a 5 to 7 year period where you can move money from your IRA to your Roth IRA, and let's get better at that also.

Speaker3:
You want to develop the right withdrawal strategy that minimizes tax liability. We'll talk more about that in the problem solver as well. But here's a hint. You're going to want to take money out of taxable accounts and tax deferred accounts first and leave the tax free accounts, whether it's Roth IRAs or life insurance alone, as long as you can to let that money grow, let that nest egg money grow. Also, there's not any difference in the investment of a Roth IRA versus an IRA. It still grows in that deferred, you know, environment where you're not paying capital gains taxes. But the beautiful thing is, when you take withdrawals from a Roth IRA, it's actually tax free. So if you want some tax planning help and you want to consider implementing a strategic Roth conversion, I would encourage you to reach out to us at retirement. Com that's retirement. Com. Click on schedule a consultation button in the upper right corner. And we'll look forward to getting started right away. You'll get booked directly into our calendars.

Speaker4:
The next mistake that we really don't want you to make when it comes to planning for your retirement is ignoring longevity risk, and that is the risk of living longer than you expected. So when you're working, many of you probably had or currently have a life insurance policy, which is insurance against not living as long as you plan to live and having a death benefit for your family or loved ones, should you pass away too soon. And when you enter retirement, the risk really Changes from not living long enough to living longer than expected. And for we like to make sure that everyone we work with, they have a plan that makes sure they're not going to run out of income for life.

Speaker3:
Yeah, it is nice to get a retirement income that you can never outlive. It's also nice to generate retirement income that's not exposed to financial market risk, but can still give you market like gains. And we have strategies to do exactly that. Um, it would be a really good idea, I think, to replace the bonds in your portfolio with products that we have access to, financial products that only 1% of financial advisors have access to. If you've got questions that you want to see what an illustration looks like and how you could generate a significant amount of income with a significant, significant amount of growth and some guaranteed growth as well. I would encourage you to reach out to us at (770) 685-1777. Again (770) 685-1777. Also, for those of you who are listening to our podcast, some of the 20,000 plus folks who've downloaded our podcast, I would encourage you just to go ahead and call us from any of the 50 US states. Just give us a call at 1-888-814-0304. That's (888) 814-0304. And we look forward to working with you.

Speaker4:
And the fourth and final item on our list of habits that could wreck your retirement dreams is treating your home as your retirement plan. And while we recognize that often the family home is one of the largest assets in any retiree's portfolio, you do not want to lean on that too much as an asset for your retirement, and you don't want to over invest in your home and ignore having that strong income plan, which will really be the thing that fuels your lifestyle in retirement.

Speaker3:
Yeah. I mean, I don't think you're going to want to just be stuck watching Netflix or cable TV. If you cut the cable and you're watching YouTube TV and all that stuff, um, I don't think you're going to be stuck doing that over investing in home improvements. While underfunding retirement accounts leaves you house rich, but cash poor homes don't produce retirement income. They just don't because you're also you're living in it. You're not renting it out. And the fix is balance. Mortgage Paydowns with investing. Prioritize retirement accounts, especially if there's an employer match. Listen, we do really well for our clients, but 100% growth is extremely attractive. You get 100% growth when the employer matches what you put in. So let's do everything we can to at least invest up to the match so we can be really smart about it. And then let's just try to make sure we do that before pouring any money into renovations or any mortgage paydowns.

Speaker4:
Yeah, that's absolutely right. I mean, sure, there's no place like home, but I think there's a lot of other goals that people we work with have for themselves in retirement, whether that be traveling, visiting family, supporting their kids and grandkids, maybe helping to pay for some college tuition, maybe a grandkids wedding. And if any of those goals are on your list, make sure that you have that when you come in to see us, because that's going to be a part of your smart vision that we want to help you make a reality for your retirement.

Speaker3:
Yeah. One real last point on going back to number three on the longevity risk piece. The CDC says that if both members of a married couple live to be 65 years old, there's over a 50% chance at least one of them lived to be over 90 years old. So you've got to have a plan for y'all's retirement. It specifically, if it's a married couple to last through 90 years young. For the youngest spouse. So we're going to discuss our new problem solver for this week right when we come back from the break. You're listening to retirement Results right here on Am 920 answering WGN.

Speaker2:
We'll be back in just a moment to continue helping you navigate your financial journey. Stay tuned for more retirement results.

Speaker1:
Do you want a steady stream of income for retirement? Then it's time to consider annuities. I'm Matt McClure with the Retirement Radio Network powered by Amira Life. Gone are the days when most employers offered pensions with guaranteed lifetime payouts to their workers. But what if I told you that you can build your own personal pension? It's possible with an annuity. An annuity is a financial product that provides a series of regular payments to an individual over a specified period of time, often for the rest of their life.

Speaker7:
There are several options for you to consider when choosing an annuity. Be confident in knowing that there is an annuity out there that can meet all of your needs.

Speaker1:
Fort Stokes is founder and president of Active Wealth Management and author of the book annuity 360. There are several different types of annuities, including fixed, variable, and fixed indexed.

Speaker7:
A fixed annuity offers a specific guaranteed interest rate on their contributions to the account. A fixed index annuity is an accumulation based product offered by an insurance company. The growth of your fixed indexed annuity is dependent on the performance of a chosen stock market index, but your money is not actually invested in this index. This offers you great growth potential and exceptional protection for your investment.

Speaker1:
While each can provide tax deferred growth and a lifetime income stream, variable annuities put your principal at risk in the market.

Speaker7:
If you are currently investing in a variable annuity, your funds could be in serious trouble if the market experienced any downturns.

Speaker1:
With so many possible choices to consider, it's essential you speak to a financial advisor or professional to help you make the best decision for your future. So are you ready to consider an annuity as part of your retirement plan? It's a key question to consider as you approach what should be your golden years with the Retirement Radio Network powered by Amira Life. I'm Matt McClure. Fixed annuities, including multi-year guaranteed rate annuities, are not designed for short term investments and may be subject to restrictions, fees and surrender charges as described in the annuity contract. Guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying ability of the issuer.

Speaker2:
You're listening to retirement results. And now back to the show.

Speaker3:
And welcome back result drivers I'm Ford Stokes your chief financial advisor. And I got Sam Davis here with us on the mike who's our co-host and senior financial advisor. And this is retirement results. And we're so glad you're here with us. Also, we're going to give a shout out to all of our result drivers. Thank you guys and gals for making us the number one listen to financial radio show or any radio show on Am970. The answer on the weekends. We sincerely appreciate it. We don't take it lightly. We've been on the air for over six years. Total, um, over five years on Am 900. The answer and really excited that you guys continue to listen to us and hopefully we're helping you better plan. Also, if you've been a longtime listener but not a first time caller, I would encourage you to go ahead and give us a call at (770) 685-1777 again, (770) 685-1777. Let's go ahead and talk about our problem solver for the week.

Speaker2:
It's time for this week's problem solver.

Speaker3:
This couple lives in Roswell. They actually live downtown Roswell. So they walk and do all the things and run around and and go to dinners and go to salt and all the other restaurants over there. We're going to rename them David and Kelly. So we're we're changing the names to protect the innocent. But David and Kelly, David's getting close to retirement. Kelly's still working. Uh, he's still working as well, but I don't know how much longer he's going to go. But he's 63 years young and she is 53 years young, so he's ten years older than her second marriage for both. She has two daughters that are still in school and he doesn't have children. So they're, you know, they're doing well. They're making over $250,000 a year in income. And they've got about, you know, 2.6, 2.7 million saved up, plus the a few hundred thousand dollars in equity in their home. And they they've been married like call it five years. And when they got remarried. And here's some of the good news. Bad news. They have 2.3 million In in IRAs and 401 K accounts, they have about 300,000 in taxable accounts. So like investment accounts things like that. And they have $0 in Roth IRAs because they've been making too much above the minimum for for them to be able contribute. They haven't done any backdoor Roth IRA conversions when they do an when they're investing IRAs.

Speaker3:
And she is trying to really play catch up, she's investing in her 4k. She's a business owner and she's trying to save 17% a year and he is saving 6%. So they came to us. They've never had a financial advisor really. And they they had a really tough variable annuity that wasn't doing so well. And it had a high M&A fees. So mortgage and expense fees and they are Paying like 3.17% in M.A fees on that variable annuity of $300,000. So a little bit over like 15, almost 15% of what they've got in total liquid net worth. And they want to do something with it. They've held on to that for over ten years. And they also just had a lot of questions. They had a lot of questions like, okay, what do we need to do with me being her being ten years younger? How do they plan? Can they get going on Social Security planning? Both of them. Their full retirement ages are at 67 years old because they're both born after 1960. And so they brought in their XML files. We were able to get them and determine that the best option for them was for them to both kind of file at age 67, full retirement age, not wait till 70, um, really kind of get started and also allows, um, him to really generate an income and then really enjoy retirement.

Speaker3:
She's going to keep working, but she's going to kind of be passive and let a manager kind of run, um, her two small businesses that are kind of combined. And that's that's a good move. That way they can really start enjoying retirement when he's about to retire at 67, but she's got about ten years left of trying to work and and make that go the right way. But the number one thing we were going to do that we're going to do between now and when he turns 73 over the next ten years is convert about 70, $75,000 a year from their Roth IRA, from their IRA to their Roth IRA. And we're going to take money from that $300,000 taxable account and pay the taxes every time we do the conversion. So even if we did round numbers and say it's 100,000, we would do 100,000. Let's say they're at 20% bracket plus 5% for Georgia. We're going to take 25 grand from that taxable investment account, and we're going to pay the taxes on that and hopefully grow the investment account to zero out what that net cost is for the year and the investment account. But then the $100,000 would move from their IRA to their Roth IRA.

Speaker3:
Dollar for dollar. So that's one of the ways we're helping solve that problem, because in ten years, he will have moved $750,000 plus growth on it. And he may not end up too far into the principal because, you know, if we're getting, you know, a 7 to 10% average rate of return, um, that's going to be much north of 75 to $100,000. But he will be growing a Roth IRA, which is going to be one of the nicest things he can give to her. Um, because she's going to be able to inherit that tax free and she'll be able to use those tax free dollars during her retirement. And she's ten years younger. And men usually, um, we don't women outlive men by an average of seven years. So that's potentially 17 years without him that she could be retired. And and and we need to try to figure all that out. Right. And then the other is we want to try to get to a point where they can pay their house off. They've got both of their cars kind of taken care of. They think over the next ten years. So they're not really building a car fund anymore. They're trying to build up money for paying the taxes on Roth conversions and for living. And then also, I think what they're going to do is try to replace the bonds and they're going to they're going to do like another 20% of what they've got in total assets.

Speaker3:
They're going to take another $500,000 and put it into a fixed indexed annuity. And that'll bring them up to, you know, right around 30 something percent of what their total assets is, and they're going to have no bonds at all. They're going to delete the bonds from their portfolio and be in aggressive portfolios. They're going to invest in Rbccm stock basket of dividend stocks and also of our growth basket of stocks. And then also they're going to invest in the Ray star portfolio. And we've got a few select stocks that that we think are going to perform well over the next 12 to 24 months at a 5% allocation within the overall portfolio to kind of spike their rate of return. Also, they were really pleased that we were literally 25% lower in advisory and portfolio fees in their current. They did have one. He had one current advisor. And so we can help you do the same thing. So what we did is we got more market efficient, we got more fee efficient, and we got more tax efficient with their overall portfolio. And the two of them are guarantees like if we if we're going to pay less in advisory and portfolio fees.

Speaker3:
And we're also lowering their expense ratio, their expense ratio is at 0.87. And our expense ratio for our portfolios is around 1.15 to 0.17. They're almost able to pay for a lot of our fee. Almost all the fee actually in the advisory portfolio fee just by moving to us, because they reduce their expense ratio by literally over 0.6, almost 0.7. And then they're they're also able to reduce their standard deviation, their risk level too. And they're reducing their advisory and portfolio fees by 25%. So those are guarantees. The standard deviation is not a guarantee. The market piece is not a guarantee. But the the advisory and portfolio fees and the expense ratio reduction, those are guarantees that drop right into the account values month over month, year over year with their portfolios. They're super excited about that option, about those two facets and elements of the plan. And also, they were really blown away by the nationwide peak ten. And the income they're getting she's gonna she's 52. She's gonna put in or 53. She's going to put in $300,000 into a fixed index annuity between now. And she's going to turn on income at 67. She's looking at generating close to 40,000 USD a year. It's like a lot of things really, right around $43,000 a year in income, every single year from 300 grand.

Speaker3:
So she's going to be making like, you know, 15 plus percent in of her original premium every single year generating into it. And she's getting 8% guaranteed interest growth every single year into the income account. She gets a 25% immediate bonus. So she's she's doing really well there. She's I mean, she's going to make $75,000 day one off the $300,000 investment. And then the other is she's going to get 310% of how the underlying index performs. That index is the BNP Paribas Global Index is the proprietary index with um, nationwide that they have, and it's nationwide. It's an A-plus rated carrier, and you can count on them paying your money back. That's all really great stuff. And if the if the index performs well, they're going to get 3.1 times how the index performs. Any growth on that. They're getting 3.1 x. That's a big deal. It's contractual. So again we're getting more market efficient too because they can't lose their principal. And if you've got questions about this or you want to see an illustration on the nationwide pick ten and how we can help generate that for you, I encourage you to reach out to us and give us a call at (770) 685-1777 or visit. Retirement. Results.com. And we come back, we're talking more about how to build for a smart retirement plan right here on retirement results on Am 921.

Speaker2:
Don't go away. Retirement results will be right back. To schedule your free no obligation consultation, visit retirement results.com.

Speaker8:
Tonight. Share the spice of life.

Speaker2:
An active wealth management. We know you've worked hard for your money and you've worked even harder to save it. When it comes to wealth management and planning for retirement, Ford Stokes of Retirement Results is passionate about helping people protect and grow their wealth while educating them on all their options so they can choose what's right for them. Visit retirement. Com to schedule your no obligation consultation today. It's a $1,500 value provided at no cost to you. Book yours now at retirement Results.com. Miss part of today's show. Retirement results is available wherever you listen to podcasts and online at retirement results.com.

Speaker3:
And welcome back to retirement results. I'm Fort Stokes chief financial advisor. We got Sam Davis here with us on the mic. Um, he's our senior financial advisor and co-host as well on retirement results. So, Sam, let's go ahead and talk about the Swiss Army knife retirement planning. We tease this at the beginning. We told you what we would tell you what it is. And it's actually fixed indexed annuities and and annuities in general. Um, in retirement flexibility and reliability kind of matter. And we've got a few tools that deliver. There are really very few tools if any can deliver like annuities do. Let's explore how these often understood contracts. Sam can work, you know, kind of as versatile building blocks in anybody's retirement strategy.

Speaker4:
Yeah. Well, first off, people should know that there are many different types of annuities out there, and they're not all the same. And not all of them are going to fit your retirement well. We like fixed indexed annuities because we like the chance to give our clients market like gains. Without that volatile market risk, we like them to have that principal protection. We love that a fixed indexed annuity can create a personal pension for you and your family during retirement. A type of annuity that we do not like and we do not deal with is variable annuities. The only time we are ever dealing with a variable annuity is when we are replacing one with a better option for somebody in their retirement. But it is good to know that even within the world of fixed indexed annuities, which we like, there are many different products out there and many different options, so we can help you find the best one that has the right features, that fits into your plan, like a Swiss Army knife. They're going to serve multiple purposes. You're going to continue to get that same tax treatment. Depending on what dollars you use to invest in your annuity, you're going to get that lifetime income. And most importantly for people are looking for this. We know they are because we see the bonds in people's portfolio. People want protection and they want income. And a fixed indexed annuity is a great way to do that.

Speaker3:
Yeah. And unfortunately bonds just haven't delivered that protection. That's not necessarily the case anymore. Money's rushing into real estate. It's rushing into fixed indexed annuities and alternative investments. It's running into crypto. It's running into all kinds of things. And I would encourage you to really consider even precious metals. I'd encourage you to do everything you can to consider replacing the bonds in your portfolio with some of these types of investments, but specifically that Swiss Army knife of getting the benefits and specifically the tax deferred growth benefits with lifetime income and that principal protection of a fixed index annuity.

Speaker4:
Yeah. I think one thing I would want to mention to everybody out there listening and thinking about how they structure their portfolio. If you're someone who's looking to retire in the next year or two, we're probably going to be looking at a different product option than those of you who may be planning to retire in four years or more. If you are still a few years away from that ideal date that you have in mind for your retirement, maybe you don't know exactly what month or even what year, but you know that you may want to retire around a certain age. If you've got a few years left, time is on your side. For one of our most popular products that we're seeing our clients choose again and again this year and really over the last couple years, is that nationwide, peek ten and nationwide is currently offering a 25% bonus and 8% guaranteed simple interest roll up every year you defer. So just as an example, if you are maybe four years away from retirement, you could make an appropriate investment right now. Get a 25% bonus and then lock in 8% simple interest for the next four years until you retire, and then turn on that personal pension. That can be a great solution for somebody who doesn't have a pension offered through their employer, or even someone who does, who's just looking to get to the guarantees and have more consistent, reliable income in their retirement.

Speaker3:
It's also really good for people that may be a little bit lighter on their assets for retirement, so they can get that higher income where legacy may not be as important, but it's more important that they don't outstrip their expenses. And so they can actually don't outstrip their income. So, you know, they've got more income than expenses during retirement. This stuff also really supports that accumulation of income phase is what we like to do is invest our clients money and recommend products and contracts and policies that can generate a higher interest growth than what the withdrawal rate is. So therefore the account value continues to grow, which which really fortifies the overall income as well. So we try to stay focused on products that have both an accumulation and an income component. One other product that I want to mention is the Aspida synergy choice ten or bonus ten. They give you a 15% bonus, but they're also giving you up to a 75% participation rate in how the Invesco Index performs, which is an extremely attractive index that has been high flying for a lot of years. A lot of people know the Invesco Q-q-q. They advertise during March Madness, and a lot of a lot of indexes and mutual funds don't advertise like that. But, you know, and also it's an ETF as well. What's great to see is if you and let me just ask you a question, if you're driving around Atlanta right now, going to Home Depot or Lowe's or going to the grocery store or going to lunch, let me just ask you, how would you feel? Would you like a product that had. Are you interested in a product like that? And also, would you be interested if there's no bonus, you're interested in getting 113% of how the Invesco Q index performs. I would imagine the answer to that for all of our listeners is yes. And if it is, encourage you to reach out to us at retirement. Com forward slash plan. That's retirement.com/plan. And we're happy to work with you.

Speaker4:
Yeah. One other thing that I want to make sure that people know is that annuities hit record sales in 2024. This isn't something that's on the fringes of financial planning's, actually, to the tune of $432 billion total. We don't have the numbers yet for 2025 because we still have a few months left, but over $430 billion invested in annuities last year. And that just shows you for how much these pre-retirees and even the recent retirees are looking to get that guaranteed income, because what's the number one fear of retirees. It's running out of money, and this helps you tackle that fear and eliminate it as a possibility from your retirement plan.

Speaker3:
Yeah. So again, for the Swiss Army knife of retirement planning, that real quick recap on here. Number one is you get multifunctional benefits of annuities like tax deferred savings, lifetime income and principal protection. Number two is supporting accumulation and income phases. So we get both the accumulation and the income together. Number three is stretching and stabilizing retirement retirement income. We want to really stretch that out over all the way up to your 95th birthday or longer. Um, for, you know, for married folks or even individual filers and, and really stabilize the retirement income. So you stay ahead of your expenses each and every month during retirement. You don't have to ever withdraw money from your other rest of your portfolio. And then number four is exactly what Sam just said the widespread use and considerations. You know, with it hitting $432 billion in 2024. This stuff's growing. More and more people are are adopting fixed index annuities as part of their overall plan. And they're running away from bonds. And my question to you is if you haven't replaced the bonds in your portfolio, let me ask you why. Why wouldn't you do that? And so let's get started on that right away. Go ahead and reach out to us at retirement. Com forward slash plan. That's retirement. Com forward slash plan. And we'll get started right away. Getting your plan together. All you gotta do is submit your information your name, email and phone. We'll reach out to you and we'll get started on your financial plan right away.

Speaker9:
It's the final countdown.

Speaker2:
So let's recap what you may have missed. It's the final countdown.

Speaker9:
The final countdown.

Speaker3:
So in today's show, we gave you. Who the who's going to be on the US Ryder Cup team? Sam and I are super excited about that. Hope you all are too and be be watching at the towards the end of September. Um, and then we also talked about the four habits to avoid when planning for retirement. And those habits were carrying high interest debt in retirement, lacking a tax strategy for withdrawals, ignoring longevity risk, and treating a home as a retirement plan. Let's don't do any of those four things. Then. We also talked about the Swiss Army Knife of retirement, which is annuities. And specifically, we think the best type of annuity to invest in is a fixed index annuity or a multiyear guaranteed annuity. One thing we did not discuss if you want to replace the bonds, if you want to replace the bank CD money you've got out there, I'd encourage you to go ahead and reach out to us at retirement. Com. We have a multiyear guaranteed annuity paying 5.9% guaranteed over the next 5 to 6 years. Go ahead and reach out to us. And that's compounded interest, folks at 5.9%. If you're interested in that or other things, or just to get a $2,800 value on your own financial plan to your 95th birthday, reach out to us at retirement. Com forward slash plan. That's retirement. Com forward slash a. And listen if you're going to be a bear be a grizzly. Be as aggressive as you can to seek as much information as you can. And this is really what private wealth management looks like when we can give you better products. Only 1% of financial advisors have access to get a better plan, build a more tax efficient, fee efficient and market efficient portfolio for you. Go ahead and reach out to us at retirement. Com forward slash plan. Have a great week everybody.

Speaker2:
Thanks for listening to retirement results. You deserve to work with an independent team of fiduciary advisors that will strategically work to protect and grow your hard earned assets. To schedule your complimentary financial consultation, call us now at (770) 685-1777. That's (770) 685-1777. To connect with a qualified advisor. To learn more about our mission and our team, visit retirement Results.com. Investment advisory services offered through Brookstone Capital Management, LLC, a registered investment advisor and Active wealth Management 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. Investments involve risk and, unless otherwise stated, are not guaranteed. Past performance cannot be used as an indicator to determine future results.

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 disclosures of any conflicts of interest. Please refer to our firm brochure, the ADV two, item four for additional information.

Speaker2:
Get started on your free portfolio analysis and financial plan right now by visiting Retirement Results.

Speaker4:
Com and welcome back to our podcast listeners and our listeners on this Is the Retirement Results bonus segment and forward for the bonus segment. This week we've got three retirement statistics that we think will motivate you to start planning for your future. In statistic number one is that 54% of people so over half don't know their retirement needs. This means for a lot of people out there are lost. They're not sure how much to contribute for retirement, they're not sure if they're on track to retire. And a lot of different factors play a role in what your actual retirement needs are. And that's one of the things we help people align when they come in and see us.

Speaker3:
Yeah, for sure. I you really do need to plan your work and work your plan, and all you got to do is just you just reach out to us at retirement.com and you can call us. You can schedule a consultation the upper right corner by hitting that button to get to that page. Um, and also we've revamped the retirement results. Com forward slash plan page. You can also hit the contact page. It takes you there as well. Um, we want to get started with understanding the risks you're taking, the fees you're paying and the correlation your assets. And then also get an understanding of whether you're starting with that positive retirement income surplus or that negative retirement income gap that can worsen over time due to inflation. So let's make sure you don't lose purchasing power. Let's make sure you stay invested and let's get you the income that you need in retirement. Um, listen, farmers hats are been in on the sides because they're looking in the mailbox for the subsidy check. Same thing goes with retirees. Everybody's looking in the mailbox for mailbox money. They like getting this. The Social Security check. They like getting us all their, you know, their pension income from a fixed indexed annuity. And any 4% withdrawals are going to make every every year those types of things incomes really important during retirement because, you know, that monthly budget is, is more important than how much you're going to make over your 35 plus year retirement. It's much more important to make sure you're outpacing that piece.

Speaker4:
Yeah. And talking about monthly budget. And that's a good segue to statistic number two. And that's that the average yearly Social Security benefit is less than $22,000. That's an average monthly payment of just $1,790. So if you feel like you're going to live off of your monthly Social Security payments, I'd beg you to reconsider. You likely have an unrealistic expectation of how things will go for you in retirement. Ford, you're a registered social security analyst. You are preparing the Social Security maximization reports for all of our clients who are taking a look at that, and any of our listeners who give us a call so that they can really optimize their Social Security and make the best, best decision about when to turn on that income.

Speaker3:
Yeah. The biggest surprise that I see that people have is they don't realize that Medicare, the cost for Medicare, come out of your Social Security check every month. And they also are blown away by how much taxation has been on Social Security. And we're hopeful that that budget goes through, um, this year, where there's no tax on Social Security income benefits for recipients, I think that would be a huge deal. It would put 2 to 300 plus dollars back in everybody's pockets, and that would buy a lot of groceries. So we're super excited about that as well. Why don't you share the number three stat.

Speaker4:
Nearly 80% of Americans feel the nation is facing a retirement crisis due to a lack of pension options. That's coming from a SoFi report. More than three and four Americans believe pensions help lead to a more secure retirement. I would agree, and that's per the SoFi study. Only a few companies are going back to offering pensions again. Ibm is one of them. John Deere and Coca-Cola also have defined benefit plans. Most people, though for are on the 401 K train. They're on that defined contribution plan. They would love to establish a personal pension, but they're not sure where to start. And that's what we help people do every week.

Speaker3:
I think it's much better to get a personal pension that is market linked, where your income is going to go up over time, uh, versus just getting a flat pension. I think that's a big deal difference. And I would encourage you to reach out to us at (770) 685-1777 or visit us at retirement.com/plan and submit your information. And we'll get started right away on your financial plan and portfolio analysis and also your retirement income gap analysis. And one last thing that registered Social Security Analyst roadmap, that RSA roadmap, I'm happy to do that for you. Absolutely no cost.

Speaker6:
That's right.

Speaker4:
You can visit Retirement plan, give us a call or just submit your information in the online form and we'll see you soon.

Speaker10:
Just as I thought it was going all right, I found out I'm wrong when I thought I was right. It's always the same. It's just a shame that.

Speaker1:
Any bonus is mentioned. May be subject to additional restrictions and regulations based on the offering annuity company. You may not receive the bonuses if the contract is fully surrendered, or if traditional annuity payments are taken, and if the policy is partially surrendered, it could result in a partial loss of bonuses. Because these are bonus annuities, they may include higher surrender charges, longer surrender charge periods, lower caps, higher spreads, or other restrictions that are not included in similar annuities that don't offer a bonus feature.

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