2.24.23: Audio automatically transcribed by Sonix

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

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

Producer:
Welcome to the Active Wealth Show with your host, Ford Stokes. Ford is a fiduciary and licensed financial advisor who places your needs first. He'll help you protect and grow your wealth. The Active Wealth Show has grown because activators like you want to activate their retirement planning with sound tax efficient investing. And now your host, Ford Stokes.

Ford Stokes:
And welcome the Active Wealth Show activators. I'm Ford Stokes, your chief financial advisor. And I've got Sam Davis, our executive producer here with us. And Sam, why don't you welcome everybody?

Producer:
Welcome to the weekend activators. We only have one week left in the month of February. It's the shortest month of the year and it's been flying by. Thanks for joining us. On another episode of the Active Wealth Show. We've got a lot of good information today. We're going to bring back one of my favorite segments for right or Wrong. We're going to do that this week.

Ford Stokes:
Yeah, it's good. I think we're going to do that in segment one, so. Listen, all you activators out there, we just want to thank you for making us the number one listen to radio show here on the weekend. On AM 920 The Answer. Thank you guys and gals for doing that for us. And I think it's because, Sam, we give him a lot of great value and. On this week's show, we're going to talk to you about how we can help. You navigate obstacles during retirement? We're going to try to help you directly. We're not. Talking about just, you know, the amorphous people out there driving around. We're trying to talk to you who are listening to the Active Wealth Show, whether you're listening to us on your. Vehicle radio, whether you're in your car or truck driving around, heading to Home Depot or Lowe's or. Or the grocery store or some grandkids athletic event or whatever this week. Or you're listening to us on activwall show.com or you're listening to us anywhere where you get podcasts and I'll let Sam talk to us about. How you can listen to our podcast, but want to just reach out and say thank you to the activators out there for making us the number one list to show on the weekends here on AM.

Ford Stokes:
920 The Answer. We appreciate it. Everybody here at AM 920 The Answer we just really love our AM 920 the Answer family members. And thank you guys and gals for listening. Also, we just want to help you. Protect and grow your wealth. Those activators out there, if you're wondering who an activator is, it's somebody who's looking to protect and grow their wealth. It's looking somebody who's looking to build a tax efficient, fee efficient and market efficient. Portfolio for their retirement. They're trying to get prepared for retirement. They're trying to plan their work and work their plan a little bit. And if you are interested in trying to take that next step and you're trying to go to the next level and see if you can. Build a successful retirement where you can protect and grow your wealth and you can protect that hard earned and hard saved wealth that you've. Really worked all your life to build that retirement nest egg. Then I would encourage you to reach out to us at ActiveWealth.com. That's ActiveWealth.com. And click that schedule a consultation button in the upper right corner. You can also visit us at active wealth show .com.

Ford Stokes:
Show.com the same schedule a consultation button. Is in the upper right corner there. Just. Also want to make sure we had so many listeners want to thank all the listeners for getting in touch with us to get those 23 retirement cost cutters last week. It was just really satisfying and gratifying to have so many folks reach out and say thank you for for talking about these different cost cutters. They're going to help us and and reaching out so they can get all 23 in 1 report. So if you want to get that report, all you've got to do is send me an email at Ford at ActiveWealth.com that's Ford at ActiveWealth.com And I'll send you an email back Just send us your name, email and phone and we'll get you that free 24 page report that's got 23 retirement cost cutters out there. And we've got, I think, the first retirement cost cutter that we're going to do in this 23 week series. We've got that this week with a vignette from Matt McClure with Retirement.Radio Network. Super excited about that. But Sam, can you just tell people how they can get in touch with us and how they can access our podcast as well?

Producer:
Yeah, absolutely. We love the response we got from that 23 cost cutters for 2023 report. You can get a copy of that simply by giving us a call at (770) 685-1777 or visit our website ActiveWealth.com You'll find the phone number on the website as well or you can send forward an email simply shoot him a message to Ford at ActiveWealth.com that's Ford at ActiveWealth.com. And if you missed part of today's show or any of our recent episodes you can find our podcast feed wherever you listen to podcasts. So pick up your smartphone or head over to your home computer and look up active wealth. You'll find the Active Wealth Show.

Producer:
And now for some financial wisdom, it's time for the Quote of the Week.

Ford Stokes:
This one's a really good one. It comes from Jim Rohn. A formal education will make you a living, but self-education will make you a fortune. And I agree with that. And I saw another. A quote out there where people were talking about. Why poor people stay poor because they live beyond their means. Middle class day, middle class because they are savers and they save some of their money. But the wealthy are wealthy because they invest their money. And that means you really got to stay invested even in tumultuous times. But also there's ways to invest where you don't have to take market risk for a portion of your assets. You could replace some of the bonds and the bond values or the actual bond portion of your portfolio. You could replace that and invest it into different products that can give you market like gains without market risk, and also some of them that will grow tax deferred, some of them can grow tax free. We're happy to help you with that. Also want to remind everybody that the only two tax free investments out there are life insurance and Roth IRAs. And we can help you with both of those types of investments out there for sure. But Sam, if we've got time. Do you want to go out and play? Right or wrong?

Producer:
Come on down as we test your financial knowledge in right or wrong.

Producer:
I will read a statement and then you will tell the listeners if that statement is right or if it's wrong. Here's the first one. The age at which you must start taking required minimum distributions is 72. Is that right or wrong?

Ford Stokes:
Well, up until December 29th, 2022. Before the Secure Act 2.0 got signed into law in December of 2022. That was correct, but it's actually wrong. It was signed into law on the 29th of December. The age that RMDs begin for 2023 is now 73 years old. So if you don't need the income and you don't have to withdraw that money and you haven't turned 72 prior, your new RMD age is actually 73 and it will actually go up to 75 by 2030. Three. Types of accounts that are subject to RMDs can now continue to grow tax deferred until the year the owner turns 73 years old. That's for one K's for three B's, 457 IRAs, simple IRAs, SEP IRAs. If you'd like to learn more about planning for RMDs and possibly implement a Roth ladder conversion with your IRA to your Roth IRA in the most efficient way possible, and you want to avoid RMDs altogether before you turn age 72 or 73. I would encourage you to give us a call or visit us online. You can give us a call at (770) 685-1777. Again (770) 685-1777. Or you can send me an email at Ford at ActiveWealth.com.

Producer:
All right. Next item on Right or wrong? The rule of 100 is a simple calculation that helps one determine how much risk they should be taking inside their portfolio.

Ford Stokes:
That's actually right. You can simply take 100 and subtract your age. The resulting number is the percentage of your assets that you could have at risk in the market. The idea is that younger you are, the more time you have to make up for any significant losses with your income. As you get older, you want to have more of your savings in safe investment products such as a fixed indexed annuity. Here's the deal, folks. When you're young, you've got a lot of human capital left and probably not a lot of wealth capital. But when you're older. You've been able to save over time. Your company's matched. If you've got a 401. Or whatever, you've been able to build up wealth capital while you're losing a significant amount of human capital. We don't want you to have to go back and say, Hey, welcome to Walmart or stock the shelves, right? We want you to be able to enjoy your retirement. So if you aren't sure on how to properly manage risk with your savings and retirement plan, we'd be happy to help educate you in a complimentary consultation on the phone or in our office or virtually wherever you are.

Ford Stokes:
Our offices are located at the King Queen Building on the 29th floor, and we're right there in in North Atlanta, in Dunwoody, in Sandy Springs. And we'd love the opportunity to help you. All you got to do is visit ActiveWealth.com and click that schedule a consultation button in the upper right corner. We're going to go ahead and take a break here. But when we come back from the break, we're going to continue playing. Right or wrong, it's always a crowd pleaser. All of our listeners love our right or wrong segments, and we're going to try to start doing more and more of those. And I'm glad, Sam, that you were able to resurrect the right or wrong segment here and bring it back, because it's been, you know, a few weeks since we did one. But we're going to keep playing that and we're going to talk about how to manage around obstacles during your retirement. You're listening. Active Wealth Show right here on AM 920. The Answer. Come right back. Because there's a lot to learn on this week's Active Wealth Show.

Producer:
Thanks so much for listening to the Active Wealth Show. Make sure to rate us everywhere you listen to podcasts, including Spotify.

Charlie Kirk:
Charlie Kirk here. If you're concerned about your investments, rising taxes from the Biden administration, then I encourage you to listen to the Active Wealth Show hosted by my good friend Ford Stokes right here on AM 920 The Answer. Listen to the Active Wealth Show Saturdays at noon and Sundays at 11 a.m. The Active Wealth Show right here on AM 920. The Answer.

Producer:
Investment Advisory.Services offered through Brookstone Capital Management, LLC, BCM, a registered investment advisor, not an actual client of Active Wealth Management.

Producer:
We have Ford Stokes, author of two important personal finance books, Annuity 360 and taxes are on sale here on AM 920. The Answer, as the host of the Active Wealth Show Saturdays at 12 noon and Sundays at 11 a.m..

Producer:
Thanks for listening to the Active Wealth Show. If you like what you're hearing, make sure to rate our show on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Ford Stokes:
And welcome back to the Active Wealth Show Activators. I'm Ford Stokes, your chief financial advisor. I've got Sam Davis, our executive producer here, and we are playing our right or wrong game here. Go ahead, Sam. With number three in our right or wrong segment.

Producer:
It's too expensive to work with a financial advisor, and most people are better off managing their own financial and retirement plans. Is that right or wrong?

Ford Stokes:
Yeah, it just that's absolutely wrong. Unfortunately, I wish it was easier that way for people, but it's just not. There's so many people in the last year that captured almost 100% of the losses that like, say, the Nasdaq 100 captured, which was right around 30% last year. The S&P 500 lost 18%. The Russell 2000 lost a significant amount as well in 2022. And if you want to avoid losing that kind of those kind of assets in a single year in a large percent of your assets, you really should have a financial advisor and a professional. That's a fiduciary that's going to put you into smart risk and smart, safe investments. That's what we do. We implement tactical asset allocation. Our goal is to not capture all of the market losses and also capture a majority of the market gains when when the market returns, we implement strategic allocation with a portion of your portfolio, which is shows that, hey, we're going to rebalance your allocation on a yearly basis for a portion of your assets. We don't make money on churning your account. We don't you know, we don't make brokerage commissions. When we rebalance your account, we'll also implement tactical asset allocation, which means we're rebalancing a portion of your portfolio on a monthly basis. So we're not writing the lowest of the lows down to the valley of the market.

Ford Stokes:
And then we also implement smart, safe investments with things like fixed indexed annuities or life insurance and other different products to help you. Better protect and get market like gains without market risk and also generate the important retirement income. We have a lot of folks that we work with and say, you know what, Ford? I want to take the portion of your assets that I need for income. I want to I want to put that into a financial product where I know it's going to be safe and I'll let the rest of the money grow. And I'd like to get a reasonable rate of return with my smart, safe investments. But I want to get income from those smart, safe investments. And I want to get a market like return if I can. But I don't want to be at risk in the market whatsoever. And if that sounds like you, then I would encourage you to reach out to us at ActiveWealth.com. And go ahead and click that schedule consultation button. You'll you'll get booked directly into my calendar. We're happy to help you. You can also just give us a call at (770) 685-1777. But it is important to work with a licensed professional that can help the spouse and the family in in case the family member who was doing the financial planning passes away.

Ford Stokes:
We work with a lot of couples with a man was working hard and then his job, in his mind right after he stopped working, was to manage the family finances for, you know, 5 or 10 years. And all of a sudden, you know, there's a market downturn like last year, and they're coming to our office in droves because they're they just want to make sure that they're providing for their for their family and make sure that their wife is taken care of. And they're usually the people that come in in the morning. They order black coffee and and they come in with a spreadsheet and they want to they want to meet with us first thing in, you know, on a monday morning. And because they've been thinking about it all weekend and if that's you, we'll meet with you. We'll absolutely meet with you. We'll help you out. Because we want to take care of you and your spouse. We want to make sure that you don't leave your spouse or your family guessing what to do. And it's nice to already have a relationship. But we do offer complimentary consultations. These consultations are a $1,500 value. We offer it on the front end on purpose because we want to help you make an informed financial decision.

Ford Stokes:
Listen, if your is important to you, it's important to us. And as a fiduciary, I've got to put your needs ahead of my own. And it also helps me sleep at night making sure we're doing the right things. A bond replacement. We're going to try to play that chapter from my book, Annuity 360. Later on in the show. But a bond replacement would be a really good place to start for you. And but just getting a plan going is the right is the right way to go. So again, all the way back to your original to your original right or wrong question there, Sam. It is wrong, you're going to be better off in the long run working with a fiduciary who can put your needs ahead of their own and can also put you in a portfolio that is more diverse, that's not as correlated, that doesn't have as high of a standard deviation, which is a measurement of risk. And by the way, if you don't know what standard deviation is or you don't know what your standard deviation is, I would strongly encourage you to reach out to us at ActiveWealth.com. Click that schedule a consultation button in the upper right corner and you'll get booked directly to my calendar. We look forward to talking with you for sure.

Producer:
All right. Great information there. And last item on this week's Right or wrong. A fixed indexed annuity offers investors protection from market volatility, but still allows them to participate in the gains of an underlying index. Is that right or wrong?

Ford Stokes:
That is actually right with a fixed indexed annuity. Zeros your hero. I mean, last year, last year, people that owned annuities, they lost $0. Because of market risk and they lost $0 in their investment in that fixed indexed annuity. They literally lost $0 with their investment in a fixed indexed annuity last year. Can you say that about your investment in the market and your portfolio? Chances are you can't. You get to enjoy market like gains without the market like risk with a fixed indexed annuity. If the market loses money, you can't do worse than 0%. Once you choose to turn on income, the annuity provides you with a personal pension that you can never outlive. If you select like an income rider or you want to just take regular, you know, percentage withdrawals, usually about 4 to 5%. But you also get things called mortality credits with a fixed indexed annuity. And so if you've been trying to live by the 4% rule, you can do a lot better within a fixed indexed annuity because as you age, they're going to give you a higher payout factor of generally 0.1% more of your principal each year that you age. Also, what we found there was studies done by Wall Street Journal and Time magazine that people live longer when they own annuities because they're trying to get to the next paycheck. It's actually a good incentive. I thought that was really interesting. Also what was interesting in Sense and Sensibility is in Chapter two, Jane Austen talks about annuities and talks about them being no joke in the 1800s. Trust me when I tell you annuities are ubiquitous and they have been around a very, very long time and smart people and savvy people that are trying to live a peaceful retirement, try to set aside the amount of money they need to generate the income that they want and need.

Ford Stokes:
So what I mean by that is, look, if you're trying to generate. $70,000 a year total. And you've got you're making, say, $40,000. In Social Security, Why not buy an annuity that's generating $30,000 a year in income where you don't have to worry about it? Fixed indexed annuities do offer investors protection from market volatility and still allows them to participate in the gains of an underlying stock market index. Also, I got one other secret to tell you when the market recovers. Because the US ten year Treasury is so high right now. Throughout most of my career it's been between 1.4 and 1.8%. It's paying over 3.5 to 3.6 right now. That is allowing annuity companies to buy more options at the end of each year because those ten year US Treasury rates and they're giving higher participation rates in these indexes, these underlying stock market indexes are significant. And you really should call us to understand because I don't I haven't in my career I haven't seen a better time to buy an annuity because of those rates. When we come back from the break, we're going to we're going to play my Chapter 15 about bond replacement and why it's a good idea to consider a bond replacement with a fixed indexed annuity. I think you're going to like hearing that. Also, we're going to talk about how to overcome more obstacles during retirement. And we're going to test out a remarkable retirement travel segment. Come right back. We've got a lot to talk about here on the Active Wealth Show.

Producer:
With soaring inflation continuing to wreak havoc on everyday budgets, there's never been a more important time to cut costs. But do you know where to begin? I'm Matt McClure with the Retirement.Radio Network Powered by AmeriLife. There is no question costs have been soaring. About one third.

Sharon Epperson:
34%, say they are worse off financially this year than a year ago. Almost half, 46%, say they've had to cut household spending due to inflation.

Producer:
CNBC correspondent Sharon Epperson recently reported on a survey that sheds more light on how inflation has been impacting us all. Even those who earn six figures a year.

Sharon Epperson:
These high earners say the first expenses to go are dining out at restaurants, entertainment outside the home and travel and vacations. More than half also say they'll delay big household purchases.

Producer:
That high inflation has led the Federal Reserve to respond with interest rate hikes. The goal is to increase costs to tamp down demand. Esther George is president of the Kansas City Fed.

Esther George:
Already we've seen the committee's policy actions lead to a very sharp tightening of financial conditions.

Producer:
But it hasn't done enough yet and costs still keep rising. So what should you do? Well, we have a free resource called 23 retirement cost cutters for 2023. It's full of ideas to help you make the most of every penny. Things like take advantage of senior discounts, eliminate unnecessary subscriptions, and cut back on clothing expenses, look.

Sharon Epperson:
At your needs and wants, Figure out what's optional and what you can cut.

Producer:
Out. The last one on the list of 23 retirement cost cutters for 2023 is perhaps the most important. Seek advice from a trusted financial professional. That's the best way to get in-depth financial advice and retirement planning that's customized to you and your goals. Just make sure whoever you consult for financial advice has years of experience and credibility you can verify. So do you know the best way to cut costs in 2023? That's a key question to consider as our budgets get stretched to the max with the retirement radio network powered by ameri life. I'm Matt McClure

Producer:
Get your free copy of 23 retirement cost cutters for 2023 give for to call today at (770) 685-1777 or go online to ActiveWealth.com.

Producer:
Are you concerned about US tax rates being raised by the Biden administration and how that will affect your retirement? Tune in to the Active Wealth Show with Ford Stokes, your chief financial advisor, to learn how you can reduce the taxes you pay before and during retirement. The Active Wealth Show Saturdays at noon and Sundays at 11 a.m..

Ford Stokes:
And welcome back activators the active well show I'm Ford Stokes, your chief financial advisor. I've got Sam Davis with me and want to play chapter 15 from my book annuity 360. Also we offer our a free copy of my book Annuity 360. All you've got to do is visit annuity three 60.net that's annuity three 60.net. This chapter is titled Bond replacement with fixed indexed annuities and. It talks about replacing the bonds within your portfolio. Obviously, last year, the 60 over 40 portfolio performed the worst. It's performed in the last 40 years. You really should start taking action. You haven't made a decision unless you take an action. You really do need to start taking action and kicking bonds out of your portfolio because there's no reason to take this interest rate risk with what the Fed's been doing. You really should. Take a pause with bonds, at least for the next year, or figure out what you're doing and go ahead and implement a bond replacement strategy. You can't put it all in stocks. Right? Because you again, rule of 100. We don't want to you know, we don't want to risk more than we need to risk the rule 100. Again, we talked talked about it. You're going to. Take your age and subtract your age from 100. So if you're 60 years old, you've got 40 left over. Only 40% of your money should be at risk in the market. And so what we should do is implement at least a 20 to 40% bond replacement, which is the overall percentage of 20 to 40% of your overall portfolio.

Ford Stokes:
Replace the bonds with a fixed indexed annuity. In this Chapter 15 talks about that. So go ahead, Sam, and play Chapter 15 from my book, Annuity 360 that can be available for people at annuity 360.net. But that title of that Chapter 15 is bond replacement with fixed indexed annuities. Chapter 15 Bond replacement with fixed indexed annuities. Big idea. Historically, bonds have seen volatility when the market is volatile. Fixed indexed annuities are not subject to the same volatility, which makes them a much safer investment. You might have heard a financial advisor talk about replacing your bonds with annuities to protect your wealth and grow your retirement funds. At my firm, Active Wealth Management, we believe this is a smart way to protect your future. Many people have learned that bonds are a safe way to invest your money, but there are some downsides to bonds that should make you think twice. We'll talk about some reasons why you should consider replacing your bonds with annuities. First, here's some information on the history of bonds in the United States. Historical bond volatility, i.e. the 1900s, saw two secular bear and bull markets in US fixed income. Inflation peaked at the end of World War One and World War Two due to increased government spending. The first bull market started after World War One and lasted through World War Two. The US government kept bond yields artificially low until 1951. The long term bond yields were at 1.9% in 1951. They climbed to nearly 15% in 1981. In the 1970s, globalization had a huge impact on bond markets. New asset classes such as inflation protected securities, asset backed securities, mortgage backed securities, high yield securities and catastrophe bonds were created.

Ford Stokes:
Early investors in these new asset classes were compensated for taking on the challenge. The bond market was coming off its greatest bull market coming into the 21st century. Long term bond yields declined from a high of 15% to 7% by the end of the century. The bull market in bonds showed continued strength in the early 21st century, but there is no guarantee with our current market volatility that this will hold. See Chart 15.1 To see the incredible difference of investing in a fixed indexed annuity versus investing in bonds. Why you should consider replacing your bonds with annuities. The first question you should ask yourself is this Why would you take market risk with your bonds when your bonds can lose their value? If you just look at the history alone, you can see how uncertain the future of bonds is. Inflation and fluctuating interest rates play a big role in bond yields. Interest rate, risk of bonds, bonds and interest rates have an inverse relationship. When interest rates fall, bond prices rise Due to the COVID 19 pandemic. Investors have moved their money to bonds because they believe it is a safer investment option. However, this has caused bond yields to fall to all time lows. As of May 24th, 2020, the ten year Treasury note was yielding 0.64%, and the 30 year Treasury bond was at 1.27%. Reinvestment Risk of bonds. This is the likelihood that an investment's cash flows will earn less in a new security.

Ford Stokes:
For example, an investor buys a ten year, $100,000 Treasury note with an interest rate of 6%. They expect it to earn $6,000 a year at the end of the term, interest rates are 4%. If the investor buys another ten year note, they will earn 4000 instead of 6000 annually. Consider the possibility that interest rates change over time when deciding to invest in bonds. Systematic market risk. This refers to the risk that is inherent to the market as a whole. It will affect the overall market, not just a particular stock or industry. This can be unpredictable and it is impossible to avoid. Diversification cannot fix this issue, but the correct asset allocation strategy can make a big difference. Unsystematic market risk. This type of risk is unique to a specific company or industry. Similar to systematic market risk, it is impossible to know when unsystematic risk will occur. For example, if someone is investing in health care stocks, they may be aware of some major changes coming to the industry. However, there is no way they can know how those changes will affect the market. There are two factors that contribute to company specific risk business risk. There are two types of risk, internal and external. Internal refers to operational efficiency and external would be similar to the FDA banning a specific drug that the company sells. Financial risk. This relates to the capital structure of a company. A weak capital structure can lead to inconsistent earnings and cash flow that can prevent a company from trading. Reduced advisory fees. Investors who trade individual stocks may know how much commission they are paying.

Ford Stokes:
Their broker. But individuals who buy bonds often have no idea what type of commission they are paying. Bond dealers collect commission on bonds they sell called markups, but they bundle them into the price that is quoted to the investors. This means you are unaware of how much commission you are actually paying. Standard and Poor's estimates of bond markups is 0.85% of the value for corporate bonds and 1.21% for municipal bonds. However, markups can be as high as 5%, up to $50 per bond. Bonds have finite durations. Bonds only provide income for a finite amount of time, unlike an annuity which provides income for life. You must reinvest your money if you want to continue generating interest with bonds. However, reinvesting with a bond can sometimes come at a loss. As we discussed above, annuities will provide you with an income you can never outlive. You should consider replacing the bonds within your portfolio with fixed indexed annuities so you can get market like gains. Also, you can get a 10 to 20% bonus. I mean, why wouldn't you want to do that on your money right now? Bonds aren't offering a 10 to 20% bonus. Immediate bonus. But fixed indexed annuities are. Also, remember, you know, we play that chapter last week on how insurance and annuity companies are competing for baby boomer dollars. You should be taking advantage of that competition to benefit you and your retirement future. Activators We did some research. And Sam, can you go ahead and share the top concerns of retirees these days with our listeners?

Producer:
Yeah. So taking a look at this study, 2022 study, so this is recent information activators asking American retirees what they're concerned about and just taking a look at these top few. 71% said they're concerned about inflation and who can blame them? It's been an issue for pretty much the past three years since the government kind of watered down the money supply with all that economic stimulus during COVID, which also caused severe supply chain issues. We talk about it almost every week in our inflation demonstration. So no surprise that that's a top concern, 51%. Ford said that they're concerned about future health care needs and expenses and want to share this fact that 75 million baby boomers are expected to retire by 2030. That is going to put some serious strain on our health care system as a lot of those baby boomers enter retirement, stop, start going to a lot more appointments. It's going to drive up costs for sure.

Ford Stokes:
Yeah, you got to have a plan. You absolutely have to have a plan for it.

Producer:
Another one I want to take a look at. 46% said they're concerned about potential reductions in Social Security. Ford Are you hearing that concern from people?

Ford Stokes:
I am also, you know, we we offer up free viewings of the baby boomer dilemma movie. And if you want to be able to watch the baby boomer dilemma movie in your home, we can give you a viewing code. All you've got to do is reach out to me and send me an email at forward@active.com or just call us at (770) 685-1777. Again (770) 685-1777. A Wharton business professor on that panel and she was actually in the movie and she consults with the US government about Social Security. She and the other experts in that movie are talking about where by 2032. So security will have to cut. Benefits by 3,033% across the board unless Congress does something about it. Eventually, I think they will. Um. And what they'll do is just eliminate the the the cap on income for the 6.2% tax you pay and the 6.2% that the employer pays. Instead of, you know, saying, okay, it's 147,000 this year and after 147,000 is reached at 6.2%, then you get you get the rest of the income for the rest of the year and you get a raise. And they don't take out 6.2% of the let's say you're making a couple hundred grand a year that last 50 grand of the year, you're not getting taxed on that 6.2% for wage earners. They're going to change that. They're going to eventually make it where it's just all year from dollar zero through till however much you make there's that. Also want to remind everybody, there's 2.6 workers for every Social Security recipient today, according to the Congressional Budget Office. And they're saying by 2030, that's going to drop to 2.3. There were 23 workers for every Social Security recipient in 1950. So we are literally on the way to being under 10% of where we are, where we were in 1950 from workers providing for Social Security recipients. So. You need to have your own income plan is the bottom line. You're listening to Active Wealth Show right here on AM 920. The Answer come back for that new remarkable retirement travel segment here on the Active Wealth Show.

Producer:
With age comes wisdom and senior discounts. I'm Matt McClure with the Retirement.Radio Network Powered by a life. As the old saying goes, everything gets better with age. It's true of a fine wine, a happy marriage and opportunities to save money. People of a certain age can get discounts ranging from 5 or 10% to 25% or more at restaurants, shops and other businesses. Many times they'll promote those extra savings. But Jim Miller, senior editor of Savvy, told Oklahoma's News four. Sometimes you have to be proactive. So the first thing.

Jim Miller:
Is, is you always need to ask, because a lot of businesses and organizations offer senior discounts, but they don't advertise them. So don't be shy about asking to save time.

Producer:
You can search online for lists of up to date senior deals at large retailers like Amazon, Kohl's and more. If you're willing to dive a little deeper, you can find more discounts in a variety of other places. And if you're looking to stay healthy, Silver Sneakers is a program that provides fitness classes for those on Medicare at no cost. That's right. You don't get a bigger discount than free. So are you taking advantage of the big senior discounts you're eligible for? That's a key question to consider. And it's one of the 23 retirement cost cutters for 2023 with the retirement radio network powered by a mirror Life. I'm Matt McClure.

Ford Stokes:
And welcome back. Activators, the Active Wealth Show. We're segment four and you've just heard our first. Of our 23 retirement cost cutters vignettes. Thanks to Matt McClure for doing that for us. The senior discounts are no joke. Make sure you're asking for them. Also, if you get a chance, go ahead and and sign up for triple A because you can whether a senior discount or a triple A discount when you're traveling. And we're going to talk about our remarkable retirement travel segment here next. Um, you got to make sure that you're doing everything you can to keep those costs down because there's no reason. You know, Penny as Benjamin Franklin, as Benjamin Franklin said, a penny saved is a penny earned. And I would encourage you to make sure that you're saving the pennies when you're on the roadways or or you're flying around and traveling. So, um. What I would encourage everybody to do is enjoy your retirement early. Tom Hegna one of my retirement heroes, he talks about early in retirement, the first third of your retirement or your go go years, and then the next ten plus years are your slow go years and then the next ten are your no go years.

Ford Stokes:
And I would encourage you to try to really go go in the first ten years. One thing that we that Sam and I were talking about is a good idea. Let's say if you're in that red zone of retirement, you're five years before you're going to retire and you're getting ready to retire, and you ought to take the money you want to spend, at least in the first couple of years on travel and put it into a two year MCA or a five year MCA. And a MIG is a multiyear guaranteed annuity. And therefore, as Sam, as you said during the break, you said, you know, that way you're getting 5% more out of your vacation, which and you've protected it. So that money's there for your vacation dollars. It's a good idea and it's a fun budget to look at. And it's a fun portion of your of your portfolio. And you can also research all the things you're going to do and then you're ready to hit the ground running. And I'm going to let you talk about how people need to pack their bags and where retirees today want to travel.

Producer:
Absolutely. So we've got a US news report, top US and international travel destinations. So Ford, we've got a big, big country here with 50 states and some cool territories as well. So lots to see without a passport required. And the top domestic destination here is no surprise. Florida. Yeah, it's.

Ford Stokes:
Interesting. There's 825 miles of beaches and warm weather and fishing and golfing in in Florida. But what what strikes me is people love to travel to Florida. And then when they get there and there's no income taxes, a lot of times they'll move there. And especially if you're going from the upper Midwest or you're going from the upper northeast, it's just so cold. And then the remarkable difference when you're there in December or you're there in in a January or February, you're like, man, this weather's incredible. So definitely there's so many great places to go in Florida. I would encourage you to try 30 day in the panhandle and be around Rosemary Beach and Seacrest Beach and Alice Beach and and Seaside, where they shot The Truman Show. That seems to be really great for us Southerners. A lot of folks go there. And when my girls when we go down there for fall break or spring break, it's literally they know about 100 kids from Forsyth County. So it's just something Florida is always a great place to go.

Producer:
Absolutely. The number two on the top US destinations for retirees, another coastal state. I'm not sure if you'd go there and decide to live there because the taxes are pretty high. But California.

Ford Stokes:
Yeah, I got to tell you, California's great. The weather's awesome. I don't love the taxes. I don't love the politics out there. But I will tell you this, if you haven't visited Redwood National Forest and just flown into San Francisco and driven over the Golden Gate Bridge and gone to the Redwood National Forest, you are missing out. It is, you know, a life changing experience, in my opinion. It's amazing. After that huge fire in San Francisco, they they cut down so many redwoods to rebuild the city. But it's amazing the redwoods that are still standing. That's a great one. Also, my wife and I love going to to Napa and we like to stay at the carneros in. That's a pretty good spot. Also, if you want to go kind of Southern California, staying at Bacara is pretty great. And obviously everybody loves to play Pebble Beach and go out there and and try their golfing skills over at Pebble Beach in the 17 mile drive and seeing the lone Cypress, which is, you know, the actual symbol for the state of California. So I would encourage you to go ahead and get out there and enjoy the nine national parks, the 280 state parks, wine tours and coastal resorts.

Producer:
Coming in at number three on the list of top US destinations for retirees. Not a state, just the city of Las Vegas.

Ford Stokes:
Well, it's got a lot to offer. And as a financial advisor, I've got pause and caution there. Obviously, be careful of how much you're spending and how much you're gambling, and don't gamble more than you're than you can afford to lose, obviously. But I'll just give you a one restaurant I love to go to is Delmonico's, which is an Emerald Lagasse restaurant. And as Sam said at the break, bam, That's what Emerald says, right? They've got the world's greatest banana cream pie I've ever tasted. And I'm not necessarily a huge banana cream pie fan. I'm more of a chocolate cake fan kind of a guy for dessert. But but that Emerald's Delmonico Steakhouse, one of my favorite steaks that I've ever had one of the and also the best banana cream pie I've ever had in my life.

Producer:
All right. And we've got just a couple minutes left. But rounding out our list of top US destinations is the state of Texas.

Ford Stokes:
Yeah, I'm I'm a big fan of state of Texas. I own property in the hill country of Texas and flying over to San Antonio and in. Enjoying the river walk? My dad, actually. One of his clients actually built the Riverwalk years and years ago in the 70 seconds. And, um, and, and so it's always a special place in my heart. Obviously, you can go to South Padre Island, enjoy the the coast down there to Dallas and Houston are incredible places. Um, Houston is enormous and Dallas is a lot like Atlanta. So if you want to go visit a Texas town that's a lot like Atlanta. The Dallas Fort Worth area is probably for you. Also, you might want to go take in a ball game over to watch the Dallas Cowboys playing Jerry's world. I've never been to that stadium. I need to do that at some point. But one of my favorite places to go is just to walk the river, walk and eat incredible Mexican food and Tex-Mex food over in San Antonio. And the people in San Antonio are just great. I've got close friends there too, but San Antonio is a great spot and I would encourage you to get out there. Also, your money tends to go further. In Texas. We want to do everything we can to help you protect and grow your wealth first, but then also have a little fun on the show with Sam and me. It's the.

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

Ford Stokes:
So on this week's show, we played right or wrong. We also gave you our financial wisdom quote of the week. A formal education will make you a living. Self-education will make you a fortune. So learning from your own mistakes and obviously if you don't take action, you haven't actually made a decision. So you should make a decision. And having a financial adviser protect and grow your wealth would encourage you to reach out to us at ActiveWealth.com or active wealth. Show.com. Click that schedule a consultation button in the upper right corner on both of those sites. We really appreciate you. We appreciate you listening. We also look forward to helping you and working with you and helping you protect and grow your hard earned and hard, safe wealth. And we'll help you build a tax efficient, fee efficient and market efficient portfolio. Be sure to tune in to next week's Active Wealth Show. We're talking about more smart retirement planning strategies and hope everybody has a great week. All the best.

Producer:
Thanks for listening to the Active Wealth Show. You deserve to work with a private wealth management firm that will strategically work to protect your hard earned assets. To schedule your free consultation, call your Chief Financial Advisor, Fort Stokes at (770) 685-1777 or visit ActiveWealth.com. Investment Advisory services offered through Brookstone Capital Management, LLC BCM A registered Investment Advisor. Bcm 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.

Producer:
Registered Investment Advisors and Investment Advisor Representatives act as fiduciaries for all of our investment management clients. We have an obligation to act in the best interest of our clients and to make full disclosure of any conflicts of interest, if any exist. Fixed annuities, including multiyear guaranteed rate annuities, are not designed for short term investments and may be subject to restrictions, fees and surrender charges as described in the annuity contract. Guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying ability of the issuer. Any 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.

Producer:
Listen to the number one show on the weekends on AM 920 The Answer to Protect and Grow Your Hard Earned Money. The Active Wealth Show with Ford Stokes, your chief Financial Advisor. Saturdays at 12 noon and Sundays at 11 a.m..

Charlie Kirk:
Charlie Kirk here to tell you about Ford Stokes, founder and CEO of Active Wealth Management. Right now, for a limited time, Active Wealth is offering a financial consultation to AM 920. The Answer listeners. Absolutely free. That's a $1,500 value at no cost to you. Active wealth will show you the hidden fees you're paying. How to potentially save six figures by deleting taxes on your IRA during retirement visit ActiveWealth.com today.

Producer:
Investment Advisory Services offered through Brookstone Capital Management, LLC BCM a registered investment advisor, not an actual client of Active Wealth Management.

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