Gain Control of Your Money Before It Controls You

4.18.25: Audio automatically transcribed by Sonix

4.18.25: 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. I'm Ford stokes, your chief financial advisor. Got Sam Davis here with us on the mic. He's our senior financial advisor and co-host on retirement results. We've been doing this show for over five years. Sam, say hello to the folks.

Speaker4:
Welcome to the weekend result drivers. Welcome back to retirement results. Thank you so much for tuning in. Once again. Shout out to all those listeners who have been listening to us, Ford, for more than five years. We've had so many changes over the last half decade. We've had ups in the markets, we've had downs in the markets, we've had changes in Washington DC, and we've been here all along providing you with the information that you really need to know and smart strategies for building that retirement plan that you can count on and building that retirement lifestyle that you deserve. And Ford, it's, you know, a timely, uh, release for your latest book, The Smart Retirement Plan. I know that the book is out. I know that the printers are going to be fired up soon, and the audiobook is in production as well, so we're going to have a lot of things, a lot of great information to provide for all of those listeners out there here pretty soon.

Speaker3:
Yeah. Thanks, Sam. If you want to get the Kindle version, um, or also the thing for iPad, uh, you can go to Amazon.com, go to Kindle. Um, and it's sitting right there at the Smart Retirement Plan by Ford Stokes is available, and there's a promotion going on right now. You can get it for as low as $0.99 on Kindle. Um, I think the normal price is like 9.99 on Kindle or 6.99 on Kindle, but it's going to go up a little bit every week, um, between now and the end of May. So check it out. You can get a version of the Kindle version of the book, The Smart Retirement Plan, for just $0.99. If you go to Amazon.com and go to Kindle and download it onto Kindle or iPad or whatever you want to do. There's 16 chapters there to help you understand how to build a smart retirement plan. It's very comprehensive, but it's also a quick read. Um, we also had key takeaways in every single chapter at the beginning of each chapter. It was kind of like Cliff notes. So if you want to try to skim, you can. But we try to make it very readable and easy to, to kind of digest. So I would encourage you to reach out to Amazon.com, go ahead and download the Kindle version of the book and it's available in. You can also get credits if you're on audible and, uh, all kinds of different things. Um, but it's available on Kindle right now. The audiobook is in development. We've got a gentleman by the name of Michael LeBlanc out of California. Who's an actor? Who's going to read it? Um, I lost out on my audiobook producer, which who's Sam Davis the last time when we did the annuity 360 book, but it was.

Speaker3:
Sam was so busy helping people, um, better plan for retirement. Everything. He can't moonlight and do that job, too, because we're just. We're pretty busy, folks. We are busy with running, um, RSA roadmaps for people to help maximize their Social Security income. If you haven't done that, if you if you still haven't filed for your Social Security income benefit, and you want to figure out how to maximize your Social Security income benefit for you and your spouse or for you, if you're a single filer, I would encourage you to go ahead and reach out to us at retirement. Com forward slash plan and put your information in and we'll reach out to you to get started right away. That's retirement plan. Or you can call us at (770) 685-1777. Again, that number is (770) 685-1777. So today we are going to really talk about how to take control of your assets and your portfolios during times of chaos. We've got helpful tips for retirees wanting consistent results. And we're going to go over our checklist for retirees making sure you're covered and retire with confidence. Also, a quick question. With all the stuff going on in the markets, we just want to ask you the question, have you heard from your current advisor lately? Or if you just have money in A41K, do you feel like you have enough investment options for safety right now during these turbulent times? And Sam, we're going to have several problem solvers on this week's show. But first, Sam, go ahead and share this important 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 from.

Speaker4:
Dave Ramsey, and this quote from Dave Ramsey is you must gain control over your money, or the lack of it will forever control you. And I think this is a great quote for this week for a lot of folks are concerned. Our phone has been ringing. People are tired of this volatility, especially those folks that are a few years away from retirement or have just been retired within the past few years. They're looking for a plan that provides them with that income that they can count on, and protects their income so that they can leave the remainder of their portfolio invested and protect their buying power. And you know, this week we're going to highlight a number of different ways that all those listening today can really start to gain control over your money so that it doesn't have to control you and you don't have to go at it alone. There's people out there like us here at active Wealth management and retirement results. Um, you know, there's a lot of advisors out there we see when we do the portfolio analysis for anybody who comes in to meet with us, we see that there's a lot of advisors out there that don't have the client's best interest in mind. Uh, but when you're working with active wealth management, you're working with a team of fiduciaries. Uh, we actually have a number of different fiduciary advisors on our team, and we have to put the client's needs ahead of our own, including in front of the business. And that's really a teammate that you want on your side as you head into retirement.

Speaker3:
Yeah. And I mean, listen, I just want to give you an update. We've kind of heard from John Frederickson, several other people who are close to the Trump White House about what's going on, um, within the markets, what's going on in the economy, what's the strategy? What's the tax strategy? What's the waste, fraud and abuse reduction strategy, all those things. And so let me just kind of give you a synopsis based on what we've been hearing from the Trump White House. Number one is for 40 years, Donald J. Trump has been a protectionist. He has been somebody who said, you know what? We're getting ripped off. It's time for us to stop doing that. Did you know that there was no Internal Revenue Service before 1913? Did you know that? That the US government was charging tariffs to fund the government? Because everybody wanted to get access to our markets even back then, because the United States is a very large place, and we had great special people that were also building entire new communities and everything else. So we were spending a whole lot of money, uh, trying to develop things. We needed things. We needed things for railroads. We needed things for, you know, steamer ships. We needed things to build houses. We needed things. All kinds of things. You know, in, in the 1700s, the 1800s and the early 1900s. And then I don't know who it was, but some brilliant person said, hey, let's start taxing our own citizens. Specifically, they were taxing the first, the top, like 1%, and they were charging them like 5% or something like that.

Speaker3:
And they just kept growing like every other government program. So here's the deal. Trump is a protectionist. He's going to go back to those pre 1913 days at least in part. So number one is there's tariffs also. One thing that people don't understand is the baseline of 10% tariffs on every country. They're in place. The media is not covering it because they're covering the sensationalism of all the large tariffs on China. But they're not covering the fact that they're bringing in almost $2 billion a day just in that baseline 10% tariff. And those are the producers, and those countries are eating that 10%. And that's going straight into the United States coffers. Also, we saw a little bit of a hit on the yield of the ten year US Treasury, because China basically unloaded $800 billion worth of worth of treasuries this past week, and other countries are trying to do the same. They're trying to follow suit. Well that's fine. It's okay, because the next big lever that Trump's pulling is, hey, we've got to get the spending in line. And what they're doing is they're doing everything they can to get the spending in line and get rid of the waste, fraud and abuse and literally reduce at least over $1 trillion a year from the budget when we come back. We help you take control and prepare for the future as we share our checklist for pre-retirees and retirees who want to retire with confidence. You're listening to retirement results.

Speaker2:
Call seven. 706851777 to schedule your free, no obligation meeting with us today. You're listening to retirement results.

Speaker7:
If you got a problem, don't care what it is. If you need a hand, I can assure you this I can help.

Speaker4:
Hi, this is Sam Davis, senior financial advisor. With retirement results. You've saved your whole life, so you wouldn't have to worry about your money when you retired. But you worry more now than ever. You've been a good saver. You have 500,000. $1 million, maybe even more. You should feel confident, but you don't. You're worried a big loss will wipe you out. You want to retire, but you don't. You're worried you don't have enough. Does any of this sound familiar? It should, because we hear these things all the time from people just like you, who are preparing for retirement or are even already retired. So why do you worry so much? It's because you don't have an actual plan in writing. Nothing to guide you through retirement. Retirement results helps people just like you. You'll get a free, customized written retirement plan. That's right. Free and no obligation. Schedule your meeting now at retirement Results.com. That's retirement Results.com.

Speaker2:
Investment advisory services offered through Brookstone Capital Management, LLC, a registered investment advisor. 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 on Fort Stokes. Your chief financial advisor got Sam Davis here. He's our senior financial advisor and co-host on the show. And we're really excited and happy. You know, to kind of be celebrating over five years of this show, bringing you education on Am 920. Answer. Also, you know, we're kind of going into the second month here with Wdan and in Gainesville and around the lake. And shout out to you folks, and thanks for listening to us. We appreciate you as well. Um, but again, we want to just thank the listeners to retirement results over the last five years for making us the number one listened to radio show on Am 920, the answer on the weekends. That doesn't usually happen with financial radio shows. We're really proud of that and we're proud of each and every one of you. Result drivers. If you're wondering who our result driver is, it's somebody who's listening to this show who wants to protect and grow their hard earned and hard saved wealth. They're looking to build a tax efficient, fee efficient and market efficient portfolio. I would also say they're looking to build an income plan that they have got bedrock confidence in. At the break, we kind of ran out of time when I was describing what's going on with with the Trump White House, what the plan is. So let me just give you the full plan. The number one thing that Trump's trying to do is reduce fraud, waste and abuse. And they think they're going to be able to pull over $1 trillion out of spending that is going that is being spent fraudulently, um, per year.

Speaker3:
That's about $4 billion a day that Doge is having to pull up. And if you go to US debt clock. Org, you can see that that he's that they're crushing it right now. The next thing that Trump's trying to do is he's trying to bring in revenue from external sources. I'll give you an example. In the first week that they had the gold card that allows people to either get US citizenship or to be able to reside in the United States. They they literally have been able to sell 1 million, I mean, 1000 of those at $5 million apiece. That's a fantastic number. Trump thinks they can sell over a million of those, which would be $5 trillion. So that's fantastic. They said there's over like something like 57 million people in the world that could afford that gold card. They've already had a thousand people say yes to it. So and then also the tariffs are obviously revenue that's coming in with the with the newly formed External Revenue Service. And again we talked about before the break before 1913 there was no income tax. They were funding the government with tariffs. They were putting on the English, the French, Spanish and other other countries in Europe to fund our country. And so that so that's kind of leg of the stool. Number two is we're going to bring in tariffs to kind of fund United States of America. Number three is they're going to try to reduce taxes because of it. And they're going to try to put more money in everybody's pockets.

Speaker3:
And therefore you're going to see more small businesses being started with that capital, and you're going to see more manufacturing coming back to the United States. It was really great, Sam, to see that Nvidia is going to start making chips here. I mean, Nvidia is propped up the Nasdaq 100. Them and others have done that. But they've they've really propped it up over the last 3 or 4 years. And now they're going to make those chips here. I saw a quote from Janet Yellen this past week said that she's not sure that it's even possible the US can start making things again. And it's she's not even sure it's a worthwhile endeavor. She couldn't be more wrong. And we're not just talking about making molded plastic things. We're talking about making all the things that are really important in the world, like computer chips and pharmaceuticals and other things. So if you look at what Trump's trying to do is he's trying to bring manufacturing back, he's trying to reduce fraud and waste. He's trying to generate he's trying to reduce taxes as well, and all that together is going to really work for a fantastic result for Americans. And I just hope he does it before the midterm elections. I hope he can really get there and balance the budget before the midterm election. I think it's going to be a big deal. Sam, your thoughts on all that before we get into your problem solver and everything that's going on with what we're trying to do for folks right here in Atlanta, Georgia?

Speaker6:
Yeah. For sure.

Speaker4:
You know, it'd be great to see more manufacturing come back to, you know, not just the big states in the US, but all the states. You know, it wasn't that long ago that every town would have the different industry that it was involved in. You know, the town where I was born in Wichita, Wichita, Kansas, used to be known as the air capital of the world. You know, my great grandfather worked for Boeing and helped manufacture airplanes. My grandfather worked at the airplane factories as well. I still have some relatives that are in the aviation industry there, but in large part that that industry has moved out to other areas. And you've seen that in in so many different industries as well, you know, whether it be, you know, furniture or making boats or making things to help build our homes, it'd be great to see some of that come back to our communities and really have that local pride, and also those jobs for all those hard workers here in the US.

Speaker3:
Yeah, no question about it. And so I just want to explain kind of what Donald Trump's trying to do, even though you might say it's there's an effect in the stock market. I mean, the world is adjusting to what we're doing. And, and, um, the globalists are losing. And so I think that's a really fantastic situation. There's going to be some friction with change, and we all just need to kind of deal with it. So, Sam, why don't you talk about how you're helping one couple that came to one of your seminars at the Sharon Forks Library in Cumming, why don't you talk about how you're helping them and what the great result is that you've been able to get for them.

Speaker2:
It's time for this week's Problem Solver.

Speaker4:
We're going to change the names, as we always do, to protect the identity of our clients and our prospects and protect the innocent here. Um, and so we're going to talk about Bob and Jane. Uh, Bob and Jane are 62 and 61 years old. Uh, Jane was recently retired. Bob was planning on working to age 65. But Ford, like so many people lately that we've been talking to, was sort of forced into retirement and forced to sell out of the business. We see that a lot. Um, that as people age and get into their 60s, um, you know, those companies, they want to hire younger people that are cheaper. Uh, and they want to move on to, you know, different structures. And so Bob was sort of forced to retire. And now at age 62 and 61, they've done a good job saving. They've got about 1.4 million total in their portfolio. They've done a great job of paying off the family home. They own their house, which is something that we love to see is no debt. As you enter retirement, that always makes it tricky if you've still got debt obligations as you enter retirement. But they don't. They own their home. They've got about 1.4 million and they just started to come and see us at, you know, the peak of this volatility.

Speaker4:
And they're understandably concerned. Um, they want to make sure that they have a plan that they can count on. And like you sometimes say Ford, they've got one cheque to last the rest of their lives. And that checks 1.4 million. And it really started with, you know, Ford, your registered social security analyst in the office. You put together that Social Security maximization report for them. The Social Security is really a starting point of any retirement income plan and really the cornerstone of building that smart retirement plan. So we were able to figure out some good timing options for them to actually start turning on that income. And Jane did a great job estimating their monthly expenses, actually overestimating because she wants to make sure they don't have enough to pay the bills. They want to have enough to pay the bills and all those extra things. Those fun things. Vacations with the kids, home upgrades, maybe a new car down the line, those things that you know you'll need. You know, at 62 and 61, Bob and Jane have another 30 plus years to live in retirement, and so we need to find a way that they're going to be able to pay for those monthly expenses.

Speaker4:
So we're taking a look at what we can do with the portfolio, not just restructuring, to get them a little bit more fee efficient and a bit more market efficient, but using a small portion of the portfolio right around 40% or even a little less, and investing in the nationwide peak ten, that peak ten. One of the features is a 20% immediate bonus to the income account value. That's going to give them an uplift and help kind of recover some of the losses that they've recently had in the market. Additionally, every year they defer, they're going to be able to get 8% guaranteed simple interest added to that account. Now, they may not be able to afford to wait that long because they've just retired. And they're really in a situation where their retirement is more about income than the size of their nest egg. But between that peak ten, establishing that personal pension income and their social security and, you know, disciplined withdrawals from the rest of their accounts when needed, they're going to be able to have that smart income plan and fund their expenses in retirement. And that was just a really good outcome for them.

Speaker3:
So a couple of things on Bob and Jane. Number one is they came in and really didn't have a plan for Social Security. They were hoping to take it at 62. They didn't realize it was 62.5 for them. We try to we were able to work with them and say, hey, you're going to be a lot better off if you just wait till at least you're both turned 63. They're about eight months apart. They were drawing like $80,000 out of their investments, which is more than 4%, obviously of 1.4 million. We were able to work with them and say, hey, let's turn on income at age 63 for both of you. Let's also get income going with the nationwide peak ten. But if you can wait two years in a day, we'll we'll be in a much better spot because of the 8% deferred growth for the next two years, guaranteed, which is 16% on $600,000. They're going to put into the nationwide peak ten. And then when they turn on income, they're going to get another 41 plus thousand dollars a year from the nationwide peak. Ten see that? Plus their 51,000 in Social Security meets their obligations. So when we come back from the break, we're going to talk more about this problem solver. And I promise we're going to get to the checklist for pre-retirees and retirees who want to retire with confidence. Thanks for listening to retirement results. We'll be right back.

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

Speaker8:
I used to be a rolling stone, you know. If a cause is right, I'd leave to find an answer.

Speaker1:
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:
To schedule your free, no obligation consultation, visit retirement results.com.

Speaker3:
And welcome back result drivers I'm Fort Stokes, your chief financial advisor got Sam Davis here, our senior financial advisor and co-host. And Sam, we're talking about Bob and Jane in this problem solver. And we kind of ran out of time at the break. But there's some important aspects to this. And we were talking about one, hey, they came in, they were trying to turn on Social Security as soon as possible. And they really benefited by at least waiting another year on Social Security. Number two is we we said, hey, we've got to get an income plan here. Um, so we don't over. Draw down your assets. Um, they've done a really good job at paying their house off. They're looking at potentially downsizing as well. Um, so they can be even more comfortable. And they may have an inheritance that's coming in as well that could really help out. We're going to use that inheritance money to pay the taxes on a Roth conversion for about 50% of their money. That's between now 61 and 62 years old, going all the way to 73 years old. So we're going to convert, I don't know, 75 to $100,000 a year.

Speaker3:
Easy math. We convert 100,000 a year and we take 20,000 for that inheritance and pay the taxes on that so that they're moving dollar for dollar. They're moving 100,000 for their from his IRA into his Roth IRA. So that money is tax free and growing, tax deferred and tax free. So that's pretty helpful too. But the most striking thing about this problem solver to me was when they came in because of their they were spending and drawing down $80,000 from their portfolio in the first year. I mean, their their plan didn't look really good and didn't have a great grade. When you come in to meet with us, we actually give you a financial plan, your 95th birthday, and we assess an actual numeric grade from a, from 1 to 100 or 0 to 100, if you will. And Sam, why don't you share what you learned on all that and what you were able to generate for them in a another plan? Both of these are very objective. They're not subjective. And I'm super excited about what we've been able to do for Bob and Jane.

Speaker6:
Yeah.

Speaker4:
So when they got in touch with us, we took them through the process that we do with everyone, and that's first we got to get a really good understanding of where you're at now and what your goals are. And so we took a look at their statements. Most of their portfolio was in just two retirement accounts. So easy enough. They brought in their statements for us to analyze. That takes a little less than a week for us to do. And from there, we're able to extrapolate all the holdings, find out what their risk level is, find out what their average rate of return is, uh, find their standard deviation, which is a measurement of risk, which is really important thing to highlight for folks. Um, show them the fees they're paying. Even the ones that you may not know about that may be inside some of those mutual funds. And, and, um, Bob and Jane, they had, uh, some target date funds in their portfolio that were really holding them back. They had some bonds in their portfolio that were really holding them back. And at the end of the analysis, when we took a look at their current plan.

Speaker4:
So if they changed nothing and they just continued on their path, uh, with that need to have about $7,000 a month or $84,000 a year in income, they actually only had a 61% chance of success and not running out of money before age 95. And Ford, when you and I were meeting, uh, to discuss this case, you know, you said right off the bat you're like, right now, Bob and Jane are going to summer school, and that's not good. And so when we built our proposed plan using nationwide, using some managed portfolios, timing that Social Security in an optimal way, we were able to get that chance of success up to 97%. So from 61 to 97%, that's a 36% increase. And now they're not going to summer school. You said Ford. You said now they're straight-A students and they can retire with confidence knowing that, you know, $7,000 is more than enough to fund what they need. And now we can guarantee that on a monthly basis for them.

Speaker3:
Yeah. She basically Jane came in and met with us, um, this past week. And she was like, there's more pain with us staying where we are. There's more uncertainty in staying where we are. They were with a wirehouse and they were like, people keep telling us things, but there nobody can show us on paper. They claimed that, oh, your bonds are the thing that saved you over the last year. And then they actually went in and dug in and they realized that the bonds had lost market value in 2020, 2021, 2022, three years in a row of really bad performance on market value and that their bonds hadn't returned to the same values. They also were really concerned to hear that US corporate bonds in general are at a go forward price to earnings ratio of price of price to earnings ratio, basically a PE of over 135 times to one. That's what we're trying to minimize the bonds that are within our client portfolios. We do have some, but not a lot. We try to use we're trying to use fixed index annuities to replace the bonds and get more tax efficient and also more fee efficient. We are able to reduce the fees for Bob and Jane overnight by 40%. And that's a remarkable result. I just want to congratulate you on doing a great job to help Bob and Jane, and going from 61%.

Speaker3:
Yeah, I mean, that's a failing grade, folks, to a 97% result. So they can retire with much more confidence, especially when we're seeing this volatility with the tariff tantrums that the market is having right now. They just want to make sure their income is set. The other thing is they both they both wanted to take advantage of the 310% participation rate with that nationwide pick ten. And they were concerned with what's going on with market sell offs from China and others selling off billions and billions of dollars of ten year U.S. treasuries. They they realize that with fixed index annuities, that the annuity companies may not be offering the same high rates that they're offering right now, and PA rates and guaranteed income rates and all kinds of things and huge bonuses too. I would encourage you, if you've ever thought about investing in fixed indexed annuity, now is the best time to do that, because it is likely that the participation rates are going to decline over the coming months. And I want to make sure you're getting the highest rate possible. So if you're curious about that, I encourage you to reach out to us at retirement. Com there's a schedule of consultation but in the upper right corner just go to retirement Results.com click that schedule a consultation button. Or also reach out to us at (770) 685-1777. Again, that number is (770) 685-1777.

Speaker6:
Yeah, absolutely.

Speaker4:
And if you're listening to retirement results and you maybe see some of your own situation in this example we just gave with these folks, we just worked with Bob and Jane. Get in touch with us this week. Your situation may be very similar to theirs. It may be not similar at all. Regardless of where you're at, we can help you get started. Take a look. Really just give you the answers that you're looking for. Um, you know, we're fiduciaries. Our job is not to make the decision for you. It's your money. Our job is to help you make the best decision. With your hard earned savings and your hard earned, uh, wealth for the future.

Speaker3:
Yeah. One one last thing to on that. My biggest concern for them was. Hey, Bob and Jane, I just want you to understand you are living on fixed income. Now. You don't have an income coming in to help make up the difference. When you have large expenditures, like $20,000 for flooring or when you're going to go on a cruise or anything like that, you've got to take that out of your assets and you really need to have a they've got a great handle on what their monthly expenses are, but their annual expenses are $84,000 a year, and that's pre-tax. And they own their house and they haven't turned. On Social Security. And so we were able to use Social Security and that fixed index annuity income that's guaranteed. So they built that personal pension where they, they were able to generate over $91,000 or $92,000. And then they know that they've got a good chance to not run out of money, because they're going to let the rest of the portfolio grow without withdrawals. And they can definitely stay within 4% withdrawal rate on the rest of the portfolio. That's why they felt so much more secure and so much safer about it. And I just thought you just did a great job for them. And also let me just quickly tell you what you get when you work with us. Number one is you get a number. One is you get a portfolio analysis that's going to help you understand the fees you're paying and the risk you're taking and the correlation of your assets. It's a metric objective analysis of your current portfolio. Number two is you're going to get an RSA roadmap. That is a Social Security maximization report that you get at no cost to you.

Speaker3:
Then you get a retirement income gap analysis that we're going to take all of your expenses, have an idea of what's going on, and then all of your income sources. And we're going to see if you're starting with a positive retirement income surplus in retirement, or a negative retirement income gap that could widen with inflation over time. Number four is we're going to give you a free financial plan all the way to your 95th birthday with your current plan. That has nothing to do with us. And you're going to get a grade on that from 0 to 100. We also go to the trouble of putting your entire retirement in like two pages. So you can see the cash flows, you can see the actual tax rates, you can see simulated return rates, and you can see everything that the Monte Carlo simulation will give you. Then number five is we're going to give you a financial plan your 95th birthday with our recommended portfolios that still has your effective tax rates and all that kind of stuff. That also includes a strategic Roth ladder conversion plan over a 5 to 10 year period that we're hopefully going to finish before you turn 73 years young. You get all of that for 2,500 USD normally, but we're going to give it to you absolutely for free. It's a $2,500 value. All you got to do is reach out to us at (770) 685-1777 or visit retirement. Com that's retirement results.com or call us at (770) 685-1777. And we'll be right back to talk about that checklist for pre-retirees and retirees who want to retire with confidence. We know you do. We're going to help you do that right away.

Speaker2:
Retirement results. We'll be back in a moment. But in the meantime, take a moment to schedule your free meeting with us at retirement results.com/plan. That's retirement. Results.com.

Speaker9:
There is nothing going down and I can feel it all the way.

Speaker2:
Are you concerned about rising taxes and how that could affect you and your family during retirement? If you have an IRA balance over $400,000, you could save six figures in retirement taxes that you would be paying during a 35 year retirement. Find out how much you could save today by scheduling your no obligation Roth conversion consultation with Fort Stokes of retirement results. Learn more and schedule an appointment at retirement Results.com. Investment advisory services offered through Brookstone Capital Management LLC, a registered investment advisor. Visit retirement results.com for more information. This 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. Result result. Drivers. I'm George Stokes, Stoke's chief financial adviser got Sam Davis here with us, our senior financial adviser and co-host. Sam, go ahead and share that checklist for pre-retirees and retirees who want to retire with confidence.

Speaker6:
Yeah.

Speaker4:
Step one that's start tracking your expenses, also known as budgeting. If you've been listening to the episode here today on retirement results, you're talking about our example with Bob and Jane. If you missed that, be sure to go listen. Wherever you listen to podcast, you can pause, play, rewind, listen to all our past episodes. But really figuring out what your budget is is how we need to start. Every successful business has a well balanced budget. You should treat your household finances the same way. A quick way to do that. Look at your last few months of expenses. If you had a big tax bill due in April, maybe exclude April, you know, with holiday plans and parties and things like that, maybe exclude December. But take a look at 2 or 3 typical months for yourself. Come up with a good average of your monthly budget and that's going to be your expense amount that you need to cover as you move forward into retirement. And some people will tell us, hey, you know, my expenses are going to go way down in retirement. I'm not going to be spending as much money. We really challenge you to find a way to build an income plan that continues to pay you those paychecks in retirement that you were earning during your working years, because when you're retired, Ford, every day is Saturday. People may think that they're not going to spend as much money, but when you're retired and you've got all the time in the world ahead of you for the next 30 years or more, you're going to be spending more time at the lake. You're going to be saying yes to those weekend trips. You're going to be going out with friends when you can. And so it's important to know your expenses and have that budget so we can get started.

Speaker3:
Yeah, I just kind of know thyself a little bit, kind of know what's going on and what you really need to live on fixed income, because life is really different when you don't have that paycheck coming in every two different two weeks. You know, it's just way different.

Speaker6:
Yeah.

Speaker4:
So step one, have your expenses in check and then you can check that off this checklist. Step two is secure your health care coverage. So if you're 65 or older, you can qualify for Medicare benefits and nut health care coverage. If you're retiring before 65, you're going to need to have a plan to cover yourself from health care expenses. This can be really costly for people in their 50s and 60s, so consider working longer. If you're 6263, try to get to 65. I promise you it'll save you significant money down the line, because you're not going to have to spend that money on additional health care coverage. You can continue to get covered through your employer. Save that money for the future. It's going to go a long way. You know, Ford, how important is it that people have their healthcare insurance?

Speaker3:
There's no question. It's one of the biggest expenses you're going to have during your retirement is healthcare. I think it's over $330,000 now for a married couple, what your healthcare expenses are going to be during a 30 plus year retirement, according to Fidelity's retirement survey last April. I don't know what it's going to be for this year, but I'll tell you, it's a lot of money. And what I would do is try to do everything you can to work until you're 65, get to Medicare. Because also getting to Medicare at 65, it's something to celebrate. I mean, it's a big deal. It's a great benefit that our retirees do have an opportunity to get, but just try to get to Medicare because it's going to cost you 800 to over $1,000 for a married couple, even if you're using Medicare or other things, just make sure you're getting that healthcare coverage taken care of. A lot of people that I know, they might retire early, but they've got the ability to get it through their employer, whether it's through Cobra or the employer helps kind of match it a little bit. That could be part of the negotiation if you're negotiating an early retirement as well.

Speaker4:
Yeah. So step one just to recap was expenses and budgeting. Know what you're spending each month. Check that off. Make sure you've got your healthcare coverage planned out. The next is make sure your investments and your retirement savings are allocated properly. Now, market swings like we've experienced recently can be extra daunting when you're in retirement or if you're getting close to retirement. Often we see that as people into retirement or even near that retirement date, their tolerance for risk is often going down. When you're younger, you have time to make up for market losses. You know, those who are in their 20s and 30s right now aren't sweating this market volatility as much as those who are in their 60s and 70s. Consider the rule of 100. Build a solid income plan with guaranteed and dependable income sources. And if you're concerned about market risk, make sure that your plan lines up with your actual tolerance for risk.

Speaker3:
Yeah, no doubt about it. But also let's get I think we also with risk you need to get an opportunity and a strategy to diversify your risk away. And you really need to get truly diversified between insurance products, ETFs, stocks, some bonds. We try to limit the bonds in our portfolios. There are a lot of major famous folks like Ray Dalio and others that are shorting us corporate income and the US bonds. And they're making a killing right now. What I would say is just be really careful about how much you're putting in bonds in your portfolio. Consider a fixed index annuities and replacing those bonds and get that income and let the rest of the portfolio grow.

Speaker4:
Step four is plan your Social Security strategy. And Ford, we make it easy here at retirement Results and active wealth management. You're a registered social security analyst. You're part of that National Association of Rsas. And you're able to create these maximization reports, both for individuals and married couples that help them make that optimal decision about their benefits. It's one of the most important decisions that you're going to make when it comes to your retirement plan. Why wouldn't you take advantage of some help from a local expert?

Speaker3:
Yeah, we're happy to run those plans for you. It's just a really good idea to maximize your Social Security income benefits, especially for a married couple. There's a lot of things you guys and gals can do, and you really need to make sure you're doing that. Reach out to us. Just reach out to us at retirement results.com/plan. That's retirement results. Com forward slash plan. Put your information in. We'll reach out to you and get started right away. We can get you that RSA roadmap within the same day that you submit your XML files from Ssa.gov. All you got to do is email those files to us and you can send them to me at forward at com through our secure email system.

Speaker4:
And the next item on our checklist. This is number five of six forward. And this is going to be top of mind for a lot of people right now. Because Tax Day just came and went. And that's understand your tax responsibilities. The IRS is not a good partner in retirement. Your income and expenses might be a little lower than when you were working, but you're still going to be on the hook for taxes. Consider using the two types of truly tax free investments. That's life insurance and Roth IRAs, with Roth IRAs being the big one. Don't forget. And this is you know, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but sometimes I am with the folks who come in and meet with us. Those savings that you have in your IRAs, your 401 S, your 403 B's, maybe a 457. Those are tax deferred accounts. You haven't paid tax on those assets yet. And the IRS is going to have their hand out when you make those withdrawals.

Speaker3:
Yeah. It's you want to try to do everything you can to delete the IRS from being your partner in retirement and try to get to Roth ladder conversions, but also grow your money. Tax deferred is a really good idea, but let's try to get to tax free as well and try to get some Roth IRAs or life insurance or both. We do a lot of Roth ladder conversion planning, and if you haven't had that done before, and if your advisor is not talking about Roth ladder conversion planning, chances are they're trying to keep more money in the portfolio so they can make more money themselves. I we don't do that. We put the needs of our clients first, and you really owe it to yourself to do some Roth ladder conversion planning, just to at least to understand how much you can save over time. I'll give you an example. If you've got over $1 million during to retire on, let's say you got $1 million sitting in an IRA. You're likely going to save over 300 to $400,000 in less taxes paid over a 35 plus year retirement. If you want to save six figures in retirement and just save six figures on taxes paid during your retirement years, I encourage you to reach out to us, give us a call at (770) 685-1777 or visit. Retirement.

Speaker4:
Com and the last item on our list for work with a licensed advisor. Receive personalized guidance. You know, retirement planning is not one size fits all. A licensed advisor can help you unlock strategies like optimizing your Social Security. Ford I know you love running those reports for folks. Gain clarity and confidence. Figure out what your expenses are. Figure out a way to fund those expenses in retirement and also avoid costly mistakes. It doesn't cost you anything but a little bit of time to get a second opinion and get that information to help you make an informed financial decision.

Speaker10:
It's the final countdown.

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

Speaker10:
The final countdown.

Speaker3:
On today's show, our problem solver with Bob and Jane kind of dominated a lot of it. We did go over the checklist for pre-retirees and retirees. We finally got to that in segment four. Listen, we're here to help you. We're offering a free financial plan and portfolio analysis at no cost to you. Listen, Tony Robbins says if you if you haven't taken action, you haven't made a decision. You might be like, oh, I'm going to do really good thing. And I'm going to listen to retirement results today on the radio, or I'm going to listen to it on the podcast wherever you get podcasts, or I'm going to go to retirement Results.com and listen to some of the episodes. Take the next step and be a first time caller. Go ahead and reach out to us at Than 77. If you can't remember the phone number, let's go ahead and reach out to us at retirement results.com/plan. That's retirement results. Dot com forward slash plan. Submit your information. We'll get started right away. And helping you better plan for retirement also maximize that Social Security income. The Social Security income is going to be the number one or number two source of income during retirement. Let's do the best we can to maximize that income source that you've already paid in. And you deserve that money back. Thanks so much for listening to retirement results this week. 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, VCM and Active Wealth Management are independent of each other. Insurance products and services are not offered through VCM, 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-a item four for additional information.

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

Speaker4:
And welcome to the Retirement Results bonus segment for all of our listeners on in Gainesville. Up and around the lake and all of our listeners on our podcast feed. If you're hearing this on, you can actually listen to retirement results on demand wherever you listen to podcasts. We'd love to have you subscribe and reach out to us. We love hearing from our listeners. And for during a time like this, it's important that people are diversified in their portfolio, not just with their holdings, but with their income streams as well. And so for this bonus segment today, we're going to talk a little bit about how you can improve your income potential in retirement with multiple income streams.

Speaker3:
Yeah, I'm excited about this bonus segment. And I think it's going to be a great one to be to place on our Retirement Results YouTube channel. So make sure everybody checks out the Retirement Results YouTube channel as well. Uh, the first one is Social Security. It provides a monthly income to eligible retirees in the United States. You got to have 40 credits. Um, you got to work over ten years, um, or have credits where you're making enough money. That equals the 40 credits. Uh, Social Security benefits are based on your earnings history at and the age at which you start receiving benefits as a registered social security analyst. Um, I'm just really passionate about helping people maximize their Social Security income benefit. Because you paid in for years. You deserve to get the money back out. Delaying Social Security benefits can increase your monthly payments. It's actually going to go up 8% per year. You wait after your full retirement age of 67. And by the way, if you're born after 1967, um, by the way, if you're born after 1960, congratulations, your retirement age is 67. If you're born before that, it's like 66 in a few months. According to the Security Administration, Social security benefits make up about 33% of the income of the elderly population in the United States, and that is growing. So we need a good job at maximizing that Social Security income benefit for you.

Speaker4:
Yeah. The next income stream in addition to Social Security is pensions, if you're lucky enough to have one. Pensions are an employer sponsored retirement tool that provides you with an income for life. And like I said, they're becoming less common. With many employers shifting to 401 K plans. We've seen that largely over the last 40 years, that employers don't want the burden of having to pay out income for life to all of their past employees. They would rather have it be self-managed. So pensions we don't see too often for it. If you do have a pension, you're out there listening. Understand the terms and options for receiving payments. You may be able to take a lump sum on the entire pension, or maybe even part of the pension. That can be a useful tool sometimes, so you can actually diversify with your own personal pension with a highly rated insurance carrier. And in fact, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, only about 16% of private industry workers had access to traditional pension plans. That was in 2019. I expect that number has dropped significantly since then. So if you have pensions, you're a lucky one. If you don't, you may need to look into a personal pension.

Speaker3:
And also if you've got a pension, I would encourage you to reach out to us. You can get that pension x ray. We're happy to help you check that out. Um, there's a great way to get an understanding of like, hey, wait a second, I could actually get 20 or 27% bonus on the money that I put into a fixed indexed annuity. Those pensions are implemented from employers. Those are single premium immediate annuities. They are not market linked. So you won't get market like gains. You're going to just stay flat throughout the time. And also there'll be no contract value or account value to pass on to your heirs. If you take the lump sum, you're going to have, um, an actual account value that you can pass on to your heirs if the actual growth rate. Outpaces the withdrawal rate. And we have annuities where that is set up to do. Exactly that. So I encourage you to go and reach out to us if you want to get 20 to. 27% on your pension money in a lump sum immediately and get a larger pension just by. Taking the lump sum reach out to us at retirement com. Click that schedule a consultation button in the upper right corner. We'll get started right away.

Speaker4:
Yeah. So if you want to learn more that's our next income stream and a personal pension established through a fixed indexed annuity. These are essentially contracts with life insurance companies. And here at Retirement Results we only work with highly rated insurance companies. Annuities can be purchased from these insurance companies with various payout options. They can provide contractually guaranteed income for the rest of your life, no matter if you live to be 90, 100 or 110. Those checks keep on coming. According to the Insured Retirement Institute, investors invested $241.7 billion in annuities in 2020 alone. And that is remarkable for a lot of people are looking for guaranteed income. They're looking to supplement their Social Security with another income stream.

Speaker3:
Annuities. Plus, Social Security is a great way to get all of your income that you need on a monthly basis for retirement all the way done, where that you can let the rest of the portfolio grow. So that's something that I would encourage you to do. Also, it's going to make it where you don't watch the stock ticker as much as well.

Speaker4:
And if you have any questions about how to better diversify your plan for retirement, not just diversifying your assets, but diversify your income streams as well, make sure you have multiple streams of income in retirement. We'd love to help you here at Retirement Results. Just visit retirement. Com to get in touch with us and get started. Or give us a call today at (770) 685-1777. That's (770) 685-1777. We're located just down the road. Our headquarters is in Alpharetta, Georgia, and for nine, we'd love to meet with you.

Speaker2:
Thanks for listening to retirement results. Schedule your complimentary financial consultation now at retirement Results.com. At 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.

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