How the Big Beautiful Bill Changes Social Security

7.11.25: Audio automatically transcribed by Sonix

7.11.25: 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 hardworking 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 is your chief financial advisor, Ford Stokes.

Speaker3:
Welcome to retirement. Results. Result. Drivers on Ford Stokes, your chief financial advisor. Got Sam Davis here with us. He's our senior financial advisor and co-host. We're going to talk about the big, beautiful Bill. Sam and I are pretty excited about the big beautiful Bill and what it means for you as a retiree or pre retiree and what that's going to mean for your retirement. But Sam also just welcome everybody. And what do people get when they meet with us.

Speaker4:
Yeah. Welcome to the week end result. Drivers hope everybody had a fantastic Independence Day weekend. It was warm uh but, you know manageable. Uh, summer weekend in Atlanta. I was down at the Peachtree Road race. My wife runs it every year through downtown Atlanta. She had her second best time ever. So super proud of you, Bailey. And you know, when you get in touch with us here at Active Wealth Management. First off, I think one thing that makes a big difference, Ford, is they meet directly with us. You know, there's a lot of other advisors that are out there. They're on the radio. They're doing different things on TV, and we've done those things as well. And we continue to do this show. But when you give us a call, you meet directly with us and you get that personal connection. You get to work with Ford, who's a registered social security analyst, and really make the best decision for you and your spouse and maximize your benefit every every penny that you can maximize your benefit and get what you've earned. You get you get that portfolio analysis, which a lot of people are just looking to find out, hey, where do I stand? I've got all these different statements.

Speaker4:
I've got accounts in different places. I need to get a real good look. You know, take you through a full panel of tests, almost like you're at the hospital or something. Get all your vitals, figure out where you stand, and then we give you a plan based on where you're at right now. Like, hey, if you didn't change a thing, here's where you're at right now. And we give you a grade, and then we show you our recommended plan and we give our recommended plan a grade based on your goals and your needs in retirement and Ford. We're continuing to do this through the summer for all the drivers out there and on our valued active wealth clients who come in and meet with us for their regular appointments. And it's just been a great summer. Hope everybody's having a good one, and we look forward to meeting with you as well right here in our office.

Speaker3:
Yeah, absolutely. And if you want to meet with us, all you have to do is visit retirement results.com. And you can also submit your information at retirement results.com/plan. That's retirement results.com/plan. And we're happy to help you. And we'll get started right away. As soon as you submit your name email and phone we'll we'll reach out to you and get started right away with this free financial plans, free RCC roadmap, free retirement income gap analysis and free financial plans. Your 95th birthday with your current plan and also with our recommended portfolios. And you're going to learn the risks you're taking, the fees you're paying with your current plan. And we'll we'll show you what it could be like to try to reduce your fees, reduce that expense ratio, reduce the standard deviation, which is a measurement of risk, and hopefully get you a higher average rate of return as well. This show is all about the big, beautiful bill and how it's really going to transform retirement. Uh, we're I wrote an article that is posted on Active Wealth. Com and retirement results. Com it's in our blog section. We've got that article. If you want us just to email it to us, you can just send me an email at Ford and Active Wealth com that's at Active Wealth com and I'll email you a copy of my article regarding the big Beautiful Bill.

Speaker3:
The title of this article is How President Trump's Big, Beautiful Bill is Transforming Retirement and how it really is a game changer for Social Security recipients and retirees. And here's some of the highlights. So they're giving you a $6,000 Social Security tax credit. And here's how it works. So the key provision of the bill is for individuals earning up to $75,000, or $12,000 for individual for couples earning up to $150,000, you're getting a tax credit in next April. And that gets placed against your income tax account. I mean, your actual income tax filing, um, your 1040 tax filing. And that's going to basically eat up most of your Social Security taxes. Um, now, for those that are making over 150,000, it phases out between 100 and 75,000 and A and $200,000. So if you make over $200,000 as a retiree and you're still getting paid, you're you're likely going to still be paying the Social Security taxes. But for majority of the people that don't make over $150,000 a year for married couples filing jointly. You're going to get $12,000 in a tax credit, and that's going to help you go a long, long way. Now, before this bill, they paid out around $2,500 per year in federal income tax.

Speaker3:
Um, not only that, they pay $0 and they also receive a refund check. It's additional source of income that you can count on annually. Um, and again, the income thresholds are individuals up to 75,000 and married couples up to 150,000. There's a major shift from the old tax code, where Social Security became taxable as at much of the lower income levels, previously as low as $25,000 for individuals and $32,000 for couples. That's when the US government felt like you were wealthy, as if you're making over 25 grand as an individual, or over $32,000 for couples, even seniors with moderate IRA withdrawals, pensions and part time income are now covered under the new thresholds. And and for those just above the line, the credit phases out gradually and still will provide meaningful relief for you. The deduction begins. Phasing out for incomes above these thresholds are completely eliminated. For individuals with incomes of $175,000 or more and couples with incomes of $250,000 or more. So I want to I want to reiterate that if you're an individual, you can make up to $175,000 and the tax credit will you'll still get some meaningful tax credit for couples with incomes of over 250,000. You're going to get some meaningful tax credit if you're below that line. So that's a pretty big deal.

Speaker3:
The next one is is big as well. For so many folks that are staying in their family home. They want to entertain folks and for Thanksgiving and Christmas and have the kids come back and stay in the and be able to eat in the large dining room and all those things, and you haven't downsized and you've kept the larger home. We've got some property tax relief. The big beautiful bill doesn't stop at federal taxes. It also addresses a hidden danger to retirement security, which is rising property taxes. Here's the key provision retirees age 65 and older receive enhanced federal standard deductions on property related expenses and benefit from new federally matched local tax exemptions, lower annual property tax bills, expanded homestead exemptions, federal support for states that freeze or reduce senior property taxes. So the federal government is giving incentive to the states to freeze or reduce the senior property taxes. That's a big deal. Here's a real life example on this. So Tom and Susan, they're homeowners in Arizona. They saw their property tax bill dropped from 2900 per year to 2000 per year, thanks to a local senior exemption program, now backed by federal matching funds under the big beautiful bill. That's that's a real example that came out of what we saw from gov Irs.gov and other examples.

Speaker3:
I mean, we pulled this from the newswires. Now also why why President Trump's vision works for retirees. His leadership with the big beautiful bill represents a rare and in my opinion, a refreshing focus on the forgotten demographic retirees living on fixed incomes. For decades, Washington bureaucrats treated Social Security like an afterthought. Not not Trump. He made it clear that he would protect and strengthen Social Security without raising taxes. And he absolutely delivered with his big, beautiful bill. It it cannot be argued that he didn't deliver with this law, President Trump honors the contribution of working Americans. Rewards personal responsibility and savings, which is a big deal. And and we work with so many people that have worked hard to save their money and worked hard to make their money. And it also provides real and recurring financial relief that is tangible and then also simplifies retirement taxes. His message was really clear. At the signing, he said, you worked hard. You paid in. Now it's time for America to take care of you, the retiree. Um, Sam, your thoughts on just these first big, huge pillars of it, which was the $6,000 Social Security tax credit per individual or 12,000 for couples, and then also this matching and try and attempt to lower rising annual property taxes for retirees as well.

Speaker4:
Yeah. Well, first off, I'm not a big fan of taxes. I'm sure a lot of people listening to this radio show in this podcast right now, uh, share that sentiment that they are not a fan of taxes and that this is going to give some relief to those who need it most. And Social Security recipients, even those of you out there who are a few years away from receiving Social Security, are concerned about its ability to really help you in retirement. You know, we still have a long way to go with the trust funds and making sure the cost of living adjustments are keeping up with inflation, but this is some long overdue tax relief. Ford, and I'm very grateful that this is going to make it a lot easier for the people we work with, starting as soon as next year.

Speaker3:
When we come back for the break, we're going to talk more about the big beautiful Bill. There's a couple more things you need to hear about this, specifically regarding unpaid caregivers. There's a great benefit for that as well. Come right back. You're listening to retirement results on Am 920. The answer and one un.

Speaker2:
Call (770) 685-1777 to schedule your free, no obligation meeting with us today. You're listening to retirement results.

Speaker5:
I gotta take a little time. A little time to think things over.

Speaker2:
Schedule your free, no obligation consultation today by visiting retirement results.com. Now back to the show.

Speaker3:
Welcome back. Result drivers to retirement results on Ford Stokes, your chief financial advisor. Get Sam Davis here with us through our senior financial advisor and co-host on the show. So a couple things here. We are talking about the big beautiful Bill and it is awesome. And I'm super excited. We're gonna recap real quick what we talked about last segment. There's a $6,000 tax credit for individuals, 12,000 for married couples as a tax credit for Social Security that's paid in. They will be paid back to you next April. When you file your taxes, the income levels are 75,000 for individuals, 150,000 for married couples. They will phase out all the way, phase out at 175 grand for individuals, and it phases out at 250,000 for married couples. You're still going to get some meaningful relief if you're between 150,000 and 250,000 of married couples filing jointly, but it does phase out all the way after 250,000. The next is there is significant pressure from the federal government and also matching funds to support states to freeze or reduce senior property taxes to help out seniors, because that that is a problem. Now here's some additional pro retiree benefits that come. Part of the of the big beautiful bill. It includes several other provisions to protect seniors retirement income protection annuities IRAs Roth accounts receive expanded protections from surprise tax law changes. Number two is expanded medical deductions, which is really helpful because, you know, Sam, we talk about all the time.

Speaker3:
Healthcare is one of the larger, you know, one of the largest expenses you're going to have during retirement. Seniors 65 plus can now deduct on reimbursed medical medical expenses above 5% of adjusted gross income, down from 7.5%. In other words, you're getting a larger break that you're able to get those reimbursed under reimbursed medical expenses. Number three is the is a big one to me is the caregiver tax credits. There are over 40 million unpaid caregivers in the United States right now, according to the US Bureau of Labor and Statistics. You can look it up. You can go to their website. They're giving up to $3,000 annually for family members providing unpaid care to aging parents or spouses. My stepmom is one of those people. My dad is 87 years young and my step mom is 71. Here's what retirees should do. Number one is file your taxes to claim your credit. You've got to file your taxes even if you owe nothing. File your tax return to receive 6000. If you're an individual or 12,000 refundable credit if you're below the income levels of 75,000 and 150,000 with individuals and married couples, respectively. Number two is schedule your free retirement review. You need to go ahead and reach out to us. We're offering you a complimentary $2,500 value consultation to help you maximize your Social Security, reduce your taxes, protect your income for life, and also explore annuity and bond replacement strategies as well.

Speaker3:
All you have to do is reach out to us at (770) 685-1777 or visit retirement.com. To get started. There's a schedule a consultation button in the upper right corner, and we're happy to help you get going and schedule a consultation directly into our calendars. So if you go to retirement results, click that schedule consultation button in the upper right corner. You get put directly in my calendar and you get booked with Sam and myself. This is a new era for retirement freedom. The big beautiful bill is more than policy. It's a promise literally fulfilled in my opinion. With expanded income thresholds, there's also annual tax refunds through the $6,000 Social Security tax credit and lower property taxes, and also unpaid caregiver tax credit of $3,000. This law is revolutionizing retirement in America. It just is. If I were to talk to any of our clients, Sam, and say, hey, you as a married couple, we're going to give you $12,000 more this year. And every year after in your Social Security income, they'll be like, how are you going to do that? Well, I'll tell you how we're going to do it. President Donald J. Trump gave it to you with a big, beautiful bill. I mean, your thoughts on how important more money from your Social Security and less taxes on your Social Security is to any retiree.

Speaker4:
Yeah, well, first off, I don't believe there should have ever been taxes on Social Security. They needed to do something to keep the program going. I don't believe taxation was the answer. They taxed you so that you could get it, and they're going to tax you again when you take it. That doesn't seem fair to me. So this credit's going to go a long way. And like you mentioned Ford, it's not just the lower income folks. It's phase out goes all the way up to a quarter of $1 million. So, you know, you are still going to get some relief. Um, if you're listening to this show, more than likely you're going to get a nice little tax credit when it comes to your Social Security under this bill, which is now been signed into law. And then the additional health care benefits for seniors, don't overlook those. We're meeting with people every single month who are making decisions about when to retire, and often they're feeling like they have to prolong their retirement date. They want to retire now, but they're so concerned about health care expenses in retirement that it's making them feel like they need to work longer and things like this.

Speaker4:
And also the health care, the unpaid caregiver, uh, provision where you can get a credit as well. I think that's fantastic. I think a lot of people do really well with home health care nursing, but if you can have a family member who loves you, who can come in and check on you and take care of you, that's a great thing because as people get older, that's really what they need. They need that social interaction. They need good health care. They don't need to have their bank account cleared out by unnecessary taxes. And I think this is going to do a lot of good, specifically this aspect of this bill for people who are retired and living on these fixed incomes. And hopefully this gives, you know, a lot of inspiration and encouragement to those of you out there listening who are starting to improve your retirement, maybe plan for your retirement that's coming up in a year or two. And we're excited that for a lot of you out there, retirement just got a little bit easier.

Speaker3:
Yeah, I agree 1,000% with everything you said in 1984. Tip O'Neill basically doted and applied leverage to Ronald Reagan to start implementing taxation on Social Security so that they could balance the budget and to get that that year's, that 1984 budget through it was just typical tax spend liberals because they controlled the House for so long. It was awful. I think it's been an attack on retirees and there and I think it's really stupid on the Democrats part, because they're the largest voting bloc. And I realize that there's a lot of millennials that are a large voting bloc as well. But the baby boomers are the largest voting bloc right now, and it's significant. Um, but really, just to kind of sum it up here, thanks to Donald Trump, to President Trump, more retirees can now keep more of what they earned. Number two is they can eliminate unnecessary taxes. And number three is they can enjoy peace of mind every spring with a reliable refund. That is fantastic. It's time to celebrate retirement, in my opinion. And also Sam's opinion. I'm going to speak for him here, not fear it. And with a big beautiful bill, that future is finally within reach that got signed into law. You know, in on the white House steps basically on July 4th. And I just think it's fantastic. I think Donald Trump is the ultimate marketer, but he also really respects his elders, and he respects the people that deserve to save their money and to hold on to their money and not let that money slip away. And we paid in forever and ever and ever. And I'm so glad that we can. We're now going to be able to give $6,000 to an individual, or $12,000 to married couples that are making it.

Speaker3:
$150,000 or less or individuals making $75,000 or less. But also, I'm really passionate about this $3,000 tax credit for unpaid caregivers. I think that's a really big deal as well. And do not sleep on this. Matching and pressure to try to reduce property taxes for seniors. Do not sleep on that because it is a big deal. People are trying to stay in their homes. They want to retire and and live in place and have their kids come back to the family home. And, um, it's just a big deal. And for for people to be giving ten, 20% of their of their income every year that's coming in to property taxes, it's just wrong. And I think that's another really big part of the big beautiful bill. We have this entire report. Um, so if you want to reach out to us and just we can email it to you. Just send me an email at Ford at Active Wealth. Com. I'll send you this 1100 word report. It's like a 1083. It's almost 1100 words. It's four pages. It's quick read. There's a lot of bullet points to it. Um, and if you want to get everything that that you've got coming to you, go ahead and send me an email at Ford at Active Wealth. Com it's at Active Wealth com. You can also call us at (770) 685-1777 or reach out to us at retirement results.com. Sam, I'll give you kind of the final word on this. We've gone through so much of it. Um, but I'm super excited about about this big, beautiful bill, obviously for our retirees. And we're just happy to share it today.

Speaker4:
Yeah. And I think this bill being signed, um, with this aspect of Social Security, it gets you closer to what Social Security should be about, which is our larger community as a nation. The younger folks like us who are still working, helping take care of those who worked and and build our nation before us and giving them relief with things like taxes, health care expenses. It really just makes sense. I think that's what being a community is all about. I think that is, you know, good government out there is giving relief to the people. So when we come back forward, believe it or not, half of 2025 is already behind us. We have a market update to share and a whole lot more. You're listening to retirement results.

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

Speaker6:
You are going to see a crack in the bond market okay. It is going to happen. And I tell this to my regulators, some of you who are in this room, I'm telling you it's going to happen and you're going to panic. I'm not going to panic.

Speaker3:
Did you hear that? That was Jamie Dimon warning all of us about serious trouble ahead in the bond market. Hi, I'm Ford Stokes, president of active wealth Management and host of the Retirement Results radio show. If you're holding bonds in your retirement portfolio, it's time to rethink your strategy. Our team at Active Wealth can help you replace those bonds, avoid market risk, and still get market like gains without risking your principal. You could get a bonus on your investment. Enjoy gains when the market grows. Generate lifetime income during retirement, all without bond market exposure. Visit Active wealth. Com right now to schedule a free consultation that's active wealth.

Speaker1:
Com investment advisory services offered through Brookstone Capital Management LLC a registered investment advisor.

Speaker2:
Visit retirement results to schedule your free, no obligation consultation today. Now back to the show.

Speaker3:
And welcome back to Retirement results. Result drivers on Ford Stokes, your chief financial advisor got Sam Davis here with us on the mic. He's our co-host and senior financial advisor. Um, Sam, you've got a market update and I think you've got a financial wisdom quote of the week for us as well.

Speaker7:
And now for some financial wisdom. It's time for the quote of the week.

Speaker4:
For this week's Financial wisdom quote of the week comes to us from author Stephen Covey. He's got a lot of great quotes. Yeah, he once said, to achieve goals you've never achieved before, you need to start doing things you've never done before. You know, this also reminds me of another quote for that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting a different result. If you're trying to achieve something different, a new goal, you're going to have to do something a little different. We see this a lot with people who are making that shift to retirement, and they're shifting from an accumulation mindset and an investor mindset into a mindset and actually spending down the money. Believe it or not, that's a challenge for a lot of people. They've saved more money than they've ever had before, and they're actually struggling to actually write some of those checks and spend the money and do the things they enjoy. So once again, Stephen Covey, to achieve goals you've never achieved before, you need to start doing things you've never done before.

Speaker3:
Yeah, I would say, you know, if you're in that retirement red zone five years before retirement, five years after retirement, and you're going from accumulation to de cumulation and you're trying to figure out how much can you spend, how much can you really enjoy life, how much can you travel and all that kind of stuff? Um, I've got several people that I used to work with, um, that are just now retired. And they were, you know, they were my superiors or whatever, and they've got a good amount of money and they're going to travel, you know, 17 days in July, and they're super excited about it, but they're going to not travel for another couple of months, say, back up, let the Social Security checks and the annuity checks come in and then save up and then go travel again about 2 or 3 months later, and some of them actually could probably afford to travel more. Um, but they, they want to save for the rainy day. And some of her grandkids or or children or people that that live through the depression and, and so they're trying to make sure that they're not overspending. But if you've got questions about what do you need to do during your decommission phase or that retirement phase of your life, I'd encourage you to reach out to us at Retirement Results. Com click that schedule a consultation button in the upper right corner. You can look directly into my calendar and we'll get started right away to help you out. And Sam, you've also got kind of that Q2 market update, um, that came from Mark Gloria, our chief investment officer, as well.

Speaker2:
Your active wealth market update.

Speaker4:
Yeah, believe it or not, half of 2025 is already behind us as we push into the second half of the year and the second half of summer, markets did rebound sharply. In the second quarter, we had a volatile Q1, easing trade tensions and stronger than expected earnings helped the S&P 500 rise 10.8% in Q2. So that was good. We recovered from that tariff tantrum back in April. International stocks led performance boosted by a weaker US dollar. Policy uncertainty also remains a theme. We've seen some shifting trade policies. Potential new tariffs and inflation expectations continue to shape market sentiment. The fed is taking a wait and see approach, holding rates steady as it monitors inflation data. And really we recommend stay focused on what you can control. Volatility may and likely will continue, but long term strategies remain effective. You know keep a good idea in mind of what your time horizon is for different investments and incorporate that into your strategy. And as always, a diversified portfolio. Aligned with your goals is the best defense against market swings. And for that's really kind of the overview of Q2. A lot of recovery from that tariff tantrum and helping people make sure that they can manage that volatility, but also take advantage of any market gains.

Speaker3:
Well, it's interesting, too, that the S&P 500 was up 10.6% in Q2, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 17.8%. Kind of returning us almost to those pre Q1 levels. Um, so it was a pretty big deal there and pretty excited about where we're headed. Um, you know, just on everything with Donald Trump with a big beautiful bill getting done with those tax levels being kind of set in place, but also all the help that is being given to people that have worked hard to save their money and have paid money in and not rob those people of that money, and trying to get that 6000, $12,000 tax credit back, um, to individuals and married couples. If you make $75,000 individual or $150,000 as a married couple for Social Security, I'm repeating it a lot today because I'm super excited about it. Sam, I'm I'm just excited that the government is finally getting things right right now. And, you know, it also, so many of our listeners, we just want to thank you for making us the number one listen to radio show on Am 920. The answer. And also we're growing in audience and volume on WD you and Around the Lake in Gainesville. Thank you guys and gals for listening to us. We appreciate it. We encourage you to be a first time caller or go ahead and reach out to us at (770) 685-1777 again (770) 685-1777. And we're happy to get started right away to help you better protect your hard earned and hard saved wealth, and also to grow that money as well. Sam, we've got this 12 steps for people 5 to 10 years out from retirement, uh, that I think we ought to go through as well.

Speaker4:
Yeah. I think it's important to say we work with folks who are young. We have got clients who are in their 30s and their 40s. Uh, we've also got retirees who our clients in their 80s, 90s and older. Um, but most of the people we work with, most of you out there who are giving us a call looking for some help with retirement are about 5 to 10 years away from retirement, and you're in your final years of work. You're probably thinking, man, I wish I could retire just any week I wanted now, and this 12 step guide is really for you out there. If you're 5 to 10 years away from retirement or even a few years away, but you need to make some adjustments to set yourself up for success in the future. These 12 steps are for you. And so for step number one, for all of you out there is find more money and save it. You're a pre retiree. This is really your last chance to start to accumulate some more savings, you need to retire comfortably. You could probably surprise yourself with how much you can save, even if you're a few years away from retirement. Towards the end of your career, hopefully you're making more money than you ever have before. Why not reinvest some of that and pay yourself first down the line in retirement? A few things you can do to find some more money. Cut expenses. Take any tax returns. You get bonuses, raises, inheritances, or any other surprise money. Save that. Pay yourself first for the future. Try to create some passive income and just save as much as possible. That's step one.

Speaker3:
Yeah. I mean, you know, as Benjamin Franklin said, you know, penny saved is a penny earned. You ought to look at it. I mean, look at all the old subscriptions you've got. You know, and also, if you want to try to change things, change your account number at your bank and or change banks, and that'll get rid of subscriptions just because they won't be able to build your credit card. I mean, you don't have to pay rocket money or anything else to do that. So let's just do everything you can to save as much money as we can and, and try to fill in those holes that are, um, leaking out of the bucket. Right. And number two is we want to max out catch up contributions as well, if we can. Uh, you know, we're saving 15% on our catch up provisions. Hope you can, too. But at least try to save at least 6% and at least save up to the match, because, you know, most financial advisors and we can't do it either is get you 100% match, and that's 100% growth in your money. If your employer is going to match you, let's say, up to 3%, you should be setting aside at least 3% on a four way match, right? That you should at least be doing that. Um, but in my opinion, especially if you're over 50, you should be saving 10 to 15% every year. And if you can get to 20, all the better. Um. Also reminder here too you can invest generally, as long as you're not over funding your four and K. You generally can also save money into a Roth IRA or an IRA, depending on your income level. Um, an additional 7 or 8000, depending on your age. Um, and that would be another nice way to spike up those savings.

Speaker4:
Yeah. Step number three. Don't rely solely on that 401 K or that IRA. You know you can save money. Take advantage of those catch up contributions. Don't let your savings stop there. If you can save more. Go ahead and invest in a taxable investment account. You'll be happy to have that extra cash later. You know, if if your work offers something great. But don't let you know your work plan. Limit what your goals are. Continue to save for retirement. That's step number three. And when we come back, we're going to get to the rest of this list forward. As we wrap up retirement results, if you missed part of today's show, go ahead and find us wherever you listen to podcasts. We're on your favorite podcast app. Just search retirement results and Ford and I will be right back.

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

Speaker8:
Don't you know if they move too quick or they're falling down like a domino? And by the night I got the money fixed.

Speaker1:
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.

Speaker6:
You are going to see a crack in the bond market, okay, it is going to happen. And I tell this to my regulator, some of you in this room, I'm telling you what's going to happen. And you're going to panic. I'm not going to panic.

Speaker3:
Did you hear that? That was Jamie Dimon warning all of us about serious trouble ahead in the bond market. Hi, I'm Ford Stokes, president of active wealth management and host of the Retirement Results radio show. If you're holding bonds, your retirement portfolio, it's time to rethink your strategy. Our team at Active Wealth can help you replace those bonds, avoid market risk, and still get market like gains without risking your principal. You could get a bonus on your investment. Enjoy gains when the market grows. Generate lifetime income during retirement, all without bond market exposure. Visit Active wealth. Com right now to schedule a free consultation that's active wealth.

Speaker1:
Com investment advisory services offered through Brookstone Capital Management LLC a registered investment advisor.

Speaker2:
This part of today show retirement results is available wherever you listen to podcasts and online at Retirement Results.

Speaker3:
And welcome back results. Drivers to retirement results on Ford Stokes and chief financial advisor Sam Davis here with us, our senior financial advisor and co-host. We're talking about the 12 steps you can take as a retiree when you're 5 to 10 years away from retirement. We've gone through the first three and Sam, number four is get rid of debt. You know debt can be a problem for retirement. It's best to to split from the masses and try hard to pay it off before you stop working. Let's do everything we can to just pay off that debt. So let's try to get the debt paid down as much as we can.

Speaker4:
Yeah. Number five is have a conversation with your spouse. A recent survey from Fidelity Investments found that finances and retirement planning are difficult subjects for married couples. In fact, the survey went on to reveal that fewer than half of the couples make routine financial decisions, such as budgeting and paying bills together, and only 38% of couples discuss their investment and savings strategies for retirement. And often for. I think we're seeing couples have these conversations for the very first time. And that's okay, because we're just glad they're having the conversation and starting to plan. Other research finds that couples might not even be on the same page with how they want to spend their time in retirement. This lack of communication is likely to prove problematic. So simply put, have a conversation with your spouse and make it fun. It doesn't have to be all spreadsheets and statements. It should also be, hey, what do we want to do in retirement? Where do we want to be? Where can we live? That's going to set us up to spend more time with the kids and grandkids, and enjoy our time together in retirement? So have that conversation.

Speaker3:
Yeah. I mean, we talk about it all the time, probably more than my wife wants me to, but we try to set a lot of money aside and and try to plan for the rainy day. We've got two girls going to Auburn next year and out of state tuition. And believe me, it's raining. It is going to be like $100,000 a year for us for the next four years. We've got a good amount of it saved up. We've got over half of it saved. But, um, you know, we're just trying to save for the other half. And it's it is not an insignificant amount of money, but we're also trying to save retirement at the same time. And Diana hasn't stopped her for on k matching at 15%. And so and I'm saving and setting money aside as well. So we're not just, hey, we're going to fund college and never and just forget about retirement. We're keeping going on that. So I encourage you to do the same. Number six on our list is budget, inventory, current spending and project into the future. Sam, as you say all the time, you know you need to have a budget because you need to plan where you're going to spend your money and not wonder where your money went. And so you want to direct where you want your money to go. When budgeting for retirement, consider that your costs likely are going to vary at times. You might have a year where you need to buy a car, or, you know, a year where you may have to help out on a rehearsal dinner or a wedding for one of the grandkids, or whatever that looks like, you're going to have some things that come up or renovations. A lot of people, when they come into our office and they've got plans for that money and, um, and they have plans for what's going to happen, um, over the next 12, 18, 24 months. They can see it down the road. And we talk about that when they come in. Uh, what's number seven on our list?

Speaker4:
Number seven is plan and understand how out-of-pocket medical costs and long term care could affect your retirement. If you are in that retirement red zone 5 to 10 years from retirement, you do need to think carefully about your future health care costs. There are three specific categories of spending you need to be thinking about. One is early retirement health care. That's all of you out there who are considering retiring before 65. Understand that every year you have to pay for your own health insurance out of pocket before you get to Medicare age at 65. That's going to be a significant expense to consider. You can certainly do it. We help people do it all the time. But you need to understand that if you leave your work, you're going to lose your work based health care plan. And if that's what is providing the health care for you and your spouse, you're going to need to factor that into your budget. Also, Medicare, you're mistaken if you think Medicare is going to pay for everything. The average couple who retired in 2024 at age 65, may need approximately $315,000 saved. That's after tax to cover health care expenses in retirement. Also, long term care. Not everybody's going to need long term care, but everybody needs a plan for how they're going to pay for it. So just understand health care expenses do play a role in retirement.

Speaker3:
Yeah. Also there's a two year lookback on Medicare, so be careful about that. Um, this next one, it kind of works into it. You want to maintain the right asset allocation and start income planning. You want to plan for that accumulation phase. You want to consider bond replacement strategy. You want to do. You know, with replacing bonds with fixed index annuities, you want to reduce the amount of advisory and portfolio fees you're going to pay during retirement. You also want to reduce the taxes that will lead into the next one. And I'll let you cover Sam, but let's get going. On retirement income planning. And also specifically, let's carve out 20 to 40% of the portfolio for income planning, where you can let the rest of the portfolio grow and grow aggressively, where you can leave it alone, set it, forget it. But we're we implement tactical asset allocation here and strategic allocation. But we're not writing the lowest the lows of the market. We're trying to rebalance at least on a monthly basis with a significant portion of the portfolios that we manage. And I encourage you to reach out to us at (770) 685-1777 or visit retirement results. Com if you want to get started on the right asset allocation plan with a correct income plan as well.

Speaker4:
Yes. Step number nine, for those of you out there who are a few years away from retirement, is take some time to do some retirement tax planning and you can work with a professional. You can give us a call and you can go to our website. We really help when it comes to building a tax efficient plan for how you're going to receive your income in retirement. You want to make sure that, like you were just saying for you've got your asset allocation right. You've placed investments in the right accounts, like, for example, tax efficient assets like index funds might be better suited for your taxable accounts. Your income producing investments could go into tax deferred or Roth accounts. You just want to have a plan. You know, most of you out there listening are probably paying between 15 and 30% or more of your income in taxes. Build a tax efficient plan for your retirement and see how much you can save.

Speaker3:
Yeah, I mean, so many of you probably do not want to be paying taxes 20 years after you stopped working. We can help you do that. We can help you eliminate and delete the IRS, or being your partner in retirement with a strategic Roth ladder conversion plan. Not all plans are the same. It's not a one size fits all kind of a deal. Reach out to us at (770) 685-1777 to get started on your strategic Roth ladder conversion plan today. Number ten is consider your own needs for helping kids and aging parents. Um, a lot of us are being considered the sandwich generation. Us Gen Xers, our grandparents or our parents are living longer, so we're there to take care of those aging parents. And we're also parents that are really invested in our kids and and done all the things and have the travel, baseball, the travel, cheer, paying for college. The college is more expensive than ever. So all those things you need to take into account, but you need to do what the airlines tell you to put the oxygen mask on yourself before helping others. So that way you can do a great job helping others. If you take your assets down to zero, You're going to be a burden on your kids, and let's do everything we can to avoid that.

Speaker4:
Number 11 is really that smart vision that we're often talking about. If you're a regular listener to our radio show and our podcast, it's know what you're going to do in retirement. It's easy to get wrapped up in the financial aspects, looking at statements, looking at spreadsheets. But you should also have a plan for what you want to do in retirement. You know, as far as what do you actually want to do? Where do you want to be? Who do you want to spend that time with? You know, what hobbies do you want to spend more time on? Do you want to start a business? Do you want to continue a business that you've already been growing? The happiest retirees have a purpose. They've got focused interests. They're spending time with their loved ones. So know what you're going to do. Those are your goals. And we can design a plan to help you reach what those goals are.

Speaker3:
Yeah. You really need to know what you're doing. Who are you with and how are you going to fund it? So just reach out to us at Retirement results.com. We'll help you get started on funding that vision for your retirement. And number 12 is set a date and celebrate it. And we we try to celebrate our client's retirement dates all the time. Reach out to us. Your you know, let's make your future actually concrete. If you've got questions like, hey, can I retire? Can I not retire? We're getting more and more questions like that from people. Go ahead and reach out to us at (770) 685-1777, or reach out to us at retirement results. Com.

Speaker9:
It's the final countdown.

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

Speaker9:
The final countdown.

Speaker3:
On this week's show, we celebrated the big beautiful bill. We celebrated a $6,000 tax credit for individuals and a $12,000 tax credit for couples. If you're under the income limits of 75,000 for individuals and $150,000 for married couples, there's also pressure and refunding and matching funds to reduce property taxes for seniors as well. All of that is fantastic news as part of that big, beautiful bill. We also gave you a list of 12 things to do when you retire when you're 5 to 10 years out. 12 things you need to do to really get prepared for retirement. We've got my article on the big beautiful bill and this 12 step report on what to do when you're 5 to 10 years out of retirement. Absolutely. For free. All you got to do is reach out to me at ford@activewear.com. You can email me at ford@activewear.com. We'll send you both of these free reports. Absolutely no cost to you. Or you can call us at (770) 685-1777. Remember, if you're looking for retirement information, if you're going to be a bear, be a grizzly. Be as aggressive as you can and seek as much information you can. Thanks for listening to your retirement results. Give us a call. Let us help you get started in protecting and growing your hard earned wealth for a successful retirement. 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. Investment advisory services offered through Brookstone Capital Management, LLC, VCM, a registered investment Advisor, PCM and Active Wealth Management are independent of each other. Insurance products and services are not offered through BCR, 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 K item for. For additional information.

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

Speaker4:
And welcome to the Retirement Results Bonus segment for all of our listeners to the Retirement Results Podcast, and also for our radio audience up and around the lake in North Atlanta. Hope you're having a fantastic summer. Ford. We're here to talk with our last few minutes about an opportunity to do a little bit better, especially with your safe money that's out there. We get a lot of calls from folks that have money in bank CDs. They have money in older annuities, maybe just sitting in cash in their bank accounts, or maybe in a money market account earning a few percent. But we want to talk a little bit how just like you would refinance your home. Why don't you refinance your safe money, refinance some of those safe bank CDs, those annuities, and get a little bit better return with some of the great products that are available right now?

Speaker3:
Yeah, some of the people that have annuities that are 5 or 10 years old or longer, they don't have the same rates that are being paid out right now. So if you were if you've ever refinanced your home, why wouldn't you refinance your safe money, that fixed income money to get a higher rate of return, to pay you more money later, or pay you more money immediately? Let me give you some examples of some of those rates of return that we can get you. We have multiyear guaranteed annuities that are paying out 5.85% in a 2 or 3 year annuity. That's just and you just lock up your money for 2 or 3 years, you get your money back. Also, what's great about those migas and or or any annuity is you don't pay any taxes on it until you take withdrawals or until you surrender the policy. Whereas with a bank CD you have to you actually get a 1099 on the interest that's generated for that bank CD each year, even if you don't take any income from that bank CD. Next is these fixed indexed annuity rates are significant right now with the ten year US Treasury kind of yielding over 4.2%. Right now they're able to pay triple. It's about triple what it's been throughout my career in the financial and insurance industry.

Speaker3:
It's usually averages are the ten year US Treasury averages yield around 1.4 to 1.8%, and they use ten year US treasuries to generate the interest to help you get the growth and invest in options on these underlying indexes that are tied and linked to your money. And with these hybrid fixed index annuity products. Let me give you an example of how this benefits you. So if the ten year US Treasury is paying out over 4.2% that the annuity companies can afford to buy three times the amount of options, then they typically were able to buy with that interest. So what that's netted is 15 to 27% immediate bonus rates, whether it's into the income account or the actual account value. And then also we're seeing 8% guaranteed interest each and every year that you defer withdrawals with the nationwide peak. Ten going into the income account. And Sam one one product you're really passionate about the SPDR Synergy Choice Bonus and the the SPDR Synergy Choice Max that's paying out a 15% bonus and 75% of how the Invesco QK performs without any downside financial market risk. And the Max is paying out 113% of how the Invesco QQ does. You'd rather be in that than just invested in the QQ?

Speaker4:
Yeah, absolutely. For those of you out there, whether or not you're actually invested in that Invesco QK ETF. It follows a lot of Nasdaq stocks and tech stocks. You know those Fang stocks is how they'll refer to them sometimes. If you're invested in those heavily with your portfolio. And a lot of you are, particularly those of you who are still working and you're looking for growth in your stocks and your equity investments, it really makes a lot of sense to diversify and continue to get market like gains that follow the performance of those companies, and an index like the Invesco QK, with the 100% principal protection and 100% reserve requirement, knowing that you will not retreat, but you'll continue to participate in the gains of a stock index that you're already invested in and fully exposed to. So if you're invested in the QQ or Nasdaq stocks like that, it makes a lot of sense to diversify and put a protective shield around a portion of those investments.

Speaker3:
If you want to get 8% guaranteed interest, that's more than what you're getting with a bank CD. If you want to get 15, 20 or even 27% immediate bonus on your money. Some of these are account value bonuses that are going to be vested over the ten year life of the annuity. That's a big deal, too. If you want to get 75 to 113% of how the Invesco QK performs without any downside market risk. That's another reason to do it. If you want to get 310% of how the BNP Paribas Global Factor Index performs with that nationwide peak ten product, that goes into the account value. So you're getting 3.1 x how the index performs over a two year period. If you want to get that kind of growth, then I would encourage you to reach out to us at retirement results. Com forward slash plan. That's retirement results. Com forward slash plan or reach out to us at 706851777. Or just go to retirement. Com and click that schedule consultation button and we'll get started right away.

Speaker4:
Yeah thanks Ford. And I'd really just encourage everyone out there to take the time to see if you can refinance some of that safe money, whether it be your money that's sitting in cash or a bank, CD or even an older annuity. Take a look at what a few of these products could do for you and your situation. We'd be happy to meet with you virtually over the phone in our office, whatever you prefer, and put together an illustration to show you what this might look like in your plan. If you missed part of today's show. Check us out on the Retirement Results podcast and thank you so much for listening to retirement results.

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

Speaker8:
Maybe.

Speaker6:
You are going to see a crack in the bond market, okay? It is going to happen. And I tell this to my regulators, some of you who are in this room, I'm telling you it's going to happen and you're going to panic. I'm not going to panic.

Speaker3:
Did you hear that? That was Jamie Dimon warning all of us about serious trouble ahead in the bond market. Hi, I'm Ford Stokes, president of active wealth management and host of the Retirement Results radio show. If you're holding bonds in your retirement portfolio, it's time to rethink your strategy. Our team at Active Wealth can help you replace those bonds, avoid market risk, and still get market like gains without risking your principal. You could get a bonus on your investment. Enjoy gains when the market grows. Generate lifetime income during retirement, all without bond market exposure. Visit Active Wealth Comm right now to schedule a free consultation that's Active Wealth.

Speaker1:
Investment advisory services offered through Brookstone Capital Management LLC, a registered investment advisor.

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