Is Your Investment Strategy Age Appropriate?

5.16.25: Audio automatically transcribed by Sonix

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

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

Speaker2:
Welcome to Retirement Results, the national radio show and podcast for listeners like you who want to protect and grow their hard earned money. In a world filled with so much uncertainty and financial risk, we seek to cut through the noise and build successful plans for hard working Americans on their road to financial freedom. Retirement results is powered by Active Wealth Management, a team of fiduciary advisors who always place your needs first. And now your host. He's a registered social security analyst, member of the Forbes Finance Council, and author of multiple books on retirement planning. Here's your chief financial adviser? Ford. Stokes.

Speaker3:
And welcome to retirement. Results. Result drivers on Fort Stokes. Your chief financial advisor got Sam Davis here with us is our co-host and senior financial advisor with Active wealth management. Again, the advisors with active wealth management were the ones that power retirement results. And you the listeners, are our result drivers. We're looking to build that tax efficient, fee efficient and market efficient portfolio. Sam, say hello to the folks.

Speaker4:
Welcome to the weekend result drivers. So happy that you chosen once again to tune in. Driving around Atlanta, listening on a or on UN or on any of your favorite podcast apps on our podcast feed. Uh, definitely love our podcast listeners as well. And Ford, we've got some different subject matter this week. We've got the market's back up. We're actually back to even on the year now, and a lot of really interesting topics for the pre-retirees and retirees out there to help you get the retirement results you deserve.

Speaker3:
Yeah, super excited about this past week. Um, congratulations to President Donald J. Trump on the trade deal that got done with the UK. And then also with the 90 day stay on, what's going on with China? China blinked and capitulated. We I've I've seen some videos before that on my Twitter feed on my feed. And it was remarkable. There were people protesting in the streets. Um, they had 60 million people that were suddenly out of work, uh, in China. And there were the the docks were just piling up and piling up. And it was basically an embargo between the two countries. And so China really blinked. They also took a lot of their non-tariff driven restrictions to the markets, um, off. And just to make sure that everything was fine and that it's a good environment because it was literally looking like an end of regime type of behavior coming from President XI Jinping. Presidency. They weren't even disclosing unemployment numbers anymore. Their Chinese markets and their financial markets were not disclosing information. It was really interesting. But what else is fantastic is how much our own markets came up. Specifically the Nasdaq, the S&P 500, the Dow and the Wilshire 5000, the Russell 2000. All are up and many are back to even territory for the year. The Dow is close to being up at its record high which is fantastic. And Sam, we got a little audio from our president President Donald J. Trump go ahead and play that.

Speaker5:
This country will hit a point that, uh, you better go out and buy stock. Now let me tell you this, this country will will be like a rocket ship that go straight up. This is going to be numbers that nobody's ever seen before.

Speaker3:
There's a bunch of different ways to really take advantage of this market. One is just invest and stay invested. But whether you're in a tactically managed portfolio or strategically managed portfolio, or you're just buying individual stocks that you really like that you've researched and other people have researched for you. Structured notes. We're going to mention what our structured note is offered for this month, which is a really great time to go ahead and try to step into a structured note ladder with five notes in a row. We're going to talk through that in subsequent segments today. But then also you can go safe if you want to stay safe. You can still replace the bonds in your portfolio with fixed indexed annuities. We've got an offer of three of them. We're going to go into the rates and returns of those three fixed indexed annuities that are that we offer out of the hundreds that are available to us, the three that we really like, the very, very best. We're going to share those in segment 3 or 4 here. But it is really great news to hear from your president. Go ahead and buy go out and buy stock now because you're going to see numbers you've never seen. And I saw another video where, um, a deck of billionaire was talking. He's like, you know, the only place where I can invest is actually the United States.

Speaker3:
I can't invest in Europe because there's really no growth in Europe. There's only regulation in Europe. Africa is a non-starter. South America is really too much concern with fraud and Asia. It's tough to penetrate those markets. So they're left with investing in the United States. So the investment continues into us, the US markets. And um, hopefully each and every one of you can take advantage of that. On today's show, we're also going to talk about is your investment strategy age appropriate? And we're going to have answers to common retirement questions. So here's a quick overview of the of the things we're going to talk about today. We're going to talk about the structure that we're offering. We're also going to discuss are you just how to prepare your portfolio for Decumulation and how to manage your decumulation phase during retirement? When you're working, you're in the accumulation phase, but there is a decumulation phase when you actually need to take income from your assets. And there's efficient ways to do that will go into that. It's also it's never too late. How Pre-retirees can catch up and still live a successful retirement. Answering your Social Security questions, we're going to learn all about your income, benefits, and also age appropriate investing with recommended strategies for every phase of life. And Sam, go ahead and share our financial wisdom. Quote of the week.

Speaker6:
And now for some financial wisdom. It's time for the quote of the week.

Speaker7:
This week's quote of the week comes from.

Speaker4:
Author Jim Rohn, and Jim Rohn has got a lot of great quotes. This one is your income is directly related to your philosophy, not the economy. And Ford, I think this is a good one for this week. There's been a lot of ups and downs this year, but individuals out there who have a balanced strategy that makes sure that their income is protected in retirement, they've established a line that, hey, I'm not going to retreat on this percentage of my portfolio. I've worked hard for decades. This is a percentage I am not willing to lose. And once you have your income needs met, it really frees you up to actually take some risks in the market. And like you're saying, invest in those strong, large cap US companies and continue to invest for growth even when you're in your 50s, 60s or even in your 70s, you can afford to do that and really build that growth for future generations and for your future in retirement if you have your income needs met.

Speaker3:
Yeah. I also like, um, I saw another stat, uh, that was on CNBC and also Fox News, and it was also on my Twitter feed too. Um, it was really interesting since the day that Tim Walz was celebrating Tesla stock being down, Tesla stock has increased 35%. So goes to show you find the bottom and buy it. Right. So um, now let's talk about how to manage that decumulation phase for your end retirement. Decumulation is the process you go through during retirement where you shift your focus from saving, which is the accumulation, and then to using your assets to generate necessary income that you're going to need to meet your income expense needs during retirement. Um, accumulation. You're saving for retirement. You've got net cash contributions. Hopefully every two weeks in your 41K, or you're also adding additional money after you've met all your expense obligations. You focus on asset growth as well, whether you're going to buy stock or buy mutual funds or ETFs. Hopefully you're investing with us. And we use exchange traded funds, which are much more efficient than mutual funds to activate your portfolio. And then also you're going to have a longer term investment horizon on that. And Sam, why don't you go through what what happens in the decumulation phase?

Speaker4:
Yeah, I think just important to understand that the techniques and the strategies that got you to accumulate your nest egg, it's not the best approach when you actually start harvesting those fields, actually accumulating a little bit. Um, you know, a lot of baby boomers are entering retirement. More than 11,000 of you out there are retiring every single day. It's a big number. Uh, the problem is most people approaching retirement today are uncertain how they're going to manage their assets and generate that consistent income without outliving their money. You know, folks who are fully invested in the stock market or have a little bit too much risk on the table through the first few months of the year forward, I imagine they were letting the market conditions and the headlines really dictate how they felt. You don't want to be in a situation where you're seeing the market go down, because it will. The market goes up and the market goes down. You don't want to be hoarding that cash and choosing to maybe not take that vacation or not buy that new truck or whatever it is that you want to do during retirement just because the market's down. In fact, a recent Blackrock survey found only 36% of Americans are confident they'll have the income they need in retirement. And Ford. Often we see that people have plenty of assets to generate the income they need in retirement. They just don't have the right strategies in place. They haven't had that opportunity where they sit down with a licensed professional and actually see in writing for the very first time what their retirement nest egg can do for them.

Speaker3:
You and I have so many folks that have been invested into the nationwide peak ten some of the SPDR. A lot of folks also are in that North American charter plus 14 product. And a lot of anniversaries have come up, um, because these are two year protection period products and they've got two year point to points, and they've had significant growth over the two years. And we've seen from .96 percent all the way up to really like 24.757576%. That's literally the number. It was like like repeated. We got like one minute left in this segment when we come back from the break. What I want to talk about is Decumulation solution. Um, I want to give you some ideas on how to really do a great job efficiently and also with peace of mind and a lot less stress. Um, when you're trying to take money out of your assets to make sure you can live on also. Many of you are trying to figure out, okay, if I've got Social Security fraud and I'm taking 4% out of my assets with that 4% withdrawal rate, the 4% rule, I don't know if I can make it on that. Well, if if you're concerned about that, then I'd definitely want you to come back from after the break, because we're going to give you a great solution to be able to do that. You're listening to retirement Results right here on Am 920. The answer and WD.

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

Speaker8:
Making a living the old hard way.

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

Speaker3:
Welcome back to retirement results. I'm Fort Stokes, your chief financial advisor. Got Sam Davis here with us, our senior financial advisor and co-host. And Sam and I were just talking about Decumulation phase in retirement and also the accumulation phase in segment one. And at the break, we kind of went through a little bit on the Decumulation solutions. So I want to kind of go into that right now. Research from the Stanford Center on Longevity looked at ways investors can potentially assess and combine a mixture of investments and insurance products against different retirement income goals. And they evaluated systematic withdrawal plans for investment portfolios and annuities against the following criteria. So they looked at the hey, here's the amount of income, here's the amount of income we need to meet our expenses. Then we want to access of savings pre and post retirement protection so that that that post retirement protection is important. But even the pre is as well. And a lot of people are starting to take like those old four K's and those orphan four K's and rolling those into products like the Aspida synergy choice bonus ten, where they're getting 75% of how the Q-q-q does without any downside risk. Now a speed is getting 25% of that growth, but they're also protecting your money 100%.

Speaker3:
Um, that's a pretty good situation. And then inflation protection and then also a lifetime guarantee. So those are the criteria that the Stanford Center on Longevity looked at. One of the key findings from their research was that from a purely financial perspective, annuities often provide higher yearly income as compared to systematically withdrawing from investment assets. So we talk about the 4% rule all the time here. 4% rule basically says if you're taking out 4% from your IRA or your or your, um, your Roth IRA or your investment accounts, you really need to take just 4% and no more and let the rest of that money grow. And you likely won't run out of money during retirement or ever. You'll just keep going. The problem is, a lot of people find it that it's difficult to stay within a 4% withdrawal rate. A lot of financial advisors these days are actually calling it more like a 3.2% rule, where you really can only take out 3.2%. A lot of people can't make it on that. And so what I would say is we want to do everything we can to try to spike the income portion of our assets, and the best way to do that is to invest in a fixed index annuity. And we've got clients that invested in the nationwide peak ten, two years ago, and they're not set to turn on the income.

Speaker3:
But if they were to turn on the income, let's say, you know, the first day of day three, they're getting eight, nine, 10% of their original premium. That's a lot more than 4% of your original premium. Now they've had growth and they've got income bonus of 20%. They also got 8% guaranteed interest roll up over the last two years. That really helps get that to that level. But if all you had to do was wait two years to go from 4% withdrawal rate to 8 to 10% withdrawal rate on a portion of your assets, let's say it's 20 to 40%. Why wouldn't you? I mean, Sam, your thoughts for also your clients. I know you've got some clients that are extremely appreciative, um, even some younger clients. Your thoughts on just this strategy to take like, 20 to 40% of your assets, replace the bonds in the portfolio. Delete any advisory fees because there's no advisory fees with a fixed index annuity, because the insurance company pays us a commission. That's our cost of sales and marketing. But how much of a better situation is it for income, specifically in that decumulation phase for these clients?

Speaker4:
Yeah. Well, I mean, not only did the Stanford Center on Longevity find it providing highly yearly income, which that's number one right there. You just gave yourself a raise in retirement. That's a big win. Um, but you just made the point there. I mean, this is a portion of your portfolio. This decumulation solution for your retirement should not be something that the entirety of your portfolio is going towards. And if you have somebody out there that has in the past suggested that you put a majority of your retirement assets into annuity, that's something that I would recommend. You give us a call and we do an annuity x ray, or we take a look at what that person is suggesting, because you can do this with a portion of your portfolio typically like you said, for 20 to 40% is a common range that we find. And I would argue that the benefits go beyond just higher yearly income. I think psychologically, knowing what that check is going to be each and every month. I mean, it's very similar to Social Security. You have a good idea of what your check is going to be each and every month for the future. Every year you might get a little bit of a raise with the cost of living adjustments through these fixed indexed annuities after the protection periods. Often they're two years. You can get yourself a little bit of a raise for the future depending on how that index performs. And so I just think it's a great solution for people to make sure their income is protected. And then just mentally knowing that those checks are going to keep coming every single month.

Speaker3:
And I want to go through quickly just some features again for these three products. And then we can talk through um, the question on is it too late to start investing for retirement as well? One specific topic here. Let's say you feel like you've done okay, but you could have done better on saving and putting money away. A fixed index annuity is a great way to catch up on that income side, and really make sure that you can live the same retirement lifestyle that your friends are, and go travel and do all the things you need to do. You just put a higher percentage into it. Maybe you get to 50% or 50 all the way up to 70% annuities on your portfolio. It's really not suitable for you to have more than 70% in fixed index annuities. We like to really not go above 50 very often, but sometimes we do. Sometimes it's the client is really asking for it and and we'll do that. But we really like to stay in that 20 to 40% range if we can. But here's some features. All right. Let's just start with the SPDR because I'm going to go lowest and bonus and go up from there. But each one of them have some really great features you want to consider. So the SPDR offers you a 15% immediate bonus that goes into the account value. That's the money you can walk away with and that that 15% actually vests over a ten year period.

Speaker3:
So they're giving you the money. All you got to do is leave it in there for ten years. That's guaranteed. Then they're also giving you 75% of how the index is done over the two year period every two years. Now they may you may have to reallocate at the end of two years. It may be a different percentage of the q-q-q. But how many of you would just like to get 75% of the growth with no downside risk? I sign me up for that. Um, Sam, I know you and your wife, Bailey are looking to invest in that right now with some of her old inherited IRA, then that's a pretty remarkable product. And so a lot of people want to get the efficient. There's also no age limit. So if you're younger or you have kids that are younger, if they could just take like $100,000 and put it aside and put it into that product. You're not going to believe the results when they go to retire. I mean, it's a remarkable illustration. When we share it with clients, they just can't believe it. The North American Charter plus 14, they're offering a 27% bonus that vests into the account value over a 14 year period. There's about a 1% fee with that product, but they're giving you 27% off the off the jump.

Speaker3:
So if you've got like an old 401 K or you've got an old annuity and you want to really spike the bonus, or let's say you've got a little bit of surrender fees left on your old annuity, you ought to give us a call and do that annuity x ray with us and call us at (770) 685-1777. Because that North American charter plus 14, they can actually give you a bonus of 27%. That's going to make up the difference in what you might lose in a little bit of surrender charge. If you're like in year seven on an Aliance two, two, two or an Alliance On 360 or you're in a, you know, an old, uh, American equity bonus gold or anything like that. You ought to go ahead and pick up the phone and give us a call. If you're in any of the old Athene products. Give us a call. I think we can really improve on that. And then the last one is the nationwide Pick ten. The nationwide pick ten is offering a 20% bonus. Immediate bonus that goes into the income value. And if you're going to turn on income, that does really matter, because it's going to really spike your income beyond the 4% withdrawal rate. Then the next thing they're going to give you is an 8% guaranteed interest roll up, where you get 8% into the income account each and every year that you defer withdrawals.

Speaker3:
You can even take up to two consecutive years of penalty free withdrawals, up to 10%. And they won't stop the 8% guaranteed interest going into the income account. Now, when you do annuitize the nationwide pick ten, the 8% guaranteed roll up does stop. We like people to go at least to the first day of of year three. And then if they can make that we're in, we're in a really good spot because then they're going to get that 8 to 10% of their original premium going, but then they're also giving you a chance to grow the account value. With 310% of how the BNP Paribas Global H factor Index performs. So you got two years. So it's 10% over your two year protection period. That's 30% less a 1% spread rate. That's 30%, 31%, less than 1% spread rate. That's 30% total growth on your money in just two years. I bet you you haven't done that well in the markets over the past 12 months. Listen, when we come back from the break, we're going to talk about is it too late to start investing for retirement? Never is. We want to get started right away. You're listening to retirement Results right here on Am 912. The answer in WD come right back. We're going to talk about how you can really catch up with your retirement plans?

Speaker2:
Hang tight. We'll be right back to continue helping you navigate today's financial landscape. Stay tuned for more of retirement results.

Speaker1:
Fixed annuities, including multiyear guaranteed rate annuities, are not designed for short term investments and may be subject to restrictions, fees and surrender charges as described in the annuity contract. Guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying ability of the issuer. Any bonuses mentioned may be subject to additional restrictions and regulations based on the offering annuity company. You may not receive the bonuses if the contract is fully surrendered, or if traditional annuity payments are taken, and if the policy is partially surrendered, it could result in a partial loss of bonuses. Because these are bonus annuities, they may include higher surrender charges, longer surrender charge periods, lower caps, higher spreads, or other restrictions that are not included in similar annuities that don't offer a bonus feature.

Speaker2:
You're listening to retirement results where we help you protect and grow your hard saved money. But now, back to the show.

Speaker3:
Welcome back to retirement. Results. Result. Drivers. I'm Fort Stokes, chief financial advisor at Sam Davis here with us, our co-host and senior financial advisor as well. So a couple of things here I want to talk about. Hey, is it really too late to start investing for retirement? Many of you have probably been like, gosh, I just didn't save enough. I need to save more during retirement. And you, you're regretting some of that, and you know, you're not regretting things you did for your kids. But you're like, gosh, you know, did I really need to buy that boat or that car that ended up having depreciating value? Did I should I have been better with my finances, or should I have really invested in things a long time ago that I didn't do? And you might have been mistrustful of investing too late until it was too late in life. But we're here to help you. We're here to help you get started also. A fixed indexed annuity is a great way to really play catch up on your income. So again, if you want to play catch up with your retirement savings and you want to get more income during retirement on a monthly basis month after month, you want more income. And you also want to protect your hard earned money. You don't retreat. I would encourage you to give us a call at (770) 685-1777 again (770) 685-1777 or visit retirement Results.com.

Speaker3:
You can click that schedule a consultation button in the upper right corner, and you'll get scheduled directly into our calendar. I've got one more offer for you if you go to retirement. Com forward slash that's retirement forward slash. You'll get a free e-book from me the Smart Retirement Plan. That e-book is ready. The audio book is in review from Amazon and Audible. Uh, they've they're about halfway through their review process. It takes about another 7 to 10 days. So hopefully, like around Memorial Day or right after Memorial Day, the audiobook will be ready so you can check that out. But if you really want to just get your own customized plan, I would encourage you to reach out to us and call us at (770) 685-1777. But if you want to get the free e-book, absolutely no cost to you, we'll send it to you, no questions asked. Just thanks for as a thank you for listening to us and listen to your retirement results and for being a result driver. All you got to do is visit retirement results.com. And we look forward to sending the e-book and hopefully meeting with you face to face. If you want to schedule your free consultation with me, you can go to retirement. Com and just click that schedule a consultation button in the upper right corner. And Sam let's go ahead and talk about is it too late to start investing for retirement.

Speaker4:
Absolutely. First off, I'd say it's never too late to start investing. You don't want to feel like you're too far behind, so there's no sense in starting. But as you approach or enter retirement, the importance of actually securing your financial future becomes clear. Many new retirees fear that the opportunity to invest and build wealth is behind them. But I would think of it more optimistically forward. You know, when we're running plans for people, we're preparing for people to live to 95 years old or even longer. I mean, often retirement is going to last 2 or 3 decades or even longer than that. Um, but there are some roadblocks as you are continuing to invest as you get close to retirement. One of them is pretty obvious. You're not going to have as much of a tolerance for risk. I mean, I think back to the fundamental of the rule of 100 that says you take your age and you subtract that from 100, and the result is a good benchmark of how much you should have fully at risk in the market versus protected and being in safer assets. So if you're just getting started, it's your first job. You're 20 years old, you can afford to take more risks in the market. But as you enter retirement, you may want to place a, you know, safeguard of protection around a percentage of your portfolio that can be used for income. You've also got a shorter time horizon. You simply just don't have as much time as you used to. You don't have as much human capital as you like to say. For when you're older and you're entering retirement, so you don't have that time for an investment to build up. And it can also be challenging. People have a lot of questions as they're entering retirement, questions about Social Security, questions about taxes. And sometimes it can just be too overwhelming. And that's where, you know, working with a fiduciary like us here at Retirement Results comes in having someone there to answer your questions and really help you get organized.

Speaker3:
Yeah, I mean, so many of our clients are just like, look forward. Um, it's not ours. We are IRS within and underneath Brookstone Capital Management. But we need help with manage portfolios. We don't want to do it every day. We'd like to focus on playing golf and traveling and going to see our family and hanging out with kids and all those kinds of things. And also, I want to make sure that somebody around to take care of my wife, I get that question on me or that statement all the time. And your result drivers, you're looking for that tax efficient, fee efficient and market efficient portfolio so you can build your own successful retirement. You know, we can help you do that, but we're doing everything we can to make sure that you can really catch up. And the best thing to do is to get started right away. And I would encourage you to reach out to us by giving us a call at (770) 685-1777 or visit. Retirement. Com forward slash plan. Get that free book. And there's 16 chapters in there, chock full of information that could really help you plan for that successful retirement. Let's just get started and do that. Tony Robbins says if you don't take action, you haven't made a decision. So let's take action. I would encourage you to reach out to us and let's get started. Um, with financial awareness, by the time you reach your 40s, 50s, 60s, you likely have a better understanding of your financial situation and your goals.

Speaker3:
This awareness can help you make more informed decisions and also more strategic decisions too. You also want to increase your contribution limits. They allow you to do that catch up provision of another $1,000. The other thing is, for most of you, if you're investing in A4K, did you know you can also invest in an IRA or a Roth IRA? You can't do both the Roth IRA and the IRA, but you can do one or the other if you want to set up your own. Or if you've got old orphan four K's that you've got to do something with, especially if you're in target date funds that you've just been sitting there and not performing well, and you haven't been really happy with the performance of your assets, then I would encourage you to go ahead and reach out to us at (770) 685-1777 or visit retirement.com/plan and get your free e-book of the Smart Retirement plan. We've also got age specific strategies that we're going to talk about in the bonus segment. And if you've got questions about that or you want to see that bonus segment, all you got to do is visit retirement. Com and go to the episodes and you'll be able to see that or our YouTube channel. Sam, I was blown away the other day when we figured out that we now have over 65,000 views of all our videos. That's a remarkable result. And congratulations again to you and the team, to making sure that we're getting the message out there.

Speaker4:
Yeah, well, we just want to meet people where they are at. That's why we've been doing the radio show for over five years now. We've we've added a number of different stations. We've brought our message to a bunch of different states. You know, we're still that private wealth management firm based right here in the Atlanta area, in the great state of Georgia. But we're trying to spread the message of, you know, just sound financial planning, good strategies, really informing yourself and not being like so many others out there and, you know, burying your head in the sand when you see the headlines and you see the volatility in the markets, you know, knowledge is power. Learn everything you can about your money and your portfolio. I mean, next to your family and your health. It's one of the most important things to really have a firm grasp of, especially as you enter retirement. You want your money that you've worked so hard to save and you've worked so hard to invest over the years to do everything it can for you as you enter retirement. And that's really what we want to help people do, uh, here at Active Wealth Management. Um, we've just got a couple of minutes left in this segment forward. Um, but I want to go through a couple of questions. We have, uh, from people about Social Security. You know, there's over 2700 different decision points and variables when it comes to Social Security. And we've got some questions from some listeners. Questions we get all the time. So this is our FAQs segment for the day. And you know, one is just why is it so important to time your Social Security benefits correctly? You know, people are wondering why don't I just turn it on as soon as I'm eligible?

Speaker3:
Yeah, it's a lot of times you want to really delay the longer. The longer you wait, the more you're going to make with Social Security. And. But also you don't want to over pressure your, your portfolios with more withdrawals. So it's really a personalized decision. Each year that you wait, you're going to get 8% more in income from Social Security after your full retirement age. If you go to like, hey, I'm going to go from 67, which is my full retirement age, to 68 or 69 each, or even 70 each year. You wait, you're getting 8% more. So if you wait from 67 all the way to 70, You're getting 24% more in Social Security income. Here's the break. Even points on those. If you're trying to determine between taking Social Security at 62.5 to 67, you really need to live to be 76 years old to make sure it's worth your while in total benefit. That's coming back to you from the Social Security Administration. But with Social Security, the bottom line is get an RSA roadmap. Get a registered Social Security analyst roadmap.

Speaker3:
I'm one of the rsas in the state of Georgia. Take advantage of that. It's like a $350 value. I will give every single listener who sends us information to forward to active Wealth.com and sends us their XML files and sends us their name, email, mailing address, and date of birth. You can call us first if you want to make sure your trust trusting in the process of that. We want to protect your information. You can call us at (770) 685-1777 or reach out to us at. This one's different. Now you can go to RSA. And get started and put yourself right into our portal. That's RSA. Com forward slash. But let's go ahead and get started just on running your Social Security maximization report. That's in the form of an RSA roadmap. And we're going to take your top 35 earning years. And we're going to tell you the different options you have. Give us a call at 770685177 to get going. We got segment four coming up. Come right back. You're listening to retirement Results right here on Am 920.

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

Speaker9:
We're.

Speaker1:
Not affiliated with or endorsed by the Social Security Administration or any other government agency.

Speaker2:
Missed part of today's show. Retirement results is available wherever you listen to podcasts and online at retirement results.com.

Speaker3:
And welcome back to Retirement. Results. Result drivers. I'm Fort stokes chief financial advisor. Got Sam Davis here with us. Who's our senior financial advisor and co-host on the show. So one thing I want to talk about is flash notes and structured notes. And this is kind of what private wealth management looks like. So our structured note for May is offered by UBS. This is a major bank a rated bank. These notes can't be called before month six. So they have to get all the way through six months of giving you that interest rate for the structured note. And they also come with a 30% principal buffer. So as long as the S&P 500, the Nasdaq 100 or the Russell 2000 do not lose 30% of their value over the life of the notes. The note can't be called and but also your principal is protected. You put $10,000 into this structured note. You're going to get $1,315 back over a 12 month period. If they don't call the note in month seven through 12. And let's say the market goes down 5%. Doesn't matter because you're still well within the buffer. And so the the the note is buffered where your principal is 100% protected. But let's say it goes down 30% on a single day on the Nasdaq 100. Then it bounces back. Well, if it does go through the buffer, your note, your principal will ride the market from there till maturity. They also can't call it at a loss position. So what we try to do is we try to minimize the risk over five consecutive months with five different starting points.

Speaker3:
So let's say one note hits the trigger and it goes down 30%. Chances are it's not going to go down another 30% from the other starting point. And another 30%. Et cetera. Et cetera. Over a five month period. So that helps reduce the risk of structured notes. We'd like to invest about five, 10% of our clients assets in structured notes and get them. So, you know, structured notes. You're the one bringing the capital to the table. You're the one that's doing the investment. So they're not really investing their own capital. They're investing your capital but they're giving you a really high interest rate over time. And what I mean over time over a 12 month period. And they guarantee the interest rate. If you've got interest in learning about structured notes, I would encourage you to reach out to us at (770) 685-1777 or just visit Retirement Comm. Click that schedule a consultation button in the upper right corner. We're happy to help you again. Most people have a tough time remembering a phone number. So just remember retirement results and reach out to us. Our phone number's there. Schedule a consultation. Buttons there. And also retirement results. Dot com forward slash plan is there so we can give you that free ebook a free e-book of the Smart Retirement plan. I've been working on that book for two years, and it's chock full with information to help you retire successfully.

Speaker4:
Yeah, I think that's all great stuff for the listeners out there. So if you have questions about structured notes, get in touch with us. If you want to get that book, send us a message or just put your information into retirement plan. All we need is your name, email, phone number and a quick comment. Let us know that you want that book and and we will send that right your way. And Ford, with just about four minutes left in today's show, I want to talk a little bit about strategic and tactical asset allocation. We're getting a lot of questions about investing in the market and really just kind of the difference between doing it yourself. Maybe that set it and forget it model that you've been doing as you've been saving in your work based plans versus entering retirement and wanting to be maybe a blend of more of a tactical approach.

Speaker3:
Yeah. What's really scary to me is so many, so many people do target date funds when they first start with a company, and then five years later, they leave a company and they realize they just managed the money on their own, at least on a yearly basis, using strategic asset allocation where they're at least rebalancing once a year. They'd be a lot better off. If you've got a 400 K that you haven't changed in forever. Go ahead and reach out to us at retirement. Com and we will help you reallocate your portfolio if you work with us. It's absolutely free. If you want us just to do it, we can do that for basically 350 bucks. Most of the time we do it for free. So happy to help you out at no cost. And then we get our team of cfas to look at your investment options and try to optimize it. And we usually kind of blend it about 20% per investment option. So you get at least five different investments within your 4k. But strategic asset allocation is basically rebalancing once a year. And you're doing a little bit of set it and forget it, but you are rebalancing once a year and we're trying to rebalance to what we think are the asset class is going to do the very best over the next year.

Speaker3:
With tactical asset allocation. We're rebalancing at least once a month. We're not doing wholesale rebalancing, but we are reallocating to the asset classes we think are going to do the very best over the next six months with tactical asset allocation. If you're not doing either one of those, you probably should give us a call. Go ahead and reach out to us at retirement Results.com click that schedule a consultation button. And Sam and I and Matt and Carol and Brandy, we're all here ready to help you. Also, Diane and her folks are standing by to take your call this weekend. All you gotta do is reach out to us at (770) 685-1777. It's warming up if you're sitting there drinking your coffee. Um, on the lake this weekend. Listen to WGN. Go ahead and reach out to us at (770) 685-1777. Or if you're driving around heading to Home Depot in Atlanta listening to Am 920 answer, give us a call as well and also reach out to us when you get home at retirement. Results.com.

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:
So on this week's Retirement Results Financial radio show, we talked about the success. We congratulated President Donald J. Trump in winning early returns and early parts of trade wars with tariffs and inking a great deal with the United Kingdom, and then also taking a 90 day pause and getting a lot of concessions from the Chinese in our trade relationship with China. That was really great for the markets. We saw a significant jump back in the markets, to the point where most indexes like the Nasdaq 100, the S&P 500, the Dow actually returned to previous levels at the beginning of the year. So we're almost at net zero for the year. If you've got questions about that, I would encourage you to reach out to us at retirement. Com we also gave you an offer of my free book, The Smart Retirement Plan and Book. All you do is reach out to us at retirement. Com forward slash. We also talked about how it's never too late on how Pre-retirees can catch up and still live a successful retirement. We also answered some of the Social Security questions out there. And again, I'm here to help you better plan to maximize your Social Security income. Go ahead and reach out to us at retirement. Com. Listen, it was an action packed show. We enjoyed being with you. And 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 interests of our clients and to make full disclosures of any conflicts of interest. Please refer to our firm brochure, the ADV two, item four for additional information. If you've got credit card debt, you are not alone. I'm Matt McClure with the Retirement Radio Network, powered by Amira Life. Consumer debt is piling up in this country. In fact, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York says as of this year, Americans hold more than $1 trillion in credit card debt. That's trillion with a T and the average interest rate, it's hovering around 20%, sometimes even higher. That means if you're only making the minimum payment each month, most of your money isn't even touching the balance. It's going straight into the lender's pocket as interest. And that debt. It adds up quietly, consistently, and often painfully. One of the smartest money moves you can make is to avoid going into debt in the first place. Robin Crawley is head of consumer deposits at Bank of America.

Speaker11:
Even if you're spending with a credit card and you have a bit of a higher limit, don't max that out, right. Just spend with what you've allocated for in your budget. But anytime you're spending on that credit card, you have to make sure that you're paying that monthly balance off on time and in full, because that's really the key to building your credit history.

Speaker1:
But maybe you're not there right now. If you feel like you're drowning in a sea of credit card debt, there is hope out there. A debt management plan, often offered through nonprofit credit counseling agencies, can help you consolidate those payments into one monthly amount, often with lower interest rates. These aren't shady payday loans or too good to be true ads. Experience says these are regulated, real programs built to get you back on your feet. And here's why that matters your credit score. Grealy says it's not just a number.

Speaker11:
Well, a good credit score is so important to our financial journey, right? And all the doors kind of that good, good credit score can can open for us. So things like renting an apartment or getting a favorable rate on an auto purchase. A good credit score is so important to be able to do those.

Speaker1:
And so if you've been avoiding your statements or feeling the stress build every time your phone lights up with a balance alert, make a plan and ask for help if you need it. Because this isn't about shame, it's about taking back control. With the retirement Radio Network powered by Amira Life. I'm Matt McClure.

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 Wdan and on our podcast feed, and also watching on YouTube as well. It's good to see you. And today we're talking about is your retirement strategy age appropriate? Because depending on where you're at in your life, I mean, I think about the rule of 100 that we talk about here on the show all the time, for you should have a different level of risk and a different approach. And so we're going to talk about how investing in your 40s, 50s and 60s, some of the differences and maybe some of the similarities as well. So starting with your 40s, you know, a critical period for building up that retirement portfolio, you're likely at a good point in your career when you're at your 40s earning more than you did in your 20s and 30s. So that increased income gives you a good opportunity to boost your contributions. So make sure you're taking advantage of your workplace retirement plan, whether that be a 401 K, 403 B, maybe a 457. If your employer offers that match, take advantage of it. Make sure you're taking full advantage of the match because that free money can significantly enhance your retirement savings. So, Ford, how would investing in your 50s start to change a little bit from your 40s?

Speaker3:
Well, I mean, entering your 50s, your risk tolerance kind of begins to decrease as retirement nears. Years. This is the time to start shifting your investments really towards balanced options, if you will, while you still have to a significant decade or more to grow your savings. Don't lose sight of preserving what you've really accumulated. And then also, one key advantage you want to think about here is during your 50s, the ability to make increased catch up contributions to your IRA, Roth IRA or other retirement accounts is really big. You get an extra $1,000 you can put in there in IRAs and Roth IRAs. What I really would strongly urge a lot of, of our listeners and viewers to do is invest in your 401 K, try to get up to that 1,015%, but many of you might be able to also invest in either a Roth or an IRA, one or the other. And in addition to your 41K. So try to do that and especially for your spouse as well. If you have ordinary income and they don't if they're staying at home, um, and raise the kids or whatever they're doing.

Speaker3:
Um, also, I'd encourage you to consult with a financial professional specifically. I'd encourage you to consult with us, uh, the financial professionals and fiduciaries at Active Wealth Management. We're here to help you better protect and grow your hard earned and hard saved wealth. We're also going to help you build that tax efficient, fee efficient, and market efficient portfolio. But lastly, we're also going to really start honing in in your 50s, trying to figure out what kind of income do you want to retire at. And a lot of strategies go into that, like bond replacement and other things you can do, including Roth conversion. If you want to get more tax efficient with that retirement income as well, and also try to hone in on what your expenses are really going to be running during your retirement years. Have you paid the house off or not? There's a lot of factors here, and that's also why you really need to reach out to us at retirement. Com and we'll get started right away.

Speaker4:
Yeah. And for investing in your 60s this is really the fine tuning phase of your plan. It's that final stretch before retirement, and we think your investment strategy should reflect this. The primary goal should be to protect your investment and then grow. That's why here at retirement results and active wealth management are saying is just that protect and grow. You want to make sure you have that steady income stream during your retirement years, not just Social Security, but really diversifying your income streams through things like pensions, through your work, maybe even a personal pension that you set up through something like a fixed indexed annuity. And if you're in your 60s and you haven't already started working with a fiduciary or a licensed advisor, now is a great time to do so. Take advantage of our offer of a complimentary portfolio analysis and our free plans for your future in retirement. That's not just for you, that's for your entire household and anybody else that you really feel like we could help. We try to give people as much information on the front end forward to help them make the best decisions about their future.

Speaker3:
Yeah. And in your 50s Specifically, I want to see you trying to save at least 15 to 20% and invest that in your four, one K and IRAs or Roth IRAs, even setting some money aside into a fixed indexed annuity in your 50s. And let that just sit there and grow, especially if you can. You can try to collect $100,000, some at some point in your 50s, and put that into a fixed indexed annuity. That's a good idea. And then your 60s, what we really like to see is we like to see you saving at least 20 plus percent and getting started and ready for that retirement income planning and that expense planning too. Um, listen, we're going to do all this for you. We're going to do the portfolio analysis for you at no cost. You can understand the risk you're taking, the fees you're paying, um, with your current plan, and also talk about how you could get to a more tax efficient, more efficient and more market efficient, uh, plan, as we talked about earlier in that 50s part of this segment. Um, go ahead and reach out to us at retirement. Results.com. You'll be glad you did. We'll do everything we can to get you on the right path with that successful retirement.

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

Speaker12:
I'm sure.

Speaker3:
Hey, this is Ford Stokes with active wealth management and retirement results. You've gotten used to getting higher interest rates on your savings accounts and bank CDs, but the fed has been lowering rates. If you're 55 or older and have at least $250,000 to invest, and you'd like to lock in to higher interest rates, we can help. Currently, we can lock in income payout rates as high as 8%, 9%, or even 10% guaranteed for life. Even if interest rates drop back down to 1% or lower, you'd be locked into higher income payout rates for as long as you live. You can do this with your IRA for 401 K for three B pension, rollover, current bank savings or even brokerage accounts. Schedule your free meeting with us at active Wealth.com and we will help you battle lower interest rates by locking in great income payout rates for the rest of your life. Call our office today at (770) 685-1777 or visit active wealth.com.

Speaker1:
Investment advisory services offered through Brookstone Capital Management LLC, a registered investment advisor. Guaranteed income streams refer to fixed insurance products only and are subject to the claims paying ability of the issuing company.

Speaker13:
Imagine this you just purchased your spacious new dream home with new memories on the horizon. But there's one thing hovering in the background that could cost you dearly your home insurance. I'm Jim here for the Retirement Radio Network powered by Amira Life. According to a report by USA today, a 2024 study from the Insurance Information Institute found 12% of Americans no longer have home insurance. That number way up from the 5% figure in 2019. Karen Collins of the American Property Casualty Insurance Agency recently told CNBC. Insurance companies continue to seek alternatives.

Speaker14:
We, as insurance companies, are advocating for solutions to really try and help address these increasing costs that families, individuals and business owners are facing. This is the economic safety net that helps rebuild homes, neighborhoods and communities, and it's really, truly vital.

Speaker13:
About 40% of Americans who own their home view homeowners insurance as a discretionary purchase. And despite the risk a handful of Americans have decided upon self ensuring their homes. So how can you get the best deal for you and your family without paying too much for homeowners insurance? Well, first, check your coverage. You don't want to insure your home for more than it's worth. And second, assess your deductible. A higher deductible could lower your premium. Third, consider bundling your car insurance with your home insurance, as companies offer discounts when you combine multiple policies. By being informed and proactive, you can make sure you're paying a fair price and protecting your property for the retirement radio network powered by Amira Life I'm Jim Tabaka.

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