Is Your Retirement Plan in Writing?

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3.7.25: 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:
Welcome to retirement results. I'm Ford Stokes, your chief financial advisor. Got Sam Davis here with us. He's our senior financial advisor and co-host of the show. Sam, say hello to everybody.

Speaker4:
Welcome to the weekend result drivers. Thank you so much for listening. Once again to retirement results. We've been hearing a lot from you guys, especially our new listeners on one right around the lake. You're not too far from our home office just down the road here in Alpharetta off highway nine. But Ford, we've got some great information to share with all the listeners on the show today. If you've been hearing about some volatility in the markets, we have a very detailed and significant market update as we head into the show this weekend. And Ford, we also heard from President Trump this week in a joint address to Congress. So it's been a big week in the news, big week in the markets. And we're here, as we always are, to help you prepare for a successful Retirement.

Speaker3:
Yeah, I was super excited. I watched every minute of that joint address to Congress from President Trump. Shout out to DJ that that young boy who's had 13 surgeries and brain surgeries to try to survive. And he's and he he's been battling cancer for six years and now he's a Secret Service agent. So shout out to DJ. And I just thought everybody I just thought he did a great job. I was appalled at the behavior of the Democrats, and I am just so excited about what MAGA Republicans are doing for our country and super excited about, you know, Doge and Elon Musk getting recognized for the work they're doing for free, trying to actually save our democracy and keep us from getting stolen from specifically. Also, it was really good to hear for all of you retirement result listeners that, again, Trump mentioned that they pushed forward a budget that did include no tax on Social Security and no tax on tips, which is a campaign promise from Donald J. Trump. So I'm super excited about everything that happened on Tuesday night. Thought it was the best address to Congress ever for our our democracy based in my lifetime. And I just thought it was great. I know so many of you listeners thought it was pretty amazing as well. I also want to give a shout out to all of the Am 920 The answer listeners that are in the Atlanta metro area. Thanks for making us the number one listened to show here on Am 9 to 1. The answer and again, thanks to the folks at WD one who added us to their listing family.

Speaker3:
We're here to help you and what I want you to do. If you're worried about what's going on in the markets or you're you're not hearing from your advisor, or you feel like you haven't got a good enough rate of return, you felt like your portfolio hasn't recovered enough from 2022. If you feel like you don't have enough retirement income, just all those things, I would encourage you to reach out to us at retirement Results.com. That's retirement Results.com just reach out to us and we'll get going there. Also, I want to talk about everything we're going to cover on today's show. Number one is we're going to have that market update from Mark Diorio, our chief investment officer, and he's going to talk about the tariff tantrum that the market's kind of having right now. We've also got an important problem solver that I want to kind of go over. A lot of us have relatives that may have not done the greatest job at saving and preparing for retirement. We're going to give you some ideas there. Um, and then we're also going to really talk about trying to plan your work and work your plan. You want to get that plan in writing, and you can get that plan from us absolutely at no cost to you. All you've got to do is to reach out to us at retirement results.com/plan. That's retirement results.com/plan or call us at (770) 685-1777. Talk a little bit about legacy planning getting that smart legacy plan going. We do have a great update today to I'm here to announce, Sam, that the Smart Retirement Plan book is completed and it's been approved by compliance.

Speaker3:
So we'll have an update on when that book is going to be available for print. We're also going to try to record an audio book for that in March, and we'll have it available in April. So we're super excited about that. Don't have the target date yet for April. Also, if you want to get on the list to get your free copy of the Smart Retirement Plan, book your advance copy. All you've got to do is go to retirement results.com/plan. Put your information in. We'll give you a call, get your mailing address, and we'll get started right away to make sure you're on the list so we can mail you a free copy of my new book, The Smart Retirement Plan Book. And also, Sam the Fed is going to have two dates where they're making decisions on whether they're going to lower interest rates. March 19th and May 7th are the dates that are upcoming. For those of you that are concerned that interest rates could drop, and also that, you know, banks and CD rates could go lower, I would encourage you to go ahead and lock in on a fixed indexed annuity or a multi year guaranteed annuity to beat those bank CD rates and reach out to us by calling (770) 685-1777 or visit us at retirement results.com. We're here to help you get going. I want to give a shout out to Cindy, who's a registered nurse in the Atlanta area. She's been a long time listener.

Speaker3:
She was a first time caller this past week, Sam. She's got, you know, a good amount of money. She's done a great job saving into her 403 B and separately to a 403 401 K, and then she was able to consolidate all that into an IRA. And she wants to protect her income. She called us and said, you know what, Ford? I want you to do the managed portfolio. I'd like to take advantage of half of my money being strategically and tactically managed by you guys. And she liked some of the portfolio performance sheets that we sent over. But she was really excited about investing into a fixed index annuity. She selected the nationwide Peek ten from five different annuities options that we gave her. And I just want to give a shout out to Cindy. I just think it was a really great decision. She's going to defer. She's going to work another four years. She's 61. She's going to work another four years and turn on income at four years in a day. And so in year five and she's looking at well over $36,000 a year in income for retirement, plus her Social Security income, which is another 3000 a month. So she's looking at $6,600 a month. She's got her house paid off. That's just a great situation to be in. And if you want to get in that kind of great situation for you, I'd encourage you to reach out to us at (770) 685-1777 or visit us and just input your information in retirement results.com/plan. That's retirement results.com/plan.

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

Speaker4:
This week's quote of the week comes to us from Ernie Zelinski, a Canadian author. And Ernie once said, your best retirement plan for retiring happy and prosperous. Don't be a burden on others. I love this one, Ford. You know, I've always heard that you should leave this world a little better than you found it. Leave every situation a little better than you found it. And one of the best ways that you can take care of yourself and your family is to make sure that you have that solid retirement plan in writing. Not just that you have savings in various accounts, not just that you have maybe that small pension from work back in the day really have a solid, comprehensive retirement plan that includes taking care of your family and your loved ones after you're gone. And that's why I love Ernie's quote.

Speaker3:
Yeah, it's so important we're going to have a problem solver around this starting in the next segment. I think you're going to want to hear that. But it is important just to, you know, if it is to be it's up to me kind of a plan and just really make sure you're not going to be a burden and you're not kicking the can down the street. Um, you know, it's if you can just do that, you're going to have a great retirement plan, because then as long as you're not a burden on others and you enjoy your life. You're going to be. You'll be all set. When we come back, we have a market update from our chief investment officer, Mark Diorio. I think you're really going to hear this talking about the tariff tantrum that the market has kind of had a little bit. It should be a short term situation. Come right back. We're gonna have an important market update from Mark Diorio right here when we come back for the break on retirement results.

Speaker2:
Retirement results. We'll be right back. To learn more and schedule your complimentary retirement consultation, visit retirement Results.com.

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

Speaker2:
Investment advisory services offered through Brookstone Capital Management LLC, a registered investment advisor. You're listening to retirement results. And now back to the show.

Speaker3:
And welcome back to retirement results result drivers I'm Ford Stokes, your chief financial advisor. Got Sam Davis here with us. He's our senior financial advisor and co-host. And if you're wondering who a result driver is, it's somebody who listens to retirement results. It's somebody who's looking to build a successful retirement. It's somebody trying to build a tax efficient, fee efficient and market efficient portfolio so they can protect and grow their hard earned and hard saved wealth throughout all their retirement years. And also so they don't outlive their money. They want their money to outlive them. That's the result. Driver is we're here to help you make sure that your money outlives you, and you can pass your money on to your heirs and really enjoy your retirement. Enjoy your retirement years. If you want to go on that Viking River cruise, or if you want to have that lake house, have that beach house, you want to have more folks coming to see you. And you want to get on a body of water. Make sure your kids and grandkids are spending more time with you. Again, we spell love in our family time. We we spend time together, and I just feel like it's a really good time to listen to retirement results. It's a really good time to really be focused on your own economy and your own plan. And I think the financial wisdom quote of the week that Sam shared is is right on target for this show this week. And Sam, let's go ahead and share that important market update from Mark Diorio. I think he'll give you a really good understanding of what's going on in the markets right now, based on what we've seen, um, from everything that's going on in the government, with Trump leading America with the tariffs and everything else and how the market is reacting.

Speaker6:
Mark, very good to see you today. We are talking through a recession proof investing for strategies for weathering market volatility. We've been hearing a lot of scary headlines right now. Can you just do a deeper dive and explain what's going on?

Speaker7:
Sure. Well, I think it's best categorized as a tariff tantrum, which is similar to what the market has experienced a couple of different times over the last decade, known as a taper tantrum, meaning when the Federal Reserve talked about quantitative tightening or really stopping quantitative easing and interest rates rose. Markets would sell off kind of abruptly until until basically the quarter played out and it realized that earnings weren't as affected as the market feared. So. So the impact of tariffs is a little bit unknown. Now in 2018 we did have that experience with tariffs on on China. And that played out okay for the markets. And you didn't really see a big impact on inflation either. So there's some fears that the tariffs would stoke inflation. Um they could see weakening business environment, as you mentioned, maybe a recession, so you could see some softness in growth, but that's really yet to be discerned. And I think the market is just reacting initially to the change in kind of policies. And to put it in context, this is a chart of the Nasdaq composite kind of tech stocks that led the 2023 and 2024 bull market. They are just selling off until to their 200 day moving average, which is that red line there. It's just a moving average kind of a trend line. And we do see it in a general uptrend, a market sell off to that level and start to find or a level where it can move forward from or bounce at that level. So we're watching this level critically as a critical area that we may see some buyers step in here.

Speaker6:
Mhm. Cash is typically considered king during recessions. Are you recommending investors allocate a larger portion of their portfolio to cash right now.

Speaker7:
Well, I think it's very interesting. Generally, we'd say you want investment assets for the growth and and the interest and so forth, and all of the capital markets provide. And that's generally been been good advice in this environment. We'd be mindful of what the Federal Reserve is going to do. And when they reduce interest rates, that will reduce the amount of interest being paid on money markets and short term debt. And so in this environment, inflation coming down, softening in business activity or kind of softening in growth has actually led the market to start to, uh, discount about three Federal Reserve interest rate decreases this year. So that's 25% reduction or 25 basis points, 0.25% reduction three times. So that's a total of 0.75% decline in those rates that you're going to be paid. Now, on the flip side, it's actually very supportive of markets going forward. So that's not a hostile environment for stocks at all. So the Federal Reserve is not tightening trying to cause a slowdown in business activity or recession that might be more favorable to kind of a money market or allocating a little bit more defensively in that space. Here, it looks like they're going to be reducing rates even further, which is ultimately supportive for the market overall.

Speaker3:
You know Mark so sharp he's a CFA and he's got a team of Cfas and our investment team. And so glad he's leading all the portfolios and all the trading for our clients. And you know, we've got over $8.5 billion under management with our Ria, Brookstone Capital Management and a couple of things that I just kind of take away from what he had to say, and also some action items for the listeners. So yeah, he's talking about, hey, you might want to go to cash. What I would recommend people do is, is beat the bank CD rates and also try to avoid the bond problems with interest rate risk and reinvestment risk, and replace the bonds of fixed indexed annuities. Make sure that you know 60%, 50, 60% of your portfolio remains invested in strategically or tactically managed portfolios. Um, we we do that here. We're happy to help you. That's what a private wealth management firm does. And then I would encourage people to try to carve off like 20 to 40, maybe up to 50% into a fixed index annuity and really lock in that retirement income portion of your portfolio and specifically avoid having to take additional withdrawals in down markets. Sam, I know you've got some serious thoughts on that as well. I want to hear from you on that. But, you know, we've got access to so many fixed indexed annuities that are competing for your dollars that I would encourage you to reach out to us and find out what's the best one for you. Reach out to us at (770) 685-1777 or visit us at retirement Results.com.

Speaker3:
You can submit your information actually at retirement. Com forward slash plan and we'll run an illustration for you on a fixed index annuity the same day we'll actually run it for you. We'll run it for you over the weekend. You really shouldn't sit around and wait. And we've got some fixed index annuities that allow you to lock in your gains six months before your anniversary date. We've got fixed index annuities that offer 20% immediate bonus, one annuity that actually offers 85% of how the Invesco Q-q-q performs without any downside risk or any financial market risk. There's a lot of features that you can sift through, but also that you're going to love to see and what could really help your situation. And if you want to get more than that, typical 4% withdrawal rate, and you want to also do better than what the bank CD rates are doing. I strongly urge you to go ahead and reach out to us, because 8% guaranteed roll up interest into your interest account, and your income account is way better than what the bank CD rates are. And also 20% immediate bonus is a great situation as well, and 85% of how the Q-q-q performs historically is going to outperform a whole lot of investment vehicles. Those things are something you really should take advantage of. I'd encourage you to reach out to us at retirement results.com/plan. But Sam, talk about that impact on your portfolio when you've got to withdraw money from your portfolio in a down market.

Speaker4:
Yeah. Just if anybody out there is looking to avoid some trouble and pain later in retirement. And doesn't that sound nice? You know, you don't want to be pulling money out of an account that's exposed to market risk right after the market's gone through some volatility. That does not feel good to realize those losses, and you don't feel as good as you would if that money had come, you know, through the mail as part of a personal pension or a pension or Social Security or one of those retirement income sources that, you know, they're going to keep coming every single month. You know, you don't want to be managing your withdrawals and retirement based on how you feel about the market that week. I mean, you've done such a great job saving for decades, a great job saving. Now it's time to do a better job investing and restructuring that portfolio for your retirement. Because when you're young and you're working, you should be putting money into the market. You should be exposing your assets to market risk because you know you've got a risk. You have to have a reasonable amount of risk in order to realize those and see those gains that you've had over the years. But now that you're in your decumulation phase, you want to have a protect and grow mentality where you want to seek to protect those assets. First, establish that income stream, and then you can let the rest of your assets grow from there.

Speaker3:
Yeah. And I think Mark also talked about that tariff tantrum. I support President Donald J. Trump and everything he's doing. We should have reciprocal tariffs. We should you know, other countries should be paying the same money. We're paying on tariffs. And we should be able to open up international markets for our manufacturers and also for our farmers. I'm just super excited that we're going to see some of our farmers get access to domestic markets where these foreign, um, dumping of strawberries and other products are going to be a lot tougher. And I think we're going to be a lot more competitive. I can't wait to see that domestic market open up for our farmers. When we come back, we're going to have that problem solver that I promised you in segment two. I think you're really going to like hearing that one. And also just want to say thank you to Mark Diorio and for providing that important market update for all of our listeners. And if you want to get an idea of what's going on with your portfolio, go ahead and reach out to us at retirement Results.com. We'll give you that free portfolio analysis and financial plan, your 95th birthday. We'll talk about all that right when we come back from the break. You're listening to retirement results right here on Am 920. The answer and WD one.

Speaker2:
Learn more at retirement results. Com or by calling us today at (770) 685-1777. Are you concerned about rising taxes and how that could affect you and your family during retirement? If you have an IRA balance over $400,000, you could save six figures in retirement taxes that you would be paying during a 35 year retirement. Find out how much you could save today by scheduling your no obligation Roth conversion consultation with Ford Stokes of retirement results. Learn more and schedule an appointment at Retirement results. Com investment advisory services offered through Brookstone Capital Management LLC, a registered investment advisor. Visit retirement results.com for more information. While Washington's spending keeps growing, your retirement doesn't have to shrink, protect and grow your hard earned money today by calling us at (770) 685-1777. That's (770) 685-1777 to connect with a qualified advisor.

Speaker3:
And welcome back to retirement results. I'm Ford Stokes, your chief financial advisor. I've got Sam Davis here with us who's our senior financial advisor and co-host. So Sam, we promised the break kind of we're going to do a problem solver, but also kind of what do you get when you meet with us? And we're also going to cover the importance of putting your legacy plan down in writing to make sure that, you know, the state doesn't take care of how your assets are going to be distributed. But here's what you get when you meet with us. Number one is you're going to get a portfolio analysis. It's an institutional level Morningstar report that basically gives you your expense ratio, your standard deviation, which is a measurement of risk with your portfolio. Many of you might want to know what both of those are within your portfolio. And then the third is the correlation of your assets. So we'll do all three of those things. And you'll be able to see a correlation matrix. You'll also be able to see a risk reward scatterplot on your top 20 to 40 holdings. So many people love seeing that risk reward scatterplot because they really want to get more investments into low risk, high reward into that quadrant and away from the high risk, low reward quadrant. And it's a great way to kind of visually see how you can get your portfolio more efficient and more effective. Then we're also going to give you a retirement income gap analysis. And Sam, you and I start and talk with people all the time like, hey, what are your monthly expenses running now? What are they going to be during retirement? And then we look at the income sources, whether it's, hey, we're going to take 4% withdrawal rates from your IRAs. We're going to take your income from your fixed indexed annuities or rental income. And we'll do all that and give you a retirement income gap analysis to see if those people are starting with a positive retirement income surplus or a negative retirement income gap. Kind of your thoughts on that, how important that retirement income gap analysis is?

Speaker4:
Yeah. Well, once you stop working, you know, sell the business or step away from the office, you got to find a way to make sure that the paychecks that keep coming in are going to be enough. And ideally, when we're building plans, we want there to be a surplus. We want there to be more than enough income every month, not just to cover your expenses, but to do all the things that are a part of your smart retirement vision, whether it be, you know, taking the grandkids on vacation or buying that house by the lake. And so you start to take a look, like you mentioned, for those things that we know are guaranteed income sources for pretty much everybody out there, they're going to have Social Security. So they we take a look at that. And Ford, your registered Social Security analyst, you're able to put together very detailed reports for both individuals and married couples so that they can take a look and start to plan, because it's all about getting that timing decision right. With Social Security, once you determine the right time to start turning on your benefits, then the rest of the income plan can come together. We can look at things like personal pensions. If your employer didn't offer you that defined benefit plan, and instead you're like most Americans and you have a 401 K, you were in charge of investing, and now you've got to find a way to make that a steady income stream that you can never outlive. So we take a look at some of the fixed indexed annuities that some of the features that you've discussed already today, Ford incorporate that into their plan. And then once clients see that their income is protected in retirement, they feel a lot more comfortable with the money that they do have invested in the market. And they don't, you know, stay up at night wondering, hey, what's the market going to do when it opens up in the morning?

Speaker3:
Yeah, that part's really important. Is getting the income right is really important also. Sam, you and I like to ask the question all the time. Is there any reason you wouldn't want to maximize your Social Security income benefit? I'm just going to ask all of you listeners, radio listeners, you're driving around headed to Publix or Kroger or Home Depot or Lowe's, or you're going to a kid's soccer game or whatever, or you're headed to a to see a basketball game or whatever. Or maybe you're just listening to us on the podcast because we've had over 20,000 downloads over the last several months of our podcast. And so if you're just sitting there thinking about, wait a second. What do I need to do to maximize my Social Security income benefit? Should I? I mean, am I maximized? And we're going to talk about that in our problem solver. It's pretty remarkable then. So you get that RSA roadmap which is a Social Security maximization report. That's number three. Then number four is you're going to get a financial plan, your 95th birthday and no cost to you. That has nothing to do with us. It's your it's your current plan. And we'll grade it from 0 to 100. You're actually going to get a grade on that plan based on your withdrawal rates and your expenses and during retirement, and also the income sources and the and the average annual rate of return growth that you've seen over the last 20 years with the assets that you currently hold.

Speaker3:
And then number five is we're going to give you a financial plan. Your 95th birthday that has our recommended portfolios are recommended allocation true diversification with strategically managed portfolios. Tactically managed portfolios, and also insurance products like fixed indexed annuities or life insurance, or both. Roth ladder conversions. All of that together in one plan for you. That's number five. So you're getting a whole lot with those five things. You're getting a portfolio analysis. You're getting a retirement income gap analysis. Number two, you're getting an RSA roadmap. Number three, which is your Social Security income benefit planning document. You'll love getting that stuff. Number four is a financial plan with your current plan has nothing to do with us. And number five, you get a financial plan in your 95th birthday with our recommended plan and portfolios. That also includes a strategic Roth ladder conversion that helps you delete the IRS from being your partner and your retirement accounts. I want to make sure you guys keep your hands on the wheel there, but kind of symbolically raise your hand as you're driving around. Would you like to delete the IRS from being your partner retirement accounts? If so, then what are the folks for you? We can help you do that. And we do that. Roth conversion planning, Sam. Absolutely at no cost to our our clients. And we do it all the time.

Speaker4:
Yeah. And I just want to say this, I had the pleasure of helping a, you know, an individual who's been a teacher for decades, planned for retirement recently. And when we did the analysis of their current plan, you know, like you said, for you get a grade on that. And the analysis of the current plan came back at 65%. And that teacher did not like having a failing grade on their current plan. And we were able to put together and implement a plan that had a 98% chance, a high A of of success and retirement. And so that's just one example of how we're able to help people, you know, inspect what you expect, how how on track are you find out, you know, sometimes we find that people are doing most things right and maybe 1 or 2 slight adjustments is all they need. Others, we find that there's a lot that we have to do. We have to really manage the risk a lot better. We really need to make sure that their income is protected in retirement. So just really encouraging everyone out there, you know, find out what's your current plan. You know, what grade are you making right now. Are you passing. Um, you know, and when it comes to taxes to, you know, how on track are you to really minimize, like you said, for the IRS from being your partner in retirement? We don't want you to have a retirement tax bomb down the line. So retirement results.com/plan is the place. If you just want to quickly punch in your name email phone number, we'll get in touch with you. Retirement results.com/plan. And we'll get in touch with you and get started on designing a personalized plan for you today. Because Ford, when we're doing everything that we're we're talking about in this segment, it is not cookie cutter. It is we're getting to know each person and their unique situation and building a plan that helps them reach what their goals are.

Speaker3:
Yeah. And the other thing is, for you listeners out there, first of all, the folks that have made us number one on Am 920, the answer and also the emerging growing listenership that we've got and around the lake on one. Let me just say this. If you don't know what your expense ratio is within your portfolio, you really should give us a call at (770) 685-1777 or visit us at retirement results.com. Number two is if you don't know what the standard deviation is within your portfolio, which is a measurement of risk of financial market risk within your portfolio, then I would beg you to give us a call. You really should give us a call at (770) 685-1777. And then third, I want to talk about a third thing here. If you don't know whether you're starting with a positive retirement income surplus or negative retirement income gap. Either while you're in retirement right now or you're headed towards retirement. I would beg you to give us a call because we want you to get that passing grade. Um, it was great to be able to talk to that coach. Um, is that a private school? He just works with all all the young men over at that school. And I'm just super proud that you were able to help that coach retire successfully. It just makes us all feel great. And going from a failing grade of 65 to a passing grade of 98 is a big deal. And I'm just super proud of the job that we do here at Retirement Results and Active Wealth Management. Again, reminder Retirement Results is powered by the advisors at Active Wealth Management. We are a private wealth management firm. Retirement results is the name of our radio show, and we sincerely appreciate each and every one of you listening.

Speaker4:
All right. And we're running out of time here in segment three. Not trying to string the listeners along, but we'll get to that problem solver as soon as we get back for the last segment of this week's episode of retirement results. Come right back.

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

Speaker8:
Every breath you take and every move you make. Every bond you break. Every step.

Speaker1:
Hi, this is Matt McClure, senior financial advisor with retirement results. You've saved your whole life so you wouldn't have to worry about your money when you retired. But you worry more now than ever. You've been a good saver. You have 500,000, maybe $1 million or even more. You should feel confident, but you don't. You're worried a big loss will wipe you out. You saved so you could spend during retirement, but you don't. You're worried you'll run out of money. You'll want to retire, but you don't. You're worried you don't have enough. Does any of this sound familiar? Well, it should, because we hear these things all the time from people just like you who are preparing for retirement or even already retired. So why do you worry so much? It's because you don't have an actual plan in writing. Nothing to guide you through retirement. Retirement results helps people just like you. You'll get a free, customized written retirement plan. That's right, free and no obligation. Schedule your meeting now at retirement results.com/plan. That's retirement results.com/plan.

Speaker2:
Investment advisory services offered through Brookstone Capital Management LLC, a registered investment advisor. This part of today's show retirement results is available wherever you listen to podcasts and online at retirement results.com.

Speaker3:
And welcome back to retirement results. I'm George Stokes, chief financial advisor. Got Sam Davis here with us, our senior financial advisor and co-host. And Sam, we've been teasing this problem solver the whole show because we keep running out of time talking about great stuff that we can do to help people better protect and grow their hard earned and hard to save assets, especially while the markets are kind of going through that tariff tantrum, if you will. And I think you're going to have short term pain, long term gain with the markets. And also just for the United States in general.

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

Speaker3:
We've got a lady who whose husband just passed away. She had, you know, a few hundred thousand. She had her house paid off. She's going to work another four years. She's a violin teacher, and she's able to make about 60,000 a year. So she's going to enter her expenses. Her kids have been able to get her expenses down pretty significantly. They've been able to get it down to just 2000 a month. And she's gonna be able to save a bunch of money. Now, also, what they're going to do, all of her money is in non-qualified funds she inherited from her mom when her mom passed away five years ago. She hasn't touched it. Husband kind of went through a kind of protracted cardiac situation and finally passed away this past month. And they came to us and they were trying to say, hey, I need to solve we need to solve this problem for mom. The kids have done well, and each one of them are putting $50,000 in. She happens to have six kids, so they're putting in $50,000 apiece into a fixed indexed annuity, and they're not going to touch mom's, you know, inherited stuff from from their grandmother. And she chose the the nationwide peek ten as well. There's there were other other options.

Speaker3:
They were really excited about the Aspida. And also there was an alliance product that they really liked, the lock in feature, but they decided, you know what, they want to get 20% immediate income, but they want to get 20% immediate bonus for their mom. They're going to defer four years in a day. So it'll be it'll be on the in the fifth year. And she's 65. So they've got to get in. The husband was older. So they they're going to get her to 70 and turn on income, basically. Well, that income is going to be over $40,000 a year. Plus, the husband had done pretty well, and he had a little bit over $3,000 a month in income. And so you're looking at literally 30, you know, 66, 60, 700, just like similar to the registered nurse we talked about earlier in the show, about $6,600 a month in income. The house is paid for now. It did take the kids stepping up and sharing and paying $50,000 a piece into a non-qualified annuity, where the mom is the annuitant and the owner of the annuity. And I give credit to those kids making sure they were taking care of mom. And that was a big deal. I just think it's a problem solver that so many of us have that relative that, you know, they may not have done a good job at saving.

Speaker3:
They may not have put their plan in writing, you know, in a will or revokable trust. That was kind of a situation a little bit. The good news is the mom is still alive. So it wasn't both of them passing away, but they're super. The kids were super excited to take care of their mother. It is something about, you know, mom that's got that many children where the kids definitely understand, like, look, you know, mom stepped up. Dad may have provided for us during his lifetime, but they didn't have a great financial plan. And they used the fixed index annuity to make sure that mom was taken care of. And she's still got another 300,000 in investable assets that we've invested into a tactically managed portfolio. And it's invested more conservatively. It's a it's a moderate conservative portfolio. But she's got liquid assets that she needs to access something, whether she needs to buy a car or she needs to have money to make sure she can make ends meet. And she's going to take 4% withdrawal rate from that. So that's another $12,000 a year. So that's another thousand bucks. So she's getting a $7,600 by the time she stops working.

Speaker3:
And she's making, you know, 60 grand now and she's going to be able to get there and make it. First of all, I just want to give a shout out to those kids and I just think that's awesome. Second of all, a fixed indexed annuity can give you a much higher rate of return and a much higher withdrawal rate than the typical 4% withdrawal rate, and definitely higher than bank CD rates without any market risk. So that's our problem solver for this week. Give us a call if you want a solution for a family member, or if you want a solution for yourself and you want to make sure that you're getting higher than that typical 4% withdrawal rate and getting market like gains without market risk. It's remarkable. That's another $32,000 that's going into the retirement income account. So that's guaranteed. And she's got a 310% on how the underlying index performs that BNP Paribas Global Factor Index. Sam I just ran the numbers. I've got a client who invested in April 3rd of 2023 into the fixed index. I ran this for him last night. And if. If the market stays exactly where it is, that index stays where it is he's going to receive.

Speaker4:
Yeah. And that that goes right into the low risk, high reward quadrant that we were talking about earlier. When we're doing the portfolio analysis for anybody who reaches out and gives us a call and what we're finding that typically, you know, you don't have to remove your entire portfolio from exposure to the market. You know, something like this can be achieved by replacing 25 to 40% of that portfolio. Typically, the bond portion of that portfolio may be a little bit extra in there. Um, you know, if you have any target date funds, that's a great thing to replace out of your portfolio because those aren't helping there. They're filled with fees. And, you know, a strategy like this, by doing a replacement with a fixed index annuity, actually deletes the fees on that portion of your portfolio. So when we're managing your money on the tactically managed portfolio side, you know, that has just reduced your fees for the overall portfolio, and now you can let the rest of that grow over time and really take advantage of any run up in the market.

Speaker3:
Yeah, it's I just felt like that problem solver was a really important one because those kids stepped up so much.

Speaker9:
It's the final countdown.

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

Speaker9:
The final countdown.

Speaker3:
So on this week's show, we talked about that tariff tantrum that the markets are having a little bit and what kind of is going on there. And it was great to hear a market update from Mark Diorio. I think that's going to be short term pain and long term gain. We gave you two problem solvers. We talked about a registered nurse and also, um, a recent widow, and kind of gave you some ideas on what to do to help your own situation, specifically trying to replace the bonds within your portfolio and get that retirement income portion protected, and also get more income from a fixed indexed annuity that you can typically get by just taking 4% withdrawal from your assets. That that market update was very telling, in my opinion. We we touched on trying to get your plan in writing, get that estate plan memorialized with a will or a revocable trust. We provide that services. It's a it's a lower cost. We work with licensed attorneys in the state of Georgia or in other states as well. We have this great service. I would encourage you to reach out to us and take advantage of that service. Just reach out to us at retirement Results.com, and we'll get started on trying to get your will or your revocable trust done. We've also talked about, you know, March 19th and March 7th are the dates in which the fed is looking to potentially cut interest rates, and it's best to get in front of that, if you could, to invest into a fixed indexed annuity and try to peel off and take advantage of these high participation rates with some of these fixed indexed annuities, and also make sure that you've got some money protected with tactically managed and strategically managed portfolios.

Speaker3:
And also, we gave a good onion and and great support of President Donald J. Trump and his joint address to Congress on Tuesday of this of this past week. And listen, when you're seeking information about retirement, if you're going to be a bear, be a grizzly bear as aggressive as you can to get as much information as you can. We're hearing from so many long time listeners, and they're now first time callers and are now clients. I would encourage you to reach out to us at retirement results.com/plan. That's retirement results.com/plan. Get started right away. Put your information in. We'll give you a call and we'll get going on your $2,500 value of free planning. That includes a portfolio analysis, retirement income gap analysis, RSA roadmap, Social Security Maximization report, a financial planner 95th birthday. With your current plan, that has nothing to do with us. And number five would be a financial plan to your 95th birthday with our recommended portfolios. That also includes a strategic Roth Ladder conversion plan. We hope you've enjoyed this episode of Retirement Results. 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. Bcm, a registered investment advisor and Active Wealth Management are independent of each other. Insurance products and services are not offered through BCM, but are offered and sold through individually licensed and appointed agents. Investments involve risk and, unless otherwise stated, are not guaranteed. Past performance cannot be used as an indicator to determine future results.

Speaker1:
Registered investment advisors and investment advisor representatives act as fiduciaries for all of our investment management clients. We have an obligation to act in the best interest of our clients and to make full disclosures of any conflicts of interest. Please refer to our firm brochure, the Adv2 to item four for additional information. And 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.

Speaker3:
Bonus segment for our Wd1 listeners and our podcast listeners to retirement results, we've got ten tips for a happy retirement. We're not going to go through these one by one. Uh, Sam, why don't you go ahead and take number one?

Speaker4:
Yeah, the first one. We don't want you to retire until your debts are paid. You know, one thing we like to explain to folks out there. You know, for example, if you still have a mortgage, that mortgage payment every month will likely eat up one of the two Social Security payments coming into the household. If you're a married couple or if you're single and you still have a mortgage, you're trying to retire. That Social Security payment could be eaten up by that monthly mortgage payment requirement, so try not to retire until your debts are paid.

Speaker3:
So that was number ten. Number nine is become financially literate I would say. Just stay informed. One of the one of the great ways to become financially literate is to listen to books on audible. I'd encourage you to listen to my book, annuity 360 on audible. It's just like five bucks, I think, to listen to it. I'd encourage you to do that. You can learn everything you need to know about retirement income and annuities by listening to that book, and also how to be more tax efficient. It's got some really great rules in there, like the 4% rule on withdrawal rates. It's got the rule of 100, which is kind of talks about your risk level and, and the allocation of your portfolio as you age. And then also we've got the rule of 72 that talks about how fast your actual assets will double over time. And so I would just encourage you to become financially literate, listen to the show, seek as much information as you can. As we talk about in every final countdown, if you're going to be a bear, be a grizzly. Be as aggressive as you can about getting as much information. How to retire and invest successfully.

Speaker4:
Yeah, number eight is plan how you'll spend your time. This goes into that smart vision that we talk about, you know, are you going to go on some trips with the kids and the grandkids? What are you going to do? Are you going to be spending some time at the lake or at the beach? Have that smart vision for your retirement, because that's going to make it so much easier to plan so you can reach that goal. Yeah.

Speaker3:
And then number seven is take full advantage of your employee plans, like 4k plans for three B, plans for 57, or even your own Sep IRA. Make sure you business owners are paying yourself first. Try to pay yourself ten, 15, even 20% of the money that you earn up front and you'll be happy that you did. But also take advantage of any employee pension plan so you can take that lump sum and then invest that into a fixed index annuity and get a bonus of 15 to 20% on that money and generate an even higher income, because your money will be market linked. Whereas in the traditional pension plans they are not market linked and they're just going to pay out over time, but they're not going to they're going to pay a flat rate. They're not going to pay an increasing income over time, but take full advantage of your employee plans for sure.

Speaker4:
Tip number six is simply have a financial plan. A lot of people feel like they've got their 401 K, or they've got their money saved in their investment account and so that they're prepared for retirement. But that alone does not constitute a financial plan. I would recommend working with a fiduciary like the advisors here at Active Wealth Management. Take advantage of our complimentary planning services. It's a $2,500 value, and all you have to do is reach out to us to get started. So tip number six is simply have a financial plan.

Speaker3:
Yeah. Again, I don't know anywhere else where they'll give you $2,500 worth of free services, absolutely no cost to you. And you become better educated because of it. We do that here. We do that on purpose because that way you can make an informed financial decision if you want to work with us. And if you want to do managed portfolios, you want to take out 20 to 40% of your portfolio to generate retirement income with fixed indexed annuities and replace the bonds within your portfolio and delete the advisory fees and portfolio fees for the retirement income portion of your portfolio. I would encourage you to reach out to us to do that. Number five is find new hobbies to keep busy. It's a really good idea whether you want to pick up the guitar or you want to play drums, or you want to go play golf, or play pickleball, or just stay active, or if you want to, if you're crafty and you want to start making things on the side and, and and sell them, or you want to go to festivals, you want to do antiquing or whatever that is, I would encourage you to find new hobbies to keep busy.

Speaker4:
Tip number four is write a will. Have those plans for your estate in place. We want to make sure that your money outlives you and not the other way around. And if your money is outliving you, we want to make sure that gets passed on to your loved ones according to your wishes.

Speaker3:
Yeah. And also, you're going to write a will. Make sure you're doing that with a licensed attorney in your state. We do work with a service that that introduces us to attorneys who work at lower costs for wills or vocal trusts or irrevocable trusts. And I encourage you to reach out to me. Just send me an email at forward at Active Wealth. Com. Number three, we want to live within our means because we want to start with a positive retirement income surplus and keep that throughout retirement and not start with a retirement a negative retirement income gap. And then that would widen over time because of inflation.

Speaker4:
Number two is start saving and investing early. If you're old enough to take advantage of catch up contributions, be sure you're doing that. Because if you're in your 50s, you still have time on your side. You've still got lots of time to plan and save for retirement. So start early and invest early.

Speaker3:
Yeah. And the last one, number one, is take care of your health. Just get out there and walk. Move your body. Make sure you're you're moving your body. As soon as you become sedentary. That's when you're shortening your life. We don't want you to do that. We want you to live as long as possible. Really enjoy your retirement and I hope you really like these ten tips if you've got. If you want to see our quick report on this, it's a nice little graphic. All you got to do is send me an email at Forward Active. Com hope you also like this bonus segment for one and also for the podcast listeners. Thanks so much for listening to retirement results. We appreciate you reach out to us by visiting retirement results.com/plan. That's retirement results.com/plan. And we'll go ahead and get started right away. Just put your information in. Submit it and we'll call you and get started right away on your free $2,500 Portfolio analysis, Social Security Maximization Report and Financial plan. Your 95th birthday with a strategic Roth conversion absolutely free at no cost to you. Complimentary of the professionals here at Active Wealth Management, we are a private wealth management firm. We're here to help you manage and protect and grow your hard earned and hard saved save wealth. Have a great week everybody.

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

Speaker10:
Well, I was born in a small town.

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

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.

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