Personal Pensions: Beat Your Paycheck and Enjoy Your Retirement!

11.10.23: Audio automatically transcribed by Sonix

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

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

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

Ford Stokes:
And welcome activators The Active Wealth Show and Ford Stokes or chief financial advisor. I've got Sam Davis, our executive producer here with us. Sam, go ahead and say hello to the folks.

Sam Davis:
Welcome to the Weekend Activators. So happy you're listening to The Active Wealth Show. Once again, it is a beautiful fall weekend here in Atlanta, Georgia. The leaves are changing, the leaves are falling. And we've got a lot of great college football and pro football on TV this weekend. So thanks for making The Active Wealth Show part of your weekend. And if you missed any of our recent episodes, be sure to check us out on our podcast feed and you can always learn more at ActiveWealthShow.com.

Ford Stokes:
That's right. And happy Veterans Day to all the veterans out there. I want to give a shout out to my uncle John Ford, who was a medic during Vietnam, and he's got the Bronze Star. Shout out to my dad, who was the chief navigational officer for the Coral Sea, which is an aircraft carrier that's now steel girders and razor blades because they broke it down. And then shout out to my brother in law, Chris, who flew the F-18 growler. For the US Navy as well. I just really appreciate their sacrifice. Also the sacrifice of their spouses too. You know, it's unbelievable. And happy Veterans Day to everybody. And Sam, I know you've got folks you want to recognize too.

Sam Davis:
Yeah, absolutely. The military is a big part of my family as well. First and foremost, a big shout out to my mother, Deborah, who was a staff sergeant in the US Air Force. My grandfathers, both of them, Grandpa Richard, who was a marine and was stationed in Japan many decades ago. My grandpa Jim, who was in the Army and stationed in Virginia Beach, as well as my brother in law, Josh, who was in the Army and did three different tours in the Middle East. Not too long ago. So shout out to all the veterans out there. And I just wanted to recognize those family members that their sacrifices mean so much to me.

Ford Stokes:
Yeah. Also, my Uncle Ogden, he was no longer with us. He was in the Army. He was the regimental commander at the Citadel. And then also, you know, my my two grandfathers, Jordan and Charles, they both were in the in the army. And I just want to just thank everybody for your sacrifice and for keeping us free. And hopefully all this political stuff will settle out in this new election year and we'll get back to normal. I feel like things aren't exactly normal these days, but I wanted to just say, you know, Happy Veterans Day to everybody and just just know that you are loved and we really appreciate you. Also, just a quick reminder. Still, it's Medicare annual enrollment period, which is. It the enrollment period is open from October 15th through December 7th. And we can get you in touch with Bonnie Dobbs and the Medicare and other red tape. Folks are happy to give give those referrals over to her and she can help you with your Medicare Part A, B, C, D, and other plans. And also, you know, if you're looking to try to figure out whether you want to do Medigap or Medicare Advantage plans, I would encourage you to contact Bonnie, and you can check out her website at Medicare and other red tape.com. And we also want to make sure that we're going to help folks really avoid scams during this year's Medicare AEP.

Ford Stokes:
You want to beware of unsolicited contacts and also protect your Medicare card. Don't give that out to anybody other than a health care provider. Let's give you an overview of today's show. So we're going to have the quote of the week. Sam's going to share that financial wisdom quote of the week. And it's a good one. This week we're a little bit of a market update about what's going on from the Labor Department and then some interest rate news as well. Baby boomers are kind of fleeing for different cities. Atlanta's not one of them. A lot of people are kind of coming to Atlanta. We're going to talk primarily about the retirement crisis in the United States, why millions are concerned about outliving their money and what you can do about it. And we're also going to talk about protecting your savings during recession and what to do when the market is down, and also how to boost your retirement with our 401. Checklist and what to do with your work based plan. And we've also going to talk a little bit about America's Social Security problem. And we've got some important reminders as well. Sam, go ahead and share the financial wisdom. Quote of the week.

Producer:
And now wholesome financial wisdom. It's time for the quote of the week.

Sam Davis:
This week's quote of the week comes to us from Richard Branson. You may be familiar with Richard Branson, the business magnate and entrepreneur known for being the founder of the Virgin Group, which includes over 400 different companies spanning from music airlines to even space travel. And Richard Branson once said, do not be embarrassed by your failures, learn from them and start again. And I think this is a great quote from Richard Branson. Anybody in the business world understands that you've got to take risks, you're going to have some failures. But the important thing is not to dwell on them, but to learn from them. Adapt, adjust and move on. I think all that's true.

Ford Stokes:
And if we're relating it back to retirement planning. Listen, if you lost money in 2008 or you lost money in 2022, if you lost money during the pandemic, if you lost money in 2018, you know, if you lost money in 1987 even, which is a long time ago in the 1987 downturn or even in the.com bubble bursting. If you've lost money in all of those different eras, that's okay. It's time to start again and really try to figure out what you can do now. From this point, that's the best time to start, but you can do a portfolio analysis and a financial plan to your 95th birthday. The best time to start is now, so you can start planning, you know, from bedrock, like get a foundation for what you're doing, and let's try to do everything we can to get that portfolio analysis, that financial planner, 95th birthday, the retirement income plan, and a Social Security maximization report. I think that would be all really important data to to receive as a retiree or a pre-retiree. We call this results in advance planning. We're trying to do everything we can to kind of give you your results in advance for your retirement. That includes income, that includes asset building, how to protect your principal, how to grow your principal, also implementing a new 60 over 40 portfolio with 60% stocks and ETFs and 40% not bonds. Trying to do something other than bonds.

Ford Stokes:
Trying to implement potentially fixed index annuities as a bond replacement where you can have your principal 100% protected, yet market like gains without market risk, and also get up to a 10 to 20% immediate bonus. We've covered a product from nationwide that offers a 20% immediate bonus, and now a 350% participation rate in the BNP Paribas Global H Factor Index. So what that means is if the index goes up. 10%, you would receive 35% growth on your money. Less than 1% spread rate, which is 1%, so it would be 34%. So if the market goes up 10%, you get a net of 34% growth on your principal and your gains. That's a really good thing. They're also giving away an 8%. Roll up, which means 8% simple interest year over year that you elect to not withdraw money from the policy. If you defer your withdrawals, you get 8% a year guaranteed. Many of you are getting that for 2 to 5% on bank CD money. 8% is higher than that. And if you're interested in learning about this product, only 1% of financial advisors in the country have access to this product. We are proud to partner with nationwide and be a part of that program and and have access to be able to share and sell this product to our prospects and clients. I would encourage you to go ahead and visit us at ActiveWealth.com to schedule your free financial consultation.

Ford Stokes:
We'll also give you a free for review. Help you optimize your 41K at no cost to you that it's like a $1,500 value. We'll do it. Absolutely no cost to you. And also since we're talking about pride here, Sam, I'm really excited and proud that. They're going to Forbes publishing my first article as me being part of the Forbes Finance Council. It may be a great time to replace the bonds in your portfolio, and we'll make sure we link out on ActiveWealthShow.com with this episode. A link to that article so you can check that out as well. Shout out to my editors over at Forbes. And thank you so much for allowing me and enabling me, and really even choosing me and and making me a part of the Forbes Finance Council. It's humbling, and we're happy to contribute and we're happy to bring a different perspective. Then what is typically seen in Forbes, and they've been really open to that. I just want to applaud the Forbes editorial team for being open to talking about bond replacement after bonds have performed so poorly the last three years. And Sam, we come back from the break, we're going to give a market update, and we're going to talk about retirement crisis in the US and why millions are concerned about outliving their money and what they can do about it.

Producer:
A clash of speed and iron are coming to a streaming service near you this fall. I'm Jim Tarabukin with the Retirement.Radio Network powered by Amara Life. This November, streaming giant Netflix will stream its first ever live sporting event, the Netflix Cup, a golfing competition featuring Formula One racers and PGA tour golfers. Josh Shafer of Yahoo! Finance explains how this new venture makes sense for Netflix. This is happening.

Josh Shafer:
The week that F1 is in Las Vegas and this event is happening in Las Vegas. So for fans to be able to engage with their favorite drive to survive characters, I think is something to think about here.

Producer:
The golfing exhibition will showcase two star studded rosters with names including Rickie Fowler and Lando Norris, who will play a professional eight hole course, with the two top teams advancing to the final hole to determine the winner of the inaugural Netflix Cup title. Meanwhile, the Netflix sports catalog that features hit series such as quarterback continues its upward growth with this new live event and will be charging up to $2 million to secure advertising space. Any advertiser that wants in for the crossover golf event will have to commit to spending $2 million on Netflix ad supported tier. So what does this mean for the live sports future of Netflix? The streaming service has been very timid about producing live sports content, but according to The Wall Street Journal, live boxing could be shown on the platform in the near future. And with the television rights deal up for bidding next year, analysts wonder if Netflix could jump further into the live sports pool in the future for the Retirement.Radio Network, powered by AmeriLife. I'm Jim T

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

Ford Stokes:
And welcome back to activators, The Active Wealth Show. I'm Ford Stokes, your chief financial advisor. I've got Sam Davis, our executive producer, here with me, and I forgot to recognize my twin girls who are on the North Forsyth cheer team and their cheer team teammates who won their first region for North Forsyth for the first time since 1998. They won that regional. And I want to just say congratulations to those ladies. They've worked really hard. They believe in work, hard work, and they've done a great job. And they are going to state as basically the number three rated and ranked team in the state. There are 16 teams that made it to state. I think they beat out another. 29 total teams to get to state. And so state is this weekend. It is down in Macon at their main arena down there. And I just wanted to say good luck to the North Forsyth Raiders at this year's competitive cheerleading state championships.

Sam Davis:
Best of luck to North Forsyth and your twin girls. Ford. I know that they're going to do the best that they can, and we're all hoping that they come out on top. Should be good.

Ford Stokes:
Yeah, it's been a fun time. It's just more cheer dad stuff. And thanks to all the listeners for bearing with me on this Cheer Dad announcement today. Let's talk about a market update.

Producer:
Your active wealth market update.

Sam Davis:
All right. Forward to start off this week's market update, some information on Americans working multiple jobs. New federal data has shown that the number of people working two or more jobs has reached its highest level since the pandemic start, a trend that suggests many are feeling inflation's pinch. Nearly 8.4 million people held multiple jobs in October. That's data from the Labor Department last week. This represents 5.2% of the workforce that's working multiple jobs. That's the largest share of Moonlighters since 2020. Employment statistics show that 5.9% of women worked multiple jobs, compared with 4.7% of men. Additionally, about 5 million workers have one part time job and one full time job. With some inflation news, high inflation and higher interest rates continue to weigh on American households. As of September, 62% of adults say they're living paycheck to paycheck. That figure is unchanged from last year. The consumer price index, which is another closely followed inflation gauge, also rose at a slightly faster than expected pace over the month. This was boosted by higher prices for food, gas and shelter. Three essentials that we all need and we all have to pay for. As a result, real hourly earnings fell. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell recently said that, quote, inflation is still too high and this indicates that interest rates will stay higher for longer. The consensus among economists and central bankers is that interest rates will now stay higher for longer. And finally, some 74% of Americans say they're stressed about their finances. This is according to a separate survey conducted in August. Inflation, rising interest rates and a lack of savings all contribute to those feelings about feeling stressed.

Ford Stokes:
Yeah. I mean, there's no doubt that a lot of people have multiple jobs. You've got also retirees working longer than they thought. And also they're in different careers than they thought. They may have taken a retirement and they had to go back to work. Um, I as a host, I'm talking to you as somebody that's got two jobs. I serve as an advisor, mentor with a company called A life. That's an $8 billion company that's also associated with their. One of the owners of Brookstone Capital Management, which is my registered investment advisory firm that I work with. And, you know, multiple sources of income does help. But I would encourage everybody. I just want to share this one strategy. Make sure you're paying yourself first. If you're getting more income, don't just use it to, you know, go on that next trip or whatever. Pay yourself first. Save the first 15 to 25% if you can and put it into, you know, if you've got your own business, put it into a Sep IRA. If you've got, you know you're getting 1099, make sure you're setting money aside in either an IRA or a Roth IRA. Reminder you can put money into a 401 K and max out. You can also do either a Roth IRA or an IRA up to $6,500 if you're younger than 50 years old and up to $7,500 with a catch up provision if you are older than 50 years old and above.

Ford Stokes:
So. Do yourself a favor and please save. The best time to save is when you have money. And if you're generating more income, you've got you're one of these 8.4 million people that got two sources of income, and you've got two jobs, or you've got two jobs in the household with you and your spouse. We are all a creature of our habits, and if you are in the habit of saving, you're going to find yourself in a really great spot later where your money can make money for you. Also, again, I would encourage you to consider investing into a fixed indexed annuity. One thing that I wanted to share the pandemic really gave rise to a lot of people doing two jobs because they can work from home. And they're able to do two jobs doing that. The other is, is to do everything you can. To invest in something safe that's going to grow with compounded interest and grow tax deferred at least. And that would be a really good idea. We're trying to start a trend here. We've got so many folks that have invested in this nationwide product over the past three months, but specifically over the last four weeks.

Ford Stokes:
We've got one client who is 50 years young. He works for a major manufacturing firm, and he wanted to take $100,000 that he was just really losing money in his investment account. He was doing by himself and he took $100,000. And he's just going to invest it. And when he retires at age 65, he's going to get $20,800 a year. That is going to grow over time. But he's taking 100 grand and turning it into 20% of his original premium. 20.8% of his original premium in an annual income. Also, a lot of people that we see are investing in this nationwide product, and they are waiting about four years and they're getting between 10 and 11% of their original premium. So. So if you invest $400,000 into this nationwide product that we're talking about. All you've got to do is defer for years, and you're likely going to see, based on the illustration, it's estimated not guaranteed, but it is estimated that you're looking at. Between 40 and $44,000 a year. In Encode, depending on your age. That's 10 to 11% of the original $400,000 premium invested. That's much higher than that 4% rule. We reached the 4% rule here on this show. Same. And I've talked about it quite a bit over the last four years. 4% rule is this if you take out no more than 4% of your assets each year, you likely won't run out of money.

Ford Stokes:
You also need to factor in losses, and a lot of people have seen market losses since 2022. And also they lost money in during the pandemic, but it came back the same year. But I would be really careful about not saving. I'd be really careful about not trying to put some of your money into somewhere that is safe, that has 100% financial reserve on the money you put in there, and that's what the regulations are for the state of Georgia, because they're annuities and insurance products like life insurance are regulated by the states. They're not regulated by the federal government. And the states have to balance their budgets. So and they have to protect their citizens. And what they do is they require that insurance companies and annuity companies reserve 100% of the money you give them, and then they can only take the interest generated off the ten year treasury, which is what they have to invest in to then grow your money and also take a portion of the gains. It is a remarkable situation. If you can get 8% simple interest growth on your money each year, that you defer without your money being at risk in the market.

Ford Stokes:
It's a good bond replacement strategy. I would encourage you to go ahead and pick up the phone and give us a call at (770) 685-1777. Again, our number (770) 685-1777. Diane and Deborah are standing by and their team to take all of your calls. And we also just want to recognize the people that have chosen to invest in that nationwide product over the last. Two weeks to purchase this nationwide product and invest a portion of their gains not all their money, but a portion of their of their portfolio into this nationwide product that only 1% of the population of advisors can actually sell. So and we're very privileged and proud to partner with nationwide to be able to do that. So all you got to do is give us a call at (770) 685-1777 and get your free illustration. See how the premium you invest in this nationwide product can help. You mean nationwide is an A-plus rated carrier? And I know we can really help you protect and grow your hard earned and hard saved wealth, but also generate the important retirement income you need to outstrip your expenses. When we come back, millions of Americans are unprepared for retirement and we're going to share what they can do about it. You're listening to Active Wealth Show right here on Am 920. The answer?

Producer:
You love. Do you want a steady stream of income for retirement? Then it's time to consider annuities. I'm Matt McClure with the Retirement.Radio Network. Powered by a mirror life. Gone are the days when most employers offered pensions with guaranteed lifetime payouts to their workers. But what if I told you that you can build your own personal pension? It's possible with an annuity. An annuity is a financial product that provides a series of regular payments to an individual over a specified period of time, often for the rest of their life.

Ford Stokes:
There are several options for you to consider when choosing an annuity. Be confident in knowing that there is an annuity out there that can meet all of your needs.

Producer:
Ford Stokes is founder and president of Active Wealth Management and author of the book annuity 360. There are several different types of annuities, including fixed, variable, and fixed indexed.

Ford Stokes:
A fixed annuity offers a specific guaranteed interest rate on their contributions to the account. A fixed indexed annuity is an accumulation based product offered by an insurance company. The growth of your fixed indexed annuity is dependent on the performance of a chosen stock market index, but your money is not actually invested in this index. This offers you great growth potential and exceptional protection for your investment.

Producer:
While each can provide tax deferred growth and a lifetime income stream, variable annuities put your principal at risk in the market.

Ford Stokes:
If you are currently investing in a variable annuity, your funds could be in serious trouble if the market experienced any downturns.

Producer:
With so many possible choices to consider, it's essential you speak to a financial advisor or professional to help you make the best decision for your future. So are you ready to consider an annuity as part of your retirement plan? It's a key question to consider as you approach what should be your golden years with the Retirement.Radio Network powered by a life. I'm Matt McClure. 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. Remember, all of Ford's listeners receive a free financial consultation just for listening to the show. Visit ActiveWealth.com to learn more and schedule an appointment. Thanks for listening to The Active Wealth Show and subscribing wherever you listen to podcasts.

Ford Stokes:
And welcome back activators, The Active Wealth Show in Ford, Stoke's chief financial advisor. I've got Sam Davis here with me as our executive producer. And Sam, we want to share a little bit about baby boomers who are leaving for specific cities for a safer and more affordable retirement. Go ahead and share this for cities that people are leaving as retirees.

Sam Davis:
Yeah, of course, as a lot of people get closer to their retirement age or even in the first decade of their retirement, they consider downsizing, relocating, possibly moving somewhere near the water, maybe the beach, maybe the lake, maybe somewhere up in the mountains, if that's what they like to do, or or relocating closer to family. And what Bank of America's recently published data has found is that these four cities are seeing baby boomers are leaving at the highest rates. And the data here is provided by Redfin. And Washington, D.C. is at the top of this list. Average household expenditures there are almost $89,000. Keep in mind the average annual household expenditures is $64,000. Utilities in DC cost about 13% more than the national average. Groceries and transportation are a bit more expensive there as well, so Washington DC is seeing a lot of baby boomers leaving next on the list. No surprise here. New York City expensive household expenditures. Also, groceries are 29% higher in New York City. So if you think your grocery bill here in the Atlanta area has been higher the last three years, thank goodness you don't live in New York City, where it's 29% higher than the national average. Number three on the list San Francisco, California. Average household expenditures over $91,000. Also, housing here in San Francisco is among the most costly in the United States. Also, utilities, groceries, transportation, and health care all 30% more expensive than the national average or higher. And then finally, the fourth city that's seeing so many baby boomers leaving in Seattle, Washington. Annual household expenditures. There are over $86,000 groceries, transportation, and health care all about 23% or more expensive compared to the national average. So New York City, San Francisco and Seattle seeing a lot of baby boomers leaving and relocating to other areas.

Ford Stokes:
Yeah, it's not a surprise. I mean, the safety's first and then taxes are second. You know, also, I work with, you know, a couple of folks that got referred to me or in the manufacturing field and. They both live in in new Jersey, and they get stock every year. And they have to as the stock vests, they, they also have to pay taxes if they sell it and sell the stock. And the taxes that they're paying is 13% in new Jersey versus 5.75% here. I mean, it's like two and a half times what it is here. Um, but it's amazing to me. I mean, San Francisco has got one of the best weather climates in the world for a city, and it is unbelievable to me what they've done to that place. And so it's just bad decisions. It's not a surprise that all the, you know, cities and blue states, people are leaving and going to states with lower taxes and, and greater safety. That's not going to be a surprise. And. Also, I've heard from some senators in the past who said, listen, the United States is really more about 50 different countries being managed together with a collective defense. And there's IRS funding for that and for other national government programs. But it is there are 50 different countries. And some of these countries, these states are making bad decisions, for sure. And I just hope that all of our retirees stay safe, because sometimes they can't defend themselves either. And it's just something that really concerns me as somebody that really respect my elders and wants to do everything I can for our clients, especially our pre-retiree clients. I mean, I've got clients that are as old as 90 years young. That we still work with active wealth and could not imagine if something happened to them. From a crime perspective, it would just be awful. And so please stay safe out there.

Sam Davis:
All right. Next up for millions of Americans will soon turn 65. They're not ready for retirement. So once we turn the calendar to 2024, an average of 12,000 people a day are going to be turning 65. That's more than ever in the history of the United States. And we've got some data from a survey. This is from the Alliance for Lifetime Income, which is a nonprofit consumer organization that educates Americans on how to protect their retirement. So long gone are the times when most Americans could rely on a pension to provide an additional stream of retirement income, and this has left many pre-retirees and retirees at risk of running out of money. Here's what the survey found 51%. So more than half of consumers between the ages of 45 and 75 feel they don't have enough savings to last their whole lifetime. 32%. So nearly a third are not confident they'll have enough money in retirement to safely cover their basic monthly expenses. And 44% are retired currently or retired previously and have had to go back to work. So maybe you're listening to this. Maybe you feel like you're included in one of those groups that feels like maybe my savings aren't enough to last my whole lifetime. I'm not super confident that I'm going to be able to cover my monthly expenses. And so what has this resulted in? It's resulted in a growing demand for protection, and specifically annuities that can protect your retirement and ensure your retirement against loss. The survey also revealed that consumers want as much as 80% of their retirement savings in safer investments. Individuals protected by a pension or an annuity have a significantly more positive outlook on their retirement prospects, according to the survey, and for this makes sense. If you have that guaranteed lifetime income, you're going to feel better about your future retirement.

Ford Stokes:
There is a greater demand for income. People want to understand what their retirement is going to look like, and they want those results in advance for their retirement. And you can get that. All you've got to do is visit ActiveWealth.com and click that schedule consultation button in the upper right corner. And you'll get booked directly to my calendar. Or you can call us at (770) 685-1777. That's (770) 685-1777. Diane and Deborah and their team are standing by to take your calls, and we are getting more calls and we can handle them. So go ahead and just give us a call. Have you been a long time listeners? You've never called us and you're a loyal activator who likes listening to this show, who wants to protect and grow their hard earned and hard saved assets as an activator or listener to the show, I would encourage you to go ahead and. Pick up the phone and give us a call at (770) 685-1777.

Ford Stokes:
Couple quotes come to mind here.

Ford Stokes:
Number one is. Your income is your greatest wealth generator. And that's also income during retirement to. Because you can generate income and then save. And also make sure you meet your expense needs as well. The other is comes from Tony Robbins. You haven't made a decision unless you've taken action, and I would encourage you to go ahead and take action so we can just give you a free portfolio analysis, a free financial plan to your 95th birthday at no cost to you. It's about a $1,500 value. And you also get that retirement income plan that's really important. But specifically, if you think you're behind on your retirement savings, chances are trust your instinct. And you're right. And the way to get greater than a 4% withdrawal rate is to consider investing 20 to 50% of your assets into a fixed indexed annuity and get higher than that typical 4% withdrawal rate. So you don't outlive your money. And you can also let the rest of your portfolio grow through tactical asset allocation, strategic asset allocation. Structured notes. Structured note ladder. Just a myriad of different investment options for you and your smart risk side of your portfolio. But what we're talking about right now is a smart, safe side of your portfolio and what to do for all these people that feel like they don't have enough money and feel like they're going to outlive their money, according to these surveys. And I'm sure that some of you are listening on this to this radio show, or you're listening to my podcast, The ActiveWealthShow.com.

Ford Stokes:
And you're thinking, wait a second, I may not have enough. If you don't feel like you have enough. We're here to help you also. Your money is important to you. So therefore it's important to us. So we really can help people that have got like over. 102 $250,000 of investment, personal assets and above. But we'll help anybody and we'll give you a free consultation to make sure we can try to help you. I work with a lot of widows and a lot of divorcees that really don't have a lot of help, and they're living off fixed income, or they're living off of their assets and they're cannibalizing their assets, and they want to do something different. And so we can help them to. I would just encourage you to give us a call if you're looking for any type of income help or you're concerned about the markets and what else could happen. And also, if your current advisor is not giving you monthly updates with performance updates and performance reports of your portfolio, and let us help you. Visit ActiveWealth.com and click that Schedule Consult button in the upper right corner. We're happy to help you get booked right in my calendar. When we come back, we'll explain how you can build a better retirement starting today with our 401 K checklist.

Producer:
Even with today's high interest rates, refinancing your home loan could save you money. Depending on your situation. I'm Matt McClure with the Retirement.Radio Network. Powered by a life. Inflation has been hitting us all in the wallet for more than a year now. To combat rising prices, the Federal Reserve has hiked interest rates several times. The idea is to decrease demand so that it comes back in line with supply levels, with interest rates on everything from homes and cars to credit cards higher than they have been in a long time. You might think it would be impossible to save money each month by refinancing your mortgage. Think again. We are in a.

Mike Fratantoni:
Very different situation than we were last year at this time.

Producer:
Mike Fratantoni is chief economist at the Mortgage Bankers Association. He recently told CBS news the vast majority of homeowners have rates well below those currently available in the market. But depending on your situation, you may be able to take advantage of a dip in rates from their recent highs.

Mike Fratantoni:
For 6.3 is not going to be attractive for a lot of folks that refinance over the last couple of years. But for someone that might have bought a home earlier this year, it could be a good opportunity.

Producer:
Saving on your monthly mortgage can be a huge boon for retirees, since a single payment can quickly eat up an entire Social Security check. If you're still paying off your home, consider refinancing to a lower rate to save money on those monthly payments. So could now be the right time for you to refinance your mortgage. It's a key question to consider, and it's one of the 23 Retirement Cost Cutters for 2023. With the Retirement.Radio Network powered by AmeriLife. I'm Matt McCLure.

Producer:
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Ford Stokes:
And welcome back activators, The Active Wealth Show on Ford Stokes. Your chief financial advisor got Sam Davis here with us is our executive producer. And we're going to talk about as we as we promised at the break, we're going to talk about how to build a better retirement with our 401 K checklist. It's a checklist of just four things. And I'm going to do two. And Sam's going to do two. Number one is keep an eye on your investments. If your employer offers a free match you should contribute at least up to that level so you can take full advantage of the benefit. Also, don't be tempted to stop contributing during a down market or recession. These times are when the prices are lower and you have greater potential to realize future gains. It also allows you to. Your money goes further. Also, you can discover how your portfolio has performed so far this year. And how has it done since 2020? And we can help you figure out what your standard deviation is with your 41K, your expense ratio, and the correlation to your assets. Just do a free 41K review. All you got to do is visit ActiveWealth.com and click that schedule a consultation button in the upper right corner. Sam you've got number two for how to build a better retirement.

Sam Davis:
Yeah. The next thing I would do after you log in and you're taking a look at your portfolio and your investments in your 401 K, check for target date funds. We talked about these a little bit last week. And if you want to go back you can find that conversation on our podcast feed. Just search The Active Wealth Show wherever you listen to podcasts. But don't be fooled into thinking target date funds are right for you. Just because you're planning to retire at a certain age, I would say your situation is probably not the same as everyone else who's planning to retire in 2025 or in 2030, or everyone who's going to retire in 2035 is not necessarily the same target date. Funds have an increased bond exposure that can lead to lack of performance and higher fees. We took a look last week at how these funds have performed over the last five years. The target 2025 fund is down 6.1% over the last five years. The target 2030 fund is down 2.5% over the last five years. It's interesting for that. The funds that are the closest to that target date are performing the worst. And in comparison, the S&P 500 has increased 52.4% over the last five years. So be aware of target date funds, high expenses and underperforming. It's not necessarily what you want to be doing.

Ford Stokes:
Yeah we we help people optimize their 4k all the time. A couple of things we look at is we look to reduce the expense ratio within the portfolio because that's a guarantee. Try to get away from mutual funds and into ETFs. If those are available. The next thing we do is we look at the risk profile within the portfolio. And it's as it's measured by standard deviation. We try to reduce the standard deviation and increase the average rate of return that's performed over the last 20 years. For each investment. We do that analysis. So all you have to do is pick up the phone and give us a call at (770) 685-1777 again, (770) 685-1777. To get your free four one review. The number three on our checklist is watch out for fees. A lot of investors assume the fee structures are more or less the same. If they even think about fees at all. Keep an eye on those foreign fees and choose low cost investment options whenever possible. Like ETFs is a really good choice because exchange traded funds are superior products to mutual funds. They give this similar diversification, but they don't come with the high share of fees and share fees. And also the 12 B one fees that are marketing fees that those mutual fund companies just simply put in their pocket.

Ford Stokes:
Work based plan administrators should issue a prospectus on every fund offered, which will include an explanation of any fees. Take the time to discover what you're paying and give us a call if you need help finding out what your real expense ratio is within your 401 K. If you don't know, don't be embarrassed. All you got to do is call us (770) 685-1777 or visit ActiveWealth.com, and we'll give you a free 401 review. This 4k review is literally a $1,500 value when you include the retirement income plan, the Social Security maximization, the portfolio analysis, and the financial plan. Your 95th birthday with your current plan, and also one with our recommended plan that includes a Roth ladder conversion. If you can do all those things, why wouldn't you? If you can get it all done for free so you can at least understand where you stand, you've got questions about the market. We can help give you answers on how your portfolio will likely perform against different markets. Using a monte Carlo simulation of a thousand simulations of how your assets are going to perform. So I would encourage you to go ahead and visit ActiveWealth.com and click that schedule a consultation button in the upper right corner today.

Sam Davis:
Yeah. So just to review step one was log in, take a look at your investments and keep an eye on them. Step two was look out for those target date funds. See if you're invested in those. Because those have high fees and they've been underperforming because of that bond exposure or just talked about watching out for fees. And step four is it's your money and it's time to take control of your retirement savings. And I would just ask, as you're driving around or listening to the show today, is your advisor or is your employer really helping you with your investments, or are they just asking you to set it and forget it? A lot of employers have very minimal guidance when it comes to the retirement savings plans. You can actually complete an in-service rollover if you're still with the company, where your plan's located, or do a traditional rollover if the money is with a former employer's plan and a rollover can help you accomplish a few things. You can receive personalized help from an advisor like Ford, or on the investments best suited for your desired retirement lifestyle and needs. You can also gain access to an increased amount of investment options and specific investment options, including those personal pension options that we talked about earlier in the show. So you can get started on establishing a lifetime income stream, that income that you'll need for retirement. And you can also reduce fees by taking advantage of some more fee efficient investment options and deleting fees altogether for a percentage of your portfolio if you should choose a personal pension option.

Ford Stokes:
Our goal is just to help you get more market efficient, fee efficient and tax efficient, with fee efficient and tax efficient being guarantees you can work on. Let us help you go ahead and give us a call at (770) 685-1777. It's the.

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

Ford Stokes:
Countdown. So on this week's show, we talked about the retirement crisis in the United States, where so many people don't feel like they have enough money to retire and what they're doing about it, they're trying to consider replacing bonds in their portfolio with fixed indexed annuities, so they can also take out a higher than 4% withdrawal rate to give them more income during retirement. And if you want more income during retirement, I encourage you to go ahead and reach out to us at ActiveWealth.com. Also, we didn't have time to talk about America's Social Security problem, but I will just say this. According to Ssa.gov, the OAC, which is the Social Security Trust Fund, Old Age Survivors Insurance Fund, is scheduled to be depleted 100% by 2033. What that means is a 23% estimated across the board cut on all Social Security benefits. If Congress does nothing to shore up Social Security and to shore up that fund, we want to make sure we cover that. We also talked about how to protect your savings during a recession, and we talked about ways to boost your retirement with our four checklist that we just went over. Listen, a lot of people have questions out there and they're not getting a lot of answers from your current financial advisor. You're not getting monthly performance updates. I would encourage you to go ahead and reach out to us at (770) 685-1777 to start work with a fiduciary and a financial advisory team that really cares about you. We're so glad you've been with us here this week on The Active Wealth Show, and next week we're going to talk more about different ways to invest in a smart retirement plan and to implement a smart retirement plan. Hope you'll come back and be part of that series. Talking about how to invest in a smart retirement plan for your future. Have a great week everybody, and Happy Veterans Day to all of the veterans and their families.

Producer:
Thanks for listening to The Active Wealth Show. You deserve to work with a private wealth management firm that will strategically work to protect your hard earned assets. To schedule your free consultation, call your Chief Financial advisor, Ford Stokes, at (770) 685-1777 or visit ActiveWealth.com investment advisory services offered through Brookstone Capital Management LLC, BCM, a registered investment advisor. Bcm and Active Wealth Management are independent of each other. Insurance products and services are not offered through BCM, but are offered and sold through individually licensed and appointed agents. Investments involve risk and, unless otherwise stated, are not guaranteed. Past performance cannot be used as an indicator to determine future results.

Producer:
Registered investment advisors and investment advisor representatives act as fiduciaries for all of our investment management clients. We have an obligation to act in the best interests of our clients and to make full disclosures of any conflicts of interest, if any, exist. Refer to our firm brochure, the ADV to a page four for additional information. Any comments regarding safe and secure products and guaranteed income streams refer only to fixed insurance products. They do not refer in any way to securities or investment advisory products. Fixed insurance and annuity product guarantees are subject to the claims paying ability of the issuing company and are not offered by BWR. Big changes could be coming and they may affect your retirement. I'm Matt McClure with the Retirement.Radio Network. Powered by AmeriLife. Increases in costs, market volatility, and fears of a possible recession all have people who are close to retirement worried about the future. Some people who were considering early retirement are staying in the workforce, while others who had already called it quits are going back to work. Marketwatch recently published a list of eight big things retirees and pre-retirees should keep an eye on. Some of them are pretty obvious, like number one, inflation, as the prices of goods and services continue to go up at rates not seen in four decades. Just paying for everyday things could eat through your retirement savings more quickly than you thought. Another concern Social Security. The trust fund is set to be exhausted by the year 2034. Potential changes to save the program could have a big impact on your retirement years. Two items on the list have to do with savings how much money to set aside for retirement, and how to address a growing gap in that amount versus what most of us have actually saved. Yahoo finance contributor Vera Gibbons recently reported that the savings gap has been exacerbated by the pandemic, with a lot of folks dipping into their retirement accounts just to get by.

Vera Gibbons:
We are in an inflationary environment here, and some of the experts I spoke to said, given the fact that costs are going up for just about everything, they expect more people to actually tap into their retirement accounts or contribute less this year. Also, keep in mind that people are still quitting their jobs at a record rate, and that group may also be tapping into their retirement accounts, too, to cover their costs.

Producer:
Health care spending and drug prices are two more things on the market watch list of retiree concerns, and they could be impacted by the last two items on the list diabetes, which continues to affect more Americans each year and uses up a good portion of the nation's health care resources and exercise, which could actually bring costs down by helping you stay healthier longer. So which of these items is your biggest cause for concern heading into retirement? That's a key question to consider as economic uncertainty continues to cause headaches for us all. With the Retirement.Radio Network powered by AmeriLife. I'm Matt McClure.

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