Planning Ahead for Difficult Times

6.9.23: Audio automatically transcribed by Sonix

6.9.23: 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. I'm Ford Stokes, your chief financial advisor. And I've got Sam Davis, our executive producer, here with us. Sam, say hello to everybody.

Producer:
Welcome to the weekend activators and welcome once again to the Active Wealth Show. We're so happy to have you listening once again. And if you missed last week's show, we talked about smart, safe and smart tax investing. And you can check out that episode wherever you listen to podcasts. Just search the Active Wealth Show and give us a call. Go to ActiveWealth.com And we love talking to our listeners, so don't be afraid to give us a shout.

Ford Stokes:
Absolutely. So it's always good to have that weekend. Ambassador. Always great to have you welcoming us to the weekend there, Sam. So in this week's show, Sam and I've got a really great show planned for you. It's how to avoid financial burden during difficult times. Plus, a lot of people don't know this, but June is Annuity Awareness Month and there's five keys to a debt free retirement that we're going to share on this week's show as well. But we just want to say thank you to all the activators out there that made us the number one listened to radio show on Am 920. The Answer on the weekends. We really appreciate you. We wouldn't be able to do it without you again. Sam and I are passionate about educating people on how to invest properly, how to protect and grow their hard earned and hard saved assets, especially during these difficult times of inflation, political unrest, you know, social unrest, all kinds of things that have gone on since 2020 that have just been remarkable. And I just wanted to say, hey, you know, we really appreciate you as activators. We know how resilient our pre-retirees and retirees are. And we're trying to help you not just survive in retirement, but how to thrive in retirement also. Sam, can you share a little bit about how people can listen to the Active Wealth Show anytime.

Producer:
Regardless of whether you've got an iPhone or an Android smartphone, you can go to whatever podcast app you have on your phone or download, whichever app you like to use, and just search the Active Wealth Show and you can listen to us wherever you get your podcasts or just head on over to active wealth. Show.com that's ActiveWealthShow.com and we archive our episodes there. You can even watch this episode that you're listening to right now. Just head over to ActiveWealthShow.com and Ford, you made a great point. We've gone through a lot of volatility and change over the last few years and you know, we talk to a lot of people that have gone through a lot of change in their personal lives over the last few years as well. Maybe they switched jobs. Maybe they moved and relocated somewhere because of the pandemic. Maybe they wanted to step into retirement. And, you know, if you left behind a old 401. K with an old employer, don't just leave that sitting there. Give us a call and take the time to discover what your options are with those funds. You have a lot more options than you think, and that's just how I wanted to get started here on this week's show.

Ford Stokes:
I appreciate that. Also, if anybody wants to get in touch with us, all they've got to do is check out ActiveWealth.com or active wealth. Show.com you can also pick the phone up and give us a call at (770) 685-1777. Again that number is (770) 685-1777. Diana and her team are standing by ready to take your calls. No problem there. Also, Sam, you've got our quote of the week, but I wanted to quickly discuss, hey, here's what you get when you meet with us. You're going to get a free portfolio analysis. You can understand the risk you're taking and the fees you're you're paying with your current portfolio. You're also going to understand the correlation of your assets. And asset correlation is a big deal because when one moves, the others likely will move with them. If you have a highly correlated portfolio also do you have that kind of portfolio is to buy and hold portfolio. A lot of the 401. K plans are buy and hold. You're just buying every two weeks. The company's matching and it's just sitting there. Well, we employ a little bit of strategic allocation. That's kind of the buy and hold allocation. But we also employ tactical asset allocation, which is rebalancing at least on a monthly basis. So you don't ride, you know, the cliffs all the way down to the bottom of the valley of the markets. You're also going to get a retirement income gap analysis to help you determine whether you have a positive income surplus or a negative income gap. In retirement. Also, here's a little hint here. It will widen one way or the other. Depending on how you invest, but also depending on inflation. So if you're starting with a negative income gap. With inflation that's been in double digits the last couple of years. That can be a real problem.

Ford Stokes:
Because then you're really losing purchasing power and your lifestyle is going to change during retirement. Instead of eating steak once a week, you might be eating chicken or instead of going on beach trips and cruises and things like that, and you might be staying at home and not spending as much time with family. Again, in our family, we spend a lot of time and we want to help you spend more time with your family during retirement. And what else you get is you get a financial plan to your 95th birthday. With your current plan that has nothing to do with us. Then number four is you're going to get a financial plan in your 95th birthday with our recommended portfolios. And then number five is you're going to get our recommended portfolios that a full financial plan on your 95th birthday with our recommended portfolios. That also includes a Roth ladder conversion plan. If you have thought about doing a Roth ladder conversion, you want to save six figures or more in retirement. If you have, say, over a $400,000 sitting in an IRA somewhere or sitting in a 401. K or a 403 B or a 457 or a simple IRA or a Sep. Ira, I would encourage you to reach out to us. Go ahead and give us a call at (770) 685-1777 and we'll give you a free, absolutely free Roth ladder conversion plan. And you can quantify how much less in taxes you're going to pay during your 35 plus year retirement. We're also all have longevity risk. We're going to help you with your longevity risk to make sure that your your money outlives you. We're going to try to make sure that your money outlives you. Sam, go ahead and share our Quote of the Week.

Producer:
And now wholesome financial wisdom. It's time for the Quote of the Week.

Producer:
All right. For this week's financial wisdom, quote of the week comes from America's 35th president, John F Kennedy. And JFK once said that the time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining.

Ford Stokes:
Amen. One of those things we talked about last week, in two weeks ago. I'm sorry, is the best time to save money is when you have some. Same thing here. Time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining. Especially if you're in that last five years of retirement. I would really encourage you to get a plan, to get a plan that we call a results in advance plan. We don't want to draw down our our values too much. We want to make sure that we're doing a good job. With preserving our capital and also generating the retirement income that we need and trying to keep that percent withdrawal rate down lower than 4%. And we got to do a really good job at making sure that we're getting the roof over our head when the when the sun is shining, especially when you're in that retirement red zone. That retirement red zone is five years before retirement and five years after retirement. We want to do everything we can to help you get an idea of where you stand and also help you get on the right path. And we have some strategies that can help you get a higher withdrawal rate than 4% without over taxing and over withdrawing and putting too much pressure on your current portfolio as well. You can take advantage of products like a fixed indexed annuity or life insurance products that can get you mortality credits that would allow you to continue to grow in your withdrawal rates year over year.

Ford Stokes:
As a matter of fact, every year you age with a lot of these annuity products, they'll give you 0.1% more of your money every year. And hopefully you're tied to a market index that's actually going to grow. Over time as well to help you keep pace with inflation. Again, with the fixed indexed annuity, you can get market like gains without market risk. And it's a good idea because it's a good idea to replace the bonds and bonds pay you income. But let me ask you, why are you paying? Advisor fees and portfolio fees on bonds when you can get income from fixed indexed annuities. And not pay advisory fees and portfolio fees. I mean, it's a it's a good question. And the Answer is you really should be buying the fixed indexed annuity to replace. The bonds in your portfolio because there's no advisor and portfolio fees because the insurance company pays us as advisors and we don't ever double dip and we couldn't do that. We're fiduciaries. We put your needs ahead of our own and it's a really good idea to consider getting greater income year over year over year from a fixed indexed annuity. And we've got a really important story to share. We had the death of a of a spouse of one of our clients passed away suddenly from a car accident two weeks ago.

Ford Stokes:
And we've got a really important story to share. About what. There her husband is going through and. He's so glad that he's got a fixed indexed annuity that's growing over time. He's got a pension as well, but his pension is not growing. So if you but is fixed indexed annuity income is year over year and pensions are spias or single premium immediate annuities, that's the product that's used to generate a pension and it doesn't change over time. And he's losing purchasing power from his pension. So it encourage you to pick up the phone and give us a call at (770) 685-1777. If you want to get your own results in advance plan. We're happy to help you. We'll give you a full retirement plan. Absolutely no cost to you. Again, all you have to do is give us a call at (770) 685-1777. And we run out of time here in the first segment, we come back from the break. We're going to talk a little bit more about June being Annuity Awareness Month. We going to talk about some of the annuity myths out there and we're going to help you avoid this one common mistake that pre-retirees make during retirement. You're listening to Active Wealth Show right here on Am 920. The Answer.

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 Activators the active well show on Ford Stokes, your chief financial advisor. And I've got Sam Davis here with us. And Sam, what I want you to do, if you could just share that one common mistake that pre-retirees make.

Producer:
Yeah, absolutely. We meet with a lot of people who are preparing for retirement and they often are making this same mistake, and that's that they're focusing too much on growing their retirement savings, building up that nest egg. And they have this one big magic number in mind. Maybe it's the individual that says, okay, I just need half $1 million in my IRA. I'll be ready to retire. Maybe it's $1 million, maybe it's $2 million. But we're seeing that people have this magic number in mind. But it's much more important to keep in mind that it's about income. It's not about the size of your nest egg. People are great savers and we commend them for that. But people focus too much on maximizing their 401. K as an IRAs, forgetting that these tax deferred retirement accounts are subject to income taxes and required minimum distributions as they age. So that means a couple things. Their nest egg isn't as big as they think. They've got a lot of money that's still at risk in the market and they'd be much more prudent to take some of those funds now and turn that into income, potential income that they need, income that they want for the fun things in retirement income that they need for their non-discretionary expenses, their bills that they need to pay each month, such as Medicare surcharges and and their bills to pay, you know, electricity, water, things for the House. But, you know, keep in mind, the more money you have at risk in the market as you get older, the more you're going to stand to lose when it comes to your future retirement lifestyle. So do this thing. Do us a favor and don't think so much about that one big magic number. Start thinking about your income potential during retirement. Because once you have that income plan, once you have that budget for your retirement, the rest of the picture for your golden years really starts to come into focus.

Ford Stokes:
Yeah, and a lot of our clients, they really like having that fixed indexed annuity for 40% of their assets and they generate their income from that annuity and they let the rest the rest of the portfolio grow. And so they can grow that number bigger because they've left it alone. And, you know, the the big positives of an annuity are market like gains without market risk. And you also can get an immediate bonus. You also get a higher payout percentage of your money than if you were taking it out of your portfolio. Because, listen, if you're following a 4% rule, you've got a million bucks in your IRA. You take out 4%. That's 40 grand. But you also owe taxes on that money. And so let's say you're in a 20% bracket. You've got 32 grand to live on, plus your Social Security payment. And, you know, according to the Congressional Budget Office and according to tsa.gov. They're looking at the Social Security trust fund running out of money by. 2034, when you decide to take Social Security is going to be one of your most important decisions you can make during retirement. And also one piece of information that we want to share that's on tsa.gov, on Social Security's website, on the Social Security Administration's website, is a message to the public. It's a summary of their 2023 annual reports. But there's a message to the public about what's going on about Social Security trust fund and according to Social Security. The retirement and survivor benefits are fully scheduled to go all the way through 2033.

Ford Stokes:
But the percentage of scheduled benefits payable at the time of reserve depletion is only 77%. So it's a 23% loss at a very minimum. And it could be a lot of people are estimating it could be upwards of 32, 33% unless Congress does something about it. But right now, according to Ssa.gov, it would be a 23% less payout, a lower payout of all Social Security benefits across the board for the old age and survivors insurance. That's the the money that's paying Social Security recipients. It's not the SSDI, which is Social Security disability income. One of the ways to counteract this is to not count on Social Security at all and to create your own personal pension. And the best way to do that is to invest in either fixed indexed annuity or invest in life insurance or both. And we can help you. All you've got to do is visit active welcome that's ActiveWealth.com and you can click that schedule a consultation button in the upper right corner and we'll give you a free retirement income report as well. So all you do is reach out to us again at ActiveWealth.com or call us. Diana and Deborah are standing by with their team ready to take your call this weekend at (770) 685-1777. Again that's (770) 685-1777. Also speaking of kind of generating your own personal pension, June is Annuity Awareness Month. Annuity Awareness Month is an observance that takes place in June each year. It aims to educate people about annuities and their potential benefits as part of retirement planning.

Ford Stokes:
Annuities are a part of what we do. We do manage portfolios. We're a private wealth management firm. During Annuity Awareness Month. We're going to try to spend more time talking about the benefits of fixed indexed annuities and how they can help you in the different types of annuities. Annuities are financial products typically offered by insurance companies that provide a steady stream of income that cannot be outlived when used correctly, as recommended by a financial advisor and or financial professional. These personal pensions can play a critical role for retirees similar to Social Security. Annuities pay you an income that you can never outlive. What makes annuities different from Social Security is that annuities are required to maintain at least a 100% financial reserve so that insurance companies are sure to have the cash on hand to pay all of their annuity owners every single policyholder. Social Security is also subject to government volatility. The SSA or Social Security Administration, has projected that its trust fund reserves again could be depleted or will likely be depleted without any change in legislation by 2034, which likely will lead to a partial cut of benefits. And right now, they're estimating that would be a 23% cut or greater. Also, we were going to talk about the miss the annuity miss. And we've got some know one myth that everybody thinks annuities are all all annuities are bad. Every single one of them. There are many different kinds of annuities out there. Here are some of the most common types offered in the marketplace today.

Producer:
So the first type of annuity we want to talk about are immediate annuities. Sometimes these are called single premium, immediate annuities or spias for short and Spias provide an income stream after a lump sum payment. Many corporate and public pensions are actually funded using this investment vehicle, a single premium immediate annuity. That's why we sometimes recommend taking a lump sum option in your corporate or public pension and consider more lucrative annuity options that are offered by top carriers in the marketplace.

Ford Stokes:
Two things there. One is if you don't think pensions are important, try taking a pension away from somebody. Second is. If you can really create your own personal pension and SBA is really good at paying your money back, but it's not tied to a market index. I would encourage you to consider taking a lump sum on your pension if you've got the opportunity, because you can one get an immediate bonus on that money. You can grow your money immediately. Two. You can grow with the market and grow with inflation over time by being tied to a market index like the S&P 500. The Nasdaq 100, the Russell 2000, etcetera. And we want to make sure that you're ready to go and you can also get higher payouts and income payouts. As you age. A lot of spears. They pay one base level income the whole way out. And it doesn't keep pace with inflation. So you're going to lose buying power from day one. So I would encourage you, if you've got a pension or the opportunity for a pension or if you're just transitioning from working to being retired from your 401.

Ford Stokes:
K and you don't know what to do with your 401. K, I would encourage you to give us a call at (770) 685-1777 or just reach out to us at ActiveWealth.com and you can always watch any of our episodes at ActiveWealthShow.com as well. And when we come back from the break, we're going to talk more about the different types of annuities. Sam is going to outline those and we're also going to try to talk to you about how to prepare for the widow's tax. And we're going to share that story about what's going on with one of my clients. His his wife passed away after a car accident and all the things that he's facing and what we're what we're doing to help him through all that process. And there's two important decisions every couple needs to consider before retirement. You'll see Active Wealth Show right here on Am 920. The Answer I hope you come back so you can get the Answers to all these different questions and learn more about how you can properly plan for a successful retirement.

Producer:
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. In some cases, cutting costs can be as easy as adjusting the thermostat in your home. I'm Matt McClure with the Retirement.Radio Network. Powered by AmeriLife. Hot summers and cold winters can really put a dent in your bottom line by jacking up the cost of your energy bills. But there are some things you can do to reduce those expenses that won't cost you very much, if anything at all.

Sarah Baldwin:
Paying attention to when you're turning on appliances, when you're turning on the AC, if you have a thermostat that you can program setting that thermostat to a modest temperature instead of going straight to really, really cold. Looking at, you know, what kind of window coverings you have.

Producer:
That's Sarah Baldwin with the Think Tank Energy Innovation. Some other low cost ideas to reduce utility expenses, take shorter showers, wash your clothes in cold water, and regularly replace your Hvac air filter. And Baldwin says there are some other changes you can make that would take more money up front.

Sarah Baldwin:
Update your air conditioner to the most efficient unit. A heat pump. Air conditioner is going to be your best bet. You can also look at replacing windows and doors. Those can be a bit more costly, but can have huge benefits in the long term.

Producer:
Along those same lines, appliance manufacturers have put more emphasis in recent years on creating products that use less water and energy than older appliances. Those energy efficient appliances can save you a pretty penny. So are you being energy efficient and budget conscious? That'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:
With the traditional 60 over 40 portfolio. Having its worst year in more than four decades now may be a great time to consider more than just stocks and bonds. Ford Stokes, author of Annuity 360 and host of The Active Wealth Show, wants to help you retire with peace of mind. Schedule your free consultation today at ActiveWealth.com so we can help you delete fees and establish a personal pension that you can never outlive. Visit ActiveWealth.com now that's ActiveWealth.com

Producer:
Welcome back activators to the Active Wealth Show. I'm Sam Davis here with Ford Stokes your chief financial advisor. Before the break we were outlining some of the different types of annuities. June is Annuity Awareness month. We just talked about a media annuities or Spias. And the next type of annuity we want to highlight is fixed Annuities and fixed annuities offer a fixed rate of return for a specified period. They offer stable, predictable income and are generally considered to be low risk. That's a fixed annuity. There are also indexed annuities. Indexed annuities offer lifetime income with return based on the performance of an underlying stock market index. So people who own indexed annuities enjoy market like gains without the risk of losing their principal there in the stock market. And the final type of annuities that we want to mention today are variable annuities and variable annuities offer returns based on the performance of an index. However, the value and income are variable. They can fluctuate greatly based on market performance.

Ford Stokes:
All you need to know is variable annuities don't do them, they're scalable. Don't do annuities is what we call them, indexed annuities or fixed indexed annuities. That's kind of the the porridge is just right kind of a thing. That's because you can get market like gains without market risk and you can generate that lifetime income and you can grow with market like gains throughout your retirement. Which is a really big deal in a time of significant inflation where our government is printing a whole lot of money. I would encourage you not to consider fixed annuities or variable annuities or immediate annuities because they're not going to be tied to the market and your money won't grow with the market. So I would encourage you to consider a fixed indexed annuity. Um, also just wanted to do a shout out to all our different listeners out there. Widows or widowers, widows or widowers who meet with us will never have to face these challenges alone. Our clients know that we're here for them during good times and bad times. If you or someone you know recently lost their spouse or is experiencing the burden of the widow's tax because we're going to go into that here in a second, feel free to call us at (770) 685-1777 or you can visit ActiveWealth.com and we'll be happy to share our information. We do have a widows tax report and if you've got questions about that, all you need to do is reach out to us and you can send me an email at forward at ActiveWealth.com that's forward at ActiveWealth.com and we'll send you that report absolutely at no cost to you. So Sam, why don't you just share a little bit about how people can prepare for the widows tax and then and then we'll I'll go through how we help people plan in advance for the widows tax.

Producer:
Absolutely. So if you don't have a solid retirement income plan as the provider or sole breadwinner for your family, we definitely encourage you to get in touch with us as well so we can help you build that plan that will keep your spouse, keep you and your family safe. And it's important to be working with a financial advisor before you pass away and ideally before your health ever begins declining. And that's because the more time you have to work with, the more options you're going to have and the better off you're likely to be. And Ford, why don't you go ahead and outlay that plan for helping people in advance?

Ford Stokes:
Yeah, I mean, the best time to get started is, is right now, I would just tell you, it's never too late. We can help you no matter what. And we want we've got our plan to help people plan in advance. And here it is. Number one is create a smart vision for retirement without your spouse in advance. How do you plan to spend time with family and friends? How do you plan to fund your retirement with less income coming into the household? Because it's likely you're going to lose 33% of the Social Security income coming into the household or greater with the death of a spouse, because if one spouse passes away. The surviving spouse will get the higher. Amount of Social Security income benefit and you'll lose the lower amount. So in my example of husband that's getting $30,000 a year in Social Security income benefit. And the wife's getting half of his because she stayed home and worked harder and raised the kids. Probably get an amen from the ladies out there with that comment. And that's true. So there was $45,000 coming into the household. Well, if he dies and and she gets his but she loses hers. So she gets the $30,000 a year, but she loses the 15. So the household lost 33% of the Social Security income overnight on the day that it's all the date that's on the death certificate, that's when that becomes effective. And then also number two is create a solid retirement income plan, understand your expenses and retirement, and establish income sources that you can count on and that you can never outlive. A great way to do this to replace bonds you have in your portfolio with fixed indexed annuities.

Ford Stokes:
Number three is measure your retirement income gap. Good or bad. The income gap is bad. The retirement surplus or retirement income surplus is good before you retire. This involves calculating expected expenses and balancing your budget. Number four is if you're still in your 40s or 50s, We can help you build a plan to receive a tax free death benefit when your spouse passes away to help ease the income pressure. Number five is delete the IRS from your retirement account by implementing a Roth ladder conversion as soon as possible. But definitely by the time you're 72 or 73 years old. Number six is immediately review and reset your financial plan upon the death of your spouse. Meet with your financial planner within 30 to 60 days of the death of your spouse, you can reset your entire plan and make sure you're on the right path. Also, it's going to give you more people to meet with. It's going to give you more things to do and also try to get in with different groups and support groups for widows and widowers as well. There are a lot of those groups out there, whether it's through your church or through community groups as well. Please do that. Don't isolate yourself. We want you living in the future, not just living in your grief only. And then number seven is consult with a CPA or tax professional annually to verify that you are on track. And Sam, I think you're going to share a little bit about what is a living will for our listeners.

Producer:
Yeah, absolutely. Something really important here. So what is a living will? It's also called an advanced health care directive. A living will is a legal document that allows individuals to specify their medical treatment preferences if they become unable to communicate. A living will outlines an individual's preferences regarding life sustaining treatments, pain management, as well as organ donation. And it serves as a legally binding guide for both health care professionals and your family members to make decisions that align with your wishes in the case that you aren't able to make decisions for yourself. Now, legal requirements for a living will do vary, so we recommend consulting with an attorney or following local guidelines that is strongly advised so you can create a valid and enforceable document that truly is a living will. So if you have questions about setting that up, we'd be happy to discuss this with you and provide some resources during your complimentary consultation with us here at Active Wealth Management.

Ford Stokes:
We can come back from the break. We're going to talk about two important decisions every couple needs to consider before retirement. We're so glad you're with us here on the Active Wealth Show. And we're also going to share a little bit about what one of our clients is going through after the death of his wife from a car accident and some of the things that he's done to prepare and and also just just trying to let people know what you could go through during difficult times and just want to make sure everybody knows how much we care about our clients and even our listeners and our prospects. We want to help you through every phase of life. And it's often times you're not going to pass away at the same time as your spouse. And and so we want to get you prepared for that moment on either side and and just really make sure that we're, you know, that we're here to help folks, but also to help educate what could happen during retirement. And a lot of people with the death of a spouse, they have no idea what kind of happens, what banks do, what what governments do, all those different types of things and all the things you have to deal with. Again, we're going to talk about the two important decisions every couple needs to consider before retirement.

Producer:
Even with inflation, eating at home is often cheaper than dining out. I'm Matt McClure with the Retirement.Radio Network Powered by AmeriLife. Food costs are up for everyone these days and when you get sticker shock at the grocery store, you may be tempted to consider dining out more often. But think again. Prices are up at restaurants too. Chef David Burke recently told CNBC some of the reasons why.

David Burke:
Not changing the menu Not one menu, but printing menus every day. Paper goods are through the roof to gloves that we wear in the kitchen are through the roof, so there's a lot of deep fryer oil. The oil that goes into the deep fryers, which we don't really look at, we always look at the protein prices that all of those little all of those ancillary things are through the roof with pricing.

Producer:
Energy costs are also having an impact on restaurants. Not only have they driven up the price of shipping food from producers, but gas prices are driving up labor costs as well. Burke said employees who live farther away from restaurants are asking for pay increases to offset the increased cost of driving in every day. So cooking at home will still be cheaper than dining out. In most cases. Many large and local grocery stores offer discounts for seniors, but if you're not able to drive, you can also order groceries online and have them delivered directly to you. If you do decide to dine out, save for a special occasion, try to find a restaurant that offers senior discounts. So have you thought about cutting back on dining out? 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. To get your free copy.

Producer:
Of 23 retirement cost cutters for 2023 give for a call today at (770) 685-1777 or go online to ActiveWealth.com

Charlie Kirk:
Charlie Kirk here if you're concerned about your investments rising taxes from the Biden administration then I encourage you to listen to the Active Wealth Show hosted by my good friend Ford Stokes right here on Am 920. The Answer Listen to the Active Wealth Show Saturdays at noon and Sundays at 11 a.m. The Active Wealth Show right here on Am 980. The Answer

Producer:
Advisory Services offered through Brookstone Capital Management, LLC, BCM, a registered investment advisor, not an actual client of active wealth management.

Producer:
Do you want more monthly income during retirement? Are you growing concerned that you can't count on Social Security? Ford Stokes, author of Annuity 360 and host of the Active Wealth Show, wants to take this stress out of retirement planning by providing a complete portfolio analysis and retirement income plan free of charge to listeners of this station. Schedule your one on one consultation at ActiveWealth.com or call us today at (770) 685-1777. Thanks for listening to the Active Wealth Show If you like what you're hearing, subscribe to our YouTube channel to watch videos from this program and other recent episodes.

Ford Stokes:
Welcome back. Activators to the Active Wealth Show. I'm Ford Stokes, your chief financial advisor. I've got Sam Davis with us, our executive producer. And we were talking about two important decisions every couple needs to consider before retirement. Number one is when should my spouse and I take Social Security? And our recommendation is usually if you can if you can help it, if you can avoid overtaxing your portfolio, try to get to your full retirement age of 66.5 or 67. Try to get there. If you're born after 1960, congratulations. Your full retirement age is 67. If you're born before that, it's 66 and a certain amount of months. Um, if you if you feel like. You know what? I don't know if security's going to be around, I'm going to go ahead and turn on Social Security. That's fine. But my question to you is, do you deserve more than $0.75 on the dollar? And I would say most of you listening to the sound of my voice here, whether you're driving around in Atlanta, you know, heading to Home Depot or heading to Lowe's or or Kroger or Publix or going to a grandchildren's, you know, game or you're heading to the lake or heading to the beach. I would just tell you. You really need to consider. Waiting a little bit longer so that you can get more than $0.75 on the dollar.

Ford Stokes:
Because I believe you worked all your life. You put so much money into the Social Security system. I would encourage you to get some of those dollars back out and more of those dollars back out and try to get to full retirement age. Also, it's 8% every year you wait after your full retirement age. And so if you can stand to wait all the way till 70, even better. But we don't want to withdraw more than 4% of our portfolio for sure. And number two is when one of us passes away, how will the surviving spouse fill the income gap left by one of the Social Security payments going away? And the earlier the better for you to figure this out. If you're over 65, you probably need to consider a fixed indexed annuity to backfill that. If you are. In your 50s, I would encourage you to consider an index universal life policy like a five pay or a ten pay that can really generate some serious tax free retirement income because that income comes as a loan against the policy. It's a rule 7702 plan. It follows the IRS code 7702. You can look it up in society benefits from life insurance. And so that's why they've got that available. If you have a chance to generate tax free retirement income, why wouldn't you take advantage of that? If you want to take advantage of that, all you've got to do is visit us at ActiveWealth.com and click that schedule a consultation button in the upper right corner.

Ford Stokes:
All right. So now let me tell you about my client who lost his wife two weeks ago. She died in a car wreck. She was heading to Asheville and she was heading to Asheville with friends. She goes to she she went to Asheville every six months for 25 years with friends. And I'm so glad she lived a great life and had a great time. And she she contributed to her church. She she taught kids in Sunday school. She was amazing. And. This is what my widower client is dealing with. He got 20 copies of her death certificate. He handed them within about seven days. He got he got a death fairly quickly. Usually it's about 21 days in the state of Georgia. He handed it to his bank and they immediately stopped all deposits into his. Joint checking account. He didn't know that. They didn't tell him he had to go back five days later and was like, wait, wait a second, my pension isn't there. It should be. And so he had to go get a new account, an individual account. Then he had to give that to his pension company to make sure they were putting that in there.

Ford Stokes:
He also her last Social Security check got returned. He's having to deal with that. And that's like a 90 day process. And he's having to start all over. He also had to deal with memorial services and funding all of that. He has presented death certificates to our custodian, TD Ameritrade, so he's able to get those as transfer on death accounts for her Roth and her IRA. They are beneficiary IRAs and beneficiary Roth IRAs, which is great. And he's got to take all that money. You know, in a timely fashion. He doesn't. Since he's a spouse, he can keep going. He doesn't have to take it over a ten year period like you would if a child had had inherited. And he's had to deal with all this while. He's also dealing with memorial services and getting her cremated and coordinating all of that and dealing with all of his friends and family. He also had, you know, knee surgery a few months ago, and he's not able to go play golf with his friends. And so he's he's been a little bit more isolated than he normally would like to be. And. You know, we're trying to stay close to them as well. But I just want to make sure people understand this is what you're dealing with.

Ford Stokes:
You deal with real, real life, real world. And he still got a little bit of probate to go through. She did have a will, which is great. Um. So I just want to make sure you understand. There are real things that happen, especially with bank accounts. When one spouse passes away, he also is losing. That Social Security income payment. But he's really happy because he's got a fixed indexed annuity with us and he's able to turn on income. And that income is. Continue to grow from the time he bought it three years ago. And that's a really good thing. He's also sad that his pension isn't growing and he wishes it was in the same type of product like a fixed indexed annuity. What's been nice is he hasn't been able to talk. He hasn't had to touch his nest egg, his portfolio, and that continues to grow. And so I would just encourage everybody to have a plan. And we really appreciate you all listening to us. And Sam is going to share the final countdown and I'm going to get out of here. And remember, if you're seeking information about retirement, if you're going to be a bear, be a grizzly. Be as aggressive as possible to plan for a safe and happy retirement. Also to plan for your legacy. It's the final.

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

Producer:
So on today's show, we talked about how to avoid financial burden during difficult times. Plus, June is Annuity Awareness Month. So we went over some of the different types of annuities. We didn't quite get to the five keys for a debt free retirement. So tune in next week to the Active Wealth Show or subscribe to the Active Wealth Show wherever you listen to podcasts and we'll get to those five keys for a debt free retirement. We love talking about how to eliminate debt here on the Active Wealth Show, we also talked about preparing for the death of a spouse as well as a living will and what you can do to get a living will in place. We gave you a quote of the week from John F Kennedy, and once again, that quote was the time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining. Fantastic quote from 60 years ago. America's 35th president spoke those words during his penultimate State of the Union address in 1962, and the words still ring true today. We had a fantastic episode on this week's Active Wealth Show, Hope you enjoyed. Be sure to subscribe to the show. Wherever you listen to podcasts, you can also go to ActiveWealthShow.com to watch all of our past episodes. You can also go to the Active Wealth Show on YouTube and watch select highlights from this episode and some of our recent episodes as well. Be sure to visit ActiveWealthShow.com schedule your complimentary consultation with us. You get that just for being a listener to the show. Thank you to all of our listeners on the podcast and am 920. The Answer. Appreciate you listening and tune in next week to the Active Wealth Show.

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 an 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:
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.

Ford Stokes:
Chapter 11 Single Premium Immediate Annuity When You Need Money Now. Big idea. Older retirees often find this type of annuity attractive due to how the distributions are calculated. Older clients collect over a shorter amount of time and therefore will receive higher payouts. How does it work? Typically, you would buy immediate annuities by paying the insurance company a lump sum of money. The insurance company in turn, promises to pay the annuitant a regular income according to contract terms. Those payment amounts are calculated by the insurer and they typically begin within a month of purchase. You can also decide how often you want to be paid. Known as the mode, a monthly mode is the most common, but you can also choose quarterly or annually. Other things to know. Older clients often collect fewer payments from their annuities due to a shorter time horizon. With an immediate annuity, this works in their favor. Client life expectancy, among other factors, helps determine the income payments. Older clients typically collect over a shorter number of years. This means that their monthly payments will be higher than younger investors of this product. For example, if you purchase an immediate annuity at age 65 and someone else purchases the same annuity at age 78, the 78 year old will receive higher monthly payments because their investment is spread out over fewer months than the 65 year old investor.

Ford Stokes:
If you think you haven't saved enough money for your retirement and you are worried about outliving your wealth, an immediate annuity may be a good choice for you. An immediate annuity would also be a good choice for someone who wants their spouse to have a steady income for the remainder of their life. Some immediate annuities come standard with this feature, but it may also require the purchase of a writer. You can always explore your options before you choose the product that is right for you. Living below your means during retirement is more than important. It is essential. That means your monthly expenses during retirement must remain lower than the after tax distributions you take from your investments, plus any pensions or Social Security income. Please remember to do everything you can to not distribute more than 4% of your total asset portfolio in a given year so your money can continue to grow. We do not want you to over cannibalize your assets. We want your money to last.

Sonix is the world’s most advanced automated transcription, translation, and subtitling platform. Fast, accurate, and affordable.

Automatically convert your mp3 files to text (txt file), Microsoft Word (docx file), and SubRip Subtitle (srt file) in minutes.

Sonix has many features that you’d love including advanced search, upload many different filetypes, collaboration tools, secure transcription and file storage, and easily transcribe your Zoom meetings. Try Sonix for free today.