Ready, Set, Retire!

8.1.25: Audio automatically transcribed by Sonix

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

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

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

Speaker3:
And welcome to retirement results for all drivers on Ford Stokes for chief financial advisor. Got Sam Davis here with us on the mic. He's our co-host and senior financial advisor. Hello everybody. Sam.

Speaker4:
Welcome to the week end result. Drivers. Thank you so much for tuning in to retirement results. We know so many of you out there. Care about your retirement. I mean next to your health, your wealth is one of the most important things that you think about day in and day out. And Ford and I are here with another episode to bring you some valuable information, some important updates, and just some actionable information to help you start improving your plan this year.

Speaker3:
Yeah, the title for this show is ready, set, retire. We're going to talk about how to de-risk your portfolio, plan smarter and create more income for your retirement. We're happy to help you do that. Absolutely no cost to you here on the Retirement Results financial radio show. I just want to say thank you so much. I mean, Sam and I both do want to say thank you so much to all the listeners on Am 920 and for making us the number one listen to radio show on the weekends. It's kind of a big deal because we're on at noon on Saturday and 11 a.m. on Sunday. Um, we're obviously on earlier on WW n, but we just want to say thank you for making us and I want to listen to radio show on the weekends for the last five plus years on amnesty. And the answer. So we really appreciate it. Also shout out to all those WD you and listeners. We are growing that audience. Um, as you all have your morning coffee. We appreciate you. And thanks for listening to us around the lake and around Gainesville as well. We are looking to put a, an office in Hull County with Mike McClure, who's our roving reporter with our Time Results radio show. He's a licensed financial advisor as well. He does seminars out there at a lot of local libraries. So we're looking to put an office in Hull County.

Speaker3:
So if you are listening to us in Hall County and you want to meet with us, we can meet with you via zoom now. Um, you can come meet with us in our office just over the Beaver Dam Road over there. You can come see us over in Alpharetta. Ralph, exit 12 on 400. Uh, but you can give us a call at (770) 685-1777. Again, that number is (770) 685-1777. Or you can also reach out to us at retirement results.com. That's retirement results. Com. Like I said we're going to talk about how to de-risk your portfolio how to plan smarter really create that important income for your retirement. We're going to give you a checklist for retirement and kind of share some essential steps for a successful transition in 2025. Uh, number two is we're going to kind of share why you should de-risk your retirement plan and the power of protecting your retirement savings. Because, listen, you've worked really hard for the money, but you've worked probably even harder to save it. And hopefully you've gotten that money working at least half as hard as you did. Um, because we want to get that money working hard for you to generate the income you want need in retirement. And then number three is we're going to share some facts about health care costs and retirement, and make sure all of you listeners are well informed about what's going on with health care costs during retirement, because it is going to be one of the largest expenses you're going to have during retirement.

Speaker3:
And I know that's a bummer. A lot of people don't really feel like, oh, great, I can go spend this on co-pays and and deductibles and surgeries and all kinds of things. But that is going to be the case. And, you know, also, Warren Buffett says the greatest investment you can make is in yourself. Generally, he's talking about that with continuing education and getting more skill set. But I would I would just share that, hey, let's make sure you're investing in your health care on the front end so you don't have as much cost in the back end as well, you know, so you can live longer. We just want you to be around a long time. We want you to be able to see a whole lot of things that happen in your family, where it's kids and grandkids. It'd be great to see your great grandkids graduate, you know, high school and actually go to college and maybe even get married. It'd be amazing to live that long. Um, my mother in law is 82, and she's she's seen, uh, one of her great grandkids graduate elementary school, which is great. And then the other other ones were coming on. So pretty excited about all that. But, Sam, why don't you go ahead and share this week's financial wisdom quote of the week.

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

Speaker4:
This one comes from author Robert Kiyosaki, and he once said, it's not how much money you make, but how much money you keep, how hard it works for you, and how many generations you keep it for. I love this quote, Ford. I think this is a fantastic quote for this week's show. And it is just so true. It's really not all about what you make. We've met with a lot of people who felt like they didn't earn that much money during their careers, but they did a great job saving. And if you have more saved up than you ever have before, that means you have more to lose than you've ever had before, which makes it so important to make sure you have a plan that protects that wealth, but also grows it as well.

Speaker3:
Yeah. And also, you should really be able to enjoy your retirement and not stress about money and not stress about, hey, how am I going to meet my monthly obligations during retirement? You're waiting for that Social Security check to hit on the certain day that you've signed up to start receiving Social Security? Um, you're also, we want to make sure that you're not necessarily really fretting about, okay, what's my Medicare surcharge? How much are they taking out? What's on Medigap supplement plan? Things like that. We want to make sure you've got enough money where you don't have to worry about those things, where Social Security is a really helpful part, but not the essential, essential part of your retirement. And the best way to do that is to kind of de-risk and deliver your retirement plan by about 20 to 40%. We're not talking about a whole lot. We do like to invest in 60 plus percent in tactical managed portfolios like tactical asset allocation, um, and make sure we're rebalancing at least once a month on all of your managed portfolios. Right now, we're we're really diversifying quite a bit between our three star portfolios. Also our BCM growth basket or um, our dividend basket of stocks, I think that's something that's of interest to a lot of retirees as well. And then we're including like 5 or 10% in different things like structured notes or other different investment products. But also we like to replace the bonds in your portfolio with safer products. And if you've got questions about how to do that, all you got to do is reach out to us at 1777 and we'll get started right away.

Speaker4:
All right. Foreign. And we want to jump right in to our retirement checklist. A lot of people out there in their 50s and early 60s, they're really starting to take retirement seriously. They're thinking about how they're going to make that transition from their careers into their golden years. Right. And step number one, you know, this is where it all starts, even before you meet with us, have that smart vision for your retirement. You need to have that clear goal in mind for you. Always talk about where are you going to be, who are you going to be with, what are you going to do, and how are you going to fund it all. And that's why it's important for you to start with that smart vision. If you don't have any picture or any idea of what you want in retirement, before you come in and meet with us, we're going to have to make sure you've got some goals.

Speaker3:
Yeah, we'd love to help you again. We're just going to try to encourage you to ask yourself these questions like, what are you doing? Who are you with? Where are you? Specifically, the fourth question is how are you going to fund it? You might be wanting to go back. You're not nice to go back to school, but you might want to start doing things like charitable work. Or you might want to really help out your community, or you might want to relaunch into a small business or even buy a business. There's a lot of retirees that are buying businesses now that they can be a little bit more hands off. It's tougher, but a lot of people are doing that, especially as they age. And and we see age discrimination in the workplace quite a bit. So you need to have a plan for all that. So let's get a smart vision for retirement first. And let's just get an understanding of what we're what we're going to do. Who are we going to spend our time with is this family and friends? What part of the country are we going to live in? Are we going to live in the wall, on the water or not? Um, so our kids and grandkids and maybe great grandkids will come see us, um, on important holidays or during the summer and spend a lot of valuable time as Sam. As you know, we in our family. We spend a lot of time in our family and the Stokes family, and I just want to make sure that you guys get the chance to spend time with the ones you love, and you've got the funds to to afford that.

Speaker3:
And just let us know how we can help you. All we've got to do is reach out to us at (770) 685-1777. We've got two really big whiteboards in the office there, Sam. And if anybody is listening, if you guys want to build your own vision board for your retirement and you can put you in the back conference room, we can close the doors. We don't have to be there. And you guys can get on the dry erase board. It's really a nice glass dry erase board that we got from Atlanta office liquidators that came in and and installed all those for us. And it wasn't very expensive. It was great. I would encourage you to go and reach out to us and we'll we'll let you have a retirement vision board session. Absolutely no cost to you, just about what you want to do, where you want to be and all that stuff. All you do is give our office a call at 6851777. Sometimes we will have a hard time remembering a phone number, so I'd encourage you to reach out to us at retirement results. We've also got a special web page for you. Retirement results. Com forward slash plan. That's retirement results.com/plan. And you can just put your name email and phone and we'll reach out to you and get started right away.

Speaker4:
Well I think that's a great idea forward. And we're about to head to break. So while we head to this quick break, start thinking about your smart vision for your retirement. Where do you want to travel? What are those hobbies you want to get back into or or continue working on? You know, what do you want to do with your family? Your grandkids? Start thinking about all those things. We'll be right back. You're listening to retirement results.

Speaker2:
Retirement results will be right back.

Speaker6:
Loves are my mom loves. In America too. She's a good girl.

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

Speaker3:
And welcome back result drivers to retirement results on Ford Stokes your chief financial advisor. We've got Sam Davis here with us, who's our senior financial advisor and co-host on the show. He's been that way for the last five years plus. And we're going over our retirement checklist today. And right now during this segment a little bit last segment, we went over the first one. We're going to go over these next few as well. We're talking about essential tips for smooth transition. And again the title of today's show is ready set retire. We're trying to help you de-risk your portfolio how to plan smarter, uh, build that great vision, that smart vision for your retirement, and also create more income for you in retirement. And the first one was have a smart vision for retirement. We talked about, what are you doing? Who are you with? Where are you living and how are you going to fund it? Those are the big, important questions to ask yourself and your spouse. One other thing that we like doing, and we offer a free retirement vision board session in our office. So all you got to do is reach out to us at retirement results plan, give us a call, and we'll get you scheduled for that. And you can get in our back conference room and we'll close the door. We won't even be there. And you can put a little music on for you with a speaker or whatever you need, and you guys can figure out one of the great things that couples do that are clients of ours. What they do is they'll both put a list, um, up on a border, on an easel with a large post-it note that goes on the wall, what their top five places they want to travel to, and whichever ones that they both want to travel to, they they prioritize those first. So that's a pretty cool thing too. So you guys can go ahead and reach out to us at retirement results.com.

Speaker4:
Yeah, that's getting me excited for it. If I was doing that, I would have Maui right at the top of my retirement.

Speaker3:
Kapalua, baby. Kapalua.

Speaker4:
Yeah, I think I would have Maui up there. I think I would have Ireland up there to go see the coast, the cliffs and and play some golf. And you know, everybody's vision is different. And I think the good news is Ford is really that's the most difficult step because that is the subjective. You've got to figure it out for yourself what you want to do in retirement, the rest of it as we get to number two, this is very objective, factual stuff. Step number two is assess your current expenses. What are your bills looking like now? These are your non-discretionary expenses. You know your gas sewer water bill. You know the food that you've got to put on the table each month, medical expenses, taxes, all those sort of things that are non-negotiables. You got to figure out those and then your non-discretionary income. How much wiggle room are you going to have each month to do all those things that we just talked about that smart vision that you want to enjoy. And for when we start planning with people, once we figure out the expenses, the rest of the process is it's pretty straightforward. We're figuring out how much discretionary income can we create each month for you, so you can enjoy retirement and have more options for yourself.

Speaker3:
Yeah. I'll give you a really good hint here that my father in law, who passed away last week, we covered it and then I was pretty emotional on that. I apologize for breaking up quite a bit on that tribute to Papa, but, um, one of the really cool things that they did that was also a great way to save money. When they were trying to spoil our two children, they already had. The other two grandkids were way older because my wife's sister is 12 years older than my wife, and so they would take the girls to either Donnell or General or Five below, and the girls would just think they hung the moon when Gigi and Papa spent like 40 bucks on them. And so it's a great way to go have a shopping spree, Spend more time and see the excitement on the grandkids face. Like especially in pre-K and elementary school and even middle school as well. Um, it's a great way to save money, but really get more time with those kids. And I mean, they would spend an hour plus in a five below or in a Dollar General. They love them. Some Dollar General, by the way. So just just one hint there. But I would say if you can assess your income needs between the just as you said Sam and tween the non-discretionary and the discretionary expenses, the discretionary expenses would be those gifts for the grandkids, or whether you're going to help the grandkids or the kids out with college, or paying out college loans, or or helping them with a down payment on their home or things like that, that's your discretion.

Speaker3:
The non-discretionary, just like Sam said, which is like your cable bill, your power bill, all those things that you can always cut the cord if you want to do that, like a lot of YouTube fans are doing these days, but whatever that whatever makes sense for you. Let's go ahead and do that. Also get a handle on those subscriptions, whether you're doing Hulu and and Paramount Plus or Peacock or, or Amazon Prime or Netflix or all these different ones, make sure you get a handle all of that because, you know, you could be spending several hundred dollars in subscriptions and not really realize it and not be utilizing the service. So, um, get a handle on that. A lot of people like to use rocket money for that. What I recommend people do is they say, hey, let's go ahead and just change check card numbers or change credit card numbers or, or or just move the account number and you'll see a lot of things will get started getting turned down. You'll get emails about it and you're like, hey, I'm not renewing that. So, um, just something to think through there. And, um, let's try to get a handle on the non-discretionary and the discretionary expenses. Add those up over two months divided by two, and then you'll get a really good idea of how much you're really spending on a monthly basis. I bet you it'll surprise you.

Speaker4:
Yeah. And continuing on tracking expenses, you address this just a little bit forward. But step number three, address major expenses before you retire. So these are things like paying for the grandkids wedding or helping out with that down payment on the house. Or maybe you just want to have a family trip to Disney World to kick off the start of your retirement. Whatever it is, if it's a major expense, let's make sure that we're accounting for that as well. You know, sometimes we had a client a few years ago forward that had some money set aside for her new car fund. So if that's a priority for you, make sure that you've got the 30 or 40,000 or whatever you need. Maybe you're getting a nicer car or truck, whatever it is we want to allocate for that so that we set that aside and it's ready for you to start enjoying your retirement. And so really, steps two and three forward are all about getting the expenses in place.

Speaker3:
Yeah. Also, I would encourage you to have a plan for when you're going to implement a Roth ladder conversion and when you're going to take Social Security. Journey, and it's best to work with a registered Social Security analyst on Windows Social Security. And I'm a registered social security analyst. So is Matt McClure. Um, we're two of 24, uh, registered Social Security analysts in the state of Georgia. We're happy to help you. All we gotta do is reach out to us at retirement results plan. But one of those major expenses is Roth ladder conversion. And the big hit here is it's a really big hint is you want to use something like a car finders. Things are sitting in your savings or you're checking or an investment account to pay for the taxes. You want to use taxable dollars to pay for the taxes on moving the tax deferred money into the tax free bucket. Um, when you move money from your IRA, your Roth IRA, you can pay the taxes on that with money, sitting or checking account or money sitting in savings or money sitting in an investment account. And those are taxable dollars that you can use to pay off all of those tax deferred Referred to the taxes on the tax deferred dollars a year that you need to pay within a quarter of when you move the money. But what that does is allows you to move all the money from your tax deferred IRA or your 400 K.

Speaker3:
457 403B whatever, and you move it into an IRA allows you to move all that money into a Roth IRA dollar for dollar. So if you convert $100,000 in a given year and you're in a 20% bracket, you take 20% out of, let's say, an investment account, a brokerage account. You liquidate the stocks on that. You try to get one that doesn't have a low cost basis in a high market value. You try to get something that's a little bit closer in cost basis in market value that are pretty equal. So you're not paying a lot of capital gains taxes. And then you liquidate those assets and then you use that to pay it off. And then therefore your Roth IRA grows to 100,000 when your IRA is depleted 100,000. So let's just get a good handle on those large expenses. But believe it or not, if you have a plan to delete the IRS from being your partner in retirement, guess what? A Roth ladder conversion is going to be one of those big expenses between now. When you turn 73 years old, you can keep doing it after 73 after you start taking RMDs. But it makes it a little bit more problematic to stay below the 32% threshold. We want you to be at 24% and down in the tax bracket when you're doing conversions.

Speaker4:
Yeah, that's such a great detailed tip. I mean, there's so many people who are going out and doing Roth conversions on their own and trying to manage things themselves that may not know that it is going to be a serious expense if you want to move those dollars over in kind. And if you don't do it that way, you are going to convert things to a tax free account, but it's going to be at a much lower level. All right, Ford, when we come back, we're going to get into the rest of the list. Do you know how to maximize your Social Security benefits? We're going to tell you how when we come back, you're listening to retirement results.

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

Speaker3:
Hey, this is Ford Stokes with active wealth management and retirement results. You've gotten used to getting higher interest rates on your savings accounts and bank CDs, but the fed has been lowering rates. If you're a 55 or older and have at least $250,000 to invest, and you'd like to lock in to higher interest rates, we can help. Currently, we can lock in income payout rates as high as 8%, 9%, or even 10% guaranteed for life. Even if interest rates drop back down to 1% or lower, you'd be locked in to higher income payout rates for as long as you live. You can do this with your IRA for 143. Be pension, rollover, current bank savings, or even brokerage accounts. Schedule your free meeting with us at Active Wealth com, and we will help you battle lower interest rates by locking in great income payout rates for the rest of your life. Call our office today at (770) 685-1777 or visit Active Wealth.

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

Speaker3:
Hey, there's Ford Stokes with Active Wealth Management and the Retirement Results radio show. Are you worried about outliving your retirement savings? Nationwide's peak ten fixed index annuity is designed to help you feel secure and confident. With Nationwide Peak ten, you will receive protection for your principal, keeping it safe from market downturns. Growth opportunities tied to market indexes but not invested directly in the market. Guaranteed lifetime income and protection for your loved ones with spousal income options and a death benefit. Call us now at (770) 685-1777, or visit Active Wealth to connect with an advisor and learn how peak ten can help you retire with confidence.

Speaker2:
Investment advisory services offered through Brookstone Capital Management LLC, a registered investment advisor. Guarantees in productions referenced are subject to the claims paying ability of Nationwide Life and Annuity insurance Company. Nationwide peak ten is issued by Nationwide Life and Annuity Insurance Company. Columbus, Ohio. Neither nationwide nor its other entities are associated or affiliated with Active Wealth Management. Schedule your free, no obligation consultation today by visiting Retirement results.com. Now back to the show.

Speaker3:
Welcome back to retirement results for drivers on Ford Stokes, your chief financial advisor. I've got Sam Davis, our senior financial advisor and co-host of the show. We are going over this essentials list for retirement and some great strategies. Sam, go ahead and let's talk about this fourth one on the list.

Speaker4:
Yeah. You want to plan your Social Security timing. So many of you out there are going to receive Social Security benefits someday if you're not currently receiving them already. But you do have some options as far as when to turn on that income benefit coming from the United States government. And most people do not maximize or optimize their benefits. So even if you're not waiting to age 70, which is the longest you can delay, there are ways to optimize your Social Security benefits while still taking them earlier. Like as an example forward, as a registered Social Security analyst, you recommend that people do not file at the earliest possible age of 62. At least wait to age 63, if not their full retirement age if they can.

Speaker3:
Yeah, so they'll let you take it at 62.5. Really, these days, especially if you're born after 1960 and also your full retirement age, if you're born after 1960. Congratulations. Your full retirement age is 67 years old, not 66 and six months. As an example, if you were born before 1960, it kind of goes up a couple of months at a time, depending on which year in the 50s you were born. But I would encourage you to do everything you can to put off at least till 63. We like to see people make it to 65 to 67 years old if they can. Without putting too much downward withdrawal pressure on their portfolios. I mean, as a registered Social security analyst, and there's only like 24 of us in the state of Georgia like we talked about last segment. You know, I got to tell you, we see all kinds of plans. We're pretty busy running these plans. And we want to run plans for our listeners. We love running these plans. What we look for you to do is give us your XML file, blue text link on SSA gov below the PDF download link and you can get that over to us. Just reach out to us at Retirement Results. Click that consultation button in the upper right corner and we'll you can get booked right in my calendar.

Speaker3:
We'll help you do that. So just reach out to us at Retirement Results Comm or call us at (770) 685-1777. We started right away. Diana and her team are standing by this weekend to take your calls on from Wuhan and from Am 920. The answer? So reach out to us on that. But we're going to what we're going to do is get those two, let's say for a married couple, we're going to get two XML files, one for each spouse. We're going to put those into our system. That's going to give us your top 35 earning years for each one of you. And then we'll determine when is the optimum time for you to take benefits based on your situation. You may say, you know what, Ford? I really need the three to 6 to 7 grand a month that I need to get in Social Security. We really need that money, um, here in a couple of years and we're approaching 65. If we can make it 67, great. But we don't want to go past that. Totally understand. And we'll run and show you what the options are. But we're going to give you four total options. And we can rerun the plans anytime you want. And also you get a free membership to rcc.com. So you can look and change your plans as much as you want.

Speaker3:
After you initially meet with us, you need to. It's kind of required for the certification and everything else from a compliance perspective that you have a registered security analyst walk you through this, these plans first, and we'll do that for you. But after that, you can play with it however you want and you have a lifetime membership of it that that retirement results and active wealth that paid for. You don't have to pay a single dollar for it. This is really a $350 value as part of our overall $2,500 planning value, and we're happy to help you get going right away. On getting your Social Security maximization report in the form of an RSA roadmap. We'll do that right away for you at no cost to you, or you just reach out to us at (770) 685-1777 or visit us at retirement results. Com forward slash plan. That's retirement results. Com forward slash plan I know as long winded on that one Sam but they're you know taking Social Security is either going to be the number one or number two greatest retirement income source for majority of Americans. And we want to help them do the best job at selecting when they're going to turn on their Social Security income benefit.

Speaker4:
Well, no, it's an important thing. Your income is going to dictate and set the pace for what your lifestyle is like in retirement. If you have more income, you're going to, simply put, have more options in retirement. And really, everybody owes it to themselves to get one of those Social Security maximization reports. It's free. And for married couples, this is a particularly good tip because the heat map that we can create that shows one spouse on the x axis and the other spouse on the y axis. You can look at different ages because most married couples aren't the same age, and pick that optimal time for each of you to really maximize that Social Security income and get the most of what you've put in for all of these working years. All right, let's move on to step five. And that's plan tax smart withdrawal strategies. There are different tax implications for different accounts. Most of you out there have IRAs 401, maybe a 403 B if you work in the public school system. We've worked with some public educators over at the office this year in 2025, and there are different tax consequences for different accounts. We talked a little bit about Roth conversions and really starting to diversify your tax liabilities and retirement. But Ford, I mean, you wrote about this in your book, The Smart Retirement Plan, how important it is to plan with taxes in mind.

Speaker3:
Yeah, it's it's just a really good idea to be smart about it. You don't want to just take all of your withdrawals from your IRA and pay that ordinary income tax year over year over year, and deplete it down. You really want to try to get money into Roth IRA accounts. You also need to be careful about at least implementing some sort of tax loss harvesting each and every year in November, before the December kind of deadlines hit you with your brokerage accounts. And really, you just need to get an income plan in place. Um, It's a really good idea. And also kind of what what happens with rental income and things like that. But it's even more important to really get smart with your tax withdrawal strategies. Now that the big beautiful bill has been signed into law. Because if you want to keep your $12,000 deduction for Social Security for you and your spouse 6000 a piece, then you're going to need to keep that ordinary income, your modified adjusted gross income level below 150,000. It phases out after totally after 175,000 for a married couple at 75,000, um, for an individual in phases out totally at 100,000 for an individual filer. So let's be careful about that. Let's try to make sure that, hey, we've got some savings laying around. Maybe we can live on some of the savings and not do as many IRA withdrawals and keep our income below that $150,000 level for a married couple and still get that $12,000 deduction. That's going to dramatically reduce the taxes we're going to pay on our Social Security income benefit.

Speaker4:
All right. Moving on to number six. Turn your portfolio into an income generating machine. This is really about smart retirement income planning. We talked about Social Security already. But maybe you have a pension. Most people don't. If you need to, you can actually self-fund your own pension and start turning your savings that you've been working so hard to build up for all these years into an income machine for yourself in retirement. One of the best ways that we like to do this forward is by implementing a bond replacement with fixed indexed annuities, so you can actually take advantage of some market upside while placing that protective floor on your portfolio. So whether it be 20%, 30%, maybe 40% of the portfolio, you can actually decide, hey, I'm going to declare victory on this portion of my portfolio. I'm not going to retreat. I'm not going to lose ground. I'm going to implement a bond replacement. I'm going to get some fixed indexed annuities in my portfolio and get market like gains, while still getting that principal protection.

Speaker3:
We're going to talk about a multiyear guaranteed annuity. I think a lot of you may be interested in in the beginning of segment four on our beating the Bank CD segment, but there's some really great fixed indexed annuities out there that are offering 25% bonus. Um, I guess we can announce it now, Sam. You know, nationwide is is taking their bonus level up from 20% to 25% immediate bonus into the income account. Plus, um, the, um, plus, they get an 8% guaranteed interest each year that you defer withdrawals. You get 8% guaranteed interest into the income account. That's why you invest in bonds. That's why you invest in fixed index annuities to get important income, right? So you can stay ahead of it. And then you also get a 310% participation rate, and how the BNP Paribas Global H factor index does so. We ran some illustrations on Monday when the the bonus changed and it made a dramatic effect difference. Um, it was dramatically different with the extra 5% front loaded on the income levels. We ran one for a gentleman that's going to put $1 million in it. And he was. He's 65 now, but he's going to wait until he's 76 to turn on income because he had a defined benefit plan that he was taking money out over the next 11. He was really more the less next 14 years. But he wanted to kind of do some overlap. And at 76 years old, he's going to take out $193,000 from that, from that income and it up from like where it was like 167, that thousand. So big deal difference. One other thing is absolutely guaranteed $165,000 a year in income by nationwide, which is an A plus rated carrier by a best and, uh, standard and poor. So. That was a big deal. I feel like that's something you really need to consider. And all you gotta do is reach out to us and call us at (770) 685-1777 or visit retirement results. Forward slash plan. That's retirement results. Forward slash plan.

Speaker4:
If anybody listening would like to get that list that we've gone through you can subscribe to our podcast, go back, listen to the whole episode or just reach out to us. We'll get you that list and forward. And I look forward to helping you make the transition to a successful retirement. When we come back forward, we're going to help all the listeners beat the bank CD rates, and we'll wrap up the show. You're listening to retirement results.

Speaker2:
Hang tight. We'll be right back to continue helping you navigate today's financial landscape. Stay tuned for more of retirement results. Are you concerned about rising taxes and how that could affect you and your family during retirement? If you have an IRA balance over $400,000, you could save six figures in retirement taxes than you would be paying during a 35 year retirement. Find out how much you could save today by scheduling your no obligation Roth conversion consultation with Ford Stokes of retirement results. Learn more and schedule an appointment at Retirement Investment advisory services offered through Brookstone Capital Management LLC, a registered investment advisor. Visit retirement results for more information. As part of today's show, Retirement Results is available wherever you listen to podcasts and online at retirement results.

Speaker3:
And welcome back result drivers I'm Ford Stokes, chief financial advisor. Got Sam Davis here with us. Who's our senior financial advisor and co-host. So Sam, we've been promised the folks about to learn about a new mica, a new multiyear guaranteed annuity. That is a great way to beat bank CDs. Go ahead and play the sounder.

Speaker2:
Need a higher rate of return from your safe money. Listen up. It's time to beat the bank CD rates.

Speaker3:
So American National Life is offering a multiyear, guaranteed annuity that is going to pay. Get this, folks, 10.52% guaranteed the first year and then 5.52% over the next five years, is a six year mega that allows you to get an average of 6.3533% a year, an average rate of return guaranteed. And you can lock in now if you want to lock in to getting 6.3533% total and building compounded interest. This multi-year guaranteed annuity is going to take care of that, and it's going to be way higher than what you're getting in bank CD rates right now. I'd encourage you to reach out to us at (770) 685-1777. 7777706851777. And get that 10.52% initial first year guaranteed interest because you get a 5% bonus and a 5.52% guaranteed fixed index, fixed income and interest rate. And then you get 5.52% each of the next five years after that compounded interest. And now, Sam, you want to talk about why pre retirees and retirees should de-risk their portfolios today.

Speaker4:
Yeah. We just wanted to share a few important details about why it's a good idea. Um number one is really reducing that sequence of return risk you know. So I tell people all the time, you know, if you're mid 50s, mid 60s, you've saved up all this money for your retirement. You have more than you ever have had before, which means you have more to lose than you've ever had before. And, you know, maybe when you were younger and you were working in your 20s or 30s, you know, a 10% down year here wouldn't hurt you so much. But you know. On $1 million portfolio, if that's all invested in the market, a 10% down year, you just lost $100,000. And as that happens, as you get close to your retirement date, or if that happens in the first few years of retirement, we really call that the retirement red zone. Those years leading up to retirement in those first few years, when you're when you're beginning to make withdrawals and actually draw down the assets of the account, you want to protect your portfolio during that time and protect yourself from that sequence of return risk.

Speaker3:
Yeah, it's it's just a good idea to whether you're employing dollar cost averaging and investing a little bit, if you've still got income coming in and, and, and you're still in an accumulation phase, that's another way to do it. Just putting in a little bit of money each month. So you're not just dumping one large principal and hoping that the market doesn't go down or something. The best way to do it is take 20 to 40% of your portfolio off the table and put it into a fixed indexed index annuity and replace the bonds. So you're not taking the interest rate risk. You're not taking the reinvestment risk. And you're also getting income that you can never outlive guaranteed. And we just don't want to see people. We've had so many folks in their 80s coming to our office who have lost ten, 20, 24 plus percent in a single year because of interest rates going up. And they were in almost 100% bond portfolio. So I would encourage you to not do that. Let's replace the bonds in the portfolio. Let's try to minimize the bonds as much as we can in the portfolio. And let's also implement tactical asset allocation. It's another way to implement some smart risk. But let's go ahead and replace those and get that income portion of your portfolio absolutely locked up where your principal is 100% protected and you're getting increasing income each and every protection period.

Speaker4:
Yeah. The next tip locking in favorable rates on safer investments. We talked about that at the beginning of this radio segment with our Beating the Banks CD segment. And also we mentioned Nationwide's Peak ten. Just increase their bonus from 20 to 25%, for we are working on helping someone with replacing a variable annuity. Right now that's a little bit more than $200,000. They're going to replace that directly into the nationwide peak ten and get a $50,000 bonus, going from 200,000 to $250,000. And they're going to enjoy 8% guaranteed every year. They defer withdrawals. At the same time, we're replacing a variable annuity that was charging them over 3.5% in fees.

Speaker3:
Unbelievable.

Speaker4:
We're going to we're going to get that down to 1% with nationwide. You do pay a 1% fee for that 25% bonus and those guaranteed returns, but that's a much better result. Just as one quick example for someone we're helping right now. And, you know, the last tip is just don't chase returns late in the game. It's okay. When you get right around 60 years old, you get close to retirement to really start to protect what you've worked so hard to save. You don't want chasing returns in those years leading up to retirement to really sabotage what you've been working so hard to build for the last 20 or 30 years.

Speaker3:
Yeah, let's let's just do everything and to really kind of just protect and grow our hard earned assets, do the right way of doing things right now, as of today, that when the market had opened on Friday, the yield on the ten year US Treasury was 4.386%. That's three times what it's been typically throughout most of my career. That's why these these annuity companies can go ahead and offer these great annuity rates because they're using the interest is generated off the ten year US Treasury to buy options in the underlying indexes. They can also buy options a lot cheaper than you and I can because and also our clients can because they're buying in blocks of $100 million or more at a time. And so we've got a real opportunity here to help our clients and help our listeners, Sam, lock in these higher rates as the interest rates and the yield on the ten year U.S. Treasury is three times higher than it's been historically over the last 20 years. They're talking about reducing interest rates 3% in a single month. And so that would dramatically change the fixed indexed annuity rates and the participation rates that you see, the bonuses and the guaranteed interest. And we've got the nationwide pick ten with guaranteed 8% interest in the income account. We've also got 310% participation rates, which is 3.1 times how the underlying index performs. And they're giving a 25% bonus into the income account. Those are remarkable things to take advantage of now. And I will tell you, there are a whole lot of people that are super happy that they bought, um, the nationwide peak 10 Ten, in 2022, 2023, 2024 and even in 2025 from us. So, um, let's go ahead and get going on that. Just reach out to us at retirement results.com/plan and we'll get started right away.

Speaker6:
It's the final countdown.

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

Speaker6:
The final countdown.

Speaker3:
So today's show, the title of today's show was actually ready, set, Retire How to De-risk Your Portfolio, How to Plan Smarter and Create More Income. We gave you a checklist for retirement. We gave you some essential steps for a successful transition. And we also just shared on here why you should de-risk your retirement plan. But we didn't quite we weren't quite able to get to the facts about health care costs and retirement. Matt and I'll handle that next week. We're here to help you all. You just reach out to us at retirement results. Com forward slash plan. And remember, if you're going to be a bear, be a grizzly. Seek as much information about retirement as you can. Let's get that expense ratio down. Let's get that standard deviation down, which is the measure of risk. And the best way to do that is to start working with the US professional financial advisors and fiduciaries at Active Wealth Comm. And we power the Retirement Results radio show. Thanks for listening. Have a great week everybody.

Speaker2:
Thanks for listening to retirement results. You deserve to work with an independent team of fiduciary advisors that will strategically work to protect and grow your hard earned assets. To schedule your complimentary financial consultation, call us now at (770) 685-1777. That's (770) 685-1777. To connect with a qualified advisor. To learn more about our mission and our team, visit retirement results investment advisory services offer through Brookstone Capital Management, LLC. Bcm, a registered Investment Advisor, DCM and Active Wealth Management are independent of each other. Insurance products and services are not offered through BCI, but are offered and sold through individually licensed and appointed agents. Investments involve risk and, unless otherwise stated, are not guaranteed. Past performance cannot be used as an indicator to determine future results.

Speaker1:
Registered investment advisors and investment advisor representatives act as fiduciaries for all of our investment management clients. We have an obligation to act in the best interest of our clients, and to make full disclosures of any conflicts of interest. Please refer to our firm brochure. The ADV two, item four for additional information. If you've got credit card debt, you are not alone. I'm Matt McClure with the Retirement Radio Network. Powered by a life. Consumer debt is piling up in this country. In fact, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York says as of this year, Americans hold more than $1 trillion in credit card debt. That's trillion with a T and the average interest rate, it's hovering around 20%, Percent, sometimes even higher. That means if you're only making the minimum payment each month, most of your money isn't even touching the balance. It's going straight into the lender's pocket as interest. And that debt. It adds up quietly, consistently, and often painfully. One of the smartest money moves you can make is to avoid going into debt in the first place. Robin Crawley is head of consumer deposits at Bank of America.

Speaker7:
Even if you're spending with a credit card and you have a bit of a higher limit, don't max that out right? Just spend with what you've allocated for in your budget. But any time you're spending on that credit card, you have to make sure that you're paying that monthly balance off on time and in full, because that's really the key to building your credit history.

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

Speaker7:
Well, a good credit score is so important to our financial journey, right? And all the doors kind of that good, good credit score can it can open for us. So things like renting an apartment or getting a favorable rate on an auto purchase, a good credit score is so important to be able to do those.

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

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

Speaker4:
And welcome back to Retirement Results. This is a bonus segment for all of our radio listeners in Atlanta and in Gainesville, up and around the lake. Forward. We're always bringing important information to the community, and there are actually more than $2 trillion currently invested in variable annuities. And we're here to tell you why this is not an ideal investment for your retirement and give you some, you know, warnings, just in case there may be a variable annuity in your portfolio.

Speaker3:
So here's the problem with variable annuities. It really comes down to fees and risk. So you've got mortality and expense fees that range from 1 to 1.5%. Then you've got also sub account management fees. Think of these like mutual fund fees that are between 0.5 and 1.5. You got admin fees. They're usually right around 0.3% or a little bit more. And you've also got income guaranteed by an income writer. And there's an income writer fee for that. You'll pay another 1%, give or take, um, for an income writer fee. If you add all that up, you could be paying as high as 3 to 6% a year with a variable annuity. Because a variable annuity is an annuity, because a variable annuity really is a mutual fund wrapped into an annuity chassis. So it's really something to really try to consider avoiding because it really is a boat anchor drag on the performance of the annuity just because of all the fees. So we recommend doing something different and getting you into a different type of product that can help you build a retirement income. It can give you also an immediate bonus and also give you up to 8% guaranteed interest, or even up to 310% participation. And how the underlying index performs.

Speaker3:
We have different products that are actually exclusive and proprietary, with only 1% of financial advisors have access to them. I'd encourage you to go ahead and submit your information in this form, and we'll get started right away. But one other big problem with a variable annuity is the risk level. And a variable annuity is actually security. So that means your principal is actually at risk. A lot of those variable annuity products are mis sold. They're saying oh everything's guaranteed. Well the income might be guaranteed for the income rider. But the actual principal, if you wanted to sell it and invest in something else that's not guaranteed. So if that underlying index does poorly, if that mutual fund does poorly, then you could see eroding value from your variable annuity. So be careful there as well. Again, we really encourage you to not invest in variable annuities and consider other investment products that we can help you with. All you got to do is submit your information on this form, and we're happy to get started with you right away to get you on the right path, to build a more tax efficient, more efficient, and more market efficient investment for you for your retirement future.

Speaker4:
Yeah, I really Ford. The trouble with this is that as retirees get close to that retirement date, and even in the first few years of retirement, they've saved up more than they've ever had before, which means they really need to start taking some risk off the table. And some of these alternatives can help you do that while still giving you that pension like income, that guaranteed consistent income that you can live on throughout retirement. So you really owe it to yourself to take a look at some alternatives, find out where you stand with your retirement plan, and work with some fiduciaries right here in the area. Who can help you do that? We'd love to help you. Over here at Retirement Results.

Speaker2:
Call (770) 685-1777 to schedule your free, no obligation meeting with us today.

Speaker8:
To do what those ladies tell us. Get shot down because you're overzealous. Play hard to get the females get jealous. Okay, smart.

Speaker9:
You are going to see a crack in the bond market. Okay, it is going to happen. And I tell this to my regulators, some of you who are in this room, I'm telling you it's going to happen and you're going to panic. I'm not going to panic.

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

Speaker1:
Investment advisory services offered through Brookstone Capital Management LLC, a registered investment advisor. So you know where you are now and where you want to be in retirement. So how do you plan to get there? I'm Matt McClure with the Retirement Radio Network, powered by a marine life.

Speaker10:
Do you have any other questions for me?

Speaker1:
Counselor, there are a lot of questions to ask yourself when you start your retirement plan. Questions like when should I retire? How much money will I need? When should I claim Social Security? What about health care costs and taxes in retirement? This complicated puzzle means you're probably going to need some help coming up with a smart retirement plan.

Speaker3:
If you want to retire successfully, you really need to plan early. You know, Inspector, you expect and get prepared. Putting a plan in place now while you're still working is a great idea.

Speaker1:
Ford Stokes is founder and president of Active Wealth Management. Once you find a financial professional you want to work with, they can help you answer all the questions you may have.

Speaker3:
Back to what Warren Buffett said. If you don't find a way to make money while you sleep, you're going to work until you die. So we need to do everything we can to figure out a way to make money while we're sleeping. We talk about this human capital versus actual capital. When you're young, you have a lot of human capital. You've got a lot of left, a lot of room left, a lot of capital left in your career, right? But at the same time, a lot of people that are older, let's say you're 65, 70 years old, you don't have a lot of human capital left, but you should have a lot of capital that is making money while you sleep. And if you don't, then you didn't make the right decisions.

Speaker1:
There are also some retirement costs you may not have considered yet. Long term care. For example, did you know it's not covered by Medicare? What about home renovations? If you decide to stay in your home instead of moving into a facility, your home might need some updates to ensure you're safe and comfortable. And those are just the tip of the iceberg. So do you have a fiduciary, financial advisor, or professional to help you wade through the complicated retirement planning process? That is a key question to consider if you want to make the most of your hard earned money with a retirement. Radio network powered by a marine life. I'm Matt McClure.

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