Spring Cleaning for Your Money: How to Declutter Your Finances

3.22.24: Audio automatically transcribed by Sonix

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

Ford Stokes:
And welcome to Retirement Results. I'm Ford Stokes, your chief financial advisor. And I've got Sam Davis, our co-host and senior financial advisor here with me on the mic. Sam, say hello to everybody.

Sam Davis:
Welcome to the weekend result drivers. And welcome back to Retirement Results. So glad that you're here once again listening to this show. So many of you have called in so far in 2024, and you really appreciate the information that we're able to provide. And we really appreciate whenever we have the opportunity to meet with those of you who are listening and those of you who do give us a call and go to retirement. Results.com. But Ford, it is a beautiful weekend out there in Atlanta. It is spring. I'm seeing flowers and trees blossom all over the place, and it's also one of my favorite weekends of the year because the NCAA tournament is here and there's lots of college basketball on my television. So get out there and enjoy the weekend and enjoy spring.

Ford Stokes:
Yeah, good luck to everybody with your brackets. I'm sure if your brackets are like mine, mine are already wreck. So it's, uh, pretty crazy. Um, but y'all have a great time with March Madness out there. It's just always a great time of year. And the Masters is right around the corner, which is always a big deal here in this in the state of Georgia and also internationally. It's the number one tournament in the world, in my opinion. And today we're going to be talking about spring cleaning for your finances. We're going to talk about how we can help you get more organized and also help you thrive in retirement, not just survive, but thrive in retirement. And we're going to cover seven things that can refresh your mood about your money. And we'll also talk about the personal pension renaissance that's going on out there, why more Americans want guaranteed income, especially after what happened in 2022. What people have seen in, you know, the political sphere with social unrest. You know, elections may or may not have been tampered with in 2020. There's all kinds of things people want something a little bit more concrete that they can count on. And so pensions are really seeing a big time revival. And we're also talking about pension options for everybody, uh, what we call pension options for all. And now we can help you build your own personal pension. We're going to talk about that today. Let's talk about safeguarding your Social Security, avoiding scams and maximizing your benefits, and an exclusive offer for our listeners and how we can improve your own retirement outlook. But first, Sam, why don't you go ahead and share this week's financial wisdom quote of the week?

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

Sam Davis:
This week's quote of the week comes to us from Mahatma Gandhi. And Gandhi once said, the future depends on what you do today and I love this, for this goes hand in hand with the quote that we shared last week from Abraham Lincoln about how you can't escape the responsibilities of tomorrow by evading them today. And really, all we have as humans on this earth, each and every day is the decisions that we make. And you start with today and you try to make better decisions every day. And and that's how you build a good life.

Ford Stokes:
Amen. One of the things that Warren Buffett says is when you're in a hole, stop digging. Listen, there's no better time to get going with your finances and get on the right track. Then today, all you've got to do is give us a call at (770) 685-1777. Diane and Deborah are standing by to take your calls right here this weekend, and we're happy to help you. Also, if you're listening to us on the podcast and more and more of you are. You can call our office at (888) 814-0304. That's (888) 814-0304. We work. We can work with people all across all 50 US states. We're here to help you protect and grow your hard earned and hard saved wealth. And obviously, as always, you can always check out Retirement Results.com that's Retirement Results.com and click that schedule a consultation button in the upper right corner, and we're happy to help you with that today. Also, Sam, pretty exciting day the first time we're actually recording the show from the Retirement Results Studio in our office based in Atlanta and Alpharetta, Georgia. And pardon our progress, we've got some sheet rock mud on the wall and everything else. But the sign is in and it is eliminated and it is cool. And I want to give a shout out to Tim and Sherry Rowe with Outspoken signs, who actually did the sign in our studio. Fantastic job Tim and Sherry. Thank you guys so much for everything you've done to help us get this podcast studio up and going, and some exciting news and and things are going on here next month.

Ford Stokes:
We're actually going to film a television show directly in the Retirement Results studio. Super excited about that. To be able to kind of do our own thing and get going on television, we're going to air that in some markets across the southeast and super excited about the next step and how we can help and serve more people. But what I would encourage each and every one of you to do is just to reach out to us to get started. We have so many long time listeners and first time callers that are calling in this Q1 of 2024, and we hope you'll be one of those folks as well. If you want to kind of get your finances in order, you want to reduce your expense ratio within your portfolio. You want that 401 K review. If you want to kind of build your own personal pension, you want to get some income. You can count on and let the rest of your assets grow. If you want to reduce your advisory and portfolio fees by 40 plus percent. Seriously, just by making one move to work with us, then I would encourage you to go ahead and reach out to us at (770) 685-1777. Also toll free at 1-888-814-0304. That's (888) 814-0304. And you can also just reach out to us at Retirement Results.

Sam Davis:
Com and for the studio is starting to look fantastic. And a lot of our listeners know that when we're not helping people plan for their retirement and when we're not meeting with clients here in the office, we enjoy producing these radio shows and podcasts for all of the result drivers out there, even making some videos for social media and stuff like that. The studio is going to be a great space for us to do it and also share with our prospects and clients right here in the office. It's pretty cool to see, but with just a few minutes left in this segment forward, let's dive into step one. As far as spring cleaning for your finances, we've got seven money moves to make so you can feel better about your financial future. And number one is revisiting your financial New Year's resolutions. Our listeners know that at the beginning of every year, we like to encourage people to check in with their finances, set some financial goals, and revisiting these resolutions and goals in the spring is the perfect opportunity to restart. Of course, not all of us get off to the start that we want with any of our goals, but spring time, it's still early in the year, so if you haven't made much progress, hit that reset button. You can even take advantage of a complimentary consultation with us just by visiting Retirement Results.com and schedule that, and we would love to help you reach your goals, whatever they are. For some people that come in, they really just want to downsize, settle down, spend more time with the grandkids. Other people come in and say, hey, I want to buy a sailboat and really travel the world. So. How would you say that? We can really help people align their retirement plan with their financial goals?

Ford Stokes:
Yeah, we try to really seek to understand before you seek to be understood. Whenever we're doing our financial plans for our prospects and clients, and what we just ask is come in with, hey, come in with your financial statements, but also come in with a vision for your retirement. Who are you with? What are you doing? How are you? How do you plan to fund it? What funds are you going to use to fund your retirement? What are your monthly expenses running? What do you think they're going to be during retirement? And we'll try to build a retirement plan for you and a retirement income plan for you. Absolutely no cost to you on the front end, so you can get a good idea of what your retirement looks like in advance. We call this results in advance planning. So all you've got to do is reach out to us at Retirement Results.com and click that schedule a consultation button. We'll we're happy to work with you on that. But we're going to give you a customized plan that is customized for you and your spouse or if you're single, if you're a single tax filer, we'll help out just you.

Ford Stokes:
We're also going to look at your opportunities to maximize your Social Security income as well. Make that first move. Go ahead and give us a call at (770) 685-1777, or toll free at 1-888-814-0304 or visit. Retirement Results.com and click that schedule a consultation button in the upper right corner. We're going to get started on five things for you. Number one is we're going to give you a full portfolio analysis. Number two is we're going to give you a retirement income gap analysis. Number three we're going to give you a Social Security maximization report. Number four is we'll give you a financial plan to your 95th birthday with your current plan. That has nothing to do with us, has everything to do with your current plan. And then number five is we're going to give you a full financial plan to your 95th birthday. That also includes a Roth ladder conversion plan at no cost to you. So you can delete the IRS from your retirement accounts. I would encourage you to go ahead and reach out to us at Retirement Results. Com and let's get started today.

Sam Davis:
And when we come back forward, we are going to dive into six more steps as far as spring cleaning for your finances goes. Number one was revisit those financial New Year's resolutions and we'll get into number two when we get back. You're listening to Retirement Results.

Producer:
Money questions? Money answers. You're listening. To Retirement Results.

I was born in a small town. In a small town.

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

Sam Davis:
And welcome back to Retirement Results. I'm Sam Davis, your senior financial advisor. I'm here with Ford Stokes, our chief financial advisor. And Ford, we're sharing seven tips with people today. Seven moves to make so you can feel better about your financial future. It's sort of a financial spring cleaning, if you will. Step number one was revisiting those financial New Year's resolutions. And step number two is cleaning out your financial junk drawer. You know what that junk drawer is? It's maybe in the kitchen. It's maybe in the garage somewhere. But it's got those tax documents, those pieces of mail that you looked at for a second, but then just tossed in there. And this is a great time to actually do some spring cleaning, go through those neglected papers and ease some of the financial stress. You're probably doing some of this anyway, with tax season coming up, tax days in less than a month. So in my household, Ford, we are getting together all the different W-2s 1099 my wife is in the acting industry and so we've got tax documents in multiple drawers. So it's about getting those things together, sending those off to our tax professional. And for it's great whenever people have documents that they have, whether they're just a listener or they're a current client, they're able to print them off, bring them in here, or even upload them to our secure portal online, and we can take a look and help them with any confusing documents that they may have. Yeah.

Ford Stokes:
And if you want to get started, all you got to do is go to Active wealth.com/workbook. It's Active Wealth comm slash workbook. And you can put your information in, upload your statements, upload your Social security statements. It's 256 bit encrypted. So it's a secure site. And we'll get started on your plans right away. It's kind of a fact finder that asks things like your income and estimates on your Social Security income, and whether you have annuities or variable annuities or, um, you know, or a personal pension or anything like that. Also what your monthly expenses are going to be during retirement and also what your income is now when you plan to retire, things like that. But the biggest thing for me is. I'm so glad you're getting ready for tax season. Everybody's pulling all those things together out of the junk drawer. I think that's great. The number one thing I would like you to do is have a 2024 resolution and say, you know what? Instead of just tax preparation this year, I'm going to do tax planning. I'm actually going to start figuring out when I'm going to I could consider. Implementing a wrath ladder conversion and how much money that I could save. From my 6 or 7 figure for one K or IRA, or 403 B or 457 or Sep IRA. I'm going to do everything I can to try to figure out how much money I could actually save.

Ford Stokes:
And I got a hint for you. It's going to be over six figures if you have over $400,000 in your IRA. Bottom line, it's just straight math, folks. If you can delete the IRS in the early years, the early part of your retirement, and not continue to pay them high effective tax rates and tax dollars over a 35 plus year retirement, because you're going to be retired almost as long as you worked, especially the way things are going these days with people living longer. I would strongly urge you to go ahead and start getting going. On tax planning. When you're cleaning out that junk drawer, that financial junk drawer that's got all your old statements and your w-2s and your 1099. But take a look at your statements. Specifically your IRA statements. And how can we move some of that money from your IRA into a Roth IRA? Let us get started on that today. Go ahead and reach out to us at (770) 685-1777. Again (770) 685-1777. Again toll free. We work with people in all 50 US states. All you could do is reach out to us at 1-888-814-0304. That's 1-888-814-0304. We can work with you in any state that you're in or US territory, and we're happy to help you. All you got to do is check us out also at Retirement Results. Com yeah.

Sam Davis:
That's so important for because many of the people who give us a call or come in with questions about their 401 K, they're actually telling us that their workplace, 401 K provider or their workplace HR team was giving them zero help at all when it comes to planning for their retirement. None. And you're putting a significant amount. A lot of people are saving five, ten, 15% of their paycheck into these retirement accounts and to not get any guidance with that is very disappointing for us to hear. So you're always welcome to go to retirement. Results.com. Yeah, I'm.

Ford Stokes:
Really passionate about this next one. Um, we're talking about the seven things you can do to kind of financially spring clean, uh, and get broom swept clean and all of your financial plans this year during the spring of 2024. Number three is pay yourself first by maximizing your retirement contributions. At a minimum, whatever your company is paying you, let's say they're paying 3% 100% match on the on the first 3% of your salary that you're withholding. Please do yourself a favor and at least set aside 3% of the money you're you're making, because that way you're getting 100% growth on that money. Let's do a really good job at maximizing the contributions you contribute by April 15th. The contribution limit for 2023, if you are under 50 years old, is $6,500 and it's $7,500 if you're 50 years old and older, which is a lot of our listeners. And then both of these limits have increased by $500 for 2024. So it'll be 7008 thousand for 2024. And also you can challenge yourself to contribute more to your workplace for one day, which is higher contribution limits of 23,000 in 2024 plus the match. So you could be well over $30,500 for 2024 in your 41K as well, aim to at least maximize your employer's matching contributions, as we said before, and look for opportunities to increase your contributions over time. When you're doing that too, you're also taking advantage of dollar cost averaging so you can minimize the risk. If you're putting money in every two weeks, that's another really good idea to invest that way, to try to reduce the risk that you're facing with putting money in the financial markets. And Sam, what's item number four? When we're doing our financial spring cleaning here in 2024.

Sam Davis:
Step number four is simply making sure your beneficiaries are named and up to date. So whether it is a retirement plan, maybe a life insurance policy, this could even be your 401 K plan through your employer. Naming your beneficiaries is a very important step in retirement planning. The beneficiaries are essentially the individuals who will inherit your assets if you should pass away sooner than expected. So reviewing your current beneficiaries and ensuring they align with your current wishes. If you have a former spouse still named as a beneficiary, you may want to update and change the designation. That's actually something that I've seen and read about before. You want to make sure that you keep those beneficiaries up to date, because if that is no longer the person that you want inheriting your assets, then you want to get that changed.

Ford Stokes:
Yeah, we see these kind of problems all the time. When people get divorced, they forget to change the beneficiaries on their four one K's, um, or their IRAs. Go ahead and make sure you go ahead and do that. Um, also remember when you name your beneficiaries on your transfer on death accounts or your, your IRAs, your four one KS, things like that and your investment accounts, you're also avoiding probate. And we would encourage you to make sure that. Your heirs know that that really those assets that are those IRA assets, those investment account assets, those all transfer outside of the probate process because you're able to name them as primary beneficiaries. And if your family's dealing with an estate attorney later, they shouldn't pay the 1 to 2% of the total of the total estate value to that estate attorney, because especially on those transfer on death accounts, because quite honestly, those transfer outside of the probate process anyway. So just want to make sure that you're getting those changed so that your money's going to who you want it to go to. Because we never know when we're going to leave this earth and go to heaven. Right? So let's just get broom swept clean on that for sure. Yeah.

Sam Davis:
That's right. And that actually plays right into step number five, which is dust off that estate plan. Or if you do not have a formal estate plan, establish an estate plan for the first time.

Ford Stokes:
We have a service that allows us to take in all the information for your estate, and then get that information over to a licensed estate attorney in your state. We can work with attorneys all across the country with this service, and all you got to do is reach out to us at (770) 685-1777 or call 1-888-814-0304. Reach out to us at Retirement Results. Com and book an appointment with us. The biggest benefit to you with us having this estate service is it's lower cost. It's just less costly. If you want to get an estate plan or an irrevocable trust or revocable trust, or about a 50% of the cost of what it normally cost throughout the state that you're in, I would encourage you to reach out to us to get this lower cost, more cost effective estate plan. We're happy to help you get going on that. The service is fantastic. You're also going to work with a licensed estate attorney in your state. We do not share fees with estate attorneys. We let them do their services. We're able to kind of negotiate and get those costs lowered for you. Go ahead and reach out to us at Retirement Results. Com we'll get started. We come back from the break. We're going to talk about number six and number seven your spring cleaning items to kind of get all of your finances in order for this spring 2024. Come right back. You're listening to Retirement Results.

Producer:
Thanks for listening to Retirement Results. Schedule your complimentary financial consultation now at Retirement Results. Com or by calling toll free at (888) 814-0304. That's (888) 814-0304. Are you concerned about rising taxes and how they could affect you and your family during retirement? If you have an IRA balance over $400,000, you could save six figures in retirement taxes that you would be paying during a 35 year retirement. Find out how much you could save today by scheduling your no obligation Roth conversion consultation with Ford Stokes of Retirement Results. Learn more and schedule an appointment at Retirement Results. Com investment advisory services offered through Brookstone Capital Management LLC, a registered investment advisor. Visit Retirement Results. Com for more information. You're listening to Retirement Results. And now back to the show.

Ford Stokes:
And welcome back to Retirement Results. Result drivers. My name is Ford Stokes. I'm your chief financial advisor. Got Sam Davis our senior financial advisor and co host here with me and Sam why don't you go ahead and share number six of our spring cleaning items?

Sam Davis:
Yeah. Item number six is to actually have your entire portfolio reviewed by a licensed professional. We're talking about spring cleaning for your finances today. Spring is a great time to get your 401 K X-rayed. Check up on your investment portfolio. Make sure that asset allocation actually aligns with your financial goals and risk tolerance. For. I speak with so many people who say that when it comes to their workplace, 401 K, they really just get overwhelmed by all the options. They choose a few, they just set it and forget it. So this is a great time to meet up with somebody who can make some recommendations on what really aligns with your goals. And for a lot of times, you can also kind of identify some opportunities to save some money and cut some fees.

Ford Stokes:
Yeah, for sure I what we try to do is help you reduce the expense ratio within your portfolio, whether that's your investment accounts, your 401 K, your 403 B, your Sep-ira, your simple IRA. We're here to help you do all those things. We're also here to help you generate a retirement income plan as well. And I think you're going to really like that. And if you want to know how much money you can save in reduced taxes paid over your 35 plus year retirement, I would encourage you to go ahead and reach out to us as well by visiting Retirement Results.com. But here's what you're going to get again when you work with us. We'll give you that 401 K review. No fees, no cost to you and will help optimize it. We're going to do some things, try to reduce the expense ratio, and also try to reduce your standard deviation, which is a measurement of risk. And if we can reduce those two things you're going to get more efficient and more market efficient off the jump. And then also we'll give you a Roth ladder conversion plan that will help you delete six figures or more from your retirement accounts, and less taxes paid over a 35 plus year retirement. That's what we're going to do. Here are the five things you're going to get when you meet with us. Number one is you're going to get a portfolio analysis. You're going to understand the expenses you're paying with an expense ratio.

Ford Stokes:
You're going to stay in the risk you're taking with a measurement of standard deviation. So we're going to do is we're going to try to get you a good exchange between an average annual rate of return and your risk level. We want to see a higher average annual rate of return as a percentage that is higher than. Your standard deviation, which is also a percentage. Because it's a good exchange between risk and reward you. You will get more reward, usually with a little bit more risk. But as you age and your human capital goes down. We want to make sure that you've got wealth capital going up so that you can really enjoy retirement, right. So number one is we're going to do a full portfolio analysis. Number two is we're going to give you a Social Security maximization report. So you can maximize your Social Security income benefit both in a monthly number but also in aggregate over your 35 plus year retirement. And we'll show you break even analysis, things like that. I'm a registered social security analyst. There's only 15 of us in the state of Georgia proud to be a registered Social Security analyst. And we're proud to help you maximize your Social Security income. Number three is we're going to give you a retirement income plan overall between now and when you turn 95 years old. Number four is we're going to give you a financial plan to your 95th birthday at no cost to you.

Ford Stokes:
And then number five is we're going to give you a financial plan to your 95th birthday with our recommended portfolios. That also includes a Roth ladder conversion plan. We're going to do all that at no cost to you. It's a $1,500 value. There's no obligation. All you got to do is call us at (770) 685-1777. Again (770) 685-1777. Or you can reach out to us at Retirement Results.com happy to help you there. Also, if you're in any of the other 49 US states besides the state of Georgia, we can help you through the de minimis standard. Sam and I are looking forward to helping a lot of people out in Hawaii so we can fly out there and play golf, go ahead and reach out to us and get that value of $1,500 of worth of planning. You're getting your Social Security maximization report. You're getting portfolio analysis. You're getting a raw bladder conversion plan, and you're getting financial plans to your 95th birthday with your current plan, and also one with our recommended portfolio. So it's really a no brainer if you want to get broom swept clean during this spring of 2024, you want to get going for retirement. Just like Gandhi said in our financial wisdom quote of the week, it really your future depends on what you're doing today. Go ahead and start your future today by giving us a call at (770) 685-1777.

Sam Davis:
That's a great tip forward, and it's a great offer for any of our listeners out there hearing the show today and wanting to really turn things around and speed things up on their way to retirement and Hawaii. I do like the sound of that forward, and that plays into number seven, which takes us from spring cleaning to spring break. Plan your 2025 vacation now in 2024 and save. This is a good tip, a good cost cutter tip for any retirees out there. Maybe you're looking to book a cruise for next year. Maybe you're looking to visit some of our national parks, maybe an international destination. But wherever it is planning your vacation a year in advance, we'll let you take advantage of early booking discounts. Some promotions that you may be eligible for. And studies have also shown that the anticipation of a vacation contributes significantly to the overall enjoyment. So having something to look forward to and saving some money. That's why we think planning your vacation, maybe even a year in advance, is a great idea.

Ford Stokes:
Yeah, we planned a vacation in November for this Memorial Day weekend coming up our for the Memorial Day week. And we're my girls are Swifties. I am not, but my girls are Taylor Swift fans and we I got them tickets in November for their Christmas present and we booked flights and we booked hotel. The hotels were reasonable, Sam. The flights were not so reasonable and the tickets were okay for Lisbon, Portugal. We're going to take them to Lisbon, Portugal. They've been able to really enjoy planning it, getting dresses and and things that they're going to wear on the vacation. There's also specifically during the Taylor Swift concert. And so they've really enjoyed that. And it was kind of a reward for them doing well in school. And so I get it. I mean, plenty of vacation way in advance. You really get extra enjoyment out of doing that. I would encourage everybody to do that. One other important point that I want to share, there's been studies shown that a majority of the folks actually spend more time planning their annual vacation than they do planning for their retirement. And I would encourage you just to take some time out, get going on planning your retirement. Don't mess around. Let's get our retirement in order and get things moving. All you got to do is reach out to us at Retirement Results.com click that schedule a consultation button in the upper right corner. You can book directly into my calendar. We're happy to help you go ahead and reach out to us.

Sam Davis:
And forward with the couple minutes we have left in this segment. We just want to make sure that everybody out there is aware of how to spot and avoid some scammers specifically related to Social Security, because we've heard from some of the people in our office that Social Security scams are out there reading it in the news, and even the Social Security Administration has issued some guidance on this. So with the prevalence of scams out there, it's crucial to be informed to protect yourself from any fraudsters. So understand these common tactics. The four P's to watch out for. Scammers often pretend to be from an agency or an organization you trust. Scammers will say that there is a problem. So there's your second P. Sometimes they'll even suggest that there would be a prize, and scammers will pressure you to act immediately. And scammers will often tell you to pay in a very specific way. So if any of those things are coming up with any sort of solicitation you're getting about Social Security, just be aware and you're always welcome to give us a call if you want us to vet some sort of thing that you're seeing out there, and we can make a recommendation of whether that is a legitimate request or if it is what is likely to be the case, probably a scam out there. So just be aware of all the scams out there, particularly those with Social Security. We don't want you giving away any important information.

Ford Stokes:
Also, when you're calling in the Social Security Administration, make sure you're calling in to the Social Security Administration. Go to SSA gov. Get the numbers off that website. Try not to just Google the number for Social Security administration. Sometimes people will try to pretend to be that so and and also just reach out to us. We're happy to help you. We can give you those numbers, um, so you can get tied in directly with your Social Security administration and office. And you can also go in there and see them. I would encourage you to do that. You know, we try to do everything we can as fiduciary advisors to protect the information for our clients, but also protect them from scams. We're going to actually have a regular segment on this show about senior scams out there where people are trying to scam seniors. One, because they have money to because they may not be working and may not be as alert or as sharp as they've been when they were working. And I just we want to do everything we can to protect our seniors out there. Uh, it's been remarkable, the growth of those scams out there. And I, we just want to do everything we can to to identify it, shine a white hot spotlight on all these scams, and then also trying to make them very ineffective and try to just completely eliminate them altogether if we can.

Ford Stokes:
I'll give you one other one before we go to break when people are asking, hey, can you take a photo of us? Or if somebody volunteers to take your photo? A lot of people are trying to send money from Venmo directly to themselves while they're taking your photo. Be careful about that. I learned about that one this weekend. Didn't happen to me, but happened to some friends of ours at the SEC Championship basketball tournament this week, and I was blown away when I heard that. I was like, goodness gracious, that is horrible. So be careful of scams out there. Be careful who you're asking to take your photo and be careful how much time they're taking while they're taking your photo. But let's do everything we can to protect that Social Security income as well. When we come back from the break, we're going to talk about from a crisis to a renaissance, how pensions are making a comeback in retirement planning. You're listening to Retirement Results. Come right back.

Sam Davis:
And welcome back to Retirement Results. Result drivers I'm Sam Davis, your senior financial advisor here with Fort Stokes, our host and chief financial advisor. And Ford I saw this stat over the weekend. That was really interesting. In 1975, almost 30% of the workforce had pension benefits. 30% of the workforce had pension benefits in 1975. But today that number has decreased to 13.5%. At the same time, some recent data from the National Institute on Retirement Security shows that over 80% of respondents believe all workers should have access to a pension. But that proves difficult when Ford only 13.5% have access to that pension through their work, and we come on the air almost every week to make sure that people understand that there is a way to generate that safe, guaranteed income for your retirement. It makes it so much easier to plan, not just for us on the advisory side, but for you enjoying your retirement because you know exactly what your budget is going to be, exactly what your lifestyle is going to be, and you know what you can look forward to. So Ford's segment for today is really all about personal pensions and how they're making a comeback.

Ford Stokes:
Yeah, they definitely are making a comeback. Also, what's nice about a pension is it allows you to let the rest of your assets grow. If you've got your income needs taken care of, if you're satisfying those monthly expense needs that you've got during retirement, also want to just give a shout out to Mark and Denise out of East Cobb? Um, they called us and wanted to get a pension review done, and so happy to have done that for them this past week. And. There are several folks that work for large fortune 500 companies in the Atlanta area. Whether you work for UPS or Home Depot or others, and they there's different pensions offered. There's AT&T folks that we work with that have pensions and. Just do me a favor. If you need a pension review, if you need a a lump sum pension versus taking the pension review done, go ahead and reach out to us. We're happy to help you do that. Absolutely no cost to you. We've seen where people can get 20 to 25% bonus on their lump sum just by moving into a fixed indexed annuity. Most pensions, Sam, as you know, are funded by spias single premium immediate annuities. Because you retire in the next month, you start getting paid by. The pension. And the problem with those annuities are those special kind of annuities, those single premium immediate annuities, they're not market linked.

Ford Stokes:
They're not indexed linked. So they can't really keep pace with inflation. Those spias or single premium media annuities are really good at doing one thing that is giving you your money back. They are not really good at growing your money and also paying you an income. If you want to get into a product that can do both. A fixed indexed annuity is a right. If you want to get into a product that can do both, both give you income and growth, then a fixed indexed annuity product could be the product for you. All you've got to do is reach out to us at Retirement Results.com click that Schedule Consultation button in the upper right corner. We're happy to help you. Also, you can get started even earlier by going to Active wealth.com/workbook and uploading your pension statement and just giving us your name, your first and last name and your phone number and your email. We're happy to help you get started. In the past couple of weeks, we've had folks that have reached out to us. They've got right around $1 million with a lump sum on their pension, or they could turn it on income. And get about $7,000 a month in pension income.

Ford Stokes:
Well, that may sound really good. But the biggest concern is if the primary breadwinner got hit by a bus, the family would get no more money because they did 100% full life just on the pension recipient or what's called the annuitant. You're better off putting your money into your own personal pension. Where you could actually get growth on that money. Get an account value as well as an income value. And let that money grow over time, especially if you can get into an annuity that is fee efficient. That also has a high participation rate. And we're seeing those high participation rate products out there. With the US Treasury still being high and yielding that 4.3 to 4.6%. Which is traditionally about three acts of what it's been throughout my career, usually right around 1.2 to 1.8%. Is the yield on the ten year US Treasury and these these annuities. What they do is they. We'll take the interest generated off 100% investment in the ten year US Treasury. So your money's not invested in the financial markets, but your interest gets invested into these options in things like the S&P 500, the Barclays Atlas five or the Credit Suisse Momentum or the BNP Paribas Global H factor index, which. A product we sell a lot of with the nationwide P10, and only 1% of financial advisors have access to this product.

Ford Stokes:
And it does. Illustrate a rate that is higher than the withdrawal rates. Your account value grows as your income grows during retirement, and so therefore your heirs have money to inherit and you also get a very high income. For retirement, you can let the rest of your portfolio grow and also minimize the bonds in your portfolio with the bond replacement strategy. I know I just gave a mouthful there. There's a lot going on with what I've discovered in the last couple of minutes. But you really owe it to yourself. If you got the opportunity in a lump sum pension, I would encourage you to reach out to us and we can help you get into the right kind of product and get that 20 to 25% bonus guaranteed, 8% roll up each year that you defer. So guaranteed interest growth each year that you defer withdrawals and then also get you access to like a 310%. Participation rate in an underlying index less than 1% spread rate. For a 30% potential growth of the index goes up 10% over a two year protection period. That's very attractive to you as. The annuity owner. And also the Annuitant is going to get the income from the annuity to build your own personal pension. It's the first.

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

The final countdown.

Ford Stokes:
Hey, Sam, let's start this final countdown by. Can you just do me a favor? Refresh the seven things that can really refresh your mood about money during the spring cleaning of 2024 for your finances.

Sam Davis:
Yeah, absolutely. We'll recap those seven steps. Spring cleaning your finances. If you missed the earlier part of today's show, be sure to check out Retirement Results wherever you listen to podcasts as well. But step number one was revisit those financial New Year's resolutions. Check in on those. Let us know if we can help you with any of that. Step number two was clean out your financial junk drawer. That's both literally and figuratively. To get back on track, do some actual spring cleaning as well. Step number three is pay yourself first and maximize your retirement contributions. And Ford walked you through how to do that for both an IRA and a 401 K. Step number four was make sure those beneficiaries are up to date on any life insurance policies, retirement accounts, anything of that sort. Step number five was all about your estate plan. Dust that off or establish one for the first time. Spring is a great time to do that. Step number six was have your entire portfolio reviewed by a licensed professional. And Ford mentioned we'd love to help you with that. A full complimentary consultation. And he walked you through everything you get just by giving us a call. And step number seven was save some money on next year's vacation by planning now and saving. So we went from spring cleaning to spring Break and Ford. Those are your seven tips for improving your finances this spring.

Ford Stokes:
Yeah, we also talked about how to build your own personal pension and also getting a pension review or a 401 K review with us. All you got to do is reach out to us at Retirement Results. Com and click that schedule a consultation button in the upper right corner. We're happy to help you get started. We're super excited to help people better protect and grow their hard earned and hard saved wealth. Our goals, as always, are to build a tax efficient, fee efficient and market efficient portfolio so you can enjoy your own successful retirement. So glad you've been with us here on this important show. When we're talking about the spring cleaning items for your finances for 2024, all you got to do is reach out to us again at Retirement Results.com and click that schedule a consultation button in the upper right corner. And remember, when you're seeking information about retirement, you're going to be a bear. Be a grizzly. Be aggressive about it. Try to do everything you can to protect and grow your hard earned and hard saved wealth. By understanding what options are available to you and how you can reduce your fees, reduce your risk, and get a higher rate of return. And we're going to do everything we can to give you that results and advance retirement plan here on Retirement Results. And with the active wealth management team again reach out to us at Retirement Results. Com have a great week everybody.

Producer:
Thanks for listening to Retirement Results. You deserve to work with an independent team of fiduciary advisors that will strategically work to protect and grow your hard earned assets. To schedule your complimentary financial consultation, call us now at (770) 685-1777. That's (770) 685-1777. To connect with a qualified advisor. To learn more about our mission and our team, visit Retirement Results.com Investment Advisory Services offered through Brookstone Capital Management, LLC, BCM, a registered Investment Advisor, BCM and Active Wealth Management are independent of each other. Insurance products and services are not offered through BCM, but are offered and sold through individually licensed and appointed agents. Investments involve risk and, unless otherwise stated, are not guaranteed. Past performance cannot be used as an indicator to determine future results. 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 disclosure of any conflicts of interest, if any exist, please refer to our firm brochure, the ADV Two-a, page four. For additional information.

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

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