Why You Need to Have Your Retirement Plan Inspected

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

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

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

Speaker3:
And welcome to retirement results. Result drivers. I'm Ford stokes, your chief financial advisor. Got Sam Davis here with me on the mic. Sam, say hello to everybody.

Speaker4:
Welcome to the weekend result drivers. Welcome back to retirement results is springtime here in Georgia. Just want to shout out all of our listeners in Atlanta on K A and our listeners up around the lake on done. Hope you're enjoying your spring um, spring break time of year. And Ford, I also want to shout out the podcast listeners, because we have a lot of people listening to retirement results who aren't listening on the radio right now. They're actually listening on the podcast feed. And you can too. Wherever you listen to podcasts, on your smartphone or on your computer, you can click subscribe and listen to all of our past episodes on demand. So if you're a podcast listener and you're a subscriber, we want to hear from you. Reach out to us at Retirement Results. We love working with our listeners and we love helping them out.

Speaker3:
Yeah, and thanks again for all those old drivers who've made us the number one listened to radio show on Am 920. The answer, and also to all the new listeners on Wdan in Gainesville, really appreciate each and every one of you. Our goal here is just to make sure that we can help you better plan for retirement, help you protect and grow your hard earned and hard saved wealth here on retirement results. Want to help you kind of get that successful plan going so you can build a tax efficient, fee efficient and market efficient portfolio because we just want you to have a successful retirement. We want you to spend more time with your family and our family. We love time. And if you can just spend more time with your family and friends and have the money to fund that. Um, we're going to be a lot better spot. So on today's show, we're going to talk about how to start building a more secure retirement today, how you can work with a fiduciary and get the answers that you need. Um, working with that financial advisor, hopefully it's the folks here at Active Wealth Management again, the advisors at Active Wealth Management, we do power the Retirement Results radio show.

Speaker3:
Sam and I are two of those advisors. We've got three more in the Atlanta area. We've got three offices, one in Cartersville. Our headquarters is in Alpharetta, and of course, we've got one down in Midtown where Matt McClure, who's our roving reporter, works. And again, we just wanted to say how much we appreciate you guys and gals for listening to us. If you want to build that success retirement, you got to start today. Let's get going today. So what we're going to cover on today's show is why you need a smart inspection of your financial plans and how we can help. Uh, we got a special announcement again about the Smart Retirement plan book that will come out later in the show. And then number two is, do you have a backup plan for Social Security? Protecting your retirement income. Also, what retirees fear the most and how to find more peace of mind with your financial plan. But now, Sam, 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 week's quote of the week comes to us from Mark Twain, the great American author and Mark Twain once said, the secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret to getting started is breaking down your complex, overwhelming tasks into small, manageable tasks and then starting on the first one. And that's a great quote, especially when it comes to planning for retirement or really planning anything in general. You could be planning a vacation and at first everything seems very complicated. You have so many options, so many things logistically to figure out. The same is true in retirement, and it really helps when you're getting started to have someone on your side. And that's really where the fiduciaries and the team here at Active Wealth and Retirement Results come in.

Speaker3:
Yeah. We saw a study that said that people spend five times more time planning their family vacations each year than they do in planning their retirement, which is quite shocking, actually. Here's what we do for every listener who reaches out to us and all of our clients that we serve. And again, you can reach out to us at retirement. Com that's retirement. Com the best way to get started is just to go to retirement. Com forward slash that's retirement. Forward slash submit your information to name email and phone. And we'll get started right away on trying to help you better plan for your successful retirement. First of all, we're going to what we're going to do is we're going to assess your current account balances and fee structures. We'll help you understand how much you're paying in fees and how much risk you're taking as well, and also the correlation of your assets. But we're going to understand how much you've been able to save for retirement. What are you currently paying in fees for the management of those funds? Many people we work with are often surprised by the fees they're currently paying. Also, if you can kind of get rid of those subscriptions that you're not using, whether that's a Paramount+ or a Peacock or Disney+ or HBO Max or any of that stuff. If you can get rid of some of those monthly subscriptions or annual subscriptions, that you'll be in a lot better spot, too. Um, we're also going to review the rates of return over the last 12 months, three years and five years. And specifically, we're going to do a look back and see how the assets you currently hold, how they performed over the last 20 years. So that'll be a pretty good thing for you to understand and to know, um, specifically, how do they perform in 2008? How do they perform in 2022 when the market actually retreated and had some downturn? Um, Sam, go ahead and share the rest of the things that we're going to do a little bit to help people understand what includes a smart inspection of their retirement savings.

Speaker4:
Yeah, some of those first checkpoints. I mean, if you're taking your car in for service, you want to get that multi-point inspection. The same is true here with retirement planning. You know, when it comes to fees, what are you paying in fees. You probably have an IRA or a 401 K plan that has a bunch of different holdings and investments. Maybe you've got some target date funds in there, some bonds, some mutual funds. What are the fees that you're actually paying for those things? And what we like to show you is something called an expense ratio, which is basically the percentage of your portfolio that is going to fees every single year. And Ford, sometimes we see people that have, you know, two, 3% in fees. We want to bring that down to a very reasonable level for you. I mean, whenever possible, when we're reviewing these plans and looking for points of improvement, the things we're trying to remove are risk fees and taxes. And one risk that people have in retirement and in retirement planning is kind of a risk when it comes to their income. And we like to ask the question when we're doing. Portfolios. Do you have an income gap or do you have an income surplus? You know, we take a look at all of the guaranteed income sources you have. For you're a registered social security analyst. There's only 15 professionals like yourself here in the state of Georgia. We're able to put together that what is called an RSA roadmap and show people the best decision points on when to take that Social Security. And that really starts to put the income picture together for people.

Speaker3:
Yeah, we really want to make sure that you're starting with that positive retirement income surplus, like you mentioned, Sam, and what we do when we're analyzing your Social security, um, income benefit and when you can turn on income. And what that looks like for you is we take your top 35 earning years. We do it in the form of the XML file that's on ssa.gov. So if if you're listening to this, this radio show or you're listening to us on any of our podcasts where you can get, um, retirement results, any of those podcast sources? What I would encourage you to do is go to ssa.gov and download your XML file. Now it's a blue link underneath the PDF link on that same page and it just says download XML file. It's x ray Mary Lema. So I'm trying to spell it out for you. It's XML, that's the file. And it comes in. Looks like a lot of gobbledygook. It's basically like a it's almost like a CSV type file. And what they'll do is they'll, you'll send it to me. And what we do is we upload it into our RSA roadmap and that we're looking at your top 35 earning years. We're trying to understand what is your aim, your average income, monthly earnings. And then divide that by 12 trying to get to um, basically what is your primary insurance amount and try to say, hey, if you turn on income here you're going to get paid X, but if you wait another year you're going to get paid 8% more.

Speaker3:
Things like that. And we'll give you all those determinations. One big hint here for the married couples out there, if, let's say the the woman who is the mom and she raised the kids and worked harder because she couldn't get fired from the job, she kept doing it and doing it and doing it. And she couldn't she couldn't quit the job. But she stayed home and worked in the home probably half the time. So she's got probably 17, 18 years of income. Believe it or not, you probably should turn on that income at 62.5. And then when you reach 67, then you can turn on income and get your spousal benefit as well. So, um, not in addition, but instead of and that's a really great way to really spike the, um, Social Security income for the household. So we're going to talk more about what you can expect when you get that smart inspection of your retirement savings when we come back. You're listening to retirement results right here on Am 912. The answer and Um.

Speaker2:
We'll be back in just a moment to continue helping you navigate your financial journey. Stay tuned for more retirement results. 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.

Speaker1:
Any bonuses mentioned may be subject to additional restrictions and regulations based on the offering. Annuity company you may not receive the bonuses if the contract is fully surrendered, or if traditional annuity payments are taken, and if the policy is partially surrendered, it could result in a partial loss of bonuses. Because these are bonus annuities, they may include higher surrender charges, longer surrender charge periods, lower caps, higher spreads, or other restrictions that are not included in similar annuities that don't offer a bonus feature.

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 to retirement results result drivers I'm Forde Stokes chief financial advisor. Got Sam Davis here with us on the mic. Sam is our senior financial advisor and co-host on Retirement results. Have been our co-host for over five years. And, um, Sam, we're talking about how people can get that smart inspection, what they can expect when they meet with us. Um, also, they call us at (770) 685-1777. Again. (770) 685-1777. We first talked about hey you need to need a review. Do a portfolio review of your portfolio and your assets. Then we just talked about. Maximize that Social Security income benefit. And trying to get that XML file from Ssa.gov and get that over to us. And we're talking about how you really need to start with that positive retirement income surplus, because we don't want to start with a negative retirement income gap if we're going to have inflation in the future. And obviously we've seen inflation rear its ugly head over the last 4 to 5 years. Sam, can you also talk a little bit about what we do. We're giving folks a personal pension x ray, an annuity x ray or even that lump sum x ray as well.

Speaker4:
Yeah. Well, about a third of the US workforce used to have access to pensions. Today it's only about 13, 13.5% of folks out there have pensions. For those who contact us and do have pensions, we'll take a look at those plans. Sometimes it's suitable to take the lump sum or even roll out a portion of that pension and diversify by investing in your own personal pension. If you have any annuities, we will do an annuity x ray of those annuities to show you if that is still a good option for you, if it's something that you may be better off replacing, or if you need the income, if it's still a good tool that could be used to turn on and pay you that personal pension now. But we'll show you all of the best options with highly rated annuity carriers and life insurance companies, companies like nationwide, companies like Allianz and Aspida and Cliff and North American. And taking a look at those options to see if, you know, shielding a portion of your portfolio and establishing a personal pension is something that would give you peace of mind in retirement, knowing that you have contractually guaranteed income that's going to pay you for the rest of your life, and you don't have to worry about outliving your money. Um, for another thing we take a look at is do you have a tax problem? You know, we're trying to delete risk fees and taxes from people's plans when it comes to deleting taxes, something that we can do to reduce folks liability in the future with taxes is Roth conversion.

Speaker3:
Yeah. I mean, what we try to do is move money from your IRA to your Roth IRA a little bit each year over a 5 to 10 year period. Generally, we try to do it over a 5 to 7 year period, and we like to pay the taxes on that money that that moves from the IRA to the Roth IRA. We like to pay the taxes on that money with savings account money or investment account money, just basically taxable money. So we take tax deferred money, move it to tax free money, and we use taxable money to actually pay the taxes on it. So therefore we're taking money from our tax deferred bucket and moving it over to our tax free bucket dollar for dollar. So that's one big thing that we do. But let me quickly recap the five things that everybody gets when they meet with us Sam. So number one is you're going to get a portfolio analysis. And that way you're going to understand the fees you're paying, the risks you're taking and the correlation of your assets. Number two is you're going to get that retirement income gap analysis. And then number three is we're going to give you a Social Security maximization report in the form of an RSA roadmap.

Speaker3:
Number four is we're going to give you a financial plan to your 95th birthday with your current investment portfolio and your current strategy with your current monthly expenses that you're estimating for retirement. And with what you think you're going to do in Social Security, everything you've got right there, we're going to do it. We're going to give you a grade from one to or zero all the way up to 100. And you're going to be able to see your entire retirement in like two pages, payable tax rates, all the things you're going to deal with, excess income and also account values year over year income year over year. All that stuff's going to be there available to you. We we put in a we plug in a 3% average annual inflation rate just to make things realistic for you. And so that way you can kind of see what your retirement looks like in advance. Then number five is we're going to give you our financial plan to your 95th birthday with our recommended portfolios and with that strategic, raw, flatter conversion plan. And then you get to make an informed financial decision.

Speaker3:
If you want to work with us, we're going to do all this for free. It's a $2,500 value. Many of you have taken advantage of this offer, and you've given us a call over the last several weeks, and we appreciate you for doing that. I would encourage you to go ahead and reach out to us today. (770) 685-1777 so we can help clients like you and Diana and her team are standing by taking your calls. You guys reach out to us at (770) 685-1777. But again, to recap, number one is you get a portfolio analysis. Number two is you get retirement income gap analysis. Number three is you get that registered social security analyst roadmap. That Social security maximization report. Number four is you get a financial plan, your 95th birthday with your current plan. And then number five is you get a financial plan. Your 95th birthday. Absolutely. At no cost to you from us. It's a $2,500 value. Sam and I are both contributors to Forbes.com, and we're members of the Forbes Finance Council. We're here to help you protect and grow your hard earned and hard saved wealth. Go ahead and reach out to us. Again, that number is (770) 685-1777.

Speaker4:
Yeah. And I would definitely encourage anybody out there listening who's just looking for somewhere to start looking for, you know, the right direction when it comes to planning for the retirement or even if you've already retired. You've been retired a few years, and you want to make sure you're still on the right track. All it's going to cost you is a little bit of your time. Just get in touch with us at retirement. Com you'll see our phone number on there and we look forward to hearing from you. But Ford, we've got just a few minutes left in this second segment of the show. And I'd like to talk about something real quick. You know, we have, what we call smart vision here at retirement Results and active wealth management and thinking about who you're going to be with in retirement, what you're going to do and and where you're going to live. And sometimes people are looking at downsizing. They're looking at relocating for retirement. And I've got a list. This is from a recent CBS report of the most and least expensive states for retirees in 2025. So just want to review these real quick and then get your thoughts forward on smart vision and possibly relocating in retirement, because we work with folks who are in the great state of Georgia, but also in many other states across the US. The most expensive states for retirees. This one, this this was not a surprise here for Hawaii, with the average annual cost of living after Social Security, uh, would be $87,770. High cost of living in Hawaii. Ford. I've never had the pleasure of visiting. I know it's one of your favorite places in the world. Uh, I believe you went on your honeymoon there. Uh, understandable that that is an expensive state.

Speaker3:
Yeah, it's crazy great. I'm a huge fan of Kapalua. I just love everything about Kapalua. The Ritz there and and just it just it's just fantastic. Also it's after after you take Social Security it's $87,770. That's a lot of money. That's after tax stuff. It's crazy money. Um, Massachusetts being the next one, which I don't know why anybody would retire in Massachusetts unless you really like clam chowder and you like the Harvard Yard. But, um, you've got annual cost of living after Social Security would be 65,117. Again, that is a very blue state. Hawaii is a very blue state, and they have high taxes.

Speaker4:
Yep. We've also got California. Uh, after Social Security. Cost of living 63 7.95. So, speaking.

Speaker3:
Of high taxes, California.

Speaker4:
Yeah I just I, I.

Speaker3:
Again, another blue state. That's beautiful. And I love that place. I'm a huge no Cal guy. I love it, but golly, the sunshine tax is real.

Speaker4:
Absolutely. And then from California to New York, New York, uh, annual cost of living after Social Security, 50,997 and then Alaska, uh, 50,997 as well.

Speaker3:
So there's only one red state out of that whole list.

Speaker4:
Yeah. That's true. Uh, Hawaii, Massachusetts, California, New York and Alaska. And then just quickly reviewing the least expensive states before we go to break. West Virginia came in at the most the least expensive state to live in for retirees, followed by my home state of Kansas, then Mississippi, Oklahoma, Alabama, our next door neighbor here in Georgia and Missouri all came in as the least expensive states. So if.

Speaker3:
All of those, all of those are red states.

Speaker4:
Indeed, indeed deeply red, I would say. Yeah. So if you're thinking about relocating in retirement, there's your most and least expensive states. That's segment two of retirement results. Keep listening. We'll be right back.

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

Speaker6:
In the heart of the American sports landscape, something unexpected is gaining popularity. It's not football, baseball, or even basketball, but professional cricket. I'm Jim Terubok here for the Retirement Radio Network, powered by Amaryllis. Major League Cricket, or MLC, is making waves here in the United States. In a country where baseball once ruled the summer cricket is now drawing in fans, both newcomers and longtime enthusiasts. Chairman and CEO of Access Healthcare, Anurag Gene, a billionaire with financial investments behind the growth of cricket, explains the game's continued expansion in the US.

Speaker7:
Cricket falls in the top 4 or 5 in terms of just volume of people that watch it and the cash that they generate off the media rights in the US alone. So if you look at that market today, the number of people that are here, the South Asian population, the popularity of growing cricket is growing. And of course, we're talking about T20 cricket, which is a three hour game, something Americans don't know. It's a simple, fast three hour game, just given the global popularity and what we're seeing in the US, we think it's a great bet.

Speaker6:
Cricket is the most popular sport in countries across the Middle East, as well as parts of the Caribbean and countries such as England, South Africa and Australia. In fact, matches between India and Pakistan are considered one of the biggest sporting events in the world. Here in the US, cities like Seattle and Portland have become the hub spot for the game's growing fan base. In 2020, for the first season of Major League Cricket, attracted over 70,000 spectators and generated $2.8 million in ticket sales. The league's broadcast was streamed to over 80 countries and aired live on the CBS Sports network in America. Dallas, Los Angeles and New York are now home to professional cricket teams, and the fans are showing up in droves. It's more than just a sport. We could be living through the genesis of a sports cultural shift, and with a new season just around the corner, there's no telling how far major League cricket will go. But one thing's for sure the pitch is set and cricket could be here to stay for the retirement radio network powered by Everlife. I'm Jim Teraoka.

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

Speaker3:
So welcome back to retirement results, everyone. That's Ford Stokes, our chief financial advisor. Got Sam Davis, our senior financial advisor and co-host on the show. Sam Gooden played this clip from President Donald J. Trump regarding Social Security.

Speaker8:
They make up stories. They're storytellers. They say, oh, Trump wants to destroy Social Security. It's like, I have nothing to even think about with Social Security. Now, if you have an illegal immigrant on Social Security, I think everybody wants to make sure that doesn't happen. So doesn't mean I have to make sure there's as little fraud as possible. But, you know, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, people don't have to worry, but they make up stories. They're liars. They lie so badly, and they lie so much.

Speaker3:
That was during an interview with Greg Kelly on Newsmax. I'm a big fan of Newsmax. Big fan of Greg's as well. And it was good. Every time we hear the administration or Congress or the president talk about Social Security, we want to make sure we're informing you guys and gals about it. I agree, I think security is going to be around. I'm super excited that they they ended up getting rid of 7 million people receiving Social Security. They were over 120 years old or older. So I'm glad they they purged that list immediately. Um, literally within a day or two of finding out all the fraud stuff. So that's. I saw a report on that, so that's fantastic. But there is a need to supplement Social Security for you. Um, because in one, inflation could take a toll on Social Security. One of the biggest hurdles the program is facing right now is inflation. Rising costs have hit many Americans hard in recent years, and the Social Security cost of living adjustment is designed to help benefits keep up with inflation. Over time, it's been difficult for the United States to keep up with inflation. Historically, though, inflation has outpaced the cost of living adjustment from Social Security, meaning benefits don't go as far as they used to. They also means that Social Security recipients are losing purchasing power, according to a 2024 report from a nonpartisan advocacy group, the Senior Citizens League. Benefits have lost around 20% of their buying power since 2010.

Speaker4:
Yeah, and it makes sense for people are concerned that the program's cash shortage could lead to benefit cuts. In fact, according to the Social Security Administration, both trust funds are expected to run out by 2035. And that doesn't mean Social Security goes away in 2035. But at that point, there would only be enough income to cover around 83% of scheduled benefits. So they're looking at a 17% shortfall. And the current administration is certainly looking at ways to shore that up and make sure that here in ten years time, that all of you folks who are currently receiving Social Security and still want to be receiving your full amount that you're entitled to in ten years, or even those of you who are maybe in your 50s right now and are expecting to be taking Social Security in ten years, that you're going to get those benefits so that you can plan accurately for your income in retirement. And that's really all it comes down to for when we're able to show people, hey, you know, between Social Security, this personal pension that we're able to help you with, and then to stay at 4% or less withdrawals from your other accounts. You've got enough income in here to give you actually a monthly income surplus in retirement, which is a great outcome for people.

Speaker3:
Yeah. So here's what you can do. I mean, number one, I totally agree with you 1,000%, Sam. Number one, you can receive a Social Security maximization report in the form of an RSA roadmap. Rsa stands for Registered Social Security Analyst, and I am a registered Social Security Analyst and will determine the best time to file for benefits for both you and your spouse if you're married or just for you if you're an individual filer. And then number two is we want to supplement your retirement income and make up for any retirement income gaps by establishing your own personal pension. Did you know that you can actually have your own personal pension? You actually can get one and we can help you do that. Listeners who contact us receive a free portfolio analysis and retirement income cap. Listeners who contact us receive a free portfolio analysis and a retirement income plan. Absolutely. At no cost to them. All you've got to do is reach out to us at retirement. Com forward slash plan. That's retirement. Com forward slash plan. Or if you have a tough time remembering the forward slash plan part just go to retirement. Com and click that schedule a consultation button in the upper right corner.

Speaker3:
So if you're driving around right now and you're listening to us on Am 920, answer on WGN or wherever you get podcasts, and you're one of the 20,000 plus folks who've downloaded our podcast over the last several months. Let me just ask you, is there any reason why you wouldn't want to maximize your Social Security income benefit? And I gotta tell you, it's a real thing. One other question I want to ask you is, do you do you think you deserve more than $0.70 on the dollar of what you put into Social Security? I would say, yes. I think you do deserve more than $0.70 on the dollar. And if you do, if you feel like you definitely deserve more than $0.70 on a dollar, you owe it to yourself just to reach out to us at retirement Results.com click that schedule a consultation button in the upper right corner, and you'll get booked directly into my calendar. And I'm happy to meet with you and give you that RSA report absolutely at no cost to you, that RSA roadmap to help you maximize your Social Security.

Speaker4:
Yeah. And if you actually want to receive your maximum Social Security benefit, maybe not the absolute maximum, but the maximum for you. Step one would be work a minimum of 35 years. So the Social Security Administration takes a look at your 35 highest paid years. So they look all the way back. Maybe 18 was the first year that you paid income taxes in one of your first jobs. And they'll look at that year all the way up until today. They'll take your top 35 earning years and use that to calculate your monthly benefit. So if you're looking to get the maximum amount you want to have worked 35 years, so you don't have any zeros in your calculation for any missing years.

Speaker3:
Yeah. And number two is you really want to earn an income equivalent to or greater than the wage cap. Believe it or not, the wage cap in 2023 was $160,200. Today it's $176,100 for 2025, according to SSA and the Social Security Administration. So if you can just earn up to that, there's a the wage cap lets you kind of maximize your credits for that primary insurance amount and also replaces those low wage earning years, like when you got a summer job and things like that. And then number three is you want to delay your Social Security claim as long as you can. You kind of get 8% each year that you wait. Um, on Social Security, you get 8% more in retirement income after your full retirement age, but you're entitled to your complete monthly benefit based on your earnings history. Once you reach your full retirement age or Fra, if you're born after 1960, Congratulations. Your retirement age is 67. If you're born before 1960, it's 66, and in a few months or somewhere in between and your benefits will again grow up to 8% a year. Every year that you wait after your full retirement age, collecting $4,555 from Social Security every month during retirement might seem nice, but for most seniors, it's unrealistic because many don't have a high enough income to qualify for that maximum benefit. At the monthly Social Security benefit you're eligible for isn't anywhere close to $4,555, but rather more in line with the current monthly average of $1,827. It doesn't mean you're doomed to a cash strapped retirement, but don't forget we can help you establish your own personal pension plan that you can never outlive as well. If you need help improving or starting on your income plan, give us a call at 6851777. And we're happy to help you.

Speaker4:
Yeah. And, you know, not everybody can afford to delay Social Security and get that extra 8%. But it's interesting. Ford. One of our top, uh, options for helping folks establish their own personal pension, uh, is with nationwide, they're an A+ rated carrier, and they have a product that only 1% of advisors have access to, uh, work with their clients with. Um, and the nationwide peak ten will give you a guaranteed 8% simple interest roll up every year. You defer taking withdrawals. So if you're in your 50s or even in your early 60s, we've done this with folks as young as 45 years old. You get that guaranteed 8% roll up simple interest every year. You defer. So if you kind of like that idea of deferring, taking income to get a little bit more, you can do that by establishing your own personal pension and really use that to supplement Social Security. But Ford, we've made it to the end of segment three. If you're interested in anything we've had to say so far on today's show, just visit retirement. Com or give us a call here in our home office at (770) 685-1777. That's (770) 685-1777 or visit retirement. Com. And when we come back forward we have some interesting information. A recent study from Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies about when retirees actually exited the workplace. And we'll talk about that right when we come back. You're listening to retirement results.

Speaker2:
Don't go away. Retirement results will be right back. To schedule your free, no obligation consultation, visit retirement Results.com.

Speaker1:
Do you want a steady stream of income for retirement? Then it's time to consider annuities. I'm Matt McClure with the Retirement Radio Network, powered by Amira life. Gone are the days when most employers offered pensions with guaranteed lifetime payouts to their workers. But what if I told you that you can build your own personal pension? It's possible with an annuity. An annuity is a financial product that provides a series of regular payments to an individual over a specified period of time, often for the rest of their life.

Speaker9:
There are several options for you to consider when choosing an annuity. Be confident in knowing that there is an annuity out there that can meet all of your needs.

Speaker1:
Ford Stokes is founder and president of Active Wealth Management and author of the book annuity 360. There are several different types of annuities, including fixed, variable, and fixed indexed.

Speaker9:
A fixed annuity offers a specific guaranteed interest rate on their contributions to the account. A fixed index annuity is an accumulation based product offered by an insurance company. The growth of your fixed indexed annuity is dependent on the performance of a chosen stock market index, but your money is not actually invested in this index. This offers you great growth potential and exceptional protection for your investment.

Speaker1:
While each can provide tax deferred growth and a lifetime income stream, variable annuities put your principal at risk in the market.

Speaker9:
If you are currently investing in a variable annuity, your funds could be in serious trouble if the market experienced any downturns.

Speaker1:
With so many possible choices to consider, it's essential you speak to a financial advisor or professional to help you make the best decision for your future. So are you ready to consider an annuity as part of your retirement plan? It's a key question to consider as you approach what should be your golden years with the Retirement Radio Network powered by Imara Life? I'm Matt McClure.

Speaker2:
Miss part of today's show. Retirement results is available wherever you listen to podcasts and online at retirement Results.com.

Speaker3:
Welcome back to retirement results. I'm Ford Stokes, your chief financial advisor. Got Sam Davis here with us. He's our senior financial advisor and co-host of the show. Joe and Sam on. You just teased it. Or I want you to talk about when retirees actually exited the workplace. According to this Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies, uh, that we got from Yahoo Finance, this is an eye opening report.

Speaker4:
Yeah, I just found this really interesting. So retirees were asked when they exited the workplace, was that in line with their plans that they had for retirement? 58%. The largest group said they actually retired and exited the workplace sooner than planned. So I'll say that again, 58% over half actually retired sooner than planned, 36%. So a little over a third retired as planned when they planned to retire, and 6% retired later than planned. And Ford, I just thought this was interesting, that a majority of folks were actually exiting the workplace and retiring sooner.

Speaker3:
Yeah, It's it's it's remarkable. You've got. Less than, less than 6% or right at 6%. Retired later than planned, which is remarkable to me. And what this means to me is, look, if you're having to retire sooner than when you planned or right when you plan to do it, coupled with the fact that you're going to lose 33% of the Social Security income that comes into the household with the death of a spouse, you really need to have a plan for income during retirement, but specifically for that event. When a spouse passes away, you also need to have, you know, the funeral costs covered in advance and have that ready to go. You need to be growing the assets, and I definitely need to have a good, smart legacy plan with a will or a revocable trust. Um, that's a really good idea. And we just want to see You get everything broom swept clean. And what we mean by broom swept clean with your retirement plan is this. You really should have a family home that's paid off. You have no mortgage, you have no credit card debt. And, Sam, you know, a lot of these people have fully funded six month emergency funds as well.

Speaker4:
Yeah, that's something that's really important. I mean, you want to have that bucket of cash and those funds that are available because things come up. It could be a car repair, home repair, quick medical procedure that you need to have done, maybe a dental procedure or something like that. You want to have that emergency fund there. So if you need to take care of an expense that's a few thousand dollars kind of out of nowhere that you have that. And so that's a good indicator is you've got that cash sitting in the bank. You could be ready to retire and relaunch. Also, maybe you're losing interest in your current job. Maybe you've been in that same position 20, 25, 30 years could be a benefit to you to look and see if you can get a job elsewhere, or if it's actually time for you to step away from the work, the workplace and retire now could be the right time to make that decision.

Speaker3:
Yeah. For sure. I mean, you want to. Also, what I would tell you is try to get a plan together and live by the plan for six months while you're still working. Don't just retire and not have built in the habits you need to live on fixed income, because chances are you're not going to have as much income coming in. We talk about this all the time, but you know, farmers hats are bent in on the sides because they're looking in the mailbox for that farm subsidy check. Or Arkansas rice farmer told me that joke. And when I was duck hunting with him in his blind in his, in his rice field. But, um, I got it. And I was freezing like crazy, but it was. The ducks were flying, I'll tell you that. But you're looking at you've got to build that income. So you got the mailbox money, and you got to make sure that your mailbox money is Outpacing the money that's going out, you know, for your expenses and. And also, listen, a lot of people have changed jobs early because they lose interest in their current job. You know, it's, um, so many people say that, you know, they the salary is what they give to you to give up your dreams. But if you're the tail end of your career and you may not, you may be sad about what's going on with, you know, a boss or a supervisor or things that are going on in corporate politics within the building that you work in, or and the company you work in or whatever. But you kind of owe it to yourself to try to work an extra 6 to 12 months, if you can, to really say, but specifically get on pace to get to live on that income. I think you're gonna be a lot better spot and really happy that you did.

Speaker4:
Yeah. And if people are doing what we suggest back to the beginning of this episode and get that smart inspection of your retirement plan and your portfolio. You may find that your plan can be restructured to a point where you can retire today, or you can retire in the next couple of years. And sometimes that's the best thing that you can do for folks. Ford I was recently working with a teacher, and we were able to put together a strong retirement income plan for them. And now they're able to choose, you know, at any time in the next, you know, 2 to 4 years if they want to step away from school and say, this is my last year, this is my last year of teaching. They can make that decision. Or if they're still enjoying it, you know, this person told us that, you know, being around the kids is actually something that gives them a lot of energy and gives them a lot of motivation day to day. Maybe you stay in it longer than than you planned. Um, but what we're seeing, according to this study, Ford, that more, more people than not are retiring sooner than planned.

Speaker3:
And you got to have your plan in place. So I would encourage you to reach out to us at (770) 685-1777 or just visit retirement. Com click that schedule a consultation button in the upper right corner or visit retirement. Com forward slash that's retirement results.com forward slash. Sam you've got a great report that talks about what retirees fear the most. And let's go ahead and go through those quickly here in segment four.

Speaker4:
Yeah. Number one of what retirees are fearing the most is obviously running out of money. But there's a variety of reasons for that. And one of those is Social Security cutbacks. This is a fascinating fact for in 1940, so early on in the history of Social Security, there were 40 workers per retiree. So a 40 to 1 ratio of workers to recipients. But today there are actually only three workers per retiree. This ratio is expected to actually be dropped to 2 to 1 by the year 2050. And that's another reason why people are afraid of Social Security cutbacks. On a related note, people are also concerned about tax increases. Historically, tax rates are actually lower than they used to be with the national debt issues inside the Social Security Administration. Many experts believe taxes may have to actually go up in order to meet the United States budget requirements.

Speaker3:
And number three is inflation of what retirees fear the most cost of living adjustments reflect 14.6% inflation over the last two years. And some experts believe the true inflation. If you look at Shadowstats.com also, you know, obviously, especially what's going on with the tariff tantrum of the markets right now, um, a lot of retirees and pre-retirees are fearing market crashes. You may want to consider reducing the risk you're taking with your current portfolio. From 2000 to 2002, the market saw three straight years of declines. We don't want you to experience that type of situation also. 2008 it lost 37%. And last couple here portfolio balances going down too quickly through withdrawals and market losses. Healthcare expenses are another fear of retirees and having to care for a loved one. There's over 53 million people who are unpaid caregivers in the United States. That is a big concern and a big fear of retirees as well.

Speaker10:
It's the final countdown.

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

Speaker10:
The final countdown.

Speaker3:
So in today's show, we talked about how to start building a more secure retirement. Today we talked about why you need a smart inspection of your financial plans, what to expect when you meet with us, getting that free portfolio analysis, free financial plan, our roadmap to maximize your Social Security and retirement income gap plan as well. We also talked about do you really have a backup plan to supplement your income in addition to Social Security? You also heard from President Trump as well. We had a great soundbite with President Trump's interview with Greg Kelly on Newsmax this past week. And then also we just talked about in this segment what retirees fear the most. The number one fear retirees have is not death because they know that's coming. We don't work with immortals. We wish we did. But one thing they're really nervous about and concerned about is outliving their money. They want their money to outlive them, and we're here to help you do that. If you're looking for retirement information, if you're going to be a bear, be a grizzly. Keep listening to us every single week, but also pick up the phone and give us a call at (770) 685-1777 or visit retirement Results.com. We're going to talk more about Smart Retirement Plan as my new book, The Smart Retirement Plans coming out here in the coming weeks. We've got the book ready. Um, it will be talking about how you can get your hands on that e-book and or a free copy of the Smart Retirement Plan by me. Ford Stokes, your financial advisor, chief financial advisor and registered Social security analyst, will have that in the coming weeks. We're going to talk about more about smart investing on next week's show. Have a great week, everybody.

Speaker2:
Thanks for listening to retirement Results. You deserve to work with an independent team of fiduciary advisors that will strategically work to protect and grow your hard earned assets. To schedule your complimentary financial consultation, call us now at (770) 685-1777. That's (770) 685-1777. To connect with a qualified advisor. To learn more about our mission and our team, visit retirement Results.com. Investment advisory services offered through Brookstone Capital Management, LLC, a registered investment Advisor, VCM and Active Wealth Management are independent of each other. Insurance products and services are not offered through PCM, 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 to item four for additional information. Fixed annuities, including multiyear guaranteed rate annuities, are not designed for short term investments and may be subject to restrictions, fees and surrender charges as described in the annuity contract. Guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying ability of the issuer.

Speaker2:
You're listening to. Retirement results.

Speaker4:
And welcome back to the bonus segment, exclusive to our podcast listeners and our listeners on. And if you're listening on WGN right now. You can actually listen to our show Retirement Results wherever you listen to podcasts on demand. You can listen to episodes a day early, and you can also go back and listen to all of our past episodes as well. Just a couple of great benefits for all of our podcast subscribers and listeners out there. But for for this week's bonus segment, we've got the six expenses that drain your retirement savings the fastest and what you can do to protect your money. Number one, uh, no surprise here. Market downturns for people are looking to protect themselves from market volatility. What can they do?

Speaker3:
Yeah. The number one way to do that is to make sure you're fully and truly diversified. You're diversified not just between stocks and bonds or traded on the same stock exchange. You've got investments into stocks exchange traded funds for more diversification. And then also true diversification with insurance products like life insurance or fixed indexed annuities. Um the fixed index annuity is really taken over the investment world. It used to be that variable annuities were more prevalent because they were always sold by bank advisors sitting there in the lobby. Um, now you're seeing where fixed index annuities are sold. You know, I don't know, three, 4 or 5, 5 to 1 to what variable annuities are. Because variable annuities are kind of scary. And they're they're 3 to 6% in fees. And they've also got um, they involve financial market risk because the variable annuity is a mutual fund wrapped into an annuity chassis. So I'd encourage you to consider a fixed index annuity and never consider a variable annuity. But the market downturns what they can do is do a great job at investing the retirement income portion of their portfolio. Let's say it's 20 to 40%.

Speaker3:
So if you've got $1 million, take 200 grand to $400,000 and invest that into, um, a fixed index annuity, replace the bonds that are in that portfolio. You're deleting the fees, the advisory fees and the portfolio fees as well, because with a fixed index annuity, there are no advisory and portfolio fees because the advisor like us, we cannot and we never would anyway can't double dip. And so we're going to get paid a commission by the insurance company doesn't come out of your side at all. You actually get up to a 20 to even 27% bonus. We have a product that is paying a 27% bonus right now from North America, which is an A-plus rated carrier. I would encourage you to go ahead and reach out to us at (770) 685-1777 to understand how you can get paid a 27% bonus. Um, and that's actually into the account value, not just the income account value. And so that's the number one thing they can do is just replace the bonds. And therefore they won't experience the interest rate risk, the reinvestment risk. And they'll also take more of the equity risk off the table as well.

Speaker4:
Yeah. The next two expenses that drain your retirement savings the fastest kind of go hand in hand. The first one is healthcare. Just understand, even with Medicare out of pocket, healthcare expenses can be significant for retirees. Some people just don't understand. Some misconception they think that Medicare will pay for all of their healthcare expenses in retirement. That's just not the case. It'll help, but it won't cover everything. So the next one is longevity. So with better healthcare these days, people are living longer thanks to advances in technology and medicine. But what that means is you might get to spend more time enjoying your golden years. It also means you've got to have you're going to have some greater overall lifetime expenses for. That's another reason to consider a personal pension or a fixed indexed annuity, an option that can establish that that income for you that you can't outlive.

Speaker3:
Yeah. I mean, healthcare is going to be one of the top, um, largest expenses you're going to have. It's going to be for a married couple, it's over $320,000 over a 35 plus year retirement. So it's going to be significant on the health care costs. So we want to do everything we can to try to minimize those, get that Medicare Advantage plan or get that Medigap supplement plan, and make sure you've got everything ready to go within your Medicare. Also, just remember, you're likely going to live much longer than your grandparents did, so be planning for that. Next is also just inflation. We've talked about it. It can significantly impact your future savings and it definitely impacts your purchasing power. We've just got to do a great job at staying invested, whether that's in market like investments, like a fixed indexed annuity where you get those the index linked growth, or whether that's just being invested in the market, you need to stay invested so you can keep pace with inflation as well. Taxes. We've got to do everything we can to delete the IRS from being your partner in retirement.

Speaker3:
They're not the kind of partner you want in retirement. They're the ones that are sitting there with their hand out. Let's do a great job at moving money from our IRA to our Roth IRA, and minimizing the damage the IRS can do. Let me just ask you a question. How are you going to feel when you're handing in tax dollars 20 years after you stopped working? You're just going to be like, why am I doing this? If you do a Roth conversion in the first 5 to 7 years, it's going to be over and there's no taxes on withdrawals from a Roth IRA after five years or after any five years after any conversion. And then the last is home ownership. Um, if you own a home, that can be another source of major expenses. Sam, you've dealt with that this past year. Uh, you've got to do everything you can to make sure that we're downsizing, get your house paid off, and try to make sure that you're you're keeping your house's maintenance free as possible.

Speaker4:
Yeah. And if you would like to take a look at that list or if you have any questions about anything you heard on this week's episode of Retirement Results. Just reach out to us at (770) 685-1777 or visit our website. Retirement. Com. You'll find our phone number on that website as well. Thank you so much, Ford, and thank you all for listening to retirement results.

Speaker2:
To schedule your free, no obligation consultation, visit retirement Results.com.

Speaker11:
Ain't got no regrets. I ain't losing track of which way I'm going.

Speaker2:
Are you concerned about rising taxes and how that could affect you and your family during retirement? If you have an IRA balance over $400,000, you could save six figures in retirement taxes that you would be paying during a 35 year retirement. Find out how much you could save today by scheduling your no obligation Roth conversion consultation with Fort 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.

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