On this week’s show, Erick and Randy start by encouraging listeners to get a head start on next year by implementing smart tax-saving strategies now. We share our quote of the week and help explain why interest rates have made it a great time to get more defensive with your retirement investments.

Work with a team who has your family’s best interests in mind!

Call Erick today at 352-616-0511

Book a free consultation here.

4.21.23: Audio automatically transcribed by Sonix

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

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

Producer:
Welcome to Take Point on Retirement with your host, Erick Arnett. Erick is a fiduciary and licensed financial advisor who always places your needs first. The experienced team at Take Point Wealth Management takes pride in knowing they've helped so many pursue the financial future of their dreams. And they can help you, too. And now let's start the show. Here's Erick Arnett.

Erick Arnett:
Hey, everybody. Welcome to Take Point on Retirement radio. I'm your host, Erick Arnett. I've got, of course, some great guests today. I've got Mister Randy Woodruff, CPA extraordinaire, with us, Suncoast CPA Group. How are you doing today, Mister Randy?

Randy Woodruff:
I'm doing great, sir. How are you doing? Welcome back. We missed you while you were gone, but we're glad to have you back.

Erick Arnett:
Yeah, it took a little jaunt to the Keys and did a little fishing and enjoyed some of that weather down there. It was awesome trip and but hey, got to get back into it. Get back in the grind. So here we are. We got a great show today. We've got a ton of stuff to talk about. Hopefully we can get through most of it. And of course, we've got our DJ and radio show host extraordinaire, Mr. Sam Davis, on with us today. How are you doing, Mr. Davis?

Producer:
Doing well. Happy to be on Take Point on Retirement once again. Glad to see Randy's face on the show as well. I'm glad that Randy came up for air after what I'm sure was a very busy tax season.

Randy Woodruff:
Yes, sir, it was busy, but it was, um, you know, the last few years with all the COVID relief bills that were out there and all the other provisions there. And there was a lot of confusion with people getting stimulus checks and did they get a stimulus check? They did not get a stimulus check. And going back and trying to figure out if they got one. And then all these different things made the last couple filing seasons a little a little more hectic than than normal. But this one was so hectic but didn't have all those last minute provisions from COVID, you know, filtering their way into the tax system. And and I'll say complicating it even further. But yeah, happy to be done, but found a lot of extensions. So you got plenty of work to do for the summertime.

Erick Arnett:
So in case you have not listened to the show before, this is Take Point on Retirement radio. Welcome to the show. We're so happy to have you here listening today. My name is Erick Garnett. Of course, we got Randy Woodruff, Sam Davis. And we're here to help you protect and grow your retirement dollars. And just wanted to give a shout out to all our listeners out there up and down the Gulf Coast from Punta Gorda, Port Charlotte, Sarasota area, Tampa and the Nature Coast. We're so glad you're listening. And, you know, this show is all about you. It's about education. It's your show. Get your notes out. Get your pen and paper out. We're just hopefully here to give you some good information and help you make better decisions. And of course, if you have any questions or concerns, you can also reach out to us. We're always available to answer your questions. Absolutely. Free of charge doesn't cost you a thing. No obligation. We are here available today. You can give us a call at (352) 616-0511. That's (352) 616-0511. If you think that there's something. That we discussed today that jumps out at you that you want to discuss or you have some concerns? Just pick up the phone and give me a call. I'm waiting for your call today. If you want to listen to past episodes or maybe catch up on an episode you missed. You can also go to our website, Take Point on Retirement radio. That's an actual website you can go to that has all of our past shows on there and listening to our and of course you can listen to our podcasts on any of your favorite podcast apps or channels.

Erick Arnett:
We've got the YouTube channel, man. We got all kinds of stuff. Mr.. Mr. Davis has got us rocking and rolling with all kinds of media and ways to reach out and for you guys to listen. So. Please reach out to us. We absolutely love, love reading and hearing your messages. We'd be happy to answer any of your questions on the show or during a complimentary consultation with you and or your spouse. So with all that being said, let's kick off the show. Randy wanted to talk a little bit about, you know, people can get it. I'd like for people to get in touch with us. You know, we just talked about tax season and that secure Act 2.0 and what it means for your retirement. This is a free report and it's yours today. When you get in touch with us, you can either get a get a hold of us by calling me (352) 616-0511. Or you can just go right to the website TakePointWealth.com and in the upper right hand corner. You can click on there and get right on my calendar. You can shoot me some notes. But, you know, a lot of lot of changes, a lot of changes with taxation. And I was just wondering, you know, if there was anything, Randy, that jumped out to you this tax season that you saw people were having problems with or things that could be corrected or things that need to be looked at. And then it's April 19th, you know, and the filing date was April 18th. Is there anything people can do to make changes at this point?

Randy Woodruff:
With very few options left. Everything, for the most part, needed to be done by yesterday. In terms of putting money into IRAs, HSA contributions, if you have a business and you have a 401 K plan or a set plan or some kind of pension plan, and you filed an extension for your business return back in March, You have until September the 15th to make those matching contributions, especially if you have a pension fund. And and you're basically trying to wrap up your books for the end of 2020 to see how well you did. You can, you know, get those books wrapped up, make all your final adjustments, and then make a decision on how much money you want to contribute to the pension fund and have it have that have that contribution designated as a 2022 contribution. But for the most part, at this point, there's really nothing left you can do, you know, for most listeners for 2022. But but here again, now's a good time to start planning for 2023. We talked about on Take point all the time. You know plan, plan, plan you know need to have a plan. And the plan needs to be not just made. It's stuck on the shelf for the next 20 years. It needs to be reviewed and actually followed. More importantly, followed because so many people put together plans and they don't follow them or review them to to know where they're deviating from or not staying on top of.

Randy Woodruff:
So if you haven't, you know, put a plan together for retirement, now's a great time to do so. Or a tax savings or tax strategy plan now is also a great time to do so and not wait until the end of the year or the last minute. Because, you know, as you know, for financial advisors, CPAs, you know, those last two weeks of tax season are just just hectic, you know, So if you're trying to to put a plan together then or put your strategy together, then it just makes it more difficult to to give you the time that that you deserve and that we need to put into it to give you the best plan. So if you don't have a plan, you're thinking about putting together a plan. Please give us a call today at (352) 616-0511 and let us help you put a plan in place. It's going to be, you know, good for today. But also, as we go through the years, we'll meet with you and we'll adjust and and make sure that the plan is is is going to be part of your your future. And it's going to be, I'll say, applicable to where you're at in life at that time.

Erick Arnett:
Yeah, a couple of things come to mind. Thanks for sharing that, Randy. And one, like we were talking yesterday, we had some folks call us right on the last day, April 18th, and was like, Hey, I want to make those contributions or, you know, you know, what can I do to to save on my taxes? And, you know, if you're asking those questions on April 18th, if you haven't got your HSA payments in or your IRA contributions, you know, it's it's a little late to start talking about it and planning it April 18th. We need to and that's that's a great point like so if you missed it get in touch with us now and let's plan for 2023. It's not too early and we can get you on track so you don't miss it again in 2020, 2023. And then I had a client call me, said, Hey, I want to come in and give give you my traditional IRA contributions. And and I'm like, Well, it's the 19th. You had until yesterday to do it. And they're like, Oh, okay. I thought we could do it If we if we extend if we did an extension and that's not the case. So regardless of whether you're on extension or not, there's the traditional IRA, the Roth IRA. Those contributions still have to be made prior to or on the tax deadline. And so however an idea popped in my head and we talk about this on the show all the time about, you know, the three things that we focus on is reducing fees, reducing taxes and then reducing risk. Those are the three silent killers that can really affect your retirement plan and your cash flow in the future.

Erick Arnett:
And, you know, a lot of folks get tons of money in those tax deferred accounts. And we talk about it on the show all the time. You know, we still need to build that tax free bucket. So you've got to be mindful of that. And if you don't know what that looks like, then let's get together and we can show you how to build those two buckets to where you don't have to worry about higher taxes in the future because you could actually end up paying much higher taxes. You could have even higher income, believe it or not, in retirement. We see it all the time. So now's the time to plan for that. But where I'm going with this is, you know, regardless of the deadline being passed or not, why don't you why don't you consider and just go ahead and make Roth contributions for 2023? You're not going to if you had seven, eight grand set aside and you're like, oh, darn it, I missed that. I missed that time frame to get it in. Let's go ahead and set up a Roth IRA for you and get that in a Roth account. And you know, you're not going to get the tax deduction, but hey, you got it ready to go for 2023 and you're starting to build that tax free nest egg because, I mean, I'm sure that's something you see all the time, Randy, is people get really choked up in retirement and towards the end of their retirement because they've got those big required minimum distributions and they get those big tax deferred accounts that can cause taxation on their other accounts.

Randy Woodruff:
Very, very true. And you know, those RMDs, you know, people are living longer and, you know, they are, you know, getting into those years where more often where you have to start taking money out of your retirement plan and there wind up causing excess taxation. You know, the taxpayer doesn't need the money, but they're forced to take it out and forced to pay the tax on it. And that's where having a Roth or some other kind of investment, that's post tax can one, you're not you're not forced to pay the tax on it and plus two, you give it gives you and I a lot more flexibility as we're putting together retirement plan income plan. You know, we're trying to maximize your cash flow in retirement and taxes take away from your cash flow. One things I want to just touch on that, you know, since we're not just looking at someone's financial investments only, but their overall retirement, some of our listeners may have real estate. And you know, we we talk about these tax deferred plans having a lot of, you know, future tax expense if you or tax costs you know, when you go start taking money out of those plans. Well real estate is the same way. Some of you may have real estate that you've held on to for a really, really long time and your basis is really, really low or you've depreciated it down to nothing.

Randy Woodruff:
So as you're looking at your overall portfolio, whether it be your financial assets, your real estate assets, you know, be thinking about the tax cost you're going to incur when you start selling those real estate assets also. So, you know, it's good to look at your, you know, take take a look at your net worth and where you're at. And then also take a look at your I'll call your after tax net worth, you know, so so that really that really gives you a much truer picture of where you're at in retirement. A lot of people that you know my net we we we fill out our personal financial statements for the bank for borrowing purposes or whatever. And oh my net worth is X number of dollars. Well. Much the year. Once you pay your taxes on that, what are you really got? And that's what we want people to focus on is is after your tax liability. What do you really have to live on? And that's really important to to again, maintain that focus after tax because that's what you're going to get to spend in retirement.

Erick Arnett:
No, that's a great point, because you never really hear a lot of people. Asking or talking about what truly are going to be the consequences of me making this investment. You know, we'll make kind of emotional decisions like, oh, I want to go buy this piece of property and or sell this piece of property. And but we don't really take a look at what are the ramifications going to be of that and how it's going to impact our taxes, our taxes on our Social Security, you know, our taxes, our Medicare premiums, you know, all that kind of stuff. So. We can design a retirement plan for you. We do wealth management. We're also an annuity shop. We're the go to for annuity education. But most important is just building that solid retirement plan that's taking a look at your taxes, your risk and your fees. So some questions, you know, Randy, that folks should be asking themselves, you know, why do I need to work with these professionals? They're going to cost us, me, too much fees or this and that. You know, and I really want to break down those barriers because a lot of times I just worked with a couple and they were doing everything on their own through their 401. Systems and stuff. And they were basically had all their accounts at the 401 K providers, and I showed them that they could work with me by consolidating their assets for less than what they were providing. They're paying the 401 K provider to do it all on their own. So having that consultative team around you I think is super important.

Randy Woodruff:
That somebody that's this year came in to get their taxes done and I usually like to get three years worth of taxes and so I can go back and review and this client that came in had a bunch of rental properties, well over a dozen rental properties. They they count it in 2020, changed to somebody else in 2021. They came to see me in 2022. And if I would have not gone back and looked at their 2020 returns, they had a massive amount of passive activity losses that were on the 2020 returns and it did not. The 2021 returns, it was not picked up, you know, so it was, you know, six figures a few times over in terms of passive activity losses that that would have been lost, you know, if somebody would have went back and looked at it and they didn't even know what I was even talking about, the client. So, you know, so it's yeah, it's getting good advice, whether it be financial services advice, tax advice, whatever it is, you know, sometimes you have you might think you're paying more, but the value you get out of it long term, typically pays you back several times over what you're actually paying for it. So and here, you know, you've been doing this close to 30 years. I've been doing this close to 30 years. We have combined close to 60 years of experience in different fields. And we can bring that that experience to bear for our clients.

Erick Arnett:
Yeah, I mean, if you don't if you don't understand exactly what the ramifications of your tax taxes are with the decisions that you're making, you know, please, please, you know, use this as a resource and bounce, bounce what you're thinking of, you know, over to us so we can evaluate it for you. And, you know, looking at your overall retirement plan, you know, do you even have a formal retirement plan? I mean, that's the most important reason you need to work with an advisor. You know, we're trained to provide and develop a formal retirement plan for you that takes in all aspects, you know, Social Security, timing, Medicare premiums, you know, when to take cash from what account and when and what kind of taxes. What should I sell real estate. So, you know, all of these questions can be answered in a formal retirement plan, and we offer that to you completely free, no obligation. It's a completely free consultation. All it costs is your time and a little bit of effort to get us the data and information and we'll build out that plan completely complimentary for you, deliver it to you, and then you can do with whatever you want at that point in time. So super, super important. You know, if you don't understand the risk you're taking with your investments. So I was working with a gentleman the other day and and it all boils down to one page.

Erick Arnett:
We look at all your investments and we compile it into this nice one page data sheet and it shows standard deviation and average expected rate of return. And we can do that for you and show you how that works. And this gentleman had a high standard deviation, which is the measure of risk. So he had high risk and low return. We want to flip that. We want to provide you the highest possible return you can get for the lowest amount of risk you're taking. So that's what we really concentrate on. And that's that's just the basics and the building and the mechanics of a portfolio. And so a lot of you out there don't know what your risk is and you might, you know, so just going through that one simple step of allowing us to do an investment evaluation and show you what your standard deviation of your portfolio is, is huge. And so, you know, evaluating the risks, evaluating the expense ratios. Do you have a formal retirement plan if you don't understand how you should manage risk in your portfolio as you get older, then you absolutely, absolutely need to call us. If you don't know if you should pay your house off or not. Do you have a vehicle plan? Do you have a health care plan in place? These are all things that we can help you with and provide.

Erick Arnett:
You just reach out to us today. You can call me at 35261605113526160511. You can also just google take point wealth. On your phone, you can click in the upper right hand corner and get right on my calendar and we can discuss these things and get you on your way to building that comprehensive, free, formal retirement plan. You got to have a plan. And, you know, once that plan is in place, then it's all about working with that plan on a on a continual basis to make sure you're on pace, to continue to reach your goals, to not run out of money, to make sure you're making the right decisions about Social Security, timing, you know, making the right decisions about taxation so you don't cause more taxes on your Social Security and so forth. So super, super important, folks. These are the reasons why you need to meet with a financial advisor or a financial professional. Give us a call. Reach out to us here at Take Point Wealth, and we'd love to start you on that path. So most of you probably out there, you know, thinking, do I really need to give these guys a call? I think I have everything under control. Or you're just wondering, man, what the heck just happened and what is happening? You know, 2022 is a crazy year. 2023 has somewhat stabilized here and the markets are doing better.

Erick Arnett:
If you if you haven't noticed, you know, the markets are up year to date. You know, we pretty much have the first quarter. Well, we do have the first quarter behind us and the first quarter data is in. And so the markets are recovering, They're grinding higher. So it's not too late to to to get back in the game. You know, I don't care where you're at, what age you are. It's you know, let's let's reevaluate. Let's get back on track. You know, all the crazy tumultuous stuff, the fears and the unknown that a lot of that's kind of subsided. You know, the Fed is is slowing down their interest rate hikes. We're starting to see some positive data as far as inflation, you know, you know, cooling off. And so these are there's a lot of positives out there. And I know that we tend to only hear the negative. But the most important thing is, is let's build that comprehensive retirement plan for you today, no matter what's going on or where you're at. Let's start over. Let's start fresh. Let's get you back on track. So, you know, the markets are doing better. It's been a little bit crazy and tumultuous, you know, with the banking. You know, we had depositors fleeing different banks. And, you know, we've seen a big move from small size banks to the big US banks as we saw a couple of banks fail.

Erick Arnett:
And, you know, so there's been a little bit of a shakeup, but that's also started to improve. You know, just this week we're seeing signs of improvement where interest rates are actually coming down, which is helping these banks out a bit. So we've had good earnings from some of these banks. You know, so things are stabilizing. You know, the Fed is it just caused a lot of panic. I mean, we they had to raise interest rates at the fastest pace since 1980, since the since the 80 seconds to curb inflation. So we, you know, driving some customers with big bank account balances to ditch banks and search for better yields. So the shift has picked up steam. However, you know, it's just a great opportunity to reevaluate things. You know, we talk we talk about magazine versus CDs. You know, do you know what Omega is? A multi year guaranteed annuity. Why? You know, let's talk about the dangers of having a bunch of money sitting in the bank. These are all the questions that we need answered. So give us a call today. I'm standing by to chat with you. (352) 616-0511. Randy, I know you got to jump off here soon. You got to meet with clients. Is there anything you wanted to to anything else you wanted to share with with our listeners today?

Randy Woodruff:
Yeah. I just want to pivot back to something you said a couple of minutes ago, and it was, you know, about the market. And, you know, one of the things that we look we look at the market is and this isn't true all day, every day, but for the most part, there may be one sector that is going down or, you know, feeling some some pressure from earnings or the operating environment. There's other sectors that are doing well, you know, so here at Take Point, we don't just set your money into into certain investments and sit back and just ride the market up and down. We're constantly looking at your portfolio and making sure that that you're invested, that you're that you're, I'll say, positioned for growth and not just in growth in value, but also growth in earnings dividends, if that's what you're what you're interested in. But to your point, you know, it's I'm not saying that you should get back in the market if you're sitting on the sidelines and if you're sitting on a quarter million or half $1 million in cash, you know, invest it all today. But the market's always moving. You know, different sectors react, you know, in direct and basically opposite of what some other sectors are doing. So, you know, it's it's important that you find an investment firm that is, again, not just going to put your money into a a set of stocks or a set of mutual funds or a certain set of asset classes and just forget about it, you know, So you want a firm like us. Here take point. That's constantly reevaluating the market, reevaluating, reevaluating your portfolio to have you constantly positioned for success.

Erick Arnett:
Let's talk about where you have your money currently and what to do with your safe money. And and we can get into that into the second segment. But let's let's talk about how we're going to beat bank CDs as well.

Producer:
You're listening to Take Point on Retirement to schedule your free no obligation consultation visit. TakePointOnRetirement.com.

Producer:
Good cutting back on cable television. Lower your monthly expenses. I'm Jim Terebovlya with the Retirement.Radio Network Powered by Emperor Life, an April 2023 survey done by CNBC shows 70% of Americans are feeling financially anxious. Cnbc's senior personal finance correspondent Sharon Epperson explains.

Sharon Epperson:
A vast majority of respondents, 70%, say they are stressed about their personal finances, and that includes 57% of people earning $100,000 or more. 58% say they're living paycheck to paycheck.

Producer:
And while a large majority of Americans are looking for ways to cut back on their expenses, doing away with high cable bills could provide some additional relief. Generation Z and millennials know all about that, having ushered in the streaming era. But with streaming services expanding their menu of options, thus pushing up their monthly prices, streaming may actually do more financial harm than good. In fact, in January of last year, streaming giant Netflix added a $1.50 to their monthly rate, while Hulu is now charging $14.99 a month for their ad free streaming platform up from the previous 12.99 price point. With streaming becoming inevitably more expensive, is it possible to keep traditional cable while lowering the monthly bill? Some cable companies now offer a channel a la carte option. Maybe try cutting back on premium channels, pare down cable boxes, or downsize your plan to eliminate channels you don't watch and save 15 to $25 a month. Cutting back on cable television, part of our 23 cost cutters for 2023 for the retirement debt Radio Network Powered by AmeriLife. I'm Jim Terebovlia. Call Erick today at (352) 616-0511 or visit TakePointWealth.com to get your free copy of 23 retirement cost cutters for 2023.

Producer:
At Take Point Wealth Management. We know you've worked hard to earn your money and you've worked even harder to save it. When it comes to wealth management and planning for retirement trust, Erick Arnett and his team of experts who have been helping individuals, families and business owners find financial freedom for more than 20 years. Let us help you protect and grow what you've worked so hard for. Schedule your free no obligation consultation now at TakePointWealth.com.

Producer:
Do you want to be a jet setter in retirement? Keep an eye on how much you're spending. I'm Matt McClure with the Retirement.Radio Network. Powered by AmeriLife pretty much everyone loves saving money, but that doesn't mean you can't pack your bags and see the world this year. There are some simple steps you can take to reduce costs while still checking off your travel wish list. One thing to consider traveling during the off season peak season will always be more crowded and more expensive. So take that trip to the beach in the early fall when the weather is still warm, but the kids are back in school. While the timing of your trip is important, so is when you book Mark with the popular travel focused YouTube channel. Walters World says you should book as far in advance as possible.

Walters World:
I know, for example, in Germany, if you pre-book your tickets on the train, it's a significant discount than if you buy at the same day. So make sure you use that advantage of doing things beforehand, whether it's a hotel room or it's tickets to a show or it's tickets to transportation, it can make a big difference. So use those discounts you can get by booking early.

Producer:
Also look for deals on flights and hotels through discount sites. Consider booking a rental home or apartment instead of a hotel, and think about taking public transit instead of a cab or ride share. So have you considered all the ways to cut your travel costs this year? It's a key question to consider, and it's one of the 23 retirement cost cutters for 2023 with the Retirement.Radio Network powered by AmeriLife. I'm Matt McClure.

Producer:
At take point. Wealth Management. We know you've worked hard to earn your money and you've worked even harder to save it. When it comes to wealth management and planning for retirement trust, Erik Arnett and his team of experts who have been helping individuals, families and business owners find financial freedom for more than 20 years. Let us help you protect and grow what you've worked so hard for. Schedule your free no obligation consultation now at TakePointWealth.com. Welcome back to Take Point on Retirement. Schedule your free financial consultation now at TakePointOnRetirement.com.

Erick Arnett:
Hey welcome back everybody to take part. On retirement radio. I'm your host Erick Arnett, here with Sam Davis. Randy had to leave us and jump off to take care of some clients. But we are going to do our best to deliver an impactful second half here. Thank you so much for listening up and down the Gulf Coast. We're so happy to have you. And this is your show, folks. Give us a call anytime. (352) 616-0511. We're here for your education on everything that has to do with retirement planning and financial services. So but I wanted to you know, we were talking in the last segment about the market and how the markets have, you know, seen to stabilize here a bit, even though it seems like everything's, you know, volatile and still and and the headlines are still, you know, somewhat ominous and this and that. But the markets have grinded higher folks. I mean, the Nasdaq is up 15%. The S&P is approaching 8%. The Dow is up close to 3%. The bond market is stabilized. You know, gold has done well. Real estate has done well. So if you have a diversified portfolio, you're doing quite well this year and you're off to a great start and we're making a recovery. So but if you're on the sidelines, maybe you went to cash and you get your money sitting in the bank and you know, you got lured to the bank with these higher rates, all of a sudden we need to talk about that, folks, because those rates are taxable.

Erick Arnett:
They're also not beating inflation. And there's going to be a great opportunity to to to to diversify and build a solid retirement plan, a solid portfolio to give you those type of returns that you need, the tax sensitivity, the risk, the risk adjustments, you know, the fee adjustments. Let's look at all of that to really optimize things. But, you know, if you have concerns about the market, you know, the economy and future tax increases, then I encourage you to schedule a complimentary meeting with us so we can get started on your plan today, align your finances with your current risk tolerances and and your goals. We're a goals based planner first and foremost. You can't just willy nilly start investing and making investment decisions. You've got to have that plan first and then back into what makes the most sense as far as investments and and where to place your money to maximize and optimize your retirement plan to maximize income. You know, we've got to talk about that. You can't run out of income in retirement and things are getting more and more expensive. And so just having that money sitting in the bank might not be the best option. So don't get lured right away to those, you know, those bank rates as banks are going to be raising their rates here to try to lure and keep deposits. So let's talk about the alternatives to just having that money sitting in there in the bank.

Erick Arnett:
There's some great alternatives. I love as an example, I love the Omega. You know, I consider the Omega the CD on steroids. I mean, this is the CD on steroids. You know, Omega, a multi year guaranteed annuity with an insurance company is going to provide you even better safety, even better rates, tax deferred growth, not taxable growth, liquidity. You have the option to get money out of that if you need it, unlike CDs. And so there's a lot of advantages. And most importantly I love is that tax deferral, because if all of a sudden you take a bunch of money, stick it in the bank and it starts spitting off interest, guess what? That interest goes to the bottom line and it taxes your Social Security. It's going to increase your Medicare premiums. It could cause higher taxes on your pension. There's a lot of implications there to that taxable income. So don't just get lured right away and just make a decision. Oh, I see that 5% over there at the bank for two years or three years. I'm going to just go park my money there. Let's look at let's look at is that really the best choice for you? So, you know, that leads us to, I think, kind of a cool quote of the week. Sam, you always are good at these. And I love Mr. Buffett. And and this just really kind of dovetails right into what we're talking about here.

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

Producer:
Absolutely. This one comes to us from Warren Buffett, born in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1930. Still lives in Omaha, Nebraska, to this day. Warren Buffett once said, never test the depth of the river with both your feet. And Erick, I think that is a great quote for today because people really need to analyze the level of risk that they're comfortable with with regards to something as important as their savings for retirement.

Erick Arnett:
Yeah, it's it's it's so important to get that right, you know, especially if you're, you know, five years away from retirement or you just started into retirement. If you've, you know, if you're already been in retirement in that first five years, we call that the retirement red zone. And it's so important to get things right right there and get off to a good start. And, you know, and it's crucial. It's critical. You can't take you can't have high risk and take big hits to your portfolio. You also got to be mindful of the tax situations that you're creating for yourself. And, you know, what kind of fees are you paying? That's super, super important because those three are the silent killers that can really affect your cash flow. And, you know, and it's so so it's really important. Like Mr. Buffett says, you know, don't just jump into something and start making some decisions that you don't know what the impact is going to be. Really, give us a call at Take Point wealth at (352) 616-0511 or reach out to our website, take point wealth and just click on that upper right hand corner and get right on my calendar. Let's talk about this stuff. You know, if you if you're concerned about the markets, the economy, future tax considerations, you know, what are you paying in fees? What's your risk tolerance? You know, maybe things have changed and it's important. And you've been kind of putting this off for a while. If you're listening to this show, don't put it off anymore. Call me today. Let's get on my calendar.

Erick Arnett:
Let's get you on the right track. We're up and down the Gulf Coast from Punta Gorda, Port Charlotte, all the way up to the villages in Citrus County. We're happy to meet with you in person. We can do a zoom. You know, we can do a chit chat, a phone call. Let's get you on the right track and let's get you let's get you as close to that stress free retirement plan as we can. Retirements. It's about having fun, folks. You know, what are you doing in retirement? You're here in Florida. You got the beautiful Florida, beautiful beaches, you got the sun, the fun. What are you doing in retirement? You know, you know, ask yourself that. So let's build let's let's build that stress free retirement for you. And that that jumps right into some of the things we were talking about, you know, as we were preparing for the show. Sam, you know, what are the ways we came up with nine ways to live comfortably during retirement. I love this stuff, you know, because this is a little bit more of the the touchy feely stuff. And, you know, we get bogged down in the numbers all the time. But, you know, no matter how much you've saved, you know, you still can optimize your retirement plan. So, number one, let's jump off here. You know, we love, love maximizing your final earning years. You know what that means is, you know, you even if you're 4 or 5 years away from retirement, you know, Social Security is still calculating those earnings. So you've got to maximize your earnings leading up to retirement.

Erick Arnett:
And and one of the big mistakes I see being made, Sam, is, is is don't take Social Security early if you don't have to, you know, take Social Security, let Social Security defer until your full retirement age. And if you don't know what that is, you can give us a call. I can help you out, show you how to find that. It's called the free the full retirement age. Everybody out. Everybody out there has a full retirement age. And so we tend to think, oh, you know, I qualify for Social Security at 62. So boom, let's just go ahead and take it because, you know, but that's that's really not the best time to take it, folks, because it's it's really discounted and it's been penalized. It's called an early, you know, early retirement. So you want to wait till that full retirement age to receive 100% of the Social Security benefit that you're owed. And part of that understanding, you know, that is about doing that full retirement plan. I think about a couple I just worked with that called in off the radio show and, you know, they were in that 62, 63, 64, 65 kind of range. And they were getting ready to turn on Social Security just because they thought that's what you're supposed to do at 62, You know, and we went through this, you know, we went through a plan with them. We developed and we showed them that, you know, it really doesn't make sense for you to take it right away. Let's defer it. And, you know, you have your wife turn on hers, you defer yours and continue to grow it for her future.

Erick Arnett:
And so little, little things like that just can make big, big, big impacts. And we saw where this made over a two, three, $400,000 impact to their overall retirement plan by just that one decision. So it's super, super important that you get that right, folks, especially in the beginning. So. Don't settle for less by taking it too early, if possible. Delay that Social Security, even age 70, if you if you can and you'll receive a 24% boost to your benefit every time, every year that you delay that after your full retirement age, which most of the people out there listening is going to be between that 66 and some odd months and 67. So if you wait to 67 and you continue to delay it all the way to age 70, you're still going to get an 8% increase. So where can you get a guaranteed 8% increase on an annuity pay out? It's hard to find right these days. So don't jump right into taking that Social Security. There's other options in other ways to create income. So let us look at all that for you. And does it make sense to do I take money from my Roth first? Do I take money from my traditional IRA first? Do I take money from my 401. K and my annuity? Do I turn on my pension? Do I take a lump sum? These are all, you know, a tangled mess of questions, right? So we've got to get it right.

Producer:
Yeah. So that first item there, folks, with regards to Social Security and what I love about this list, Erick, it doesn't matter how much you have saved, you can take action with regards to all of these items with Social Security. Don't take it too early. Consider your options. Give Erick a call and so that they can look at your particular situation and determine, hey, what's the best course of action with regards to when you take Social Security? And then yeah, keep in mind, Social Security's benefits are based on your top 35 earning years. Typically in the later stages of your career. Those are going to be some of your top earning years. So working an extra year or two can really bump up that benefit down the line. And number two on this list, Erick, is pay your house off. And it's certainly a big budget line item to remove if you don't have a mortgage payment each month.

Erick Arnett:
Yeah, this is this is a very common question that we get when we're doing our planning. Hey, you know, I got this kind of lump sum sitting here, you know, do I pay off my house? I feel like I need to pay off my house. Do we do we take take some cash and pay off the house? Do we do we go to a smaller house and invest the difference? You know, do we have a we have a couple of of extra properties on the side. Do we do we do we sell those and reinvest in something else? You know, these you know, being that we are also a full service accounting firm. And we also have Mister Randy Woodruff at the helm there. And he is a real estate expert. He's also got his real estate licenses. And and he helps people make these decisions all the time. So, you know, we really need to evaluate and help you make that informed decision. So please give us a call. (352) 616-0511. Yeah. With having a real estate professional and a tax professional here at take point Wealth, we can help you answer all those questions when it makes sense to sell your properties and or to pay off your home. So super super important question. Give us a call. (352) 616-0511. Number three Bank. The money you save from having no mortgage into an investment account, making smart re investments in your future can pay off as you get older.

Erick Arnett:
Try to maximize and use catch up contributions to your advantage. The ordinary contribution limit limit for an employer sponsored plan like a 401. K or a 403 B in 2023 is 22,500 per year. But if you're over 50, you can contribute an additional 7500 annually for a total of 30,000. So get aggressive on your savings here as you're in that retirement red zone. But it's super, super important that you build that portfolio correctly and get it well diversified. But, you know, stay invested, stick to the stick the course, and don't let emotions get in the way of your smart retirement plan. Emotions are the worst killer of a retirement plan, so keep those emotions out. And that's also another great reason we've talked about earlier in the show, is working with an investment advisor, working with a financial professional. We take all the emotion out of it, folks, and we build that solid plan. We keep you on track through thick and thin weather, all storms and continue to to get you towards your goals for that stress free, happy retirement. And sometimes it's just, you know, letting somebody else do it for you where we're not going to have the emotion involved because, you know, we feel very everybody's different when it comes to emotions and money and we treat it very differently and we get scared and we and when we get scared and fearful, what do you do? You make poor decisions.

Erick Arnett:
You really do. We were talking about this in Key West. You're kind of funny. This just popped in my head. We were out on the boat, you know, snorkeling and diving and stuff. And and, you know, when you're under the water, you see something you know, you can't panic. You know, you don't ever panic when you're under the water. And it's very similar in this investing game and this retirement plan. If you panic, bad things can happen. So stay calm, keep the emotions out of it, adjust fire, get back on track. Give us a call. (352) 616-0511. TakePointWealth.com. In the upper right hand corner. You can click on there and get right on my calendar. I'm standing by today it's the weekend. It's Saturday. It's Sunday. I want to talk to you today. Give me a call. I want to get you on track and let's alleviate some of this fear and let's get you back to making some emotion free, strong decisions that are going to get you back on track. It's not too late, folks.

Producer:
Yeah. This next item, Erick, kind of plays into the reducing taxes portion of what you guys try to do at take point wealth reducing fees and reducing taxes are are really one A and one B and and this item is implement that Roth conversion before age 72 to help protect you from future tax increases. And you're going to eliminate those required minimum distributions because if you have too much qualified money that's in those tax deferred accounts, you're going to be required to take certain amounts of distributions every year.

Erick Arnett:
Boom. I love it. And this is one of the most underutilized tools out there. Sam and I try to get everybody I look, I talk to all my current clients, even my prospects to really strongly consider this Roth conversion implementation. We see where it makes a big, big, big, big difference on your long term retirement plan in your 70s and 80s and 90s. Hugely impactful. So owe it to yourself to at least take a look at like what that would look like for you. So number six build your own personal pension you can never outlive. Build your own personal pension you can never outlive. This is about not running out of income, folks. You know, the biggest fear that folks have in retirement is running out of money, running out of income receivable. You can you could receive a bonus with certain fixed indexed annuity investments and grow your principal with a market like gains and no market risk. Stop listening to your neighbors. Stop listening to people that don't know what they're talking about when they say, Oh, I don't like annuities, you know? They don't know how they work and they don't know the different ones that are out there. They're not annuity experts. You owe it to yourself to talk to an annuity expert to provide you all the details and information that our pros and cons to them. There's multiple kinds out there. There's multiple companies, there's multiple variations thereof. And not to get down to that wormhole, but they're I love index annuities because they play an important role in providing that guaranteed safe money.

Erick Arnett:
It's super, super important to have in that retirement plan. And by the way, if you can get market like returns with no market risk, then don't you owe it to yourself to at least kind of investigate this and see what it's all about? The money you invest in an FIA is protected by a floor. You can never do worse than 0% in a year. As an example, last year people were freaking out. Their accounts were down 20%, their IRAs were down 20 to 30%. You would have been down 0% last year. So you owe it to yourself to kind of take a look at that and how it works. You know, we've been talking about number seven for years. Replace your bonds completely. Two strategies for that are fees and structured note ladders. Do you know what a structured note is? You owe it to yourself to to to give me a shout, shoot me an email, get on my calendar and I'll show you what structured notes are. Those made a huge, huge difference in my portfolios last year with my clients because they smoothed out the volatility. They provided a guaranteed rate of return. There are some nuances to them. There are some risks to them. However, they offer a great alternative to that traditional bond because guess what, folks? Bonds have risk to The bond market was down almost 16% last year. So, wow. We didn't realize that Bonds had that much risk, but they really do.

Erick Arnett:
So let's look at ways to curb that and also provide that good, solid return that you need to get you through retirement and not run out of money. Diversify. Number eight, your accounts between tax deferred, taxable and tax free. Those are three different buckets, folks. We call them. We call them silos or buckets. And 95% of everybody has everything in that tax deferred bucket, which means Uncle Sam is going to be able to tax that someday. At what rate? We don't know. Right. But, you know, most people get caught up in that tax deferred bucket. You need money in your taxable bucket and your tax free bucket as well. So we have options and flexibility. So number nine is accurately calculate your monthly expenses and build a positive income gap at the start of your retirement. We talk about this all the time and how important this is to get this right. And 95% of everybody that comes in and sits down with me doesn't even have a budget. We've got to understand what your expenses are going to be now and in retirement, and we've got to get a handle on them. And that's the biggest mistake we make is we kind of go through life and we just spend, spend, and we don't really we're not really accurately auditing where we're spending our money and what our budget is and and think about what we're going to be spending, what we need to spend in retirement. So we've got to start there, folks.

Erick Arnett:
You've got to get that, you know, that expense, right, first and foremost so we know what kind of income we need to generate long term for you in retirement. And if we have that income gap, meaning there's a gap between the amount of income that we're bringing in versus the expenses that are going out. We've got to fix that and find ways to to to to get that on the right track. So so hopefully, you know, those nine things help you out. The couple of things to really focus on. But bottom line is what we're stressing here is this retirement planning, this comprehensive retirement plan. It's not easy, folks. It's hard to do on your own. It's you got to make sure it's comprehensive. And so we can look at all of those aspects for you and build that total comprehensive, stress free retirement plan right here at Take Point Wealth Management, completely free to you. No obligation to do anything. As a listener of the show, we just want to say thank you. We love hearing from you. Give us a call. Let's put that plan together for you today. Maybe you have a plan in place. Let's test it and see how it's going to work and how it's going to hold up over time. So reach out to us. (352) 616-0511. Folks, thanks so much for listening to the show today. Tune in next week to Take Point on Retirement radio. I'm Erick Arnett. Have a great weekend.

Producer:
Thanks for listening. To Take Point on Retirement, You deserve to work with a private wealth management firm that will strategically work to protect your hard earned assets. To schedule your free no obligation consultation visit. TakePointOnRetirement.com or pick up the phone and call (352) 616-0511. That's (352) 616-0511. Investment Advisory Services offered through Brookstone Capital Management, LLC. Bcm A. Investment advisor BCM and Take Point Wealth Management are independent of each other. Insurance products and services are not offered through BCM but are offered and sold through individually licensed and appointed agents. Investments involve risk and unless otherwise stated, are not guaranteed. Past performance cannot be used as an indicator to determine future results.

Producer:
Fixed annuities, including multiyear guaranteed rate annuities, are not designed for short term investments and may be subject to restrictions, fees and surrender charges as described in the annuity contract. Guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying ability of the issuer. Registered investment Advisors and Investment Advisor representatives act as fiduciaries for all of our investment management clients, we have an obligation to act in the best interests of our clients and to make full disclosures of any conflicts of interest. If any exist. Refer to our firm brochure the ADV to a page four for additional information. Any comments regarding safe and secure products and guaranteed income streams refer only to fixed insurance products. They do not refer in any way to securities or investment advisory products. Fixed insurance and annuity product guarantees are subject to the claims paying ability of the issuing company and are not offered by BWA.

Ford Stokes:
Chapter nine. You can create your own personal pension. Big idea Using an annuity to create a personal pension helps you create a lifetime income stream, but it also helps you leave a legacy for your beneficiaries. All annuities can create annuity income to supplement the income you need before or during retirement. Those who are approaching retirement are afraid that they will run out of money. But an annuity can help make sure you have income you can never outlive. An annuity can be a great investment for your portfolio, but encourage you to be careful that you don't overpay for your annuity. When you put your money into an annuity, the annuity company will pay you your money back at a date. You specify you don't want an annuity company to charge you too much to simply pay your money back to you. I'm confident that leaving a remarkable family legacy is important to you. You likely want to have money left over when you pass away to leave your beneficiaries. The goal of a personal pension is to generate lifetime income with no risk that grows your money and allows penalty free withdrawals. An annuity can create a lifetime income with market like gains and no market risk, while also allowing you to build enough wealth to leave for your beneficiaries when you pass away. Don't give the annuity company fees for doing nothing. We prefer fixed index annuities for our clients that do not have an income rider fee. But you can still create a personal pension without an income rider on your annuity.

Ford Stokes:
If you get an annuity with an income rider, but don't utilize the features of that income rider, then you are not getting what you paid for. You are literally just paying the annuity company 1 to 2% each year. You defer annuity using your annuity without receiving a single benefit for that annual fee. This income rider fee will also draw down your account value or principal, depending on how that index is performing. The growth on your entire account value could be significantly and negatively impacted. Some accumulation focused annuities are built to deliver increasing payments. Without an income rider, you should consider the features your income rider is providing you before deciding to purchase it. As an add on, make sure you utilize the features you are paying for more ways to get the most out of your annuity. The longer you wait to turn on the annuity, the more you'll receive an annual payments. This is because your annuity will spend a longer time in the accumulation phase, meaning it will spend more time building up your account value. Your annual payments will grow as your account value grows. Believe it or not, you can generate your own personal pension by distributing no more than 5% a year with penalty free withdrawals from your accumulation based annuity policy. Many accumulation annuities are set up to be RMD friendly so you won't suffer a penalty when you have to take your RMD. It would be silly for you to be penalized for something you are required to do. Annuity companies take this into account by creating products that make taking your RMDs easier.

Ford Stokes:
Inspect what you expect with any annuity. Don't just go with what the annuity agent or adviser tells you. Read it for yourself specifically, you should read the annuity illustration guaranteed and non-guaranteed tables included within the annuity illustration. Also, please remember that an annuity policy is a contract between you and the annuity company. So caveat emptor or buyer beware applies here. Be aware of the annuity you are buying and choose an annuity that works best for you, that will help you build a successful retirement and they'll offer you peace of mind. Whether you choose to generate income through penalty free withdrawals or invest annually in an income rider know the consequences of both. This is a decision you will make at the beginning of the investment process. One poor decision here can cost you 1 to 1.5% of annual growth over a 30 year retirement. This could come out to be a significant loss. Educate yourself on your options and the specifics of each option you are considering. Making the right decision up front will save you a lot of frustration in the long run. Also, please remember that if you withdraw too much annually, say 10%, you will run out of money in 10 to 12 years. Make sure that you are working with an. Advisor who can help you choose the appropriate withdrawal amount so that your money lasts for your entire lifetime. As discussed above, we recommend no more than 5% be withdrawn each year from your account.

Producer:
At Take Point Wealth Management. We know you've worked hard to earn your money and you've worked even harder to save it. When it comes to wealth management and planning for retirement trust, Erik Arnett and his team of experts who have been helping individuals, families and business owners find financial freedom for more than 20 years. Let us help you protect and grow what you've worked so hard for. Schedule your free no obligation consultation now at TakePointWealth.com.

Producer:
With age comes wisdom and senior discounts. I'm Matt McClure with the Retirement.Radio Network powered by Amara Life. As the old saying goes, everything gets better with age. It's true of a fine wine, a happy marriage and opportunities to save money. People of a certain age can get discounts ranging from 5 or 10% to 25% or more at restaurants, shops and other businesses. Many times they'll promote those extra savings. But Jim Miller, senior editor of Savvy, told Oklahoma's News Four, Sometimes you have to be proactive. So the first thing.

Jim Miller:
Is, is you always need to ask because a lot of businesses and organizations offer senior discounts, but they don't advertise them. So don't be shy about asking to save time.

Producer:
You can search online for lists of up to date senior deals at large retailers like Amazon, Kohl's and more. If you're willing to dive a little deeper, you can find more discounts in a variety of other places. And if you're looking to stay healthy, Silver Sneakers is a program that provides fitness classes for those on Medicare at no cost. That's right. You don't get a bigger discount than free. So are you taking advantage of the big senior discounts you're eligible for? That's a key question to consider. And it's one of the 23 retirement cost cutters for 2023 with the Retirement.Radio Network Powered by AmeriLife. I'm Matt McClure.