On this week’s show, Erick and Sam discuss the top habits wealthy Americans build in order to grow their wealth. Then, we welcome on a legal expert to discuss the importance of having a proper plan in place for your estate.

Call Erick today at 352-616-0511

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4.28.23: Audio automatically transcribed by Sonix

4.28.23: 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:
So, hey, everybody. Welcome back to Take Point on Retirement radio. This is Erick Arnett, your host. And of course, I have Mister Sam Davis with me today as well, our DJ and host extraordinaire, keeping us in line and and moving forward. And and just wanted to say good morning. Good afternoon. I know the show airs multiple times throughout the Nature Coast and up and down the Gulf Coast from Punta Gorda, Port Charlotte, Sarasota, Tampa and all of the nature coast, Hernando County, Pasco Citrus Counties. We're so glad you're all here with us. This is your show, folks. It's an educational show. Thank you for making it such a great show. We love, love, love hearing from all our listeners. Just want to give you a shout out. Thanks to you. Who who call in and who respond and email. This is your show, folks. It's a purely educational show and we hope that we got a good one today. Today's show is going to be what savvy Americans are doing to protect their retirement. So, Sam, you know, we've got a lot of good stuff to go through here. I don't know how much time we have, but I always love, love, love. When you start off with that quote of the week, it kind of gets the juices flowing and gets us going. But how are you doing today?

Producer:
Doing fantastic, Erick. Happy to be on the show once again. Yes, absolutely. Shout out to our listeners all up and down the Gulf Coast, the nature coast of Florida. And yeah, I love getting started with our Quote of the week as well. So let's get into it.

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

Producer:
This one comes to us from Milton Friedman. And Milton Friedman once said, Nobody spends somebody else's money as carefully as they spend their own. And I think this quote is so true. Erick, you can think of this in multiple situations, whether it be, you know, taxation in Congress. You know, they're not necessarily spending AmEricka's money in the same way that they would spend their own in their own household. And, you know, you can think of it, you know, like if you're a kid, you know, you get 20 bucks from your parents, you know, that thing flies out of your pocket pretty quick. But once you, you know, grow up, you get a job, you start to value that dollar a little bit more.

Erick Arnett:
No, absolutely. And when you read that quote, the first thing that popped into my head with my background and you know, I've been in I've been in the industry 25 years. I've been in banking, I've been in hedge funds. I've ran my own practice, you know, been in multiple aspects of the industry. And one thing is I do have a pretty good insight into into the banking industry. And and one of the things that, you know, obviously has been going on right now and we're hearing a lot about and some headlines hit the market yesterday and why the market kind of was a little little jittery was these these rolling bank crises that we're still experiencing here in the US and certain regions, certain size banks are being affected by the economic environment, which is quite a contrast to what we saw in the previous, say, 3 or 4 years. And so, you know. Be careful, folks, as to where you're deploying your money. And I think about the banks, you know, be very careful about the banks and which banks you're in shop around. I'm not even a big fan of the banks. We're going to give you some great alternatives to places to keep your money other than the banks. But if you are keeping your money in the bank, be careful. You know, look around. I would be careful with some of the smaller community banks. But, you know, also it's a little bit different in Florida where we're pretty healthy with deposits. But if you think about it, you know, the bank, the banks take a lot of risk with your money. And this is interesting. I read an article the other day, and folks, if you get in touch with us, you can actually receive.

Erick Arnett:
We'll send out to you our free report on the banking crisis and what you need to know specifically on how you can protect your hard earned money from the volatility that's infecting the banking sector. So this is a completely free report today when you schedule a consultation. So give us a call. (352) 616-0511. Our number is (352) 616-0511. You can also just take your smart phone and and Google take point will come right up and you can just click on that upper right hand corner and you can schedule that consultation. You can also type in some questions for me right away, but really kind of want to focus today on what savvy investors are doing, Talk about the banking situation, the banking crisis, and give people some real solutions as to what they should be doing with their money. But you know, this quote, Nobody spends somebody else's money as carefully as they spend their own. Think about it, folks. The you know, this is kind of crazy, but when you deposit your money at the bank, it physically is no longer your money. It becomes an asset of the bank. Okay. So you have basically essentially lent your money to the bank. It's not your money. You actually have to go back to the bank and ask for your money back and I know people have no idea. They don't think of it this way, but that's actually what you're doing. And if you read the fine print, when you open up these bank accounts, that's exactly what you're doing. You're depositing your money with some type of institution. Then they're taking your money and they're lending it out.

Erick Arnett:
Okay. And they're also investing it there. They're utilizing your money to make money. So I tell people, you know, be your own bank, be smart, you know, be your own bank, bank your own money, and be very careful as to where you're putting your money and the banks and the government, the FDIC, whatever you want to be. The establishment has always preyed on us as consumers. And the one big thing, the only thing that keeps banks really going in, in business is that fear. Fear like, oh, I've got to put my money somewhere safe where I'm going to get that FDIC insurance. Do me a favor if you're listening today, Google, FDIC in the true insides and the nature of FDIC and educate yourself on what the FDIC really is and does. They do not have enough money to back up your deposits. So just be careful with the banking. I don't like people leaving big, big, big, large sums in the bank. There's some great alternatives. And hopefully we have time today in today's show to get into that. But that's kind of what strikes me is, you know, be your own bank, control your own money. Give us a call here at Take Point Wealth Management, 25 years in the industry. We have the solutions. We have the ideas. We have a great alternatives to where you can park your money safely, get a great return, and not have to worry about bank failures and bank crises. And guess what? You own and control your money and you make the decisions. So just that's that's kind of what jumps out at me, Sam.

Producer:
Yeah, absolutely. And you know, I'd say if you're ready to get a bit more serious about what's happening with your money, Erick and his team are a great place to start. You can just go to TakePointWealth.com. Let's TakePointWealth.com or you can give them a call. The number is there on the website. You can also book a consultation very easily by clicking in the upper right hand corner. Just pick a time. And Erick I think that typically starts with just a 15 minute chat, right?

Erick Arnett:
Absolutely, man. It's it's it's real laid back. It's going to be a 15 minute chat session. We can talk on the phone. We can do a zoom. You're, you're welcome to set an appointment and come right in and see me at the office and we'll even come to you sometimes, depending on the situation. So, you know, we we really love helping people. That's what we do. That's what we're passionate about. And so however we need to make it happen. But it's the first the first consultation is just that. Sam like you said, it's just a really easy laid back conversation just to get to know you a little bit, try to understand what the potential needs concerns are for you. And and then we're going to go to work and really try to optimize your total financial situation for. From A to Z. You know, get you on track for retirement. If you're in retirement already, let's reevaluate what you're doing and make sure that you've optimized your retirement plan. We will do that completely complimentary and free. Folks, all it does is cost you time and a little bit of effort given us the data, and then we'll do all the work for you. And it's invaluable. It really is. I mean, we've helped so many people, thousands of people. I've never once had a person say, you know, that wasn't worth my time. So, you know, it doesn't hurt even if you feel as though you're on top of it and you get a good handle on things, a second set of eyes never hurts.

Erick Arnett:
I mean, I've been in the industry 25 years. You know, I think I know a lot about the investment management world, but guess what? I actually learned stuff every day, you know, from peers and from, you know, from research and and from other folks. And so we we don't really know everything, folks. So being on a team, having that team approach, we're going to surround you with an investment advisor. We're going to surround you with a tax consultant. You know, we can we can do insurance analysis for you. We can look at long term care, Medicare, health care, when you should be taking Social Security. Do you still have that 401. K orphaned somewhere at another company? You know, all these things we need to tie together to build that clear, concise of roadmap to and through retirement. And it's really super important that you get it right, folks, especially now with what's going on in the world and the markets and the economy. We've got a lot of volatility and you've got to get it right in the first five years. And I think there's a segment I love, love, love talking about sequence of returns. And I hope we can get to that a little bit later as well. But, you know, if you don't know what sequence of returns are, please call me.

Erick Arnett:
I will show you. We'll share my screen with you. I'll show you the spreadsheet If you don't get it right in the first five years, folks, it can be very detrimental and have huge impacts on your long term retirement plan. And what's the number one thing that we don't want to happen? We don't want you to run out of money. We don't want you to have to move back home with the kids. We don't want you to eat beanies and weenies. And there's a lot of challenges out there. So health care costs are rising, Inflation is crazy. So we feel as though we got a good handle on it and we can optimize things for you. But it's going to take some time. If you're listening today, just please write down our number. You've probably been thinking about this for a long time. Write it down. It's (352) 616-0511. Give me a call. I'm standing by to talk to you today. No one's going to put a gun to your head and force you to open up an account with me. There's no high pressure sales, nothing like that. It's just a chit chat to get to know each other. And maybe there's nothing I can do for you. Maybe I can. Maybe there's something we can change or optimize. But we'll take the time to really evaluate everything and and get you on the right track. So, you know, if you're ready to get more serious about what's happening with your money, then we encourage you to give us a call or book your free consultation on our website.

Erick Arnett:
You can you can go to WW dot TakePointWealth.com. And in the upper right hand corner there's a little box you get right on my calendar and boom we're ready to go and we'll just we'll chat for a little bit and make sure on the right the right track you know even estate planning nobody I Sam I see you know hundreds of people a year and 95% of them do not have an estate plan in place. So this is huge. You know, we're doing seminars and educational events about estate planning, but this is also something that savvy investors and savvy Americans are doing. First and foremost, they have that solid estate plan ready to go, and we can consult with you on that to make sure your will is in place. Do you need a trust? You know, do you do you need a durable power of attorney health surrogate's living wills? What we need to think about how we're going to transfer your assets in an effective way should something happen to you. We're going to have a lady on the show later on. Her name is Sarah Elliman, and she's an attorney with Absolute Law Group. And she's going to also talk to us, talk to us about asset protection and how to qualify for Medicaid later on in life.

Erick Arnett:
Should you need those, those that type of help. And there's some really great tools there. So please, please, please stay tuned. It's a long show. It's a good show. I've got a lot of information. But, you know, we're really here to help you and get through this. And I think Sarah's going to have a lot of great stuff to add. But so jumping right into it, let's just scan through. I know we got a bunch of these, Sam, but some of the top financial habits of wealthy people, you know, and some of the things and mistakes that we see being made every day. And, you know, I hope that folks can get a couple of these things right. But, you know, the number one that jumps out to me, Sam, is is set your financial goals. Like what are we talk about. Right. What do we talk about on every show and people who listen. To the show regularly are probably tired of hearing about it, but it just is what it is. You know, you have to have a plan, right? You have to start with the plan. You've got to set goals. And that's what we are here at. Take Point Wealth management. We're first and foremost. We set goals and we work towards those goals. It's not about, you know, just throwing investments all around willy nilly and have things all over the place and with no clear, concise plan, you know. So but it starts with what are your goals? We're a goals based planning firm first and foremost.

Erick Arnett:
So we're going to work through your goals, set your goals, and then optimize what you have in order to get you to and through those so you can achieve those goals and achieve success. So you can't form a plan for achieving your goals until you've identified what they are. It helps to make short and long term financial goals. You need to feel more accomplished whenever you reach a milestone and it will encourage you to keep going. You know, so wealthy people don't get discouraged and abandon their financial plans if they make mistakes. Brush it off. It's a lesson. Move forward and continue working to increase your wealth. So, you know, you may have made some mistakes and that's okay. And that's why, you know, I'm so helpful for folks because 25 years of seeing mistakes and so I can see them. I can see them coming. We have an instinct for it. And so we know we know how to to head that off at the pass. But and then boom, number two here, follow a budget. This is the most important thing. So when I sit down with you for that 15 20 minute chat, one of the things I'm going to talk about with you is, you know, what's your budget? You know, what are your expenses, What are your expenses look like in retirement? What are your expenses now? And 95% of folks don't even have a budget.

Erick Arnett:
So this is one of the most important things. How do you set your financial goals if you don't even know what your budget is? Right. So we need to know, do you need $5,000 a month on top of your Social Security, $2,000 a month? Do you need $7,000 a month to live? Okay, well, then how are we going to produce that seven, that $5,000 a month to compliment your Social Security so and safely and get you so at last throughout your retirement. So there's great strategies in place. It's not just the conventional stuff that you're used to a basket of mutual funds and your broker never calls you and your market. The market goes up and down and your accounts all over the place and you have no idea what's going on. That's not a plan, folks. Just having an IRA set up with a broker in a maximum growth or a growth account, it's not a plan. I can tell you that there's about 30 other things that you need to be talking about and looking at. So. But follow a budget, if anything, today, if you're listening to today's show, I'm talking to you directly. You don't even have to call me if you don't want to. The biggest thing I can help you with today is be strict and follow that budget, especially with what's going on in the world today. So.

Producer:
So notice that that tip there is follow a budget. And I think this is important to distinguish. It's not enough to just make a budget because budgets are a bit tough to make, but they're even harder to follow. But you need to get that plan in place and make sure you're following it. Don't know, break your budget every month because then you're not sticking to that plan. You're going off course and you know, leading to this next one, you know, save for emergencies. I think a lot of people are skipping this basic step as well. And they're dipping into their retirement savings. You know, the money that they have, they've intended to use later, and now they're paying taxes on that. They're paying a 10% penalty for an early withdrawal. And that's not the way to handle emergency spending.

Erick Arnett:
Man, I'm so glad you brought that up, Sam. That's why I love love you on the show. That's solid, solid advice. And and boom, You know what's super important there, too, is, you know, the first thing I talk to people is, okay, how much are we going to keep in in liquid cash, you know, for your emergencies so we don't have to. I was talking to a lady just yesterday about this, and we and I told her I was like, we got to get this right because it's really important. Do we need to keep 50,000 on the sidelines, 20,000 on the sidelines? You know, what do we have coming up in expenses? Because I don't you know, once we have a plan in place and you've invested, you know, we can't you can't give us a phone call and say, hey, you know, I need 20,000 right now. Well, what if the market's down? What if what if there's a penalty for getting out of the investment? You know, and we have to sell at a loss, you know, and like you said, big thing that people overlook is the taxes and the penalties. Gosh, I had a gentleman come to me the other day and he had no idea he had a 401. K rolled it over to an IRA and then he took over $100,000 out to buy a house. And he got hammered in taxes and he had no idea. And he was like shocked when he did his tax returns. And his accountant said, you owe the IRS $30,000. So these are things that we got to be super careful of, mindful and. When you have that type of erosion in one shot, 30, 40, 50% erosion to your assets, that's that's detrimental. That's devastating. So you've got to be careful. You got to get it right. Seek advice before you make those kind of decisions. But great, great, great point. Sam.

Producer:
I think another great tip here that, you know, wealthy people are taking advantage of is having a strategy for taxes. And, you know, we've had Randy on the show. We had him on last week. You've got that tax expert there right in the office to help marry that plan from the financial side to the tax side so that people aren't spending more money than they need to on taxes. There are actually some strategies you can implement to reduce the taxes that people will pay over the decades that they're in retirement.

Erick Arnett:
Oh, my gosh. You know, this is this is huge. It's so important. One of the most important and I know I stressed almost every point, but this one is huge, like getting the taxes and strategizing properly. And that's why we bolted on the tax services to take point. Wealth management. You know, we have a CPA who's been in the business 35 some odd years and he's great at what he does. And and so super, super important when you're working with an advisory team to have that piece in there. Because if your advisor or your broker, your financial advisor or whatever you're calling your, you know, financial guy these days isn't talking to your accountant directly and they don't know what's going on directly, then it could be detrimental and counterintuitive. In fact, you know, we do this on a daily basis. We coordinate with our clients attorneys. We, you know, they coordinate with our accountant. We had a situation just the other day as an example, A gentleman had gone off with an attorney and done some done some different things and some entity planning and and didn't let us know and come to find out, you know, we had to go back and amend and change everything to make sure that things were done correctly with these new entities that he created. So just right there, that could have cost that gentleman thousands and thousands of dollars if we didn't catch it. So having that tax team and that advisor on one team I think is huge. And that's that's really how we design take point Wealth management over the years. Like I said, I've been doing this 25 some odd years and I really wanted to create that one stop shop.

Erick Arnett:
You know, I want to be that financial quarterback for folks. You can just call me and I'll take care of it and all the different disciplines that are out there that you need help on, from insurance to estate planning, you know, to the taxation, to the wealth management, the investment decisions, the life insurance, the Medicare and Medicaid. You know, when do I take Social Security all that? We're a one stop shop. We we've worked hard to put that together for folks because I think it's just if I was in that situation, you know, I would feel much better knowing that that's all being looked at and taken care of. So, you know, people who make a lot of money avoid paying more taxes than necessary. They know how to take full advantage of deductions and work with a qualified tax preparer to ensure they keep as much of their money as they can. So doing your taxes on your own might save you a few hundred dollars. Whoop. Do you know people are so concerned about saving $100? I can't tell you how many times when someone's finally broken down and allowed us to do their taxes and looked at things that they've saved thousands. I can think of one instance where we saved a guy over $100,000. He was doing his own taxes all the time. We saved him over $100,000 by by just catching something that he wasn't doing correctly. So please, please be careful. You know, at the end of the day, folks, $100, $200, $300 to do your taxes, Right. It just makes sense. Stop trying to do this stuff on your own. You know, it's just it just it just doesn't make sense.

Producer:
And I think this one is good. Erick, we've got about four minutes left in this segment. Monitor your finances or work with someone who will do it for you. It's disappointing that I think so many people have this philosophy of out of sight, out of mind, and sometimes they tend to do it with some of the most important things in their life. It could be their health. You know, maybe it's been way too long since they've gone to the doctor and they haven't had anything checked out. And how many stories have we heard where, you know, somebody goes to the doctor and they only had caught it sooner than they would have had a much better chance of recovering from this sort of thing. And and I think people tend to do that with their finances as well. They get a bit worried about retirement. They have a lot of questions. And rather than tackle that problem head on, they tend to kind of stick it in the corner until they get to it later.

Erick Arnett:
No, it's a great point. And that's also, you know, one of the key aspects or things that we've done here at Take Point Wealth is is, you know, really monitoring your investments on a daily basis. So wealthy people don't just forget about their investment portfolios or growing expenses. They constantly are reassessing their financial situation. So this can help catch problems early and gives them the opportunity to make changes if they need to. So you've got to be nimble, you've got to be active and that's why take point. Wealth Management is an active wealth management shop. We're tactical, we're a tactical shop versus a passive shop. Unfortunately, the industry historically kind of has molded people and society into this one type of, I would say service. You know, it's it's pretty standard across the board. You see it every day. Everybody's in the same model. You sit down with some financial advisor guy and. He has. You fill out a little questionnaire and he says, Oh, yeah, you know, based on your age, we're going to stick you in this mutual fund portfolio and everything's good. Just set it and forget it. And, you know, you never hear from the guy out of sight, out of mind. And then you get your statements and you have no idea what's going on. You don't know what you're invested in. You know, this is this is not what the wealthy people do. You've got to engage. You've got to engage a team, Surround yourself with a team that's going to actively manage your portfolio, monitor on a daily basis and then communicate, communicate to you.

Erick Arnett:
We have multiple channels of communication. We give we give weekly alerts. You know, we have a system, a portal that is constantly in communication with our clients. My clients have my phone number. Our team is always available to chat with them. We we talk, we we when we first sit down with you, we say what? What's best for you. What would you like? Would you like a quarterly meeting? Would you like a semiannual, An annual, you know, so it's all about communication. It's about tactical asset management versus passive management. And we saw we finally saw it reared its ugly head in 2022. You know, I would say 95% of the people out there listening right now were in some kind of just conventional portfolio with some financial firm. And, you know, I'm not going to name all the big names. And, you know, they they were down 20% last year because they were just in this conventional portfolio with no tactical asset management, no shifts were made, no communication was made. So, you know, so we do it very differently. We've tailored our shop very differently. We're I think we're in the minority. There's a lot there's a lot more guys out there that are setting their shop up this way to be tactical, But we are a tactical asset management shop. So if you have time today, just Google tactical versus passive and study and read it up and then you tell me what you think is best for you.

Producer:
And just want to remind the listeners one more time that they can visit TakePointWealth.com to schedule a complimentary consultation, get all of their questions answered, work with a team that has tax experts, financial experts. You can get help with Medicare, Social Security, and you can also give them a call at (352) 616-0511. That's (352) 616-0511. And Take Point on Retirement. We'll be right back.

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

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.

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

Producer:
Even with inflation, eating at home is often cheaper than dining out. I'm Matt McClure with the Retirement.Radio Network. Powered by AmeriLife, food costs are up for everyone these days, and when you get sticker shock at the grocery store, you may be tempted to consider dining out more often. But think again. Prices are up at restaurants too. Chef David Burke recently told CNBC some of the reasons why not.

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

Producer:
Energy costs are also having an impact on restaurants. Not only have they driven up the price of shipping food from producers, but gas prices are driving up labor costs as well. Burke said employees who live farther away from restaurants are asking for pay increases to offset the increased cost of driving in every day. So cooking at home will still be cheaper than dining out. In most cases. Many large and local grocery stores offer discounts for seniors, but if you're not able to drive, you can also order groceries online and have them delivered directly to you. If you do decide to dine out, say, for a special occasion, try to find a restaurant that offers senior discounts. So have you thought about cutting back on dining out? It's a key question to consider, and it's one of the 23 retirement cost cutters for 2023 with the Retirement.Radio Network Powered by AmeriLife. I'm Matt McClure.

Producer:
Call Erick today at (352) 616-0511 or visit TakePointWealth.com To get your free copy of 23 retirement cost cutters for 2023.

Producer:
Welcome back to Take Point on Retirement. Schedule your free financial consultation now at TakePointOnRetirement.com.

Erick Arnett:
So hey everybody welcome back to segment to Take Point on Retirement radio. So glad to be with you. I'm Erick Arnett. We have Sam Davis here with us, of course, our DJ extraordinaire. And then what I promise in the first segment is we have a special guest today, Segment two. We're so excited and fortunate to have attorney Sarah Elliman. One of the things we talked about in the first segment was just having that plan in place and something we do at Take Point Wealth management is put together that clear, concise of retirement plan. And one of the big, you know, concerns that I have as an advisor and when I'm speaking with with clients is something that most people that I sit down with are not prepared for that end of life scenario or they just well, actually, come to think about it, it's kind of shocking. Like 95% of the folks that I sit down with don't even have an estate plan. Sarah And so that's why I have you on the show today and hopefully you'll come on the show more in the future. And we're even doing events together here. We're going to be doing some seminars because we just feel as though it's so, so important to get that estate planning correct. And one of the things that you guys are so great at is kind of helping folks navigate that end of life scenario or that incapacitation and what that might look like.

Erick Arnett:
And then, you know, so I just kind of want to have a casual conversation today and kind of talk to you about, you know, what is it that you're seeing out there? What are some of the mistakes people are being made? And if you were just talking to the general public today, you know, those retirees or those pre-retirees, I mean, I know health care costs are going through the roof. Super concerning for us when we're doing this planning. And, you know, it's important that our clients don't run out of money. And I know that people are really concerned about that asset protection. We even have folks that come to our seminars that, you know, something happened with their mom and dad and they they've experienced that. And so they want to avoid some of those pitfalls. And so I just wanted to kind of open up the conversation today, Sarah, and just kind of get some of your insights, some of your wisdom and, you know, share with us some of the things that you think people need to be doing and looking at.

Sarah:
Well, thank you guys so much for having me. And I really appreciate getting these platforms to talk about this stuff, because the goal really is for people to not come to me in crisis or someone like me in crisis, which is a lot of my life. And actually, that's how you and I met. We had a mutual client that was completely, you know, going through a really difficult time. And that's what brought us together. And it's just I'm going to challenge you a little bit in the sense of I think end of life is really important to plan for. But what I see more often than not is what happens if you're alive and you get sick. People don't talk about that. People don't want to think about that because honestly, end of life, don't get me wrong, having estate planning of, you know, making sure your legacy is protected, super important, not discounting that importance. But what's even more important than that, though, is what happens if you're alive and still breathing, but you can't make your own decisions. That's actually what brought us together. We had a client that was in the middle of a guardianship, and for those not familiar with guardianship, that's the process of having the court appoint somebody to manage your financial and health affairs because you didn't have that paperwork done prior to your incapacitation. And that's actually what brought Erick and I together initially was we had this client that needed an advisor, and Erick does such a great job, so we referred her to him.

Sarah:
But that's what brought us together was a client literally did not have a plan for incapacity. Now she was extremely overwhelmed. The court process takes a really long time. So several months, you know, tens of thousands of dollars just to get through that point. And all of that could have been avoided with some documentation that we could have done prior to her husband becoming capacitated. We made sure we got it done for her. But at the time when her husband got sick, it just came out of nowhere. It wasn't planned. And then it got to the point that we needed to get him health care and that she didn't have any decision making authority over any other account of his accounts. So then we had to get the court involved. And that is a story that I see over and over and over. We have this health event that came out of nowhere, a stroke or a dementia diagnosis or Parkinson's or or something that we weren't expecting to happen, and especially stroke, I will say that can take somebody out, as you guys know, mentally very, very quickly. And then we get to the point that what do we do now? So that is really the circumstance that I could just tell you, probably 50% of my appointments in a day have to do with something like that, where we have either a married couple or a son or a daughter coming on behalf of their parents.

Sarah:
Now mom or dad is incapacitated. Either we have the documentation or we don't. Now what do we do from here? How do we make sure they get the proper care? How do we make sure that they don't lose all of their assets that they've worked their entire life for to health care costs? And how do we make sure that when they pass away, their wishes are honored? So all of those questions can be addressed very, very easily. Is a I'm not going to say easily because, you know, none of these conversations are easy. They're very uncomfortable a lot of the time. But they have to be had because my mission, honestly, as the kind of lawyer that I am in our firm, is to make sure that we have these conversations with you while we can. I don't want to talk to somebody that thinks they know what you want while you're able to have a conversation, whether it's with me or someone like me, for that matter, have the conversation so they know what you want. Not just with your lawyer, though, with your financial advisor, with your kids, with your support system.

Sarah:
Make sure that they understand in the event something were to happen to you and you're still alive, what kind of care do you want? Are you looking to potentially go to an assisted living? Which one can you afford care at home? And we have to be realistic about that because care at home is very expensive. Do we have the assets to pay for that? Come up with a plan with your family? We call it the family care plan to discuss all of those things while you're able to. So there's no surprises Later because let me tell you. And I have been, unfortunately, in these situations where, you know, I've had very kind, very near and dear to me for years. And I, I can almost I have arguments maybe with their kids because I know my client would have wanted. But whoever is in charge isn't really doing that. But because they never had the conversation. So if you really it's important not just to have the legal stuff together because that's a very pivotal part of it. But I would say it's also extremely critical to have these conversations with your loved ones as well as to what you what you want done in the event that you can't speak for yourself anymore. And then I would loop in your advisor as well because we all work together. You know, I can tell you I don't give any financial advice, not licensed in that.

Sarah:
Don't want to, you know, give someone the wrong perception that I know what I'm talking about there. That's why it's really important to have what we call, you know, your your team, you know, your lawyers part of it, your advisors, part of it, whoever you appoint to be your power of attorney. And that's basically somebody that you're having manage your financials on your behalf In the event you can't, that person's part of it. Your health care power of attorney, their part of it, too. I mean, I would really assemble, you know, those people that, you know, have your back in the event that you can't speak for yourself anymore. That's just really, really critical because if you don't and we don't have these uncomfortable conversations, then we don't get this paperwork done. I can already tell you what ends up happening is we end up in court and I end up in court way more often than I would like to end up in court. Because let me tell you, not only is it, you know, very expensive for the client, it's extremely time consuming. And at that point, we're beholden to the court for everything. It's not just getting the guardianship and you're done. People really think, okay, I get appointed and that's it. No, no, no. It's every decision that we make.

Sarah:
We have to be accountable to a judge for we can't just move your loved one from one place to another without getting court approval. We can't sell an asset without court approval. We can't get rid of anything without court approval. I mean, it's a very extensive process. There's accountings that are involved. And don't get me wrong, there are some circumstances and yes, it's warranted. I mean, it may be a power of attorney wasn't doing what they were supposed to do. Or maybe, you know, we need the guardianship because the person we need to protect them from themselves type thing that happens. But I can tell you, so many guardianships can be avoided with proper documentation. That's done. And I'm not talking about the documentation that you download offline because that that I end up in guardianship court or do it yourself power attorneys more often than I can admit. Um, not, you know, wills and trusts that we just think, you know, we do it ourselves. And it's very simple because I could just tell you, if you're not going to invest the money on the front end to get it done correctly somewhere, somehow, you know, it's going to come back and haunt us. And that is just honestly the reality of situation. You can spend a little bit compared to what a guardianship is going to cost you if it's not done correctly, because I could tell you one word in those documents makes such a huge difference.

Sarah:
You know, if it's an if there's an if where there should be an or or or when there should be an. And all of that plays such a critical role because, you know, the law, it's kind of complicated. But some people may know and it's very important to make sure that you get it done correctly on the front end. And I can tell you it's going to be a lot less expensive doing it proactively than in crisis 100% of the time. So that's just, you know, something that I would say, yes, we need to make sure you have a good will or a good trust to avoid probate. That's super important. But we need to also focus on the question what happens if I'm alive and I get sick? We don't talk about that enough. And quite honestly, if you end up spending all your assets because you're sick and don't have the right documentation is, you know, what are you leaving to your family and to trust your will anyways? Like we have to make sure that you're protected while you're alive. Like you said earlier, we don't run out of money while you're alive. That you can live with a dignity that you deserve while you're alive. And then whatever's left to your family.

Sarah:
Obviously you want to get it to them in the way that you intend it to. But we need to focus on you. What happens to you while you're still here? Because I have clients all the time come to me focused, hyper focused on their trust and their will. And don't get me wrong, we need to focus on that. But we got to focus on. The next stage of life to. Because your estate plan to me is a living, breathing thing. You know, the estate plan that you had when you had young minor kids isn't the same estate plan that you're going to have after you retire. Is it the same estate plan that you might have 20 years after you retire? It changes as you change. It shouldn't be something that you do one time. You think you're done with it. Now, granted, it's probably not going to be as crazy of changes every stage of your life. You got to start somewhere and it's easier to just amend and update things. But the estate plan that you had when your kid was five and now when he's 55, not the same thing, you know, because you're you're different. What you need is not different. Maybe now your estate plan needs to focus more on health issues. Maybe it needs to focus more on your spouse's health issues. What do we do in the event that you know you're healthy but your spouse isn't? Well, you know all of that.

Sarah:
Believe it or not, is addressed in your estate plan. You know, it's a living, breathing thing and it changes as life changes. I have clients that come to me sometimes with their estate plan binders and they're like, This isn't a good example, but they're all like mildewy. Like, oh my gosh. Smell it. And like, this hasn't been opened and I don't know how long, you know? And I'm like, you know, having to, to read it. And I'm like, I have allergies. I'm like, you know, just go, Yeah. And, you know, and I'm glad that we at least they came in and we looked at it and we're doing what we need to do. But please don't let your estate plan gather dust for years and years and years without looking at it to make sure it's still addresses what you need. That's really dangerous because ultimately, if we ever get to a point that we do need to make changes, but you're not mentally competent to do so, We can't. That's why it's very critical that your power of attorney and your and your trust and things like that all address incapacitation. What happens if you can't speak for yourself anymore? And it needs to give us the flexibility to make sure we are in a position to make changes if necessary.

Sarah:
So that is just me being on my soapbox, telling everybody, just please, please, please, you know, whether it's us or anybody else, get your, your, your documents reviewed. If you moved here from another state, get this question all the time. Your power of attorney documents will likely need to be made Florida specific. We don't we don't like out of state power of attorney documents, your will and your trust. Quite honestly, they work here most of the time. I would still have them reviewed by your power of attorney documents. Absolutely. 100% should be made state specific. Because think about it, your power of attorney documents are what protects you. In the event that you can't speak for yourself, you don't want any delay in that person acting because they have to go to some legal department or maybe they don't like the power of attorneys because they're not, you know, state specific, which I see quite honestly all the time. And we end up having to update it. But we're wasting precious time. Time in those emergency situations is a very precious commodity. We don't get it back if we lose it. So we need to make sure that we have all our ducks in a row to make sure we don't run out of time doing what we need to do, not only to protect you, but to protect your family as well.

Erick Arnett:
Oh, Sarah. Amen. I mean, I had a bunch of questions ready to ask, but guess what? You went through and answered every single one. But I mean, amazing advice. I mean, something that we just got to really, really listen to. And one of the things that you said that just jumped out at me was, you know, and in the first segment of the show, we were talking about what wealthy people and savvy people do with their money. And and wealthy people and savvy people also do exactly what you're talking about. They plan for incapacitation. And something that, you know, I wasn't even as an advisor really focused on or aware of. I was always aware. I was always focused on the estate planning part. You know, the end of life. But working with you and even some of the clients that we're working with now, man, my eyes have been opened wide as to how important this is because I've seen first and foremost how stressful and difficult it can be without just having that all important document in place, the durable power of attorney. And then exactly what you said and a great piece of advice having if you're a new resident to Florida, it's super, super important that you get a hold of us and give us a call so we can put that together for you and review those documents for you, you know, surrounding yourself.

Erick Arnett:
And the biggest point you said is surrounding yourself with a team. It's so important. And I think people think, oh, only wealthy people, you know, have attorneys and lawyers and advisors and tax consultants and CPAs. No, Guess what? We're here. Take Point on Retirement. Radio's here to offer you the listener that same type of team. We will wrap and surround you with that same team. And guess what? You don't have to be super wealthy to have that type of team around you and that advice. And so we'll show you where, you know, it's it's not that expensive and it's also affordable for for your family long term because what you pointed out was, you know, we're talking about hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars potentially being lost by not just having a couple of those those documents in place. So do the planning now, folks. That's why we do this show. That's why we get excited and passionate about. I know Sarah's super passionate about it. Give us a call today at (352) 616-0511. We will we will surround you with that team and get you on track so we can avoid some of these tremendous, tremendous pitfalls and stresses.

Sarah:
Savvy people don't leave things up to chance.

Erick Arnett:
Boom. Yep.

Sarah:
That is that is you know, I could tell you if you have at home, if you have a car, you have a bank account, you have an estate. Believe it or not, people don't realize that. They think the word estate means millions of dollars. No, if you have a couple investment accounts, you have a bank account, you have a car, you have a house, you have an estate. Congratulations. Oh.

Erick Arnett:
Yeah. And you know, one of the things that was an eye opener to me and I think a lot of our listeners out there probably think the same thing If you're married, we just assume that, Oh, if something happens to us, we become incapacitated. Our spouse can just handle everything for us. And that was shocking to me that that wasn't the case. Your spouse does not actually have a lot of legal rights to your to your finances if they're titled in your name and stuff. So that was shocking to me. And I think unfortunately, I think a lot of people out there have that same assumption. And that's a very dangerous assumption.

Sarah:
It really is. It definitely is a very common misconception, I can tell you for sure.

Erick Arnett:
Sarah, you know, thank you so much for being on the show today and I hope to have you back again. And we can kind of dive more into some details. But I think that, you know, just the 20 minutes or so that you kind of gave your summary and synopsis was was truly powerful. And I hope hope that folks out there heard it and listen to it. And if not, we'll rerun it a few more times in the future. But super, super important. And I hope that folks, you know, can take that to heart and give us a call. And thank you so much for being on the show today. Is there anything else you want to share with us before you go?

Sarah:
No. Thank you guys so much for having me. You know, I appreciate the opportunity just to talk about this stuff because, again, if we can reach somebody to at least be motivated enough to to do this planning before it's too late, that that's really all that we're looking for. So thank you so much, guys, for having the platform to do this.

Erick Arnett:
Awesome. And folks, if you if this is something that you feel as though you need to get a handle on and you're concerned about, please go to our website TakePointWealth.com. In the upper right hand corner, you can just click that box and just tell me, Hey, Erick, I need to get on this with Sarah and Absolute Law and I need to get this going. That's all you got to say and I'll take it from there and we'll get the ball rolling. And I have the utmost confidence in love, love, love this partner. A ship that I have with Sarah and her firm. The care, the white glove service, second to none and truly, truly proud of it. And what you guys are doing over there at absolute lore so much. Thank you so much for coming on the show today, Sarah. Super, super valuable, folks. Just wanted to wrap up the show today. Thank you so much for listening and we really appreciate you. Thank you for making us one of the number one financial shows up and down the nature coast. Please reach out to us. We're here to help. This is your show. It's an educational show. You can go to TakePointWealth.com or you can also just give us a call. I'm standing by right now today at (352) 616-0511. That's (352) 616-0511. Let's get you to and through retirement successfully.

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 registered 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:
Information provided is not intended as tax or legal advice and should not be relied on as such. You are encouraged to seek tax or legal advice from an independent professional.

Ford Stokes:
Chapter 13 The Annuity That is just right. The Fixed Indexed Annuity. Big idea. A fixed indexed annuity gives you a portion of market like gains without market risk. Your investment is tied to an index, but not directly invested in it. How does it work? An FIA gives the owners or annuitants the chance to earn higher yields than fixed annuities when the index they are tied to performs well. They typically will also provide some protection against market declines. The rate on an FIA is calculated based on the year over year gain in the index or the average monthly gain over a 12 month period. Fia's often have limits on the potential gain at a certain percentage. This is known as the participation rate. The participation rate can be 100%, which means the account would be credited with all the gains, or it could be as low as 25%. Most fia's have a participation rate between 80 and 90%. Benefits. Guaranteed income Stream. With Americans living longer and spending more time in retirement, many retirees are concerned about outliving their savings. In turn, they're searching for a product that can help ensure a steady income stream. Phas are designed with guaranteed lifetime income so you can never outlive your earnings. Diversification of portfolio. A balanced portfolio is essential for managing risk and reward in the financial markets. Designed for the long term, FAS are a great retirement vehicle to ensure you are not putting all your eggs in one basket. Fas offer the ability to make some money without the risk of losing it. Secure principal. Even with market volatility, investors will not lose value on their fixed indexed annuities. Your savings aren't exposed to market fluctuations, so even in a negative market return, you will not fall below zero.

Ford Stokes:
You can never lose your interest once it is credited to your principal. All tax deferred growth fees offer long term tax deferred savings as long as your money stays in the annuity. You will not be taxed on the interest earnings once you receive a payout. The annuity will be taxed just like ordinary income. Predictable earnings because FAS offer predictable income, Americans feel more comfortable when withdrawing funds from these retirement vehicles as opposed to an IRA or 401. K. Choosing an FIA is an efficient way to plan for your future as your interest. Earnings rate always remains somewhere between the interest rate floor and the cap. No matter what happens to the market, you can still count on payments throughout your golden years. Potential drawbacks of fixed indexed Annuities. Surrender charges. A surrender charge is a type of sales charge you must pay if you sell or withdraw money from a fixed indexed and even a variable annuity. During the surrender period, a set period of time that typically lasts 6 to 8 years after you purchase the annuity. Surrender charges will reduce the value and the return of your investment. Withdrawal limits. Almost all fixed indexed annuities play surrender free withdrawal limits within the annuity contract that generally range from 5 to 10% of the principal. While all annuities must be RMD friendly and provide for a penalty free withdrawal from a qualified annuity account equal to the RMD requirement for the client's age carriers limit the amount of withdrawal to enable them to grow the money invested for themselves and the client. Not suitable for short term investing if you want to grow your money, but you also need access to 100% of your money, then a fixed indexed annuity may not be right for you.

Producer:
Could cutting back on cable television lower your monthly expenses? I'm Jim. With the Retirement.Radio Network Powered by AmeriLife. 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.Radio Network Powered by AmeriLife.

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.