10.27.23: Audio automatically transcribed by Sonix

10.27.23: 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:
Well hey everybody, good morning and welcome to Take Point on Retirement Radio. So great to be here with you guys today. This is Erick Arnett, your advisor extraordinaire. And of course, I've got my host of the show on today, Mr. Sam Davis. Great to have you with us, sir.

Producer:
Hey, welcome to all of our listeners. Thanks for making us part of your weekend. We've been getting a lot of calls. Great response. A lot of retirement warriors out there. Erick, have really appreciated the information that we've been giving. We've had great guests like Sarah Ellman on the show recently, talking about estate planning and how you can have the best retirement plan in place. But if you don't have that estate plan, it could be all for nothing. And I know our listeners are appreciating that information. We've got a lot more important stuff to talk about this week as well.

Erick Arnett:
Yeah. Amen. Obviously, a lot of stuff going on in the world, a lot of stuff going on in the markets, a lot of stuff going on with our retirees. I mean, we're out doing educational events, seminars. We have this radio show. It's all to try to help and educate our retirees, our future retirees. If you're even thinking about retiring in the next five years, you know this show is for you. We've got a website that you can go to. It's TakePointWealth.com. We've got a wealth of information there. You can get a hold of me right there on that website. Schedule a free consultation. I think more than ever right now, people need some help with navigating this environment. And, you know, it's challenging out there for our retirees. There's a ton of headwinds. And, you know, we're getting ready to host an educational event tomorrow night. And I just hope that it can help people out and bring them some ideas and some refuge and some, some some, you know, some safety, you know, because it's it's tough out there. So there's a lot happening with the markets, you know, and also with inflation, you know, the wars I mean rising oil prices, you know it's going to be an election year here soon. So there's a lot happening out there I know people are nervous. People are, you know, uptight. And there's a lot of stress out there and people just might not know where to turn.

Erick Arnett:
So hopefully take point on retirement wealth and take point on retirement. Radio can be a source of information for you. We're here. We're here all day long. We're here for you. If you want to get a hold of us. We talk about something on the show today that makes sense to you. You need some help. You just want to talk to somebody about your current situation. Please reach out. Just give us a call today. (352) 616-0511. That's (352) 616-0511. You can also just go right to my website TakePointWealth.com. And in the upper right hand corner there you'll see schedule a consultation and you can get right on my calendar. You can ask me questions. We'll set up a chat session or you know we'll talk on the phone. I'm sitting here standing by the phones today, and I'm happy to pick up your call and answer any questions or concerns that you might have a lot of stuff to talk about, obviously. I mean, we can't cover it all in one show, but, you know, welcome. I'm glad you're here. You know, Take Point Wealth. I've been you know, I've been here in this community almost 25 years. We serve up and down the nature coast, Tampa Bay, you know, we we we come to you. So if you want to do a zoom, you want us to come visit you. You want us to. We've got an office, you know, near you some somewhere we can certainly get together.

Erick Arnett:
Dunedin, I know you guys are listening. Thank you so much. You know Port Charlotte, Sarasota, Tampa Bay, this show's for you. So if something makes sense to you, please give us a call. We also have our podcast. You know, if you want to catch up on some past shows. Or maybe you're listening to this show and you got to jump right now and go do some shopping. You know, whatever you got to do, just jump on our podcast site and all of our podcasts are there as well. You can also visit us on YouTube, just Google or I'm sorry, just go to YouTube and search for Take Point on retirement. We're there, so don't hesitate to call us. Don't hesitate to reach out. We are here for you. We love helping our listeners. There's no obligation to do anything with us. This is purely educational, so please give us a call (352) 616-0511. And that's TakePointWealth.com. So also. For you 65 year olds out there and folks that are getting ready to turn 65. Then you've got something going on right now. Or if you're already 65, we got the Medicare annual enrollment period. So those of you that are close to 65 or you already are 65, if you have questions about your current plan or you have a question about where do I turn? Where do I sign up for Medicare, you know, then we're here for you as well.

Erick Arnett:
We're here to help you reevaluate your current plan each year. I mean, think that's smart to do? If you're already on Medicare, you have an advantage plan or a supplement. Let's reevaluate it for you. Make sure that this is the right one for you. And we've got folks standing by to help you with that as well. And so, you know, maybe we can save you some money on Medicare expenses. So savvy retirees, you know, they'll do a Medicare coverage check every year. So just in case, just to make sure that they have maybe some extra money or they can afford what they're doing. And so please reach out to us. We've got, you know, we've got Medicare agents standing by to answer all your questions. You can also just visit our website as well. TakePointWealth.com. And in the upper right hand corner just click on there, get on a call and say, hey I've got some Medicare questions. And and we want to evaluate some plans in my area. You know there's always there's always new plans coming in your area as well. So let's let's evaluate those as well. You know Take Point Wealth I've designed this firm and this practice to kind of be a one stop shop for our retirees and our pre retirees. I think it's nice. You know, we we step in and we become your financial quarterback for all your needs from A to Z.

Erick Arnett:
You know we can we can help you with your wealth management. We can help you with income planning. You know that's the most important thing is not to run out of money during retirement. So let's help you with that. Let's take a look at that Social Security timing. You know, when do I take Social Security? How do I maximize my Social Security? Believe it or not, there's there are some important strategies and, you know, pros and cons to when you turn on your Social Security, we also will do tax evaluations. We we are a partner with the tax office right here next door to us. We'll look at your taxes. You know is there any way to save taxes. Let's do a free evaluation on that for you. So there's just a plethora of services here available for you. If there's something that kind of weighing on your mind, you kind of put that on the back burner. You think, hey, I've got a question about that. Just pick up the phone, give us a call, and hopefully we can be a resource for you. And, you know, we've been talking also a lot about estate planning on this show. And we're going to talk a little bit about a little more about it later on in the show. But just know that also Take Point Wealth. We can help you with your estate planning. What is you know, what's the difference between a will and a trust? And do I need a will or do I need a trust? I mean, just that simple question that so many people have.

Erick Arnett:
Give us a call and within five minutes we can walk you through it and understand whether you might need a will versus a trust. Or maybe you need both, you know. So let us let us help you with that. I, I worked in the trust field for a long time. That's where kind of where I got my start was in trusts and investments in some of the banks and and so I've got a background there in trust. And so we can easily kind of answer those questions for you and, and get you on track and even set up your estate plan for you. So give us a call and we're happy to jump on that for you as well. So, you know, today's show, I mean, you know, I wanted to kind of get back to the basics, Sam and and just kind of explain to folks, you know, why, why do we host this show? What brings us to your local radio dial in your podcast feed? You know, I want to talk about that and why we do what we do and we and why we do do it for you. And so and we're going to talk about, you know, everybody I think right now is, is, you know, they're getting those emails or, or they're seeing their neighbor or talking to folks and, you know, they're getting ads through Facebook and online.

Erick Arnett:
It's like, hey, you know, we got these great CD rates now, or we got these great money market rates. And all of a sudden now you get four or even 5% just to sit in cash and go to a CD or, or go to a money market account. We want to talk a little bit about the pros and cons of that as well. So and then how and in this environment, you know, this interest rate environment, rising interest rates have just crushed fixed income. Right. So bonds if you have bonds in your portfolio, it's really been a drag and you've probably lost substantial amount of money. So you're probably thinking like what happened there with the with the bra. I was told, like having that broadly diversified portfolio and having a balance between stocks and bonds was the way to go. But it hasn't worked for the last two years. And there's a reason why. And and you know stocks are getting continue to getting hit hard. There's a lot of headwinds out there for the stock market. It right now with everything that's going on. We just had really strong earnings come in. The economy is still strong but yet the stock market is not reacting that way. So what that's telling us is the stock market is very nervous. The stock market is always looking ahead six months to a year in advance.

Erick Arnett:
And so it's kind of telling us that, hey we're probably even though earnings are good the economy's been good. Eventually these rapid increase in interest rates is probably going to have effect on earnings and have an effect on the economy. And so if we get a contraction there we get a slowdown in earnings. You know, that's why we're having a sell off in the markets right now. And so you know we really need if you're getting if you're close to retirement or you're in retirement, we really got to get this equation right. Because if you if you experience negative returns in your portfolio in the first five years of retirement, it really can be devastating to you long term as far as having the income and the cash flow, you need the long term. So we really need to look at that for you, evaluate that for you, and put together what we call the smart plan. If you call us and we'll walk you through what we think the smart plan is, and it's having it's about having safe money for income because you don't want to run out of income. Right. We've got to shore up your income. We've got to make sure you're taking Social Security at the right time. You've got to make sure our tax we're you know, we're managing our taxes because that's those are the real silent killers. But also the number one silent killer of a retirement plan is volatility.

Erick Arnett:
And we have had unprecedented volatility in the markets. And volatility is you know you're seeing it those ups and downs. And you know those big waves in the market. And so you know if you have a portfolio or your retirement portfolio and it goes down 1015 20%, guess what. You got to make 30, 40, 50, 60% to the upside to get back to where you were. And if you're getting ready to look at taking income out, which is your distribution phase, then you really got to reevaluate things. And so it's got to be a combination. I want to talk a little bit about indexed annuities. I want to talk about fixed annuities. I want to talk about income producing annuities, the differences between maybe a safe accumulation annuity, and then also something that's going to create a guaranteed income, a guaranteed pension for you, for life, because we don't know what the future holds. And this does seem like a very different time. It's not the typical time. So there's a lot going on in our country. There's a lot geopolitically going on. So we really have to get this right the conventional way. You've been doing things, folks, if you're listening right now, just just hear me say this. I'm extremely passionate about it. The conventional way, the status quo, the passive investing. What you've been doing currently is not working, and it's not going to work going forward.

Erick Arnett:
So you you owe it to yourself. You have to take and get a second set of eyes, a second opinion, you know, block out what you're hearing from your neighbors and all the noise. And and Sam and I were talking about this before we started the show. What really irks me is when I talk to somebody and they're the perfect candidate for an annuity. And, you know, and and we're a fiduciary, we don't have to just sell annuities. We don't have to sell investments. I just met with a gentleman earlier today before we before we started this show. And, you know, he's 74 years old. He's got plenty of income because he retired with a pension and Social security. So he's single, his home is paid for, and he's got about $700,000 or so sitting inside of an investment account. And I call it it's a naked investment account. There's no protection on it at all. It's just this traditional, conventional, you know, brokerage account. I'm not going to name the firm, but it's one of these big brokerage houses. And and, you know, he has a financial advisor that's licensed and gets paid on commissions to sell securities. And so, you know, when he talks to this advisor, he's he has I actually gave him a book. I gave him the book annuity 360 to read. I said, you need to educate yourself on this and see if this is the right thing for you to do.

Erick Arnett:
Don't take somebody else's word for it. And don't you know what? Don't even take an advisor's word for it, folks. Get you two, three, four opinions, talk to multiple advisors, talk to different people, and then make your own decision. Don't just take a blanket. You know, if somebody tells you annuities are wrong, don't buy annuities. You got to ask yourself, why is he saying that? Right? And the baby boomers are putting their money in these products and these strategies with these insurance companies. Because guess what? You're with an insurance company, your money is safe. It's not in the bank where banks only have 10% reserve ratios. It's not a it's not in it's not in the S&P 500. It's not in the stock market. It's not in the. Bond market, right? So it's not getting hammered and you're losing money in retirement. And so yes, when when we have a shake up in the market, your first reaction is going to be, oh my gosh, I'm panicking. Emotion sets in. I've got to get to safety. Enough of these stocks, enough of these bonds I want to sell. And you just hit the button. You sell indiscriminately. You do a whole across the board. Then you go and you're you're kind of tantalized by these certificates of deposit, you know, these CDs at the bank and, you know, but these are just this is just a short term Band-Aid or a short term resolution to making yourself feel better and and providing a comfort for you.

Erick Arnett:
It's very short term. So, yeah, you can go to the bank right now and maybe get 4 or 5% on a CD, but you're placing that money inside of the bank, right? Where banks have a lot of risk right now. Okay. And they only have 10% of the deposits backed up. Insurance companies just to be in business, just to be in the industry alone has over 150% in reserves. And I know of companies that we work with on the insurance side that we place clients money in for index annuities and fixed annuities that have over a 700% reserve ratio. So what that means is they have 700% of the contracts outstanding, the money outstanding in reserve. So these companies, if anything, if times are looking hairy and shaky and we're on and we're unsure about what's going on, then if anything we want to be in an insurance company. We don't want to be in a bank. And guess what? What are these banks doing? They're taking your money. They're giving you 5%. Okay, that's great. But now they're lending your money out and taking risks with it. And high risk loans to make a spread. Okay. And so they're making money on your money. And guess what folks? Yes, that CD is going to give you that temporary kind of oh, that sigh of relief. Like I don't have to look at this statement anymore.

Erick Arnett:
I don't have to look at this market anymore. And my money just feels safe because it's not it's just, you know, stuck at one figure and I'm going to get 5%. But guess what? If you're in a non IRA account, you send a regular account. You're paying taxes on that. Right. So if you're in the 20% tax bracket, take that 5% down to like 3.5%. Okay. So you got to pay taxes on it. And guess what. Inflation was still running at a clip of 5678 9%. So you're you're losing money. You're losing purchasing power. You're losing money on that investment. It's just a temporary fix folks. There's a lot better solutions out there. So there's only two reasons why you want to buy an indexed annuity. One is that you're just I'm tired of the market. I'm tired of the volatility. I can't take it anymore. There's so much uncertainty. I don't know where this is headed. And I'm tired of watching my statement and my values go down. So you go to an indexed annuity for safety right. Safe accumulation. You can get market like returns because these returns that you get inside the indexed annuities are pegged to the stock and bond market. So if those markets do well and those markets go up and markets rise and fall, this is a cycle that we're going through. It's not a fun cycle. It's a tough cycle. And we're still coming out.

Erick Arnett:
This is really part of the Covid headache. This is also the mistake that the fed lowered rates too low. And so now we're paying for it. And they've raised rates at an unprecedented amount. The ten year Treasury hit over 5% last week okay I remember a year ago we were at 2%. All right. So that's a major move in interest rates that has absolutely hammered the bond markets put pressure on the stock market. And so these index annuities if the markets go up you're going to make money. But if the markets go down and continue to go down, your your principal is 100% protected and you're safe. And I tell people all the time, listen, the biggest problem you're going to have with me if you get into one of these index annuities is one year you're going to call me up. You're going to look at your statement and you're like, Erick didn't make any money this year. And I'm going to say, yes, I know. And I told you that that's probably the worst case scenario is that you're going to call me one day and be like, my index annuity didn't make any money. Why am I in this thing? I'm not making anything. Well, conversely, let's look at what the stock and bond market's doing. They they're down 22% you know 16%. Just last quarter alone I think the S&P was down like 8%. The bond market was down 4%. As I look at the market today it's the 25th of October.

Erick Arnett:
We're getting hammered this week okay. So that's okay for a young person like me or a young person like Sam. Because guess what? I get excited about that. Because I can go take my money now and buy stocks at lower prices. Right? I'm still in the accumulation phase, so that's okay. And I get excited. Okay. Stocks are on sale when I have a contrarian view. When people are panicking and freaking out, I buy okay, when your stomach feels the worst and you're sick to your stomach and you think, oh my gosh, I got, I just can't take this anymore. That's when I, that's when I'm buying stocks. But I'm a young guy. If you're in retirement or close to retirement, you can't think that way. You've got to think about how do I preserve what I have and how can I create an income? Because I'm going to be going into that distribution phase very soon if you're not already in it, where you need somebody to be putting money into your pocket every month, you need to get a paycheck. You need to get income. And guess what? The amazing thing, the great thing about these index annuities right now is that the income is higher than it's ever been. You know, two, three, four, five years ago when we went through these and we're looking at these, you know, things weren't so hot.

Erick Arnett:
There was, you know, it was difficult to produce enough income. But guess what folks? Now if you're going into retirement. We can produce the income that you need and you keep your money completely safe. So back to what I said. The number one reason is safe accumulation. If you're just looking for a safe haven and you don't want to see your portfolio going down, down, down, down all the time, and you're in that critical moment where you're like, hey, I'm getting closer to retirement. I'm in my 50s or 60s, and I just can't handle this volatility more. Then you go with an indexed annuity for safe accumulation. But also what these indexed annuities can offer you with an income rider is guaranteed income. And quite frankly, the payouts that I'm seeing now are really exciting. I mean, exciting because things that I haven't seen before in this industry and I've been doing it 25 years. Interest rates are higher right now. And so that's a great time to be buying indexed annuities and lock in those rates and lock in those guaranteed payouts. Because guess what? Eventually what's going to happen in 2024 or 2025 if the fed is successful in putting us into a soft recession or a soft landing, or if they're successful pushing us into a recession or they're successful at contracting this economy, guess what? They're going to have to lower rates next year, and they will start lowering rates going into late 2024 and 2025 to fuel the economy again and get it going again.

Erick Arnett:
And that's when you're going to be like, hey, I'm locked in at these high rates because these might be historically high rates right now. So you owe it to yourself. Give us a call (352) 616-0511. Let's give you a free evaluation a free second set of eyes. Let's take a look at what you're doing and see if we can offer you an alternative and a strategy that's going to work for you. That's not going to be safe, but also provide the income that you need. And not to just harp on index annuities. But I feel like now is a time that they're probably more favorable than others. And like I said, we can. We have clients in the stock market bond, you know, we we manage assets everywhere. We don't. We don't have to direct you one way. And we're not just insurance advisors that can only sell annuities but index. Here's an index annuity example that I love love, love. There's a company called nationwide. Have you ever heard of nationwide folks. Nationwide is on your side Peyton Manning all that good stuff. Rated A+ by Moody's. So that's a really high rating which is important. The reason I love nationwide too is that they're they're a privately held company. They don't have stockholders. And and so they give a lot back to their clients. So as an example this look this up folks.

Erick Arnett:
And then give me a call if you want to dive into it more. But like the nationwide peak ten right now it's offering a 20% bonus on the amount of money you invest. So if you're beat up a little bit right now, have you lost money in the markets? This is a nice way to get some money back right away. Back into your portfolio, back into you say a 20% bonus. So an example, if you have $300,000 to invest, your account value would start at 360. Boom. Just like that, Nationwide peak ten is also offering an 8% simple interest roll up every year. You defer turning on income. So how about an 8% simple interest roll up every year? The nationwide peak ten is also offering a 335%. Let me say that again, a 335% participation rate in the BNP Paribas Global Factor Index. It's a stock market index that tracks the global health care markets. I love, love, love this strategy. What does that mean folks? If this if this index only makes 5% now nationwide is going to multiply that 5% by 335%. But this is a great product to have your money shirt up safe. Get a huge bonus. Get the 8% simple roll up and you know if the index should go up 10%, you would receive 32.5% less than 1% spread. So that's amazing. If the index does not go up the worst you can do is 8% simple interest for every year.

Erick Arnett:
You defer turning on your income. So if you're interested in something like this, stop listening to everybody else. Stop listening to your broker who can't sell these because he's not licensed to sell them, and he wants to keep you in the market because that's the only that's his bread and butter. That's the only way he makes money. Get some other opinions. You owe it to yourself to come in, talk to us, or we'll set up a zoom. We'll do a chat, whatever you want to do, but call us if you're interested in learning more about this. (352) 616-0511. That's (352) 616-0511. You owe it to yourself to learn about this strategy. And also just go to my website, TakePointWealth.com and get right on my calendar. Folks, we're going to wrap up segment one. Right now. We're going to jump into segment two after commercial break. We're going to talk about estate planning when we come back and why we think it's so important. If you don't have your state planning right, there's no point in even talking about all this other stuff. So get your state plan in place in order. I know a lot of folks out there listening and you're like, hey, you know, I've been thinking about this for a long time, so now's the time. Let's get it going. You need your. And what's the difference between a willing to trust? Stay tuned. We got a great second half coming up about estate planning.

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

Producer:
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 BWR. 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.

Announcer:
I'm here with Erick Arnett of Take Point Wealth Management. Erick, these last few years have been a time of change for a lot of people. Some have left their old jobs and started new ones. What if they still have a 401 K or other retirement plan from their old employer?

Erick Arnett:
That's a great question. If that's you, you've got options. A lot of work based retirement plans come with high fees. We can show you options that are a lot more affordable and don't eat away at your retirement savings and investments.

Announcer:
What about if I'm getting close to retirement? Do I still have options?

Erick Arnett:
Yes, and this goes for anybody with an employer based retirement plan. You have more options than you think. Did you know you can roll over some of those funds into an IRA with more favorable investment options and lower fees?

Announcer:
Did not know that.

Erick Arnett:
Now you do. We can help you navigate it all. Just go to TakePointWealth.com and schedule a free no obligation consultation with me today.

Announcer:
That's right. You heard him. Folks head on over to TakePointWealth.com today.

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

Erick Arnett:
Hey everybody. Welcome back to Take Point on Retirement Radio segment two. Thanks so much for being with us today and listening. We're always here for your questions and your phone calls. You can reach out to us at (352) 616-0511. That's (352) 616-0511. I am personally standing by to answer the phone for you. By the way, if you get the voicemail. Uh, leave me a message. I'll call you right back. I'm just on the phone, or I'm on the phone with somebody else at that moment. So, uh, have a little patience with me and leave me a message, and I'll get right back to you, because I notice a lot of people say I'm call and just hang up, you know, because if I don't pick up right away or I'm on the other line, so I know you. If you're calling, you got you have a question, you have something that's concerning you. So just, you know, leave me a voicemail. We were talking in the first segment about estate planning and we had an attorney on last week. And so this is just paramount in my brain because I'm concerned about it. I see just about everybody I come in contact with. I mean, gosh, I would say 95%. But now I think it feels like more like 98% of everybody I see and talk to and meet has has no will or trust or or has one or the other.

Erick Arnett:
They're messed up. They're not right, you know, or they came from a different state, whatever. But super. You know, Sam, I got to tell you this, you know, and for our listeners, Sam helps put together these outlines. So we kind of have a framework to to walk through in the show because Erick tends to talk too much and likes to talk too much. So you got to keep me on track. But this is super cool because we're talking about Aretha Franklin and her will was found. Okay. And what's interesting about this is when I do my website, I do I do workshops, folks, estate planning workshops because I feel this is super important stuff. And in the workshop, one of my slides has pictures of all these stars. Aretha Franklin's on that and she's part of my presentation. And Prince is on there. Michael Jackson's on there. All these folks, they didn't even have a will. Okay, so they were worth millions, millions and millions of dollars and didn't even have a will in place. Can you imagine that for a second? Does that make any sense to you? I mean, Sam, does that make any sense to you that these people of this wealth category, with all these advisors around them and attorneys and agents and all this stuff, never told these people to put a will in place?

Announcer:
Yeah, we've.

Producer:
Talked a little bit about it already on this show, and Sarah was talking about it on last week's episode, which if you didn't get a chance to listen to go to Take Point on retirement.com, or check out our podcast and listen to that episode with Sarah. But you don't have to be wealthy to have a will or a trust, but if you are wealthy, it would be a very good idea to do so, especially if you're someone like an artist or a creator. Where I imagine, Erick, that people will be listening to Aretha Franklin's music and her voice for generations to come. Which means that there's a business there, there's monetary value there. And so Aretha passed away in 2018, and folks, that was five years ago. So the fact that it's just now, half a decade later, starting to be, you know, doled out legally, that takes a long time. And I'd say five years is a long time, but it's not uncommon for everyday folks to deal with two, even three years of probate time in court. Lawyers don't exactly get paid to get a job done. They get paid to work. And so the legal fees can definitely add up if you're if you're stuck in probate for a while. But here's the story with Aretha Franklin. She passed away in 2018. They found a handwritten will in a spiral notebook that was wedged between couch cushions. They found that will just a few months after Aretha passed away. And just last week, we wanted to talk about this on the show with Sarah, but it was such breaking news. We had to sort through the details. But just last week, a jury in Pontiac, Michigan has decided that that will found in the couch cushions is the legal one.

Producer:
And they had to figure this out because there were three informal wills found in her home, and they had to figure out which one of these informal wills just jotted down on a napkin, basically, was going to take precedence over the others. So now we've determined that the will found and the couch is the rightful will. As a result, that four page document is going to guide the multi-million dollar estate and the royalties which will be distributed among her heirs. Now, Aretha has four sons and you can imagine how this played out. You know, one of the wills was a bit more fair. One of the wills was a bit more favorable to one son or the other. And so all of this arguing in these legal battles ensued. But this just goes to show Erick that it is so important. It doesn't take too much time. Get this in place. And it's, you know, a little bit of fee on the front end is going to be nothing compared to what you could pay in probate. And remember, you shared a story. I think it was on last week's show about a business owner in Florida who, you know, died just a little too soon. And and now his wife is struggling to make ends meet because all of the money was tied up in the business. So very, very important to get this thing lined up so that when you do pass away, it's you're right. It's not something we like to talk about, but it is something that's going to happen. And when you do pass away, you want to make sure that that money gets to your loved ones the way that you want.

Erick Arnett:
Yeah. Well said. And this is crazy stuff to me. Can you imagine? Uh, a person of this prominence. Had a will on a legal pad stuffed in a couch somewhere, I mean. And by the way, folks like I will ask to be signed by two witnesses and witnesses and notarized here in the state of Florida to for a judge to consider it. So. What is this? So. So I guess I'll have to take her off my slide, because she was someone that didn't have a will. But they did. She did have a will, you know, she just didn't file it in the best way. It was filed in her couch cushion. But see what, five years of probate. Okay. Because of this? Okay. This is what we're trying to stress here. Probate is a dirty word to me because guess what? Five years. Guess who made a ton of money and basically really tapped into that estate. And that was the attorney fees. Okay. There. And then also, you know, it creates fighting amongst amongst the children, the brothers and everything else. And guess what? You got to sit there and ask yourself, do you want to decide, do you personally want to decide and be in control of what happens to your assets? Or do you want some local judge deciding what happens to your assets? So and by the way, this is just one kind of fun story to talk about. And Sam, you talked about the story or the example that I gave on last week's show.

Erick Arnett:
That was just one example. Like I run into these horror stories all the time, especially when I do these workshops and I'll get 50 or 60 people in the room. And I always hear these crazy horror stories of. You know, because guess what, folks? This is this is this is the one thing you got to keep in mind is a will, which most people think it does, but it doesn't. A will does not avoid probate. Okay. The only. The only thing that avoids probate is a trust. Okay. The trust avoids probate. And we'll talk about the reasons why you need a will and a trust, and maybe just a will or just a trust or both. We can talk about all that, but we have to, you know, that's what I'm talking I was talking about earlier. We just can't make these broad swaths and say, okay, everybody needs a trust. Everybody needs a will. We've got to look at your own individual situation, your assets, how they're titled, where they're at. Are they in IRAs or they're in annuities. Do you have transfer on death? Do you have a backup? Do you have do you have a somebody, a child or whatever already on your deed? I hope you don't. Please don't put your kids on the deed yet and call me and I'll tell you why. (352) 616-0511 if you have your kids on your deed.

Erick Arnett:
We got to talk now. Okay. Um, there's also such a thing as a ladybird deed. And I used to think this was kind of a pretty cool tool. But if you have more than one beneficiary or more than one child, or, you know, more than one person that you're leaving your property to, I don't recommend this. I think it's important that you have a trust. Okay. So. If you own property. Listen. I'm not. I'm going to confess, you know, I'm not some ultra high net worth wealthy person, okay? But I have some assets. I have some properties. I have some different accounts. I have a trust, okay? And I have a will. I have durable powers of attorney for my wife and I. I have a living will. I have a health surrogate in place, which is my power of attorney for health decisions. This is the basic package. You have to have this, folks. Like it's so, so important because if you don't, yes, you know what? You're going to be dead and gone and. You may. You probably at that point won't care too much about what's going on on here on Earth. Right? But you're going to leave your family in this really difficult position turmoil. And I've seen it, you know, in that one horror story, I talked about this one lady, you know, the bulk of their money was tied up in a home. Okay, now imagine this. Your husband.

Erick Arnett:
Kind of passes. You know, passes away. Young. And the the almost $2 million home. And by the way, the wife didn't work. You know, he was the main breadwinner and owned a business. Two businesses. The wife of, I think 30 some odd years they were married. Kid. Two kids, wonderful kids. Um. Didn't even didn't even own the home. She she was living in a home that she didn't even own. Okay, so she's in a $2 million house, can't sell it, you know, can't do anything. She had they had those two businesses. She couldn't own them. She couldn't make any decisions legally. So it took her two and a half years of probate. Because guess what? When you when we talk about these statistics, we're 95, 98% of people don't have a will or a trust. Guess what? The probate courts are full. Their docket is full. It's not like they're getting to your case anytime soon. So number one, you've got that to deal with where your case is just going to sit on the judge's desk for years. And number two, you've got all these creditors, you've got liability issues, and you have family members that are going to step up and can challenge the will and probate. And that's what happened with Aretha Franklin, is you get 3 or 4 sons and none of them agree. So they're fighting it, fighting. Right. And so eventually a judge has to come in and make a decision.

Erick Arnett:
Okay, who knows if that last will she put together was the one that she really wanted to? Or maybe she was just in a mood that day. Who knows. Right. Um, and so one of the kids or two of the kids were left at more of a disadvantage. The other, I guess, when this all panned out. But this is, you know, this is crazy stuff that's super interesting to me. But, um, so call me to get that book Living Trust for everyone. I think everybody needs a copy of that. Read that book. You can call me at (352) 616-0511. I'll mail it right out to you. And. I don't want to talk about it. And then and let's talk about it. So this is purely education. I want to guide you through that. But you can have the best okay. You could be out there listening right now, Sam. And they could have the best retirement plan on the planet. Right? I mean, they're saying you crushed it and you work. Maybe you're working with another advisor and they've done a great job for you, or you've done it on your own, whatever. And you got a solid plan in place. But guess what? You can have the best plan in place in your and you're doing well with your money. But if you don't have that estate plan in place, guess what? It might be all for nothing because we're talking about. I've seen where I was.

Erick Arnett:
I was working with a gentleman about a year or two ago. His mom passed away. He was he was the there was two boys. There was there are adults. They're in their 60s. But, um. Mom passed away and it took this gentleman. I think it was two and a half years. To get the assets that were due to him, that his mom left him because the attorney. You know, they have a lot of work. I mean, I'm not beating up attorneys. I mean, these guys just have a lot of work on their desk. I mean, they've they're working a lot of cases because nobody has properly planned. And they love that. I mean, you know, so more power to them. But they're busy. And so they're not just going to be able to come in and rapidly close your case like that and you're done and everything's hunky dory. And there could be a lot of fees. There could be taxes to pay. I mean, all this kind of stuff so super, super important that the wealth transfer is thought about and thought about very methodically. I mean, there's even ways we've talked about like the Roth IRA, we've talked about life insurance, incorporating these things into your retirement plan. There are great ways to efficiently. Efficiently, cost effectively. Pass your money on to your heirs, your wife, your spouse. Think about your partner or your spouse. You know, it's like. Leaving them in that kind of situation.

Erick Arnett:
Uh, you know, I was.

Erick Arnett:
Actually guilty of this for a while, to be honest with you, a true confession. Sure. I am on the radio talking about all this stuff and preaching. Right. But, um, you know, I was remarried about three years ago, and just being the busy guy that I am, helping people and working every day in my practice, it was it was in the back of my mind. I was like constantly. I was like, gotta get this done. I got I had to redo my whole state plan. Right. And from from soup to nuts, everything, you know, my trusts, my wills, everything was invalid at that point. I had to redo everything and make sure the ownership of the assets was proper. And I put, you know, I, I put it off, I procrastinated. And I was lucky that something didn't happen to me in that timeframe, because it would have been a daunting and expensive task to get the assets transferred to my wife properly. And so there's I know there's a lot of people out there listening that need this done. And so I'm compelling you to let's get going on it. Let's let's get moving. But, you know, it kept me up at night. Thinking about. Because I knew all the horror stories working in this profession. It kept me up at night to think, oh my gosh, like, I got to get this done because I don't want my wife to have to go through this, you know? And so finally got it done.

Erick Arnett:
And I feel so much better. It's like a relief. It's a total relief that I have that done. And I know when my head hits the pillow at night, if something is to happen to me, my family is all set, all taken care of. Attorneys. Aren't going to be butting in and getting their hands into it. Judges aren't going to be deciding what happens. My wife is going to be in control. Okay. And so you got to get the control and you've got to own it. And so. The first step is just giving us a call. We'll put it all together for you. We'll do the work for you. It doesn't have to be a difficult thing, a a long, timely thing. But give us a call. 352616. 0511. Or you can go to my website TakePointWealth.com. Upper right hand corner. Just put in there. Hey Erick, give me a call. Like I got to get this done and I'll call you and we'll get on it and we'll do it for you. We'll get it all done for you. And I'm telling you, it's it's spend, like you said early. Spend a little money now. And by the way, what we're doing, what we're offering is like a huge savings compared to what you would do it out on the street with a with a local attorney or whatever. And I love our local attorneys, don't get me wrong.

Erick Arnett:
But we found a way to save our clients a lot of money, and so we're excited about that. But give us a call so we can get going on this because, you know, you could be a rock and roll star when it comes to managing investments and stuff, and you're just crushing it. But if you don't have that estate plan in place, it's all for nothing, folks. It's all for nothing. So not to bore you anymore with that. And we could talk about story after story after story and and but, you know, schedule your complimentary free financial retirement consultation and give me a call. Let's get going. And the number one thing that we're going to start with, folks, before we even get to Social Security timing, before we even get into income planning, before we even get into risk. If you're doing a financial plan or you're working with a financial planner, or you're working with an investment advisor or a broker or an insurance guy, I don't care where your money is at or who you're working with, or what kind of model you're in. Business model. If they haven't talked to you about estate planning, then you owe it to yourself to to give us a call so we can get on that for you. So please, please give us a call. Let's get your estate planning. Go. Also, call us for that free book. Living trust are for everyone. Super super important.

Producer:
It's a great cost cutting idea to go ahead and get in touch with the folks at Take Point Wealth and get started on that. Save some money or save some headaches. You don't want to spend years in probate. You definitely don't want your family to be doing that after you're gone. But we want to take a look at some other ways to save money when it comes to people's retirement and the end of life expenses. And taking a look at expense ratios, which is simply, you know, what are you paying to have your money looked after? What are the total amounts of fees that are going on? A lot of these companies, you know, we've we've talked before, Erick, you know, they don't build those skyscrapers with their names on them by being nice. There's some fees in there that help them accomplish those great feats. So what are some other ways that people can save some money? I know that there are certain asset classes, like bonds that can sometimes be piled with fees.

Erick Arnett:
Yeah. No. Awesome. I mean, let's let's keep hammering this home. I'm like, we got to save our we got to save our retirees money. And one of the silent killers that we talk about all the time is fees, fees, fees, fees. You have to know what you're paying in fees, folks. You got to know what your expense ratio is. And I don't want to hear I don't pay any fees. Erick. Yes, you do pay fees, okay? Nobody's doing this for free. Even if you're doing it yourself. Then you have an ETF and you're managing your own money. You have costs, you have fees, you have expenses. So we will do a free expense report for you. An x ray will pull out all the expenses, no matter what type of investment you're in. If you're in a variable annuity indexed annuity, if you're in an investment management portfolio, you're just a bond guy, by the way. There's a lot of inefficiency in bonds, a lot of mark up in bonds. Everybody thinks, oh, these are super safe and there's no fees. No. Guess what? They're taking fees and commissions. Whether, you know, let me explain to you how that works. Give me a call. I'll do a complete analysis on what you're doing.

Erick Arnett:
If you're if you're in a managed portfolio where someone's managing your assets, do you know what you're paying in fees? And there's a there's an investment model out there that I don't follow, but it's kind of the brokerage model. Guess what. Brokers Finra broker models, they can they can charge you a management fee and the funds that they're using mutual funds internally also have their fees. So you can be paying as high as two, 3% in expenses and not even know it. Okay. And so this is a silent killer on your retirement if you're, you know, think about it. If I could just save you 1%, 1.5%, which may not seem like a lot to you, right. But that multiplied over a five, ten, 15, 20 year time horizon. You could potentially be talking about hundreds of thousands of dollars in savings. Okay. And so we've designed what we think is a really market efficient strategy and a fee efficient strategy. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say, if you if you give us a call and I do this analysis, I'm going to show you how we can cut your fees pretty much in half.

Erick Arnett:
Okay. Maybe more than half. Okay. So not giving too much away, but you know, talking about the traditional 60 over 40 portfolio, that traditional 60 over 40 portfolio that everybody out there is probably in right now, if you're close to retirement, 60% in stocks, 40% in bonds. Okay. Well, let's talk about that portfolio and what that portfolio did last year. That portfolio was down a -9% last year. I'm just looking at IFA index chart where it takes in all the 60, all the indexes that are out there and stock market, all the indexes, the bond market. It says if it's a great barometer to kind of put your portfolio up against. But, you know, in the universal portfolio, 60 over 40 stocks was down 9% last year. So how did that work out for you? And by the way, you are paying fees on those bonds that were getting hammered. So we have a strategy to eliminate that. And I'd love to share it with you. So that traditional 60 over 40 portfolio just isn't going to work for you anymore. We have what we call the smart portfolio where it has smart risk. Yes, you still have to have a percent of your assets.

Erick Arnett:
In a in.

Erick Arnett:
A in a risk adjusted portfolio. That's going to you know. Get some higher returns and kind of beat inflation. But you also need the safe, the smart, safe part of your portfolio. Right. That other 40%. So we do rule 100. We subtract your age. If you're 60, you know you should have only about 40% in stocks at about 60% in safe money fixed income type assets utilizing indexed annuities or annuities to create a pension, a guaranteed income. Let me help you educate you on annuities. I have a I have a great book called annuity 360, by the way. I'll give that to you for free too if you give me a call. But we need to talk about how your smart side of your portfolio or the safe side of your portfolio is actually truly safe and guaranteed and can't lose value. Okay, so if you are in, you know, that 6040 portfolio last year you lost money. Yeah. And this year if you're in the 6040 portfolio still the markets are doing pretty well. And they rebound nicely. But that 40 that the percentage that you have in bonds is dragging you down like an anchor. It's like a it's like a noose around your neck. You're not going to get above water with it. So we've got to talk about ways to strategize and eliminate that. Listen historically okay. The 6040 portfolio going back all the way in time.

Erick Arnett:
If you had a 60 over 40 portfolio, it's only averaged about 8% after fees and expenses. But you had to take almost a 10% standard deviation risk to get that. What that means is you you could have some years with negative returns and now you're in the retirement red zone. You cannot have negative returns, especially with your safe money. We've got to look at what your income needs are so you don't run out of money. And we had to sure that up first with a smart safe plan. And it's not utilizing bonds. Folks, I hate to tell you, yes, bonds have a certain need and a certain they do serve a certain purpose in portfolios, but the bonds are still risky. And that's on the risk side of the equation, not the safe side of the equation. So our Smart plan has smart risk and smart safe money. And you owe it to yourself to give us a call and and we'll, we'll we'll walk you through it. We'll show you how we do it and why it works, and why we feel so passionate and adamant about it. That traditional old 6040 portfolio just isn't going to work for you anymore. Give us a call (352) 616-0511 or go to TakePointWealth.com in that upper right hand corner. And just put in the notes and say, Erick, I think I have a 60 over 40 portfolio. What do I do.

Erick Arnett:
And we'll take it from there. And I'll give you a call. We'll start chatting and it will help you out. But super passionate, super adamant about this folks. I've been doing this 25 years, okay? I've seen it all. But in all aspects of the business, that 60 over 40 portfolio just isn't going to work for you when you're in that retirement red zone. Just wrapping up here. I hope you enjoyed the show. I think we had some pretty good cost savings for retirees, which is super important because I know how expensive things are and how things are really, you know, eating into into your savings and into your expenses. And I know how challenging it is, especially here in Florida right now. Everything's going up. Insurance is everything. So we had some good cost cutters today. But guess what, folks, you got to call me so we can put these in place and get going on them. So we ran out of time. It was an hour long show. And I feel like, you know, we didn't cover a whole lot, but we got some good stuff out there and we got to wrap up, folks. And it's so great being with here with you here today. Enjoy your weekend. But give me a call this weekend. (352) 616-0511 so we can get you started on that freedom plan, that retirement red zone plan and cut your costs.

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. Take point on retirement.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:
Remember, all of Erick's listeners receive a free financial consultation just for listening to the show. Visit Take Point on retirement.com to learn more and schedule an appointment. Thanks for listening to Take Point on Retirement and subscribing wherever you listen to podcasts.

Producer:
At Techpoint 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 planning for your financial future, trust Erick Arnett and his team of experts who have been helping individuals, families and business owners find financial freedom at their veteran owned firm for more than 20 years. Let us help you protect and grow what you've worked so hard for. Schedule a 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 bonuses if the contract is fully surrendered, or if traditional annuitization payments are taken, and if the policy is partially surrendered, it could result in a partial loss of bonuses. Because these are bonus annuities, they may include higher surrender charges, longer surrender charge periods, lower caps, higher spreads, or other restrictions that are not included in similar annuities that don't offer a bonus feature.

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