Ten Steps You Can Take to Retire in Ten Years or Less

Erick and Jacob walk listeners through the ten essential steps you should take as you prepare for retirement. If you want to retire in the next ten years, it’s important that you meet with licensed professionals who can help you protect and grow your hard-earned retirement savings.

Call Erick today at 352-616-0511

Book a free consultation here.

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

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

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

Erick Arnett:
Hey, everybody, welcome to Take Point on Retirement Radio. So glad to be with you here today. Happy weekend folks. To all my retirement warriors out there. So glad you're listening today we have an awesome show today. A lot of stuff to get through. Really not enough time, but we're going to do our best. We're going to be talking today about the ten steps to get you ready for retirement. So helping you on the path to a winning retirement. This show is all for you. It's all about you. It's an educational show. Or we're standing by every day to take your phone calls. So if something jumps out at you, you've got some questions, you got some concerns. Please feel free to give us a shout at (352) 616-0511. And you know what? You can also just take out your little smartphone and you can Google take point wealth or take point on retirement. We'll come right up on your phone, our website and you can upper right hand corner. You can just click that little button and you'll get right on my calendar for a 30 minute chat session. Or we will just, you know, answer your specific questions and concerns. So got a great show today. Also have some great folks on the radio today with us as well. We've got Jacob Arnett who is our health care specialist with Medicare and insurance. So it's great to have Jacob with us today. Jake, how are you doing, man?

Jacob:
Good, good. So good to be here. I always love coming on and, um, really excited for today's show. We got some good stuff to talk about. It'll be a great overview. Um, you know, all those general retirement topics. And, you know, I'd be very surprised if, uh, if there's any listeners out there that something that we talk about today doesn't apply to them. So super excited.

Erick Arnett:
Yeah. We're going to try to get to it. I mean obviously like rising health care costs Medicare cost premiums. Super, super important. Listen, folks, just a quick shout out to everybody. Just want to say thank you so much. Up and down the Nature Coast, the Gulf Coast or all the way down to Sarasota, Tampa Bay. If there's something that jumps out at you today and you've got some questions or concerns, please give us a call or get on our calendar. But if you miss something, guess what? We all we have a podcast channel as well. So you can go to any podcast, uh, supplier, all your podcast apps on your app, on your iPhone and just Google us and we'll come right up. Or you can actually go to take point on retirement.com. That's take point on retirement.com. And all of our past shows and podcasts are on there. We have a whole library library of years of podcasts on there. So that's a great tool, great resource. If you've got some time and you want to listen to some podcasts, go ahead and jump on there. We're also developing that YouTube channel. So if you like YouTube and video, this show, this podcast will actually be right on YouTube channel.

Erick Arnett:
Please check us out there and don't hesitate to call us with your questions. We love, love, love helping our listeners. So with that all being said, you know, we we'd love to meet you and discuss how we can help reach your retirement goals. Building plans for our listeners is what we do. We do it all day long and we help people relaunch and not just retire. So it's called the Take Point Tactical Freedom Plan. It's a proprietary plan. Uh, we've been doing this for a long, long time. I've been in the business 25 years, been serving Hernando County, Pasco and Citrus County for just about the same amount of time. So we're here for you. We're your local team and ready to get you to and through retirement. So with that all being said, super fun always. You know, we come up with these quotes. Uh, I wanted to say hi to Mister Sam Davis, our DJ extraordinaire. Sam is our producer and always kind of keeps us in line. And Sam, it's great to have you here today. And I love, love, love when you read that quote of the week.

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

Producer:
This week's quote is from Michael Jordan and it says, obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it. And man, I love this quote guys. It definitely embodies the type of competitor and the type of attitude that Michael Jordan had in his career, but I think we can all take it as inspiration and how we go about our everyday lives.

Erick Arnett:
Mj. Big fan of Michael Jordan, no doubt about it. In my mind. The best basketball player, best sportsman, uh, best athlete that's ever played in the NBA. If you want to debate that, go ahead and give me a phone call. I'd be happy to chat with you about that. (352) 616-0511 now I am a Larry Bird fan too, because I grew up in Boston. So however, I got to give props where props are due. You didn't like it when MJ used to beat us every once in a while, but um, just awesome. Awesome player and competitor. Um, I actually had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Jordan and just a fantastic laid back individual, super nice guy. And, uh, you know, just an amazing all around individual. So but, you know, I look at this quote, if we can relate it to folks out there listening to the show today, you know, and we relate it to retirement planning and coming up with that good strategy, that good tactical plan to get you two and three retirement. I know there's a lot of people out there right now. You know, they may be feeling defeated. You know, maybe they feel like they're behind. They didn't save enough or they're confused. They don't know where to turn. You know, I don't know where I should be investing my money, who I should be investing it with. You know, what are my first steps? Where do I take money from if I've got several buckets of money, you know, do I, uh, how do I avoid or eliminate or reduce if I can, taxes? You know, all of those questions.

Erick Arnett:
And I think, you know, we hear quite often when people call off the show, you know, hey, Erick, you know, I think I'm behind here and I'm feeling a little bit defeated. If that's you. Listen, it's never too late. You know, we work with folks in their 80s 70s 60s 50s. You know, we work with all ages, and it's never too late to do something to optimize and improve your retirement plan. You know, it's it's a living, breathing plan. It's it's a strategy. You've got to be looking at it on a, on an annual basis. You can't just set it and forget it, folks. You got to get you got to be active. You got to take control of your plan, take control of your money. And you've also got to hire a good teammate. You got to put an advisor by your side, a teammate, you know, a third party that's going to help guide you and, you know, help you through that those times and get you two and three retirement. So if you're out there right now and you're listening and you're feeling down or defeated and like, hey, I don't know if retirement's even attainable, give us a call. We'd love to help you out. That's our passion. That's what we love to do every day. You know, we're here to help you.

Erick Arnett:
It may be it may just it may be adding a life insurance policy to your to your plan, you know, to cover, uh, your loved ones. You know, it may be a long term care policy because you're living alone here in Florida, and you're not quite sure if you're going to have the money to take care of yourself or if someone you don't have a caregiver, you know, that type of thing. Um, I know there's a lot of folks out there that just have some questions, you know, estate planning. Maybe you don't have a will or a trust. We can get that done for you as well. You know, what are my Medicare costs going to be? Jacob's going to talk a little bit about that later on. Medicare, Social Security, all of those things can be very confusing and difficult to navigate. That's why take point on retirement is here for you. That's why we do this show. That's why we stand by for your call today at (352) 616-0511. That's (352) 616-0511. Or just go to take point wealth.com and that upper right hand corner you can just click and that little that little green button and get right on my calendar. You can also answer some ask me some questions in there. So you know, any question that you have that there's no question that, uh, isn't you know, a lot of people say this might be a stupid question. There are no stupid questions. This show's all for you.

Erick Arnett:
So give us a shout. (352) 616-0511. So, Jake, let's jump into it, man. We got a lot to do here. Uh, ten steps to get ready for retirement in ten years or less, you know, do do if you're out there listening right now, I mean, do you really know more than your doctor, your lawyer or your home contractor? Uh, just as you trust other experts in these very important situations, we believe nothing replaces a capable financial advisor. You know, a lot of times we show people that you can have a financial advisor working right beside you by your side, helping guide you, and it's probably not even going to cost you any more than what you're trying to do on your own. Or, you know, and by the way, if you're with another brokerage firm or you know, you're with another advisory team or whatever, you don't feel like you're getting the attention that you deserve. Uh, maybe you feel like you might be paying too much in fees, you know, let's get a second set of eyes on that, and let's look at it and see if we can do things to optimize things. Because one thing that we're always, always concentrating on here on take. Point is one, we're looking to reduce fees, right? We've got to reduce fees. Those. Those are the silent killers. And there's a lot of hidden fees and investments. So it's super important to put those under an x ray and extract all those.

Erick Arnett:
And we can do that for you free of charge. We'll do it. We'll do an x ray on your annuity. We'll do an x ray on your investment portfolio. And we'll pull out and show you all the expenses that you're paying. And how is that hindering you to long term success. You know, uh, taxes, right. Uh, taxes are also the silent killer. And then risk we've got to manage risk. This is one thing that is so overlooked today is people are taking way too much risk for the returns that they're getting. So we'll show you on a simple one page report. What is your risk and what kind of returns are you getting for that risk. So it's super important to let's try to dial that risk down as best we can and still achieve your goals. Let's try to dial down the fees. And then let's try to get you in a very tax advantageous or tax sensitive game plan. And if we can if we can improve on those three things, you're talking about adding one, two, 3%, you know, over time to your portfolio and over a ten, 20, 30 year period, we'll show you where that makes a big, big, big difference. So, uh, you know, so if you find yourself ten years or less away from retirement today, we're sharing ten steps that you should take to give yourself and your family the best retirement possible. Jake, I'm getting tired. Take number one, man.

Jacob:
First step in our ten steps today is, you know, I'm sure everyone's heard this a lot. It's maybe become a little bit of a cliche, but it's important. It's diversify for growth. It's so important to be diversified. So, you know, have you ever heard the saying don't put all your eggs in one basket? You know, diversification is a way to reduce the investment risk by spreading the investments across different asset classes. Um, so arranging your portfolio this way reduces the impact of a decline in any single investment class. You know, even when the market goes up or down, the entire market doesn't go up or down. There's certain sectors and segments of the market that go up or down or are affected by certain, um, world events that other segments of the market are not. So it's great if you're my age, you know, you're saving for retirement at a young age. You know, S&P 500. It's awesome. But as you get closer to retirement, it's so important to make sure that you're diversified so that you are protected from any downward swings in the market. So obviously, you know, dependent on your situations. There's so many different ways we can do that. Um, and it really depends on your situation and what your goals are. But, you know, smart investing involves so much more than just stocks and bonds. Every asset class has different risk and return characteristics, and diversification will help to stabilize your returns and shield you from market volatility in those specific areas. So first on our list today diversify for growth.

Erick Arnett:
Thanks, Jake. And yeah, one of the things that we do when you call today you call take point wealth today at 35261605113526160511. We'll go to work for you today. All we need to get is a copy of your current statement. We'll take that statement and we'll put it under our portfolio x ray. And that's going to extract some data. And it's going to show you how well are you diversified. You know we have a correlation matrix that we look at. And so just like Jake said you got to be diversified. You know I look at it like a fruit basket right? A lot of times clients come to me and we do this report and they may have tons of funds, you know, scattered. They got 16 different mutual funds or 30 ETFs. They got some stocks, you know, and they think they're diversified just because they have a lot of different investments. But what our reporting shows us when we pull out this data is they have a lot of like kind investments. They have a lot of what we call overlap. You know, they might have five funds, but those funds are all holding the same securities or same stocks. So you have a high concentration in maybe one sector or one industry. And guess what? Just like Jacob said, money is always moving.

Erick Arnett:
Money never comes completely out of the markets. And when we say markets, we got you got to remember it's not just the stock market. When we say markets, we mean markets in general. There's multiple markets, right? So you have the stock market, the bond market, you have the commodity market, you have real estate market. And inside of those you have asset classes. You have small companies, mid companies, large companies, international companies. Right. And all of these different investments will perform differently at any given time wherever we're at in the economic cycle. So you could be holding a portfolio that's highly concentrated in one particular sector, industry or stock. And if that stock is out of favor, if that sector is out of favor and the other sectors are doing well, then guess what? You're just sitting in kind of like a dead asset, right? So that's why diversification is so important. You don't want to be overloaded on just one asset class. And what we'll show you, we've got this really cool chart. We'll show you when you call us. And we set up an appointment. (352) 616-0511. By the way, give us a call. We'll get to work for you. We'll show you this correlation matrix how your investments look. And that's risk folks. If you have too much correlation you have too much in one asset class or too much in one security.

Erick Arnett:
Uh, you know, that's risk. You know, because, uh, you know, let's say large cap stocks are the big winner this year. Next year they might be the big loser. But what we show you is if you have a well diversified portfolio of multiple asset classes, multiple sectors, stocks, bonds, annuities, commodities, we might even have some gold in there, some real estate. You know, if you have that kind of portfolio, you will weather all storms over time because money is always moving somewhere. So if stocks are out of favor, guess what? The money's going somewhere else. It's going to another asset class. Right? So the money's always in motion always moving. And it tends to move in trends and it tends to have momentum. And so. It's important to have that tactical portfolio where you're able to tweak the buttons a little bit and move with those trends. That's called active wealth management. Okay. That's the big difference between what take point wealth management does versus a lot of the other, you know, providers out there. 95% of the world is in a passive portfolio. It's just, you know, they've kind of got these multiple investments. They kind of set it and forget it. And you know they think they're diversified because they got 16 different funds or whatever it is.

Erick Arnett:
And they're just kind of hoping for the best. Well, and then folks wonder like why am I not performing? Why is my portfolio not performing? Well? It's because you might have too much in one sector that just dead right now. So really, really important to have that diversification looked at. So diversify for growth. You know, I would say one of the most important things that you need in retirement and to be thinking about if you're starting to plan for retirement. So let's jump to the next one. I don't even know if we're going to get through all these today, Jake. We got to eliminate that right? So obviously we want to work hard on eliminating debt, okay? Debt erodes your savings. It hinders your retirement efforts because of the compounding interest working against you. Do everything you can to eliminate your debt, including your family home mortgage. Avoid making that minimum payment. That's what the lender wants you to do, by the way. They just want you to keep making that minimum so they can make their interest, and they'll know that you'll never have that debt paid off. And so by paying off your debts early, you're paying yourself first and improving your financial well-being for the long term.

Jacob:
And I might add, there definitely helps you sleep a little bit better at night, too. Can't quantify that aspect of it. But, you know, obviously this is a little bit simpler of a of a concept than diversify. So we won't need to spend as much time on it. But does it mean it's any less important.

Erick Arnett:
Yeah.

Erick Arnett:
And the big question that I always get, Jake, you know, when we're doing our planning and I know you hear this a lot from our clients too, is this is a very, very common question. And I'm sure a lot of folks out there listening are wondering the same thing. You know, should I pay off my mortgage? Um, so let us do that evaluation for you. Okay. It's not as simple as just saying, oh, yeah, I want to get aggressive and pay off my mortgage because I want to be able to sleep better at night knowing that I don't have this mortgage payment. It's not simple, and it's been pounded into our head over time through conventional wisdom since the time we were born that, you know, you want to have a you want to have no debt by the time you retire, you want to have a mortgage by the time you retire. Right? But what we're finding is it's more challenging today for retirees, you know, especially folks moving to Florida. You know, that we're finding that home prices are much more expensive than they once were. So it's really important, you know, what is your rate? You know, what rate do you have. Um, do you have some cash laying around? You know, where you might have the opportunity to pay down the debt, but give us a call first, because in some instances, the question, the answer is going to be no, don't pay off that mortgage, you know? So I get that all the time.

Erick Arnett:
I got $100,000 sitting in the bank. You know, I want to just go ahead and pay off my mortgage. Wait a second, wait a second. That's really good liquidity. That's great power. With that cash you have in hand, it might not be the best idea just to put it all inside your home. And now your, you know, your home rich and cash poor. Okay, so we got to be careful of that. It's a big part of our planning. And maybe your interest rate is if you got your mortgage a few years back, you might be at 2 or 3%. Guess what, folks? That's like almost having free money. You're never going to be able to get those kind of rates again. So don't take a big chunk of money and pay off that mortgage where you could take that money and potentially invest it and earn more on it. And so don't be so concerned with getting that mortgage paid off unless it's, you know, very if it's unhealthy debt, you know, if you've got an interest rate that's much, much higher than inflation or much, much higher than what you're getting for average returns on your investments, then yeah, it might make sense, but.

Erick Arnett:
I would much.

Erick Arnett:
Rather you take that $100,000 that you have sitting in savings, and use that money to pay taxes and converting our IRAs to Roth IRAs. Okay. And we're going to talk a little bit about that later on. I hope, if we can get to it on the show. But let's get you into a tax free situation at some point down the road where we don't have to worry about high taxes that we know are probably coming. So just, you know, just some other food for thought. But don't just be so quick to write that check and pay off that mortgage. Give us a call first. Let's talk about it. Let's go through it. Let's build out a retirement plan for you and a true analysis. And then we can come to a determination whether it makes sense for you to do that.

Erick Arnett:
Yeah.

Jacob:
Absolutely. Good. Good points. Erick. Um, next on our list, number three today we have maximize your retirement contributions. Right. Sounds simple. We've all heard that. Right. But saving money in your retirement accounts now will set you up for success in those golden years. So to whatever extent it's possible with your budget, do your best to maximize your contribution amounts into those retirement accounts. It will make such a big difference down the road over ten, 20, 30, 40 years wherever you're at in your retirement savings. Um, that power, a compound interest that we talk about all the time, is so important. And, you know, uh, currently, the maximum annual contribution for an individual retirement account or an IRA is sitting at $7,000. Um, you know, some people like to say, okay, I'm going to put, you know, X amount in every month or some people like to make, you know, a big contribution at the end of the year around tax time, whatever it may be, but try to max those out. Um, and if you're over, um, 50, a lot of people might not know there is something called a catch up contribution. And you can contribute $8,000 currently to those IRA accounts. Um, if we're talking about 401 K's, the current contribution limit is 23,000. Right. So and if you're getting an employer match, you know, uh, three, 4 or 5% whatever your employer is providing you, you really want to make sure you're contributing enough to take advantage of that match. Um, you know, the match is free money that can basically double your investing power. I mean, think about how powerful, um, you know, that could be. So maximize those retirement contributions that might, you know, you might want to go go out to that nice dinner or buy that new car watch or whatever situation is. But, hey, maybe let's let's tighten up and let's get those hit those limits every year that we can.

Erick Arnett:
So yeah. And that's and.

Erick Arnett:
That's what kind of what we were talking about earlier. It's it's never too late to save something. Right. Every little bit that you save is going to help. So don't feel like oh it's too late for me, you know, let's get take advantage of that. And what I always tell folks is, you know, kind of what Jacob was alluding to is, you know, first and foremost, determine what your employer is going to match and please take advantage of that.

Erick Arnett:
Up to that match amount.

Erick Arnett:
But it's super important, I think, to get a second set of eyes and a second opinion. It's not going to cost you anything. If you call us today off the radio show, we're going to give you 100% complete free advice, going to help you, uh, you know, determine whether it makes sense to how much to put into your corporate plan, because what I don't want to happen is you to create an even bigger tax bubble for yourself down the road. And that's one of the things that, you know, Uncle Sam isn't going to come out and tell you like, hey, in fact, they are the ones that invented the 401 K. They're not going to say, hey, you know, go ahead and, um, maybe set up a Roth outside of your plan so we can strategically build your tax free bucket so you don't get to retirement and all your money is tied up in a tax deferred account where Uncle Sam knows it, can grab it and tax it. Uh, I think we said this on the last show, but it just throws is mind boggling to me. And staggering is that there's over 90 some odd trillion dollars in just the baby boomers retirement accounts. So all of that money is tied up in IRAs and 401 s that the government knows that they can tax. Right. So there are it's not too late. You can still do Roth. You can do Roth conversions. So if you don't know what that is, please give us a call (352) 616-0511. There's some things that we can do. And I like to get to people early in their younger years. If you're in your 50s we can make a big, big, big difference. So don't just max out that 401 K. Give us a call. Let's talk about it. Let's be more strategic about it.

Erick Arnett:
Yep.

Jacob:
Absolutely great points. Yeah. And there we've seen it. Um, you know, quite a few times recently haven't we, where you know, this couple did amazing. And they got to, they got to retirement and they have 90% of their, um, you know, portfolio and retirement accounts. And now they have a huge tax problem in retirement. So that's a great point. Thank you for clearing that. Find that Erick. Um, you know that does take a look at things carefully. Get some advice. Give us a call. Your situation may require something a little different.

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

Producer:
So you know where you are now and where you want to be in retirement. So how do you plan to get there? I'm Matt McClure with the Retirement Radio Network, powered by AmeriLife.

Jack:
Do you have any other questions for me? Counselor, there.

Producer:
Are a lot of questions to ask yourself when you start your retirement plan. Questions like when should I retire? How much money will I need? When should I claim Social Security? What about health care costs and taxes in retirement? This complicated puzzle means you're probably going to need some help coming up with a smart retirement plan.

Ford Stokes:
If you want to retire successfully, you really need to plan early. You know Inspectorj expect and get prepared. Putting a plan in place now while you're still working is a great idea.

Producer:
Ford Stokes is founder and president of Active Wealth Management. Once you find a financial professional you want to work with, they can help you answer all the questions you may have.

Ford Stokes:
Back to what Warren Buffett said, if you don't find a way to make money while you sleep, you're going to work until you die. So we need to do everything we can to figure out a way to make money while we're sleeping. We talk about this human capital versus actual capital. When you're young, you have a lot of human capital. You've got a lot of left, a lot of room left, a lot of capital left in your career. Right? But at the same time, a lot of people that are older, let's say you're 65, 70 years old, you don't have a lot of human capital left, but you should have a lot of capital that is making money while you sleep. And if you don't, then you didn't make the right decisions.

Producer:
There are also some retirement costs you may not have considered yet. Long term care. For example, did you know it's not covered by Medicare? What about home renovations? If you decide to stay in your home instead of moving into a facility, your home might need some updates to ensure you're safe and comfortable. And those are just the tip of the iceberg. So do you have a fiduciary, financial advisor, or professional to help you wade through the complicated retirement planning process? That is a key question to consider if you want to make the most of your hard earned money with a retirement radio network powered by AmeriLife. I'm Matt McClure.

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

Erick Arnett:
Hey, welcome back to Take Point on Retirement Radio. So glad you're here with us this weekend. Super, super excited for all our retirement warriors to be here. We're continuing our discussion about the ten things that you can do to start to prepare for retirement. I think we're on topic number four. So you know, this one probably I would say one of the most important ones, right. So number four, maximizing your retirement income. You've got to solve for x. We call it solve for income. You know we got to look at your budget. What are your expenses now. What are they going to be in retirement. What's your lifestyle look like. So how much are we going to need. What are your guaranteed income sources? And then is there a gap there? Like maybe there's an income gap, maybe we, you know, we're bringing in $5,000 a month in guaranteed pensions and Social Security's IRA, you know, IRAs or whatever you're getting income in retirement for. And but there's a shortfall because it's really costing you $8,000 a month to live. So we got a $3,000 shortfall. We've got to create a plan that's going to fill that gap and create income for you for your lifetime, right? Not just today, not tomorrow, not for next year. You know, this this is the thing that's so, so important. The number one thing that retirees tell us when they get polled is I don't I'm very fearful of running out of money in retirement.

Erick Arnett:
So we can create your own personal pension. It's a great strategy. If you don't know, you know what that means exactly. You owe it to yourself to give us a call. (352) 616-0511. That's (352) 616-0511. Let's show you how to maximize your retirement income and create your own personal pension, where you will not run out of income for your entire life. Guaranteed income guaranteed to drop it in the mailbox every month or every week whenever you need it. Super, super important that we have that cash flow. You deserve somebody to be paying you. You've worked hard. You've saved up that money. Now let somebody pay you and give you a nice income stream. And it's important. There's a lot of strategies there. There's a lot of misconceptions. How do I do it. And so we think that we have one of the better kind of strategies for that. So we hope you give us a call today at Take Point Wealth Management. (352) 616-0511. Gotta maximize your retirement income. Jake, this is the number one thing that we have trouble with, right? So we just got to be honest with our audience and our retirement warriors out there. This is the one that is the most difficult for people to really grasp, right? Or it's just hard conversation to have. Uh, it takes discipline, but plan for your retirement expenses. You've got to create a detailed budget. I know that's a dirty word. We don't like the word budget, do we, Jake?

Jacob:
No we don't. And, um, unfortunately, most people overestimate, uh, what they'll need, and they underestimate what they're spending. So very common. The detailed budget. You need to have it track for one year. You know, right now, track every expense, every dollar you spend. Add that up at the end of the year. What am I spending? And then look into the future. What future expenses will come in retirement that I don't have. Now add that in because we can't solve for the income problem. What you'll need an income if we don't have a detailed budget. So absolutely. That wraps in with the last point we made. Um, very important.

Erick Arnett:
Yeah.

Erick Arnett:
And I don't want to beat people up here because, you know, I know a lot of our listeners out there right now, they're like, uh, yeah, we don't have a budget. And guess what, folks? 95% of the folks that come in and see us and sit down with us and say, hey, we need you to help us build out our retirement plan. The first thing I asked them is, what are you doing in retirement? What is retirement look like to you? How much money are you spending? Do you have a budget? And 95% of the time, the couple or the individual kind of look at each other and they'll be like, uh, yeah, we don't have a budget. So, uh, that's you got to start there because we've got to know what you're spending now and what your potential is for savings to increase your retirement. And we've got to know what retirement looks like and what you're going to be spending in retirement. So we can create that budget. So super, super important. You know, like Jake said, go back a year, go back six months, pull it all together to include, you know, all of your major monthly expenses, your housing costs, utilities, groceries, transportation, your insurances, your property taxes, a detailed down to the T budget, you know, so we get a general idea.

Erick Arnett:
And then also it's good for you, you know, the listener to know, hey, you know, sometimes we don't even know what we're spending where we're spending, you know, we just know, hey, I got this balance on my account and it goes down, goes up, goes all around. But I can tell you it's a difficult thing to do. And especially for couples, I understand, like to sit down and have that talk. Sometimes we're not on the same page with our spouse, but that's a great time to kind of come together and get on the same page and talk it out and get serious about budgeting. It's a real problem. I mean, I have clients, I have current clients that are in their 60s that are still working, and I don't want to say it's because they don't like to budget, but it's kind of like because they don't like to budget, you know? So, uh, and then also they, they still don't have a budget. So it's really tough. And a budget doesn't have to be like restrictive. You know, it just has to be like, hey, we're accounting for where our money's going so we can know and project what we're going to need in retirement. So what does your lifestyle look, ask? Ask yourself that question.

Erick Arnett:
Are we boating? Are we golfing? Are we fishing? Or are we just gardening at home? Or are we hanging out with the grandkids? Are we traveling? You know, that's also important to incorporate into your budget. And so your lifestyle is going to impact your monthly expenses, your hobbies, your travel frequency, eating habits. All of that is going to affect the bottom line in a significant way. And then guess what? Super, super important to factor in inflation. So when we build out your plan we're going to look at inflation. Because almost everybody that comes into the office they say yeah okay we've got a budget Erick I know that I'm going to need $5,000 a month to live. We're fine. And I'm like, well, how do you know that for sure? Have you factored in inflation? Because that 5000 that you need today might be $10,000 five years from now, ten years? Look what just happened during Covid, the insane amount of inflation that we had, housing costs, everything went through the roof. Right? Obviously super important to plan for your retirement expenses. You got to prepare for those medical costs. That's number six, right, Jake? What are you seeing out there when you're talking to folks about when they're are they planning for their medical costs or what?

Erick Arnett:
Yeah. You know, I'm.

Jacob:
Finding that most people are underestimating that side of things. And I'll share some statistics here in a minute. But that's a huge part of the retirement plan. I've talked about it before on this show. It's just as important as any of the other topics we've talked about so far. Medical costs continue to rise. Everything's getting more expensive. Medical inflation outpaces normal inflation, actually. So whatever we're seeing in inflation, typically medical inflation is even a percent, two, 3%, 4% more than normal inflation. So we're seeing some pretty staggering statistics on what things are going to cost down the road. So it's super important for retirees to have a good game plan on their medical costs. It's it's as equally important part of your financial plan as anything else we've talked about today. So, um, I have a couple things, uh, topics I want to talk about on the Medicare today. So number one, I'll ask the listeners, do you have a plan for covering your health care expenses in retirement? Number one, it's often the largest budget item for retirees, and it increases as you age as we just mentioned. So number one, if you retire before age 65 and we run into this problem quite a bit, retiring before age 65, you are not eligible for Medicare yet. What do I do? What options are out there for me? Um, you're going to face a gap in your health care coverage unless you take some sort of action or do something. So, you know, we won't get too into the weeds today in the interest of time. But, um, if you're having any issues or any questions around your Medicare planning, give us a call.

Jacob:
Uh, we are independent Medicare brokers as well. We can look at every plan available, every option available. We are not captive to any insurance company out there. So we can take a independent look at your situation. But if you're retiring before age 65, a couple of things that you'll probably want to look at are. Number one, what we see most commonly is just continuing on Cobra coverage, which is just basically you're paying for the continuation of your group coverage. Uh, and going on that until 65, uh, you can look at private insurance or ACA or Obamacare, whatever you want to call it. Going to be a little expensive most of the time. Not as good a coverage, but hey, we need to be insured. Um, for those two, three, four, five, whatever, how many years it is that you're going to have that coverage gap. So, um, another thing that people don't think about too is if you have a spouse that's still working, see if you can get on their group plan, that'll typically be a little bit more, a little bit less expensive, maybe better coverage. Um, and that'll be a great way to bridge that gap as well. So depends on your situation. Give us a call if you're concerned about that or you have questions on that. We'd be happy to go into more detail on your specific situation. The other thing, and with that being said, if you are not taking Social Security, if you are not on Social Security when you turn 65, you will not be automatically enrolled to Medicare.

Jacob:
Surprisingly, a lot of people don't know this. Um. If you are not on Social Security when you turn 65, you will not be automatically enrolled. So it's important. If you're delaying your Social Security, you have to take action. You have to actually go to the Medicare.gov website or the Social Security website and sign up. Um, otherwise you could be facing some very hefty penalties. And again, I won't go into too much detail on that today, but it's important to know do not delay. Signing up for Medicare, there could potentially be some very costly penalties down the road for your Medicare and your part D drug prescription coverage down the road if you don't sign up on time. So a few things to look out for there. But the bottom line thing to remember is Medicare planning is super important. So a couple more statistics here and then we'll move on to the next segment. But we're estimating currently that a 65 year old man with average premiums will need 104,000 $184,000 in savings. A 65 year old woman will need $217,000 in savings. Couples will need $351,000 in savings and some. And for some people, prescription drug coverage could exceed $413,000. Now, these are original Medicare costs. So there's certain plans we can look at different options that'll bring those costs down, those out-of-pocket costs down. But like I said, Medicare funding can be kind of complicated. And there could be a lot to talk about. So I don't want to get us too far in the weeds today. But the moral of the story is let's plan for that side of things.

Erick Arnett:
Yeah. I mean, uh.

Erick Arnett:
Obviously, Jake, when you when you belt out those numbers, a couple that potentially is on, you know, some prescription drugs looking at over $400,000 in medical costs in their retirement. So I, I see this all the time in our planning to people don't even think about it or address it when they're doing their budget and they're looking at their retirement planning, you know, they they don't take that into account. And guess what? It's it's really one of the biggest expenses you're going to have in retirement is those medical costs. And some of the things that you rattled off those statistics. Guess what folks? Those don't even include dental, vision or hearing costs. So you're talking, you know, five, $600,000 in your retirement years and expenses for medical. So we've got some solutions for you that that's a concern of yours. Please give us a call (352) 616-0511. If you want us to review your current plans, your current health care, uh, if you're getting ready to retire, getting ready to turn 65, please give us a shout. We've got we've got, you know, all of those plans ready to go for (352) 616-0511. Or you can just go to take point wealth.com in the upper right hand corner. Just click on that little green button and get right on our calendar. Uh, we've got to get started. We got to start planning for these medical costs now. So another big one. Topic number seven. I think we might get through these, Jake. We're running out of time, but Social Security benefits. You've got to review your Social Security benefits, folks.

Erick Arnett:
I mean, there's a lot of different ways you can take Social Security, different timing, different tax situations. Super, super important that you don't just that that you do put some thought into this. So give us a call so we can strategically plan this out for you. We can build out what's called a Social Security maximization report for you. We can talk about the timing of Social Security, the different levels of it, the penalties on income. There's a lot of factors there. Don't just blindly, you know, go on ssa.gov or don't just go down to the Social Security office and say, hey, I'm going to sign up for Social Security at 62 or 65 or whatever. Let's talk about it. Let's make sure that it fits into your plan and your optimizing that timing because it's super important. And if you're married, there's also some different strategies that we got to talk about and consider. So super, super important to give us a call today to get your Social Security maximization report. (352) 616-0511. Please don't enter retirement without a plan for Social Security folks. Please, please, please don't enter retirement without a plan for Social Security. We anticipate some changes in the coming decades, so it's critically important that you get in and touch. Touch this with us and learn how to maximize your Social Security benefit based on your unique situation and needs. And that's important, your unique situation and needs. Just because your neighbor is doing it doesn't mean it's the right thing or the or the smart thing for you to do. So let's, let's let's look at that.

Erick Arnett:
That's all about that's all a part of your take point, uh, tactical freedom plan that we've put together for you. Completely free, complimentary, no charge, $1,500 value if you call today. (352) 616-0511. We're going to get to work for you today and build out that maximization report and that optimal retirement plan for you. So you got to make a long, uh, number eight. We're almost done. Number eight, make a plan for long term care. You've got to make a plan for long term care. If you're one of those single folks out there that's in Florida by yourself, please, please, please give us a call. There's a lot of planning and strategizing there. We can also help you find and provide personal guardians. We develop your estate plan for you, and we can put in place, you know, your personal representatives, uh, your power of attorneys. You got to have a health surrogate. You have to have a living will. You've got to have a trust. We got to put your property in the trust. There's a lot of things you got to do, uh, to to prepare for that end time or that that time that we don't want to talk about. Right? That time that we become incapacitated, that where we need help, we need care. And it can be extremely expensive, folks. So we got a plan for it. Now, uh, we're looking at an average of $10,000 a month in costs. When you're in long term care, that's probably average. And so who knows? If you're 50, you're 55.

Erick Arnett:
And think.

Erick Arnett:
About it. Maybe you're going to need this long term care in your 80s. That's like 30 years from now. What do you think it's going to cost then? I mean, I'm I'm afraid to even say those numbers. You know, uh, if it's costing us $10,000 a month for long term care today, what the heck is it going to cost 20, 30 years from now? Scary, scary stuff that we got to plan for. So just that basic kind of retirement plan that you did on your calculator folks is not going to cut it. We got to do some in-depth, very, very deep, in-depth, you know, careful strategic planning with all the so long term care, super expensive can cost upwards of over $100,000 a year. Uh, number nine, Jake, minimize your future taxes and retirement. Right. So what are the three things that we always focus on at take point? Lowering taxes, lowering risk, and lowering your fees. Right. So but this one is the biggest, biggest challenge that we have right. Minimizing your future taxes and retirement.

Jacob:
Yep, absolutely. And it's one of our favorite ones to talk about, because who wants to give the government more money than we need to right at the end of the day? And that's money that you should be spending on your family handing down through your estate to your beneficiaries. Right. So. It's it's arguably one of the most important topics we've talked about today. Right. Because we can see taxes just absolutely erode people's. They've done all this saving, they've done all this planning and worked so hard their whole life. And maybe they didn't do a couple things right, or we didn't do enough tax sensitivity planning. And they find themselves in a difficult tax situation, and it really erode a lot of your savings over time. So the most important thing, and number one subsection of minimizing your taxes and retirement is understanding what tax bracket you're in, right. Sounds simple. A lot of people aren't sure what tax bracket they will be in in retirement. They may know what tax bracket they're in now. But as you start approaching retirement, uh, your income could increase, your income could decrease, RMDs could hit. Now you have required minimum distributions and that counts as towards income. So know your tax bracket is number one. Another great tool that we love to talk to clients about is make withdrawals from those accounts, those retirement accounts before RMDs. You don't have to wait until required minimum distributions hit. Uh, you know, the government would love for you to do that because they're going to be getting more of a tax check from you.

Jacob:
So if you have if you find yourself in a situation where you have a lot of money, sitting in retirement accounts might not be a bad idea to start living off some of that money. Now, even if you're not retired yet, as long as you're, um, over age 59.5, you can pull start pulling some of that money out. Um, and you might be in a lower tax bracket now than you'll be in the future. So again, call us. We can take a detailed look at that. Um, a good tax saving tip here is consider replacing the bonds and other underperforming assets that are inside your portfolio. So by replacing these assets that are holding you back with a fixed indexed annuity, you can establish a personal pension and generate an income you can never outlive. A bond replacement will also reduce the amount of RMDs, uh, when you reach age 73. So just one of the tactics there we can use, there's a whole bunch of different options we can look at to try to reduce taxes in retirement. That's just one of them. And finally, a lot of people are doing this. Consider a tax free state, right. So for example, Florida, uh, no state income tax can make a huge difference in retirement when you start pulling out those RMDs and whatnot. Um, so yeah, that's that's as we've seen from the growth of places like Florida, Texas, Nevada, a lot of people are already catching on to that one, aren't there?

Erick Arnett:
Yeah. I think, uh, people like that. And that's why we've had such an influx of folks moving here to Florida. Yeah. Uh, not good for our roads and highways, but good for business. Right? Uh, we got a lot of people to help a lot of people moving to Florida. So, uh, you know, growth that take point has been, uh, been very blessed here, uh, to help all these new retirees and folks moving to Florida. But, um, yeah, yeah, super important folks. You know, that the tax strategies behind your planning are just so, so important. And number ten, I guess one of my favorite, uh, things you should do or consider when, uh, considering retirement is meet with a licensed financial advisor or other financial professional. So, folks, whether it's us or that other nice guy down the road, you know, you really owe it to yourself to, you know, sit down with a financial advisor. I tell people like, hey, listen, sit down with a couple of them. Sit down with 2 or 3, get some opinions, look at some different plans, find the one that's best for you. You know, uh, just like we alluded earlier, you wouldn't if you went to the doctor, you know, and, uh, he said, hey, yeah, I think, uh, you know, we're gonna have to chop your leg off tomorrow.

Erick Arnett:
I would be like, uh, let me maybe get a second opinion on that. And and maybe a third or fourth, you know. So I know that's extreme, but, like, you know, uh, let's let's get some second and third opinions. You or to yourself to start getting some consultation. And what you'll find is you can have a financial advisor, an investment team, an investment advisor, you know, right by your side the whole way. And often we find it's not going to cost you more than what you're trying to do. Do it. Do it yourself on your own. So, uh, you owe it to yourself to kind of explore that. Uh, we do this every day. We, you know, we we work. We we've been doing this for over 25 years. We work in this day in and day out. It's our passion. We we're constantly in training. We're constantly looking for new ideas and new ways to help our clients. So that's what we do. We're professionals. And, uh, so why not why not have that professional by your side? I mean many people think that it costs too much to work with a financial advisor or other professional, but we actually can help you save money as we work.

Erick Arnett:
To protect and grow.

Erick Arnett:
Your hard earned assets. I mean, what we do is I take 25 years of experience and I just try to eliminate the mistakes that I've seen folks make. Okay, so some common mistakes. Let's just eliminate those mistakes and let's get you on the right path to and through a successful retirement. Please call us today for your complimentary Take Point Tactical freedom plan. It's a proprietary process, a proprietary plan that we've we've developed over time to get you to and through retirement successfully. Totally comprehensive. And guess what? If you call today (352) 616-0511, that's (352) 616-0511 or go to take point wealth com in the upper right hand corner. You can just click on that little button and get right on our calendar. And we'll go to work for you today. Contact us this week for that complimentary retirement and financial consultation. You owe it to yourself to get a second set of eyes on things. Get some help. It doesn't hurt to ask for some help, folks. We provide that comprehensive consultation. No cost to our listeners, our retirement warriors, your our listeners. I know there's folks out there. You've been listening to us for a while. Take action, give us a call so we can go to work for you. And we can help analyze your financial, you know, situation. We'll just we will discover exactly how much you're paying in fees, help you cut unnecessary, unnecessary costs in your IRA, 401 K or other any other retirement savings.

Erick Arnett:
We can also help you with Social Security planning and determine that best time to start taking those benefits. So if you haven't heard from your advisor lately, please talk to us and get a second opinion. We can help set you on the path to retirement you've always envisioned for yourself and your family. Schedule that no obligation consultation with us today. It's a $1,500 value, folks, provided at no cost to you. Just simply get in touch with us this week so we can help you build and navigate your financial plan. Give us a call (352) 616-0511. That's (352) 616-0511. Please visit our website at Take Point wealth.com or our podcast site. Take Point on Retirement Radio.com for all that education and information, but reach out to us today. We're standing by to take your call today, folks. I can't believe it. We ran out of time again, and, uh, we only got through those ten topics, so please stay tuned for next week's show Take Point on Retirement Radio. We will be back next weekend to share with you more tips and more tools to build that successful, stress free retirement that you deserve. Thank you for listening folks, and have a great weekend.

Producer:
Thanks for listening to Take Point on Retirement. You deserve to work with a private wealth management firm that will strategically work to protect your hard earned assets. To schedule your free, no obligation consultation, visit. 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:
When it comes to retirement planning, focus more on income than building a big nest egg. I'm Matt McClure with the Retirement Radio Network powered by Amara Life. It may sound counterintuitive, but that big nest egg number you probably have in your head means a lot less than the income you'll have each month in retirement.

Christine Romans:
The math has all changed here, but the bottom line is time is your superpower. Save as much as you can.

Producer:
NBC news senior business correspondent Christine Romans recently said on The Today Show that you should not just rely on Social Security in your retirement years.

Christine Romans:
Social security alone is not likely to support you in the manner to which you're accustomed, right? You want to wait as long as possible to get that maybe 70. If you wait till you're 70 to collect Social Security, you'll get the biggest check.

Producer:
And she says, contribute to your retirement accounts early and often.

Christine Romans:
So this is from fidelity. They say at age 30 you should have one time your salary in a retirement account when you're 30. So think about what your salary is at age 30, and that's how much you should have in your entire retirement account. By 50 it should be six. This is where I start to freak out, because I know a lot of people can't and don't do this. By age 67, it should be ten times a personal pension.

Producer:
Using a fixed indexed annuity is also a great option for many pre-retirees and retirees to consider. It offers protection from market volatility and a guaranteed stream of income that will last the rest of your life, no matter how long you live. Having a big nest egg may sound nice, but focusing more on income will set you up for success in your golden years. So, do you know where your paychecks and paychecks will come from each month when you leave the workforce? That's a key question to consider as you plan for what's ahead with the Retirement Radio Network. Powered by AmeriLife. I'm Matt McClure.