Randy points out some specific investments you want to avoid if you’re nearing retirement, and explains why. Plus, he provides examples of inflation happening around the United States and shares tips to help you limit the damage inside your retirement portfolio.

Contact Randy Sams at (866) 990-7664

For More Information: Visit YourAmericanRetirement.com

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5.31.24: Audio automatically transcribed by Sonix

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

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

Speaker2:
Welcome to your American Retirement with your host, Randy Sams. Get set for a full hour of financial information and economic news affecting your bottom line. Randy works hard each day to educate Americans like you on how to reach the financial freedom they've worked so hard for, and he can help you too. So now let's start the show. Here is your host, Randy Sams.

Speaker3:
Hello again, Central Arkansas. I want to welcome you to your American retirement. I want to thank everybody for joining me on today's show. As usual, we've got a jam packed show on tap for you guys, whether it be Saturday morning or Sunday afternoon, whichever time you have chosen to listen to the show. And hey, don't forget to check out our Show Your American Retirement on What podcast form on Apple, Google, Spotify, or wherever you may get your podcast. Also, please visit our YouTube page as well. You know the drill, go to youtube.com and search for your American retirement and you'll see today. You know we gotta we gotta support the hogs. They playing in the what? Baseball. The College World Series regionals in Fayetteville this weekend. So if you, uh, want to look on YouTube or you want to check out the podcast, you're going to see that I have on my Razorback gear. Got the Razorback hat, got the Razorback shirt. So go Haugs win that regional, get to the super regional. And then we hope to see you guys in Omaha at the College World Series. But hey listen, I want to give a shout out to all my listeners, folks that have reached out and touched base with me and said, we love your show. Everybody here in Central Arkansas, I could go through city and state. I don't know your addresses, but I know I've got folks in Saline County, Pulaski County, Faulkner County, Lonoke County, Hot Springs County.

Speaker3:
I could go on and on and all, but I want to thank you for listening to the show. It means a lot to me. It's one of the reasons that we do the show again. You know what we do at your American retirement? We are focused on addressing the major financial issues facing retirees and pre-retirees in America today. How do we do that? We want to help people understand and prepare for a secure retirement, not a risky retirement. Folks, when we meet, I'm going to ask you two main questions. Number one question is how much guaranteed lifetime income do you have? Think about that. How much guaranteed lifetime income do you have. And then we'll work from there. Number two question have you taken the key risk, the number one risk in retirement off the table. And you may ask, hey Randy, what is that? Number one, what is the number one risk in retirement. Number one risk in retirement is longevity risk. We'll talk a little bit about that on today's show. But longevity risk you know what that is. That's the risk of you outliving your money living too long. We are living longer today than our parents or grandparents or great grandparents did in the past. And it takes longer. It takes more precise planning to realize that, hey, year two, I could plan my retirement to live to maybe 80, maybe 85.

Speaker3:
Now I need to make sure that I can plan my retirement plan. Gets me to I like to go. We give you 100% guarantee that you're never going to outlive your retirement funds. Okay? Your blood pressure is going to hit zero before your retirement account does. With Qmg Financial. That's how secure we are when we set up your retirement plans. But longevity risk, because you see, folks, the longer that you live, the more likely we're going to experience a market crash, okay? The longer that you live, the more likely you are to experience health issues, long term care, medical issues, whatever it might be. And the longer you live. You might experience withdrawing too much money. That's what people get stressed out about, is the fact that I'm withdrawing too much money. You see, at Qmg Financial, we take all of those risks, we address those risks, and we put together a plan that is specifically designed to meet your needs. We don't do a one size fits all. We don't do a cookie cutter plan. But this is what we did with Miss Smith and Miss Jones or Mr. Smith and Mr. Jones. We're going to come and meet with you and your spouse, and we're going to listen to what you have.

Speaker3:
We're going to look at what you have. We're going to do a review of your portfolio, and then we're going to take and we're going to put together a retirement plan that meets your needs and your objectives specifically designed for you. So that's what we do at Qmg Financial. And folks, listen, please do not hesitate to contact me with your questions. I want to hear from you. I love hearing from my clients answering questions again. I'd love to meet with you in person and discuss how we at Qmg can help you reach your financial goals. So you can remember we want to help with your retirement planning, risk management, estate planning a whole lot more. Building a sound financial plan for our listeners is what we do. So, you know, to call us (866) 990-7664 or visit our website. Your American retirement.com. Leave me your contact information if you've got any questions. And folks, a little hint on today's show, we're going to go over some of the questions that you guys have. Listeners have left for me. And we're going to answer some of those questions on today's show. But hey, you know what? I think it's time we get this show started. And without further ado, we can't start this show without what the financial wisdom quote of the week. So, producer Jim, if you'll play that music, we'll get right into it.

Speaker4:
And now for some financial wisdom. It's time for the quote of the week.

Speaker3:
All right. Financial wisdom quote of the week is given to us by Mr. Henry Hazlitt. Hazlitt. Hazlitt. Inflation is a form of tax, a tax that we all collectively must pay. That's right. Inflation is not, uh, what we say. Inflation basically hits everybody, no matter what color your skin might be, no matter what political race you might be in, no matter what religion you might be in, if you're here in the United States and you're paying taxes or you're buying goods, you're buying groceries, you're buying gas, you're paying energy bills, utility bills, everybody gets hit with inflation. All right. Again, that's given to us by Mr. Henry Hazlitt, who was an American journalist. He wrote about business and economics for such publications such as The Wall Street Journal, The Nation, American Mercury, Newsweek, and The New York Times. All right. That's our financial wisdom. Quote of the week. I hope you guys enjoyed that, because we're going to spend some time today on inflation.

Speaker2:
Want to know where your hard earned money is going. It's time for an inflation demonstration.

Speaker3:
Our first little segment we're going to talk about we're going to give you guys some inflation demonstrations. All right. Something to think about what we're experiencing today. You see inflation poses significant challenges for pre-retirees and retirees who we work with those folks. See it affects your financial security in retirement. It does. But by understanding the impact of inflation and taking proactive steps, you can help build a secure financial future. Man, that sounds just like what we do, doesn't it? We want to set you up for a secure retirement, not a risky retirement. So let's look at this. Here's the concerns. A survey by Schroders that's a survey by Schroders, found that 68% of US retirees are worried about outliving their assets due to inflation. If you all remember, one of the questions that I asked when we meet, have you taken care of the number one risk in retirement? What was that? 68% of US retirees are worried about outliving their assets due to inflation. That's longevity risk outliving coat now. So we look at assets I believe in income. And I'm going to set you up with an income stream that you can never outlive. All right. And we set it up right. We'll set it up for an income stream that you cannot outlive.

Speaker3:
And when you pass away, it'll go to your spouse at the same amount and be paid to the spouse as long as they live. So rising prices are taking a toll on retired Americans? Yes they are. I meet with them every day. So 89% of respondents through this survey. The concerned about inflation reducing the value of their assets. That's inflation risk. So folks, if you've been retired for a while. And you live on what most people always say, I have a fixed income or I well, if you have a fixed income and you started that fixed income, whether that be Social Security, whether it be a pension, whatever you have coming in. All right, whether it be a 401 K that you're making withdrawals out of or IRA. You understand? If you've been retired for a while, that what you thought you were going to be able to enjoy in retirement, spending the same amount every year, it's probably not taking place because it cost more today to live to purchase than it did, what, two years ago, five years ago, ten years ago? And it's going to do the same two years from now or five years from now, unless we get inflation under control. And I'm not ever going to say it's going to be zero.

Speaker3:
But before we add it up below 2%, about one point something, that's going to make it a whole lot easier for those of us who are getting ready to retire looking at retirement, or those of you who are in retirement right now. All right, so let's look at some strategies to protect your financial future. Diversify your income sources. Relying solely on Social Security will likely not be sufficient. That's true. So you need to explore additional income streams like personal pensions from annuities. I like that one part time work and safe withdrawals from retirement investment accounts. Now see that folks? This is where I would hit someone right now. What is a safe withdrawal from your retirement account? A lot of folks like to say, uh, the 4% rule. Well, folks, that 4% rule doesn't work any longer. All right? They say now the safe withdrawal is about 2%. Maybe. So let's look at that. That's what you got to look at. So please do not just look at Social Security. But folks listen. We're going to come right back because we've got a few more strategies to protect your financial future. We're going to go over those. So please don't leave me. Come right back because you're listening to your American retirement.

Speaker2:
Thanks for listening to your American retirement. If you like what you're hearing, subscribe to our YouTube channel to watch videos from this program and other recent episodes.

You can't go home. Because all of your.

Speaker2:
Visit your American retirement.com to schedule a free consultation with Randy today. And now back to the show.

Speaker3:
Hey, welcome back to your American retirement on 101.1 FM. The answer where little Rock comes to talk. Don't forget to check out our YouTube page, you know, visit youtube.com, search for your American retirement and look for my smile and face. Can you see me smiling on the radio? All right. Anyway, so let's get back to inflation demonstrations. We're talking about strategies to protect your financial future, folks. Number one is do not rely solely on Social Security. Social security was not created, was never created to be your sole source of retirement income. And I'm sorry, but there's a lot of people out there that that's what they look at. That's what they're thinking about. Well, I have Social Security folks. The average Social Security check is about $1,700. That's not a lot to live on. Okay. So you have to have some planning. The best time to get started is right now. Okay. So delay Social Security benefits. That's a good strategy. By delaying the start of Social Security payments, your your payments, your benefits can increase. Your monthly benefits can increase. So the longer that you wait. Turning on Social Security benefits I know a lot of you guys, when y'all hit that age 62, it's almost like, man, I want to hit that plug quickly. We gotta think about some things, folks. And that's what we do when we do our review with our clients, our free consultations.

Speaker3:
We want to talk about Social Security. Is it wise to take it at 62? Can you wait to take it at its 67? Or if you're really aggressive and you want the max benefit you can get, can you wait to age 70? Can we put together a plan that can get you from 62 to age 70? Yes, we can. And here's how we do this, folks. So you know what? Social security. You can start taking your Social Security at age 62. That's early. You can take your early withdrawals. All right. That's your early age, 62. Most of you listening, it might have been 65. Was your full retirement age. Some people now, depending on when you were born, what's your birth year was? It could be anywhere from 66 to 67. And don't be surprised. They're going to have to make some changes to Social Security if that age continues to increase. All right. But 62, 67 or if you want to wait to get the maximum benefit, that would be to age 70. Now here's what we do very quickly is we can put together a Social Security bridge. So let's say you may be listening right now and you're getting close to age 62 and you're thinking about turning those Social Security, but you're still working. All right. That's a double whammy.

Speaker3:
Not going to go into that down that rabbit trail right now. But. If you can wait to age 62 to age 67 to take that Social Security, you're going to max. You're going to get your full retirement age. So what we do is we create what's known, what I call as a Social security bridge. That's Social security bridge. Allows us to take a, a, a, a portion of your 400, one K or IRA or whatever that might be. And we put that into like a five year spia a single premium immediate annuity. And we can pay the same amount over that five year period as you would be withdrawing at age 62. So let's say your Social Security is $1,000 a month at age 62. If you take it early, then we're going to put in enough money into the five year spia that you're going to get that thousand dollars a month guaranteed for the next five years. But after that five fifth year is over with, guess what? That last thousand dollar check from the spia comes in and then it's over with that speed is gone. But see, we we've made a bridge. We created a bridge to get you from age 62 to age 67. And then at age 67, boom. Then you turn on your full retirement age benefit at age 67. Versus if you take it at 62, it's going to reduce it by 25 to 30%.

Speaker3:
So that's called a social Security bridge. You need to give us a call (866) 990-7664 or go to the website Your American Retirement. Say, hey Randy, tell me more about that Social Security bridge. I'm interested in learning more. I'll get in contact with you. All right. Let's look at another strategy. Shop the market for the right annuity for you. Because annuities offer a guaranteed income stream protecting against inflation and market volatility. That's why I am a big believer. That's why I'm a preacher of the guaranteed lifetime income annuity. You can talk to any one of my clients, people that I'm dealing with right now, working with right now or folks in the past. And they will tell you that SMG financial has set us up with that guaranteed lifetime income. I call it a guaranteed lifetime paycheck. Okay. But you got to research those types. Why? People say, well, I don't understand annuities. Well, we do, that's what we do. At your American retirement, we're going to take your information. We're going to run that through different programs, and we're going to find out which annuities are going to fit your situation the best. And we're going to pick 3 or 4. And we're going to review those with you guys. And again you always should consult with a financial professional i.e.

Speaker3:
SMG financial who specialize in retirement planning. That's what we do because we can help you assess your financial situation. Create create a personalized retirement plan, not a cookie cutter, one size fits all, a plan designed for you and provide guidance on inflation protection strategies. Folks, we got to look at what's going to happen in the future, and that's what we do. So it's time to get serious in 2024. This is an election year, folks. We have less than, what, 150 days left before November hits us. An election comes in. So there's already so much uncertainty in the world affecting retirees and pre-retirees. So please don't wait until you're ready to retire to start planning. Folks. Listen, elections have consequences. Let's look at rising cost at the pump. That's going to kind of show me what and you exactly what we're looking at. So this is national gas price update again, folks. If y'all got children or you got grandkids, you know this schools are beginning to let out for the summer and family vacations do what a lot of people take their family vacations during the summertime, of course. And those vacations are about to begin. The national average for a gallon of unleaded gasoline. This isn't a premium. This is just your regular gasoline. Unleaded is $3.61 per gallon. So to give you a little heads up, your most expensive states if you're going to travel in these states, I'm not going to give them all to you, but I'll highlight a couple of them.

Speaker3:
Get ready to pay for more more gas. The prices out there are, or where you might travel in these states are going to be more expensive than others. So here's a couple of them. Most expensive states. Again, number one, you should know that California is $5.28 5.286 per gallon. All right. Let's look at some of the least expensive states. Mississippi is number one at $3 is 3.07 $0.06 per gallon. And Arkansas is number three at $3 3.127. So just a little over $3.12 a gallon here at Arkansas. All right folks, now I love this segment. We're going to do, uh. And this may run us into the next segment also a little bit. But we're going to do some questions. We're going to answer some of the questions that we have received from listeners. All right. This is going to be from folks that are in Saline County, Faulkner County. Pulaski County. But I want to I want to go over these because some of y'all may have the same questions. Some of y'all may not have called, but hopefully the questions that we're going to kind of cover today will help you understand some of the things that are going on, or might make you pick up the phone and say, hey, Randy, I like that.

Speaker3:
Let's get, get, get together and let's talk. Let's look at number one. Number one question is given to me by Mister John, who lives in Perryville. And this is his question. Is there a way for me to accurately estimate my Social Security benefits? I've been working as a driver for a national freight company for 27 years, and I'm starting to think about retirement. I've also heard that Social Security is in trouble, and I may not see all of the money I've paid in. Is that true? Well, John, I want to thank you for that. Question number one is how can I estimate my Social Security benefits? You can do that. You can set up set up an account, go to my Social security.gov. And you can set up your personal account. Plus, if you've been paying in, you should probably ever, at least once a year, get your little report from the Social Security Administration that tells you exactly what you've paid in and exactly what your benefits would be at age 62, what your 60 full retirement age would be, and what it would be at age 70. Uh, but guys, listen, Social Security was never intended to be the sole source of retirement income. Still, for most Americans, Social Security benefits will provide thousands, even hundreds of thousands of dollars over the course of their retirement.

Speaker3:
People often plan for retirement without knowing what to expect from it, and there are several factors that are going to impact the benefit amount you as as a recipient can expect to receive. The exact amount will not be available until you actually file, but they can give you an estimate as to what it looks like. Okay, so today we have fewer people paying in and we have more people taking out or receiving benefits. The Social Security trust fund, John, is they basically say that if something doesn't change that it could go bankrupt or it could be zero balance at year 2034. But I'm thinking that with the government the way it is and politicians the way they are, they're going to have to address it at some point in time and Social Security is going to be there in some form or fashion, maybe different for the younger folks, but the folks that are in Social Security right now or retirement, I don't think you're going to see a lot of changes, but y'all come right back because we're going to we've got a couple of more questions that I want to go over. I thought these were really good questions that I want to cover them. So again, you're listening to your America retirement. We'll be right back.

Speaker2:
You're listening to your American Retirement. To schedule your free, no obligation consultation, visit your American retirement.com.

Come on, come on, come on, come on now touch me baby. Can't you see? That I am not afraid.

Speaker2:
What are you concerned about? Market volatility, rising taxes, economic uncertainty and how it all could affect your future in retirement? Then tune in to your American retirement to learn how you can protect and grow your hard earned money. Your American retirement. Every Saturday at 10 a.m. right here on 101.1 FM. The answer? Protect your retirement and schedule a free, no obligation consultation now at your American retirement.com.

Speaker1:
When it comes to saving for retirement, who is winning the battle of the sexes? I'm Matt McClure with the Retirement Radio Network powered by Amira Life. The gender gap is a real thing in the US, with women making less money on average compared to men. Congress passed the landmark title nine law more than 50 years ago, prohibiting gender based discrimination in education, and that resulted in women pursuing careers that had previously been considered off limits. And while females have made strides over the years when it comes to finances, a new study from TIAA shows it's men who are setting aside more money for retirement 27% more, to be specific. And while that number is better than in years past, it's still a significant gap.

Speaker5:
And in the past year, 78% of men have increased their retirement portfolios through stocks, compared with 51% of females. And now this imbalance really underscores not only the gender wage gap, but it also has really far reaching implications for long term retirement security.

Speaker1:
Stephanie Asymco with Yahoo Finance recently reported on the gender gap in retirement savings.

Speaker5:
When stretched over the course of a career, a woman's lower wages really directly impact her ability to save for that nest egg and then live comfortably in retirement.

Speaker1:
And she says the pandemic surely didn't help the situation. In fact, it got worse.

Speaker5:
Because of the pandemic. A preponderance of women have downshifted taking time away from work to really concentrate on, you know, these pandemic measures of supervising remote schooling for children or caring for aging parents.

Speaker1:
The TIAA study also showed women have some catching up to do when it comes to financial literacy. When asked financial questions in a survey, women got 45% of them right, compared to 55% for men. And Alan with TIAA told CNBC that all of this underscores the need to equalize financial education among the sexes. So women, do you have a sound retirement plan in place? That's a key question to consider, as all of our retirement years draw closer with the retirement radio network powered by Amira Life. I'm Matt McClure.

Speaker2:
Are you interested in ways to protect and grow your hard earned money? Your American retirement is here to help. Here's Randy Sams.

Speaker3:
Hey, thanks for joining us on this week's edition of Your American Retirement. Please be sure to check out the podcast version of the show on Apple, Google, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. So, folks, I want to finish up with John's question. He was having questions about Social Security. Uh, about how can he estimate, can he estimate, uh, his, his benefits if he's there, certain ages that he can take it out? The answer is yes, but I want to throw this in, John, if you're listening. Hopefully you are again today. Uh, you know that we can you can set your account up. But most my social security, my tsa.gov you'll go through the process, you'll set up an account, and then that will show you exactly what you've paid in what the benefits have been over the years. They take your top 35 years as far as earnings go. And that's going to be based on, you know, so if you're earning more today than you did 30 years ago, then that your lowest one's going to fall out and your highest income is going to annual income is going to replace it. So they take your top 35 income years. Hopefully you've got 35. It helps if you do, but as long as you continue to work, if you make more the the, the the older ones, you know, the less years, the years you made less money. Those fall away and the ones you make more money take their place, which is going to increase your benefits.

Speaker3:
But listen, John. The individual's benefit amount is primarily determined by earnings. Like I said, they take your top 35 years because this may sound straightforward, but Social Security Administration again considers the 35 highest earning years. They adjust those for inflation, and they apply a calculus formula, a very complex formula, to arrive at what they consider to be your Pia. That is primary insurance amount. That's going to be your benefit. This is the benefit a person can plan to receive at full retirement age. That's fra full retirement age, which will fall between ages 66 and 67 depending on birth year, and it cannot exceed the maximum amount as adjusted annually for inflation. And. But if after you claim benefits, you can boost your benefit amount by working, especially when your current earnings are at least high enough to replace your lowest earning number used by the Pia, your primary insurance amount calculation. All right, so again, if you take it early at age 62 your benefits are going to be decreased. And if you delay your full retirement age your benefit it increases by 8% per year up to age 70. So John that was when that's when you can max out. So if you can wait or if we can put together a Social Security bridge for you, the longer you wait, the better off it's going to be. Because believe me, if you started at age 62, you're locked into that amount for the rest of your life.

Speaker3:
All right, so let's talk about this. Number two question is going to be given to us from David. David lives in Alexander. David, thank you for listening. I appreciate you joining the show and sending in your question. David says, I'm the guy who never opens his investment account. His investment account statements, because I'm scared to look. I remember those days, 2008. And because I don't really know what I'm looking at anyway, they don't understand the statements. They don't understand the investments. So how do you help a guy like me? That's a great question. First of all, what we want to do, what we will do is we're going to get together and we're going to do a portfolio review. Now, what that's going to entail is this we're going to look at what you have. So at some point in time, David, you and I are going to have to open up those investment account statements. And we're going to look and see now folks. Y'all may look at what David just asked and you may say, well, that doesn't make a lot of sense. He doesn't know what I mean. He doesn't want to open his estates or his accounts, his account statements, and he doesn't really understand them. Folks, I meet with folks all the time, and this was it was really surprising to me early on when I first started asking people questions.

Speaker3:
And I would ask them, what's the balance of your IRA? What's the balance of your 401 K? And you would be surprised how many folks like David. So David is just being honest. I got the response I don't know. What's your 401 K? Invested in? What's your IRA invested in? I don't know. Okay. But that's that's not unusual for me to come across that amount. So but that's something that we have to do. So we're going to do a portfolio review meaning we're going to look at what you have. We're going to look at what fees you may be paying within your 401 K or IRAs or investment accounts, whatever it might be. And then we're going to. Present some safe options. We're going to give you some options on what to look at because. We're going to help you understand. Remember what we do at SMC financial. We help people understand and prepare for a secure retirement, not a risky retirement. So, David, that's what we do at SMC financial. And you can listen to this. How can you help a guy like me is what David asks. So here's what I see. Remove the stress. Stress and rocking chair stress is one of the major killers of people in retirement or anybody really, not just picking on the or utilizing people or retirement. Stress causes high blood pressure, strokes, whatever you want to say.

Speaker3:
Heart attacks, okay, it's not good. And if you're stressed out because of your financial situation, that's why you need to reach out and get in contact with me. (866) 990-7664 or go to the website Your American retirement.com. Get in contact with me and let's put together let's do a portfolio review for you and your family. And let's see if we can maybe help you understand what really is you have. What fees you may be paying. And then let's look at some options to remove some of that financial stress away from you during your retirement years. All right. Let's look at I'm going to do Mary I like Mary here Mary is in little Rock Mary. As a little statement. This is her question. So I've done a pretty good job saving for retirement as I worked as a nurse. Thank you. Married for 30 plus years. I'm ready to retire, but I do not have a pension from all my years of working in the local hospital network. How can I be sure I'm going to have the income I need during retirement? Great question. I've become scared of the stock market ever since 2008. I wonder why Mary chose 2008. See that that year hits me. Also, I use it as an example. A lot of times when I'm speaking with folks, whether it be individually or whether it be in a group presentation. If you remember, 2008 is when the stock market fell. I'm going to use my personal example, my 401 K balance.

Speaker3:
I was still working. I was a little bit younger then than I am now. What 2008 to 2024 is that 16 years? Okay, so I was a little bit younger than I am today and I was young enough to withstand it, but my 401 K ballots fell by about 40 to 45%. You guys remember that same thing happened to Mary? That's what she says. She became scared of the stock market. Ever since 2008. A lot of people did that. But see, I was young enough at that time to ride it out. As we get closer to retirement, or those of you who are in retirement right now, folks, time is not on your side because from 2008, it took about six years for my 401 K ballots to recover. So add the six years to the 2008. It was 2014 before my 41K ballots got back to the ballots. It was in 2008. Now you understand why Mary is afraid of the stock market. She just doesn't like it. Everybody loves the stock market when it goes up. Everybody hates the stock market when it goes down. But you know, the investment people, they just tell you what. Oh, it's it's only a paper loss. No it's not. That's a that's my retirement that I was planning on using. Okay. So if you're getting close to retirement and your account drops by 3,040%, you're either going to have you're going to make some big adjustments.

Speaker3:
We're either going to have to continue to work a lot longer than you planned on it. And wait till your account balances get back up, or you're going to retire at the same age at a lot less than you originally planned. But Mary, here's what we're going to do. We're going to set you up with a personal pension. We're going to use any 401 k's that you may have, any IRAs that you may have. And we're going to put you into what we're going to call an income annuity. Now what's special about this, Mary is this. Is that these income annuities are not tied to the stock market. We're going to use indexed annuities. And you get to participate in the upside but not in the downside. Zero is your hero, so you're never going to lose anything in these income annuities. But the good thing is that the income annuities that we utilize are given us 7 to 8% compound interest guaranteed for at least ten years. So if we can get you early. The best time to start is when? Now? But if I can get you at age 59.5. Remember at age 59.5, there's no penalties for you moving any of your 401 K or IRA monies into an income annuity. You say, well, Randy, I'm not going to retire at 59.5. Exactly. But we want to get it started. You may not retire until you're 67 or 68 or even 70, but let's take full advantage of compound interest, because remember, the magic about compound interest is what time? The longer you utilize the compound interest feature, the better off compound interest works for you.

Speaker3:
That is the magic of compound interest. So if we can start an income annuity for you at age 60. Let's take a percentage of your 401 K that you've worked for and let's protect that. Let's take you've got a 401 K balance of 200. Thousand. Let's take 100,000 of it and put it into a guaranteed income annuity, growing at 8% guaranteed for the next ten years. It doesn't mean you have to wait ten years, but that's how long they're going to compound that 8%. You're guaranteed that your 100,000 is going to be well over $200,000 at the end of that ten year period, and then you start an income based on that 200 and something thousand, maybe two, 25 somewhere in that range. I'd have to put it together in an illustration to get exact. But if you do the math, that 8% compound interest, if you start out with 100,000, you're going to have well over 200,000 waiting for you at the end of ten years plus. A lot of these income annuities give you a bonus, a premium bonus. Some of them are 20%, some of them are 25. I've seen some that are even up above 30% bonus, which helps out.

Speaker3:
Tremendously. So, Mary, that's what we can do. We want to get together with you and set you up with a personal pension, utilizing any kind of 401 K or IRA plans that you've done over your 30 years as a nurse. And again, I appreciate your service in the medical field, but we want to set you up with a guaranteed income, slash a paycheck for life. And again, the best time to get started is when is right now. So please. John, I want to thank you from Perryville. John from Perryville, thank you for your question about Social Security. I hope you guys were listening and kind of took some good notes on that. But remember Social Security. Fewer people are paying in today than they did when they started in 1935, and more people are taking out why? Because we are in the peak. We call this the peak. Peak 65. That means there are more people turning age 65 beginning in 2024. Over 12,000 per day, and that'll happen for the next year and a half, maybe a couple of years. We're at peak 65. So that means that age 65, if they start taking that Social Security, there's more people taking out than there are that are putting it in. So folks, listen, we're going to come back, but we're going to talk about investments to avoid. If you are nearing or currently in retirement, you're listening to your American retirement. We'll be right back.

Speaker2:
Missed part of today's show. Your American Retirement is available wherever you listen to podcasts and online at your American retirement.com. Welcome to Nationwide's Peak ten fixed indexed annuity, designed to help provide guaranteed income for life. Peak ten offers protection against market losses, plus protection for a spouse through a joint option and an immediate 10% penalty free withdrawal. Call us now at (500) 124-9234 three. That's (500) 124-9234 three. Guarantees and protections referenced within are subject to the claims paying ability of nationwide life and annuity insurance company nationwide. Peak ten is issued by Nationwide Life and Annuity Insurance Company. Columbus, Ohio. Are you concerned about market volatility, rising taxes, economic uncertainty and how it all could affect your future in retirement? Then tune in to your American retirement to learn how you can protect and grow your hard earned money. Your American retirement. Every Saturday at 1 p.m. right here on 101.1 FM. The answer protect your hard earned money today and schedule a free, no obligation consultation now at your American retirement.com. Like what you're hearing. You can watch the show to visit youtube.com and search your American Retirement to watch clips from this program. Hey, you're listening to.

Speaker3:
Your American Retirement. Join us every Saturday at 10 a.m. and every Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m., right here on 101.1 FM. The answer where little Rock comes to talk. All right, folks. Investments to avoid if you are nearing or currently in retirement. Number one high cost mutual funds and ETFs. Now these are investments. These types of investments come with high fees that can eat into your retirement savings. And they often underperform lower cost alternatives resulting in lower returns. Do you know your expense ratio. That's how much you are paying in fees for your investments. Now folks this is for clarification and for being honest and let y'all know I don't do any stock market. We don't do anything at SMG financial. Nothing that we do is involved in the stock market. All right. I don't have my series six. I'm not Finra licensed don't want to be. My philosophy is we've worked too hard to get where we are right now. Today when you've been working 25 years or 35 years or 45 years, and if you've done a good job in your retirement fund accumulation, whether it be a 401 K, a 403 B, or an IRA, when you get close to retirement, remember that retirement red zone? We talk about it many times during over the last couple of years on this show. That's the 5 to 10 years before you retire, the 5 to 10 years into retirement. When you get in that retirement red zone, folks, the key that you need to remember is not to lose.

Speaker3:
There are too many people across this country, across the state of Arkansas, that are trying to get to the point where you're at right now. So your number one objective is to make sure that you have your retirement funds in some type of a safe money program, safe money product where you will not lose. Okay, I'm not saying all of it, but you got to protect a significant portion of it because the last thing you want to do, we spoke about it earlier in today's show. What happened in 2008. You don't want to get close to retirement, have everything in the risky investment and boom, the bottom fall out 3,040% drop. Again, you're going to have to make some decisions. You're going to work longer, wait till it comes back up, or you're going to retire at a lot less income than you actually thought, because your retirement account fell by 3,040%. So that's one of the reasons that we kind of stay away from the stock market investments. We have to use safe money investments, and we can do another show on safe money investments. All right. How about cryptocurrency? A lot of you guys know about Bitcoin and all the other fancy. There's a lot of them out there okay. But cryptocurrency is highly volatile and unpredictable. Again these are investments we feel like you should avoid if you're nearing or in retirement.

Speaker3:
So they're highly volatile and unpredictable, making it risky for retirees. Crypto lacks intrinsic value and can experience extreme price fluctuations. Just look at Bitcoin. Look at what it started out. Look at what it got up to a max. It kind of fluctuates back and forth, but the uncertain future of cryptocurrency makes it difficult to assess its long term stability. So we think that you should avoid investing in cryptocurrency. High beta stocks high beta stocks are more volatile than the overall market, posing a higher risk. Retirees may not have enough time to recover from significant losses in these types of stocks, much like the people who retired right before the 2008 financial crisis. That was a double whammy. You retired before the 2008 financial crisis. You started taking money out. Even if you were using that 4% safe withdrawal number and the market fell by 34%, 30 to 40%, you probably were not going to have enough retirement funds left to outlive them. In other words, your retirement fund is going to hit zero before your blood pressure dies. All right. Okay. Low yield traditional savings accounts. Traditional bank savings accounts are very after very low interest rates resulting in minimal returns. All right. They offer very low interest rates. Now some of the rates are a little bit better today because of the inflation okay. Because everything costs more Treasury bonds or uh or up US government bonds are up a little bit.

Speaker3:
And that's why they're offering a little bit more today than they were in the past. But a traditional low yield savings account is not what I consider. I think you should always have some money on hand for emergencies, but that shouldn't be. You should not look at a low yield traditional savings account as being part of your retirement funds. Just put it in there. That's what you've got to utilize it as your emergency account. All right. You can have access to it very quickly. Physical gold and silver I get asked about this all the time. Physical gold and silver can be illiquid and difficult to convert into cash quickly. Storage and security cost associated with physical metals can eat into your returns, and storing precious metals in your home doesn't help with peace of mind. All right, all right. I'd hate to know that you had $100,000 in gold coins or bullion or silver or whatever it might be, and you had it stuck in your closet. Somebody finds out about it. May not be the safest. Folks, listen, if you've ever checked into silver or gold, a lot of people look at that. They're going to charge you a premium when you buy it. And if you try to sell it, they're not going to give you what it may show you. That gold per ounce.

Speaker3:
I don't know what gold per ounce is right now. It may be well over $2,000. That's great. But if you call somebody that deals in gold, they're not going to give you 2000 an ounce because they're going to say, well, we got to make money, they're going to charge you for it. And if you try to buy it, they're not going to sell it to you for $2,000 an ounce. They're going to put what they call a spot. They have a spot fee. That's kind of like a commission. I checked into it a long time ago for some friends, and they were going to put $100,000 into a gold IRA. Well, you know what? Stop them. Especially when I found out about it, the people they were working with or looking at. And this may not be common, I'm just using this example because this is personal for some friends that I'll check in with. They were going to charge them $10,000. So basically 10% of their $100,000 to invest in gold was going to be commission for the person that they dealt with. So they were going to put in 100,000 thinking they were going to get $100,000 worth of gold, but they weren't. They're going to pay 10,000 in commission and only get $90,000 for the gold. How long would it have taken for that money for them to recoup that $10,000 in commission? So I don't believe I, I don't have any problems with you buying gold, but I don't think it should be a top priority or a top investment.

Speaker3:
Remember, safe money investments is where you have to go. And you may look at gold and say, well, that's safe. I'm not saying it's not, but what you have to look at is if you pay $2,000 for an ounce of gold, the likelihood of you getting $2,000 for that ounce if you turn around and try to sell it immediately is not going to happen. Okay, so those are some investments that I feel like that you need to avoid, avoid if you're getting close to or you're in retirement currently. All right. Let's look at ways to improve your potential your income potential in retirement with multiple income streams. Social Security we've already spoken about Social Security. Again, I'm thankful for Social Security. That is Social Security. And when people tell me what I don't like annuities and they're also curious. And so you don't take Social Security. Oh yeah, I'll take my Social Security. Well, what do you think Social Security is, folks? Social security is a guaranteed lifetime income stream. As long as you live, you're going to get that paycheck. We can talk about what may happen in 2034, but right now, as of 2024, if you're on Social Security and you've been taking it for ten years, you're going to get that for the rest of your life.

Speaker3:
All right, so Social Security benefits are based on your earnings history and the age at which you start receiving those benefits, delaying your Social Security Administration social Security benefits make up about 33% of your oh, I'm sorry. According to Social Security Administration, Social Security benefits make up about 33% of the income of elderly population in the United States. I skipped over this one. Delaying your Social Security benefits can increase your monthly payments. So folks, if you were listening earlier in the show, one of the questions from our listener John, he spoke about Social Security. I went over some of those benefits. What determines your Social Security benefit? And if you can wait from age 62 to age 67, or even 67 to age 70, you can max out those Social Security benefits. So that's something that we talk about when we have our free consultation. You know, you call me (866) 990-7664 or go to the website your American retirement.com. Leave me your voicemail. Leave me a voicemail, leave me a message on the on the website and let me know. You want to talk about your Social Security benefits and we can set that appointment up. Pensions. An employer sponsored retirement plan. That provides an income for life. Okay, does that sound familiar? What's the Social Security? That's an income for life pensions. That is a defined benefit plan. An employer sponsored retirement tool that provides an income for life.

Speaker3:
Okay. Pensions are becoming less common and many employers are shifting to 401 K plans. So the burden is being shifted away from the employers providing that retirement for you as an employee to now it's shifted to you as the employee providing that retirement benefit for yourself via 401 S, 403 B's or defined contribution plans. Okay. According to Bureau of Labor Statistics, only 16% of private industry workers had access to traditional pension plans in 2019. Folks, you know, you can get in contact with us and if you don't have a pension plan through your employment, you know that you can contact us and we will help you set yourself up with what a personal pension plan via what annuities, personal pension plans? Those are contracts with life insurance companies that provide a guaranteed lifetime income stream, a guaranteed paycheck for life. We have different payout options that we can talk to you and your spouse about. So, folks, listen, I want to thank you for listening to your American retirement. Joining me on today's show. If you missed any part of the show, you can go back in the podcast archives on Apple, Google, Spotify, or whichever platform you may get your podcasts. You can also look at us on youtube.com. I want you to go out, make it a great rest of your Saturday or Sunday. Go out and have a great week. Go Haugs God bless and we'll talk to you guys next week.

Speaker1:
Thanks for listening to your American retirement. You deserve to work with experienced, licensed financial insurance professionals who can offer sound strategies for protecting and growing your hard earned money. To schedule your free, no obligation consultation, visit your American retirement.com today. That's your American retirement.com, not affiliated with the United States government. Randy Sams does not offer tax, legal or investment advice. Consult with your tax advisor or attorney regarding specific situations. Opinions expressed are subject to change without notice. These opinions are not intended as investment advice, nor do they predict future performance of any product. All information provided is believed to be from reliable sources. However, we make no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of any statement. This information is intended to be educational in nature and does not provide a guarantee or specific result. All copyrights and trademarks are the property of their respective owners. A mirror life assumes no responsibility or liability for the content of this message. The information contained herein is provided on an as is basis with no guarantees of completeness, accuracy, usefulness, timeliness, or the results obtained from the use of this information. Fixed annuities, including multiyear. Guaranteed rate annuities, are not designed for short term investments and may be subject to restrictions, fees and surrender charges as described in the annuity contract. Guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying ability of the issuer.

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