10.13.22: Audio automatically transcribed by Sonix

10.13.22: 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 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.

Randy Sams:
Hey, good afternoon, central Arkansas. Welcome to Your American Retirement with Randy Sams 101.1 FM. The Answer where Little Rock comes to talk. Hey, welcome. Glad to have you all join us. It's a beautiful fall day here in Arkansas. Want to thank you guys for listening in. Want to thank you that all the folks who have sent us messages of encouragement ask us questions. We really appreciate that. Please go to our Web site, Your American Retirement. Leave us a thumbs up. Give us a something to chat about, something you may want to say, topic you want us to talk about on the radio show. We'd love to be able to do that for you. We'll follow up if you request we have a free audio book or an Annuity 360 book we like to send to you. Book a free consultation online today if you want to. 866 990 7664 866 990 7664. Call and leave us a voicemail. You can also go to the website, as I mentioned already and leave us any contact information. If you'd like to set up a consultation or again, just leave us some comments, critiques or okay, they are accepted. Also podcast folks, if you look at podcasts or you're listening to podcast, go to YouTube, go to Spotify. Again, look at YourAmericanRetirement.com. Give us a thumbs up. You can listen to some of the programs, but most of the programs, the entire program is available on the website.

Randy Sams:
If you want to listen to the entire program, if you're listening in and you happen to miss us, so please reach out to us. We love hearing from our listeners and helping folks whenever we can remember here at SMG Financial, Your American Retirement, we're focused on addressing the major financial issues facing retirees and pre-retirees in America today by helping people understand and prepare for a secure retirement, not a risk of retirement. So, folks, a little break down on the show today. We're going to look at financial wisdom, the quote of the week. We've had a lot of people give us comments about they enjoy the financial quote. Some of them are a little witty. Some of them really kind of hit home as to where we're at today, the situations that we face today. We're going to talk about some of the situations that we find ourselves, interest rates, inflation, what some of the folks are predicting, predicting as far as what the economy looks like over the next few years. So we'll hit some of those high notes. We're also going to do a little segment as far as perception versus reality. So, you know, on this show that we have spoken quite adamantly about guaranteed income. So, folks, we are a big believer in guaranteed lifetime income. I believe that a sure thing is much better than a what if. And that's what we believe in.

Randy Sams:
And we do safe money investments for our clients. So the annuities that we work with, we're dealing with very financially sound insurance companies. We're not locked into just one insurance carrier, one annuity carrier, one annuity product. We have several carriers and depending upon what your objectives might be and your situation might be for yourself or spouse, we will basically be able to choose the best carrier that fits your objectives and the product also. So remember, we are we do what we can for our clients. You will always be number one where we're concerned our interest comes last and the product and your objectives are what we're looking at. And then after that, folks, if you all are not familiar with it, it is October. On October the 15th. Started. Is your annual enrollment period for Medicare Medicare Advantage pdp's. And we're going to probably spend the second half of the show talking about a aep. The qualifications, Medicare and the different Medicare products. Because we'd love to talk to you again. Give us a call 866 990 7664 or go to the website YourAmericanRetirement.com. Leave us a message we'd love to get in contact with you and review what you currently have and then maybe go over what we have available during this annual enrollment period, which starts on October 15th and ends on December the seventh. So, folks, here we go.

Producer:
And now for some financial wisdom, it's time for the Quote of the Week.

Randy Sams:
If you're ready. Financial Wisdom The Quote of the Week. If you have trouble imagining a 20% loss in the stock market, you shouldn't be in stocks. So, folks, I have with me my my producer, Sam. So, Sam, I think that's pretty fitting for the situation that we find ourselves in, don't you, today?

Producer:
Yeah. You know, depending on when you're listening to this, you know, we're recording this today, Randy, on Thursday, October 13th, and the market year to date is down about 25%. So it's it's not hard at all to imagine a 20% drop. We were there a while ago. So here we are, you know, 25% of the way down. And one thing that we like to talk about on the show is, is sequence of returns risk. So I definitely feel for the folks that have just retired in the past few years and have experienced a serious drop like that if they are invested in stocks that way. And as you know, Randy, it takes a lot more than a 25% gain to get that back to where you were before.

Randy Sams:
Yeah, good. Good point, Sam, because what a lot of folks I mean, I had a conversation with a client this week and he was very concerned about their 401k balance. It's not going in the right direction and that's what he was concerned about is the drop. And then I laid that seed. I told him about it. I said, well, just think about when when you actually are in retirement and if you haven't made plans, the correct retirement plan and have you and your spouse set up for a guaranteed income stream, what happens if if you have your 401. K balance and you're taking your income stream that you're living off of out of your 401. K and it drops by 15, 20, 25%, like you said, Sam, you know, if you have 100,000 in your account and it drops by 20%, your balance is now 80,000, 20% of 80% increase is still or 80,000 is still going to be 16,000. So you're still short of your original balance. So if you're taking money out, that just kind of puts a double whammy on it. But you know, Sam, my and to my listeners, my concern today is the conversations that I've had over the past few weeks, folks, basically is what Sam and I just spoke about. I'm I'm working and talking to clients who are in kind of I hate to say the word freefall, but their accounts are not going the direction that they want to see. And some of them are getting close to retirement. Some of them are in retirement and they are taking an income from their investments or their 401. Ks or whatever vehicles they have their money in. And, you know, you just look at some of the indicators. I mean, I've got I've got something here from the CEO of JPMorgan, Mr. Jamie Dimon. He basically says stocks could fall another easy. 20% in the next drop will be much more painful than the first. Well, Sam, that's not the kind of information. If I had my money in stocks or I have my money in the stock market, to me, that's not something that is very encouraging. How about yourself?

Producer:
Yeah, no, not at all. I like what you said earlier. You are always going to choose a sure thing over a what if. And that's why if you're a football fan watching college or pro football on the weekends, you you always see these coaches choose to kick the field goal or just go for the one extra point rather than go for it. And and the ones that do sometimes sometimes it pays off, but more than often it bites them.

Randy Sams:
Yeah, you got to go for that. You got to go for the four, the three points. Or you kind of wonder, you know, why did you go for two points or why didn't you go for two points? We can all be armchair quarterbacks when it comes to to sports, but when it comes to your financial stability, your financial freedom, your retirement planning, you don't want armchair quarterbacks looking at your plan and saying, oh, well, we can adjust later on. We can go into halftime. Now, folks, when you're in retirement, to me, you need to be secure. Like I said, we help people understand and prepare for a secure retirement, not a risky retirement. So listen, MarketWatch today Sam I got this this was from today and you know Sam you probably stay on top of this as much as I do. I think they came out and made the announcement as far as the inflation consumer index and all that stuff this morning. And so what we're looking at right now in the yearly inflation, Sam fell from 8.3 to 8.2. Whew, not a big drop, but inflation peaked at a nearly 41 year high at 9.1% in June. So what's more worse worrisome is the core rate of inflation that omits food and energy prices actually jumped a sharp 0.6% and Wall Street had forecasted 0.4%.

Randy Sams:
So if you look at the prices that we're looking at, just to kind of run through this, groceries again, surged are up 13% in the past year. Last time prices for groceries rose that fast was in 1979. Rent Sam in September leaped 0.8%. Rents have risen 7.2% in the past year, making it the biggest gain since 1982. Medical care cost on the rise again. Prices jumped 0.8% in September, pushing the increase to over 6% over the past year. And again, that's the largest increase since 1990. But here's what really hurts. Inflation adjusted wages fell 0.1% in September. Real wages have fallen 3% in the past year as high inflation eats away at the purchasing power of US households. So here's here's a comment from Seema Shah. Ms.. Shah is the chief global strategist at Principal Asset Management, and this is what she has to say after today's inflation report. There can't be anyone left in the market who believes the Fed can raise rates anything less than 75 basis points at the November meeting. So, Sam, if they raise 75 points, what does that mean to everybody? What's going to happen?

Producer:
That means the price of borrowing money has just gotten a lot more expensive, especially when you look at how much change we've over we've over the last two years. We've seen, I mean, interest rates. On if you were buying a house, 30 year mortgage a couple of years ago, right around 3%. Some people got lower if they refinanced. And now you're looking at about seven.

Randy Sams:
Yeah, I. I feel sorry for speaking to someone this. Matter of fact, this week that the younger folks that are wanting to go jump out and buy their first house. I mean just think this this time last year interest rates were right what probably still around 3% and right now they're at seven. We spent the first segment talking about kind of letting you kind of set the tone for why we want you to give us a call, why we are big believers in guaranteed income folks, let me tell you. I've had zero conversations with folks who are upset that I put them into an annuity that gave them guaranteed lifetime income. So, folks, here's what we're going to do. We're going to take a quick break. And when we come back, we're going to tee up the annuity, What you need to be looking at again, Randy Sams, Your American Retirement dot com. We'll be right back.

Producer:
Welcome back to Your American Retirement. Here's Randy Sams.

Randy Sams:
All right. Welcome back. Central Arkansas. Glad to have you join us on Your American Retirement on 101.1 FM. The Answer. I am Randy Sams. Hey, give us a call. 866 990 7664. Give us some feedback. Tell us how well we're doing. Give us some critique, some leave with some comments. Let us know some topics that you may want us to discuss on the show. But hey, the next segment we're going to talk about again, reasons why you would want to meet with us or an advisor. Basically, what we're going to talk about is educating yourself why you should be educated and what we're seeing today in the marketplace of why so many people that are about to retire or that are in retirement. Forgive me for saying this, but they really don't know what they're doing. If they're if you don't have assistance or you don't have a plan in place, that's why you need to get in contact with us again. Go to the website, YourAmericanRetirement.com And leave us a message. And we'd love to get in contact with you. We have a free consultation. Doesn't cost you anything. We'll spend a little bit of time with you and your spouse. We'll look at your situation. We'll put together a retirement plan and we'll go from there based on what your objectives are. But Sam, I want to go back over the quote of the week, because I thought it was very poignant. I thought it was very timely, especially what we're seeing today. This quote is from Jack Bogle. Jack Bogle was born in May 8th, 1929, passed away January 16, 2019, was an American investor and philanthropist.

Randy Sams:
He is credited with creating the first index fund. So, folks, if you have ever done any investments in mutual funds or life insurance, there are a lot of those types of products use index funds as according also with our annuity products. If you have trouble imagining a 20% loss in a stock market, you shouldn't be in the stocks. And again, that is from Jack Bogle. So folks, my question again is this If you have your money invested in the stock market, if it's with an investor, if it's with an advisor, if it's with a whatever it happens to be, my question is why? So if you're seeing your account values go down, but yet you're paying someone for your account values to go down, I have to ask why. And I do that selfishly, folks, I'll be I'll admit it, because none of the products that we offer at SMG Financial, Your American Retirement, there's no risk you're we're not lose anything. We want to put you into an annuity. It's a safe money investment. Zero is your hero is what we like to use as a catch phrase. And we like to use products for our folks to set them up for a guaranteed lifetime income. But here's a few reasons, folks, why you should meet with us and schedule that free consultation. Basically, educate we help educate you again, remember to understand and prepare for a secure retirement, not a risky retirement. If you don't understand the risk you are taking with your investments risk. That's something that we always focus on when we meet with you folks.

Randy Sams:
When we have a consultation, we're going to address the risk that you are going to incur that will 100% positively occur during your retirement. But the number one risk that we want to remove is longevity risk, which means that you have outlived your funds. Basically what I like to describe it is this We want to set your retirement plan up to where you feel secure that your blood pressure will go to zero before your retirement account does. So we don't want you to run out of money. So if you don't understand the risk you're taking with your investments, give us a call. If you don't have a formal retirement plan, folks, that's what we do. We like to meet with you and your spouse. We like to go over, ask a few questions, answer questions you may have, and put together a retirement plan that fits your needs, your objectives. And basically, as I said, we want to include and set you guys up with a guaranteed income stream, because if you have guaranteed income, guess what? You've got the peace of mind knowing that no matter what the stock market does, that income is coming in every month, every year for as long as you live. And you can also set that up to make sure that it will also go for yourself and for your spouse. If you don't understand how to manage risk in your portfolio as you get older, you need to call us. That's what we do. Again, we've already spoken about risk. If you don't know if you should pay your house off or not, again, that that is a personal decision, but we can help with that.

Randy Sams:
Depending on what your finances may be, it might be best for you in retirement to pay off the mortgage, but that is going to be an individual decision and also based on what your individual circumstances might be. And we can work that out if you don't have a health care plan in place for your future, then please give us a call. Again, we specialize in retirement planning and we also specialize in the Medicare Medicare supplement, Medicare Advantage and prescription drug plans for our clients that are turning 65 or older. So, folks, here's an article I want to go over. This is kind of reiterates what we just spoke about, reasons why you need to meet with us, why you need to educate yourself. This is an article that was created by the Alliance for Lifetime Income and Clinics. This was came out on September 28th as the drumbeat of a potential recession grew. As louder and Americans continue to face the aftereffects of the pandemic. The number of Americans who believe their retirement savings and sources of income will not last them throughout their lifetime is on the rise. So, Sam, I think we've talked about this on previous shows, but less than half the respondents, 48%, believe their retirement savings and source of income will last them throughout their lifetime, a 13% drop from a year ago. So, Sam, between last year and this year, you've got 13% more or fewer people that feel like their retirement savings and source of income will last them through their throughout their lifetime. It's kind of scary.

Producer:
Yeah. I mean and it's hard to blame them. I mean, the places that even if you cut out all sorts of different discretionary expenses, you know, still when you go to the the gas pump, I mean, don't forget, you know, prices have come down a bit, but how bad gas prices got there through the middle part of the year. And every time you go to the grocery store, it feels like the price per bag that you haul out of there is going up.

Randy Sams:
Yeah. And you're and you're paying you may be paying the same price for a bag of potato chips, but there's fewer potato chips in that bag that you paid the same price for. Okay. So when they start doing milk the same way, a gallon of milk, you're paying the price for a gallon of milk, but you only get in the half a gallon of milk then. Then that's when we're. No, but folks here, something to to look at. You know, you just you mentioned something, Sam, about about gas, I believe, was that OPEC kind of basically flipped Biden the middle finger excuse my, you know, visual whatever there. But I think they told him that they weren't going to, what, increased production or reduce their pricing. So basically, that means that even though we may have had a drop in gasoline over the last few months because they've been taking so many millions of barrels a day out of the strategic supply, you may start seeing the gasoline prices go back up. But I digress. So anyway, let's get back into this. So again, a 13% drop. So 48% of Americans respondents believe their retirement savings can source of income will last them throughout their lifetime. Among those who have an annuity, Sam, This is why we're going to spend some time on annuities. Among the respondents that have an annuity, 74% believe their savings and sources of income will last their lifetime, compared to only 43% of those without an annuity. So that just basically drives it home for me. Why? What we do is so important for our clients.

Randy Sams:
Give us a call. 866 990 7664. Go to the website Your American Retirement dot com. Leave us your information. We're not going to hound you. We're not going to harass you. We just want to be able to set up a free consultation to meet with you and your spouse. And go over your situation and see if we might be able to put you in a better position. Better position, and if possible, put you in some type of a guaranteed lifetime income stream. So if you don't have a pension. We can do that with your 401. K funds, but we can put you into an annuity. So nearly two thirds of consumers worry about their finances several times a month or more. So, Sam, I read a book. It's called stress and rocking chairs. And the the premise of the book was that there are two things that basically people die from. In retirement stress and rocking chairs. Stress because of what I just read. They worry about their finances several times a month or more. One quarter worry about their finances every day. So 25%. So two thirds of consumers worry about their finances. So that stress stress will kill you. The second thing that book talked about was rocking chairs. Now we're rocking chairs. How do people die from rocking chairs? Well, they the the reference is this. People are afraid to spend their money so they don't go out and do anything. They don't buy a whole lot of stuff. They don't spend their money on retirement like they thought they were.

Randy Sams:
So they just sit on the front porch and they rock back and forth. They don't get any exercise. They don't do anything. So without exercise, your health drops and you and you pass away. So stress and rocking chairs. 35% of consumers believe they will be able to fund their wants in retirement, only 35% saying. Half of consumers are now more interested in protecting their retirement income since the start of the COVID pandemic. So, folks, I could go on and on. It's kind of sad to see that nearly half consumers that believe financial professionals have a responsibility to present protected lifetime income products. And I believe everybody. But this is nearly half of consumers believe that financial professionals have a responsibility to present protected lifetime income products. That's what we do. We want to sit down and at least give you the opportunity to review. The lifetime income annuity and what it would mean for you and your spouse folks if you don't have a pension. What I like to refer to the income annuity is you are setting yourself up for a pension, your self funding your pension with a guaranteed lifetime income annuity. So folks, that's the second segment. We're going to come back I'm going to run through real quickly after this next segment here. Perception versus reality. We're going to talk about annuities and then hopefully we'll have time left in the third segment to run quickly over the AEP, over Medicare, Medicare Advantage and the prescription drug plans. Again, Randy Sam's Your American Retirement 101.1 FM. The Answer.

Producer:
Have you experienced age discrimination in the workplace? I'm Matt McClure with the Retirement dot Radio Network. Powered by AmeriLife. If you're 50 or older, chances are you've either seen or personally suffered from age discrimination at work. That's true for nearly two-thirds of workers in that age group, according to research from AARP.

Bill Rivera:
And the pandemic certainly contributes to that persistence, with one in four people who have been let go or otherwise left the workplace during the pandemic, having trouble finding a job if they're 50 or older.

Producer:
Bill Rivera is senior vice president for litigation at the AARP Foundation. He says spotting age discrimination is not always easy, but there are signs to watch out for.

Bill Rivera:
For example, are promotions or training opportunities or key assignments given to younger workers routinely over older workers. Do you hear around the office? And does the company tolerate jokes about age and ageism, Like referring to the idea that you can't teach old dogs new tricks?

Producer:
Rivera says if you see possible age discrimination, it's important to document it.

Bill Rivera:
And you want to do that as close in time to when it happens. So note the date, what you saw, what you heard, who else was there? Talk to your supervisor. A lot of times you can resolve these things informally, but if you can't, you may need to go up the chain.

Producer:
And he says the AARP Foundation has several resources available to help older workers.

Bill Rivera:
For example, Back to Work 50 plus, which has free workshops, tools and career coaches to help you, as well as AARP Resume Advisor, where we will for free review your resume and provide advice and tips to make your resume stand out, as well as AARP's job board to connect you with employers who've indicated they are interested in an age diverse workforce.

Producer:
So what would you do if you see or experience age discrimination at work? That's a key question to consider. As Americans are living and working longer with the Retirement dot Radio Network powered by AmeriLife, I'm Matt McClure.

Producer:
Fixed annuities, including multiyear guaranteed rate annuities, are not designed for short term investments and may be subject to restrictions, fees and surrender charges as described in the annuity. Contract guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying ability of the issuer. The Federal Reserve keeps raising interest rates to combat inflation, but how could it affect your retirement? I'm Matt McClure with the Retirement dot Radio Network. Powered by Amerilife. Supply chain issues. The pandemic, energy prices and Russia's invasion of Ukraine have all been contributing factors to runaway inflation to fight rising prices. The Federal Reserve has been using one of its most powerful tools raising interest rates.

Tibor Besedes:
So they started increasing the interest rates about, I guess, two meetings ago. So about three months ago when when they had the first increase of three quarters of a point percentage points to 75 basis points, which at that point was the largest increase in about 30 years.

Producer:
an economics professor at Georgia Tech. He says it's surprising that the August reading for inflation did not see a decrease, especially given gas prices have been plummeting from recent astronomical highs.

Tibor Besedes:
Inflation is not going to stop all of a sudden. But what's one one's hoping for is that these increases start to decrease so that we start getting to levels that are a bit more manageable and more pleasing to the eye. If nothing else, it was very surprising.

Producer:
That's why, Besedes, says many analysts now expect the Fed to be even more aggressive with interest rate hikes in coming months. So what does this mean for you? Potentially higher payments on mortgages, other loans and credit cards.

Tibor Besedes:
Securing any sort of balance on any loan that doesn't have a fixed interest rate? Is it going to become more expensive?

Producer:
Besedes says it's important for consumers to cut back where they can to lessen the blow of inflation and interest rate hikes. And if you're in the market for a new home, it could be good to delay the purchase until rates or home prices come back down. So how do the Fed's actions on interest rates affect your wallet? That's a key question to consider as higher costs. Eat away at your hard earned money with a Retirement dot Radio Network powered by Amerilife. I'm Matt McClure.

Producer:
Visit Your American Retirement to schedule a free consultation with Randy today. And now back to the show.

Randy Sams:
Hey, welcome back to Your American Retirement, Randy Sams 101.1 FM. The Answer. Glad you could join us. Hey, folks were about to start the third segment. If I'm talking a little fast right now, folks, I've got about 14 minutes that I've got to go over a lot of information. And then, like I said, the last segment we're going to talk about, Yep, we're going to spend a little bit of time for your education on on Medicare and what's what you can do during EAP. But folks, right now, basically this segment, we're going to talk about perception versus realities. Where annuities are concerned. Annuity products have existed since Roman Empire. And yet even today, products are often misunderstood. The bottom line is this. Annuities may be an option that can help people meet their needs for retirement income. But we feel very few people understand the features benefits of annuities. So the controversy surrounding annuities, Sam, basically due to the lack of education among consumers, this may be compounded by insurance agents who do not provide enough education to clients about these products. These issues could lead many to stay away from these products altogether. So that's why here at SMG Financial, you're American Retirement folks. We are dedicated on helping you understand and prepare for a secure retirement, not a risky retirement. I think I've said that already three times in the show today. So you'll hear it over and over on other shows. All right.

Randy Sams:
Because that's what we're that's what that's our mission statement. That's what we do. We want you to understand the products that we are presenting to you. We want you to understand if the annuity is going to be right for you in your situation, for you and your spouse, it may not be, but I'm going to be the first one to let you know If it's not, am I going to put you in a product that doesn't fit your needs? That's not what I'm all about. I've been in this for 38 years and I don't plan on making a bad decision based on something that's going to help me versus my client. So you're going to be number one. So let's look at the first. Perception, Sam. Number one misconception or perception is this Annuities are not right for retirees. So here's what I look at. Retirees are typically typically at an age where they can begin withdrawing from an annuity without incurring a 10% IRS penalty at age 59 and one half. However, you got to be aware. That you may not be going to be retiring at age 59 and one half. You may let that annuity continue to grow, but with the annuity, you can pick and choose when you want to take your income stream. So I'm working with folks right now saying. That are just turning 60 years old and we are going to be taking advantage of what is is referred to as the in-service distribution, meaning when you turn 59 and a half.

Randy Sams:
And you have your funds in a401k. You are able to take those funds and transfer them into a similar type product, i.e. the annuity, without any penalties, without any taxes being due. So you're going from one qualified plan to another qualified plan. So annuities are not right for for retirees. For me. Retirees are the ones that should be having it. You need to start planning ahead and look and see what my situation may be five years from now or ten years from now, especially if we're going to be talking about an income. At what time are you planning on retiring? Is it going to be five years, seven years, eight years, ten years from now? Why not take some of your money today invested into the annuity? And let it grow over that period of time. And then when it's time for you to flip that switch, your income is waiting. So I believe that annuities are fantastic and should be a staple in your retirement plan. Number two, perception retirees don't understand annuities. And that may be true, but I think that falls on those of us like myself, agents. We don't educate our clients and we don't have them understand the features and the benefits and drawbacks of annuities. Some annuities have a lot of fees, and we'll talk about that in just a second. But we believe that you as a retiree or a getting close to retiree, pre retiree, that you're certainly capable of learning about annuities.

Randy Sams:
But it's up to us as the agent to be educated ourselves, to be able to turn around and educate you folks. I have what's known as a designation. I've done additional studies and it's called a certified annuity specialist. So I'm not tooting my horn. I'm not throwing up a flag. I'm just letting you know that. Someone who has the designation, certified annuity specialist designation has put a little bit more into their education and understanding of what an annuity can and cannot do. How they work And is it going to be the best fit for for you? So folks, that's what we do. Again, we're going to help educate you and help you understand number two, perception. Number three, perception. Annuities are too confusing and too complex. Again, I believe that comes back to not being educated. And again, I believe that not to be a broken record, but I believe that falls on those of us that are meeting with you as the client, that are meeting with the clients, the customers, and not spending enough time going over the materials, the products, the benefits. The downside to some annuities, but also going over what the annuity can do for you when you are in retirement. So you need to find an insurance agent, someone who knows the products, who's willing to spend the time and help you fully understand the annuity products.

Randy Sams:
And remember, there's a lot of insurance agents out there. And that's why I just told you, you know, I've spent a little bit more education, a little bit more time educating myself on what annuities can and cannot do. So choose the right agent. Don't pick the first one that comes along. Ask them some questions. And if they don't show you enough information, you don't fully understand it, then don't sign anything for them or with them. Perception. There are high costs associated with annuities like every other financial product cost and features very widely. There are some annuities out there that have high fees. We do not deal with annuities that have high fees, so we don't do any variable products. Our products are all fixed products, fixed income products, fixed indexed annuity products, so they're protected. So folks perception contract owners pay the commission of annuities purchased. Typically the insurance company pays commissions to the insurance agent. So this is different than any other purchase. So if you have investments. With a marketing organization and investment adviser. You can name anyone that you want to. They're charging you a fee every month, every quarter, every year. Anything that we get paid on, any products that we put in place for you and your spouse that we earn, it's paid by the insurance company. So it doesn't come out of your account value. Annuities have no liquidity.

Randy Sams:
Folks, that's the way the annuities used to work. But with annuities today, they keep being innovative on what they offer. So basically we have annuities that you can leave your money in there and you're going to leave it in for a particular length of time. You can draw a guaranteed interest off of that and some of them will allow you to remove the interest you have accumulated. Some of them will allow you to take your RMDs required minimum distributions and some of them will require you or allow you to take up to 10% free withdrawals. So it really depends on your circumstances. So when it says there's no liquidity, folks, and every annuity is going to have a surrender period, during that surrender period, if you remove all of your funds, then yes, you would have a surrender charge. But during that surrender period, the majority of the annuities that we deal with on a day to day basis allow you access in the form of free withdrawals on an annual basis to your account value for emergencies. So, folks, that's what we're going to look at. Once you begin to take income, your annuity has no cash value. That's a perception, Sam. But don't realize that with the indexed annuity, even though you're taking money out, you get the income coming in. Those indexes are continuing to grow. So once you've turned on your income stream, your annuities typically have more options.

Randy Sams:
They have options to add a lifetime income benefit rider, and that's what you get your guaranteed income. And then the money that's left in the cash value for yourself, for your spouse. A lot of people ask, well, Randy, if I pass away and my spouse passes away, what happens to the money that's left over in the account? Well, the good answer, the death benefit on the annuities, whoever you designate as your beneficiary contingent beneficiaries, the money in those accounts will be paid to your beneficiaries in the form of a death benefit. And there's we can go into more detail as far as what the options are at that time, but basically any cash value in those programs. But folks, here's another thing you want to I want to reiterate about the income annuity. Longevity. So what happens if you have you're going to think your parents have lived? I spoke to someone the other day, Sam, and two days ago her mom passed away at 98. Her dad passed away at 103. She's 68 years old. So she's looking for something that she can put her funds in and get a guaranteed income. And she wants to make sure that she doesn't have her income. So guess what I told her? I said with the income annuity, if your account by you ever goes to zero with your an IRA or a401k What happens, Sam, if you buy your zero and a401k, can you take money out?

Producer:
No, Randy, no liquidity there.

Randy Sams:
They're a ding, ding, ding with the correct answer. But if you have your money in, you have a guaranteed lifetime income annuity. If that account value ever went to zero, that lifetime income is guaranteed. That's why it's called lifetime. So if young lady lives to be 105 or 110 and her account value went to zero at age 95 or 100, she's still going to get the same amount every month that she's always gotten until she passes away. We'd love to talk to you in person, answering the questions I have about annuities and go over some of the ins and outs, the ups and downs, and figure out if an annuity might be a good product for you. But here's what we're going to do today on this last, last part of segment number three. We recently worked with an older couple, 80, 83 years of age. They were in the middle of their retirement and they started to develop fear of spending their money. You know, they wanted to retire and take trips around the world and join the country club and play golf and tennis. But they were afraid to spend their money, so they didn't. Upon inspection, here's what we found. They overinvested in bonds. They had lost 25% of their portfolios since the start of 2022, and they didn't know that they could update their annuity. Ha ha. So here's what we got. So, Sam, what are we going to do here? So we did an annuity x ray and we were able to show them all of their options, right? So tell me, Sam, they knew the x ray showing them their options and upgrading to a more suitable annuity for them.

Randy Sams:
The best option that nearly doubled their annual annuity payout from 32 to 61000. So. To me, I think that's that's pretty poignant as far as being able to sit down with someone who has lost that much of their portfolio and do the annuity x ray. Do the annuity exam and put them into a lifetime income guarantee product that increase their payout, their current annuity payout from 32000 to 61000. So they will be paying no fees for this portion of their portfolio, receive an income that they can start using right away. They don't need to worry as much about spending money anymore. In other words, stress and rocking chairs because they can plan to do what they expected to for a couple in their eighties. This is a big deal. And so we're happy to have helped that family. We'd love to work with you folks. Give us a call. 866 990 7664. We find too many couples in retirement that have a fear of spending their money earned. And folks, this is what I look at. When when when we're younger and we are growing, we're in the accumulation phase of life and we have an objective of having a certain dollar amount in our retirement fund, be it a403, B, a41k, whatever it might be.

Randy Sams:
You always sit down with your spouse and you always talk about, man, what we want to do when we're in retirement. We want to join the country club. We want to play tennis. We want to play golf, We want to take trips. The majority of our clients that we talk to, they're afraid to spend their money so they don't go out and enjoy retirement. They don't join the country club, they don't go play golf, they don't play tennis, and they don't take those trips they want to. So when they pass away, their kids inherit their funds. And guess what? Their kids do same. Their kids join country club. They play the golf, they play tennis, and they take those trips that mom and dad had planned. So, folks, what we want to be able to do is put you in a situation where you have the peace of mind knowing that we can take a portion of your retirement funds, put them into a guaranteed lifetime income annuity. And take that stress of not having enough money to live from day to day, from month to month, from year to year, and you'd be able to go out and enjoy your retirement as you plan. So folks, again, would take a little break. We're going to go into segment number four when we come back. Again, Randy Sams, director, Retirement 101.1 FM. The Answer.

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

Randy Sams:
Welcome back. Central Arkansas, Randy Sams with Your American Retirement 101.1 FM. The Answer, folks, This is the last segment for today. Saturday, beautiful fall day here in central Arkansas. Folks, we're going to spend a little bit of time talking about AEP. We're going to run through very quickly some of the Medicare Information, Medicare Part A, Part B, some of the Medicare Advantage. We're not going to spend a lot of time on each one of them. Folks, if you'd like more information, more in-depth information, or if you'd like to set up a consultation to speak about retirement planning or if you want to look at and compare what might be available in the market. Remember, AEP starts October 15th and runs through December 7th, 2022 for a January 1st, 2023 issue date. So if you've got some issues with your current Medicare Advantage plan or your current prescription drug plan, give us a call. 866 990 7664. Again 866 990 7664. Leave us a message. Leave us your contact information and we'll reach out to you and see if we can set up an appointment or go to Your American Retirement dot com and leave us your information and we'll get in contact with you. So folks, annual enrollment period, again, like I stated just a second ago, October 15th, December 7th. So this falls into what we consider smart health. This is something that we always go over. You've got to look at your health insurance plans and your health insurance needs in retirement.

Randy Sams:
So let's take a look at Medicare and try to make sense of the different parts and options that are available today. So you may ask how many Americans, Sam, how many Americans are currently enrolled in Medicare? More than 61 million Americans are covered by Medicare, Medicare health plans right now, National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare Information. So that's where we got that. 18.5% of US population is on Medicare. All right. More than 61 million Americans, Sam, are covered by Medicare, some type of Medicare health plan. Almost four out of ten Medicare consumers are also enrolled in Medicare Advantage. Plans for 2022. Medicare beneficiaries have access to 39 Medicare Advantage plans. That information comes from Kaiser Family Foundation. Again, Medicare beneficiaries have access to 39 Medicare Advantage plans. Folks, I'm going to be upfront with you. I do not represent 39 Medicare Advantage carriers. All right. I have to be upfront with folks when I meet with them. I have selected who I feel like are the premiere providers for here in Arkansas. And those are the carriers that I do business with. But just to let you know, I am not licensed and I'm not going to come to your house or to your place of business and review 39 different carriers with you. You don't have the time and neither do I. So 89% of a medicare Advantage plans offered in 22% in 2022 excuse me in 2022 include prescription drug coverage.

Randy Sams:
Again, 89% of Medicare Advantage plans offered in 2022 include prescription drug plans. Let's go over Medicare Part A. So, folks, when you first become eligible for Medicare, most folks become eligible at age 65 for Part A and part B, You don't have to take either one of them. You become eligible for part A, you have to enroll in Part B, But there are some folks out there, Sam, who may have some health conditions. What is it, the end stage renal disease? Some younger folks are also on Medicare, but the majority of the folks that we deal with are about to turn 65 and they have questions about wanting to understand what Medicare is all about. So, folks, Medicare Part A, you can go to medicare.gov and also get this information that we're going to briefly go through for today. Medicare.gov, Medicare Part A is also known as hospital insurance. It covers inpatient hospital stays, skilled nursing facility care, hospice care and home health care. And folks, when you see skilled nursing facility care, you're not going to be able to go to a nursing home or a long term care facility. This this is not long term care insurance. So don't get that confused. If you are in a hospital situation and you've been there for a certain period of time and the doctor feels like you need to spend a few days or a couple of weeks into a skilled nursing facility, then then that will be covered.

Randy Sams:
But this is not long term care or nursing home insurance. That's part A, Part B, also known as medical insurance, cover certain doctors, doctor services, outpatient care, medical supplies and preventative services. Some people automatically get part B, but others have to enroll. So, folks, when I say enroll, guess what happens? You have a premium for part B, So your part B premium for 2022. Of course, we've only got about, what, two and a half months left of for this year, 2020 to 2022. Part B premium is $170.10 2023 Part B premium decreased by a few dollars. It dropped down to $164 and. $0.90 per month, 164, 90 per month is going to be your part B monthly premium in 2023. Then you could also be subject to a late enrollment fee if you don't sign up for part B when you first become eligible. So folks, again, if you have questions, well, Randy, I don't want to incur a late enrollment penalty. How do I avoid that? You know what? Give us a call. 866 990 7664. Leave us your information. Leave us your question and we'll get in contact with you or go to the website, Your American Retirement dot com. If you're over 65, you're about to turn 65. You may be employed right now under a group health insurance.

Randy Sams:
That's fine. Be glad to be able to give you the information as to how to avoid the late fee for Part B. All right. Part A, Part B, that is what we call your basic Medicare. A lot of folks just have basic Medicare. Medicare Part D, also known as drug coverage. Plans cover a wide variety of prescription drugs. So that's what happens when you have the Part D. So a lot of people have to and these types of insurance are designed to cover gaps that you know, that they that they don't that Medicare Part A and part B don't cover. So prescription drug plans. I'm going to go a little in depth with this. Just a second, folks. Give me a little bit of time. When you first become eligible for Medicare Part A or part B, you're entitled to Part A and you have part B or you have part A and you're entitled to Part B, You can do A, you can have a prescription drug plan. A lot of plans are standalone plans. So what happens is that if you do not take your prescription drug plan, you do not enroll any prescription drug plan when you become first eligible. Then remember that late penalty, late enrollment penalty for part B, you would incur the same thing for Part D, prescription drugs. So I'm not telling you it's mandatory that you have to have a prescription drug plan.

Randy Sams:
But if you go without one and in a few years down the road, you have some pretty hefty prescription bills and you want to take a prescription drug plan a part D out, you will incur the Part D late enrollment fee penalty. So now let's talk about Medigap, known as Supplemental insurance and Medicare Advantage. These types of insurance are designed to fill the coverage gaps in Part A and part B plans. You can't have both. 81% of beneficiaries who who have parts A and B supplement their coverage with Medigap Medicaid or employer sponsored plans. All right. Medicare, Medigap, it's more expensive than other plans, covers any hospital or doctor that accepts Medicare. No need for prior authorization or referral from your primary doctor. Good for people who have specific doctors or hospitals. They want to use Medicare Medigap. I refer to them as Medicare supplement plans. Medicare Advantage, also known as Part C, Medicare Advantage plans, cover hospital and doctors and often include prescription drug coverage. And all for other coverage not included in part A and part B. So, folks, I look at Medicare Advantage. What Medicare Advantage to me, when I look at a client and I describe to it, Medicare Advantage has to cover everything that Medicare Part A and Part B covers. All right. But what happens is, is that that Medicare Advantage plan is now administered by a private health insurance company, not the government, but it still covers the benefits that you have under your original Medicare Part A and Part B, It's just now administered through an insurance company.

Randy Sams:
So they operate as health maintenance organizations or POS. But a health maintenance organization is going to limit people who are covered by this plan to certain doctors and hospitals in their networks. So. If you go out of the network, doesn't mean they won't pay part of the claim, but you will be responsible for a higher percentage of that claim. So, folks, give us a call. We'd love to be able to meet with you. We know that people with Medicare plans, Medicare Advantage, Medicare supplements, prescription drug plans, they you should probably look and do a review every year, if not every year, every 2 to 3 years. So give us a call, please. 866 990 7664. Leave us a message. Leave us your contact information. We'd love to get in contact with you. Set an appointment and do a free consultation and look over your health plans that you have. Now, whether it's a medicare supplement, whether it's a prescription drug plan or Medicare Advantage, go to YourAmericanRetirement.com Leave us a message too folks. Thank you for joining us today. Your American Retirement. My name is Randy Sams. I appreciate you listening. 866 990 7664. Give us a call. Give us a thumbs up. Listen to the podcast. Your American Retirement 101.1 FM. The Answer.

Producer:
Thanks for listening to Your American Retirement. You deserve to work with licensed financial insurance experts who can offer sound strategies for protecting and growing your hard earned money to schedule your free no-obligation consultation. Visit YourAmericanRetirement.com Today. That's Your American Retirement dot com.

Producer:
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. AmeriLife 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 of the results obtained from the use of this information.

Producer:
The Federal Reserve keeps raising interest rates to combat inflation, but how could it affect your retirement? I'm Matt McClure with the Retirement dot Radio Network Powered by AmeriLife. Supply chain issues. The pandemic, energy prices and Russia's invasion of Ukraine have all been contributing factors to runaway inflation. To fight rising prices, the Federal Reserve has been using one of its most powerful tools, raising interest rates.

Tibor Besedes:
So they started increasing the interest rates about, I guess, two meetings ago. So about three months ago when when they had the first increase of three quarters of a point percentage points to 75 basis points, which at that point was the largest increase in about 30 years.

Producer:
Tibor, besedes is an economics professor at Georgia Tech. He says it's surprising that the August reading for inflation did not see a decrease, especially given gas prices have been plummeting from recent astronomical highs.

Tibor Besedes:
Inflation is not going to stop all of a sudden. But what one is hoping for is that these increases start to decrease so that we start getting to levels that are a bit more manageable and more pleasing to the eye. If nothing else, it was it was very surprising.

Producer:
That's why, besedes, says many analysts now expect the Fed to be even more aggressive with interest rate hikes in coming months. So what does this mean for you? Potentially higher payments on mortgages, other loans and credit cards.

Tibor Besedes:
Securing any sort of balance on any loan that doesn't have a fixed interest rate, it's going to become more expensive.

Producer:
Besedes says it's important for consumers to cut back where they can to lessen the blow of inflation and interest rate hikes. And if you're in the market for a new home, it could be good to delay the purchase until rates or home prices come back down. So how do the Fed's actions on interest rates affect your wallet? That's a key question to consider as higher costs. Eat away at your hard earned money with a Retirement dot Radio network powered by Amerilife. I'm Matt McClure.

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