12.9.22: Audio automatically transcribed by Sonix

12.9.22: 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:
Good afternoon, Central Arkansas. I want to welcome you to Your American Retirement. My name is Randy Sams. I'll be your host today. As always, I want to thank you for listening, folks. We are on 101.1 FM. The Answer where Little Rock comes to talk. Folks. Again, thank you for joining the show. We've got some really good comments from folks, good questions, good suggestions as far as future show topics that we can talk about. Give us a call. Leave us a message on any questions you might have or if there's a specific retirement issue that you would like for us to address, give us a call. 866 990 7664. As for Randy Sams again, 866 990 7664. Or go to the website YourAmericanRetirement.com and leave us a comment. Leave us a suggestion. Again folks, we also have podcast. Listen to the podcast every week after we do the show. The podcast is listed below on YouTube, Spotify, whatever your podcast station might be. Give us a thumbs up. We appreciate you guys listening. So again, please reach out to us. We love hearing from you guys and helping us on the show and helping our listeners because folks here at Your American Retirement. I want to just let you know we are focused on addressing the major financial issues facing retirees and pre-retirees in America today by helping people like yourself understand and prepare for a secure retirement, not a risky retirement.

Randy Sams:
So, folks, we like to call it the retirement red zone. So if you're five years before retirement or five years into retirement, that's what we consider the retirement red zone. We'd love to sit down and kind of give a consultation or free consultation and let you kind of understand what we do and then kind of listen to what some of your objectives are and see if we can put together a plan for you that's going to prepare you for a secure retirement, not a risk of retirement, because, folks. Some of the topics we're going to talk about today. We're going to talk about 401 K rollovers. We're going to talk about are you happy with your performance of your 401. K in 2022? And what is it? What does it look like going forward in 2023? We've got a little problem solver that we're going to talk about, a real life case. Seven questions that we can help you Answer in retirement or for retirement to get you prepared for retirement and signs that you could be ready to retire. Okay, folks. Today. When you listen to this EP, as you've listened to the previous probably a couple of months worth of shows. We've been talking about AEP, we've been talking about Medicare. By the time you listen to this show on Saturday, we will know that AEP is finished.

Randy Sams:
Aep ran from October 15th to December 7th. So when you listen to this show, AEP is over. So hopefully you were able to make the changes. We covered that on every show in October and in November. So hopefully you were able to make the changes, additions that that you wanted to. Going into 2023. But if you find out you're not happy, you're still in luck. That's called open enrollment period starts January 1st and run through March 31st. I'm not going to cover it. Maybe we'll cover it in one of the later shows. But again, open enrollment period. January 1st through March 31st allows you to make any changes back to where you were in 2022. If you're not happy with what you changed during AEP. So, folks, I want to kind of ask you a question. I get asked this all the time, Randi. And what what are the types of people what are the types of clients that you guys work with? So basically what I what I look at is what are the problems or what is the problem that we are solving for our clients? They asked me, Randy, who is your ideal client? Who is your ideal audience? Who are we focused on at SMMG Financial? To to help out that we want to sit down with and.

Randy Sams:
Put together a plan for you guys. So here's what I look at. And I asked this question. So you tell me. You can leave it in a comment on our website. You can go to the toll free and leave it on. Leave me a message. But what are you lying awake at at night thinking about? What are you concerned about? Is it do I have enough money for retirement? Am I going to have enough money for retirement? Am I going to have enough money to last through retirement? You may ask, when can I retire? How much money do I need to have to retire comfortably or retire at the objectives, the income level that we have decided that that's what we feel like we need to have. What can I expect to receive with my retirement funds? What if my spouse dies during retirement? What are the options? What happens to Social Security? And did I screw up by starting Social Security too early? Folks, those are just some of the questions that I've been asked. So if you've got others, please again, go to the website, YourAmericanRetirement.com. Leave us a comment. Let us know what what you're concerned about in retirement. We'd love to be able to work with you or go to the. Leave us a message on the phone. 866 990 7664. Again, so what I look at is this.

Randy Sams:
Your problem. It's your retirement, it's your objective. So what are your objectives for retirement? That's what we want to look at. I want to tell you a little quick story here. Hopefully this will take us out, but quick story. So we had. Some friends of mine that were in the north east part of the United States. They were up around Rhode Island, Connecticut. They were all friends and they had always wanted. To be able to visit California, Southern California, and then rent a van and go across the desert. They had never seen the desert. So these three couples, they all planned it. Had this had the trip all set, flew from the northeast, United States into Southern California, rented a van, a very luxurious van, you know, one of those sprinter sprinter vans with the very, you know, the lush seats almost feels like, you know, you're you're in the back of a of a limousine, the entertainment center, all the luxuries that you could possibly want in a van in that sprinter van. So when they landed, they got that van, they loaded up their luggage, and then they were off across California office, across the desert. They were headed out towards the Mojave Desert. And then we're going to head across the Sonoran Desert. Man, they were having a fantastic time.

Randy Sams:
They were taking pictures. They were laughing. They were joking. They found any any time they had a picture of cacti, mountains, the desert, whatever, they were taking pictures of it out there, group pictures, taking selfies. So they were having just a wonderful time. And as the afternoon kind of went on, they were going across and. Started looking and there was a sign that they went across, went past and it said next gas station, 100 miles. So it dawned on them, man, they had that air conditioner cranked. It was it was 120 degrees outside in the desert, but it was 65 degrees inside that van. They had it cranked up. They having a great time. But when they saw that sign that said the next gas station 100 miles away. It dawned on them, Hey, it's been a while since we've we've gotten gas. So some of the driver was looking at it, looked at the fuel gauge. Guess what? The fuel gauge says they had less than a quarter tank of fuel left. So now guess what happened? All the fun times that they were having, all the pictures they were taking, all the selfies, they were taking all the jokes they were having just having a marvelous time. It turned now into stress. Because they didn't know how far or when it was going to run out of gas.

Randy Sams:
So they were having questions. The arguments began, Should we roll the windows down? Should we keep the windows up? Should we drive slow? Should we drive fast? We got to make this less than a fourth tank with this big old van. We've got to make this last 100 miles. So they kind of realized that they had made a mistake. They hadn't paid attention to the fuel level that they had in that van, even though they were having a great time to start out with. So, folks, here's what happened. You see, it wasn't a question of if they were going to run out of gas. It was a question of when they were going to run out of gas. So, folks. Relate that story to your retirement. What we do at OMG Financial Your American Retirement folks, We want to make sure that you're like those couples were when they got in that van and they first took off down that road and they hit that desert and they started taking all these selfie pictures. Folks. They didn't have a care in the world. They weren't worried about anything. All right. They had plenty of fuel in that van. They were having a fantastic time. But as it went on, as it progressed, as they got deeper into the desert, farther away from civilization. They realized that their fuel level was low.

Randy Sams:
So folks, what we like to do at SMMG Financial, as I stated earlier, is we want to be able to meet with you and we want to Answer those questions that we talked about. Do I have enough money? So that fuel gauge, look at that as your retirement fund. You may be asking yourself right now, do I have enough money to retire right now? Maybe you're still working. We'd love to work with folks in that situation to put together a plan. Maybe you just retired. Do I have enough money to last through my retirement? That's what we want to be able to do at SMMG Financial for you guys, folks. Put together a plan, sit down and listen to your objectives, see what we have to work with. What are your retirement funds? What do they look like? Be a41k IRA, whatever you may have folks inheritance and let us put together that plan to where we can Answer those questions. Can you retire today or how much farther down the road am I going to have to wait? How much money am I going to have during retirement? Am I going to be able to have an income where I don't have to worry about my gasoline, my fuel level running out? So, folks, thanks for listening again. Randy Sams will be right back. 101 FM The Answer Your American Retirement.

Producer:
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 1:00 PM right here on 101.1 FM. The Answer Protect your hard-earned money today and schedule a free no obligation consultation now at YourAmericanRetirement.com. Miss part of today show? Your American Retirement is available wherever you listen to podcasts and online at YourAmericanRetirement.com.

Producer:
Welcome back to Your American Retirement one on 101.1 The Answer where Little Rock comes to talk. Hey, don't forget if you missed any part of today's program. We're on the air every Saturday on the radio side, but you can listen back to us in podcast form wherever you get your podcasts. Apple, Google, Spotify, whichever platform you listen to your podcasts on. We've got a lot more to come on today's show. Let's get to This Week in History.

Producer:
It's This Week in History.

Producer:
On This Week in History. December 9th in 1965, a Charlie Brown Christmas first aired on American television. It was the first TV special based on the comic strip Peanuts by Charles M Schulz. In fact, Randy will have some tips for saving money this holiday season later on in today's show. Also on This Week in History, December 10th, on the music side of things, in 1966, the Beach Boys went to number one on the US singles chart with the song Good Vibrations. That is this Week in History. And hey, don't forget, let's go over some questions that Randy can address with you during your complimentary consultation. You can schedule yours at a time that is most convenient for you by reaching out on YourAmericanRetirement.com or by calling Randy at 866 990 7664. Jackie Joyner-Kersee is a retired American track and field athlete, ranked among the all time greatest athletes in the heptathlon as well as the long jump. She won three gold, one silver and two bronze Olympic medals in those two events in four different Olympic Games. And Jackie is the centerpiece of this week's Quote of the Week.

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

Producer:
And again, our quote of the week comes from Jackie Joyner-Kersee. Quote, It's better to look ahead and prepare than to look back and regret. Unquote.

Randy Sams:
Man, I love that, especially in the field that we are in. We like to look at folks say, I don't have any of our clients. I've never had one of my clients during 2022 with the way the markets have gone. Not one client has called me Randy. How come my account values down 20%? How come my account's down? I'm concerned about not having enough money. Because what we do at OMG Financial, Your American Retirement folks, is we put you in safe money investments. Everything that we have is not marketed. It's not in the stock market. You're not part of the stock market. So you have the peace of mind knowing that even if the stock market is going down, like I think as of at one point in time this year and 2022, it was down over 27%. You don't have to be concerned about that because you've got a guaranteed stream of income coming in, guaranteed lifetime income. So again, it's better to look ahead and prepare. Remember what we said, What do we do at SMMG Financial, Your American retirement? We want you to have a secure retirement, not a risky retirement. Jackie Joyner-Kersee. She was born March 3rd, 1962. She's retired American track and field athlete, ranked among the all time greatest athletes in the heptathlon, as well as the long jump. She won three gold medals, one silver medal and two bronze Olympic medals in two events at four different Olympic Games.

Randy Sams:
So, again, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, great athlete, very smart, always look ahead. Okay. Now we're going to get right into, folks the kind of the meat of what we're going to talk about today. For one case, you can see that I asked this question. Today's show or for those of you out there that may be disappointed with the performance of your retirement accounts. So I asked that question, How many of you today, if you could raise your hand right now, if I could see you? How many of you would raise your hand? And say, Randy, I'm disappointed with the performance of my 41k slash my retirement accounts this year. So we know it's been difficult to look at your statements and see your numbers dropping, even though you may have continued to work hard and save consistently. So you're you're making that if you're still working and you're contributing to an IRA or contributing to a 401 K or 403b, you're making those contributions and you get that statement every quarter and it may show what your contributions are, but it looks like you're losing more money than while you're actually contributing into your plan. So to give you an example, the S&P 500 year to date is down 17% from January 1st, 2022 to here in December 2022.

Randy Sams:
The Nasdaq is down 29%. That's why you need to give us a call 866 990 7664 or go to the website, Your American Retirement and leave us your information. We'd love to get in contact with you. So, folks, here's what we're going to ask you to do. And I'll do a lot of these. We want to do a 401K rollover. So here's the question I get. I say, Randy, I'm still working. So how can I if I'm still working and I plan on let's say I'm I'm working with someone who is 61 years of age and they're not going to take Social Security at 62. They're going to continue to work and their full retirement age is 67. So let's say we've got another six years for their actual full retirement age. And at that point in time, that's when they plan on turning on their Social Security retirement benefit. That would be their full retirement age. But what they don't like, they've worked so hard over the past 20, 30, 40 years. They built up a nice little 401 K retirement nest egg and now they see their retirements going down, their account values going down. So what can they do? So, folks, here's what happens. A lot of people don't understand that even though you're working and you're contributing to a 401. K and your employer has a matching percentage, they may match 3%, 5%, 6%, whatever that employer matching contribution is, you need to take advantage of that and you continue to contribute what you're doing to your 401.

Randy Sams:
K, But a lot of folks are not aware of the fact that anything that you have saved in your 401 K or other retirement accounts, that you can't touch it or that's what they thought. The actual Answer to that question is that if we were doing playing right or wrong, that would be wrong. So what's known for the 41k rollover for folks is a in-service distribution. So how in-service distribution basically works is that if you are currently working and it occurs while an employer takes a distribution and employee takes a distribution from a qualified employer sponsored retirement plan such as a 401 K account without leaving the employment of their company, this can occur without a tax penalty any time after the employee reaches age 59 and one half or the employee withdraws up to 10,000 to purchase their first home and they declare that a hardship, but an end service distribution. Folks, the ones that I work with, or when folks are 60, they're still working. They continue to plan on working until their full retirement age, but they want to take their 401 K balance and it's really stipulates in your 401. K plan. So you'd have to get with your administration.

Randy Sams:
You should have a plan document and see exactly what the limit is. Now, I've done full 100% rollovers. I've done some that's 90% rollovers. Some of them may require you to to keep a certain balance, but you can roll over the the majority. So let's say you have a41k plan that says when you hit 59 and one half that you can roll over 90% up to 90% of your 401 K account. And so what you've got the ability to do is you can take the funds that you have in that 401 K account and you can roll that from one qualified plan being your 401 K account into a another qualified plan such as a qualified annuity, a guaranteed lifetime income annuity. As an example, I just recently did a in-service distribution with a couple. They're still going to plan to work another seven eight years. They would just turn 60. So what we're working with folks is that what their objective was this is that they wanted to take their 401 K and they wanted to put it into some type of a safe account, an annuity that would grow for them. And then when they retire at their full retirement age of 67 for both of them, then they wanted to be able to turn on an income. So it's a pretty simple process, folks. We have to fill out what's known as a 1035 exchange.

Randy Sams:
It's called a request for funds transfer. Pretty simple, but it allowed this couple to be able to continue to work, to be able to contribute to their 401. K to still contribute or have the employer contributions continue to grow. And then they could let the amount that they still had in their for one K continued to grow over the next five six years and then decide that when they retire what they wanted to do with those funds. But again, in service distribution is what you can take advantage of. So if you are currently working and you have a 401 K and you have a balance and you have the ability, folks, as of today, I have not run across a 401 K that does not allow in service distributions, but I have not so far today run into a 401 K that did not allow in service distributions. So folks, give us a call. We'd love to be able to work with you again if you're 59 and one half and you're still working and making contributions, call me 866 990 7664. Say, Randy, I'd like to talk to you about that. In service distribution, I've got a41k balance that I'd like to protect. Give us a call and go to the website. Your American Retirement folks will be right back. Thanks for joining us.

Ford Stokes:
Chapter 15 bond replacement with fixed indexed annuities. Big idea. Historically, bonds have seen volatility When the market is volatile, fixed index annuities are not subject to the same volatility, which makes them a much safer investment. You might have heard a financial advisor talk about replacing your bonds with annuities to protect your wealth and grow your retirement funds. Am I firm active wealth management? We believe this is a smart way to protect your future. Many people have learned that bonds are a safe way to invest your money, but there are some downsides to bonds that should make you think twice. We'll talk about some reasons why you should consider replacing your bonds with annuities. First, here's some information on the history of bonds in the United States. Historical bond volatility. The 1900 saw two secular bear and bull markets in US. Fixed income inflation peaked at the end of World War One and World War Two due to increased government spending. The first bull market started after World War One and lasted through World War Two. The US government kept bond yields artificially low until 1951. The long term bond yields were at 1.9% in 1951. They climbed to nearly 15% in 1981. In the 1970s, globalization had a huge impact on bond markets. New asset classes such as inflation protected securities, asset backed securities, mortgage backed securities, high yield securities and catastrophe bonds were created.

Ford Stokes:
Early investors in these new asset classes were compensated for taking on the challenge. The bond market was coming off its greatest bull market coming into the 21st century. Long term bond yields declined from a high of 15% to 7% by the end of the century. The bull market in bonds showed continued strength in the early 21st century. But there is no guarantee with our current market volatility that this will hold. See Chart 15.1 To see the incredible difference of investing in a fixed index annuity versus investing in bonds. Why you should consider replacing your bonds with annuities. The first question you should ask yourself is this Why would you take market risk with your bonds when your bonds can lose their value? If you just look at the history alone, you can see how uncertain the future of bonds is. Inflation and fluctuating interest rates play a big role in bond yield. Interest rate, risk of bonds, bonds and interest rates have an inverse relationship. When interest rates fall, bond prices rise. Due to the COVID 19 pandemic, investors have moved their money to bonds because they believe it is a safer investment option. However, this has caused bond yields to fall to all time lows. As of May 24th, 2020, the ten year Treasury note was yielding 0.64%, and the 30 year Treasury bond was at 1.27% reinvestment risk of bonds.

Ford Stokes:
This is the likelihood that an investment's cash flows will earn less in a new security. For example, an investor buys a ten year, 100,000 Treasury note with an interest rate of 6%. They expect it to earn 6000 a year. At the end of the term, interest rates are 4%. If the investor buys another ten year note, they will earn 4000 instead of 6000 annually. Consider the possibility that interest rates change over time when deciding to invest in bonds. Systematic market risk. This refers to the risk that is inherent to the market as a whole. It will affect the overall market, not just a particular stock or industry. This can be unpredictable and it is impossible to avoid. Diversification cannot fix this issue. But the correct asset allocation strategy can make a big difference. Unsystematic Market risk. This type of risk is unique to a specific company or industry similar to systematic market risk. It is impossible to know when unsystematic risk will occur. For example, if someone is investing in health care stocks, they may be aware of some major changes coming to the industry. However, there is no way they can know how those changes will affect the market. There are two factors that contribute to company specific risk business risk. There are two types of risk internal and external. Internal refers to operational efficiency.

Ford Stokes:
An external would be similar to the FDA banning a specific drug that the company sells financial risk. This relates to the capital structure of a company. A weak capital structure can lead to inconsistent earnings and cash flow that can prevent a company from trading reduced advisory fees. Investors who trade individual stocks may know how much commission they are paying their broker, but individuals who buy bonds often have no idea what type of commission they are paying. Bond dealers collect commission on bonds they sell called markups, but they bundle them into the price that is quoted to the investors. This means you are unaware of how much commission you are actually paying. Standard and Poor's estimates of bond markups is 0.85% of the value for corporate bonds and 1.21% for municipal bonds. However, markups can be as high as 5%, up to $50 per bond. Bonds have finite durations. Bonds only provide income for a finite amount of time. Unlike an annuity which provides income for life, you must reach. You invest your money if you want to continue generating interest with bonds. However, reinvesting with a bond can sometimes come at a loss, as we discussed above. Annuities will provide you with an income you can never outlive.

Producer:
Visit Your American Retirement dotcom to schedule a free consultation with Randy today. And now back to the show one at 101.1 the Answer where Little Rock comes to talk. Welcome back to Your American Retirement. Coming up, Randy is going to give you some tips on saving money this holiday season. Right now, we listen in to Matt McClure, a story about 2022 holiday spending.

Producer:
As the song says It's the most wonderful time But don't let holiday spending wreck your retirement plan. I'm Matt McClure with the Retirement dot Radio Network. Powered by AmeriLife. Just over $832. That's how much the National Retail Federation says the average American plans to spend on holiday gifts, food and decorations this year. Many of us will spend much more than that. So how do you keep from overdoing it? Financial website Investopedia has some tips on keeping holiday spending under control. Number one is perhaps the most important set spending limits for yourself. Tyler Ferguson with Jack's Federal Credit Union agrees.

Tyler Ferguson:
Some can even go old school like myself and use a cash spending plan to ensure that you're staying inside of your budget. You're actually using cash to mitigate those swiping of the cards. It's also an effective plan if you have kids wanting to shop as well.

Producer:
That from News4 Jax The number two tip from Investopedia is to make your own naughty or nice list. In other words, if you're shopping list includes more than five people outside your immediate family, start cutting it, then bake cookies or other treats to give to those who didn't make the cut. That way you spread holiday cheer without breaking the budget and you don't seem like Scrooge Humbug. Other bits of advice from Investopedia include being realistic about your budget, collecting coupons or discount codes and organizing group volunteering instead of holiday parties. Ferguson says. One thing you should not overlook is getting the kids involved.

Tyler Ferguson:
For the younger kids, you want to give them a smaller dollar amount, maybe a $10 cash transaction to kind of help provide them a visual observation of what they're using the funds for. And then for your older kids who have either been saving themselves already or they have a lump sum to kind of go shopping with, can open up an account for them, go over how to budget and how to spend.

Producer:
So how can you give this holiday season without busting your budget? That's a key question to consider. As Santa starts warming up the sleigh with the Retirement dot Radio Network powered by AmeriLife, I'm Matt McClure.

Producer:
And that story from the great Matt McClure. Our thanks to Matt for that. And again, Randy will have some tips on saving money this holiday season coming up a little bit later on in the show. Randy, you touched on a little bit last segment and we continue on with in-service distribution in 2023.

Randy Sams:
Folks. I've got another example on in-service distribution that I want to talk to you about. My name is Randy Sams. Thank you for joining us. But I'm going to get into another. Another example, folks, of how an in service distribution can work for you. So I've got a couple ADD and Marie, they're married couple they're in their early sixties a adds an accountant. Marie is an office manager so they've been working they've both have retirement plans. They both have four on one case. They've been they've been saving enough to maximize the free company match. So they've been taking advantage of that three, four, five, 6% company match. And while reducing their annual taxable income, which is something that that 41k contribution that you're making is a pretax contribution. So they've been great savers, but they've been disappointed. What's happening to their 401 K balances each has been about 20% seen about 20% or more losses year to date. So folks, what's what's the option for them? Keep the money in there. Just a little heads up from some of the articles that I've been seeing, some of the you know from MarketWatch from some of the other Barron's I'm seeing a lot of folks that are saying that in 2023 they expect the market to continue to go down. Some are saying anywhere from 20 to 25%. Now I'm not doing doom, doom and gloom, I'm just telling you what I'm, what I'm seeing, what I'm reading.

Randy Sams:
Okay. So if that's going to happen again in 2023, what's one of the smart things that you need to do? Let's give a consideration to doing in service distribution so both Ed and Marie. They both have the 41k and they want to do a traditional 41k rollover or the in service distribution to new accounts. So that's going to let them implement a more risk efficient, more market efficient and fee efficient strategy than what they currently have in their 401. K. So they will draw the maximum amount of funds that their 401 K will allow them and still remain in the company plan, continue to take advantage of the free matching contributions by the company and also continue to make their contributions on any unvested balances or whatever. So again, check with your 401 K administrator. You should have a plan document to see what what you can and cannot do. Some of them will let you take the full balance. Some of them will will put a limit that you have to you can take up to say 90%. Some of them may be a little bit less than that. But take a look at that. See what your current situation might be with your with your employer sponsored 401. K plan. And if you feel like that, you might want to take advantage of some safe money options, you can give us a call and go to YourAmericanRetirement.com or give us a call 866 990 7664.

Randy Sams:
And we'd love to be able to sit down and see if an in service distribution might be a good option for you. To prepare for your retirement. So, folks, let's go over some questions right now. That will address that we can address during your consultation if you give us a call again. You remember during the first segment what I spoke about. What are some of the problems that we want to help solve? Some of the things. So you tell me, you know, if you're wanting me to come and meet with you and tell you what you should do, folks, I can only do that by listening to what you say. So one of my questions is going to be to you. What? Do you lay awake at at night? And worry about or are concerned about. In your retirement. Again. Is it enough money? If you're in retirement, do I have enough money to last through retirement? So there are several questions that, you know, that I can ask, but I'm really going to be asking you questions as far as you tell me what your biggest concern is. And that's going to be what we're going to focus on.

Randy Sams:
So here are seven questions. That we can help you Answer for retirement. When should you and your spouse claim Social Security benefits if you haven't already? Do you know the best way to maximize your benefits? So if you were listening to some of the earlier episodes that we had, some of the earlier shows, we specifically talked about Social Security retirement benefits. The ages that you can and cannot take Social Security. Is it best to start at age 62, which is the earliest that you can take? Your Social Security benefits should you wait till your full retirement age? Depending on what your age is, it could be 66 and one half. It could be 67. Or. Can you wait to age 70, which is going to be the maximum Social Security retirement benefit that anyone will ever get? So those are questions that we want you to go over. We want to ask those questions to you, and we're going to look at your situation and we'll figure those out. So when should you and your spouse claim Social Security benefits if you haven't already? Number two. What is your budget and your tax plan for retirement? Do you expect it to change in the future? Are you accounting for inflation and future tax increases? So folks, how much tax free income do you have? Do you have a Roth IRA? What do you have in a savings account? Lots of questions.

Randy Sams:
Is everything that you have qualified? Meaning that it's all been pre it's pretax dollars, which means that when you start your withdrawals, it's going to be taxed. But then again. That's one of the features that people looked at a41k or retirement plans is the fact that while I'm working, my taxes should be higher than when I retire, which means you should be in a lower tax bracket. But we don't know what the tax brackets are going to be five years from now or ten years from now. Do we? We don't know what the tax brackets are going to be in 2024, 2025, 2026. So we need to look at your situation. And we need to put together a plan to attack taxes. What your tax plan for retirement. Number three, how should you best manage your account balances and required minimum distributions? So what are required minimum distributions, folks, right now it used to be 70 and one half. Right now it's 72. Further through the CARES Act that was passed, I believe, in the end of 20 or 2019 that rose from 70 and one half to now 72. So if you have a four on one K balance that is just sitting there, or if you have any kind of a qualified plan, an IRA that you have not been paying taxes on, and it's been growing for many, many years when you hit age 72.

Randy Sams:
The IRS. Uncle Sam, our partner in business. Requires you to take a minimum distribution from your 401 K accounts. In other words, they are going to make you start taking distributions at age 72. So those distributions can be what can be taxed. All right. And folks, I'm here to tell you. Your RMDs start at a lower percentage and as you get older, that percentage increases. So the. Seven, age 72. As an example, the age 72 RMD might be three and one half percent might be a little bit lower, but I'm just using it as an example. It could be three and one half, but when you're 80 that RMD percentage might be about 5% or it could be over. We've got a we've got a form that will tell us exactly depending on what your age is, what that RMD currently is, those can change as we go forward. So again, how should you manage your account balances today and plan for required minimum distributions? Number four. Should you consider converting some of your savings to a Roth IRA? We jumped right back up to tax advantages. How much tax free income do you currently have? Can we take some of your. Qualified plan, your retirement plan that's qualified and begin to roll that over into a Roth IRA.

Randy Sams:
The Answer to that question is yes, I do it all the time. So what we can do for you folks is this We can take your 401. K balance. And instead of rolling the entire balance into a Roth IRA, where you're going to have a huge tax bill, what we do is we take that IRA, we take the IRA balance or four on one balance, and we roll a portion of that into an annuity that gives us the ability to do a annual withdrawal, a free withdrawal. So what may be a ten year annuity, let's say you have 200,000 into that annuity and the first year we withdraw 20,000 and we put that into a Roth IRA, a Roth conversion. So you're only going to pay taxes on what, the 20,000 versus moving the entire 200,000. But again, folks, those are questions we can Answer. Give us a call. 866 990 7664. Or go to the website Your American Retirement. Leave us a message. Give us your contact information. We're not going to inundate you with emails, junk mail, spam mail. But we'd love to be able to set up a consultation and sit down with you and find out what some of your objectives are might be. So, folks, again, Randy Sams, you are American Retirement. Thanks for listening. We'll be right back.

Producer:
Could a recent IRS change actually save you money on next year's taxes? I'm Matt McClure with the Retirement dot Radio Network. Powered by Amerilife. When you think of the Internal Revenue Service, your mind may very well recall the sting of forking over your money to Uncle Sam or the hassle of preparing your taxes. A recent study by the American Action Forum estimated Americans spent more than $190 billion. That's billion with a B on tax preparation in 2021. Plus, many economists predict the federal government will have to raise taxes in the future to pay off the national debt. But there's one change the tax man is making for 2023 that could actually mean you'll owe less in taxes next year.

Andrew Pelosi:
How much you save will be relative to your personal situation. So it's not going to be the same for every household, but certainly it could have a nice little savings come tax time.

Producer:
Andrew Pelosi, with Pelosi Accounting and Consulting, recently told Atlanta News. First, the IRS typically makes annual adjustments to income tax brackets, but this year they're bigger than usual due to, you guessed it, inflation.

Andrew Pelosi:
Some people will see a savings of perhaps 1000 for during tax time on their tax return. Others might see a little bit more. Certainly the brackets have changed. So the those who are in higher brackets will probably see more savings than those who are in lower brackets. But across the board, everyone's going to see some kind of savings.

Producer:
In short, all tax brackets are going up by about 7% for 2023. That means you can make more money and be in a lower tax bracket than you would be this year. The standard deduction is also going up to the tune of a $900 increase for single filers and 1800 dollars for married couples filing jointly.

Andrew Pelosi:
I mean, look, it's beneficial for everyone, right? At the end of the day, we're all looking to save money and keep more money in our pockets. In a time like this where groceries are more expensive, fuel prices are at record prices, every little bit helps.

Producer:
Keep in mind, though, that these adjustments are for money you earn next year in 2023, so you won't actually see the results until you file your taxes in early 2024. So could you benefit from the IRS's new tax brackets? That's a key question to consider as you plan your financial future With the Retirement dot Radio Network powered by AmeriLife. I'm Matt McClure.

Producer:
Are you anxious about retirement concern that you could outlive your money? Randy Sams is a Little Rock native who has nearly four decades of experience helping hundreds of Arkansans retire with confidence. If you want to get the most out of what you've worked so hard for, or if you're interested in learning how to maximize your Social Security, call Randy today at 501 249 2343 Or visit YourAmericanRetirement.com.

Randy Sams:
Hey welcome back folks. Again, my name is Randy Sams. I am your host Your American Retirement on 101.1 FM. The Answer we're Little Rock comes to talk folks would want to thank you for joining the show again as I've reiterated reiterated pointed out easy for me to say many, many times Leave us a message. Give us a thumbs up on our podcast. Leave us a good comment. Give us some critiques. Tell us what some of the subjects you may want us to cover on some of the upcoming shows might be. You can leave your information on YourAmericanRetirement.com or you can give us a call and leave a message at 866 990 7664. Again, Randy Sams, SMMG Financial, Your American Retirement folks, we're going to finish up on the questions that we want to help you Answer in retirement. Number five, What should you do with your real estate? Do you plan to downsize? Do you have rental income to account for? So, folks, one of the things to think about. Is your family home paid off? You don't have a mortgage. You're sitting on a lot of equity now. I don't do these. I don't know a lot about them, so I'm not going to spend a lot of time on them. I. I didn't play a mortgage, a reverse mortgage person on TV last night. I didn't stay at a Holiday Inn Express. So here's what I'll tell you. I know that there are several people and I see a lot of advertisements about people taking advantage of what's known as a reverse mortgage.

Randy Sams:
Is it going to be a good program for you, a good feature for you, a good fit for you? I don't know. I don't do them, but it might be something to think about. So you've got to ask yourself, what are you going to do with your real estate? Do you have a large house? Is it just you and your spouse? Do you have a lot of family that come to visit you? Do you need? 5000, 6000 square feet. 3000 square feet. 4000 square feet. That's your Answer, not mine. I'm just going to ask the question. So look at your real estate and see what your plan is. Do you think it'd be wise to downsize? Move into a house that you may have not and have a mortgage. That's something that you need to Answer. Number six, what is your plan for Medicare and any potential long term needs? Folks, as you know, we've been talking about the previous probably a couple of months about Medicare. What your options are during EAP, what your options were during EAP, when you're about to turn 65, What is Medicare? What is Medicare Part A, medicare Part B? So if you want to go to YourAmericanRetirement.com, you can listen to some of the previous shows and we'll talk specifically about Medicare, what it is and what it is not what you need to know if you're about to turn 65 and you're going to retire or if you're going to be 65 and you're still going to continue to work, what are your options? But you need to plan for Medicare at some point in time and long term care folks, because for sure, the longer we live, guess what's going to happen? You're going to probably have some health issues.

Randy Sams:
Now, I'm not wishing anything bad on anybody that's listening. I hope and pray that you live to be 120 years old in great health and you just decide at some point in time that you want to go home and be with our father in heaven. Okay? But as we know, the majority folks, as we get older, these aches and pains that we currently have or sometimes wake up with, they can continue to get worse. Sometimes you have an illness. So what is your plan for health insurance? What is your plan for Medicare? What is your long term care plan? If someone has to go into a nursing home or a long term care facility, what's your plan? Number seven. What legacy would you like to plan to leave for your children or grandchildren now, folks? This is something that I tell my clients. I like to work with folks that are a little bit younger when it comes to leaving an inheritance to the children, because, as you know, as we get older, we may have health concerns.

Randy Sams:
We may have health issues. As we get older, when we're looking at life insurance, our life insurance premium is going to be more for a 60 year old than it is for a 50 year old. All right. So what I like to do is this. So, folks, when you're working and you're putting money back in a 401 K plan or a retirement plan, whatever that might be, what's your objective? Because our goal is to what we want to be like. Those people that got in that sprinter van and took off across the desert. Man, everybody was happy, happy, happy taking pictures. So, folks, your retirement plan is this man I've worked for 30, 40 years. I've built a nice little nest egg. I've taken a portion of that nest egg and I've turned that into guaranteed income. So, folks, what I tell people is this Listen, you've worked so hard. People say, Man, when I retire, I want to take a lot of trips. I want to take cruises. I want to see the world. I want to join a country club. I want to play tennis. I want to play golf. I want to be able to help my family out, see my grandkids, whatever it might be. So you want to spend that money, right? But guess what? Reality happens. A lot of people, when they get into retirement, they're afraid they're going to spend too much money.

Randy Sams:
They're going to run out of money just like those folks going across that desert in that van. They were afraid they were going to run out of gas. No, I'll change that. They knew they were going to run out of gas. Right. They knew they were going to run out of fuel. They just didn't know when they were going to run out of fuel. So, folks, what I tell people is this. You've worked too hard to be where you're at today. Enjoy your retirement. Utilize a life insurance policy. So figure out how much you want to leave each one of your children or your grandkids and purchase a life insurance policy. You may say I have four grandkids. My kids are taken care of. I have four grandchildren. I'd like to leave them each 50,000 or I'd like to believe them. Each 100,004 times 100,000 is 400,000. So what's your objective? By 400,000. Life insurance policy. It's not going to cost you 400,000 folks. It may it may cost you 10% of that. You may do a short pay, maybe a ten pay, a five pay, a 20 pay. And after ten years it's paid off. After 20 years it's paid off. But guess what you're able to do? You're able to utilize your funds that you've been saving and working for over your retirement or your working years in your retirement. You'll be able to take those cruises. You'll be able to join that country club, you'll be able to play golf, play tennis, whatever it might be, folks.

Randy Sams:
That's what I want to set you guys up for is a secure and a happy retirement, utilizing your retirement funds for you and then leaving your kids or your grandkids. Leave them a death benefit, a life insurance policy. His tax free death benefit is tax free. So, folks, that's one of the features. That's one of the things that we can do for you. If you give us a call, set up that free consultation. Let us put together a secure retirement plan for you. Again, call me Randy at 866 990 7664. Through the website YourAmericanRetirement.com and again leave me your contact information comment Randy. I'd like to talk to you about leaving a legacy for my kids or my grandkids. I like to talk about setting up a life insurance policy again. Your retirement, Your American Retirement. Leave us your contact information. I'll be glad to reach out and set up an appointment for you. So, folks. Something to think about. We're getting close. What is this? We're in December. What about saving money? And saving headaches during this holiday season. We're about to jump into the holiday season, Christmas and then New Year's is right around the corner, folks. Depending on when you hear this, New Year's is right around the corner. So, folks, here's what we want you to do. Number one, create a holiday budget. All right. We know all the tempting deals.

Randy Sams:
You're going to come up with new products. It's easy to get sucked into, but create a holiday budget that's worth it and don't go into debt on your credit cards. Number two. Shop early to save on shipping. Don't wait till the last minute and we get to pay that 20, 30, $40 shipping that is going to be delivered on Christmas Eve. All right. So remember, we have supply chain issues. So shop early and take advantage of that. Number three. Stay home for the holidays. Number four, if you must travel, choose destinations with off season deals. Number five, give the gift of your time. You'd be surprised how many of your family members just want to see your pretty face. Number five, instead of throwing a big holiday party, huge investment on your part. Have everybody get together and bring have a potluck, have everybody bring something. And the number seven, do it yourself. Some of you listening may practice a craft like wood carving. Make your gifts yourself, folks. So again, we're about to jump into the holiday season. We are in the midst of a holiday season. Be smart. Don't go into debt. Don't use those credit cards unless you have the ability to pay them off. So, folks, again, I hope you've enjoyed this show. My name is Randy Sams, SMMG Financial president, CEO, Thank you for joining us today on your American Retirement 101.1 FM. The Answer we're Little Rock comes to talk. Thank you.

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.

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 of 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:
Where's the best place to hang your hat when you retire? I'm Matt McClure with the Retirement dot Radio Network. Powered by Amerilife. Whether retirement is just around the corner or several years away, time is ticking on planning not only your finances for your later years, but where you want to live out your post-retirement life. Personal finance website wallethub recently released its list of best states to retire in 2022.

Jill Gonzalez:
Florida, unsurprisingly, ranked number one, followed by Virginia, Colorado, Delaware and Minnesota.

Producer:
Wallethub analyst Jill Gonzalez.

Jill Gonzalez:
The top ten continues with North Dakota, Montana, Utah, Arizona and New Hampshire.

Producer:
So what makes a state one of the best to retire in?

Jill Gonzalez:
The study was based on 47 metrics, including tax friendliness, the elderly population, golf courses per capita and shoreline mileage.

Producer:
As for Florida, which landed the top spot this year.

Jill Gonzalez:
Florida excelled in tax friendliness, fellow retirees and things to do, but could use improvement with home health aides per capita.

Producer:
Even though the Sunshine State is number one overall, if finances are your primary concern, you might want to consider a move to Mississippi. It ranked as the state with the lowest overall cost of living. As for tax friendliness, Alaska jumps to the top of the list. But what if you want some culture in your retirement years? New York ranks as the number one state when it comes to the number of museums per capita. The trade off there is naturally, the Empire State is one of the most expensive in the country. So where do you want to spend most of your time in retirement? And what factors are most important to you when considering a potential move? Those are key questions to consider as you plan for the future with the Retirement dot Radio Network powered by Amerilife. I'm Matt McClure.

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