How Americans Can Improve Their Retirement Plans in 2024

1.19.24: Audio automatically transcribed by Sonix

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

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

Speaker2:
Welcome to your American Retirement with your host, Randy Sams. Get set for a full hour of financial information and economic news affecting your bottom line. Randy works hard each day to educate Americans like you on how to reach the financial freedom they've worked so hard for, and he can help you too. So now let's start the show. Here is your host, Randy Sams. Well, hello again, Central Arkansas. I want to welcome you to your American retirement. Our name is Randy Sams. Who has it been cold this week? Yes, it has been from the frozen tundra of, uh, Alaska sauce. Is that what I heard people calling us? Guys, we had some cold temperatures, but, hey, it's Saturday, sun is shining. So I want to thank you for joining us on this Saturday morning. Hope you've had your, uh, cup of coffee or a hot cocoa or whatever it is to get you warmed up. So we got a jam packed show for you today. 2024 is a is upon us. Can you believe we're already what passed halfway through January, running on into February of full steam? So the show on tap. And hey, please don't forget to check out the show in podcast form on Apple, Google, Spotify, or wherever you. Get your podcasts and also visit our YouTube page as well. You know, you go to youtube.com and search for your American retirement. You know you're going to hit the right spot when you see my smiling face again in 2024. But folks. What we do on YouTube page. Our YouTube excerpts are basically just a snippet of today's show or any other previous show.

Speaker2:
Uh, we're going to take some of the what we consider to be the highlights or high points that we want to emphasize and get you that information, and then hopefully that will motivate you to go to either your podcast provider or go to your American retirement. And you can go and look at previous shows. And we've got every show from the past last year through, you know, 2022, 2023. And any show that we've had so far this year. So again, I want to thank you for joining us. So folks, shout out to all of y'all here in Central Arkansas. We've had some crazy weather. Uh, I've talked to a whole lot of people and all the all the kiddos that didn't go to school. The parents are going crazy because the kids, you know, you got four kids or however many kids you got running around the house and you can't let them outside for very long anyway. And everybody's ready to go to work and everybody's ready to get the kids back to school. So anyway, we know what you're going through, but I'm very thankful that we've made it through. And thank you for joining today's show. I feel like so all the people in Benton, all the people in Bryant, all of y'all in little Rock, Cabot, Conway, I could go on and on and on. Thank you for joining us, giving us this opportunity to hopefully bring a little wisdom, a little financial wisdom, a little retirement wisdom.

Speaker2:
Into your life if you're getting close to retirement, or if you're in retirement, or if you know somebody in your family that's getting close to retirement that needs to listen, please give them this information. Because, folks, please don't hesitate to call us with your questions. Any concerns? What is it that keeps you up at night? Randy I'm getting ready to retire and this is what I'm concerned about. Or I'm in retirement and this is what I'm concerned about. Okay, give us a call. Let us set up a consultation, or I'll call you on the telephone and we can talk through some. See what exactly is concerning to you. What is your stress points? Okay. What is your some of your objectives that you have during retirement? Because we love hearing from and helping our listeners to get prepared for a secure retirement. So folks, today's show retire with confidence how to plan today for income tomorrow. So I want to read this to you. You've heard me say it before. This is our mission statement for your American retirement. Your American retirement is 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 risky retirement. Now I want to focus on prepare, be prepared. Okay. And you just heard our mission statement to understand and prepare you for a secure retirement, not a risky retirement. Now, folks, unfortunately, there are those of you who are listening, hopefully not very many of you, but they're out there.

Speaker2:
Uh, I meet with them and I speak with them. But there are some people who refuse to prepare. When's the best time to start? Right now. So if you haven't made any plans, if you haven't made any preparations for retirement, for long term care for death, no better time to start than right now. Okay, so to put it in, I want you to understand why this is so important to to me and to those that I work with. Uh, prepare means to put in proper condition or readiness. Are you ready? Is your retirement plan in proper condition? Do you even have a retirement plan? Okay. Another definition to put things or oneself in readiness. Get ready, be prepared. Have you prepared for retirement, folks? That what you know, if you've listened to this show for very long, you know, the only thing that we talk about is retirement. That's what we specialize in. We want to get you prepared for what will occur for. During retirement, there are going to be financial issues that need to be addressed. Now, hopefully before you retire. That way when they arise, you've already got them taken care of. In other words, you will be prepared for that. Okay. Have you prepared for health issues, long term care folks? You know, one of the risks that we have in retirement is what? Longevity. Longevity is the risk of living too long. A lot of people that I deal with are concerned that their retirement account will hit zero before their blood pressure does.

Speaker2:
You understand? We don't want that. But if you're not prepared, if you're not ready, if you don't have the right plan in place, that could happen. So longevity is something that you have to be concerned about. And if we live long enough, we more than likely will have some type of health issues. 72% of you that are 65 or above, if you're listening today and you're 65 or above, 72% of you will have some type of long term care need. All right. That's pretty eye opening. Nobody has any issues with getting automobile insurance, although the risk of you having to utilize it is very low. You don't have any issues with getting homeowner's insurance, although the risk of having to utilize it may be a little bit higher than automobile insurance, but it's not that bad. Okay. But when we talk about long term care, when I do my educational seminars and I ask for a show of hands of those in the audience who have prepared for long term care, very seldom do I have more than 1 or 2 hands go up. But the statistics show that 72% of you that are 65 or above will have some type of long term care issue or need in your lifetime. Okay, but are you prepared? Are you ready for that? Have you prepared for death? Now that's tough folks, and I'm talking spiritually now I could go preaching if you want me to. And I also want to talk about physically. Now folks, this really hits home. I'm dealing with a family right now whose loved one passed away.

Speaker2:
No names are going to be given or spoken, but this is just an example of when you are not prepared, when you do not prepare for certain events in life. And unless the Lord comes back before we pass away, we're all going to die. Okay? But I hope and pray that Jesus comes back. But that's me getting to the preachy side of me. Okay? But to prepare for the physical death, have you got a plan in place? Or do you just throw up your hands and say, well, I'm going to be dead. I'm just going to let my family take care of it. See, that's the issue, that I'm dealing with another family right now. Their loved one did not plan, and there is a lot of internal squabbling going on between the siblings. Okay, between the family. I don't think the loved one that passed away would have wanted that. I don't think any of you listening to this show this morning would want that. So I gotta ask you, are you prepared for when you pass away and it's really not for you? You got to realize it's not for you. It's for those loved ones that you leave behind, that you leave behind. Okay. And so. Folks. I want you to be prepared and to be prepared. We're going to do a little preview. We're going to do a little talk on the three legged retirement stool. So y'all come right back. You're listening to your American Retirement on 101.1 FM. The answer?

Speaker3:
Thanks for listening to your American retirement. If you like what you're hearing, subscribe to our YouTube channel to watch videos from this program and other recent episodes.

Nothing from nothing leaves. Nothing. You gotta have something. If you want to be with me. Nothing from nothing.

Speaker4:
Any bonuses mentioned may be subject to additional restrictions and regulations based on the offering annuity company. You may not receive the bonus if the contract is fully surrendered, or if traditional annuitization payments are taken, and if the policy is partially surrendered, it could result in a partial loss of bonuses. Because these are bonus annuities, they may include higher surrender charges, longer surrender charge periods, lower caps, higher spreads, and other restrictions that are not included in similar annuities that don't offer a bonus feature.

Speaker3:
Are you anxious about retirement? Concerned 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. That's (501) 249-2343 or visit your American retirement. Com visit your American retirement.com to schedule a free consultation with Randy today. And now back to the show.

Speaker2:
Hey welcome back to your American retirement on 101.1 FM. The answer we're little Rock comes to talk. Please don't forget to check out our YouTube page, visit youtube.com and search for your American retirement. And as always, you'll know you hit the right one when you see my smiling face. All right, folks, listen to kind of wrap up what I spoke about to be prepared plan today for income and other issues tomorrow that you are going to it will occur. All right. So are you ready to retire? Are you prepared? Are you ready for long term care? Are you prepared for a long term care event? Are you ready? Are you prepared for death? Now, folks, what you do when you take care of this is you take away that burden from your family. None of you want to go into retirement. At least I don't think you do. Nobody that I've ever met with. You don't want to go into retirement and find out that you got to move in with your kids, your grown kids who probably have their own family to take care of. Okay. Most people that I deal with don't want to be a burden to their family, to their loved one, to their spouses.

Speaker2:
If at some point in time they need to go to a long term care facility, all right, take that burden off of your family. And then finally, at the point of death, have you taken care of the arrangements? Have you done any prearrangements. Do you have a final expense policy? What I mean by that is it's a small face amount life insurance policy that can be paid to a beneficiary. Then they take care of the funeral arrangement, or it can be paid directly to a funeral home to cover your burial expenses. Okay. Whether you want to be cremated or whether you want a full burial, whatever, with casket and everything you need to make that plan, take that burden of the decision making away from your family. Take that financial burden off of your family and be prepared. All right? That's all I'm going to say about that. I think that was Forrest Gump, right? Okay. Now how about we do a little financial wisdom quote of the week, Mr.. Jim.

Speaker5:
And now for some financial wisdom. It's time for the quote of the week.

Speaker2:
All right. To kick off our conversation this week. Quote of the week. Financial independence is the ability to live from the income of your own personal resources. And that's given to us by by Mr. Jim Roan, who was a renowned motivational speaker, personal development coach who offered many valuable insights regarding financial planning, goal setting, and the pursuit of a purposeful life. During retirement.

Speaker6:
You might draw a little circle. This is where you are ten years from now. You could be here, or ten years from now, you could be here. And the difference in ten years between here and here could be significant in money and lifestyle treasures. Equity in ten years, an incredible difference. But right here, a small difference in the change of discipline, the change of thinking to start you on this journey versus this journey.

Speaker2:
Financial independence is the ability to live from the income of your own personal resources. Millions of Americans are unprepared for retirement. We just spoke about being prepared, okay? And it's just crazy by the numbers. Listen to this. By the numbers. More than half, 52% of Americans are not on track to comfortably pay for their retirement, according to a recent report from fidelity, the nation's largest provider of 401 K plans. Nearly half of US private sector workers roughly 57 million people, don't have access to an employer sponsored retirement plan like a 401 K, 403 B, or 457. Isn't that crazy? 57 million people don't have access to those types of plans. Only about 1 in 10 Americans working in the private sector today is able to participate in a defined benefit pension plan. Gen Xers and Millennials are far less likely to have traditional pensions than their baby boomer counterparts. All right, that's crazy. So here's some questions that you got to ask yourself, folks. We just spoke about being prepared, and now we're talking about how millions of Americans are unprepared for retirement. So there are some things that you need to get ready for. There's some things that you need to think about. There's some planning that needs to take place. Here's some questions that you need to ask yourself. How much monthly income will I need to live in retirement and how am I going to generate it? This is where we're going to start talking about that three legged stool here in just a second.

Speaker2:
Alright. How much monthly income will I need to live in retirement and how am I going to generate it? You see, folks used to people could work for 30 or 40 years and retire and they had a pension. So they could kick in. Social Security and Social Security was going to take up a little bit of what you lost. So your pension might take care of 60% of your salary, what you were used to making. And then if your Social Security kicked in another 2,025%, it was no way you're going to be able to retire on 100% of your wages unless you had some, you know, stock market planning or whatever that did really well for you. So today you have to figure out what is it going to take me to live from here on out? I'm not going to work. So where's the paycheck going to come from when the paycheck stops? That's a better way to put it, I guess. Okay. What happens if the cost of living continues to increase at a rate greater than you anticipated? To get that, what happens if the cost of living continues to increase at a rate greater than anticipated? Colas last few years you've gotten and those of you who are on Social Security, you've gotten a Cola increase.

Speaker2:
This year was a lot less than what it was in 2023. Okay, that's the cost of living. Do you think that's going to stay level? Do you think it's going to decrease or do you think it will continue to increase. So the buying power of your money today, what's it going to be next year or three years from now or five years from now or ten years from now? You got a plan, folks? You got to be prepared. How much? Uninterrupted increasing income. Can my savings, investments and retirement accounts actually generate? Okay, now these are questions that you should ask yourself. If we come and meet, which I hope we can, I hope you'll give us that opportunity. These are questions that you need to already be thinking about. I'm going to ask them, but I'm going to expect a response from you because I build a plan based on your objectives. It's not a one size, fit, all retirement planning operation here. Okay. We're going to build a plan based on what your objectives are, what you and your spouse's objectives are. Not what I did for the last person or the person before that, or the next person. It's based on your input, what your wants and your needs are. And finally, what happens if tax rates rise to the point that taxes start to reduce my spendable income? Folks, you need to think about these.

Speaker2:
You need to give me a call. (866) 990-7664. Or go to the website your American retirement.com. Leave me your contact information and say, Randy, I'd like to have a conversation with you. And let's talk about these four questions that we just asked. All right. Because I want to be prepared for retirement. I don't want to be unprepared. I want to be prepared. I want to be ready because I don't want to be a a burden to my family. So here's how we can help improve your chances of a successful retirement. You give us a call. Let us build you a stable, three legged stool retirement plan. Some of y'all may have heard of this. Some of you may not have. Okay, let us build you a stable, three legged stool retirement plan. So under one common rule of thumb, retirees should rely on a stable, three legged stool of income sources consisting of Social security pensions and withdrawals from savings. Yet only 7% of retirees had access to all three components, according to a recent study from the National Institute of Retirement Security. So at Psmg financial, we can help you determine the best time to start taking Social Security for you and your spouse. All of our listeners are all of our listeners who contact us today.

Speaker2:
Will receive a free Social Security maximization report. We do that for all of our clients to show you exactly different stages. If you take Social Security now versus later, you take it early versus later, okay? However, Social Security alone is not enough to live on during retirement. I hope you know that. I hope you're planning for that. I hope you're prepared for that. So anyone who contacts us this week will also receive a free, no obligation consultation where we will discuss personal pension options so you can protect your hard earned retirement savings, generate a lifetime income stream that you can never outlive. Okay, because folks, the three legged stool, social security, your savings and pensions will. Randy, I don't have a pension, so I'm back to a two legged stool. Well, if you ever try to sit on a two legged stool, it's going to flip over on you. Okay? The pension can be a self pension. All right. What I mean by that is you've got a 401 K or an IRA. You're getting ready to retire. We take the 400 K money, all of it. Part of it. Whatever percentage we need to that will provide you with the adequate income you need. Remember planning. But we put that into a guaranteed lifetime income annuity. And that works as a self pension that you have set up yourself that will pay you the same amount every month, every year for as long as you live.

Speaker2:
And if we set it up correctly, we'll pay your spouse. If you pass away first, it will pay your spouse the same amount every month, every year that he or she lives. See, that's the way it should work. You've got yourself taken care of. You've got your spouse taken care of. You know that if anything ever happens to you, that your spouse that will be left alone will have that financial security taken care of, that that money is going to continue as long as he or she lives. That's the way to be prepared. Okay. Finally, we will closely examine your current investments. 400 and 1KX ray to uncover your real rates of return, as well as how much you are currently paying in fees. This will help us plan and maximize your retirement portfolio. With the right amount of smart risk investments. Going back to the rule of 100. Okay. So folks, if you'd like to see how a personal pension could fit in your retirement plan, pick up the phone. Give us a call (866) 990-7664 or visit our website, your American retirement.com to learn more and schedule a free consultation. So folks, when we come back, we're going to talk about the five financial landmines to avoid before and during retirement. Thanks for joining us. We'll be right back.

Speaker3:
Like what you're hearing. You can watch the show to visit youtube.com and search your American Retirement to watch clips from this program.

We've been together since way back when. Sometimes I. I never want to see you.

Speaker4:
The rise of women's sports has just broken through another glass ceiling. I'm Jim Tarabukin. With the Retirement Radio Network powered by Amara Life, the first week of 2024 saw the debut of the highly anticipated Professional Women's Hockey League, and a senior vice president of hockey operations for the CWHL, Jayna Hefford told CBC sports. The impact is large.

Speaker7:
I think it's just so impactful from a women's hockey perspective, from a women's sport perspective and from a societal perspective. I have daughters and I have a son and my son to watch the Women's World Cup with me, and he knows these female players and he doesn't see them as female players. He sees them as athletes.

Speaker4:
The creation of the league came out of a 2023 merger of the Premier Hockey Federation, and Professional Women's Hockey Players Association, split down the middle with three teams in America and Canada, respectively. The CWHL held its first ever game on January 1st at Toronto's Mattamy Athletic Centre, and drew a sellout crowd of 2537 fans. Additionally, sellouts are expected for games in Ottawa, Montreal, and Minnesota. Meanwhile, the NHL has kicked in with logistical and operational support, but are not part of the financial process. The league instead will rely predominantly on ticket sales and newly completed regional media deals with the likes of MSG networks, Bally Sports North in the US, TSN and RDS, and Sportsnet in Canada as financial generators within the next couple of years for the Retirement Radio network powered by Amara Life. I'm Jim Tarabuco.

Speaker3:
Are you interested in ways to protect and grow your hard earned money? Your American retirement is here to help. Here's Randy Sams.

Speaker2:
Hey, thanks for joining us on this week's edition of Your American Retirement. Please be sure to check out the podcast version of the show on Apple, Google, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcast. All right, folks, five Financial Landmines to avoid before and during retirement. Number one, we don't want to step on any landmines, right? Allowing your money to be mismanaged. Are you neglecting to review and update your retirement plan as the years go by? Your 401 K alone does not constitute a retirement plan. That is only one account and one part of your overall financial picture. Not knowing how much you were paying in fees. You have any variable products, variable annuities. You have investments, assets under management with an investment advisor, how much you're paying in fees, not trying to delete fees where possible inside your portfolio. Mismanaged folks. I deal with people and when they say, well Randy, I have a 401 K. I know you may not be surprised, but it always will. By now I'm not surprised when I hear this, but when I would hear people and I'd say, well, can you tell me how much you have in your 401 K folks? I had people that were not even aware of the balance in their 401 K. And if I really wanted to get deep, I could ask them, do you know where your 401 K monies are invested? Now I can't talk very you know, I can't go into investment advice because I'm not SEC licensed. Don't want to be. If you have money in the stock market, that's great.

Speaker2:
You know my philosophy. I believe you've worked so hard for so long. You are at a point in your life that other people would like to be at right now. So your objective today is to not lose. You've been accumulating for so many years now. You're getting close to retirement or you just hit retirement. Now you may be in that decumulation you're starting to take money out versus put money in. Okay. What your objective is right now, today is not to lose. If you've got money at risk in the stock market and you're comfortable with that, that's fine. I'm not saying you should take all your money out of the stock market. I'm saying you should have smart money working for you. And if you have some money at risk, you should use that rule of 100. What is that, Randy? Good question. Rule of 100. How old are you? Take your age. Subtract that from 100 and whatever that amount is. So if you're 65 years old today, take 65 for 100. That leaves 35. You should have no more than 35% of your portfolio in risky investments. That's me. That's Randy Sam speaking. That's my philosophy. The people that I deal with, I have yet to have a phone call when the stock market crashes. I've yet to have a stock, a phone call from my clients upset with me because we have the majority of their money in safe products versus risky products, and they just lost a bunch of it.

Speaker2:
Okay. Your objective today. Remember, you've been working for so long. You are at a point in your life where other people would like, would like to be they. That's their objective. They want to get where you're at right now. So today your objective should be not to lose. Okay. That's what we can do for you. Okay. So your 41K. Be aware of what's your 41K balances. Be aware of what your investments are inside that 401 K. Because when you get closer to retirement, remember that retirement red zone. When you get closer to that retirement in that 401 K, you need to probably be switching some of those things around to less risky investments. Whether that be, uh, you know, whatever kind of index funds that they may have, or maybe they have a safe money account that pays you a guaranteed interest. All right. So number two, landmines thinking you can beat the market. That's crazy. Thinking you can beat the market. So it's not about timing the market. It's about time in the market now folks. This is what gets me. I have people that I deal with and their investment advisor. When they lost 2,025% of their account value in 2022 or 2023. Okay. Your accounts were still down in 2023. All right. They started making their way up. Praise God that they did. But when you look at what your account balance was beginning of 2022 to what your account balance was at the end of 2023, the majority of you were still down the account balance you had at the December 31st, 2023 was less than what you started with January 1st, 2022.

Speaker2:
Okay. But when I hear people says, well, they're investment advisers say, well, it's just a paper loss. What a paper loss. So you mean if I wanted to, uh, if I wanted to remove my money, that. What, is that still a loss? Yeah, it's still a loss. Okay, so is it the same thing when the money goes up? Is it just a paper gain? So at what point in time that you can say, well, I know the market's going to start going back up. So I'm going to leave my money in there. Nobody knows that. Okay. So again it's not about timing the market. It's about time in the market. So when is the best time for you to take some of that money out and put it into a safe money, investment or product to which you can get guaranteed income, engaging in excessive and risky speculation. Risk. We want to eliminate risk overestimating your own ability to manage your retirement savings. Now, folks, I've met some really smart people, and I've met some of those people that have done really well. With their retirement plans self-generated, okay. But they spend a lot of time doing that. Most of the people that I deal with. Do not have the time every day to spend 4 or 5 six hours watching what the stock market does and moving money here, moving money there, moving money here. Okay, again, a lot of people that I deal with when I ask them what their 401 K, where they have their money invested in what indexes they may have.

Speaker2:
In other words, is it risky? Is it long term growth, short term growth, whatever it might be? Okay, they don't know. They don't have it. They don't have an idea. So I don't want someone like that. If you don't know, you need to get in contact with someone that can help you out. And that's what we do. Alright. Not having a plan for your Social Security benefits. This is the number three landmine to avoid before and during retirement. Not having a plan for your Social security benefits. Failing to understand the best time to start taking benefits for your situation as bad. Not considering the impact of working in retirement on your Social Security, neglecting to account for potential changes in Social Security in the coming decade. So. When's the best time to start your Social Security folks? Is it at age 62? Should you or can you wait till your full retirement age? Which majority of you now might be 67? Some of y'all could be 66.5 or 66 and eight months or ten months. But majority right now are your full retirement age is 67. Or can you wait to age 70 where you've maximized your benefit? So just to give you an example, I'm going to spend a lot of time on it. If you take your Social Security benefit at age 62, you have just caught yourself. Cost yourself. Cost. Cost. Cost yourself about 30% of your retirement benefit.

Speaker2:
Okay, folks, call me (866) 990-7664. Again (866) 990-7664. And let's talk about when might be the best time for you to take Social Security. Because if you can wait till your full retirement age of 67. That money's locked in for the rest of your life. Same if you lock it in at age 62. It's not going to change. If you can wait to age 70, then you've maxed out your Social Security benefits. And yeah, people say, well, Randy, but I've got to wait for, you know, from 67 to 70, I've got to wait three more years. I've got a plan that we can help you utilize some of your retirement funds to help bridge from age 67 to age 70, to where you still have the income coming in, but you don't turn on Social Security until age 70. And then that way, you've got the maximum amount you can in Social Security for the rest of your life. And when you pass away, if you're the breadwinner of the family. Your spouse will be able to take your Social Security, which has been maxed out at age 70, for the rest of his or her life. Okay, that's the planning that we need to do. So give me a call (866) 990-7664 or go to the website Your American retirement.com. Let's talk about when and if you should turn on Social Security. All right. Number four depleting your savings too quickly because you didn't have a plan, i.e. you were not ready. You were not prepared.

Speaker2:
Failing to establish a sustainable withdrawal strategy. Some of y'all have heard about the 4% rule. Some of y'all wish it was the 10% rule. We all do. But that's not. That doesn't work today. 4% rule, folks was created back when people. The objective was to get you to 85, maybe 90. Folks, we have people that are living to age 100 or past 100. So your plan needs to make sure that as long as you live, you have the peace of mind knowing that you can never outlive your plan. That guaranteed lifetime income, you can never outlive that income. And the bonus is that if you pass away and we've set it up as a joint payout when you pass away, your spouse can never outlive that guaranteed income. Okay. A withdrawal strategy. Is very, very risky because if you leave your money in an investment in the stock market or a 401 K, and you're taking out 4% or 5% on an annual basis and your account goes down 2,025%. You're going to have to see a 30 or 40% increase in the market just to get back to level. But with a guaranteed lifetime income annuity. You're not concerned about the stock market because your income is guaranteed. Even if your account balance ever hit zero in that annuity. Your income is guaranteed. That's what I like about them. Okay? Number five, not aligning your investments with your risk tolerance, not adjusting your level of investment risk as you near retirement. Not understanding the sequence of returns risk not having enough of your money generating income for you during retirement.

Speaker2:
So going back to investment risk. You know, from listening to me. That I believe that you should not have again, that rule of 100. If you're 65, you should not have more than 35% of your portfolio in risky investments. Me stock market, whatever, 65% should be in some type of safe money investment i.e. annuities, income, annuity, guaranteed income. That's me. That's my philosophy. If you want to risk a certain percentage of your money and play the stock market, that's great. Go right ahead. But again, you have all your money in the stock market and it drops 25, 30%, 10%. I don't care what it drops and you're taking money out. It makes it difficult. That's where you run into the scenario of my retirement account hitting zero before my blood pressure dies. Okay, sequence of returns risk. That's where that retirement red zone comes into play. Folks, if you retire and you start taking money out, and at the same time the stock market is going down or your account balance is going down, that's where you put yourself in the position to running out of money. In retirement. Running out of money before you pass away. All right. Not having enough of your money generating income for you during retirement. So folks, you got to set it up right. Remember, I'm a believer in income. You retire on income. So come right back because we're going to start talking about peak 65 in our next segment, Your American Retirement Myths.

Speaker3:
Part of today's show, Your American Retirement, is available wherever you listen to podcasts and online at your American retirement.com.

All my problems. And I see the light. We got a loving thing. We gotta feed it right. There ain't no danger we can. You, ma'am.

Speaker3:
Are you concerned about market volatility, rising taxes, economic uncertainty and how it all could affect your future in retirement? Then tune in to your American retirement to learn how you can protect and grow your hard earned money. Your American retirement. Every Saturday at 10 a.m. right here on 101.1 FM. The answer? Protect your retirement and schedule a free, no obligation consultation now at your American retirement.com. Welcome back to your American retirement. Here's Randy Sams.

Speaker2:
Hello. Hello again. You're listening to your American retirement. Please join me every Saturday at 10:00 right here on 101.1 FM. The answer where little Rock comes to talk. And folks, it's it's a pleasure doing this show. It really means a lot to me when I, when I hear from our listeners, when I hear from clients who continue to listen and tell their friends and family, you need to listen to this young man because he seems to know what he's talking about. He focuses on retirement. Okay, folks, right now this year, 2024, you all need to call us. We need to sit down. We need to have that free consultation. You need to tell your friends and your family. Because why is it important, folks, you know that people this generation right now is known as the baby boomer boomer generation. It started in 1946 and ended in 1964. But beginning this year, in 2024, right now. We are what we are entering in what's known as the peak 65 zone. Peak 65 zone is from 2024 to 2027. So 4.1 million Americans will be turning 65 every year starting this year, 2024 through 2027. Folks, that's 11,200 plus people, baby boomers, that will be turning 65 every day. 2024, 2025, 2026, 2027. Now listen to this. By the year 2030, every baby boomer will be 65 years of age or older. Then the next generation is going to step in there. So with the demise of traditional pension plans, the current system that we've been talking about on this show, that three legged stool, it proves if you're not prepared, it proves inadequate for peak 65 years.

Speaker2:
The majority of whom lack pensions. That's one of the legs in the stool to supplement protected income for Social Security. So. So what's the goal? So we need we want to protect up to two thirds of people's retirement. Achieved through giving Americans more choice, our clients more choice, and greater access to protected income solutions like annuities. So the Alliance for Lifetime Income did a survey, and it reveals worries about adequate retirement savings and health care cost among peak 65 ers, which makes the urgency for change very, very evident. So just a few facts about peak 65. Every household is at risk. So listen to this. People have looked at this and they've said how many households this is? All of them low income, middle income, high income will be unable to maintain their standard of living in retirement. This is from a survey they asked a certain number of people, are you concerned about being able to maintain your standard of living overall? That's low middle and high income people. Overall, 47% of those in that survey said they were concerned about being unable to maintain their standard of living in retirement. For low income, it's 73% of the people in the low income bracket in this survey felt that they would be unable to maintain their standard of living. Middle income 40% unable to maintain their standard of living in retirement. High income even 28% 28% of those surveyed.

Speaker2:
That are in a high income bracket still felt like they would be unable to maintain their standard of living. Okay. And so our pensions still a thing. Listen to this. When peak 65 generation entered the labor market in 1980. 60% of private sector workers relied on protected income as their only retirement account, as compared to 4% in 2020. All right. So when you used to go to work, you worked for 25, 30, 40 years and you got a pension, a defined benefit plan, your employer set that up for you. But now less than 4% beginning in 2020, less than 4% have a defined benefit plan. Now it's known as a defined contribution. Why? Because you're the one making the contribution to the plan. It's thou on your shoulder. So to me, annuities are the answer. Annuities are a bridge strategy where you can maximize Social Security monthly benefits, and they can act like a pension with guaranteed annual payments. All right, folks, we have a retirement boom. We have a record exit of the workforce before age 65. More people are retiring today before age 65. Covid back in 2019, 2021. That spurred a lot of the a lot of people. Their jobs were eliminated or they shut down, the businesses shut down, and the folks just never went back to work. But we have a lot of folks today, a lot of people that I deal with today that are sometimes it's a forced retirement, but sometimes people are just ready to give up and they're going to walk away.

Speaker2:
So more people are retiring today before age 65 than ever before. Now listen to this only 16% plan to defer collecting Social Security benefits until age 70, when they could maximize their benefit, which would be 24% higher. Then if you waited to, if you took it at age 67. So basically what that is, is for every age from 67, you're guaranteed an 8% increase. So if you can wait from age 67 to age 70, that three year period at 8% increase each year, your Social Security benefit, your lifetime Social Security benefit will be 24% higher than if you turn it on at age 67. So just think what it would be if you could wait to age 70 versus turning it all to age 62. That's a huge difference. Okay. If you claim your Social Security at age 62, it lowers your monthly benefit by 44%. Folks, that's a huge that's a huge drop. That's a huge hickey to have to overcome because that is locked in for the rest of your life. So stop and think about it. And 79% of the baby boomers. This is why we want you to be prepared. You need to understand. Be ready. Peak 65 zone more baby boomers. Over 11,200 baby boomers every day will turn 65. This is going to start being more evident. People need to start planning 75% of the baby boomers. The peak 65 years, 79% are worried about the cost of health care in retirement. Remember what we talked about at the beginning of this show? Are you ready? Are you prepared? Do you have a plan? What happens if you get sick? Hopefully you've got good.

Speaker2:
You've got your Medicare A and B, or you may have a Medicare Advantage plan. Do you have a Medicare supplement plan? You got to have that health care in place. If all you have is Medicare Part A and part B, and you don't have anything above that, remember Medicare Part A and part B does not cover all your medical costs. I use the example of an 80 over 20 plan just as an example. Medicare Part A and part B if you have a hospital stay, including the doctors and nurses and everything they do in the hospital. It may cover 80%. Hopefully it will cover 80%. But just think if you have a $50,000 hospital bill, which is not very long, it doesn't take long to run up $50,000 in the hospital. But if you have a $50,000 hospital bill and all you have is Medicare Part A and part B. 20% of 50,000 is what, $10,000? Who's going to pay that other $10,000, folks? Okay. So, folks, peak 65 is here. And findings suggest that the annuities can protect your income. Folks, I'm a big believer in guaranteed lifetime income. Remember, by 2030, all baby boomers will be 65 years of age or above. You've heard me preach it and I'll continue to preach it. You do not retire on assets. Assets can be lost. You retire on income? I have yet to meet.

Speaker2:
A person who's getting ready to retire, or a person in retirement who is not concerned about an income stream, that three legged stool, an income stream, social security, a pension, whether it's from your employer or you generate it through a guaranteed lifetime income annuity, plus any savings that you may have. Okay, so why do we preach annuities? Because an annuity is the only product that can guarantee protected lifetime income. So folks, I want to thank you for joining us today. It's been a wonderful. Whoo! It's been wonderful to be inside where it's warm. I hope you've enjoyed the weather that we've had. The kids have enjoyed the weather. I hope you got out and got to make some snow angels. Made a snowman, drove the road to sled. Whatever. But, folks, it's time to be prepared. Are you ready for retirement? Don't go into it unprepared. Don't be a burden to your family. Call us (866) 990-7664 or go to the website, Your American Retirement and leave me a message and say, Randy, I need to talk to you because I'm not ready. I'm not prepared for retirement or for long term care or for death. Give us a call. Thank you for joining us again, folks. Listen, thanks for listening to your American Retirement. Again. If you missed any part of today's show, go back into podcast archives on Apple, Google, Spotify or wherever or whichever platform you get your podcast folks go out. Have a great week. Stay warm. We'll talk next week.

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

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