12.2.22: Audio automatically transcribed by Sonix

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

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

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

Randy Sams:
Hey, good Saturday afternoon. Welcome, folks. I want to welcome you to Your American Retirement. My name is Randy Sams. I'll be your host for today's show. Thank you for joining us on 101.1 FM. The Answer. Folks, we love to have folks give us comments, but we really appreciate your taking your time on this Saturday afternoon to listen to the show. We've had some really, really impressive comments and some really good questions. We've been given some ideas on subject matter for shows that we'll probably cover in 2023. But I just want to thank you again for listening. I hope you all had a very happy Thanksgiving. As you know, we're running into the Christmas season, and before you know it, 2022 will be over and we'll be looking January 1st, 2023, right in the eye. So, again, thank you for joining us. Leaving your comments say you can go to the website Your American retirement, leave us your information. Love to be able to communicate with you just via email. You know, we've got some free offers. We've got the annuity 360 book. We've got the information on the Social Security Social Security list for you. I'll be glad to send that to you via email. We're going to be covering Medicare again. You know, we're in the middle of. Yep. When I say the middle, we're actually toward towards the end of it. When you hear of this show, I think we'll have about five days left.

Randy Sams:
It ends on December the seventh. But again, thank you for listening again, you can call us 866 990 7664. You can go to YouTube, Spotify, watch its own podcast, give us a thumbs up, leave us some good comments. But again, thank you for reaching out to us. We love hearing from you folks. So again, folks today show we're going to be kind of educating people again. As you know, AEP began on October the 15th and it runs through December 7th. What does that mean for you folks that have Medicare supplement or Medicare Part D, Medicare Part C or just standalone Medicare A and B, That's what we're going to cover. So first of all, what I'd like to do is go into the AEP. Again, AEP is the annual enrollment period. It's been referred to before as the open enrollment period. It gives you options if you have a particular type of Medicare product, Medicare program or Medicare Advantage or prescription drug plan. You can make some changes, you can make some additions, you can drop, you can add. But let's cover real quickly, because you'll be surprised when folks are getting ready to turn 65. They've got a lot of questions on what happens when you turn 65. If you're working. There are still some options that you need to discuss. And that's why I want you to give me a call at 866 990 7664 or go to YourAmericanRetirement.com.

Randy Sams:
Leave me your information. Love to have discussion with you based on your particular situation or you're about to turn 65 or you're still working. What are your options at that particular point in time? Because Medicare has two parts part A and part B, and that's what you start out with at that time. You've got some options. Do you want to do a medicare Advantage plan? Do you want to do a medicare supplement plan? Do you want prescription drug plan? So, folks, right now let me get into the meat of the the first segment here. We're going to talk about ADP. We're going to talk about Medicare and what Medicare is and then the different parts of Medicare and what you can and cannot do during AEP. So, first of all, original Medicare is part A and part B, which basically is managed by the federal government. People can see any doctor that accepts Medicare assignment and government program, pays a significant portion of the cost. To me, what I tell people to begin with, something that's easy to understand if you're if you have a job, you've been employed, you have a hopefully a employer group health plan. A lot of those plans are 8020. So what I tried to relate for folks to kind of make it an easy visual visualization is that if you have an 8020 plan, that's basically what Medicare Part A and B is.

Randy Sams:
It's going to cover about 80% of your medical cost. So if you go to the hospital and you have a, say, 100,000 hospital bill and just look at it as an 8020 plan, you're going to get 80% of that covered Medicare coverage and then the 20% is going to be your responsibility, which could be a lot of money, as you can see, depending on what your medical cost would be. So Medicare Part A folks, is basically inpatient hospital or skilled nursing facility. Your premium is zero as long as you qualify for that if you've built up if. You've had a number of quarters that you're supposed to have. You've worked or a spouse has worked and you qualify for that. Your premium should be zero. But if you haven't qualified, you don't have someone that you can qualify on underneath. Right now, your premium would be 4.99 per month. And again, the majority of folks that are listening today, your premium is going to be zero in 2023. That premium goes up to 506. But again, that's only for folks that have not qualified for the the amount of quarters that that you've worked Part B doctor visits and preventative services. There is a part B premium that you have to pay. So if you're taking Social Security and you add Part B, you can have your part B premium, which for 2022 is $170.10 per month, you can have that deducted out of your Social Security check or you're going to have it deducted out of your checking account or savings account in 2023.

Randy Sams:
That Part B premium is actually being decreased to 164 to 90 per month. Your deductibles Part B has a deductible in 2022 is 2033. In 2023, your deductible is dropping down to $226. So remember, part B has a premium in 2023 is 164 to 90 per month and it also has a deductible before it starts paying in 2023. That's 226 per, that's 226. And then it starts covering part C, better known to me and most of the folks that are in the insurance industry as Medicare Advantage, Medicare Advantage is basically the same coverage as parts A and B plus. It can have some additional benefits like vision, dental hearing, aids, and it also includes a prescription drug plan. So basically what I look at, folks is a medicare Advantage plan is Medicare Part A and B, But instead of being administered or managed by the government, it's now administered and managed by a private insurance company. You do have a maximum out of pocket when you have a medicare Advantage plan. So unlike Medicare A and B, if you'd be responsible for the full 20% of what's not covered under A and B with a medicare Advantage plan in 2022, the maximum out of pocket is 7005 50.

Randy Sams:
Now, your plan may vary because the coverage that's offered by the individual carriers can vary depending on what the what the plan that you have. But in 2022, the maximum out-of-pocket expense is going to be 7550. For 2023. That's going to increase to $8,300 for a medicare Advantage plan. Part D is your prescription. That's a standalone prescription drug plan that covers generic and brand name prescription drugs. And again, it varies by private insurance, what your premiums can be and what coverage that you can have. So what you want to be very concerned with and be very diligent with, whoever you work with is to make sure that if you're on any prescription drugs currently, make sure that those prescription drugs are included in the formulary. And you can look those up on Medicare dot gov. My Medicare got dot gov. You can look those up. You can put in what prescriptions that you are taking and it'll actually show you what your out-of-pocket will be depending on what plan are available or are in your network. All right. The next is Medicare supplement. So what is Medicare supplement? Medicare supplement is a standalone. It's also referred to as Medigap. It's a standalone plan that basically takes care of your 20%. There's lots of different plans that go along with Medicare supplement plan, a plan in plan F, Plan G, don't have enough time to go over those, but if you'll give me a call 866 990 7664 go to YourAmericanRetirement.com.

Randy Sams:
Leave your information. I'll be glad to get in contact with you and we can discuss what different plans are available under a medicare supplement plan or a medigap plan. All right. So basically, that is a standalone plan that covers anything above and beyond what Medicare does not cover. All right. Yep. Very quickly. And we run through these. This is going to end. Aarp is going to end five days from when you're listening to this or you're listening to this on December, what, December the third. So really actually four days. So on December the seventh is the last day that you can submit or make any changes to your Medicare Advantage or your prescription drug plans. So what can you do in the remaining four days left in EAP? Number one, you can change from original Medicare with or without a medicare drug plan to a medicare Advantage plan. So if you have original Medicare and you want to you want to switch from original Medicare to a medicare Advantage plan, you can do that. You can change from a medicare Advantage plan back to original Medicare. All right. With or without a medicare drug plan, you can switch from one Medicare Advantage plan to another Medicare Advantage plan.

Randy Sams:
If you see all these advertisements you see on TV, that's what people are trying to do. They're trying to get you to call that toll free number. And they're going to. Try to get you to change from your current Medicare Advantage plan to the Medicare Advantage plan that they're marketing at that time. You can switch from a medicare Advantage plan that doesn't offer a prescription drug plan to a medicare Advantage plan that does offer that type of coverage. So if your current Medicare Advantage plan does not have a prescription drug plan and you want that, you can you can switch to a medicare Advantage plan that includes a prescription drug plan, then you can do the reverse. If you have a medicare Advantage plan that offers a prescription drug plan, you can switch to a medicare Advantage plan that doesn't you can join a medicare drug plan. So if you have Medicare Part A, B only and you want to add a standalone prescription drug plan, you can do that. You can switch from one Medicare drug plan to another Medicare drug plan. So if your drugs prescriptions have changed throughout the year, you need a more robust, robust coverage. You can do that. So folks or you can drug you can drop your Medicare drug drug coverage completely. So hopefully that quick rundown is going to tell you what AEP can and cannot do for 2022.

Producer:
All right. Great job, Randy. And don't forget, if you haven't done so already, please subscribe to our show in podcast form Apple, Google, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Coming up, we'll discuss financial New Year's resolutions. This is one on 101.1. The Answer. Where Little Rock comes to talk. We're back in a moment.

Producer:
Miss part of today's show? Your American Retirement is available wherever you listen to podcasts and online at YourAmericanRetirement.com.

Producer:
101.1 The Answer Where Little Rock Comes to Talk. Welcome back to Your American Retirement. Thank you for making us a part of your Saturday And of course, you can catch us every Saturday at 1:00 right here on 101.1. The Answer, Randy.

Randy Sams:
Kind of give you a little update on what we do and kind of educate you on some of the things that you need to look at for your retirement. But I want you to understand, here at Your American Retirement, we are focused on addressing a major financial issues facing the retirees and pre-retirees in America today by helping people understand and prepare for a secure retirement, not a risky retirement. So, folks, here's what we look at. I'm going to call this the retirement red zone. All right. If you guys are football fans, you know, you've been watching the Razorbacks or whatever team that you may be pulling for. Maybe you're an NFL fan. You know, they always talk about when they get inside the 20 yard line, that's the red zone. Well, for me as a retirement planning, what I do with my clients, I look at the red zone. My red zone is five years before you retire or five years into retirement. All right. So if you've just retired, so that five years so it's a ten year period, five years before and five years into it. If you're in that area, if you're within five years of retirement, there's a lot of questions, a lot of things that you need to get situated and kind of solidify for your retirement. Again, we don't want you to go into retirement thinking about the risky parts of it. We want you to understand.

Randy Sams:
Ask questions. We'll educate you. And we want to get you prepared for a secure retirement. So again, here's two questions I'm going to ask you. And and I've asked this on previous shows. Two questions. Number one, how much guaranteed lifetime income do you currently have? Number two, have you taken the number one? The key risk in retirement. Off the table. Have you removed that risk from your retirement? All right. And what is that risk? That risk is longevity. That means you're going to outlive can you outlive your retirement funds? And a lot of folks are in that situation, especially nowadays. If you know what the 401. K is, your IRA balances are what the stock market is, is decreased from January to today. It's down over 20%, 25%, 28% at one time. So that's what we look at. So one of the things that we want you to realize while you're in the red zone is how to manage sequence of returns. So I'll ask you another question. If your account decreased by 25 to 40%. At this stage of your life, you're in retirement. Would that be a problem? Would that create a financial situation, hardship for you if your accounts dropped 25 to 40%? Most people are going to Answer yes. So what happens is, is the sequence of returns. Sequence of returns means that if you choose retirement, so let's say we take a person who just retired in December of 2021.

Randy Sams:
And they started removing funds for their retirement. What happens in 2022, January 2022. Stock market starts going down. So your returns are going down, not going up and you're taking money out. So what people need to realize is this. When you have an account. 41k account, managed account, IRA account, whatever it might be, and you lose a percentage. How much do you have to gain for that to come back to just be even? All right. So you have to look at that, folks. So if you have 100,000 and you drop 20%, that's 20,000. Now you have an account balance of 80,000. No, I'm just not. I'm taking this as an example without us looking at you taking money out. So let's just take it as an example where you have an account. You're not removing any funds as of today, but that account now dropped 20%. So you've gone from 100000 to 80000. What increase do you have to have for that to get back to 100,000? Some people are going to say, well, it's 20% increase, Randi. I lost 20%. No, 20% of 80,000 is 16,000. That to 80000 to 96000. You're not at 100,000. So that account, if you lose 20%, that account needs to go up, what, 24 to 25% for you to get back level to 100,000. And what's even worse, folks, is if you're removing funds from that account at the same time.

Randy Sams:
So if you're removing funds while the money, your account balance is going down, that means that the account has to go up 30%, maybe even 30 to 33% for you to get back level to stay level. So that's what longevity risk is, folks. That's what sequence of returns risk is. And how do we work with folks? Well, folks, we like to put you in guaranteed lifetime income. That's why one of the questions I always ask my clients and I've asked you on the on this show several times, those two questions, remember, two questions. Number one, how much guaranteed lifetime income do you currently have? And again, number two, have you removed or have you taken the key risk in retirement off the table, which is longevity risk? All right. So, folks, those are some of the things that we work with. So let's just look at some New Year's resolutions for you folks that are getting ready for retirement or are in retirement or getting ready to retire. Let's just say you're in that retirement red zone five years before. Or five years into it. Number one, calculate your net worth. Now, folks, we've got some we've got some plans that will be able to assist you with. I've got I've got two programs that we run for our clients. Number one is what is it's an asset statement. So you need to calculate your net worth. So any changes that you need to make become more obvious after doing this calculation.

Randy Sams:
Start totaling start totaling your assets. That's your your account balances, your real estate, your investments, anything of value, subtract your liabilities, what mortgages you have, any debts that you may have, credit card debts, anything that you owe. And this is going to create a clear picture of your work. So, folks, what we like to do for our clients is we have a form, we ask a few questions. Yeah, there we got to dig into it so we can actually get a true picture of what your retirement is going to look at look like right now concerning your situation. So we have to put together an asset statement to determine your net worth. And again, that's going to it's going to be what checking accounts you have, savings accounts, you have IRAs, 401 KS, Any retirement accounts you have that's going to give us mortgages, what the what the value of your house might be, any rental property. So pretty much anything and everything that you have, we put that together for you on a one page report that tells you exactly what your net worth is. It's going to be one, one place that you can go. And folks, we can do this, you know, every every year, every other year. However, often my clients want to do this, we can do that because, as you know, your assets may grow between now and two years, three years, four years, five years out.

Randy Sams:
The second report that we like to put together for folks is what I call is our income report. The income report, what it shows. It shows what your current income is. Are you taking Social Security? Some of you may still be working. Say, Randy, I'm not going to retire for another five years. That's great. So if you're going to work for, let's say, the next three, four or five years, we're going to put that on the income statement, what you're making, what a spouse might be making. And then when you retire, we're going to show you exactly what happens at retirement. We're going to add Social Security to it and show you exactly. So how how can we how can we fill that income gap? Well, we do that by an annuity. Okay. We take a portion of your retirement funds for one k IRA. Throw that money into a into an annuity. Let it grow for those three or four or five years, then turn on that guaranteed income. Why is that important? Because, folks, a lot of people do not realize that if I'm still working right now, but then three or four or five years from now, what's going to happen when I stop working? Am I just going to live on Social Security? What other means of support do I have? What other guaranteed income sources do I have? Do you have a pension or is it just going to be Social Security? If you give us a call again, 866 990 7664 or go to YourAmericanRetirement.com.

Randy Sams:
Leave us your contact information. We'd love to be able to put together some of those reports for you. Again just give us a call number to check up on your retirement accounts folks you'd be surprised. And this is really when I first got into this and really started digging deep with folks. And I ask him, you know, what do you have right now as far as retirement accounts? And folks will say, I've got a41k or I've got an IRA. And then you ask the dreaded question. So what is that? What is that invested in? You know what the standard Answer is? Majority of the time, it's I have no idea. So those of you who have a 4 to 1 K through your employer, that's great. All right. But I have to ask the question. So what's it what's it invested in? What do you have it? Is it in stocks? Is it in equities? Is it in bonds? Is it in the long term, short term? Is it in US stocks overseas, global markets? I don't do any investments. I'm a safe money kind of guy. I look for safe investments. Safe money. As far as I'm concerned, annuities are the safest investment that you can have.

Randy Sams:
You're never going to lose a dime. You get a guaranteed lifetime income. So we want you to check up on your retirement accounts, make sure to take advantage of your contribution matches. So if you're still working, are you maxing it out? Your contributions to where you can max out your employer's contributions. That makes a difference, folks. If you're 50 years or older, you can contribute an additional 7000 a year or $583 per month. To an IRA, which also helps out. Update your savings goals. Number three, update your savings goals. Determine how much you plan to set aside each month for your future. Warren Buffett says the following. Don't save what is left after spending, but spend what is left after saving. That makes sense. Warren Buffett says don't save what is left after spending, but spend what is left after saving. All right. So put that savings. Put that money in a savings account. You'd be surprised. What you're buying today, you're spending for the future, what you're saving for today, You're saving for the future. And that's what it's all about. So depend on how much you can pay. Towards any loan. So a number of four. Let's look at this number for me. Get this back out. Oh. Plan to pay off your debts, folks. That's one of the things that we look at in retirement is what are your debts going into? Retirements.

Randy Sams:
Do you have a mortgage? Do you have credit card? Do you have car payments? You know, some of these things are going to be with us for a long time during retirement. Other things we can focus on and get rid of that debt. Can you get rid of your mortgage? Can you pay that mortgage off early? Might want to consider paying extra principal towards your mortgage payment each month. And doing so, you basically earn a risk free return on that money equal to your mortgage interest rate. Plus you cut down on the number of years it will take to pay off your mortgage. All right. Some things that people have asked me on, and I'm not an expert on it, but I'm starting to learn more about it is called reverse Mortgage. So, folks, I have to ask you, when you're living in your house. What do you have as far as your equity? How are you going to what what what how are you going to utilize that equity that you have in your house? So reverse mortgage might be something that you want to look into. All right. You can use that. Use that money for your retirement for you and your spouse. So that's something to look at. So look at your mortgage. Try to pay that off. That's usually the largest debt that we that we incur, especially some of the folks that I deal with going into retirement.

Randy Sams:
And if we can put together a plan for you and your spouse where we can get that mortgage paid off, then that just frees up that money. I had a client in Texas. She still had ten years left on her mortgage. But the good news is we set her up with a plan that that mortgage was guaranteed to be paid during that ten year period. And then guess what? Once that ten year period was over with, she ended up having a free fall. So if her monthly mortgage was 5500 a month, she had an annuity set up to where she was guaranteed for that 5500 coming in every month for the next ten years. And then after that, guess what? She no longer had that mortgage and she had that $5,500 coming into her into her own pocket. So that was like a $1,500 raise that she gave herself. So, folks, we've got a couple of more we're going to cover. Stock market has its ups and downs. Some of you folks might want to consider rebalancing or reallocating your portfolio. Is that 6040 equity, 64, 60% equity, 40% bonds? Is that working for you? What we do is we look at reallocating those bond funds into it. So, folks, we've got some more we're going to talk about, but that's going to be the end of Segment two. Again, thank you for joining Randy Sams Your American Retirement dot com on 101 FM. The Answer.

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.

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

Randy Sams:
Hey, welcome back, Randy. Sams, YourAmericanRetirement.com. Thanks for joining us on this Saturday afternoon folks one on one FM the Answer. Glad you could join us folks. We're going into segment three. We're going to finish up on some of the things we can look at resolutions going into 2023. So we're finished up on rebalance your portfolio, folks, is something that we that we want you to look at. Again, if you have used the old adage, the 60, 40, 60, 40 split, 60% in equity, 40% in bonds, what we look at is taking a percentage of the money that you have allocated to bonds and reallocate that into a guaranteed lifetime income annuity. What that does for you, is it going to decrease your risk and your portfolio overall risk in your portfolio and it's going to increase your returns because you've got a guarantee. So like when you add a guaranteed lifetime annuity to your overall portfolio of retirement portfolio, that annuity acts like a triple-A rated bond or triple-A rated stock that that you've got. Very hard to beat is going to do that for you. It's going to increase. Your returns, overall returns, and is going to decrease your risk. Number six, let's pay down some of those credit cards. Folks, credit cards are not bad. How use the word if if you can pay them off each month. All right. I've got a lot of clients that Do they enjoy those credit cards that have the. Well, they you get you get bonus points or you can add things to it.

Randy Sams:
You may be using your credit cards to buy all your groceries, pay all your bills, and at the end of the month, you pay it off. And that's fantastic. But by doing that, you also are accumulating reward points. And those reward points can be used from anything from airlines to hotels, airline tickets, hotel stays. I know. I use mine personally. My reward points at the end of each year, I cash in a good segment of those reward points and I get cash cards. All right. So that helps during the Christmas season, but it also helps with some of the bills that we have. So, you know, credit cards are not bad as long as you use them wisely. If you're using credit cards to create that debt, that's when I see a lot of people. Getting into into issues, getting into problems. If something happens financially to them and they've got credit card debt, that's where the stress comes in, folks. But try not to carry big balances on your credit cards with high APRs. No one's ever become rich off of airline miles or hotel points. I'm not saying that. But if you can pay them off at the end of the year or at the end of the month, then I think the credit card can be a good a good tool for you to use. So, again, make it a goal to pay off your balance each month. Credit cards should be your emergency fund or should not be your emergency fund.

Randy Sams:
A lot of people are going to use that and say, well, you know, I'm in between jobs or I've got this or I've got that. A lot of people I see get into problems. What are we coming into? We're coming into Christmas season and a lot of people use those credit cards to buy all those family members, those presents that they can't live without. And then all of a sudden, January, February hits. And guess what, man, they've got to come up with those those payments again. Be wise, folks. So pay down your credit cards. Use them wisely. Review your credit report. Now, this is something that you should be doing on a regular basis. You'd be surprised. You know, I don't know if you get notices like I do, but I get notices every month that basically tell me. You know, hey, here's here's your your credit rating. Here's your credit report. Shows you what my credit rating is. Is it good? Is it excellent? Is it bad? So, folks, that's something if you haven't set up through one of the credit rating. Benders. You can do that. A lot of your credit cards will do that for you. But make sure that you check your credit report on a regular basis and take steps to repair any negative reports or any negative aspects that you may see. You'd be surprised what may show up. All there, but there's no excuse for not reviewing this important information because errors are not uncommon. So go to your credit card issuers that you may have.

Randy Sams:
Equifax. There's plenty of different reports out there that you can sign up for some of the ID protection agencies out there that you can sign up for. They also have, you know, a credit report that you can get on an annual basis that shows you where you stand. Number eight, let's review your life insurance needs. All right. Not only life insurance folks, but long term care. And this is something that that that hits home for a lot of people. You know, as you get older. You need to realize that we hope and pray that we're all in excellent health. But as you know, most of the folks that are in long term care facilities or nursing home facilities, as they get older, that's where these come into play. So let's look at your life insurance needs. And look, let's look at your long term care. So what can a long term care policy do for you? Well, it may not can do anything for you other than be able to put you in. But I always tell this to my clients when we're talking about long term care, long term care, you can use it as a same adage as life insurance, because life insurance is not really for you unless you're using it as a retirement planning tool, which we can do. But if you've got a term life insurance, most folks are buying term life insurance to where if something happens to you, it's taking care of your family members.

Randy Sams:
Correct. Pay off the mortgage of your house, set up a college fund for your kids. Make sure that your spouse doesn't have to sell the house and live out, you know, out on the streets or the kids. So that's what life insurance is for. It's for those people that are that are left behind. And I use that same analogy for long term care. Long term care is there to protect your loved ones, your spouse. If something happens to you, you have to be put into a long term care facility or a nursing home. That's what that long term care plan will do for you. It takes the burden off of your at least the financial burden off of your spouse, off of your loved ones. And it makes sure that you're going to be well taken care of. So long term care insurance is something that we want to sit down and talk about because your needs are going to change as you get older. Remember, we talked about longevity risk. The longer you live, the more likely you're going to have health issues that that may occur. Now, we hope and pray they don't. But as you know, as we get older, things can change. You have more aches and pains, you're more susceptible to things. And that's why the long term care policy will be good and also your life insurance. So you may also consider, depending on how far out you are from retirement, you may consider investing in an IUL. That way we can at that point in time, depending on what you have in your cash value account, you can take loans against that.

Randy Sams:
So if you're still in your forties or fifties and IUL is a fantastic plan or fantastic policy to take a look at because it can generate truly tax free retirement income for you. And if you want to ask me questions again, go to your retirement dot com YourAmericanRetirement.com. Leave me your contact information or you can call me at 866 990 7664. And we can discuss that tax free retirement income for you via an IU l. So bottom line folks, get in contact with me. We love to be able to help you build and navigate your financial plan when it comes to something as important as your money. We want to provide you and your spouse, your family members, a one-on-one opportunity to ask us any questions. Put together a plan that is based on your objectives. Let us put together your income report. Let us put together your asset statement and kind of show you where you are right now. It's going to help you give your money, give your money the attention that it deserves and needs in order to grow your future. So, again, complimentary to listeners, full retirement consultations. We provide comprehensive consultations at no cost to our listeners. There's absolutely no obligation. You only work with us if we can do better for you. We will discover exactly how much you are paying in fees and help you cut unnecessary costs in your IRA, your 401 K or any other retirement savings account.

Randy Sams:
So we can also help you with Social Security and planning. If you've listened to some of the previous shows that we put together. We spent quite a bit of time talking about Medicare, Medicare supplements, Medicare Advantage plans, what it is and what they're not, what they can do for you. And also, we spent a lot of time talking about Social Security planning. When is the best time for you? Drawing close to age 62. When's the best time for me to turn on my Social Security if I turn on Social Security at age 62? How much am I giving up? If I would have waited till my full retirement age of, say, 66 and a half or 67 if I'm still working and I turn on Social Security at age 62? What kind of impact will my income have on my Social Security benefits? So those are questions that we like to sit down with you and put together a plan that's based on your objectives. So what retirees fear the most, folks, this is probably an easy Answer for a lot of folks. What retirees fear the most is running out of money. That is longevity risk. All right. Again, longevity risk. The longer you live, the more likely you are. The market will crash. Longevity risk is the longer you live, the more likely you are that you're going to experience health issues, the longer you live. The more likely you are to make. Too much withdrawals.

Randy Sams:
That's what people have issues with. Okay. Two things that can that can take care of retirement. Stress. And rocking chairs. Stress is created because of the fact that people are worried about not having enough money for their retirement. They think their retirement funds are going to run out. And that is one of the top risks that we try to work with, is let's take that longevity risk off the table. All right. Let us put together a plane for you, show you exactly where you're at today. Let us put together that asset statement showing you what your net worth is today. Let us put together an income report, show you where you're at today you and your spouse are at today. And let's put together different scenarios. Let's look at three years, four years, five years, ten years down the road, depending on how far out it is that you plan on retirement. Let us put that together and then show you how we can put together a plan for you using a guaranteed lifetime income annuity to take care of any income gaps that may appear from those reports. And that's what we'd like to do, folks. So. Again. Your American retirement. We are focused on addressing the major financial issues facing retirees and pre-retirees in America today. We are helping people understand and prepare for a secure retirement, not a risk of retirement. Folks, we're going to take a break. We'll be right back. Again, Randy Sams, YourAmericanRetirement.com 101.1FM. The Answer.

Producer:
Could a recent IRS change actually save you money on next year's taxes? I'm Matt McClure with a 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. 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. 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. Some people will see a savings of perhaps 1000 during tax time on their tax return. Others might see a little bit more.

Producer:
Certainly the brackets have changed. So 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. 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 bucks for married couples filing jointly.

Interview:
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 concerned about market volatility, rising taxes, economic uncertainty and how it all could affect your future and 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.

Randy Sams:
Hey, welcome back folks. Again, my name is Randy Sams. I want to welcome you you are American retirement on one on one FM. The Answer where Little Rock comes to talk. So folks we ended the previous segment I'm going to pick it right back up there. What retirees fear the most. There have been several surveys that have done by different organizations, the different financial organizations, different educational organizations, own retirees or people that are getting ready to retire. And one of the top, if not the top fear from retirees was running out of money. And we just ended the last segment. We talked about longevity risk. And folks, that's what we like to do, basically longevity risk. Is. The possibility or the risk of running out of your retirement funds before you pass away. All right. So what we like to do at SMMG Financial is we like to set you up with a plan. And we want to make sure that your blood pressure goes to zero before your retirement account does. So that makes sense. In other words, we want to set up a plan that you are not going to be able to outlive. And we can set up a plan where you and your spouse are not going to be able to outlive. So we can use a guaranteed lifetime income annuity to make sure that that self pension is what I call it. You've got a self funded pension that is guaranteed to pay you and your spouse.

Randy Sams:
A set amount for the rest of your life. So if you pass away and your spouse outlives you, that spouse is going to be able to take the same amount of money on a monthly basis where it gives you that peace of mind during that time. So anyway, how could running out of money happen to a hard working Americans? Well, let's look let's take a look at that. How about Social Security cutbacks? Did you know that in 1940 there were 40 workers per retiree? What do you think it is today? Today there are only three workers per retirees. This ratio is expected to become 2 to 1 by the year 2050. So, folks, I don't know about you. But I drive around and I see signs outside of restaurants. I see signs outside of businesses. I go to the post office. It looks like everybody's trying to hire, but it also looks like nobody wants to work. All right. So I don't I don't think that was a problem that my mom and dad had your mom and dad had. It's not a problem that I had. Most of you listening to the show today that you probably didn't have that problem. So when Social Security was really people were working. Just think about it. You had 40 workers per retiree. So each person that was retired, you had 40 people that were paying into.

Randy Sams:
The Social Security. Fund. All right. Today, there are three workers per retirees. And again, in 2050, they're predicting that's going to go to 2 to 1. So for every retiree, you're only going to have two workers out there adding into or paying into the Social Security fund. So Social Security cutbacks could be one of the reasons folks run out of money if Social Security has to be cut. About tax increases. Well, that's something we don't all we want to talk about. But it is historically tax. Rates are lower. Then there used to be. With increasing national debt and government spending. Many experts believe that taxes will have to go up in order to meet a nation's budget requirement, the nation's budget requirement. So tax increases. So, folks, how how can we assist you with that? Well. One of the questions that a lot of people ask and I asked folks when we're sitting down with them is, do you feel like when you retire? Are you going to be in a higher tax bracket or are you going to be in a lower tax bracket? Good question. Right. If you're working. And you've got that income coming in. And then you stop working and you don't have that income coming in from your employment. You would think naturally that your taxes should go down because you've got less money coming in. But what happens if tax rates increase? All right.

Randy Sams:
To give you an example, I believe the tax rates. We've got you know, if you've looked at the 2023 tax rates, folks, they're going to go up. All right. They're going up. So what's it going to be in five years from now? You know, we just we just in November, we just came through the election, the midterm election. Hopefully you are happy. Some of you may be some of you might not be, but, you know, we'll see what the next two years holds for us as far as tax increases, what are their proposals, what's going to come out of Congress? What's going to come out of the House? What's going to come out of the Senate? What's going to come out of the White House? Do you expect taxes to go down? Do you expect taxes to stay level or are you expect taxes to go up? So tax increases have an effect on what you bring in and what your retirement funds can buy tomorrow versus what they buy today? Number three kind of fits right back into it. Inflation, cost of living, folks. You know that we've had inflation, what, close to 9% this year? I think it's dropped a little bit. It's still over 8%. But the cost of living adjustments, they reflect a 14.6% inflation over the past two years. And some experts believe true inflation has been much higher. So, you know, there's only certain things that they look at.

Randy Sams:
But, you know, people say, well, you know, Randi, going into 2023, my Social Security check, I'm going to get an increase in 2023 of 8.7%. And last year was 5.9%. So basically you add those two together, that's where we come up with 14.6%, folks. If you understand why the cost of living increase is added, it's because of inflation is not because of the goodness of their heart. They just want you to make more money. It's because they add that cola, that cost of living adjustment, they add that because of what the inflation has been over the past couple of years. All right. So if you've got an 8.7% increase going into 2023. Are you really actually making more money? Yeah. Your check may be a little bit higher. Your deposit into your account, maybe a little bit higher, But so is the grocery store visit. So is the gas pump. So is pretty much anything and everything. If you notice what you had to spend for your Thanksgiving holiday meal, it was probably more expensive this year than it was last year or the year before that. That's called as caused inflation. So that 8.7% cost cost of living adjustment that you're getting on your Social Security check going into 2023. That basically is there to cover the 8.7% inflation that we currently see. All right. Portfolio balances going down too quickly. That goes back to your sequence of returns risk that we talked about earlier.

Randy Sams:
Sequence of returns risk can be devastating to people in retirement in that retirement red zone. So, folks. Let me give you an example. So I'm working with folks right now. They were and I've been working with it for it's been several months now. We're trying to put together a plan for them. But, you know, the heartbreaking part is this. If we could have put together this plan for them, say, a year ago or maybe two years ago, they'd be in much better shape because here's what happens. You've got a41k, you've been working and let's say my target retirement age is 65. All right. So I want to retire at 65. Let's say I'm 63 right now. I've put together a plan. I look at this and I'm just, you know, I'm going along about my 41k everything. Everything's going great. And all of a sudden 2022 happens in my 41k balance goes down 25% or even higher. What did that just do to my retirement? All right. So now I've got two years to make up that 25% decrease or like I said, it could be higher. It could be 30% depending on what you had your 401. K invested in. But you go into 63, 64, 65, and you don't see a lot of movement in your 41k. You've got two options, folks. Number one is you're going to continue to work until that 41k balance gets to where a level that you're comfortable with.

Randy Sams:
Or number two, you're going to retire at a lower. Account balance. You're going to retire at a lower income amount on a monthly basis than what you originally planned. All right. So that's what we do. That's where sequence of returns comes into play, folks, when you're getting ready to retirement. And those accounts like what we've seen in 2022, go down like they have, that gives you the choice that you're going to have to continue working or you're going to retire on a little bit less or a lot less than what you originally planned. So that's what we do, is we like to take that longevity risk. We like to take that sequence of returns risk off the table for you and your family. Put you in and get you set up for a guaranteed lifetime income to where it doesn't make a difference what the market does. All right. You can use a portion of your 401. K, your IRA. Just let us know what you need, what's your expenses, what's your bottom line? And we can we can reverse that and we can tell you exactly how much we need to get that set up for you. Believe me, it it's peace of mind, folks, going into retirement when you know that you've got a guaranteed stream of income for yourself and your spouse, that income is guaranteed for the rest of your life and the rest of your spouse's life.

Randy Sams:
That gives you peace of mind knowing that that money is going to be there no matter what the stock market does. All right. We can eliminate sequence of returns using a guaranteed lifetime income annuity. All right. We can eliminate longevity risk by using a guaranteed lifetime income annuity. So, remember, sequence of returns risk can be devastating to people that are in that retirement red zone. Give us a call. 866 990 7664. Or leave us your information at Your American Retirement dot com. I would love to be able to get in contact with you folks. Hey, guys. Market crashes real quick. Market crashes. Again, like we said, longevity risk. You're going to live long enough. More likely, the longer you live, the more likely you're going to see a market crash. I consider 2022. It was it was devastating to a lot of folks. All right. We've seen almost 17% decrease in 401k balances year to date. So, folks, again. That's what we do at Your American Retirement. SMMG Financial We want to educate you. We want to set you up for a secure retirement, not a risky retirement. And folks, my name is Randy Sams, President, SMMG Financial. I want to thank you for joining in. I want to thank you for tuning in to Your American Retirement on 101.1FM. The Answer. Where Little Rock comes to talk. We'll see you soon.

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 Your American Retirement today. That's YourAmericanRetirement.com.

Producer:
Not affiliated with the United States government. Randy Sams does not offer tax, legal or investment advice. Consult with your tax advisor or attorney regarding specific situations. Opinions expressed are subject to change without notice. These opinions are not intended as investment advice, nor do they predict future performance of any product. All information provided is believed to be from reliable sources. However, we make no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of any statement. This information is intended to be educational in nature and does not provide a guarantee or specific result. All copyrights and trademarks on 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 his basis, with no guarantees of completeness, accuracy, usefulness, timeliness, or of the results obtained from the use of this information.

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