11.1.22: Audio automatically transcribed by Sonix

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

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

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

Randy Sams:
Hey, good afternoon, Central Arkansas. This is Randy Sams. We want to welcome you to Your American Retirement financial retirement education show. Again, my name is Randy Sams, president CEO, SMMG Financial. Folks. Again, you are listening to Your American Retirement on 101 101.1 FM. The Answer. Where the Little Rock comes to talk. We're getting a lot of good feedback. I want to welcome you and I want to thank you, first of all, for for joining the show. Again, we're getting a lot of good feedback, so a lot of good suggestions. You guys are great on keeping me on my toes. I've gotten several requests for more information on Social Security. There's a lot of folks that are getting close to retirement, a lot of folks that are maybe what I consider to be in that red zone five years before, five years after. But those of you who have not turned on Social Security, you're you're looking at what certain retirement date. Give us a call. 866 990 7664. Go to Your American Retirement dot com. Leave us your information. We'd love to sit down with you and go into more detail about Social Security options in what might be the best way for us to maximize your Social Security benefit. If you like the show. You know, we're on Saturdays between 1:00 and 2:00. You're listening to us today, a beautiful Saturday afternoon here in central Arkansas, Go Hogs. You may have lists, not listen to some of the shows in the past. We've had some really great shows, very informative shows. Again, you know, our focus is educating our clients on how to retire, have a secure retirement, not a risk. Your retirement. We want to meet with you and take that four letter word away from your retirement funds.

Randy Sams:
That's called risk. You can go to any of the preview shows that we have on Your American Retirement or if you want to, you can go and listen to our podcast, YouTube, wherever you may, listen to podcasts at YouTube, Spotify, or your favorite spot. But again, we love hearing from you folks. So please reach out to us, continue giving us the suggestions. Give us a thumbs up. When you listen to the podcast, subscribe, It helps us out knowing that we've got folks that are listening and that you're interested in finding out more, educating yourselves about, Hey, I'm about to retire or I'm in retirement, There may be some changes I need to make. So again, give us a call 866 990 7664 or go to the website Your American Retirement dot com and leave us your information. So, folks, I've got with me today my producer, Jim, we're going to talk about a few things. So, Jim, between you and me, we know that Tuesday, November they eight is Election Day. Hopefully the listeners here in Arkansas have early voting started, I believe, a week ago. It closes on November the sixth, but Tuesday, November the eighth. So, folks, here's my little plug. Do your American duty, your patriotic duty and vote. This is my deal. Vote like your retirement depends on it because guess what it does if you're happy with the way things are today, inflation, cost of gas, everything, then you know how you should vote. If you're not, then you should also know how to vote. But remember, vote like your retirement depends on it because right now it does what you think about that. Jim Good at that point.

Producer:
You know what, Randy? I think it's great advice and thank you again for having me on as always. Love producing Your American Retirement. Here we are. Right? Another episode. But you're exactly right. And as the great Matt McClure, who I think you've co-hosted with him before, said last week on another show, he said, If you don't vote and you don't like the result, you have absolutely no room to complain. You have to just live with the results. So please get out there and vote.

Randy Sams:
Do your American duty. Go vote. Like you said, vote early if you don't want to stand in line on Tuesday. But if you don't mind standing in line on Tuesday and who knows, you may be have a voting place where you don't have a long line. But once we do this show this afternoon, Jim, just as an FYI, my wife and I, we will be heading to do a little early voting. So, folks, we've got a great show playing for you today. Again, I've got my producer, Mr. Jim. He does a great job for us putting all all my mistakes together, covering up my bloopers. I guess we could do a show, Jim, Just on Randy's bloopers, but maybe we'll do that later on sometime.

Producer:
But listen, Randy, you know what? I've been there and done that for myself. For myself. And you know what? We've got a couple of, as you mentioned, great. We've got a couple of great things we have to get to today. Some great content. Speaking of elections, later on in the show this week in History, there was a landslide election. You probably know what I'm talking about. We'll touch on that a little bit later on. But let's get to right or wrong.

Producer:
Come on down as we test your financial knowledge in right or wrong.

Producer:
And Randy, I want to know if this is right or wrong. It's too expensive to work with a financial advisor slash professional, and you'll be better off managing your money on your own. Randi, is that right or wrong?

Randy Sams:
Jim and I was hoping you could start off. I was really pulling for you to start off on the positive. But Jim hit that buzzer because it's wrong. That buzzer and it's wrong. Financial advisors. Financial professionals can help you save and keep more of your hard earned money, folks. That's what we do at SMMG Financial. You're American Retirement. You've got to realize we're focused on addressing the major financial issues facing retirees and pre-retirees in America today by helping people understand and prepare for a secure retirement, not a risk or retirement. So it's important to work with a licensed professional, a retirement planner, financial advisor that can help you, help you and your spouse and family. In case a family member who is doing the financial planning passes away. We want to sit down with you. We want to offer a complimentary consultation. Folks, it doesn't cost you anything is we're more than willing to come and meet with you at your house or your place of business or wherever you want to choose. We feel like it's more convenient and it's a little bit more comfortable setting for the clients. If we meet somewhere that's comfortable for you mainly. Most of the time we do our consultations in the house. You can see that once we meet we're going to talk about different things. I want to know about you. I want to know about your spouse. I want to know what your plans are. But folks, here's here's what we want to do. We want to sit down and get what your retirement objectives might be. So I've got a couple of callouts that I want to talk to you about.

Randy Sams:
Call out number one, if you don't have an income plan in place for your retirement, we think you should really use our help. You know, the phone number, you know, the website, Your American Retirement, We can build you and your family a plan that has your money working as hard for you as you've worked for it. You've worked too hard to lose it. Remember that four letter word risk is what we want to remove from your financial future. So give us a call today. 866 990 7664 or go to the website Your American Retirement dot com. Leave us your information and we'll get back in contact with you and set up a consultation call out number two. If you were about to retire and you've lost more than 25% in the market this year, you need to seek professional help. Many of you may be seeking professional help psychologically about losing 25%. Jim I just had a phone call from a gentleman I met with in April. He's going to be retiring in February 2023. We kind of put everything together for him, but he wasn't just ready to do to put everything into place. But he called me yesterday and he is ready to go. But the sad part is that he's lost 20% of his 41k value. He knows it. But after he kind of hit that nail on the head, I told him what we could do, reminding him of what we've met with and discussed in April. So he's excited. We're going to be able to set him up with a guaranteed lifetime income.

Randy Sams:
But folks, you've got to realize you lose 25% in that red zone before five years before you retire or that red zone five years after you retire and the sequence of returns hits you in the face. You're you're removing money, you're taking out deductions, you're taking out withdrawals, you're drawing an income from that 401 K or IRA and your balance goes down. That's a double whammy. So if you go through another year like today or like this year has been 2022, you'll be left with just a little over half of what you started with in January 2022. So just think those of you who started out with 100,000 in your 401. K, a lot of your values are 75,000 or even less. So if we see the same thing happen in 2023, what's that value you're going to drop down to? Please give us a call today or visit our website again. You want to yourself and your family to take action and to protect your money. Call out number three. If you saw the stock market falling and moved your assets to cash, you need to talk to us. There are better ways to protect and grow your wealth. We can offer not in the market investment solutions where your principal is 100% protected. Jim's. You'd be surprised. I'm getting calls from folks all over. You know that I work in five state area here. Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas. Have a few clients in Oklahoma and some in the boot hills of Missouri. So I travel quite a bit, got a big demand, but I love meeting with folks and meeting with them and setting up a retirement plan.

Randy Sams:
But I'm getting a lot of calls right now from folks who have money left in in the bank for CDs and they're looking for an option. They may not want an income annuity. They may not want anything. They just want to protect their money and they want to be able to get a higher rate. So what I'm doing right now, Jim's I'm doing a lot of my guys, my guys that stand for stands for multi year guaranteed annuities. Basically it's a fixed rate guaranteed annuity right now. I have fixed rate guaranteed annuities that are anywhere from three and one half to. Over 5%, if that's interested. Interesting to you. Give us a call. 866 990 7664 or go to Your American Retirement and leave us your contact information and we'll get in contact with you, follow up with you and set up a consultation and discuss with you those options. Number four, call out if you are the primary breadwinner of the household and you don't know where to start with your financial plan, please reach out to us today. So, Jim, I think those are good, good, good segue ways into our second segment, folks. What we're going to do for the remaining segments today. We're going to finish up. Yep. Again, yep. October 15th through December 7th. We're going to run very quickly through the options that you have available to you. And then we're going to finish up with your Social Security options how to make wise choices and maximize your benefits.

Producer:
Yeah, again, very important information this time of year, the fall. It's a great time. Of course. Randy, you mentioned Go Hogs earlier on in the show, college football, the NFL, World Series, hockey, basketball, a lot of sports going on right now and mentioned Election Day. A lot going on Medicare and the annual enrollment period. Very, very important. And we'll touch on and answer all of those questions coming up. This is one on 101.1 The Answer where a Little Rock comes to talk Your American Retirement. We'll be right back.

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

Randy Sams:
Welcome back. Central Arkansas, Randy Sams, you're American Retirement on 101 FM. The Answer where Little Rock comes to talk. Hey, thanks for joining us today. I really want to thank you for the listeners, the folks who have left us fantastic comments on our website, Your American Retirement, great suggestions that we're going to be able to put together future shows to kind of answer some of your concerns when it comes to retirement planning. But folks, in this segment we're going to run through as you know, I'm going to do this at least once during every show between now and December the seventh, which is the end of AEP. For those of you who have Medicare, Medicare Advantage, prescription drug plans, you know that we are right in the middle of annual enrollment period. Aep, which began October the 15th and runs through December the seventh. One of the things that I do when we have our free consultations with our clients. For those folks who may still be working and they are covered by a group employer health and health insurance coverage. We like to sit down and discuss their health insurance plans. What are your plans when you retire and you no longer have your group health insurance? So a lot of folks, they don't understand and they're not really educated enough to know what Medicare is all about. What is Medicare A, What is Medicare B, what? See what's D? If I'm looking at a medicare gap, a medigap plan, Medicare, supplement, water, all these plans in l, k, g, f in what are those plans? So we like to spend a lot of time spending sitting down with them, educating them on what Medicare is all about, what your options are.

Randy Sams:
Should you just stay with the original Medicare, get a prescription drug plan? Should you go with Medicare Advantage? So that's some of the stuff we'll cover today and on the future shows until the end of AEP. And again, if you'd like to set up a consultation and discuss your health coverage, your current Medicare Advantage plan, Medicare gap, your Medicare supplement plan or your prescription drug plan, you can always go to the website Your American Retirement. Leave us your information. We'll get in contact with you or give us a call. 866 990 7664. So, folks, let's get into Medicare. What is Medicare? Original Medicare. So when you turn 65. You're going to be eligible for Medicare Part A and part B if you have a current employer sponsored plan, that's fine. You're still eligible for it at 65, but you can remain covered under your employer coverage. But original Medicare refers to Medicare Part A and Medicare Part B, which basically are managed by the federal government. People can see any doctor that takes Medicare assignment and the government program pays us a significant portion of that cost. Basically, what we're looking at right now, folks, with a original Medicare Part A and Part B, it's like an 8020 plan.

Randy Sams:
They'll cover 80% of the coverage or the cost of a hospital stay or any other medical bill, and then you're responsible for the other 20%. All right. So Medicare Part A is hospital insurance. It covers inpatient care in a hospital skilled nursing facility, although not custodial or long term care. Part A also helps pay for hospital care and some health care. Some home health care. All right. If the if the doctor orders it, Medicare Part A does have a deductible in 2022, your current deductible is $1,556 in 2023, that's increasing slightly to $1,600. Plus, you have co-insurance, which means patients pay portion of the bill. Like I said, it's mainly like works like an 8020 plan. You won't have to pay premiums for your Medicare Part A as long as you or a spouse have paid your Medicare taxes for at least ten years. All right. We can go into the details. Give us a call. Medicare Part B. Medical insurance covers doctor's visits and other medically necessary services and supplies. That includes preventative services or health care to prevent illness as well as ambulance services, durable medical equipment, mental health coverage, and a few types of outpatient prescription drugs. Medicare Part B requires a monthly premium. 2022 that monthly premium is $170.10 per month. In 2023, it's decreasing slightly. It's going down to $164.90 per month in 2023. Medicare Part B does have a deductible. It's $233 in 2022 and it's dropping down to $226 in 2033.

Randy Sams:
Medicare Part C, better known as Medicare Advantage. This is very important for you folks that are have Medicare Advantage during EPE. Medicare Advantage, also known as part C, is a type of health coverage offered by private insurance companies. Folks, I explain it this way. Medicare Advantage is Medicare, your original Medicare Part A and Part B, But instead of being administered through the government, it's administered through a private insurance company. Again, it provides the benefits of Part A and Part B and often has a Part D prescription drug coverage included in the plan. You always have to continue to pay your part B premium. There may be separate premiums for the coverage. A lot of your Medicare Advantage plans out on the market today. They do have zero premiums. The majority of them are PPOs or HMOs. In other words, they have a network of doctors that you have to stay within to see that. So some of the bundled plans on your Medicare Advantage. Again, I've always stated I already stated they have prescription drug coverage, included benefits for vision hearing and dental care. So those are some of the additional options that they have. Plus, unlike original Medicare, a medicare Advantage plan does have a maximum out of pocket cost for 2023. Your maximum out-of-pocket cost could be as much as 7550. I mean, excuse me, 20 to 22, your maximum out-of-pocket cost could be as much as $7,550 for 2023. That's increasing to $8,300. Does it mean that that's what you're out of pocket? Maximum Out of pocket will be.

Randy Sams:
It depends on what your plans stipulate. So that's something that you have to look at. Again, I mentioned Medicare Advantage plans are typically HMOs and PPOs. So they will provide coverage in certain areas, certain doctors, they require pre-authorization and referrals and change in charge co-pays and co-insurance for most health care services. Prescription drug coverage. Medicare Part D helps cover the cost of prescription drugs. Both generic and brand name plans are offered by private insurers and require a monthly premium that averages around $33 per month. In 2022, that's projected to decrease by about a dollar 50. So $31.50 is what is projected to cost on an average in 2023. All right. If you have a higher income, you may pay a little bit more, but that's what you got. Plus, also, we have a medicare supplement insurance. We spend some time speaking to our clients about Medicare supplement, better known as Medigap. Medicare supplement or Medigap is an additional health insurance policy you can buy from a private insurer to help pay your share of the cost. Not covered by Medicare Part A and Part B. This includes deductibles, co-insurance, some health care if you travel outside of the US. Medigap plans don't cover long term care, prescription drugs, dental vision or hearing AIDS, or private nursing care. So, folks, what, a medicare or a medigap? Plan will do. If you look at just having original Medicare Part A and Part B, and we already still look at that as an 8020 plan, a medigap plan will step in depending on which plan you choose.

Randy Sams:
And there are options, But a medigap plan can pay all of those. Or they may pay a significant portion of those. I know Plan G right now will pay for everything Medicare allowed and also they will not, but they will not cover the 2022 or 2023 part B deductible. That would be your out-of-pocket expense. But from there, it basically covers everything that Medicare did not cover, only allowable. So let's talk about very quickly what you can do during EAP. If you have a medicare Advantage plan or if you have original Medicare or if you have a prescription drug plan, listen to this. Again, AEP began October 15th and will run through December 7th. It's also been known in the past as open enrollment period, but we always refer to it right now as AEP annual enrollment period. You can change from original Medicare. With or without a medicare drug plan. To a medicare Advantage plan. So if you have a original Medicare Part A and part B and you want to switch to a medicare Advantage plan, you can do that change from a medicare Advantage plan back to original Medicare with or without a medicare drug plan. So you have a medicare Advantage plan. It may not have worked out as well as you thought it would. You want to switch from that Medicare Advantage plan back to original Medicare Part A and part B? You can do that during AEP.

Randy Sams:
You can switch from one Medicare Advantage plan to a medicare to another Medicare Advantage plan. This is what I see. Mostly that occurs during AEP is you'll have folks who may have joined a medicare Advantage plan that might be an HMO, which means that you are basically required to go to the hospitals and doctors that are in that network. Maybe your doctor was not in that network or your doctor has left that network and you want to switch to a network that he may be he or she may be in. And so if you want to change your Medicare Advantage plan to a plan that includes them in the network, then you can do that during AEP. You can switch from a medicare Advantage plan that doesn't offer drug coverage to a medicare Advantage plan that offers drug coverage. So, folks, the Medicare Advantage plans that that that I work with, the companies that I work with, I don't have a medicare Advantage plan that doesn't include a medicare Advantage prescription drug plan. All right. Pds is what I refer to them as. So they all the ones that I offer all have a prescription drug plan. So the biggest deal that we have to look at when we look at a map Medicare Advantage plan with the prescription drug plan, is the prescriptions that you may be currently taking and make sure that they are covered in that plan.

Randy Sams:
You can switch from a medicare Advantage plan that offers drug coverage to a medicare Advantage plan that doesn't offer drug coverage. All right. You can join a medicare drug plan. So if you have original Medicare with a standalone prescription drug plan and you may have more prescriptions or the doctor has prescribed more medications for you during the year, you can change to. You can upgrade or you can switch to a prescription drug plan where those prescriptions that you now are taking are also covered. So you can join a medicare drug plan. You can add it if you do not have one, or you can switch from one Medicare drug plan to another Medicare drug plan, just like the example I gave. If you have a plan that does not include some of the drugs that you're now taking and you want to switch to one that does, you can do that during AEP. Lastly, you can drop your Medicare drug coverage completely. So folks, basically what that means, if you have a standalone prescription drug plan and you no longer feel like you need it, I wouldn't advise against it. I wouldn't advise doing that. But it's your choice, not mine. That's something that we've been in consultation is look at what you currently have and see what is what's going to be the best fit for you. But if you have a prescription drug plan, a medicare drug coverage right now, and you're no longer feel like you need it, you can drop that during AEP.

Randy Sams:
All right. So, folks, that's going to cover it for us. Hopefully you've got a little bit more information. So, folks, if you're interested in kind of diving more deeply into Medicare, Medicare Part A, Part B, what will it do for me? What do I which plan do I need? Do I need a medicare Advantage plan? Do I need a medicare supplement plan? Do I need a prescription drug plan? Folks, go to Your American Retirement. Leave us your contact information. We'll be glad to make a phone call, talk to you, send you email information, set up a free consultation, and go over any questions that you may have to help you better understand Medicare the system. Because believe me, folks, when you turn 65, that's going to be one of the decisions that you have to make. Or if you're losing employer sponsored coverage, that's one of the decisions that you need to make. And we want to be able to sit down with you and help educate you which direction might be the best for you and your family or give us a call at 866 990 7664. Again, leave us your contact information. We'd love to have a conversation with you. So, Jim, why don't you take us out of segment two and then we'll jump right back into Segment three and four. And we're going to cover Social Security making wise choices. And maximizing your benefits.

Producer:
All right, Randy. Well, don't forget, also to subscribe to the podcast, a catalog of past episodes is available on Apple, Google, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcast. So if you missed anything from today, previous episodes, whatever, no worries. You can listen back to the show on multiple platforms. Again, Randy mentioned it. We're going to talk about Social Security, how inflation is affecting your retirement. Plus, we have an interesting state in history, a landslide victory back in 1984, one on 1.1. The answer where a little Rock comes to talk Your American Retirement. We'll be right back. My baby, Chewbacca, Zip up. Hello, stranger.

Producer:
Remember, all of Randy listeners receive a free financial consultation just for listening to the show. Visit Your American Retirement dot com to learn more and schedule an appointment. Thanks for listening to Your American Retirement and subscribing wherever you listen to podcasts.

Producer:
Your American Retirement 101.1. The Answer. Where the Little Rock Comes to Talk. Welcome back to the show. I'm Jim Dara Bolkiah alongside Randy Sams. Randy Sams, Jim Terra, Boca Post producer. Hey, listen. Randy mentioned it earlier on in the show that you've got to give him a call. 866 990 7664. Visit the website Your American Retirement dot com because he has the opportunity or going to give you the opportunity to make your money work as hard for you as you've worked for it. So again, give Randy a call 866 990 7664 or visit the website Your American Retirement dot com. Randy, let's get to our quote of the week.

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

Producer:
And this one comes to us from Alice O'Connor, better known by her pen name, Ayn Rand. She was a Russian born American writer and philosopher, and she's known for developing a philosophical system. She named Objectivism. And Alice said this, quote, Money is only a tool. It will take you wherever you wish, but it will not replace you as a driver. Unquote. So, again, that quote goes back to what I just said about making your money work as hard for you as you've worked for it.

Randy Sams:
That makes a lot of sense, especially what we've been talking about the last few episodes. Jim You know, one of the things that we talk about and it's something that we stress when we when we meet with our clients, you know, you've worked so hard to build your nest egg, so to say, you know, when folks are getting ready to retire or getting, you know, they've got retirement, it's kind of like the light at the end of the tunnel. They can see it. And then all of a sudden, just like, what, 20, 22 folks are down 25%. So, folks, what we want to be able to do is get you to realize that you don't retire on assets. Wealth accumulation is great in your younger years while you're while you're getting to that point. But when you hit the age of retirement or getting close to retirement, you want to be able to take risk away off, take it off of the table. And just like what Alice O'Connor said, it's like money is a great tool and it can take you wherever you wish, but you just can't let it be the driver. So what we want to be able to do is sit down with you, let you understand, help you understand, educate you, get you off of a risky retirement and set you up with a secure retirement based on guaranteed income. And that's where I feel like we can make your day work for you.

Randy Sams:
Set yourself up with a I guess, a self pension, so to say, because probably only about 10% of the listeners today are offered a pension through their employer and they say, Well, I don't have a pension. Well, what do you have? You have a41k an IRA. Well, we can take that take some of those funds and allocate that to a guaranteed lifetime income annuity and set yourself up with a lifetime pension for yourself and for your spouse. So great quote. Jim, thank you so much. So, folks, if you listen to the show last week, we again want to thank you for joining. If you missed it, go to Your American Retirement. Com click on past segments or past shows and you can listen to last week's show. What we started last week, we began talking about Social Security, making choices about Social Security and maximizing your benefits. Again, folks, you know, we spoke in segment one and two about health coverage, about Medicare. What are your choices? Which ones are going to be the best for me? That's one of the subjects and one of the topics that we deal with when we have a consultation with our clients. And then next, we want to talk about Social Security. All right. So one of the things that we talk about is when should you turn on Social Security? Should it be early? Should you wait until your full retirement age or should you wait till age 70, which is your maximum benefit age? All right.

Randy Sams:
So one of the things that we want to do, the reason we're spending some time on this post, because a lot of people do not understand there was a survey done, Mass Mutual. Psb research did a poll 1500 older adults on their understanding of Social Security, and of the 4500 people who took part on the online poll. This was between April 4th and April 7th of this year. Only 6% correctly answered 12 or more true or false questions. Now, folks, we went over those true or false questions last week. We're not going to have time to do those this week. But again, if you'd like to know those. Go to Your American Retirement dot com. Click on previous shows, last week's show and you can listen to what those 12 questions were, why it's so important. This data. 65% of the folks that were polled, of those 1500 older adults, 65% received a failing score or barely passed. So what does that tell you folks? It tells me a lot. It basically helps me and encourages me in the fact that what I'm doing and what we're doing at SMMG Financial helps you in retirement. We want to educate you and understand Social Security. What are the benefits? When's the right time for me to take it? Should I take it early? Should I wait? And that's some of the things we're going to talk about today.

Randy Sams:
Last week show we talked about timing, but we believe it's vitally important to understand Social Security and know your options before that time comes. So remember. Social Security was never intended to replace the full amount of retirees previous income, but unfortunately it does provide a significant portion for many. If not, it could be their only source of guaranteed income retirement in retirement, which is bad. So, folks, listen to this. Right now, today, Social Security makes up 50% or more of total retirement for 50% of married couples, 70%. Of individuals. This is even more concerning. Social Security makes up 90% or more of total retirement married couples. 21% of married couples rely on Social Security as 90% or more of their total retirement and for individuals, 45%. So again. This is why we at SMMG Financial, Your American Retirement, believe and preach. You do not retire wisely based on assets. You retire wisely based on guaranteed lifetime income. So, folks, last week's show we went we covered very I feel like a lot of good detail. We covered when is the best time to choose to file. That's something that you need to look at number to decide how long to work. This week we're going to look at know your options and we're going to consider the big picture. But again, last week, choose the best time to file options. You can file early. You can start as early as age 62, or you can file at full retirement age depending on when you were born.

Randy Sams:
For me, 1957, my full retirement age is 66 and six months. If you were born in 1960 or later. Right now, your full retirement age is 67. So is it better for you to take your retirement at age 62, or is it better to wait to a full retirement age? Or do you want to file later? For each year, you wait past your full retirement age, your benefit will increase by 8%. So does it make sense to wait to age 67, 68, 69, or age 70? Because age 70 is the maximum age. It doesn't pay, it doesn't make any difference. Your increase, your benefits are not going to be increased past age 70 anyway. So, again, very important. Choose the best time to file. We did a little example, the impact of waiting. We did an example of what happens if you take your Social Security benefit at age 62. What happens if you take it at age 66? What happens if you take it at age 70 and we compared those? So again, that's on last week. Show Your American Retirement. Decide how long to work. This was topic number two. Very quickly, if you were under your full retirement age, in other words, anywhere between 62 and, say, 66 or 67, if you claim benefits early and continue to work, there will be an annual earnings limit of $19,560.

Randy Sams:
Again, folks, this is based on your earned income. Earned income includes wages, bonuses, commissions and vacation pay. It does not include pensions, annuities, investment, income interest or any government veterans or military retirement benefits. If you wait till your full retirement age in the year, you reach your full retirement age. Your earnings earnings limit is higher. In 2022 is $51,960. So if you're working before your full retirement age month, then you can make up to $51,960 without having your benefits reduced. Or if you wait to over your full retirement age, your earnings will no longer be reduced. But any benefits withheld during benefits if you took it before your full retirement age are not lost. All right. So decide how long to work. Do you want to continue to work? You'd be surprised how many folks we deal with today that are 66, 67, 68. I have a gentleman in Tennessee I was dealing with. He's still working at age 75. Of course, he likes to work as something that keeps him keeps him busy. So you have to make that decision. Do you want to continue to work? And if you continue to work, what impact does that have on reducing your benefits? What impact does it have on your Social Security benefits? All right. So how do you decide it may be beneficial to continue working? If you claim benefits early and continue working, your benefits may be reduced by certain amounts, but you can reclaim those benefits once you reach your full retirement age.

Randy Sams:
And if you continue to work, it always allows you to delay filing for benefits for. So again, if you want to continue to work and wait somewhere between, say, 66 and age 70 before you turn those benefits on, remember what we spoke about earlier every year that you wait past your full retirement age, it adds 8%. That's pretty good. That's a pretty good interest rate. It adds 8% to your benefit each year that you wait. All right. Also, we just covered taxation of benefits. If Social Security is your only source of income, you probably will not owe any taxes on those benefits. However, most people have other sources of income and the amount of that income will determine the taxation benefits. All right. So how you estimate your taxes on those benefits, calculate your total retirement, that your wages, your pensions, withdrawals, everything of that nature. And then you add half of your benefit amount, your Social Security benefit. Your benefit can be taxed up to 50% if you are married and you make 32,000 or above or 25,000 being single, it's up to 50% of the benefit. If you're married and you have 44,000 or above, or if you're single, 34,000 or above, your benefit can be taxed up to 85%. So folks, those are very quick. I just ran through those. I apologize.

Randy Sams:
But again, if you want to listen to those two topics in more detail from last week's show, go to Your American Retirement and look at the previous shows and listen to that last week. All right. Number three, we're going to talk about know your options. All right, very quickly. Your decision on how and when to file for Social Security may also be affected by your marital status. If you're single, you can make the filing decision that works best for you without having to consider how your decision might affect someone else. All right. Waiting to file gives you an advantage, a higher benefit amount for life. However, it's important to talk to me. Talk to us at SMMG Financial about your personal situation, as in some cases it might make sense to file early spouses. If you're married, you will generally receive a the higher of your own earned benefit or your spousal benefit up to 50% of your spouse's pay. That is their benefit at full retirement age. Even if your spouse delays filing past full retirement age to increase benefits, the spousal benefit is always based on the p a You cannot collect a spousal benefit until your spouse actually files for benefits. If you take a spousal benefit before your own full retirement age, that benefit will be permanently reduced to as little as 32.5% of your spouse's full retirement age benefit. All right. So single you have you have options spouses.

Randy Sams:
Do you wait to take your own? You can take up to 50% of your spouse's benefit. We'll give an example when we come back in in Segment three very quickly. But again, know your options, folks. It makes it makes sense to understand what are my options? I'm a single. Am I married? What if I take my benefit early? Well, how does that affect my spouse if I wait till my full retirement age? Is that going to be a benefit to my spouse over the long haul? So my words, if you pass away and your spouse takes as your benefit because here's what happens. Your spouse, if you and your spouse are both on Social Security and one of you pass away, you do not get to keep both Social Security benefits. Folks, do you hear that if you and your spouse are both on Social Security benefits on a monthly basis and one of you passes away, you are not able to keep both of those benefits. You will, in fact, be able to keep the higher of the two. All right. And I'll give a couple of examples when we come back. But folks, we're going to break for segment three. When we come back, we'll be getting ready for Segment four. We're going to cover topic four and in any other subjects that we have any time left. But again, Randy Sams, Your American Retirement on 101.1 FM. The answer We're Little Rock comes to talk.

Hey, Mr. Jerry.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Producer:
Sam's one at 101.1 The answer where Little Rock comes to talk. Welcome back to Your American Retirement. Great job today, Randi, as always, Great show Your American Retirement. We discussed Medicare, the annual enrollment period, parts A and B, And of course, we did our Quote of the week talking about Social Security. When you turn on Social Security, knowing your options, all of that, if you missed anything from today's show, it was an abundance of great information. Please subscribe to the podcast again, Apple, Google, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcast and be sure to join us every Saturday at 1:00 pm right here on 101.1. The answer.

Randy Sams:
Randy Hey, thank you, Jim, for bringing us back. And folks, we're going to finish up segment four. We're going to finish topic three, topic forward. Know your options and and consider the big picture, folks. We talked about single what your options are if you're single when it comes to Social Security options, what it comes, what happens if you have spouses and what your spouse can and cannot do. So it's great to be able to have those conversations. Now, folks, this is something that we also encounter. What about spouses? People always ask me, Randy, you know, I was married before we got divorced. I haven't remarried. What are my options? Do I have any claim on my ex spouse's Social Security benefits? So listen to this, folks. Ex spouses, if you are divorced, if you are divorced, you may be able to claim benefits on an ex spouse's earnings when very important. The marriage lasted at least ten years. You have to have been married for at least ten years. You are at least 62 and unmarried. It doesn't matter if your ex-spouse is married or if you remarried as long as you are unmarried at the time of filing, your ex is entitled to a higher benefit than you are. Your ex is eligible for retirement benefits as long as the divorce has been filed for at least two years, your ex does not have to actually file for benefits. It's different from the spousal benefit. If your ex is eligible for retirement benefits, they do not have to specifically individually have filed for their benefits.

Randy Sams:
You've been divorced for at least two years. You can spy. You can file for those benefits. Here's an example. Sue's 66 years old. She and Tim married young and stayed together for 12 years before they divorced. Tim remarried, but Sue remains single. She's been working for the last 32 years and is ready to retire. She claims to benefit on Tim's record. The SSA Social Security Administration will send her the higher of her own benefit or the divorce spouse's benefit in her case, the divorced divorced spouse's benefit, which is Tim based on Tim's earnings record, is higher, so the amount that Sue will receive has no effect on the amount that Tim or his current wife receive. And Tim is not even notified about her filing. Sue can claim survivor benefits if Tim has passed away. If Sue remarry, she will no longer be able to collect based on Tim's earnings record. So if you have been married for at least ten years and you got divorced, you have an ability to claim on that. Ex spouse's benefits. Surviving spouses if a Surviving spouse. Has already receiving spousal benefits. The SSA will automatically adjust the monthly benefit amount after receiving the report of death. What that means is if you are married, you're currently married and you're both receiving Social Security benefits and one of the spouses passes away, you unfortunately are not able to keep both of those Social Security payments, but you will be able to keep the higher of the two and that is your survivor benefit.

Randy Sams:
Topic number four, Consider the big picture. So it's impossible to properly plan for Social Security without considering how it fits into your overall retirement plan, folks. And that's what we do at SMMG Financial. That's why we do the free consultations to sit down with you and look at your specific objectives, look at your specific situation. We can pull up the information on Saga specifically for you. Set up your account and you can see exactly what your options might be, what your payouts will be at based on your earned income over the past 35 years and what your payouts will be depending on the age that you want to file. So if you haven't taken any of these steps that we're about to go over, it's a good time to give us a call. 866 990 7664 again 866 990 7664. Leave us your information. We'd love to speak to you and go over your options for Social Security. Number one, you need to define your goals, folks. The more specific you can be, the more realistically you can estimate your future expenses. For example, it's fine to say when you're retire you want to travel, but even better, if you can say whether or not you'll be hiking national parks, going to hot springs, or you're going to be going to the Louvre in Paris, estimate your spending. In addition to fulfilling any personal goals, you'll need to factor in daily living expenses.

Randy Sams:
Do your debt. Do you have mortgage, car loans, credit card debt, utilities, rent insurance, health care costs, and of course, taxes. You also may want to make gifts to children or grandchildren or to a favorite charity. Considering the impact of inflation will help you arrive at a more accurate estimate. Examine your income sources. Folk. Look at the following categories. What sources of guaranteed income do you currently have? You have a pension if you're lucky enough to have one. That's great. Social Security. Again, it was not intended to be a retiree sole source of income. But if you listen to us earlier, you know that, gosh, quite a few folks out there today look at Social Security makes up 90% or more of their retirement income, guaranteed income. Very important, something that we emphasize here at SMMG Financial, Your American Retirement savings and Investments. So if you're like most people today, you have retirement savings and a qualified retirement plan for 1k4 or three B IRA. These savings vehicles can hold different types of investments. And then again, at age 72, if you haven't began taking withdrawals from those plans, you are required in a qualified plan to start taking RMDs required minimum distributions. So unlike guaranteed income, savings and investments may be subject to market risk and they may fluctuate in value just like what's happened this year and may be accompanied by tax considerations. All right. Life insurance, a policy with cash value, offers tax free loans and withdrawals, which can be particularly useful in an emergency if utilized properly.

Randy Sams:
Of course, loans and withdrawals reduce the death benefit so you can use life insurance as a retirement vehicle. Also, folks, earned income. If you choose to continue working in any capacity, consider your salary. There is no guarantee how long you may be able to continue to work. Health issues, Caregiving demands. Layoffs can bring working years to an abrupt end. So again, examine your income source. Is guaranteed income savings going to investments, life insurance or if you're working earned income, assess the gap, if any. In many cases, people find that there's a gap between the income they'll have available in retirement and their estimated expenses. If this is true for you, now is the time to discuss ways to increase retirement income and fill that gap. 866 990 7664. We'd be glad to have a conversation with you. So folks, consider additional guaranteed income purchase an annuity. Whether an annuity is immediate or deferred, this can be an important way to convert some of your savings and investments into a guaranteed income stream that will last throughout your retirement. Set yourself up with a guaranteed lifetime paycheck. That's what I look at for yourself and your spouse. So, folks, I hope you've enjoyed looking at Social Security benefits. We've covered two two topics last week and the final two topics this week. But folks, again, we at SMMG Financial, we are very interested in setting you up with the best, most secure retirement possibly, and having a discussion and understanding Social Security.

Producer:
It's this week in History.

Producer:
So this week in History and on this date in history, November 6th, 1984. On this date, US President Ronald Reagan won his real. Election bid in a landslide victory over Democrat challenger Walter F Mondale. You remember that, Randy, I'm sure. President Reagan won 525 electoral votes and 58.8% of the popular vote. No other U.S. candidate in history matched Reagan's electoral vote in a single election. I'm not sure, Randy, if we'll ever see that again, by the way.

Randy Sams:
Well, I don't feel like we will. I mean, it's crazy to think that he got almost almost 60% of the votes, 525 electoral votes. Now, Jim, I'm not I'm not as educated on the Electoral College as I probably should be, but 525 electoral votes, how many are actual available through the Electoral College?

Producer:
So Vice President Mondale, he served in the Jimmy Carter administration prior to Ronald Reagan being elected as president. But in 1984, he won ten Electoral College votes, winning the state of Minnesota. And then the three votes that you get when you win the District of Columbia. And in total, there are 538 Electoral College.

Randy Sams:
Votes that would basically be considered today is, what, a landslide victory?

Producer:
A landslide. It would be considered, I guess, in today's terminology. All the young kids are saying it now, the red tsunami next to this upcoming week. Get out there and vote and do your as Randy put it, you're American duty by submitting your vote and casting your ballot.

Randy Sams:
Vote like your retirement depends on it. Because, folks, it does. If you're happy with the way things are going right now, then you know what your which direction you should vote. If you want to make changes, you want to see changes, then I think you should know exactly which way to vote. Also, again, we're going to be voting. So folks, again, Randy Sams, SMMG Financial, I want to thank you for listening to today's show, Your American Retirement on 101 FM. The answer we're Little Rock comes to talk. Go Hawks. We'll talk to you all next week.

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 dot com today. That's Your American Retirement dot com. 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 are the property of their respective owners. A married 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 of the results obtained from the use of this information.

Sonix is the world’s most advanced automated transcription, translation, and subtitling platform. Fast, accurate, and affordable.

Automatically convert your mp3 files to text (txt file), Microsoft Word (docx file), and SubRip Subtitle (srt file) in minutes.

Sonix has many features that you'd love including transcribe multiple languages, secure transcription and file storage, world-class support, automated translation, and easily transcribe your Zoom meetings. Try Sonix for free today.