Sunny Money: How To Improve Your Retirement Outlook This Summer

5.24.24: Audio automatically transcribed by Sonix

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

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

Speaker2:
Welcome to your American Retirement with your host, Randy Sams. Get set for a full hour of financial information and economic news affecting your bottom line. Randy works hard each day to educate Americans like you on how to reach the financial freedom they've worked so hard for, and he can help you too. So now let's start the show. Here is your host, Randy Sams. Well, hello again, Central Arkansas, and welcome you to your American retirement. I want to thank you for joining me on today's show, folks. We've got a jam packed show on tap for you. A lot of things to talk about. I feel like we've got some great subjects we're going to talk about. Listen, today's if we're going to put a title on today's show. Sunny money. Hey, not funny money, but sunny as in, you know, the weather's changing. We're getting into spring. Getting close to summer. I mean, some of the temperatures that we've had this past week have been in the 90s, so it's almost like we skipped spring and went right into summer. But the title to today's show, Sunny Money How to Improve Your Retirement Outlook this Summer. Plus we're going to answer. Some more of our listener questions if we have time, probably in the last segment. But listen and don't forget to check out your American Retirement in podcast form on Apple, Google, Spotify, or wherever you may get your podcasts, whoever your favorite vendor is, and also visit our YouTube page as well youtube.com and search for your American Retirement.

Speaker2:
Now I want to give a shout out to all my friends and all my listeners in Cabot. Hey, also in Conway, Faulkner County. Thank you guys for, uh, letting me know that y'all enjoy the show. Again. You know, we always love to hear from our listeners. Hopefully you will turn into clients. Hopefully we'll be able to meet face to face. You know, we offer a free consultation. Doesn't cost you anything. Take advantage of it. Uh, but please don't hesitate to contact us with your questions because we at Qmg financial, your American retirement, are here to help you. We want to meet you. We want to meet with you and discuss how we can help you reach your financial goals. Because, folks, we can help you with Social Security planning. That's that's included in our retirement planning. Everything we do. Uh, risk management, estate planning and a whole lot more. Uh, because we at Small Financial believe in building sound financial plans for our listeners. That's what we do. And I just kind of said that. But I've had a lot of people ask me, you know, Randy, why did you choose this particular segment of the insurance or financial market? And I'd say that's that's a great question. But what I first want to read to you is, if you remember early on. So folks, this is two years ago.

Speaker2:
What we established, what our foundation is okay? What our core belief, what our core objectives are. At your American Retirement SMG financial, we are focused on addressing the major financial issues facing retirees and pre-retirees in America today by helping people just like yourselves understand and prepare for a secure retirement, not a risky retirement. And the reason I wanted to get that in on today's show is because. I'm going to start off with a little survey that was done, and this was done by CNBC. Now I'm not a I don't watch CNBC. I'm not going to slam them. But they did a survey and it basically was how retirees feel about retirement. How many retirees are living the dream okay. So these are the results of a survey conducted with 2000. 500 of which were retirees. They were this. The survey was conducted amidst ongoing high inflation and rising living costs. We know that. So it was done here recently. Alright. It's a matter of fact. It was done in 2024. Now listen to this. Only 4% of current retirees claim they are living the dream, according to the survey. This is a survey by Schroders. All right. Only 4% folks are saying they live in the dream. Out of what those 2000 so 500 of which were already retired. Now listen to this. An equal percentage, 4% filled. They are living the nightmare. All right. Now I've had people that I've gone and talked to.

Speaker2:
And you know the old saying, you ask people, hey, how are you doing today? And they go living the dream? Well, I've had a few people here recently going, I'm living a dream, but it's that dream turned into a nightmare. All right. So that's you could be talking about the same thing in your retirement. You go into retirement thinking, hey, I'm about to live the dream with that dream, all of a sudden turns into a nightmare because of the economic uncertainties that we face today. And we're going to cover a bunch of those in today's show. All right, so according to the survey, 4% feel they are living the nightmare, highlighting significant dissatisfaction in retirement. They're not happy, folks. And what is it that we want to focus on at SMC financial, your American retirement? We want you to have a happy. We want you to be prepared. We want you to understand. We want you to have a happy and a secure retirement. The majority of retirees are in the middle ground. So you've got those that are living the dream. And down at the bottom you've got those that are living the nightmare. 44% feel comfortable in retirement, 34% are neither satisfied nor dissatisfied, and 15% are struggling. Now, I don't know why they didn't put that 15% struggling in the living. The nightmare I would have if it was me. Because if I talk to someone and they say they're struggling, I don't think that's living a dream.

Speaker2:
I think that's probably getting close to that nightmare type deal. All right. The primary concern for 89% of respondents is inflation. And again, we're going to spend a good segment, a good part of today's show on inflation and how it affects your retirement. Because, folks, inflation diminishes the value of your assets. You retired two years ago. Three years ago on a certain dollar amount. It's a fixed income. You know as well as I do that that dollar amount that you had three years ago, the purchasing power you had three years ago is not buying the same today as it did three years ago. That's called the inflation okay. That's an inflation risk. All right. Other major worries include high health care costs. That's health risk 85% are concerned about that potential major market downturns. Now that covers two different risks. That's volatility risk. And sequence of returns risk okay. And that's 76% uncertainty of income. To me that goes right into sequence of returns. Folks are concerned about not having enough money if the stock market falls down or goes down or decreases or implodes. And that's what you are living on. That's what your retirement funds are based on. They're worried about not having the income that they need to pay the bills. Okay. And the fear of outliving their assets. 68% of those respondents, those that were surveyed, have a fear of outliving their assets.

Speaker2:
And that is longevity risk, folks, to me, that is the number one risk that we have going into retirement. If you're a pre-retiree or if you're in retirement, is fear of outliving your retirement funds. You don't live on assets, folks. You live. You survive on income. You've heard me say that too many times. The National Institute on Retirement Security suggests a retirement savings crisis is already here. Exasperated. By the decline of private sector defined benefit pension plans, because now probably 85 to 90% of the people that are employed. You do? Not long. You no longer have a pension plan. You don't have a defined benefit. You now have a 401 K, a 403 B. That is a defined contribution plan. The risk is now switched from the employer providing that retirement income to you as the employee providing yourself with that retirement income. Future retirees are less likely to have pension income. That's true. Increasing their financial vulnerability due to insufficient savings. Okay. Retirement savings. So, folks, that's why I wanted to read what we do at SMC financial, why I started doing this many, many years ago, why I traveled five states all around Arkansas meeting with folks, getting ready to retire, folks that may be ten years away from retirement, but they realize that now's the time that they want to set up that guaranteed income. They don't have a pension plan, but they have a 401 K. And if you've listened to the show and we'll talk about it in today's show, you know that we if you don't have a pension plan, if your employer does not provide or offer a pension plan, but you have a 401 K, you can set yourself up with a personal pension plan.

Speaker2:
So listen, contact us today so we can show you options to establish that personal pension for your retirement. Because we use strategies that alter volatility, that offer volatility protection and guaranteed lifetime income. Folks, when we get together, I covered what 4 or 5 risks we're going to talk about health risk. We're going to talk about volatility risk. That's the market risk. We're going to talk about sequence of returns risk. And we're definitely going to spend some time on longevity risk. We want to set up a plan that gives you and your spouse 100% peace of mind, that you will never outlive the income that you have, that you can start through your American retirement SMG financial. So folks, listen, in this next segment, we are going to talk about six things you should do when your nest egg reaches 250,000. Do you hear that? Six things you should do when your nest egg reaches 250,000. But when we come back, we're going to start the next segment with one of our favorite things to do the financial wisdom quote of the week. Don't go away. We'll be right back. Thanks for listening to your American retirement.

Speaker3:
If you like what you're hearing, subscribe to our YouTube channel to watch videos from this program and other recent episodes. There's a love for me. Could never die. Visit your American retirement.com to schedule a free consultation with Randy today. And now back to the show.

Speaker2:
Hey, welcome back to your American retirement on 101.1 FM. The answer where little Rock comes to talk. Folks, don't forget to check out our YouTube page, visit youtube.com and search your American Retirement. You know you've hit us. You've found us. When you see my smiling face. Just like what I'm doing right now. Can you tell him smiling on the radio anyway? All right, folks, listen, I wanted to go over that. Uh, this survey just kind of hit perfectly, and I get asked why this is the. Like I said earlier, this is why we went into this business, why I chose to focus on retirement planning. I love meeting with folks like yourselves. I love setting up people in retirement plans. That gives you the peace of mind, of knowing you don't have to stress out about the financial side of it, all right? Because your income, as I said, and you can write this down, I'll say it. You go back over two years worth of shows or you're listening to next week or next week or next week, you'll hear me say this. You do not retire on assets. You retire on income. Income gives you the peace of mind, knowing that your expenses are going to be met now and into the future until you pass away. And then if you set it up correctly, it's going to be the same amount for your spouse for the rest of his or her life. All right. But let's get into this next segment. But without any more ado, Mister Jim, if you would, please cue up that music, because we want to go right into the financial wisdom quote of the week.

Speaker4:
And now wholesome financial wisdom. It's time for the quote of the week.

Speaker2:
All right, financial wisdom. Quote of the week. The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining. The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining. Now, if you've ever been in roofing or you've seen people that have that do roofing, if you've ever had to have a roof replaced. Man, I feel sorry for those guys that are up on top of the houses in the middle of Arkansas. They say in the middle of summertime in Arkansas. And and I'm just using Arkansas as an example. If it's 105 degrees and they're up on top of that roof, putting down shingles or taking off shingles or whatever it might be, or putting on shingles, what's that temperature up on top of that roof? So it's best to do it when the sun is out, because you can't do it when it's raining or snowing. But you want to do it early. Did you hear how I segued right into that? Just like your retirement planning, when's the best time to start your retirement planning? That is early. Just like if you're going to be repairing that roof, you're going to be up on top of that roof early in the morning, not late in the afternoon or when the sunshine is the brightest. So that was given to us by Mr. John F Kennedy. You all know who he is. He was one of our nice. I loved him as a president. So thank you, Mr. John F Kennedy, for the financial wisdom quote of the week.

Speaker2:
All right. Six things you should do when your nest egg reaches $250,000. There's a lot of y'all out there. I just heard you. You say, man, I wish my nest egg was 250,000. Takes a lot of planning, doesn't it? You got to start early. So those of you who are younger listening to today's show, remember what I just said. The best time to put that new roof on is not in the middle of the daytime. When it's hot, hot, hot, it's the best time to start early. So that's the best time to start. But listen to this number one thing that you should do when your nest egg reaches 250,000, just the proper accounts to save for your retirement. Diversify beyond job related programs. So consider building assets outside of traditional job related programs like 401. S 403 BS to avoid future tax burdens. Consider a Roth IRA. Look into other tax advantaged accounts, such as a Roth IRA and or health savings account. If, uh, if you have a health savings account, some of y'all if you are not familiar with that, if you have a employer sponsored health plan, group health plan, and they allow you to, uh. Put back money pre-tax into a health savings account that helps you pay for your deductibles and co-pays or anything that you may have for dental health. As long as it's health related, you can use it. Okay. And h.s.a, if you get it up to a certain dollar amount, you can actually use it as an investment vehicle.

Speaker2:
So but that's another that's another topic for another show. All right. But Roth IRAs folks I do a lot of Roth conversions. So what we do with the Roth conversion because here's what happens. If if everything that you have is pre-tax dollars in your retirement fund, 41K is 403 B's, IRAs, or whatever you need to consider, because, you know, if you use your 401 K or your IRA, anything that's been tax deferred, that's considered a qualified plan. When you start taking money out of that qualified plan, you're going to have to pay taxes. So we always say nothing wrong with that. I love 401 K's. I tell my people to to max it out as much as you possibly can. But. What you want to do is take some of that money and put it into a Roth IRA, do a restart, a Roth conversion to where you have some tax free funds. And we'll go into that just a little bit here okay. So again consider a Roth IRA. Diversify beyond job related programs. Number two. Well what did we just get to talking about. Be mindful of taxes and how they will affect your future plan for your future tax bracket. Understand how withdrawals from retirement accounts could place you in a higher tax bracket during retirement. So everybody loves, man, I've got a whole bunch of money in my 401 K, and then you turn on Social Security at age 67 or 68 or 70 or 65, whatever that might be, whatever example you want to utilize.

Speaker2:
And then you turn it on, you start taking out a certain dollar amount out of your 401 K, maybe 4%, maybe 2%, maybe 10%, I don't know. What does that automatically do when you take that money out of that 401 K or 403 B, boop, it puts you in a higher tax bracket because it's counted as income. Right. So you got to be aware of that balance your tax brackets. And this is what we do. It's what we love to do. So we find at Psmg we find that too many people are mostly invested in tax deferred retirement accounts, meaning that the IRS is a significant partner in your retirement. Is that what you want? You want to have? You want to be partners with the IRS or the government. But see, we like to help people balance their investments across three different tax buckets. Now listen tax deferred. Yes I'm a big believer in 401 k. What I just say I believe that if you can you should max out your 401 K benefit or your contribution. So retirement accounts that are made with pre-tax contributions, such as 401 K, traditional IRAs, 403 B's, 457 simple IRAs, SEPs, we could keep on going, folks. Those are tax deferred. And they're great because you get to take money. You put that money in.

Speaker2:
So if you're on a salary and you're putting money into the 401 K, they don't count the money you put into your 401 K. They don't tax the money that's left over. But as that. So that 401 K or 403 B or whatever it might be, what vehicle you choose, it grows tax deferred. You get the beauty of utilizing compound interest. The sooner you start and the longer you allow it to grow and utilize that compound interest, the better off you're going to be. All right. But that's the tax deferred bucket. Number two bucket is the taxable bucket. Those are investment accounts outside of your traditional retirement accounts. There'd be like a CD. It'd be like your savings account at the bank. You know you put money into a savings account and it draws I mean, the interest that your savings account is drawing today is much better than it was two years ago. Three years ago. Don't know what it's going to be next year, but take advantage of it. So you know that at the end of the year, your bank or your credit union or whoever it might be, they send you a 1098 and that shows you how much interest that you were able to accumulate off of that savings account, and you pay taxes on that. So see that money is taxable. But you can you you utilize that any time you want to because you've already paid taxes on that money. The other number three, which is something we all need to focus on, is tax free.

Speaker2:
Those are those investments could include your holdings in a Roth IRA or an indexed universal life insurance policy. Because remember, Roth IRAs and life insurance are the only two truly tax free investments. So let's talk about a Roth conversion real quick. Hopefully I won't spend a lot of time on this, but what I do for our clients is they say, Randy, I would love some tax free money coming in in retirement. Let me give you an example. You've got a 401 K balance $400,000. This is an example folks. You can use your own math whatever balances you have. So we take 50% of that. And we put that into. An annuity. I'm just using 50%. So 50% of 400,000 is 200,000. We take 200 K and we put that into an indexed annuity. That allows us is to qualify it okay. It allows us to withdraw 10% on an annual basis, free withdrawals without any penalties. So we begin year one and we take 10%. 10% of 20 of 200,000 is 20,000. You pay taxes on that, and you roll that money that you just paid taxes on into the Roth conversion. And you do that for the next ten years. So, folks, instead of taking 200,000 out of a 400,000 for okay, and wiping up the whole 200,000 over into a Roth, you're going to have to pay the taxes on the full 200,000 if you do that immediately.

Speaker2:
But with a Roth conversion, we can set it up to where every year. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. So over a ten year period, we're going to convert that 200,000 that's still growing within that annuity. And it's still growing within that Roth conversion. But after ten years, you've taken that money that you had into the annuity and converted it into a tax free product, a tax free vehicle that you can use and your Roth's, you don't have to have RMDs. Anyway, that's enough on the Roth conversion. You need to call me (866) 990-7664. Because, folks, it's important to get your 401 K working as hard as you do because I invite you to call me again (866) 990-7664 and receive a free 401 K review so we can analyze the fees you're paying, the risk you are taking, and the overall performance of your portfolio. Plus, we can also look at can we take some of that 401 K and put and utilize that and set you up with a Roth conversion where you're going to have tax free funds? I think that's pretty smart. All right. Because here's what I say. With a Roth conversion we're going to take qualified money. And we're going to turn that into non qualified money over a certain period of time. So folks listen you come right back because we still got to cover 345 and six. You're listening to your American retirement.

Speaker3:
You're listening to your American retirement. To schedule your free, no obligation consultation, visit your American retirement.com.

Think about it. There must be higher love. Found in the heart.

Speaker1:
Why do annuities get a bad rap? Experts say it boils down to the risks involved with just one type variable annuities. I'm Matt McClure with the Retirement Radio Network powered by Amara Life. Unlike other annuity products such as fixed, fixed, indexed or multiyear guaranteed annuities, variable annuities put your principal at risk in the market. That's why Ford Stokes, author of the book annuity 360, often refers to them as scary able annuities.

Speaker5:
This type of annuity includes an investment feature managed by mutual fund managers. Because the funds are exposed to the stock market, they are exposed to higher risk, which means they carry the potential for substantial losses, Ford says.

Speaker1:
Two things determine the value of your variable annuity the principal, which is the money you put into the annuity, and the returns the underlying investments earn over time. But be careful.

Speaker5:
Variable annuities are tied to specific investments, which is a double edged sword for most investors. There is the possibility of impressive growth. Also a very real danger of major losses, including your principal bottom line.

Speaker1:
Ford says he does not recommend variable annuities for any of the clients in his investment advisory business. He says a much better option is the fixed indexed annuity.

Speaker5:
A fixed indexed annuity gives you a portion of market like gains. Without market risk, your investment is tied to an index but not directly invested in it.

Speaker1:
And he says that provides an annuity product that fits the Goldilocks definition. Not too hot, not too cold, but just right. So are you ready for market like gains without the market risk for a portion of your retirement plan? Well, that's a key question to consider as you weigh the options for your future with the Retirement Radio Network. Powered by a mirror life. I'm Matt McClure. Fixed annuities, including multiyear guaranteed rate annuities, are not designed for short term investments and may be subject to restrictions, fees and surrender charges as described in the annuity contract. Guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying ability of the issuer.

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

Speaker2:
Hey, thanks for joining us on this week's edition of Your American Retirement. Please be sure to check out the podcast version of our show on Apple, Google, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcast. All right, folks, now, you know, we were talking about the six things you should do when your nest egg reaches 250,000. We've covered, number one. You got to use proper accounts. Number two, you got to be mindful of taxes and how they affect your future. And now number three diversify. Whenever possible, diversify whenever possible. Include various asset classes. Now listen we believe in mixing different types of investments like stocks fixed indexed annuities migas. That's a multi year guaranteed annuity brokerage CDs structured notes, real estate to manage risk and enhance your overall growth potential. So folks you got to spread it out. You've heard the old saying, don't put all your eggs in one basket. Well, that's what I believe in. Okay. So we can take your funds and put and set yourself up with a personal pension plan with part of your 401 K or your IRA. But we can also take part of that and put that into a guaranteed. Annuity Amiga for five years, ten years, whatever that might be, and you're locked in. It works like a CD. But here's the good thing why I like the annuity versus a CD. Because I don't believe you can go down to the local banker and say, hey, will you give me a 5.8% guaranteed interest for the next ten years? He's going to look at you.

Speaker2:
Like what? No, they can't do that. All right. Or how about the next five years. So with a multi year guaranteed annuity, the annuity companies are offering you and me a guaranteed interest rate just like a bank offers through their CD. It's not a CD, it's an annuity. Make that clear. All right. But that interest rate is guaranteed and locked in for a longer period of time. Then you're going to be able to get at the bank. That's why I like them. And a lot of them niggas out there that I've worked with, they are. They allow you to withdraw that interest. You can utilize that as like an income. So if you have $200,000 and we put that, put that into a ten year mega using that as an example, and that ten year mega is giving you a 6% guaranteed interest for the full ten years. 6% of 200,000 is 12,000. You're guaranteed to withdraw a thousand a month, slash 12,000 a year for the next ten years. And guess what? At the end of ten years, you still have your original $200,000 investment. That's why I love them. All right. So let's diversify and let's use various asset classes. All right. Remember the saying don't put all your eggs in one basket. The same is true when investing your retirement.

Speaker2:
When you diversify your investments, you reduce your overall risk of loss. So we can put money into an indexed annuity where the growth is based on the the index performance. But if the index goes negative, remember you don't lose anything. Zero is your hero. But see that may be part of the investment. The other part, we may have put it into a guaranteed annuity that omega. And you're guaranteed that five five and a half 6% growth. So we spread that risk out by diversifying. Let's go to number four. Let's incorporate steady income sources. Amen amen and amen. Let's include annuities. You knew I was going to get that in today's show didn't you. We got to have guaranteed lifetime income and we utilize annuities. It's the only product out there that the lifetime income annuity is the only product that can guarantee you you won't lose a dime, and it will pay you the income for the rest of your life. And if you set it up the rest of your spouse's life, no if, ands or buts. So some annuities, such as variable annuities. Now, folks, I don't do anything in the stock market. I'm not Finra licensed, I do life insurance and I do annuities. As far as our products go, we do a lot of Medicare. We do a lot of Social Security planning for folks, but I don't do any variable products.

Speaker2:
That's my choice because I'm believing this. When you work so hard for 30, 40 years and you've built up your retirement nest egg. Everybody across the country is trying to get where you are right now. So your objective, when you get that close to retirement that you can see, remember the retirement red zone that 5 to 10 years before and 5 to 10 years in retirement. When you get that close, the first thing you want to make sure you don't do is lose. All right? You've worked too hard to get where you're at today. So let's take that volatility risk off the table. Let's take longevity risk off the table. And how do you do that. We do that with an income annuity. And I don't do variable annuities. But variable annuities have given that the this market the annuity market a bad name. Number one because of the fees that is loaded with any time that you hear someone that's slamming an annuity because they say the high fees, I would say 95% of the time they're talking about a variable annuities, folks, I don't do that. I don't do variable products. Number one, I don't want to take the risk with my client's funds. But number two is it eats you up with fees. So fixed indexed annuities are sophisticated investments that can provide stable income. What's that called? Guaranteed lifetime income and reduce a percentage of your portfolio's exposure to market fluctuations.

Speaker2:
Folks, when you take a percentage of your 401 K, let's go back to my $400,000 example. You have $400,000 in your 401 K. You're you just turned 60 years old. You're going to work till you're probably 67, 68 at least. But you want to protect a certain percentage of that 401 K balance. Take it, let's say 50% of it. Put it into a guaranteed lifetime income annuity. Why? Because I can put that money into a guaranteed lifetime income annuity that guarantees you and me 8% compound interest for the next ten years. Guaranteed. Folks, it's in writing. Nobody else can guarantee you 8% compound interest with not losing a dime. Okay? It's not. It's out there. The products that we utilize, y'all need to give me a call (866) 990-7664 and say, hey, Randy, tell me more about that 8% compound interest annuity, that income annuity okay. So I'm a big believer in that okay. We want to take that market fluctuation the volatility off the table. And when you have your money in that guaranteed lifetime annuity growing at 8% compound interest guaranteed, you don't have to worry about that portion of your funds, what the stock market does. Now, the other percentage that you left in a 401 K, that's a different animal, different topic for a different show. Let's go on. Let's explore multiple income streams for your retirement.

Speaker2:
Building a solid income plan starts by building income streams. Amen. Such as social security, pension income, personal pension income from fixed indexed annuities, slash guaranteed lifetime income, annuity and income from part time work, if you so choose, and maybe even rental income if you have a couple of rental properties, some rental property. I know some people that are very happy because they have some rental property, and their rental property has had good renters, they've been occupied, they've taken care of their rental property. And they look at that as, you know, they've had the property for such a long time that they no longer have mortgages off of it. But as long as that rental property is taken care of and you have. Rents in that property. Okay? Renters in that property, you have what I call you have an income coming in now, is that income guaranteed? No, because if they leave and you don't have somebody move in, you're going to be without that income for a certain period of time. But I don't have anything wrong with rental properties. Except when you try to get rid of them again. Another topic for another show. All right, let's go to number five. Protect yourself against inflation. Regularly adjust your portfolio because you need to rebalance your portfolio periodically to maintain alignment with your inflation protection strategy. Now folks, that to me speaks. Rule of 100 rebalance your portfolio to maintain alignment with your inflation protection strategy.

Speaker2:
That's why I tell people all the time, don't take 100% of your money again, it's yours, not mine. But if we take 75% of the 401 K and put that into a guaranteed lifetime income annuity, and you still have 25% in your 401 K or in a managed fund, whatever it might be, then let that 25%, you've got that money in the market. And let's hope and pray that the market goes up. But you're going to have those ups and downs in the market. But that's just the way that it goes. That's the way the market. Fluctuates. It goes up, it goes down. If you've got money in the market, you can't be too stressed out if it goes down, because hopefully. After a certain period of time, it's going to start to recover. So the money that you leave in the stock market, hopefully that will take care of if you have any inflation coming, which you know we are will. That 25% or 30% or whatever, it works out to be in the market. Hopefully that money will work for you because. What we have to do. You see, some people fear market fluctuations and resort resort to ultra conservative strategies like converting to cash and bank CDs. Don't like that idea because you should really stay invested to protect your future buying power. So listen. When you protect a portion of your hard earned retirement savings with a fixed indexed annuity, i.e.

Speaker2:
income annuity, you can let the rest of your portfolio stay invested so it has the potential to grow over time with the market. Remember I said it earlier the rule of 100. If you're not familiar with that, basically take your age, subtract that from 100 whatever amount you have left over. That's the amount that you should have in no more than that. You should have in risky investment stocks, equities, whatever it might be. So if you're 60 years old, 60 from 100 leaves 40. So you should have 60% of your retirement funds in a stable, secure, safe money type product. 40%, no more than 40% in more risky type investments. 401 KS IRAs, whatever it might be. Stock market accounts. All right. But that's okay, because that money that you have invested in the stock market, equities, whatever it might be, hopefully it has the potential to grow over time with the market. All right. Number six. Meet with a financial professional who can help you. Got anybody in mind? Smg financial, your American retirement. You got to meet with us folks. We got to do annual reviews. I do them every day. I do several every week. Every month, many, many during the year. But annual reviews? Why? Because we regularly review your investment strategy and retirement budget. With someone like myself, either a financial advisor or financial professional.

Speaker2:
Retirement planning. Because we want to ensure proper diversification and risk management folks, we want to look at if we have an indexed annuity, we want to look at the performance of the indexes over a one year or two year period, and if we need to make any changes, that's why we do our annual review. You may have come into an inheritance and you want to start another annuity, or you want to put it into a guaranteed annuity with an interest rate of five and a half or 6%. That's why we have to meet. Because situations change. Your lifestyle may change. You may now be taking care of a grandchild. You may be going through a divorce, whatever it might be. But you need to do those annual reviews, okay? And you need to set clear goals. Work with your advisor or professional to set a specific, measurable goal for your retirement savings and investment returns. Folks, we at Qmg Financial can provide you with a complimentary consultation and retirement plan. All you have to do simply call (866) 990-7664 or visit the website Your American retirement.com and book your free consultation. Take charge of your retirement and financial future today because as loyal listeners, we are offering you an opportunity to schedule a complimentary retirement and financial consultation with our expert team. So folks, give us a call (866) 990-7664 or go to the website. Your American retirement folks come right back.

Speaker3:
You're listening to your American Retirement. To schedule your free, no obligation consultation, visit your American retirement.com.

See. Got a fever of a hundred. Three.

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

Speaker2:
You're listening to Your American Dreamer, Your American Retirement. Join us every Saturday at 10 a.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m., right here on 101.1 FM. The answer where little Rock comes to talk, folks, listen. During the break, I started looking at some of my show notes.

Speaker6:
And, uh.

Speaker2:
I've decided to kind of, uh, what we do, I'm. I'm gonna call an audible. So here's what we're going to do for this part of the show. We're going to talk about we're going to do MythBusters. Now, you know that I've been doing this for, uh, a long time. 20, 24 makes my 38th year. I've been in the business for 38 years. That's a long time. But I apparently have been doing something right. I try to do everything right with my clients. You are my number one objective. We want to put you first. The products that we offer to you are going to be the ones that are going to fit your needs, not mine. All right. We don't do a cookie cutter, one size fits all we have to meet. We have to put together a plan. We have to ask questions. We have to answer questions. And with us together working as a team, we can put together a retirement plan designed specifically for you and your spouse, a plan that will 100% guarantee that you will never outlive your retirement funds. That's what we do. So but there's been a lot of people ask me questions about. They've heard things. I call them myths. Now there is a radio or a television show. Uh, I can't remember what station it was on. It might have been on TNT anyway. It was on cable or satellite, whatever you might get, but it was called MythBusters.

Speaker2:
And they would take, like, old wives tales and they would basically prove them wrong. So here's what we're going to do today. We're going to talk about financial retirement MythBusters debunking five common financial misconceptions. So we're going to highlight the importance of accurate financial knowledge for retirees, referencing a survey done by TIAA Institute and the Global Financial Literacy Excellence Center. That's easy for me to say, which found widespread misconceptions. So, folks, this is a survey. This isn't just something that Randy put together, but I see these every day over my 38 years in this business. We have to bust these myths, such myth busters. All right. Misconception number one. Employer matching doesn't matter. Here's the problem. Many do not fully utilize or understand employer matching in retirement plans, which can and will significantly increase retirement savings. I believe you should max it out, folks. Listen, if your employer offers you a 401 K and they match up to a certain percentage, let me give you an example. Maybe you can see this as if I tell you over the over the radio. Here's an example. If you contribute $1,000 monthly to your 401 K and your employer matches 50% up to 6% of your salary, this could mean an additional $6,000 per year. You see that if you contribute $1,000 a monthly to your 401 K and your employer matches 50% up to 6% of your salary, this could mean an additional 6000 per year.

Speaker2:
It could mean a whole lot more if it goes up to 6% of your salary, or 50% of your contribution, or 6% of your salary, that's a high number. But listen to this. Uh, we want you to maximize we want you to take action by maximizing your contributions. To take full advantage of your employer matching. You got to review your plan details and adjust your contributions to meet the maximum match. The maximum 401 K IRA contribution that you have this year is, uh, I think it's 23,000 if you're 50 years old, listen up. If you're 50 years old, you can begin to do what is known as a catch up, catch up, not catch up. Like what you put on French fries or some of y'all put it on hot dogs. Don't know why, but it's a catch up. C a t c h catch up like you play catch. All right, now we got that clear. If you're 50 years of age, you can put an additional $7,500 into that 401 K or IRA. You can really I mean, just think about that. 7500 a year over ten years is 75,000 alone. There's a lot of folks that I meet with today that they'd love to have 75,000 in their 401 K, but that's why I believe that you should take advantage of the 401 K. You should max out your contributions to get that max match by your employers, by your employer matching.

Speaker2:
And if you're 50 years of age, you can take advantage of that catch up. All right. So you can do that. But you got to take action. You got to maximize those contributions. Misconception number two annuities are bad. Now folks. If you listen to my show, you know that I have to chuckle every time I hear somebody say that. Because what do we talk about on your American retirement. We talk about guaranteed lifetime income. What is the product that we utilize to guarantee that lifetime income, the income annuity. But there are people that have told me annuities are bad. So here's the problem. Annuities are often misunderstood because they but they can provide guaranteed income for life and tax deferred growth. Some annuities, such as variable annuities we spoke about that earlier, are not ideal and have given annuities a bad name. Variable annuities. Your money is still in the stock market. Your money is still at risk. Plus, not only do you still have that volatility. Risk in a variable annuity. You also have an annuity that could be loaded down with excessive fees. That's why we don't do them at your American retirement. We don't offer them qmg financial. We don't because you've worked too hard to get where you're at today. Today you need to make sure you focus on not losing. Here's an example.

Speaker2:
You invest in an annuity that guarantees income for life, essentially creating a personal pension. Some of the best options currently available include immediate bonuses and survivor benefits. So folks, what I like about it is what we're getting right now as far as our guaranteed compound interest rates. Again. You heard me say earlier. I've got a couple of them and there's I think I got an email this week that, uh, another, uh, annuity vendor is offering 8%. So 8% compound interest. What you have to be aware of, folks, is the interest they're offering you compound or is it simple? Makes a huge difference. If you need me to explain that to you, you give me a call or go to the website and I'll explain the difference between simple interest and compound interest, and what effect that will have on your 401 K or your investments. All right. You got to go compound interest. So take action. Consider if an annuity fits your retirement strategy for steady income. You got to consult with a financial professional retirement planner such as myself who can show you different annuity options. So you can create a personal pension to serve as an additional income stream for your retirement. Folks, I, I don't see anything wrong with annuities. You say well, Randy, you that's what you sell. That's right. But believe me, I have to put my client first. And when I meet with folks and I ask them what are their concerns? And they come up with, I don't want to outlive my money.

Speaker2:
I don't want to lose. You know, I the market has done well for me, but I don't want to lose it. Those are the things that we have to address. And when you say when I ask them about income versus assets, they realize that they have to have income to pay their basic expenses. What income streams do you have? Do you have Social Security? Do you have a pension if you don't have a pension and Social Security is your only guaranteed income stream, then we have to look at your IRA or 401 K or whatever vehicle you might have, and we can set yourself up with a personal pension via the guaranteed lifetime income annuity. All right. So you can reduce the risk in your portfolio and establish a personal pension that creates a lifetime income stream with one simple strategy. So folks, again, if you're still working and you don't plan on retiring here very, you know, within the next 5 to 10 years, now's the best time for you to get in contact with me. And let's talk about your 401 K what you have in a 401 K or IRA. And let's talk about and let's look at if taking a portion of the those funds, putting them into a guaranteed lifetime income annuity. That's giving you that guaranteed 8% compound interest for the next ten years.

Speaker2:
And let's look at however long you want to let it grow and what that guaranteed income will be. I can show you today. You give me a dollar amount. You give me your age today and you tell me when you might want to turn on income. I can give an illustration showing you exactly what your guaranteed income is five years from now, seven years from now, ten years from now, two years from now, it's guaranteed, folks. It's pretty simple. And we can set it up where it's guaranteed for you, and we can set it up where it's guaranteed. When you pass away to pay the same dollar amount to your surviving spouse. All right. So you need to give us a call (866) 990-7664. And go to the website Your American retirement.com. And let's talk about setting you up with a personal pension. All right. Let's go to misconception number three. All right. Hold on just a second. Let me get rid of this on my screen. All right. Misconception number three Social Security benefits are finite. The problem there is confusion about the longevity of Social Security benefits. They are designed to last a lifetime even though the program is facing funding challenges. Social security recipients should expect the monthly Social Security checks to come as long as they live. Here's an example. Benefits can be claimed as early as age 62, but by delaying benefits they increase in your payment up to age 70.

Speaker2:
So you got to take some action. Plan your Social Security claim strategy to optimize benefits. Do you want to turn them on now at age 62, or can we wait to 67? Or can you even wait to age 70? Remember, if you're married when the first spouse passes away, you will lose the smaller of the two Social Security checks coming into the household each month. Now, the fourth misconception, folks, I'm going to go run over real quick. I'm not going to live into my 80s or 90s. Forget 100. Folks, that's longevity risk. And unfortunately, many folks that are listening in today's show, you underestimate your life expectancy impacting your retirement savings plan. That's why I believe in guaranteed lifetime income. Because you can never outlive it. So if you think you're going to die at 80 but you live to be 100, you'll be glad you had that guaranteed lifetime income. And do it. Now, folks, that's going to wrap up today's show. I want to thank you for listening to your American retirement. Remember, if you missed any part of today's show. Go back in the podcast archives on Apple, Google, Spotify, or whichever platform you get your podcasts. I want you to go out and have a great rest of your weekend, be it Saturday or Sunday. When you're listening. God bless Go Hogs and we'll talk next week.

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

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