On this week’s episode of On the Money with Secure Money, Neil Mager discusses how to prepare a plan to address future taxes and safeguard your retirement in today’s volatile market.
Radio Show Transcript
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Announcer 00:00
Investment advisory services are offered through Foundation Investment Advisors, LLC an SEC registered investment advisor. Brian Quaranta and his guests provide general information, not individually targeted, personalized advice, and are not liable for the usage of information discussed exposure to ideas and financial vehicles should not be considered investment advice or recommendation to buy or sell any of these financial vehicles. This information should also not be considered tax or legal advice. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. Investments will fluctuate and when redeemed may be worth more or less than when originally invested. Any comments regarding safe and secure investments and guaranteed income streams refer only to fixed insurance products. They do not refer in any way to securities or investment advisory products. Fixed insurance and annuity product guarantees are subject to the cleanest paying ability of the issuing company.
Steve 00:39
We’re going to talk about inflation. We’re going to talk about longevity, and we’ve got some great questions from listeners and more, all of that coming up right here, on the money with secure money, on the right track Retirement System,
Announcer 00:53
And now on the money,
Brian Quaranta 00:56
Any good retirement plan starts with the foundation,
Announcer 00:59
Asset protection, tax reduction, holistic planning.
Brian Quaranta 01:03
These are the things that start to move you towards having a retirement plan.
Announcer 01:07
Retirement doesn’t have to be complicated.
Brian Quaranta 01:10
You think that’s the difficult part? That’s just getting started.
Announcer 01:14
And now on the money, with secure money.
Steve 01:21
Hey, welcome in, everybody. This is on the money with secure money. I’m consumer advocate. Steve, sitting in for Brian Quaranta today: Neil Mager. Neil is a senior advisor at secure money advisors. He’s a fiduciary, like the rest of them there, an independent Hey, Neil. How are you?
Neil Mager 01:36
Hey, Steve. I’m doing well today. How are you?
Steve 01:39
Very, very well, thanks. And you know, I think one of the things that we were just talking about off the air is, you know, this week has been, you know, a little bit of even more of a roller coaster ride than usual in the market. Can we touch on that for just a second? I’d like to get your thoughts.
Neil Mager 01:54
Yeah, I think, you know, right before I came in to do the show, I was talking to some colleagues. And, you know, we’re talking about how significantly the market is down here again this morning. And you know, I said to him, I said, you know, it’s, I don’t even know how, uh, worth taking it in is at this point in the morning, because, you know, it’s kind of been a roller coaster ride. I think you had a great analogy for it. It’s kind of like watching an NBA game or a college basketball game. It doesn’t really matter till the last few minutes, right?
Steve 02:23
Right. Because on Monday, the market had this remarkable recovery, I was I looked at it, you know, sort of midday when it was down 1000 points, and I didn’t look at it again until the end of the day, and went, Holy cow!
Neil Mager 02:35
Yeah, I mean, I was getting updates throughout the day as well. And thought the same thing, you know, check the market later on, and was shocked that it was up, you know. So typically, on Mondays, you know, the market early on, will often be down. Because what happens? People have a lot of time to think, right? So, they think, over the weekend, they sell some of their investments. But the good news is it comes back, right? So that means people are buying back in so that’s always a good sign. But, you know, it’s just been such a roller coaster, and for those that are nearing retirement, it becomes more real, doesn’t it?
Steve 03:11
Oh my gosh, absolutely. And I think one of the things that’s on everybody’s mind these days, besides the market, is inflation. I mean, we haven’t talked about it in, what, 10 years?
Neil Mager 03:22
Yeah. I mean, it’s, it’s been on nobody’s radar for decades because rates were so low. But, you know, 2021, inflation hit the highest rates in nearly 40 years. You know, I think it was close to 7% or so they say, right? You know, I’m such a numbers guy. I’m in the grocery store with my wife this weekend. And you know, I hadn’t been in in a little bit of time, but, you know, the numbers are just popping out at me, you know, because I just numbers stick out. So, I remember prices, and I see the price increases. So, we’re definitely dealing with it almost everywhere. And you know, especially with folks that are on a fixed budget, right? Like most retirees that have fixed income, you know what a challenge that becomes as prices continue to increase, reports I saw yesterday were predicting inflation to be roughly around four and a half percent for 2022. Wow. So, Ronald Reagan said it this way, Steve, he said inflation is as violent as a mugger, as frightening as an armed robber, and as deadly as a hitman. That sounds like it. Yeah. So, when, when you’re living on a strict budget and everything’s more expensive, you know, how challenging does that become? And you know, are you going to have to make sacrifices to your lifestyle? Our larger withdrawals from your savings? Is that going to cause you to run out of money too soon? You know? So, the one thing that we really try and put in people’s heads is to make sure, as you go into retirement that you have a very sound. Found written retirement plan, and what you want to have in that retirement plan is bad things, right? You want to have bad things happen so you know how to prepare and to make sure that you have the ability to make adjustments.
Steve 05:15
800-656-8616 that’s the number, folks, if you’d like to get started, one of the things that I learned from you and really secure money advisors, and certainly Brian, is, you know, your clients are not burning up the phone lines when something like this happens, because they know that they’re secure. And again, money they need today is completely safe, right?
Neil Mager 05:38
That’s the goal, Steve, I mean, and that’s exactly why we do the things that we do at secure money advisors, you know. And you know, at times people will think that, you know, maybe it wasn’t the right direction, but when you have something like this occur, and our folks still have peace of mind knowing that we’ve built the plan in the right way, our phones aren’t blowing up, right because, you know, we look at things and we stress test everything to make sure that you have the right balance and right mix. Now, we obviously need safety. Most people retiring today do not have pensions, so we have to figure out a way to have cash flow and have a safe, protected source from it to come from, right? It doesn’t mean that we put all of our money under a mattress, right? No, we just talked about inflation, right? And we got to make sure that we have some money that’s really driving return, right? So, it’s a quite a mix, and that’s why we’re so focused on talking to people about make sure you have a plan. Don’t just go into retirement with having investments. Make sure you have a plan. Absolutely. 800-656-8616
Steve 06:51
and the other thing that seems to be inevitable are higher taxes, and we have to deal with that as well, and again, secure money advisors. That’s what you guys do. So well,
Neil Mager 07:03
yeah, it’s one of our five key areas. Because, like I just said, Steve, we’re not solely focused on investment planning. Tax Planning is a big, big part of it. We’ve had some significant changes over the past few years that has caused people to be more proactive with their tax planning. But, I mean, let’s be honest, Steve, we know higher taxes are coming. I mean, the government has spent trillions of dollars on economic stimulus, new infrastructure, social policy, bills and national debt has soared to nearly $30 trillion and what does that mean? I mean, how does it impact you? What can you do today to help your future tax concerns, those are the questions you should be asking yourself. You know economist Peter Schiff, he explained it perfectly. Said, when it comes to stimulus, most people forget that it has to be paid for. Government doesn’t have money of its own. It has to take it from the private sector before it can spend it. It’s either taken through taxation today or borrowed and taken through taxation tomorrow.
Steve 08:07
Well, Neil, why don’t we invite folks to call right now and come on in and have that conversation with you?
Neil Mager 08:11
Yes, Steve, for the next 10 callers to call in right now we’re going to provide our right track financial review at no cost or no obligation. Are we on the right track? That’s what everyone wants to know. We will uncover and determine if you’re doing things the correct way, the right track. Financial Review will highlight the five key areas of financial planning, cash flow, distribution, tax planning, investment planning, healthcare planning and legacy planning. Too many people are nearing retirement. They’re only focused on investment planning, and they aren’t sure if that’s even gonna work, we’re offering this at no cost, no obligation to the next 10 callers. Pick up the phone right now for your chance of being one of the first 10.
Steve 08:51
800-656-8616, Ten callers right now, we’ll get that comprehensive financial review. You’ll see where you are today, but more importantly, you’ll find that you now have a roadmap that’ll help get you to where you need to be 800-656-8616 again, 800-656-8616
Neil Mager 09:06
Planning and saving for retirement is a bit of a balancing act. Having the right mix of investments, market risk, interest rate risk and today inflation risk. There’s one more that has to be included, longevity risk. Details when we come back.
Announcer 09:26
Do you ever feel like you’re fighting for financial knowledge? Don’t let bad advice be a punch in the gut your retirement. Take advantage of a complimentary no cost, no obligation, consultation with a local trusted financial coach. Call Brian Quaranta, host of Retirement You Radio, 800-656-8616 or text Brian Q to 800-656-8616 we’ve made it easy for you to take advantage of this fantastic offer. All you have to do is call or text Brian Q to 800-656-8616
Steve 09:59
Hey, we’re back on the money with secure money. Neil Mager is here for Brian Quaranta today. Neil is a senior advisor at secure money advisors. By the way, the website for secure money advisors is just that. Secure money advisors.com check it out, and you will learn an awful lot about what’s going on, a little bit about secure money advisors. And again, you’ve that really has become sort of a repository, Neil, of good stuff.
Neil Mager 10:29
Yeah, it’s a great place to get a lot of information. So, you know, all of our radio shows that we do with you, Steve, are archived on securemoneyadvisors.com we do a number of television programs throughout the week as well. So, you can get a lot of information, create information from those. Those are all archived on our website. So go there. You know, when you have some downtime and learn about retirement, there’s a lot of good reading and articles there as well. So, whatever your preference is, listening, watching, reading, there’s something for everybody.
Steve 11:01
Sure. And again, you know, you talk about longevity risk, and I guess we I mean that that really is a concern right now. And I tell you one of my, one of my favorite lines from the movie Kingpin. I don’t know if you remember that, yeah, okay, so, so the character, played by Woody Harrelson, is Roy Munson. He says, Hey, Howard. How’s life? Howard says: taken forever.
Neil Mager 11:24
That’s a great line.
Steve 11:26
Yeah, it’s, you know, I mean, again, it’s, it’s really quite something when you think about it. So, I mean, again, we’re living longer. That’s sort of a double edged sword.
Neil Mager 11:35
Good news, right? I mean, you know modern medicine and you know, some of the things that we know today are helping us live longer. I mean life expectancy tables used to determine Social Security benefits. Estimate, estimate that a woman who turns 65 in 2022 has a life expectancy of nearly 87 years, and for a male, that life expectancy is around 84 years. So, you know, obviously that’s good news. We obviously want to be able to see, you know, our family grow and things like that. But obviously, what does that mean? Well, you better have your retirement plan, because a lot of the folks that are coming into our office are wanting to retire sooner than later, right Steve? Right. You know what I’m seeing is, most people come in here at 62 you know, want to be retired at 62, want to be retired at 65 at the latest. You know, constantly what I’m hearing is, you know, challenges at the workplace, right? You know, new management, new ownership. They’ve changed the way that they’ve done things, and it’s not satisfying anymore. So, they’d like to go out sooner than later. But how do you plan for a long retirement? I mean, once we have the understanding of life expectancy, we want to take a look at the strategy, right, right? Because we have to support this long retirement, and some of the things that we might consider is one boost our savings rate, right? I mean, so you know, that’s important aspect of it. The more that we save, the more the money that we’ll have to be able to be able to generate cash flow for us in retirement. And you know, Steve, what I always tell people is, it’s never too late to start saving, to increase the savings rate. You wouldn’t believe how many people come in here and tell me that. You know I was Neil, I was 50 years old before I ever started retiring for saving for retirement. Neil, I was 55 years old because, you know that the kids were in the house, got them through college and things like that. So, it’s never too late. And these folks have a significant amount of money built up very, quickly. So, you know, that’s something that a financial planner can help you understand, is, you know, what are these additional savings going to help you do? And so that’s, that’s a good way to start, for sure, right?
Steve 13:54
Absolutely. And, you know, boosting your savings. And you know, with the catch-up provisions that that the IRS is allowing. That really is a great opportunity, if you can, you know you, I mean, if you’re over 50, you could sock away $27,000 into your 401 k, that is real money, especially if you did that for a couple years.
Neil Mager 14:13
Right, right. Yeah, that’s the that’s the new rate for over 50, 27,000. For under 50, it’s 20,500. IRA, contribution limits are $6,000, anyone over 50 can contribute 7000, so, yeah, you’re right, Steve. I mean, you can make things happen very, very quickly to boost that savings rate. Now, obviously, when I look at folks, sometimes, you know it’s a balancing act. It’s, it’s a balancing act between, you know, making sure that you have enough for today, but also planning for tomorrow and planning for a long tomorrow, right? You know, think about you could potentially be retired for 30-35, years. So, you got to kind of have a combination of both, in doing things prior. Properly, and making sure that you’re working with someone that focuses on that aspect can really, really help you.
Steve 15:05
One of the other things that becomes a real key to a successful retirement is the right social security claiming strategy, and that becomes a little dicey at times.
Neil Mager 15:17
It is Steve, I mean, obviously if we knew the date of your death, things would be very easily, because we could calculate mathematically, right? Yeah, thankfully, we don’t know anybody’s date of death, right?
Steve 15:27
I’m really glad, too.
Neil Mager 15:30
But, you know, understanding the right time to collect social security, I mean, we know we all have our full retirement age, right? And for most folks nowadays, that’s 67 years old, we know that we can, we have the ability to start collecting Social Security at 62 but how does that impact our benefit, and what are the risk and what are the rewards? So, we have to balance all that out. You know, obviously, one of our five key areas is cash flow planning, income planning, and so we really want to sit down with you and your spouse and solve the right strategy for your family on when to claim Social Security benefits. Maybe it’s a delaying strategy for one of you, and maybe it’s taking it early for one of you. I don’t know each in each situation is going to be a little bit different, but we have to solve that first, because oftentimes for folks, that’s our only guaranteed source of income nowadays, so we better get the social security strategy right.
Steve 16:26
On that note, let’s go ahead and invite folks to call. Get on your calendar and have the conversation.
Neil Mager 16:30
Yes, Steve, for the next 10 callers that call in right now, we’re going to provide our right track financial review, no cost, no obligation. Folks want to know, are we on the right track, we will uncover and determine if you’re doing things the correct way. We’ll highlight the five key areas of financial planning in this right track financial review, income planning, tax planning, investment planning, healthcare planning and legacy planning. Many people are nearing retirement, and the only thing that’s in place is investment planning, and they’re not sure if that’s even going to work. The review we’re offering is no cost, no obligation. We’re going to really take the guesswork out of your retirement. We’ll do a portfolio analysis, a cash flow distribution plan, and identify key solutions to help lessen your concern over future tax rates. We’ll work to create a true written financial plan, but you got to do your part. Pick up the phone right now for your chance of being one of the first 10 callers for the right track Financial Review. 800-656-8616
Steve 17:30
you heard Neil. The next 10 callers right now will get that comprehensive financial review. You’ll see where you are today, but more importantly, you’ll find that you now have a roadmap that can help get you to where you need to be. 800-656-8616 again, 800-656-8616
Neil Mager 17:47
It’s no secret that investing in retirement is vastly different than investing while you’re working. When we come back, we’ll offer some tips on what you can do if you’re near or in retirement to help maximize your retirement dollars.
Announcer 18:07
He’s letting the clock run out on his social security to age 70 for maximum benefits, and here comes the Roth conversion. He’s got some outstanding coaching with that lifetime income plan. He’s created his own pension as well, and it looks like he’s going to go all the way play your best retirement game. Call, Brian Q 800-656-8616 or text, Brian Q to 800-656-8616 call or text, Brian Q to 800-656-8616
Steve 18:42
We’re back, folks, on the money with secure money. Neil Mager is here for Brian Quaranta today. Brian taking them a little time off. And so, Neil, you know, when we’ve worked together a number of times on the show here, and I think that, you know, you kind of set the tone for, you know, being optimistic. You know, we talked a little bit about in the first segment about you segment about, you know, the craziness in the market right now. But one of the things I noticed that you, you were saying is, you know, you were not all Mr Gloom and Doom. You remain optimistic.
Neil Mager 19:12
Yeah. And you know, obviously we’re dealing day in and day out with our portfolio managers to make sure that, you know, we have the right information to make the right decisions for our clients, right? And, you know, we’re cautiously optimistic. We’re ready to make changes if need be. But you know, as of right now, you know, the feedback that we’re getting, and what we’re understanding is that, you know, obviously this, this is a market correction. And you know, market corrections can be good for the economy, but how far down we go, and do we need to make adjustments? Not yet, but, but we will. We’re ready to make them. That’s for sure. Okay, good to know.
Steve 19:55
800-656-8616 is the number, folks. Let’s jump into a couple of these questions here, while we’ve got some time. Daryl is wondering, he says, I’m 62 I was planning to work for another four years before retiring. However, my job is wearing me down. I’m not happy there anymore, so I’m tempted to just quit and start taking Social Security now that I’m eligible, and then work a low stress part time job somewhere. Have you seen people do this successfully?
Neil Mager 20:18
Well, hey, Darryl, yeah, absolutely. You know, I don’t know what your situation exactly looks like, but you know, certainly over the past few years, the work environment has certainly changed for a lot of my clients, and so I’ve seen a lot of them, you know, reroute, right? And the goal and what I’ve been talking about and why, you know, you know, I’m not overly concerned about the markets. It’s because the way that we go about planning for our clients, right? So, you know, if you have a well devised plan where you can understand, you know, what things look like, did you need to save any additional money from now until retirement? What kind of impact that would have on you taking a part time job? But you know, I’ve certainly seen it over the past few years between, you know, clients being concerned about their health, being in a work environment, companies downsizing or eliminating positions, so people have been forced out. I think Steve, we also know, I mean, we talked about inflation, but you know, wages are significantly up right now too. So, there’s a lot of good opportunities available out there for some nice paying part time jobs, you know. So that can be a really, really good option. You know, absolutely. As far as social security, I mean, we know that if we take it early, we’re permanently reducing our benefit. So that’s a negative we know as well, if you’re going to do some part time work, there’s an earnings threshold off the top of my head, like it’s 19, like four, or something like 2020, roughly. So, you got to be you got to be careful that you don’t go over that and impact, you know, them penalizing your social security. But I’ve definitely seen my clients be successful with that. We have to plan. We have to plan that way. Darryl, I mean, when people come in, obviously they’re going to always have goals of what their retirement date is, but we have to be able to adjust, because we know things like this occur, things like health, health challenges occur. So, you got to be on your toes.
Steve 22:22
Absolutely. And again. Darryl, again, it’s 800-656-8616 the number; and Phyllis is checked in. She says the whole idea of not working anymore makes me really nervous about our financial future. I’ve worked for over 50 years. I can’t imagine just stopping. How can I know that the resources I’ve accumulated will meet our needs for the rest of our lives? That’s the point of the plan, right?
Neil Mager 22:47
Yeah, Phyllis, I mean, make sure you have a really good, written, true retirement plan. I think one of the things that you need to understand too, Phyllis, is you don’t need massive rates of return in the market. In order to be successful in retirement, you just need a good plan that shows really reasonable rates of return in order to be successful, if you’ve saved enough right now, I will tell you, Phyllis that if you still enjoy working and you can’t imagine stopping, why not keep working? You know a lot of folks, you know, they stop working, and all of a sudden, six months later, I see how they’re- I see them in my office, and they’re not adjusting well, you know. So don’t be so eager to retire, even if you worked for 50 years, you know. So that might really help you socially, that might help you mentally, that might help you physically. So, there’s a lot of advantages to working, but you got to be ready, and you’ll know when you’re ready. Phyllis, but you know, to answer your question, it all starts with having a good financial plan.
Steve 23:50
Well, I think one of the things, I mean, if she’s been working 50 years, and maybe for the same place, she’s got, she’s got some knowledge that would be really good to share, and maybe she can just kind of slide into retirement, go part time and then a little less part time and then then out the door.
Neil Mager 24:04
Yeah. I mean, that’s always a good option too, right? I mean, a lot of people, you know, they don’t want to necessarily work five days a week anymore, and so maybe you slowly trim it back and trim it back until maybe you’re working one or two days a week. I mean, COVID, I think, has been particularly challenging for a lot of people. I see, you know, because if you are still working, a lot of times, people have been forced to work from home, right? And so, you’re not getting the social interaction that you’re used to. You know, you’re used to having lunch with a few friends at the office. You know that there’s a lot of good aspects of work.
Steve 24:40
Boy, this has been a very fast show. Let’s go ahead and invite folks to call one last time.
Neil Mager 24:44
Yes, Steve, for the next 10 callers that call in right now, we’re going to offer our right track financial review at no cost or obligation. The right track financial review will highlight the five key areas of financial planning, cash flow, distribution, tax planning, investment. Planning, healthcare planning and legacy planning. If you weren’t on the right track, when would you want to know? Too many people are solely focused on the investment aspect of it, and they haven’t looked at the five key areas. The review that we’re offering no cost is going to take the guesswork out of your retirement. We’ll do a portfolio analysis, a cash flow distribution plan and identify key solutions to help lessen your concerns over future tax rates. We’ll work with you to create a true, written financial plan. But folks, you got to do your part. You got to pick up the phone and be one of the next 10 callers to be to receive our complimentary rate track Financial Review.
Steve 25:41
800-656-8616, you will see where you are today, but more importantly, when you walk out, you will have that road map, that guide that can help get you to where you need to be when it comes to retirement. 800-656-8616 800-656-8616 Neil, as always, a pleasure to talk with you. And again, great information on a fast-paced show.
Neil Mager 26:00
Yeah. Likewise, Steve, I appreciate you having me on today.
Steve 26:03
And we want to thank everybody for listening. We do appreciate it, and we’re going to come back again next week with new topics and questions right here on the money with secure money.
Announcer 26:17
Investment advisory services are offered through Foundation Investment Advisors, LLC an SEC registered investment advisor. Brian Quaranta and his guests, provide general information, not individually targeted, personalized advice, and are not liable for the usage of information discussed exposure to ideas and financial vehicles should not be considered investment advice or recommendation to buy or sell any of these financial vehicles. This information should also not be considered tax or legal advice, as performance is not a guarantee of future results. Investments will fluctuate and when redeemed may be worth more or less than when originally invested. Any comments regarding safe and secure investments and guaranteed income streams, referral into fixed insurance products, they do not refer in any way to securities or investment advisory products. Fixed insurance and annuity product guarantees are subject to the claims paying ability of the issuing company.
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