Episode 153 – 3 Retirement Mistakes Older Retirees Should Avoid

On this week’s episode of On the Money with Secure Money, Brian Quaranta discusses how to maintain the right asset allocation to reduce risk tolerance as you get older in retirement.

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Radio Show Transcript

Announcer 00:00

Investment advisory services are offered through foundation investment advisors, LLC. an SEC registered investment advisor. Brian Carranza 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 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 claims paying ability of the issuing company.

Brian Quaranta 00:39

The closer we get to retirement, the more important is to avoid costly mistakes on today’s show three retirement investment mistakes, older seniors should do everything possible to avoid when we come right back with on the money with secure money. And now on the money. Any good retirement plan starts with the foundation.

Announcer 01:00

Asset protection, tax reduction list planning,

Brian Quaranta 01:03

these are the things that start to move you towards having a retirement plan.

Announcer 01:08

Retirement doesn’t have to be complicated.

Brian Quaranta 01:11

You think that’s the difficult part. That’s just getting started.

Announcer 01:15

And now On the Money with Secure Money.

Steve 01:21

Hey, welcome, everybody. This is On the Money with Secure Money and Brian Quaranta is here. I’m consumer advocate Steve’s at all. Brian, of course President CEO of secure money advisors, he’s well he specializes in a lot of areas. And lately though, he’s been specializing in book writing Hey, Brian, how are you?

Brian Quaranta 01:38

Steve, good to see you, man. How’s everything going?

Steve 01:41

Everything is great. And how’s the how’s the new one?

Brian Quaranta 01:44

The new one’s good. You know, he’s a month old. Now, we got the other one turning three. So for those of you that don’t know, I’ve decided to have children later on in life. Here I am 46 You know, having kids, because Secure Money Advisors was my baby for a long time. Plus, you know, I just I never found the right person. And I finally did. So here I am. You know, having kids later on in life, I figured it I think the time I would be able to have a legal beer with my son, I think I’m gonna be 62 or 63 years old. So for those of you that are looking for an advisor, that’s going to be around for a long time, choose the guy that’s having young kids later on in life.

Steve 02:25

That’s why I think that’s a smart thing to do. So, another smart thing to do, Brian is obviously avoid mistakes. And I know we’re all subject to things, and especially when it comes to our finances and our retirement plan. And you know, right now oh my gosh, the world is such a crazy place. It’s always been crazy, but it’s crazier than usual. When we’ve got a war going on, we’ve got runaway inflation, we’ve got, you know, just really people are nervous, I think is a fair way to say it. So then let’s get into mistakes to avoid and that is asset allocation. And how does that fit in? And what do we do to avoid a problem there?

Brian Quaranta 03:05

Well, you know, first off, let’s talk about why people are scared. And the reason they are, is because a lot of people have no idea whether or not they’re doing the right things, they have no idea whether or not they’re on the right track. As a matter of fact, after 23 years gone 24 years of being in the financial industry. You know, I have finally written the book that I’ve been working so hard to, to write, and it’s physically in my hands as we speak right now. And, folks, if you wait till the end of the segment here, I’m going to share with you how to get a complimentary copy of my book called right track your retirement, which is a simple planning strategy to help you reduce risk, build income and provide peace of mind. And that’s what everybody wants in retirement is peace of mind. And if you are not aware of some common errors, it’s easy. I should say, if you’re aware of the common errors that people make, it’s easier to avoid making them. And I do write about that quite a bit in the book, right track your retirement. In particular, though, there are three mistakes that older seniors should do everything possible to avoid. And that is maintaining the wrong asset allocation based on risk tolerance. So, as you grow older, it’s especially important to make sure you maintain the right asset allocation. So, you’re at less risk as you get older. But you also don’t want to be so conservative in your investing that you risk running out of money. Because you can’t earn the returns you need to maintain your account balance. This is very tricky in today’s environment. Think about it. It was very easy to get a reasonable rate of return on Safe Money 30-40 years ago, and matter of fact, you didn’t even have to put your money in the stock market. You could go down to the bank, and you could buy this thing called the CD. Remember that I remember those days. Yes. My father used to like that. Yeah, they were called certificates of deposits.

Steve 04:57

Right. My father has been dead for 30 years. So, there you Go. That’s any indication, right?

Brian Quaranta 05:01

A certificate of deposit used to pay between 10 and 15%. Right? That’s exactly, yeah, that’s exactly where my grandfather put a lot of his money. You know, could you imagine, you know, the bank still paying a 10 to 15% rate of return on a CD today, if you had an extra $200,000 laying around, and the bank is gonna pay you a guaranteed rate of return on that if 10% you’re getting $20,000 a year, in additional income without taking any risks of the portfolio? How nice would that be? We don’t call them certificates of deposit anymore, Steve, we call them certificates of depreciation. That’s what CD stands for it, he stays. And the reason is, is because how are you going to survive off of, you know, less than a 3% rate of return when you have inflation, hovering over 8%? It’s going to be very, very challenging to do. What’s the other option, the other option for safe money or areas to reduce your risk is to go into bonds. That’s typically what you’ll see. Advisors recommending is the client put a portion of their money in bonds. I never thought that we would be talking about bonds losing so much money. But did you know, Steve, if I told you to put your money into a 20-year treasury, a 20-year treasury bond? Would you ever think to yourself that you would lose money in that?

Steve 06:22

Never

Brian Quaranta 06:23

Never. Did you know that a 20-year treasury bond is down almost 20% right now?

Steve 06:28

Wow.

Brian Quaranta 06:29

Is that mind blowing? Folks, you can look this up because you can type in TLT. That’s Tango, Lima, Tango. That’s the EFT for the 20-year Treasury down almost 20% on the year. So, think about that, that was supposed to be a safe place to put money. And this is really one of the biggest mistakes people make is that when they go to reallocate and they go to make their portfolio less aggressive, they typically will shift towards bonds, not realizing that bonds can lose just as much money in stocks, even a United States Treasury bond. You look at bond funds, like the Total Return Bond Fund and things along those lines from very big, large institutions, they’re even down so it’s more important than ever to assess your risk tolerance and adjust your investments accordingly. As you age, a personalized assessment of your risk tolerance is ideal to decide on the right mix of investments. And folks, this is why I always keep a few openings on our calendar each week. And we’d love to hear from folks who have seen recent market volatility and are concerned about it that truly feel that they do not have a plan. I think most people have an investment strategy, but they don’t have a real retirement plan. Because a real retirement plan has to deal with five key areas your income, taxes, investments, health care and legacy planning. You have an opportunity right now to sit down and have a conversation with a fiduciary advisor who can guide you and possibly help you improve your situation at no cost also for the next 10 callers who call in right now and schedule an appointment with us to take advantage of this complimentary financial assessment which we call our right track retirement review. I’m also going to give you a copy of my book complimentary where I lay out all the strategies from start to finish of how to build a retirement plan that will allow you to still grow your money, mitigate your risk and get the income that you deserve. So again, for the next 10 callers who call in right now. That’s a complimentary right track analysis along with a complimentary copy of my book

Steve 08:32

800-656-8616 That’s the first step you gotta take 10 callers right now gets the comprehensive financial review, you’ll see where you are now but more importantly, you’ll have a roadmap that can help get you to where you need to be. And along with that when you make your appointment you will get a copy of right track your retirement a simple planning strategy to help you reduce risk, build income and provide peace of mind and if you ask Brian nicely, I’m guessing he’ll sign it for you. Alright 800-656-8616 .

Brian Quaranta 09:00

If you are the mind that if you could retire tomorrow, you would. The next segment is just for you. When we come back we’re going to talk about strategies to bump up your retirement date when we come right back with On the Money with Secure Money.

Announcer 09:18

Hurricanes, tornadoes and fire. These are serious situations we plan in advance for the volatility of the market can be just as devastating. When a market correction does occur. There are strategies you can employ to bounce back. Call Brian Quaranta and his team at secure money advisors at 800-656-8616 or text keyword Brian Q to 800-656-8616. We’ve made it easy folks. All you have to do is call or text the keyword Brian Q to 800-656-8616

Steve 10:00

We’re on the money with Secure Money and Brian Quaranta. I’m consumer advocate, Steve, Brian is an author, soon to be a best selling author. I’m believing it’s going to be a best seller, Brian.

Brian Quaranta 10:08

I do too. Steve, I’m going to tell you it’s 24 years’ worth of my life put into a book. And I gotta tell you, there’s a lot I’ve learned in that 24 years, a lot of mistakes.

Steve 10:19

Well sure, Give me a couple of chapter titles.

Brian Quaranta 10:23

Well, the most important one is Think Like a Pensioner and not a Gambler, right? So, chapter two, I talk why you need to think about thinking about things like a pension or thinks about it and not a gambler. The other great chapter is the identifying the difference between an investment plan versus retirement plan and which do you need at this point in your time, and I teach you how to do that through what we call a two bucket strategy. And I teach you the leveraging of this power of these two bucket strategies, where you can truly protect yourself from big market swings. And as a matter of fact, this technique is so old that believe it or not, Babe Ruth, the bambino, which I write about in my book for you, baseball fans, actually followed the same strategy back in the day. And it helped him continue to keep all of his earnings from the time that he played baseball, and it allowed him to get through the Great Depression when most people lost all of their money. So, lots of great stuff in this book, again, it’s a simple read, I designed it that way, because I’m an avid reader. I don’t need somebody, you know, writing something that’s taken 250 300 pages to get their point across, I get the point across very, very quickly, of what you need to consider and what you need to do. And just like we opened the segment up here, Steve, bumping your retirement date getting retired earlier,

Steve 11:45

I’m ready. Yeah, not only do it, what can we do?

Brian Quaranta 11:49

Well, the first off, you have to have a plan. And most, and that’s where most people lack that, you know, they’ll have investments, which is great. Typically, you know, most people have a 401 K plan, or they’ve had an IRA, and, you know, they’ll have some investments. And usually, they’re having conversations with their advisors about performance, which performance is important. But that’s not a retirement plan, or retirement plan is having a strategy for income. And when I say a strategy for income, we actually need to have a cash flow worksheet. You know, most people just loosely build out their financial planning models, we run your financial plan, like you would run a business, you got to have a cash flow model. So, what is your income look like? If you’re a married couple? What does it look like? While you’re both working? What does it look like when you’re both retired? What does it look like if one of you die, what happens if your husband dies? First, what happens if your if your wife dies? First, what’s going to be the drop in income? For most people today, Steve, most people do not have pensions. Matter of fact, it was in 1978, that they passed the Revenue Act where they created this thing called the 401k. And at first, it was just designed to help people that receive bonuses, or stock options to defer that that that money, believe it or not tax free. This is why for some people, they have pre 1980 contributions, which are tax completely different inside the 401 K plan. But it wasn’t until about 1983 that the 401k took off. And you can see if you look at a chart, it’s almost like a hockey stick, where the amount of money going in the 401 K’s went right up because employers realized that it was going to be a heck of a lot cheaper to provide a 401 K plan than have to worry about providing a pension for the rest of the employee’s life. Now, I write about this in the book, I call it the grand experiment. And the reason I call it the grand experiment is because nobody really knows how this is going to work out. Think about the monumental task that’s been put on to the retiree, they are now in charge of taking 30 40 years’ worth of money that they’ve accumulated and hoping that they do the right things with it when they retire, that they don’t run out of money. And this is why in my chapter a think like a pension or not a gambler is because too many people think like a gambler when it comes to the retirement savings. This is not money you can roll the dice with when you retire, you do not get a second chance. You cannot go back and do this. Ask those people that lost their money in 2007 2008. If they would do things differently, every one of them would tell you yes, because a lot of those people had to come out of retirement and go back to work because somebody convinced them that it was okay to gamble with their money. And they never set up a true retirement plan. And when things would start going south, they would get cookie cutter phrases from their advisors like don’t worry about it. It’s just a paper loss hang in there. You’re in it for the long haul. How are you in it for the long haul? When you need to start taking cash flow right now if you need to start taking income out right now explain to me how you’re in it for the long haul because for those of you that are going to need income from your investments when you start pulling money out, when the markets down, you are compounding your losses and you’re locking into losses and this is called sequencing risk, which causes the individual to run out of money in a shorter period of time. It’s a very scary place to be, and nobody’s teaching this but I do. And I write about sequencing risk in my book, right track your retirement. And if you hang with me till the end of this segment, folks, I’m going to share with you how you can actually get a complimentary copy of my book, right track your retirement, which again, is a very, very simple strategy to help you reduce risk, build income and provide peace of mind. So, the number one thing that people do really need to consider investing in when they retire is investing for income Steve.

Steve 15:37

Okay, so I mean, that seems that seems a daunting task.

Brian Quaranta 15:41

It does. But it’s so simple, people just don’t know the right way to do it. See, what we’ve been taught, or what Wall Street has taught folks, is that they’re going to have this diversified portfolio of stocks and bonds, and they’re going to follow this thing called the 4% rule. And they’re going to withdraw a little bit of money each year. And what we’re learning is that these plans are that strategy has a high probability of success. So, you have to think about risk mitigation First, and most importantly, and how you’re going to shift the risk from yourself to somebody else. What do I mean by that? One of the best things that you can use in retirement for income, okay, is an annuity, not for everybody, but for a lot of people, it can be a great tool, here’s why you’re shifting the risk, meaning, the insurance company is going to guarantee you a stream of income for the rest of your life. If you die, it’s going to be guaranteed for your spouse’s life. All right, there is no investment out there as that is going to get you that guarantee. Think about it on an even more simpler terms. You insure your car, you insure your house, you insure your health, why in the world would you not insure the most important thing that we all need to live a quality life, and that’s our monthly income. And that’s why I always leave a few openings on the calendar each week for our listeners. As a matter of fact, for the next 10 callers who call in right now, you are going to get a complimentary right track retirement review. And along with that complimentary right track retirement Review, I’m also going to give you a copy complimentary of my book, no cost to you, where I lay out all the strategies that you need to know about to help you retire with peace of mind, you have an opportunity right now to sit down and have a conversation with a fiduciary advisor that can truly help you improve your situation. So again, for the next 10 callers who call in right now. That’s a right track retirement review, along with a copy of my book, right track your retirement, all you got to do is pick up the phone and call us today to schedule that appointment.

Steve 17:37

800-656-8616. What a great opportunity, folks 800-656-8616.

Brian Quaranta 17:45

When we come back spending in retirement, for some it’s a struggle to go from acquisition mode to distribution mode, some tips on how to loosen the purse strings and keep your retirement on track, when we come right back with On the Money with Secure Money.

Announcer 18:04

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 18:40

We are back on the money with secure money and Brian Quaranta, Secure Money Advisors is the company, securemoneyadvisors.com is the website, I encourage you to check that out see the see behind the scenes, so to speak. But also, you get updated on a whole lot of great information that you just do a good job of keeping that website fresh.

Brian Quaranta 19:01

Yeah, not only but not only that, they can listen to the radio shows there. So, we’ve got the radio shows that have been archived for your listening. So, there’s a lot of information in depth information that, you know, if you’re trying to find answers to certain questions, whether it be about income taxes, investments, health care strategies, estate planning strategies, there’s probably some shows on there that will help answer those additional questions you have. We also have all the TV shows uploaded on there. So, for those of you that don’t know, but we do a TV show every single week on Katy K. Right now, we’re on Saturday nights. I believe we come on at 1130. You can check your guide. It’s on the money with secure money. And then we’ll be coming on April 10th on Katie K on Sundays, and that will be airing I believe around 12 or 1230 on Sundays and then you can also find us on a few Fox channels. The 22 to the point it’s all on our website. totally different showtimes. So, but yeah, listen to him and then also go to our website and find out where our upcoming educational events are gonna be. You know, we try to teach some educational events, at least four to five times a month. Most of the times we’re at universities, libraries. But with COVID restrictions, that’s been a little bit tough. So, right now we’ve been using our city winery, Jackson’s restaurant, cranberry library, LaRoche College, Slippery Rock, so check us out. And there’s a lot of places for you to find us. But our job, we feel it secure money advisors is to be an asset to the community. And truly give people the advice that they deserve. And what we do so differently here at secure money advisors, Steve, is that we provide people with the black and white information that they need to make an informed decision, we’re not here to give them our opinion, the world we live in today allows us through technology, to very easily show people where they currently are at with their current portfolio by looking at a few data points. And where they could go by making a few changes. The importance of that is that we keep our opinions out of it, and you’re truly making decision based on numbers. And that puts you the client in a position of strength because you don’t have to worry about being sold anything here at secure money advisors, we truly are problem solvers. We identify the problems, and then we help you solve the problem. Should you want to hire us to help implement and solve those problems for you? We’re more than happy for you to hire us. If you take advantage of one of our complimentary right track retirement views. And you didn’t want to hire us. That’s fine, too. We shake hands we part as friends.

Steve 21:39

All right, I got one. I’m gonna pose this to you, Brian. The so I know you get a lot of questions. And let me how often do you get this one? After you’ve explained things after you’ve helped them put together a plan? I can do that.

Brian Quaranta 21:55

Well, how about this one? This is the one we get a lot. I wish I would have met you 10 years ago. Ah, all right. Even better. Yeah, I wish I would have met you 10 years ago. And, and that speaks volumes. And usually, you know, we’re competing. Typically between, you know, the client typically is you know, going out and maybe seeing two or three different advisors who are typically competing with quite a lot of different firms. And we win, we win about 98% of that business. So you know, and that’s and the feedback that I get when I ask people, why did you choose us over you know, the other company is they’ll say, you know, you guys are the ones that really took the time to understand our situation, you took the time to really explain where we were at you gave us the data and the metrics to look at to to make an informed decision. And then not only did you show us a way to solve the problem, but you showed us in black and white numbers, how our retirement would actually look. And we’re not doing that through fancy charts and graphs, and, you know, retirement planning software, we have a very simple approach through what we call our bucketing strategy, where we bring people through our blue, green, red bucketing strategy. And so all of our clients start to think about their money in buckets. So, but yeah, that’s what we typically hear Steve

Steve 23:06

800-656-8616. Let’s see, we have time for one. Well, yeah, one question probably is, oh, my God, let me go to Pamela. She says, I’m a physician with my own practice and for employees. Right now, I have a set plan that I’m contributing to, but I’ve been told that a defined benefit plan would be better. Can you explain to me how these work and whether or not you recommend them for someone like me?

Brian Quaranta 23:28

Yeah, so having your own practice would be like me having my own financial practice with employees. So when I first started, I had a set plan to which is a self-employment retirement plan. And it allows for higher contribution amounts, you could contribute up to about $50,000 A year into a SEP, but the defined benefit plan would be better solely for the fact that you would now be providing a really nice benefits package to your employees make yourself a more attractive employer to be able to attract a better and more talent. But this is why we keep the openings on our calendar, Steve each week, I mean, for our listeners, and you know, these are the things that we exactly the types of things that we help people solve. I mean, if you bring a problem to our table, we will have a solution because we’ve connected and have a network of probably 50 to 60 professionals in all different industries that we lean on, to really help give you the best advice at all times. I think most people have an investment strategy, but they don’t have a real retirement plan. Because our real retirement plan has to deal with five key areas your income, taxes, investments, health care and legacy planning. You have an opportunity right now to sit down and have a conversation with a fiduciary advisor who can guide you and possibly help you improve your situation at no cost also for the next 10 callers who call in right now and schedule an appointment with us to take advantage of this complimentary financial assessment which we call our right track retirement review. I’m also going to give Have you a copy of my book complimentary, where I lay out all the strategies from start to finish of how to build a retirement plan that will allow you to still grow your money, mitigate your risk and get the income that you deserve. So again, for the next 10 callers who call in right now, that’s a complimentary right track analysis along with a complimentary copy of my book.

Steve 25:22

Sounds fantastic, Brian, folks take advantage of it. Here’s a great way for you to get your own financial roadmap put together. It’s a practical financial review. And if you’ve never done it before, no time like the present 800-656-8616 That’s the first step you got to take 10 callers right now gets the comprehensive financial review, you’ll see where you are now. But more importantly, you’ll have a roadmap that can help get you to where you need to be. And along with that when you make your appointment you will get a copy of right track your retirement a simple planning strategy to help you reduce risk, build income and provide peace of mind and if you ask Brian nicely, I’m guessing he’ll sign it for you. All right. 800-656-8616. Brian, as always, a pleasure. He shows go by so quickly, but the information is so important. That’s right,

Brian Quaranta 26:05

Steve, we’ll be back again next week with more on the money with secure money have a great week folks.

Announcer 26:17

Investment Advisory services are offered through foundation investment advisors, LLC, an SEC registered investment advisor Brian Carranza and his guests provide general information not individually targeted, personalized advice and are not liable for the use of drip information. Discuss exposure to ideas and financial vehicles should not be considered investment advice or recommendations, 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 stream for only two fixed insurance products did 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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