In this episode of On the Money with Secure Money, Brian Quaranta teaches us about the importance of having a retirement distribution strategy ready for when it’s finally time to move into your retirement.
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Radio Show Transcripts
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, they’re 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 were deemed to 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 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.
Steve 00:42
And welcome everybody this is On the Money with Secure Money. Brian Quaranta here. I’m Steve. And we have got a big show planned for you today. You know, Brian, retirement distribution strategies are daunting to say the least. Although with the right adviser, those strategies can help eliminate worrying about your retirement savings, help make sure that you don’t run out of money, because that’s what we don’t want to do is run out of money. And Brian, of course, until of course will weigh in and give us his thoughts. What do you think Brian?
Brian Quaranta 01:13
Well Steve, distribution planning is the biggest focus that a retiree needs to have. And there’s a lot of traps along the way. And we’re going to talk about those when we come right back with On the Money with Secure Money.
Brian Quaranta 01:33
And now, On the Money.
Brian Quaranta 01:37
Any good retirement plans starts with the foundation,
Announcer 01:40
asset protection, tax reduction, holistic planning,
Brian Quaranta 01:42
These are the things that start to move you towards having a retirement plan.
Announcer 01:46
Retirement doesn’t have to be complicated.
Brian Quaranta 01:51
You think that’s the difficult part? That’s just getting started.
Announcer 01:56
And now On the Money with Secure Money.
Steve 02:03
Welcome back, everybody. This is On the Money with Secure Money. I’m Steve. Brian Quarantas here. Brian’s president and CEO of Secure Money Advisors. He is a fiduciary independent, better than 20 years in the business helping folks get to and through retirement. Hey, Brian, good to catch up.
Brian Quaranta 02:14
Steve, good to see you again this weekend. Yeah, things are going well. Things are going well. He’s going on a lot of things going on our country shooting a lot of things down on the sky seems like it is a good thing or a bad thing.
Steve 02:29
I guess we’ll have to wait and see wont we.
Brian Quaranta 02:32
We will, we will; but this distribution plan I gotta tell you, you know, I get asked all the time when people come to our office. Hey, what makes you guys so different? I said, well, I think most people think that most financial planners are created equally. And I think they think: well if I go to one planner, I go to another, it really doesn’t matter. Maybe this guy just explains a little better. But we really do have specialties and secure money advisors decided a long time ago, that we were going to specialize in the distribution phase of retirement planning, which by the way, is just a fancy word for saying when you retire and need income, that’s what the distribution phase writes, right? And this distribution phase can be really daunting; and if you don’t have professional help, there’s a lot of strategies out there that can get you into trouble. And making sure that you have the right amount of income coming in on a monthly basis adjusted for inflation over the long term. But more importantly, building a plan. A written plan that protects you from running out of money is your number one goal as you approach retirement and go through retirement because, folks, the worst day retirements not the day you run out of money, the worst day of retirement is the day you figure out you’re gonna run out of money, and there’s nothing you can do to stop it. And usually when that happens, Steve, people are at an age in their life where they really don’t have the physical health to go back to work. So, we’ve got to get this right. And I’m going to talk about a few things here that are going to be able to help this, but you know, we had an opportunity to talk with Jamie Dimon from Morgan Chase, JPMorgan Chase, and I think we got a little clip from him. Don’t we?
Steve 03:58
Here we go.
Jamie Dimon 03:58
But both in April, October. And today, I’ll tell you, the things that you there are these things out there, which are very uncertain. And I look at uncertainty, there’s always uncertainty every day of every lesson uncertainty, but it’s heightened. And it’s heightened because Russia, Ukraine, oil, energy, food, quantitative tightening, you know, is it going to be enough to raise rates to 5%. And this is having a huge effect on smaller countries, poor nations, those who are reliant on importing oil and gas. And I think those uncertainties may variable mitigate, and we’ll end up with that kind of Goldilocks mild recession, but they may not. So, I’m still in the cautious side in this one.
Steve 04:37
Okay. Everything’s gonna be just fine or not. Yeah, these guys, they sit on hedges. That’s what they do, right? They’re hedging.
Brian Quaranta 04:47
Well, we all want to expect the best but we’ve always have to plan for the worst. And when I started, when I started in financial planning, you know, going on almost 25 years ago. You know, what I saw very early on my career was not the way that I wanted to build my career and I remember sitting at a financial firm, had just passed my financial exam, I was really excited about becoming a financial advisor. And just because you pass your financial exam does not mean you’re ready to be a good financial adviser, it takes years and years of mentorship and, and working under other people that, you know, know what they’re doing. But you learn a lot of things along the way of what not to do. And what I saw very early on in my career, around 2000, I saw people calling into this big firm that I was working for, and they were panicked, they were losing money. And they were losing money they couldn’t afford to lose. And I remember taking a call from a guy, and I had picked up the phone, he says, I want to talk to my advisor right now. And I said, Sure, no problem. I said, Can I ask who your advisor is he tells me, and I go to the financial advisor and I said, Look, you’ve got a client on the line. He wants to get out of the market now. Are you okay? If I place the trades and liquidate his account and put them into cash? He says absolutely not. He says we do not sell; I need you to get back on the phone with this guy and let them know that everything’s gonna be fine, that he’s got to remember that he’s in it for the long haul. And it’s just a paper loss. Now, how many people have heard that before that cookie-cutter phrase, don’t worry about it, hang in there, you’re in it for the long haul? And by the way, do you ever wonder when the long haul ever ends?
Steve 06:11
See, this is what goes through my mind, especially as I get older.
Brian Quaranta 06:14
Yes. Right. Yes. Because look, our clients are more concerned about the return of their money than the than the return on their money. Because if you’ve come to retirement and you’ve accumulated a sum of money, your job is to make sure that now last rest the of your life, and most people are not asking themselves some fundamental questions once they reach retirement, like what is the purpose of the money, you know, and there’s really only four things that money can do for you, it can either, you know, be invested at risk to grow. You can protect it and keep it safe. You can position it to generate income, or it can be liquid for emergency reserves. And if you ask most people, when they’re getting ready to retire, what’s the primary purpose of the of the of this money, they will tell you that the primary purpose is for those accounts to generate income. But then when you look at how they’re invested, they’re invested in, in high-risk growth stocks, and there were they’re invested in pharmaceuticals or whatever it might be, but it’s not positioned for income. And by the way, you can find out whether or not your position for income just by opening up your statements. And seeing right next to your account value should be another statement line that says income value, how much income did your portfolio produce? Most people will see a zero there. And if you do, just keep in mind, you’re in a growth portfolio, not an income portfolio.
Steve 07:34
Right. Boy, you make great sense there, Brian, and, by the way, I forgot to mention that you are an author, you have written a book called Right Track Your Retirement: A Simple Planning Strategy to Help You Reduce Risk, Build Income, and Provide Peace of Mind. And that book is available at righttrackyourretirement.com
Brian Quaranta 07:51
it is and I would highly recommend that you go there and get a copy of the book because I walk you through how to build a retirement plan from A to Z. I give it all away. You can take it, you read it, take it to your advisor, and say, hey, look, can we do this? you know, or come in and see us. But also, Steve, every week, we leave spots open on our calendar for our listeners. So, for the next 10 callers who call in right now, we want to give you a complimentary Right Track Review. Now this is a one-hour appointment that literally could change the next 25 to 30 years of your retirement. The complimentary Right Track Review evaluates three key areas, it goes over your income, your taxes, and your investment strategy will look at your income, make sure you’re maximizing it and making sure that you have a high probability of success and making sure that you’re not going to run out. The second was make sure that you’re in the best tech strategy that you can be in possibly even get you to a 0% tax bracket. Yes, I said 0% It is possible in retirement with the proper planning. And third, we have a risk analysis software that we can use to evaluate your current investments and with is very powerful software, we’ll look at specific metrics, like the return that you’re getting for the risk that you’re taking, or how much you’re paying in fees. It’ll calculate how much money you could potentially lose if the markets continue to go down. So, call right now or go to righttrackyourretirement.com and schedule your Right Track Retirement Review.
Steve 09:17
That sounds like a plan folks make that happen. Make that call you’re thinking of that 800-656-8616 You’ll get the comprehensive financial review of that Right Track Review that Brian was just talking about. There’s no cost, there’s no obligation, just make the call 800-656-8616, 800-656-8616. We do need to take a quick break. We’re coming back with a whole lot more right here On the Money with Secure Money and Brian Quaranta.
Brian Quaranta 09:41
When we come back, we’ll highlight some statistics about retirement, and some may really surprise you. And the good news? There is still time to get yourself on the right track when we come right back with On the Money with Secure Money.
Announcer 10:01
And now On the Money with Secure Money.
Steve 10:08
We are back On the Money with Secure Money. Brian Quaranta is here. Brian, President and CEO of Secure Money Advisors, a fiduciary independent. I’m consumer advocate Steve. And we are digging in today, Brian, I like that. You know, we talk about retirement statistics we do like our stats, don’t we?
Brian Quaranta 10:28
Stats are important. But yeah, but you know, you really, the stats are meaningless because everybody’s situation is so different. I mean, you’ve got different savings amounts. You know, some people have pensions, some people don’t have pensions, some people are married, some people are single, some people have longevity in their family, other people don’t have longevity in their family. So, there’s a lot of different variables that go into the planning process. And that’s why, you know, at secure money advisors, we believe in helping the individual put together a written plan that truly is simple, but most importantly, provides them with the clarity and peace of mind that they need to shift into retirement. Because, look, there’s no point in retiring, and being worried all the time whether or not your plan is going to work, or you saved enough money, I meet people every single day, that do not have a written plan. And they’re constantly worried about whether or not their plan is going to work. Because no one has taken the time to actually mathematically develop a plan for them that shows the probability of success of their plan working. So, you know, I highly recommend that you get an appointment with a fiduciary firm that believes in giving a written plan that doesn’t charge commissions that’s fee based, and sit down and go through a real retirement planning strategy. And I’ll tell you, you know, a lot of people get confused about investment planning and retirement planning. You know, people say all the time, I’ve got a retirement plan. Tell me a little bit about it. Well, it’s a 401k, I had at work. Well, I hate to tell you, folks, but that’s not a retirement plan. That’s a retirement account. But it’s being invested right now. And typically, those investments are stocks, bonds, mutual funds, things along those lines, as long as the markets going up, you really have nothing to worry about. But that’s investments, investments are designed to get you to retirement, they’re designed to accumulate money. When you retire, there’s five key areas that you have to focus on. Number one, most importantly, is your income. Number two is taxes. Three is investments for his health care, and five is your estate planning. If you have every i dotted every T crossed in those five areas. Now we can say that you have a legitimate
Steve 12:46
retirement plan. Right? Because you’re right, if you’ve got just, you know, an IRA or a 401 K, yeah, those are just accounts, they’re not going to do anything for you on their own.
Brian Quaranta 12:56
Yeah, they’re not. And look, if you’re working right now, and, you know, a lot of people don’t realize that if you’re working right now, and you’re over the age of 59 and a half, you know, we’re 59 and a half, you know, 59 and a half or older, and you’re still going to work for another five years. Most people don’t know about this wonderful thing called an in-service rollover. And what that is, is the IRS has made it possible for an individual that’s still employed with their employer to do an in-service rollover of their 401K into a better designed retirement account for themselves, so that they can get positioned for retirement, you see, because 85% of the people retiring today are not retirement pension. So, most people that are retiring, are typically talking to us about the fact that they’re going to need income above and beyond what they’re getting from Social Security. And so, with the in-service rollover, you’re actually able to start position yourself for future income right now. And the nice thing about the in-service rollover, is that your employer doesn’t close your 401K it stays open, and you continue to get your contributions, you can continue to get your matching, and you can build up a balance in there too. And it’s a really nice strategy to look at. So, if you’re 59 1/2 or older, I would highly recommend that you take advantage of our Right Track Retirement Review, where we can help you build out a plan that gives you that confidence and peace of mind.
Steve 14:18
I like it 800-656-8616 That’s the number. So, we’re talking about statistics. I like this one. Young people think they’ll retire early until they don’t. I mean, there’s that whole movement out there that fire movement, you know, financial independence, retire early. But then reality hits in about your mid-30s When you got kids and weddings pending and college on the way I mean, yeah, well, this whole retire early thing, maybe it’s not gonna work out.
Brian Quaranta 14:46
While you look at you know, most young folks today, including myself, I mean, I remember, you know, when I got out of college and got right into financial planning, I thought to myself, you know, I’m going to retire in 20 years. Well, first off, you know, it If you want to retire, because you have the means to great. But the other thing is, are you ready to emotionally and psychologically? I mean, for me, I love what I do. I don’t think I’ll really ever officially retire because I enjoy what I do, what I do is a little bit like playing golf, I can do it for a long period of time. You know, I’ve got clients that don’t have that luxury, you know, they’re, they’re 10 workers and iron workers and steel workers, and you construction people and their bodies were out on them over time. And those are those are the folks that really have to focus on buckling down and making sure that they’re very, you know, specific with their planning strategy. Because when their body wears out, your body wears out. So, you’ve got to have a good strategy. But yeah, I mean, retirement, it also the other things, Steve, is retirement may be longer than you expected. Social Security, a healthy 65-year-old woman has a very good chance of living to age 86. And a 65-year-old man has a good chance to live until age 84. So older adults should save for retirement that could last 20 years or more.
Steve 16:07
I mean, when you when you put it that way, Brian, I mean, holy cow for the next 25-30 years, this one hour could kick things off, so you’re gonna get to where you want to be. That’s, that’s just amazing to me.
Brian Quaranta 16:18
Well, look, you know, at the end of the day, I mean, I just, there’s so many people that we see that come in with, with I call the POS that stands for pile of stuff, by the way. And unfortunately, they don’t have a written plan in place. And we meet too many people that have, you know, a lot of their investments splintered, and splattered in all the different places. And you really have to harness the energy of all of those different investments and get them actually working for you. I mean, if you think about it, we save money for it to start to work for us. And we have to put it to work. And putting it to work means it starts to pay you a paycheck. Right? And maybe you don’t need a paycheck right now. Maybe you’re fine, you got enough income coming in. But I can promise you, you will need 110 years from now or even 15 years from now when the cost of living goes up. But beyond that, even if you didn’t because you have such healthy income. The question is, well, what happens if you have a health event? Or what happens if the good Lord decides to take you home? What’s that going to look like? Because if you have a health event that can be very expensive. And when you die in the state of Pennsylvania, we’re going to six states that still has the inheritance tax, which can be anywhere from 4%, up to 15%. And you could potentially have income taxes on top of it. So, you could be looking at 30 to 40% of your wealth being wiped out just by dying alone. So having a good plan in place addresses all of these things.
Steve 17:35
Well, again, Brian, and that’s what we want to do invite folks to come on in right now. And schedule that Right Track Retirement Review. And it’s a phone call away. If you’d like to start that way. 800-656-8616, you’re going to get the comprehensive financial review that Right Track Retirement review. And it’s again, really, you’re going to see where you are today. But more importantly, you’re going to find you now have a roadmap that can help get you to where you need to be on your road to retirement 800-656-8616, 800-656-8616. Another quick break for us we’re coming back, we’ll continue our conversation right here On the Money with Secure Money and Brian Quaranta.
Brian Quaranta 18:14
When we come back, many Americans are slow to start saving for retirement. If that’s you, we’ve got some suggestions to help kickstart your retirement savings, when we come right back with On the Money with Secure Money
Announcer 18:35
And now On the Money with Secure Money.
Steve 18:43
Welcome back. This is On the Money with Secure Money. Brian Quarantas here and I’m consumer advocate, Steve. Brian is of course, he’s President CEO of Secure Money Advisors, He is an author, the books called Right Track Your Retirement; visit righttrackyourretirement.com to find out more about to book. In fact, get your own copy of that book. And so, Brian, I know in addition to the book, in addition to these radio shows, your TV shows, you’re also doing a lot of seminars out there.
Brian Quaranta 19:04
We are Yes, and if you go to our website, securemoneyadvisors.com You can find out where we’re going to be teaching our classes next. So, there’s all different locations that we teach, I highly recommend that you get out to one of our events, it’s very eye-opening, we go through a lot of different case studies to show you the appropriate ways to think about retirement planning. And again, that’s securemoneyadvisors.com go to our events tab and you can find out where we’re gonna be.
Steve 19:29
You know, I love the case studies that you put out there because they’re real stories of real people and how you were able to craft a plan that gets them, you know, not only from point A to point B but beyond.
Brian Quaranta 19:41
Yeah, absolutely. And people start to see what’s possible. Right, right. You know, most of most of what people are seeing and hearing is things around diversification and asset allocation and, you know, they’ll hear things about, you know, you know, hanging in there for the long haul and the 4% rule. These are all things that have been drilled into people’s psychology over the years from my industry. But there are really great ways to rethink retirement planning, and most importantly, guarantee and protect money. But more importantly guarantee and protect income because your income is your number one priority C, it’s always amazing to me, Steve, that people will insure everything in their life, they will insure their health, they will insure their home, they will insure their car. But when it comes to their retirement, especially their retirement income, they don’t insure a portion of that retirement income. And today, we have the ability to do that through really great strategies and programs out there. And we teach about a lot of those. They’re not right for everybody, but everybody should consider them and look at them because they are a real way to get real leverage on your money and reduce risk dramatically in your overall portfolio.
Steve 20:52
Well, that’s a big part of what you do as a company is educate us, teach people. Okay, you know what I mean, about this industry, and not only the industry but about ourselves, and our money,
Brian Quaranta 21:01
Yeah, right, because people for the first time, they’re tasked with this monumental job of moving from working years to retirement years, it wasn’t that hard, 40 years ago, because when you retired, you got a pension and Social Security checks, you didn’t even have to think about it. This is why we had retirement parties because people knew exactly when they could retire. Nobody knows when they can retire anymore. Unless you come to Secure Money Advisors, I can tell you exactly when a good way would be for you to retire. A lot of times I get people that come in theyll go, I don’t think I’m ever going to be able to retire and I get to retire right now. Or I get to retire in a year because they’ve never had somebody sit down and put together a plan. They’re typically having people talk about products. And you know, and those products are not plans, theyre products, right, we have to have products to actually make the plan work. But the planning comes first. And that’s what’s been missing in my industry for a long time. And our planning is done. When you get, you know, our Right Track Retirement Review, you get reports prepared by a certified financial planner, you’re working with a fiduciary firm, we’re not a commission-based firm. So, we have the best interests of the client in mind. And we’re held to a higher standard than most non fiduciary firms out there. So, we take a lot of pride in that. But today people should get with a good fiduciary firm, work with people that can have reports and processes prepared by certified financial planners, and make sure that they get a real written plan, because that’s the key folks having a real written plan, that you know exactly what’s going to happen. If you’re a married couple, what happens if your wife dies first? What happens if your husband dies first? What strategies need to take place, people don’t realize when you lose a spouse, you have a loss of income, but you’re going into a higher tax bracket. The last thing you want to be doing is being in an emotional state, after losing your spouse, having to make really big decisions. Let’s get a written plan in place. So, all of those decisions are made up front. And we’re maximizing everything that’s available. And you’re not making emotional decisions when those things do happen.
Steve 23:01
800-656-8616 That’s the number to call, folks. Let’s jump into some of these questions. Brian, I’m liking these. Bernard is up first. And Bernard says I’m about to turn 65. And looking to work maybe one more year, our combined income is about $140,000 a year and I have about a million dollars in assets. What type of financial advisor should I be looking for; you should be looking for Brian Quaranta.
Brian Quaranta 23:28
Well just get with an advisor that believes in putting together a plan, you want someone that’s going to sit down and deliver a plan for you. And the other thing you want someone that’s going to listen to what your what your real needs are. Now every financial adviser says that, but I want to most people don’t do it in practice. So, look for a good, fiduciary firm and look for a firm that’s out there educating people, right the one thing about our radio shows and TV shows and all the educational events. That’s not only for new people to find out about us, but that’s how we continue to keep our clients informed of tax law changes, you know, the secure act, all these things that take place in the economy that affect the retirement, it’s an avenue for us. And then you become part of our inner circle where I send weekly emails out and give real insider information on how to approach things at the next level. So just look for a good fiduciary firm that believes in education and believes in putting together a plan. I think it’d be just fine.
Steve 24:22
All right, Bernard 800-656-8616 And let’s see one more here. Meredith is wondering: would a T bill be a good investment for me. I’m 64, plan to work to 70, Just trying to circumvent investing in the volatile economy.
Brian Quaranta 24:38
I think this is a great question that she’s asking because of what she’s really asking is, could I protect my money right now and still be okay, if I want to retire at 70? See, everybody thinks that they need to continue to take risk, folks. The question you have to ask yourself is: Have you won the game? Because if you’ve won the game and you’ve accumulated enough money, you will no longer have to roll the dice with 100% of your retirement savings. But people continue to roll the dice and gamble with money. They don’t need to gamble with anymore. Look, we all know if you’re going down to the casino, you want to walk away a winner, you’ve got to take your chips off the table. People don’t realize when you’re in the stock market, that money is not yours until you sell. It’s not. Look at your statement. Every day it goes up, it goes down and when it goes down, a lot of money goes away, Right? And so it’s not your money until you sell, so you got to find ways to protect the money, again, if you’ve won the game, you don’t need to continue to play. But Steve, this is why every week we leave spots open our calendars for the next 10 callers and we give them a Right Track Retirement Review. Very simple review, we go over three key areas: income, taxes, and investments. And if you go to righttrackyourretirement.com you can not only get a copy of my book, absolutely free, I pay for the shipping and handling, but you can schedule your Right Track Retirement Review there.
Steve 25:48
That sounds fantastic. Again, it starts with a phone call 800-656-8616 You’re going to get the comprehensive financial review that Right Track Review to get you on the right track for your retirement. 800-656-8616, 800-656-8616 Brian, as always a pleasure. This show goes by too fast. We got great information today, though.
Brian Quaranta 26:08
Steve, always great seeing you, and folks, we’ll see you again next week. Make it a great week.
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. 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 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.
