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Video Transcript
Cynthia De Fazio – 00:20
Welcome to retirement You TV My name is Cynthia de Fazio. I’m joined today by Brian Quaranta. He is president and founder of secure money advisors. Brian, how are you? I’m doing great. How are you? We’re getting closer and closer. I don’t like to jump in anything. My way. So how have you been?
Brian Quaranta – 00:41
I’ve been great. Yeah, I’ve been doing really well. You know, it was an interesting year, wasn’t it?
Cynthia De Fazio – 00:45
It was an interesting year. I learned a lot this year, we really have because when you think about way back when we first started, this shows together, the changes that occurred in 2020. And now thankfully, we’re in the new year, but you’ve been you’ve been really super busy. Obviously, the shows are doing so well. And people are really absorbing the information. Let’s talk about what life’s been like in the office for you, Brian.
Brian Quaranta – 01:06
Well, I was actually very surprised of how busy we got, right, because I really, when COVID first hit the country, back in March, right. Oh, my gosh, we’re coming up on a year, almost a year. March. I wasn’t really sure what to expect. But we’ve had people from all over the country call us. Yeah. That had major concerns about retirement, especially with them losing the amount of money people lost. In February and March. Yeah. And so I think it was a real eye opener for everyone to start to evaluate the current track that they’re on. Yeah. Because when people saw 25 30% losses, they spoke they got spooked, rightfully so, of course, I mean, can you imagine I mean, this, this happened in 2007 2008. You know, you have someone that’s a couple years from retirement, or, or a couple years into retirement, and they wind up losing 50 60% of their portfolio. And now life changes forever. Yeah. And we almost saw that again. You know, we’re all very lucky that the market recovered the way it did, it’s not very often that we see what we call a V bottom recovery, where it drops and then bounces back right away. Yes. You know, a lot of experts, you know, depending on who you where you get your information, I think that we may even see a W, right, where we had this big drop at bounce back, but you know, some think it might drop again. And I think we’re seeing the early stages of a permanent shift. Sure, in behavior in how we run our everyday lives. Yeah. I mean, if you look at some of the big sectors, the big titans of the industry, airlines, financials, yes. Energy. Yes. You know, they got devastated. towels. Right, exactly. And but if you look at the tech industry, right, if you look at conferencing services, like zoom, or Amazon, or what we consider Fang, you know, which is Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, and G wood, and Google. We forgot apple in there. So it’s it’s Facebook, apple, Amazon, Netflix, Google. Two ways, yes. But you’ll see that sometimes Fang, if you would have just bought those companies, you would have made a lot of money in 2021. But I think we’re in the early stages of seeing a permanent shift from how we make money in our investment portfolios, because the behavior Sure, you know, a buying behavior has changed consumer behavior, after this period of time that’s gone by has changed. Absolutely. And it’s gonna be hard to get back to where we were. So if there’s any time to start evaluating a portfolio to see if you’re on the right track, it’s absolutely right now, because the things that we were doing, that’s shifting, things are changing, portfolio managers are having to make adjustments. If financial advisors are happy to make adjustments, some won’t, though, some will sit with the same portfolios, and they’ll just, you know, set it and forget it, and there’ll be long term investors, they won’t adjust to the to the new norm. And I think those people will get left behind because we’re in a very dynamic marketplace. So So making sure that you’re on the right track, I think is critical to your overall success in your, in your retirement.
Cynthia De Fazio – 04:42
Absolutely. Brian, I agree with that. So let me ask you, in your opinion, how does someone know that they’re on the right track?
Brian Quaranta – 04:49
Well, there’s five key areas that you have to focus on. Okay. Number one, and most importantly, if you look at you know, retirement planning 30, 40 years ago, compared to today, It’s changed, and a major change has been that over 85% of the people retiring or not retiring with pensions, right. Right. So the 401k has taken the place of the pension. But we have to look at that 401k as your pension. Okay. But the reality of a 401k plan is that it’s invested in the stock market. So there’s no guarantee of income from it. Right? It’s it can go up and down in value. But that’s the account that needs to act as your pension in retirement. So creating your own pension, if you will, Brian, just from streaming through the 401k, if you will, absolutely. And, and there’s there are specific strategies and processes that you want to follow best practices, if you will, to make sure that you can generate the income that you need from the portfolio and not put yourself in a position of running out. But the the number one key to having a successful retirement is having a strong income strategy, okay, one that you can trust, right? One that you can trust me, and you’re not going to, you know, be 10, 15 years in retirement and find out that you’re going to run out of money. Okay? The second area is making sure that your investments are positioned so that you’re maximizing your overall returns, but minimizing as much risk as possible, okay, and what we want to do when we evaluate a portfolio, when we build a portfolio, we want to focus on the upside, but we don’t want to sacrifice the upside to reduce the downside, okay. So, you know, a lot of times what happens is, people are trying to reduce the risk, but they’re drastically dragging down how much return that they’re getting, because of the allocations that they’re going into. technology can help with that. Right, like algorithms, one of the things that we utilize at secure money advisors is algorithms. This is this is software that’s trading the portfolio very actively, right, based on the economic cycle, which gives us a huge competitive advantage in maximizing the return, right, maximize the return and reducing the risk, where a lot of manual base portfolios that don’t use technology will sacrifice that return to try to reduce that risk. And we don’t want to sacrifice that return. So investments are important. Number three, is taxes. Okay? Yeah, there’s two things that are going to erode your wealth in your life, it will be inflation, and it will be taxes, your taxes more than inflation, taxes more than inflation. I mean, take for example, somebody’s taken $10,000 a month from their portfolio, okay. Or let’s say they’re taking $5,000 a month, so $5,000 a month coming out of their portfolio. And maybe they’re in a 20% tax bracket, right. So now we have roughly about $1,000 in taxes that are coming out. So they net $4,000, when they’re when they’re taking that withdrawal out, and they have to pay the taxes on it, of course, because it’s in a retirement account. And none of those dollars have ever been taxed before. Okay, so but let’s just say tax rates go up, you know, let’s say tax rates now go to 40%. So now, that same $5,000, withdrawal is not netting you $4,000. It’s netting you $3,000. So it wasn’t inflation, that caused your money to lose its purchasing power, it’s taxes, now you added an inflation, and it becomes very challenging. And this is why tax planning is very important. This is why looking at strategies like Roth conversions are very important. Because how nice would it be to go from a taxable account, to a tax free account? Sure, to where you can move the money now, pay the taxes at current tax rates, which are the cheapest, we’ve seen them out. I know, it’s amazing. And now have all your future growth and all your future income tax free?
Cynthia De Fazio – 08:42
Absolutely. And I hear a lot of companies are now offering the option of the Roth 401k. So that’s going to help people down the road.
Brian Quaranta – 08:49
Yeah, I’m glad you brought that up. Because you’re seeing that more and more, especially with the you know, with people that the younger generation, when you look at their options for their employer sponsored plans, typically there will be a Roth 401k option available. So you’ll have that you’ll have the ability to do either the traditional 401k or the Roth. And a lot of times people say Well, which one do I do? Well, look, here’s how simple it is. Would you rather pay taxes on the seed? Or the harvest? Exactly. It’s very simple. Yeah, I would rather pay taxes on the seed, not the harvest. I agree. So beyond beyond taxes, we have health care, okay. Healthcare is big. In the state of Pennsylvania, there’s a new system put into place called Penny, which is a state sponsored marketplace where you can go get your health insurance, and there’s certain things you want to do there that can control your costs and things along those lines, but having a good strategy for health care, especially if you’re retiring before the age of 65. You don’t qualify for Medicare. You know, these are these are resources that we have in the state of Pennsylvania now that we can go to and build somebody a good retirement plan alongside having a good health care strategy. Sure, right. Maybe they want to retire at 60 or 62. And they need to bridge that gap up until Medicare. And of course, the last piece of the puzzle, Cynthia is the legacy planning part. Sure, there’s no point in doing all of this planning and maximizing everything we can, that if at the time of death, you die, and the IRS becomes your largest beneficiary exam, and unfortunately, that’s a key area missed by a lot of people. And this is why our retirement, right track system, right, allows us to look at these areas for people and determine whether or not they’re on the right track. And I know most people today are probably wondering, am I on the right track? You know, I’m sure most of you have wondered, at some point. Am I doing the right things? You know, do I have the right investments? Do I have the right implants? Maybe you’re wondering every time you walk out of your current financial advisors office, are we maximizing our investment returns? Are we maximizing or minimizing our taxable liability right now and then, of course, into the future? You know, maybe you’ve been wondering if, you know, your your health care plan is set up properly, or your legacy plan is set up properly. So our retirement right track system will really help you determine that and identify any weaknesses in the portfolio.
Cynthia De Fazio – 11:16
Perfect, Brian, we should open up the phone lines right now to give people the opportunity to call in to the viewers at home, the phone number on your screen is 888-382-1298. Ask yourself this question. Are you on the right track for retirement? If you’re not sure, Brian can provide the answers for you. And again, all you have to do this morning only is to pick up the phone. It’s complimentary. The number is 888-382-1298. You deserve to know that you’re on the right track for retirement. We’re going to take a very short commercial break when we come back. I’m gonna have some more questions for Brian q. So please stay tuned.
Commercial Break – 11:53:00 AM
How confident are you in your current financial plan? Do you know with certainty how the recent market volatility will affect your future hopes and dreams? How much are you paying in taxes? And how much are you losing to unnecessary high fees? You didn’t work to save this money so that you could spend your time worried in retirement. Now is the time to take charge of your finances so you can feel confident about your future call in during the next 30 minutes of today’s show only to set up an absolutely complimentary no obligation, full blown Financial Review that will result in your own customized written plan. This is a $999 value that we’re giving away complimentary to the first 10 people who respond. We’ll start with a full blown analysis of what you already have, by running a report to untangle how much you are currently paying in fees, how you’re allocated for risk, and what it’s costing to work with your current advisor. Next, we’ll identify your goals. Where do you see yourself in the next five years? Where do you want to go? And who do you hope to go there with? Is your current financial plan set up to get you there without mishap? Let’s design a roadmap to create a financial plan you can follow with confidence. Get the piece that so many people are missing from their retirement. Find out how having a written plan can make a difference to your retirement dreams. Call now to schedule your complimentary no obligation full blown Financial Review today.
Cynthia De Fazio – 13:27
And welcome back to retirement You TV My name is Cynthia de Fazio. I’m joined today by Brian Quaranta he is president and founder of secure money advisors. I knew I was gonna speak. I’ve been friends for over a year now we’ve been laughing Yeah, I know. And I think we’re gonna continue to laugh about it.
Brian Quaranta – 1:50:00 PM
So it’s so much easier to do Brian q because I mean, my whole life my you know, my dad was known as Mr. Q. My grandfather was known as Mr. Q because, you know, nobody in the neighborhood pronounce the last name, but let alone You know, people in their professional lives that have very hard time it has been butchered all my life.
Cynthia De Fazio – 14:09
So funny, Brian is to show the viewers because I still have the phonetic spelling. We did that like the first show we ever did. Right? Yeah. I love it. That was perfect. Right? That was perfect. That was absolutely perfect. Yes. Yes. You nailed it. Well, fine. Let me ask you because obviously, you and I were talking on the commercial break. And I want to ask your opinion on this. Why do you feel that some people have been a little nervous or apprehensive to talk to a financial planner in the past?
Brian Quaranta – 14:38
Well, I think it’s just natural for people to kick the can down the road with things that they you know, that are hard, like finances, you know, some people don’t want to go into a financial practice and be vulnerable. You know, but a lot of people feel that you know that they’re going to be sold something. And in those days have really changed. I mean, you know, if you Look at our industry, even though there are still a lot of problems in our industry, the financial industry, there’s a lot of good happening right now, more and more advisors are taking the time to get licensed as a fiduciary. And that’s a really important thing. And you know, that is some peace of mind that the viewer can have when searching for a financial advisor, that if you are looking for an advisor, and you do want to make sure that the individual that you’re going to go in and see is working in your best interest, and you’re going to want to work with someone that is a licensed fiduciary.
Cynthia De Fazio – 15:34
Okay, I’m glad you’re licensed. Because I have heard in the past that sometimes people can have websites that say, we follow fiduciary guidelines without being a licensed fiduciary.
Brian Quaranta – 15:44
Yes, correct. Yeah. And that would require that the individual have taken a test called the series 65. Okay. So you know, if you’re in search of some, if you’re in search of a licensed fiduciary, you can request from that individual, their licensing certificate for that series 65. Because if somebody says, Hey, we’re following fiduciary guidelines, that may mean that, hey, we’re acting in the best interest of the client, but they’re not held by law to that standard, whereas the individual that took the time to take that exam right now is held to that standard by law, which means that if that individual did not work in your best interest, now, you, as the consumer, have a lot of rights, to be able to make sure that anything that was done wrong to you can be corrected. Whereas if you were working with someone that followed fiduciary guidelines, the law is not going to weigh heavy in the consumers favor as if they were working with a licensed fiduciary. So but you know, I truly believe that most financial advisors are working in the best interest of the client, I really do. I mean, I’ve had the opportunity to coach a lot of advisors across the country. You know, and a lot of these guys work from their heart, they really do want to do the right thing. There’s no advisor out there, you know, in my opinion, that wants to take somebody’s money, and not do well with it, right. But now, here’s the difference. The difference is the quality and the planning that you’re going to get, right. Some advisory firms are going to talk to you about how to invest your money, and that’s it. Okay, there’s gonna be no other planning beyond that. And when we are moving into retirement planning, there are key areas that have to be focused on. Otherwise, you really don’t have a retirement plan, you have an investment strategy, exactly. a retirement plan goes beyond the performance of the investments, right? It goes into income planning, sure. Investment planning, tax planning, health care planning, legacy planning, those are your key areas that have to be focused on for you to be able to say, I have a true comprehensive financial plan. Absolutely. And, and and when all of those areas have been addressed. And you look at the best practices in each of those areas. So for income planning, there’s probably 10 or 15 things that you can do for income planning. Yeah, you know, when it comes to investment strategies, there’s probably 10 or 15, different things that you can do in investment strategies. Same thing with tax planning and health care planning and legacy planning. Same thing. Sure. At secure money advisors, our right track retirement system that we’ve built, that roadmap that we’ve built, our clients are getting a financial checklist. So when we meet with our clients for the very first time, and as that relationship continues, there’s very specific steps in the process that we’re going to follow. Right? So you know, and I No, because, you know, I, you know, have had to seek professional advice myself, whether it be an attorney or an accountant. Yeah. And I’ve gone through a number of accountants, as my practice has grown. And it’s amazing when you go from one firm to the next, and you start to really find the right people, you go, gosh, I wish I would have done this four or five years ago, since so much sooner. Excellent. And that’s probably the number one compliment that we hear at the office, you know, people will say, Brian, we really wish we would have met you 510 years ago, because we feel like we would have been in a lot better spot. So
Cynthia De Fazio – 19:16
Absolutely. Well, you always give the guidance from your heart, because you truly care about people and everyone that has come in to sit with you, from what I’ve gathered, they are so impressed that you’re the same person in the office. And they find that you take the time and you really listen instead of rushing off to the next thing and right. That’s a huge testimonial to you, Brian.
Brian Quaranta – 19:36
Yeah, it’s, it’s it’s a real compliment to hear those things on a day to day basis. Because, look, I strive, I mean, there’s not a day that I don’t get out of bed to do the very best, right? And then my whole team operates that way. You know, and that’s the great thing about secure money advisors is it’s just not Brian Quaranta. It’s an entire team of people there that are dedicated to giving the individuals that work with us the very, very best.
Cynthia De Fazio – 19:58
Absolutely, absolutely. Well, Brian is the perfect time for us to reopen the phone lines,
Brian Quaranta – 20:02
we just like to tell the viewers what they can expect to receive to absolutely, folks, as a matter of fact, for the next 10 callers who call in right now, we’re going to offer you the right track retirement system. Now, here’s what it’s going to do. I know most of you have probably wondered at some point, whether or not you’re doing the right things, you know, do you have the right investments? probably been wondering, are you doing the best as far as saving on taxes, maybe you’ve been wondering if you can retire earlier than the age of 65, and be able to afford some type of health care plan. Maybe you’ve been wondering about how to keep the IRS out of your estate. These are all the key areas that secure money advisors focuses on. And for the next 10 callers who call in right now, we’re going to give you that right track retirement system at no cost. And it’s going to identify five key areas for you. We’re going to go through an income with you. Investments, taxes, health care, and legacy planning. So again, for the next 10 callers who call in right now, if you call 18883821298. Again, that’s 1-888-382-1298 take advantage folks of this complimentary meeting, it’s not very often that you get an opportunity to sit down with a licensed fiduciary and go through your portfolio with no pressure, right? There’s no pressure to do anything. You come in, you sit down, we have very open conversation. We’ll share with you some red flags that we might identify maybe some yellow flags that we identify. And then we can talk about whether or not you would want to make any changes. If you did, we can talk about what that relationship would look like. So take advantage again. 1-883-882-1298
Cynthia De Fazio – 21:40
Brian, thank you so much to the viewers at home. as Brian mentioned, the phone lines are once again now open that number to call is 888-382-1298. You deserve to know that you two are on the right track for retirement, we have to take a very short commercial break when we come back. We’re going to have more questions for Brian Q, so don’t go away.
Commercial Break – 9:58:00 PM
As a good saver you’ve been putting away money during your working years. studies find that the biggest fear of retirees is running out of money. market volatility isn’t just a downward movement of stock prices. It’s the size and frequency of change. The more dramatic the ups and downs, the higher the volatility. This can put savers who are newly retired or a few years away from being retired at greater risk. today’s generation of retirees is not receiving traditional pensions as our parents or grandparents did. Instead, we have retirement accounts such as 401 Ks or 403. B’s. These accounts typically expose your money to market risk. The last thing you want right before retirement is to lose a portion of the money you need for income. But how do you turn these accounts into a retirement income? Is it safe to keep all your retirement money sitting in the stock market. The last thing you want is to lose a portion of the money you need for income due to market loss. By working with a financial professional, you can learn how to turn a portion of your savings into an income stream for life and income for the life of your spouse if you’re married. We all have moments in our lives when we wish we had taken action sooner. Don’t let procrastination rain on your retirement parade. Act now before it’s too late. Please call our office to set up your no cost no obligation retirement income review today.
Cynthia De Fazio – 23:24
Welcome back to retirement you TV. My name is Cynthia de Fazio. I’m joined today by Brian Quaranta. He’s president and founder of secure money advisor it’s twice a year, excellent jobs, we got an excellent job. Well, I love them, we’re going to the commercial break, Brian, I get to watch the phone lines light up, you can’t see because of the position that you’re in. I love to see that excitement building, obviously, week after week after week, because people just really are so in need of the information that you provide. So let me ask you a question. What does it feel like when someone comes into your office in case they’re actually someone who received the right track Retirement System this week?
Brian Quaranta – 24:04
Yeah. Well, I hear, I would say what does it feel like when you go to a friend’s house? Right? welcoming, warm, comfortable. Our office is the same way. You know, it’s not an intimidating process by any means. And I think that’s what people really appreciate. The problem is that too many people kick the can down the road because they create this fear in their mind that it’s going to be this really tough process. And it’s not not at secure money advisors. There’s a very welcoming group of people there. You’ll find it a very comfortable experience to sit down with our professionals. Some people when you come in, you might even sit down with me. You know, I still run meetings on a day to day basis, which I love doing because you know what that was how it all got started you sitting down and helping people and I love the opportunity that I have now. To have the platform to educate, to teach and to share with people our message What makes us different secure money advisors. But more importantly, I love sitting across from the folks that are looking for help that want help, right? And because there’s so many people out there that are looking for good advice, and they’re just not getting it, and they’re just not getting it. So we have a very warm environment. It’s a process that we’ve put together so that when you come in, you don’t have to worry about what to ask, we know what to ask. Okay, right. And this way, you know, that we thoroughly have gone through everything, because I think that’s, you know, people just don’t know what they don’t know. Right. So a lot of times you go, I don’t know what to ask, well, we’re going to make that process simple for you, because we’re going to ask you all the questions that you should be asking us. Okay, right. Okay, perfect. Yeah, right. So So this way, you know, from when we get from point A to point B, it was a very thorough process, and a lot of people will tell us, you know, in the hour that I’ve sit down with you guys, I’ve learned more in the last hour than I have in the last 20 years. Working with my current advisor, or working with multiple advisors, nobody’s ever taken the time to lay this out the way that you guys have. And finally, I really have connected the dots on how all of this works. And I think that really gives people peace of mind, Cynthia to move forward with actually executing on a plan because a confused mind. Yeah, does nothing exact a mind that’s clear, right. And that’s why the process itself, the system has to be simple. But it has to be very robust. And it has to be be able to be implemented. And we need results from it. Right. So but that’s why we offer the retirement right track system. And, you know, for the next 10 callers who call in right now, we’re going to offer you a complimentary retirement system. And what we’re going to do when you come in is we’re going to look at five key areas, we’re going to talk about income planning, we’ll talk about taxes, we’ll talk about investments. We’ll talk about health care, legacy planning, and you’ll learn a lot in that hour that you spend with us. And it’s not very often that you get an opportunity to sit down with a licensed fiduciary and go through your financial situation, from point A to point B. So take advantage of this don’t kick the can down the road. You have to act you got to get up. You got to grab the phone and call. So again. That’s 1-888-382-1298
Cynthia De Fazio – 27:36
Brian, thank you for another amazing show this week. I know the viewers have enjoyed every moment of it. So I’ll see you back here again next week. Absolutely. to the viewers at home. Thank you again for spending time with us again this week. We know you have questions about how to retire comfortably. Brian has the answers for you. Be safe, be happy, be blessed. We’ll see you again soon.