Rebecca Powers 00:25
Welcome to this week’s edition of On the Money with Secure Money with Brian Quaranta of Secure Money Advisors. I’m Rebecca Powers, it is my honor to be with Brian each week and all of you at home. Happy, happy new year. So much exciting, so many exciting things on the horizon, and wonderful to see you, Brian.
Brian Quaranta 00:46
Yes, it’s great to see you. Happy 2025 everybody, right?
Rebecca Powers 00:49
I want to start with your book. For those of you who have called and come in to meet with us, you have gotten a copy of this book. It is absolutely free. Let’s start talking today just about your book and what, what drove you to name it Right Track Your Retirement? That’s an interesting story in itself.
Brian Quaranta 01:08
Well, I mean, I think we all want to be on the right track, no matter what we’re doing, whether it’s our health, our taxes, our retirement planning, you want to be doing things right. And that’s the number one question I would always get from folks. Get from folks, is, are we doing the right things? Are we on the right track? And so, it seemed like the right name for me, yeah, as I wrote the book, it was really, how do I give somebody a road map, a blueprint that they could read? And really, if they wanted to go do it themselves, because I lay everything out in the book that you need to do to provide yourself with the fundamentals of succeeding in retirement, but more importantly, having the peace of mind that we all want in retirement. Because, look, retirement is not a dress rehearsal. We do not get a second chance at it, so we have to make sure that we get it right. And getting it right means getting the numbers right, because the things that you did to grow your money and accumulate your nest egg are not the same things you’re going to do when it comes time to retire, and you need to start using your money two very different things, and folks, if you haven’t done it yet, go to OntheMoneyOffer.com and get a complimentary copy of my book, because it is an easy read and it will give you the peace of mind and clarity that you want going into retirement.
Rebecca Powers 02:39
There’s so many little, tiny mistakes, and I used to be one of you. I was a news anchor for many years, invested my money with a big box, had no idea of the why. I knew kind of what they were doing, but didn’t know the why. And there are so many little bitty mistakes that compound and compound, you can undo a lot of things, but let’s talk about withdrawals
Brian Quaranta 03:00
Little mistakes become big headaches. That’s right, they add up. Yeah, I do. They do. The little mistakes become big headaches. You got it?
Rebecca Powers 03:09
Yeah. A lot of mistakes that people make, and I used to be one of them, is kind of understanding withdrawals from retirement accounts. How do you even begin to know? Okay, I’ve got this amount in which sequence do I withdraw?
Brian Quaranta 03:20
Yeah, well, you hear a lot of retirement planners talk and like, in buckets, right? They like to say, buckets, your risk bucket, your safe bucket, your cash bucket. You can also look at your taxes that way, because you’ve got different buckets of tax money. You have what the IRS considers non-qualified bucket, which is just a fancy way of saying this money you’ve already paid taxes on, but the interest that you earn every year on it you have to pay taxes on, right? But you pay taxes on the cost basis, or the principal amount, okay? And then you have qualified money, which is just a fancy way of saying you’ve never paid taxes on any of this money, and every dollar that you take out of this account, we’re going to tax you on. And then you’ve got the best type of bucket you have, which is tax free. Who doesn’t want tax free money? And you know, the only place you’re really going to get that is in a Roth IRA account or a life insurance policy. A lot of people don’t realize that life insurance can be a tax-free vehicle. So, the way that you withdraw money is important, not only from what investments you take it from, but what accounts should I take from? First, from a tax perspective, right now, one account that we like to start with is the qualified money. Now, a lot of people think a little bit differently on this. You’ll hear some advisors say, spend your cash first. I think that’s insane. Yeah, your cash is the most important thing. You’ve got one security blanket, and if you need a large sum of money, you don’t owe any taxes. Any cash when you pull it out, especially if it’s at the bank, right? But if you have money in an IRA account, you got to pay taxes on any dollar that comes out of that account. So why do we like to start with that account first? Well, what we’re doing at Secure Money Advisors is- what we’re doing differently is, we’re giving you your own private pension. And one of the ways we can build that private pension is by utilizing your 401, K, or 403b, or your IRA account, because these are accounts that the IRS are going to force you to take money out of whether you want to or not. Right now, that’s at the age of 73, it used to be seven and a half, but they changed it to 73 now. And so, this is an account you’re gonna be forced to take money out of, whether you want to or not. So why not start withdrawing that money earlier on retirement? Let’s say you want to retire at 62 because if you just let that money grow and compound in there, you turn 73 now you’re forced to take it out and take a big amount, and now you’re going to probably cause yourself a big tax problem. Go into a higher tax bracket, probably pay more on your Medicare premium, right? So, it’s compounding everything. So, we like to start with the IRA accounts first, because it’s a great account to create your own private pension, and it also allows your other money, like your tax-free money or your more tax neutral money, to actually grow and compound for those later years. And in fact, one of the things we can’t control in retirement is taxes. So, if you think taxes are going to go up, like a lot of people do, probably better to leave the tax-free accounts for later on.
Rebecca Powers 06:41
And nobody likes to pay taxes. But we all have the same rules, so you have to be educated to understand the rules to take advantage of those rules. For instance, the Trump tax cuts supposed to sunset end of this year, taxes are on sale. Brian, talk about that. Historically, taxes have never been lower, so sometimes you may advise us Make sure that ticking Tax Time Bomb is taken care of now, pay on the acorn instead of the oak tree in 20 years.
Brian Quaranta 07:10
Yeah. Or pay, pay. Would you rather pay taxes on the seed of the harvest? Right? And so, but, but that’s exactly right. But this is why I wrote my book Right Track Your Retirement, because these are the things that you need to know about going into retirement and getting through retirement. And like I said at the top of the segment, retirement is not a dress rehearsal. We do not get a second chance at this. And folks, I’m telling you, you do not want to get it wrong. You know, all you’ve got to do is go shopping on the weekend, and, you know, go to one of the big stores, and you can see people working that probably shouldn’t be working. And you know, you ever hear people don’t plan to fail? You know, they fail to plan?
Rebecca Powers 07:53
Well, my dad was a Marine, and now he every day, would say, remember, a failure to plan is a plan to fail. I mean, it’s so true, especially with retirement, yes,
Brian Quaranta 08:01
And folks, a diversified portfolio of investments is not a plan. That’s not a plan. That’s an investment strategy. A plan deals with five key areas, your income, your taxes, your investments, your health care and your estate planning. That’s a plan, but a plan also needs something else, very important, and that’s a strategy, because you can lay a plan out, but what happens when things change, when you have an unexpected health event, when tax rates go up, when the market doesn’t perform the way you need it to perform. What then. You need a strategy. I mean, if you’re planning a road trip from point A to point B, and all of a sudden you come up to a road closure, you’ve got to have a way to get around that. And that’s exactly what we’re doing at Secure Money Advisors, we’re not only helping give you a plan, but we’re there to make sure you have a strategy along the way too. So, I want you to OntheMoneyOffer.com right now get a copy of my book Right Track Your Retirements absolutely free. But while you’re there, schedule a time to come in and sit down with the team, and we will go through your situation and go through what would look like a customized plan for you that can help solve the problems for your unique situation and everybody is different. So be careful this year, don’t be taking that napkin advice from your friends or your Uncle Joe, who is the smartest stock picker you’ve ever met, because everybody’s situation is different, and that’s why it’s Secure Money Advisors, not only we helping you build a plan, but we’re helping you build one that’s customized to you. So again, OntheMoneyOffer.com or call 1-888-382-1298,
Rebecca Powers 09:52
And what Brian didn’t tell you is it is absolutely free, and we truly mean that, leave your checkbook at home. Just have your schedule ready when you call. So, we can get you in. It is also no obligation, and our promise to you is you’ll never feel pressured for anything. You may be on the right track, and they’ll be happy to tell you that as well. Go online right now, get that free book, make an appointment, and we’ll be right back.
Brian Quaranta 10:14
See, everybody can tell you how to invest your money. There’s not a lot of people out there and a lot of firms that can teach you how to use your money. Most people also tell you that they’re scared, and the reason they’re scared is because they’re afraid of running out of money.
Neil Major 10:27
The last thing you want to do is have a really good job in your 60s, retire, be looking for work again in your late 70s.
Brian Quaranta 10:35
The average person might say, well, a good portfolio would be a good mix of stocks, bonds and mutual funds. None of them a good portfolio is all designed around the five key areas, income taxes, investments, healthcare and legacy planning.
Neil Major 10:51
Because we’re not just product pickers here. What we do best here is we build retirement plans.
Brian Quaranta 10:55
Nine out of 10 people when they walk through the door would ask us, we just want to know if we’re on the right track. And I always say, if you’re not on the right track, when would be a good time to know it? Probably now.
Neil Major 11:06
People, you know, can actually see a vision once we start to really build out their plan.
Brian Quaranta 11:11
This is about you. If you’re not getting what you need, and you feel that when you walk out of the advisor’s office, it’s time to get a second opinion, and you can’t get a second opinion from the person that gave you the first opinion. The difference at Secure Money Advisors, as a fiduciary firm, we help you manage the risk, build the income and give you the retirement you dream of.
Rebecca Powers 11:41
Thanks for staying with us. I’m Rebecca Powers here with Brian Quaranta who has changed thousands of lives by doing the independent fiduciary route. You used to be with the big box.
Brian Quaranta 11:51
I did. Yes, the dark side.
Rebecca Powers 11:54
The dark side. You sleep so much better at night now that you’re able to meet with families. It’s about you. It’s to know you have that personal relationship. What do you find when people come in to you? Brian, what is their biggest concern or fear?
Brian Quaranta 12:09
Yeah, I will say it’s running out of money, yeah, you know. Or they’re scared to use their money.
Rebecca Powers 12:15
That’s sad because they’re not enjoying the retirement that they deserve.
Brian Quaranta 12:19
That’s right, that’s right, you know, or they’re taking some money out, but they’re taking so little out that they’re barely doing the things that they want to do. And it doesn’t need to be that way. And there’s such a better way. Rebecca, and you know, there’s a lot of different ways to get through retirement, but what the studies have shown is that the people that are the happiest, the people that are most joyful in retirement, if you will, are the ones that have the most guaranteed income, coming in on a monthly basis, what we call mailbox money. Yeah, I know it’s there every month. They know it’s there every single month. Could you imagine? I mean, think about it like this. I mean, you’re trying to withdraw money from this, these accounts that you’ve accumulated over 30- or 40-years’ worth of work, right? And these accounts are invested in the stock market. You have no idea what your rate of return is going to be. You don’t have the idea if the market is going to be up, the market is going to be down, and now you’re going to start withdrawing money. I mean, you have no idea on any given month when you withdraw money, whether the markets can be positive or negative, and if it’s negative, you’re going to compound your losses. You take money out and on top of the stock market takes money away from you. Now this is the- this is the fear that people have.
Rebecca Powers 13:46
That you will outlive your money, that you’ll outlive your money, and that’s the recipe for stress and mental health issues.
Brian Quaranta 13:53
Yeah. And I’ll tell you, the worst day of retirement, folks, is not the day you run out. It’s the day you figure out that you’re going to run out and there’s nothing you can do to stop it.
Rebecca Powers 14:00
So how do you help beautifully balance the risk versus safety? Let’s talk about that.
Brian Quaranta 14:05
Yeah. Well, first off, I mean, let’s understand that. I mean, pick up any retirement book today. Okay, you pick up any retirement book today. They’re all going to talk a lot about the same thing, and that is, how are you going to replace your paycheck, right? How are you going to replace your paycheck? I write about how to create a pension in here, okay, matter of fact, I brought some books, right? Here’s a book called Pensionless, all right. This book, Pensionless, right? The very first couple pages they talk about, let me just read it to you for a second. Most of us want to eventually stop working and begin enjoying a well-deserved retirement. The problem lies in how to pay for it. We typically have enough trouble covering our monthly bills, let alone funding 20 or 30 years of retirement. Think about the monumental task in front of you, funding 20, 30, years of retirement off of money that you’ve accumulated. Here’s another book for you, Retire Now, right? A simple solution for retirement right here in these first few chapters. Chapter One, it’s time to give yourself a pension. Chapter Two, the house always wins. Geez, I wonder what he talks about there. What do you think the House is? How about chapter number three, the rise of the do-it-yourself pension. I mean, I can go on and on. I mean, this is the major problem, and the big box firms, Rebecca, are not talking about it. They’re not talking about that problem because the big box firms are there to invest your money. They’re there to put you in a diversified portfolio, stocks and bonds. Nothing wrong with that, sure. Nothing wrong with that, but that’s not a retirement plan. That’s what I want you to understand. That’s not a retirement plan. And when we’re investing in stocks and bonds, and you’re being shown all these different charts and graphs, and people are building reports for you and showing you what your potential, potential future value could be, they’re making assumptions. They’re making assumptions. If this investment performs the way it did over the past 10 years or 20 years, this is what it could look like. But if you read in the tiny little print at the bottom, it says past performance does not guarantee future performance, right? So, you want, I’m telling you, if you haven’t done it yet, go to OntheMoneyOffer.com and get a copy of my book right now. Do not procrastinate. If you see me on TV before talking about the book and you haven’t done it yet, go there right now and get a copy of I promise you, this book will help you start to give yourself the clarity that you deserve to make, the informed decisions that you need to make for yourself and for your family so that you can retire and stay retired.
Rebecca Powers 17:11
Absolutely and there’s the number on the screen, give us a call. It is a complimentary consultation. Absolutely no obligation, absolutely no pressure at all. When we come back, we’re going to talk about some of the tools that Brian mentions in his book, and when you meet him about creating your own personal pension, stay with us.
Speaker 1 17:29
We know the market is going to get worse from here. This is the biggest monthly decline in 10 years. People’s 401 case took a major hit.
Speaker 2 17:37
My investments are tanking. My retirement isn’t going as planned. I can’t believe I let my kid talk me into buying crypto. I mean, what is that anyway?
Speaker 1 17:46
This was the fourth worst contraction in history.
Brian Quaranta 17:51
So how are you two doing? Your financial future doesn’t have to be uncertain. I’m Brian Quaranta with Secure Money Advisors. If you have amassed a nest egg. It’s time for a financial advisor to help you reach your retirement goals. This is one of the greatest tax windows in history. Now is the time to take advantage of this tax discount while you can. We specialize in retirement planning, tax mitigation, estate planning and more. Plan your retirement right Call now for your complimentary portfolio review and tax analysis.
Rebecca Powers 18:25
Welcome back. We were talking about pensions. You know, in 1978 the wonderful government at the time decided, let’s get rid of pensions. Let’s put the onus on the individuals. Don’t make corporations do that. We’re going to call it the 401(k) experiment. It was actually called that. Here we are. And now you used to say your grandfather knew the date he was going to retire. Yeah, to the penny, what he was going to get every month. Now we’re all just, sir, good luck. Yeah, so that’s really, you know, we were talking about the books. First of all, Brian’s book is much shorter than all the other retirement books. It’s really easy to read. Chapter two: This is what we were talking about in the last segment. Right? Think like a pensioner, not a gambler, really, you have enough, and that’s where that peace of mind comes from. You’ve got to know that you’ve got enough.
Brian Quaranta 19:13
Yeah, look, I’m okay with gambling, but gamble with money you can afford to lose, right? I mean, if you, if you, if you thought about the money you had in your retirement accounts right now, how much of it are you willing to lose? But most people will tell me, Well, none of it. Okay? Well, if you have it at risk, you have the risk of potentially losing it, right? So? But in retirement, when you’re going to need to rely on a monthly paycheck. Remember, you’re going to lose your paycheck when you stop working, so you have to replace that paycheck. And if you want to try to do that through the stock market, be my guest. Here’s what I can tell you with absolute certainty. Nobody will know, for sure, whether or not your retirement will work. Now, I’m sure there’s plenty of people out there that will tell you you’re going to be fine. Don’t worry about anything. The market historically has done 10% over the last 100 years. Okay, well, there’s been periods of time like from 2000 to 2010 where it did nothing. Matter of fact, that was called the lost decade. And there’s many times over that 100-year period that there was periods of time that the market didn’t do well. And here’s the thing, your retirement is not a 100-year plan. It’s a 20-to-30-year plan. So, the question is, what’s the stock market going to be doing during that 20 to 30 year period? Because if your first 20 years of retirement starts off like the first 10 years of 2000 to 2010… lot of people went back to work, Rebecca.
Rebecca Powers 20:58
And that’s a sad thing. So, let’s talk about exact strategies. There are insurance products. Well, first you say, you have to identify what amount are you able or willing to lose. And then let’s talk about the buckets. You can get some of it, like the name of our show, Secure Money. How do you secure that money? How do you decide how much for each individual?
Brian Quaranta 21:19
Yeah, well, first off, let me say, you know, I reference all these other books. I got a whole stack of them down here too, okay, but at
Rebecca Powers 21:25
You’ve spent a lot of money on those books!
Brian Quaranta 21:27
And I’ve got stacks of them at home, because I read constantly. But let me tell you the difference between my book and all these other books. Okay, my book is going to give you a plan. But more importantly, when you become part of our family, you’re going to get a strategy with it, and that’s the difference, and that’s what you need more than anything. And at Secure Money Advisors, we operate as a team. And I got to tell you, we have 30 people at Secure Money Advisors, and boy, are they dedicated to you, they know that the most important person calling that office every single day is you, and that you are the most important person that needs to be taken care of, because your money matters to us, and we take it very serious, and we know what our job is, and that’s to make sure that you Get through retirement, that you don’t run out of money, that you leave money to your family, and the money that you leave to your family, the uncles, your Uncle Sam, doesn’t become their largest partner at your death, and take all the tax and take a bunch of taxes from you. So again, all you do is go to OntheMoneyOffer.com, get a copy of the book, like Rebecca said, it’s absolutely free. I hate saying the word free, because the book is so valuable, but I want you to understand I pay for the shipping and handling. If you don’t get a copy of this, I don’t know what else to tell you. I mean, literally, it’s going to show up in a gold envelope. It’s like the Willy Wonka $100 ticket, right?
Rebecca Powers 23:01
I can read your mind at this point. It’s true, though, and so many people appreciate it. And then they call, then they come in, they get a complimentary consultation. A lot of people are on the right track. You told me once your favorite thing is to do the third-party report, show them their baseline, show them their true risk, show them their true fees, and then say, you look good buddy. Congratulations. That’s your favorite thing?
Brian Quaranta 23:23
Well, of course, I mean, look, if somebody is already doing the right thing, yeah, and, and they have someone that’s put together a real plan that then and they have a strategy. And, fantastic, fantastic. There’s, there’s, we are not going to onboard them as a client. Why would we do that? Yeah, we’re going to shake hands and say, keep doing what you’re doing. You don’t need us that, that, that- we’re very happy to say that, you know, we’re fortunate to be a very busy office. So, we want to help those that need help. We want to help those that are not getting the help they deserve. We want to help those that are going into their financial advisor’s office, and they understand everything when they’re there, but when they leave, they’re confused, right? Or they’re too afraid to ask the questions, because they’re afraid that they’re going to be judged. Or, you know, my industry also has an arrogance to it. You know, they tend to want to talk over you and almost use industry jargon so you feel, well,
Rebecca Powers 24:23
I need you.
Brian Quaranta 24:25
Dumb.
Rebecca Powers 24:26
I don’t understand.
Brian Quaranta 24:27
They want to make you feel dumb, like you don’t understand anything. But it’s really a lot more simple than my industry makes it out to be. You know, the most important thing is to make sure that you replace your paycheck. That’s what you got to- that’s what you have to get right first. And like I said, if you want to use the stock market, go for it. But I can promise you one thing, nobody knows how it’s going to go.
Rebecca Powers 24:50
That’s right, nobody has a crystal ball. No, we don’t. We have no idea.
Brian Quaranta 24:53
You may win, you may lose, but it’s either going to be those two. You want a winning- You want a winning plan. You can build a winning plan, and that’s what my book talks about. How to build a winning plan, because you don’t ever want to run the risk of having to go back to work.
Rebecca Powers 25:09
And so many people you have seen are jumping over the sure money to risk the maybe money. How often do you see that?
Brian Quaranta 25:18
Yes. Well, you know, you ask most, most logical people, when you ask them, at this point in your life, what’s more important to you, you know, a sure thing or a maybe. Most people will say, at this point in my life, I want a sure thing. And people will tell us, Look, I’m more concerned about the return of my money than the return on my money.
Rebecca Powers 25:39
Yeah, right, just preserving what I’ve gotten.
Brian Quaranta 25:41
Preserving what I’ve got, and the goal is to do what my grandfather taught me, right? And I think I talk about my grandfather in the book. No, I talk about my dad in the book. Well, my grandfather always taught me, you’re going to work hard for your money, and you’re going to want to protect that principle, and you’re going to want to try to live off the interest and never touch your principal. And by structuring your accounts the way that I teach you how at Secure Money Advisors, there’s a good chance that you might be able to live off of your principal amount. Matter of fact, I talk about the three most important interest rates that you need to know, and that is your spend down rate of return, your preservation rate of return, and your legacy rate of return. And those three interest rates, when you understand them, will start to give you the target that you need to shoot for, because once you understand what rate of return your portfolio needs, for example, if all you need is, let’s say, two or $3,000 a month on top of what you’re getting Social Security and your portfolio only needs to achieve a five or 6% rate of return. Why would you have your money invested so aggressively to try to achieve a 20% rate of return when you only need 5 to 6%? So, these are the things that I talk about. But again, you’ve got to do the work here. You have to go to OntheMoneyOffer.com take out your phone right now, scan the QR code, right or you can call 1-888-382-1298 and get a copy of my book. And the one thing I will promise you is that if you get a copy of the book and you come in and meet with the team, nobody from my team will ever pressure you. We will never sell you anything, but we will help you solve a problem.
Rebecca Powers 27:31
And it’s all about that personal relationship. This is the opposite of the big box. If you’re happy with the cookie cutter approach, definitely you’re not- probably right- We’re not right for you, but if you want that personal relationship and that plan tailored, customized just for you, give us a call. We can’t wait to meet you. Thanks for being with us. We’ll see you next time.