Bridging the Retirement Income Gap

Episode 18: Audio automatically transcribed by Sonix

Episode 18: this mp3 audio file was automatically transcribed by Sonix with the best speech-to-text algorithms. This transcript may contain errors.

Speaker1:
Any examples used are for illustrative purposes only, and do not take into account your particular investment objectives, financial situation or needs and may not be suitable for all investors. It is not intended to predict the performance of any specific investment, and is not a solicitation or recommendation of any investment strategy.

Speaker2:
Welcome to All Things Financial, the show that helps upgrade your financial literacy. Trey Peterson and Yellows Coots are retirement planning specialists here to provide a unique and conservative approach to managing your money. Now here are your hosts, Trey Peterson and Yellow say cuts.

Speaker3:
Hello, everyone. Welcome to the All Things Financial Podcast episode 18. Uh, I have a lot of fun doing this. Excited to be here with you. Excited to have our listeners joining us today. My name is Ryan Moffatt, and I am hosting today in lieu of Trey Peterson. And with me, of course, is business partner Jealous Cuts. Uh, number of good things that we're going to be talking about today like every week and want to dive into some of those topics. Uh, but really quick, if you haven't, uh, heard all of the episodes or if you want to go back to some of the episodes, you can check us out. Atf Podcast.com again, that's ATF Podcast.com if you have questions, uh, for your retirement plan, that's our big focus, right? We're focusing on people's retirement plans. And if you got questions on that, you can reach out to us at any time. You can give us a call at (612) 286-0580, or you can email any of us. It's just our first name at G. Wealth.com so mine will be Ryan at G wealth, Trey at G wealth, LSA at G wealth. Uh, we're happy to dive in and talk to any of you on, uh, what's on your mind? So, LSA, why don't we just dive right in? You want to kick us off with the code of the week?

Speaker4:
And now for some financial wisdom. It's time for the quote of the week.

Speaker5:
Quote of the week. All right, here we go. Uh, the elevator to success is out of order. You'll have to use the stairs one step at a time. And that's by Joe Girard. Not to be confused with Joe Girardi, the baseball player.

Speaker3:
Two totally different people, right? I like the pause after the first sentence there. The elevator to success is out of order, period. I feel like I'm just really.

Speaker5:
Hammered in because people seem to think that, you know, I mean, Ryan, how often do we hear about, like, I don't know, uh, some idea or program? And I think Trey would hate me saying this like multi-level or, you know, the 419 scale, get rich quick Nigerian money scams, I'll call it anymore. But, uh, yeah, it's I don't know, it's just something that, you know, these ideas are that are. I don't want to call them get rich quick. Some of them might be, but we seem to we heard a lot about people who who succumb to those types of things. And, um, you know, it's quite prevalent, especially when it comes to senior fraud.

Speaker3:
For sure. For sure. Well, one of the interesting things and I want to I actually want to touch base on this fraud topic for a moment. But Joe Girard, for those of you that don't know, uh, he was uh, he was a car salesman. He was born and raised in Detroit, and he worked at a Chevrolet dealership in the 60s and 70s. The guy sold 13,001 cars, 13,001 over the course of his career. And the significance of that is is actually kind of crazy because most dealerships don't sell that many cars, period. Like the whole dealership. And this guy, Joe Girard sold that many cars himself, so.

Speaker5:
There's no way he did without committing a little bit of fraud. Right? If you're not, you're not cheating. You're not trying.

Speaker3:
You know what? I didn't do that part of the research to find out exactly what his, uh, sales tactics were. But, uh, he actually, because of his success, he actually became a motivational speaker and a bit of a sales coach and even an author based on his capacity to connect with people and no product. And, you know, quite frankly, move product for the people that were looking for. So he did a fantastic job and, uh, made a pretty huge career and, uh, really a legacy out of that. Even, uh, get this. He was even, uh, in the Guinness Book of World Records for the seller of the most cars in one individual year. Guinness book of World records. Yeah. So, uh, you know, the the, uh, joke about the fraud component, you know, when you look at the 60s and 70s versus today, it's a little bit more prevalent today.

Speaker5:
Yeah, I mean it definitely is. And I don't want to spend too much time on this topic. It's not really the topic of this podcast, but just something that I was reading up on recently. Um, and by the way, I don't mean to make light of it either. Like if you're someone who has experienced fraud, you know, my parents, when we first came to the United States, uh, unfortunately, they had an experience that was terrible and that they kind of fell victim to. Um, but, you know, I think we're all kind of susceptible. A lot of these scams, you know, they prey on our basic emotions of needing to connect, wanting to get ahead in life, that type of thing. Um, but one thing that I thought was interesting was, you know, as as great as the world of AI is and all the new opportunities that come with that, the advancements in AI, those are fantastic. There's also a host of new schemes that we need to be aware of. And, um, you know, there's like a recent Gallup poll that showed that, uh, 8% of people have been victimized by scams and fraud, financial fraud. Um, which is kind of scary number. That's like 21 million adults. Us adults. Wow.

Speaker3:
Wow. That's substantial.

Speaker5:
Yeah. And you know, who knows? Um, one of the things that we often because we're dealing with retirees, we often encourage them, hey, you know, just double and triple check everything if you're getting a phone call from the IRS. The IRS typically doesn't call you. Actually, I don't think they ever call you. Uh, they'll be sending you a letter, you know? So just, you know, basic good common sense. And unfortunately, you know, maybe you're not going to fall victim to that in your 60s or your 70s, but what about in your 80s and 90s, when maybe you're not as sharp as you used to be? And unfortunately, that's a sad reality that many of us have to face, um, in something that we encourage people to be aware of and have someone who can help you. And, you know, just like I said, just be vigilant.

Speaker3:
There are a couple of things that, uh, I've heard of, uh, in recent months and years, etc. but, uh, there's a term called deepfake where basically AI, artificial intelligence is taking, um, uh, taking, you know, your, your vocal tone or whatever it is, and they can recreate duplicate somehow and basically make it sound like you over the phone or somebody else. So a couple of, uh, couple of these that I've seen that I've heard of is one is where it's all an AI recording. So it's not an actual person on the phone by any means, but they call an elderly person, they call grandma or they call grandpa and they're pretending to be little, you know, 15 year old grandson, Billy. And Billy's in a tight spot and really needs money. And grandma, I just really need this money right now. Can you send it to me right away or something just happened and I'm in jail, and can you please bail me out? Whatever. And it really kind of tugs on the heartstrings of grandma or grandpa, and it's not even a real person on the other end of the phone, uh, you know, and, uh, you know, of course you're going to be worried about your, your grandkids, right? So without, uh, without kind of double checking if it's kind of one of those, like, in the moment type deals, it can be easy to, you know, fall victim to that, right?

Speaker5:
Yeah. I mean, it's it's it's a great quote. There is no elevator to success. And by the way, even people who seem to be on the elevator to success, if you will, um, you know, I would just say that a lot of times you probably don't even know the whole story. You know, it's you're just basing it off of what you've seen on an Instagram reel or Facebook story. Um, you know, you're probably looking at like a highly curated snippet that, you know, probably is pretty far from reality. Um, I don't know how much of our audience that applies to. I don't know how many of them are looking at Instagram Reels, but, uh, you know what I'm talking about, right? It's not always the way it appears on the surface, for sure. Did I mention that June is annuity awareness Month? Ryan?

Speaker3:
We haven't mentioned that yet.

Speaker5:
Yeah, well, we, uh, in the last podcast, we spent a lot of time honoring the great month of June, uh, with our in depth discussion. Um, some of the finer details on annuities. Yeah. Is there anything we left out? And by the way. Right, I did I wanted to say, you know, we had plenty of other options, you know, that we could have spent last week's podcast talking about PTSD. National gun violence. Um, for Catholic listeners, the Sacred Heart of Jesus that, uh, that was available to, uh, migraines and headaches. If, um, if you're wondering, uh, June is awareness month for all of these topics and, and many, many, many, many, many more topics.

Speaker3:
Certainly large list.

Speaker5:
Yeah. We had other options. So you know. Yeah.

Speaker3:
Well you know.

Speaker5:
We did right by Annuity Awareness Month I think I think we.

Speaker3:
Did right by Annuity Awareness Month. And even so that June is the summer solstice when we have the most hours of sunlight. Right. Yeah. So we spent the extra time and the extra hours focusing on annuities.

Speaker5:
I can't think of a better way to spend all the extra daylight hours we have in June than, uh, educating people on good annuity decisions.

Speaker3:
Well, it is, you know, we're making light of it, and it is kind of a fun, fun thing to, to talk about and poke fun at. And I know we made the joke last time that every day is there's a national day of whether it's doughnuts or hair bands or whatever it is, and every month there's certainly something to be aware of or to celebrate or otherwise. And many of them are very, just and very great. Uh, but it is kind of kind of funny when you start going down the list and saying my word. There's a number of different things we could look at and really, uh, focusing on. I liked what we talked about last week on the annuity component because, my word, there are just a myriad of different options out there. And quite frankly, not all of them are as clear cut or transparent. And we're not going to spend a ton of time on that today by any means. But it is something that, uh, was great information and, uh, maybe if you're listening and it's still June, spend your extra hours listening to that podcast as well. Yeah.

Speaker5:
Um, yeah. I don't want to belabor many of the same points. Um, I think one thing I will say, though, is, you know, don't get sucked into buying a ten year commitment on the promise of features and guarantees that maybe they sound good on the surface, but in reality they might end up being quite costly and especially costly if you don't end up using them. Mm. You know, so I've been in the industry for about ten years. Uh, one thing I can tell you, though, you know, that there is there's a million different types of products and if used correctly, they can absolutely be great additions to your portfolio. But here's the disconnect what people have compared to what they think they have. That's often very different. And, uh, and that's actually the biggest problem, I think, you know, understanding what you have. And I often encourage people, like, if you have an annuity, we've had sharp, competent people come into the office, engineers who have said things like, hey, there's no way in heck, right, that I would have something like that. And sure enough, you know, they have 1 or 2 annuities that they just weren't aware that they had them, they didn't know that they functioned in the way that they do. Yeah. You know, so it's important to have those conversations if you're not getting a second opinion I think that's important too.

Speaker5:
Um, I would say most people have a financial advisor before they come in here. Um, and a lot of times it's just simply getting a second opinion not to necessarily make any changes. But, you know, in some ways it's good to hold your financial professional. It's good to hold their feet to the fire to occasionally. And a second opinion is a great way to do that. Now, of course, you know, a lot of times you get a second opinion and you find out, hey, I'm missing out on a number of these things. I didn't know this was available. I'm paying the same 1% fee or 1.5% fee. Uh, but I'm not getting half of the stuff that you guys are talking about. And sometimes, you know, if it's a compelling proposition, maybe you do end up working with somebody else. But that's not necessarily the goal for us. We're hoping to educate people. We're hoping to improve their plans and hopefully give them a second opinion that's actually valuable for that. Um, and that's really what we're encouraging. Whenever we encourage people to call in or to email us if they have any questions, if they want somebody to, you know, a second set of eyes to do a, do a once over on their plant.

Speaker3:
Yeah. For sure. You know what's interesting. And you said it just a moment ago talking about uh, getting into something where it has features or, uh, additions to it that you're paying for things that are costing you money, but do you actually need it or not? Uh, and I remember this article that I read, um, uh, 15 years ago and it was talking about some new is it an automotive magazine? And it was talking about the new features on, like, the BMW five series or something like that. And, you know, one of these luxury cars and they're basically the article, the preface of the article was saying, like, do we have features just to have features and just to be the quote unquote leader in luxury and just to quote unquote, be the leader in performance or otherwise? And, you know, they sort of kind of what's that?

Speaker5:
I don't know, Ryan. That sounds like a question for Joe Girard.

Speaker3:
You know what? You're probably right. Uh, I should I should reach out to Joe Girard and and find out. But like, the whole premise of it was saying that, like, you're spending all this money on on a luxury vehicle, which, by the way, I don't have any problem if you're a BMW driver or Mercedes driver or whatever the case is.

Speaker5:
But I like the cars. I just hate the people who drive them.

Speaker3:
I used I, uh, didn't use my turn signal the other day, and for a second I thought I was in a BMW. Um, but it it does beg that question, right? Saying, am I paying for something that I don't actually need in this vehicle? Just knowing, you know, that, hey, this is what the sales person kind of said that I should have or get into and, uh, reviewing those things and saying, here's what you're actually paying for, here's what that benefit actually does for you, and here's what it means. Kind of the black and white, easy, digestible terms of what it actually means on what you're paying for. Uh, we're happy to kind of go through that with you If you have questions on any products that you've got.

Speaker5:
Yeah. And not to really just beat the horse to death here, but there is no elevator to success. That's especially true with annuities. No different when it comes to many financial products and instruments. Uh, I do feel like I need to be careful, though. Some of the feedback I've gotten is that, you know, I'm just trying to scare the hell out of everybody when it comes to some of this stuff, and I'm not, I promise you, like, annuities can be great. We've seen a lot of them that are not right. We we hope that you have one of the good ones. Uh, what I just want to do is to encourage people to exercise a little caution and get that second opinion, get a second set of eyes, somebody else to confirm that it's the best plan for you, that the writers that you may or may not have on the policy, that those are the appropriate writers. I keep referencing that one client because it's a great example where they had an income writer, they had an income feature they were paying for, and their problem was income, not because they didn't have enough, they had too much. They certainly didn't need an income writer on their product. So obviously it's a great example. But there's a million examples like that where, you know, people simply need to know what they have and they need to get a second opinion. Because sometimes, you know, if you're sitting down with the person who sold it to you, uh, you might not get the full picture.

Speaker3:
Yeah. For sure. Well, and, uh, annuities for a lot of people, uh, do have a good place and serve a really, really good purpose. Uh, it just really, there's a lot of different types out there. And, you know, to your point, you say we might be painting a bit of a picture, probably because of what we frequently see where, uh, somebody comes in and they say, this is what I've got, and it's great. And then we look into it with them, and then we have to be the ones saying, it's actually not what you've got. Uh, here's a better way to accomplish your goals. And sometimes, uh, thankfully, uh, you know, we do have those scenarios where it's exactly what people thought. They run into it. We talk through it, we confirm that things look good, and they leave here feeling great, right? Uh, unfortunately, that's probably not the majority of the time.

Speaker5:
Well, I would say. There you have it. Annuity awareness month. Month. We've fulfilled our obligation to the great month of June. Ryan, or anything else you want to add? Uh, no switch topics, I think.

Speaker3:
I think we covered it. I mean, there's a lot of great annuities out there. There's a lot of annuities out there that we would probably classify as other, uh, and, uh, definitely get a double check if you've got one or if you're looking into it and see how it fits into your plan and see if that's something that, uh, can give you some security in your retirement plan, whether it's via, um, principal protection, whether it's via income, writing yourself another paycheck every month and giving you some longevity protection or otherwise. But know what you're getting into and we're happy to walk through those details with you for sure. And with that, we can put a cap on it. Yellow. Say it's, uh, one of the things I did want to dive into if you're ready for it. I wanted to talk a little bit about, um, the retirement income gap. You want to dive into that with me, I'll say, yeah, let's do it. So the retirement income gap. What do I mean by that? Well, ultimately, we know that all most people know that, uh, once you retire, you'll have Social Security. But Social Security is not going to cover all of your expenses.

Speaker3:
It's not going to cover all of your annual expenses. And I don't just mean fixed expenses. Trade does a great job of communicating this. And he's got a great way of looking at it, saying, okay, what's everything that comes in, what's everything that goes out. And that equation is how to get your expenses, meaning, hey, that's great. You bring in $60,000 a year net, right? Or you bring in 100,000 or 200,000, whatever your number is, and then you go and you tell me, well, I only spend three grand a month, or I only spend five grand a month. Okay, well, where's the difference going? Right. If you bring in a hundred and you say you spend 60, then that means you save 40 grand a year. And inevitably ten for ten. People say, I'm not saving 40 grand a year, right? Which means that your expenses are higher than you think. Well, ultimately, I share that to say that when planning your retirement plan, when looking at your expenses, when looking at your income, your expenses are not going to be covered by Social Security solely, at least for the majority of people at least, right?

Speaker5:
I think that that a lot of times the disconnect happens when it when when you're talking about expenses, I think people just assume that you want to know about their core expenses, right? Food, clothing, shelter, taxes, health care, whatever the, the fixed stuff is that they have every single month and they tend to either, um, totally exclude or just, uh, they really have an unrealistic, uh, opinion or view of how much they spend in discretionary spending, their discretionary expenses like eating out entertainment, travel, uh, gifts that they end up spending on.

Speaker3:
Grandchildren.

Speaker5:
You know, whatever that discretionary stuff is. And a lot of times if you're not disciplined and that's why we often say, hey, you know, if you can make your 41K contributions, make them automatically write as much of that stuff as you can make it automatic. Otherwise, I'm sure you'll find a home for those additional dollars by way of discretionary spending. So I would say add up the core expenses, add up the discretionary expenses, and then subtract your guaranteed income and pension. How much do you have coming in from Social Security? Whatever those guaranteed sources of income are. Subtract that from the two expense items that I mentioned. Core and discretionary. That's your retirement income gap in my opinion. I think that's right. That's what you're talking about, right? Absolutely, absolutely. Income gap. How much income do I need to fill this gap. And where is it coming from.

Speaker3:
Right. Well, and if you want to simplify it even more core, that's your bills that come in that you have to pay every month or every quarter or whatever the case is, utilities, insurance, etc.. Discretionary. That's your Starbucks. That's your extra trips to, you know, the mall or whatever the case is. But ultimately that's money that leaves your account, right? If it's money that leaves your account really for any purpose, it is an expense, whether it's a core expense or a discretionary expense. If it leaves your wallet, that money is gone and it needs to be accounted for. Right. But that gap between those two things, like you said, is exactly what I'm talking about. So really, what is the plan to cover that gap? Uh, some people, you know, and we see a variety of different things, and some people do a great job and they start planning and they use whether it's their 401 calculator provided to them on their, you know, 401 K provider website or whether it's working with their existing advisor or, you know, it's they're an Excel spreadsheet person and they've kind of done their own little map. And a lot of people do a really good job of trying to figure out, what do I need to cover that gap. Other people haven't taken the step to start mapping that out yet, and we know that Social Security has some insolvency issues, which I know we've talked about multiple times before, and there are some different things that they're talking about to, uh, you know, help rectify that which which is a good thing. Uh, but there is still that plan to say, hey, when it comes to filling that gap, what are my possibilities? What are my options? Is it just focus on retirement savings? If it is focusing on retirement savings, what is my spend down plan? What account am I taking from first? What's my tax considerations for all of those things? It doesn't make a difference if I draw from account A versus B versus C first, or in what order does that even make a difference for my plan? Yes or no? Does an annuity fit into that? Do I need that extra paycheck so that I can have protection from longevity of life, etc.? All of those things, uh, are really the items that we look at.

Speaker3:
And ultimately the key word here for, for at least me. And I know I've heard you say this before too, but many times we find people are looking at all of their all of the pieces to their retirement puzzle. Social security is one of those pieces. Uh. Your expenses. That's one of those pieces. Your 401 K is one of those pieces. If you have an annuity, that's a piece, etc., maybe an inheritance is a piece. All of these things are pieces to your puzzle. But how do you coordinate all of those together? Right. Instead of looking and making a decision on what each one of those individually. How do I coordinate all of these pieces together? And that income gap is really the driving force of that saying, first of all, let's identify what my retirement income need is, what's my gap? And then what do I have accessible to me to fill that gap?

Speaker5:
Right. And I think that folks are conditioned to isolate each of those variables, because when you retire, you turn on the Social Security benefits. In fact. Good point. Most people just do that at the age of 62. And then we know that at the age of 73, that's when we have to pull from our pre-tax accounts. And I think we just have these, uh, these dates that are ahead, right? In our mind. We think that this is what we do, and we do it in this order, and we just kind of follow this routine. Uh, but that's, that's doing things, uh, like you said, that's isolating everything and doing it individually when really coordinating, it looks a lot different. Uh, because it may make more sense to delay your Social Security benefit. What would that do? Well, that would create more guaranteed income and potentially that would close the retirement income gap. And now we have a little bit of less guesswork to do with the additional gap that we have. Um, that's not the right answer for everybody, but there's a million different scenarios that we could discuss, whether it's an age gap between you and your spouse, whether it's a huge disparity between the two benefits that you guys have. Maybe one of you has a smaller benefit, maybe one has a larger of the two. Maybe RMDs are a problem for you in the future in the sense that, hey, the RMD far exceeds the expenses that I have and I won't have an income gap anymore. Once I reach the age of 73, I'm going to have an income problem that would totally dictate a different solution, right? But I mean, this is all part of the conversation. And as you can imagine, it's going to be completely different for everybody.

Speaker3:
Yeah. Also, I do have to ask you because I am just confident that somebody is listening and they just heard you say an income problem and they're confused. What do you mean by an income problem? Right.

Speaker5:
A great problem to have.

Speaker3:
It is a good problem to.

Speaker5:
Have a problem. Uh, yeah. And obviously income is not a problem. Uh, what we're talking about is, is taxation. Ultimately, uh, how much do you have to pay in taxes on your income? That's the problem. And a lot of times if you don't coordinate these things together, if you don't have a plan in place, you're leaving a tip on the table for Uncle Sam. So that's where we're talking when we're talking about solving for an income problem, that's what we need. What can we do now before we're just, you know, after the age of 70 for sure, your Social Security is on. There's no reason to delay. Right. You probably you're going to be taking your RMDs. Um, you know, it's just the flexibility isn't quite there as it might be in those earlier years of retirement. The retirement red zone, if you will.

Speaker3:
Right. You end up with fewer options later on down the line when it comes to try and limit taxation or make some moves that can better your situation. Because if you do have that income problem and I say that a little tongue in cheek, right. It's not an income problem, but it becomes a taxation problem. The other half of your income. Right? Yeah. Uh, what we all oftentimes see is that people that have more than enough income, which everybody loves to have now all of a sudden, my retirement nest egg, whether I end up using it or not, perhaps I never even touch it because I've got more than enough just in income. Uh, perhaps I need some of it just for my trips or whatever the case is. But now all of a sudden, I'm looking at it saying, hey, I was disciplined, I saved well, I made a lot of good decisions over the course of my lifetime and career, and we worked hard and did well. And just like Joe Girard, I took it one step at a time, right? Instead of taking the elevator. But I, I took the stairs to success. And now all of a sudden I'm looking at it, saying, hey, when I'm gone, there's going to be a substantial amount of money left over. My nest egg is still going to be pretty large, and there's going to be a lot left over. Yeah, well, you know, you may take the approach of, well, whatever it is, is whatever it is. And my beneficiaries can figure it out. Right. If they have to pay taxes, they have to pay taxes. Or, you know, if it's a charity and they have to deal with it, they have to deal with it. You could take that approach, certainly. But at the same time, typically when you're leaving some type of inheritance behind, whether it's spendable asset like an IRA or a Roth or whatever it is, or maybe it's property or otherwise. Typically it's being left to someone that you care about, typically speaking. Is that fair to say? Yeah, right.

Speaker5:
And, you know, speaking on Social Security and the income gap, um, I wanted to mention the fund depletion dates for Social Security. I know, Ryan, you mentioned this, uh, I think 2 or 3 weeks ago. And then Trey mentioned it to, uh, in a recent podcast. But we know not everybody listens every podcast. So I think it's important to mention this because. Yeah. Uh, the fund depletion dates. We've talked about this a lot, right? Social security, they actually ran a surplus for three decades. Mhm. And it wasn't until 2021 where they had to dip into the Social Security Trust fund, which of course is funded by contributions and depleted by distributions. Mhm. Um so anyways the trust fund was expected to run out in 2033. And Ryan what's the positive news on that.

Speaker3:
Positive news is that now it's pushed out two years further. So instead of being depleted or insolvent in 2033, it's now pushed out till 2035. And it was previously only funded at 76%. Now it's funded at 83%. So it's a little bit larger. Yeah, a little bit larger percent is funded and it's a little bit further down the line, which is a positive sign.

Speaker5:
Yeah. It's it's extremely positive. Um, I think the percentage of people who think that Social Security will be there, uh, for the duration of their retirement, I think that, you know, there's a huge number of people, huge percentage, that think that Social Security won't be there for them when they need it. So it's important to to highlight some of the positive news and updates as they as they come in. Uh, of course, the bipartisan commission Commission proposal. Um, you know, that you're not going to have a solution that satisfies everybody. Uh, but, you know, this is something that everyone in politics is talking about, right? Because, you know, our social safety net, at least in terms of Social Security, is one of the most popular programs. Whenever you see polling on this item. And I think that, you know, nobody wants to commit political suicide by doing away or cutting Social Security. So I think that, you know, um, I would I would expect that as we get closer to those dates, there's going to be more proposals and more potential solutions, uh, to fixing the solvency problem within Social Security and Medicare, actually.

Speaker3:
Well, and we want to make sure that we help you stay tied to this and stay informed on this. And so feel free to to reach out to us with questions on Social Security. We're happy to give you updates as we hear them and as we see them. Uh, whether it's just a, you know, updated report from, uh, Congress or, hey, here's a new act that's being proposed or whatever the case is, we're happy to have those conversations with you and how your Social Security plays into your retirement income plan. Uh, interesting. There was a poll, and I believe this was a Gallup poll, but it was a, uh, found that 89% of Americans believe Congress should act immediately to ensure full benefits for current and future beneficiaries. And I read that yellow say, and I thought, okay, 89% believe that we should do something. And then I thought to myself, and this isn't a Gallup poll or an AARP poll, but probably a Ryan Moffatt poll that says maybe those other 11% aren't just aren't paying attention and they don't know what it is.

Speaker5:
They either haven't paid into the system. They're extremely young and unaware.

Speaker3:
Right? Right. Maybe they don't know what Social Security is like. You know, like my youngest or like, yeah, let's say your little one that probably can't spell Social Security yet, let alone know what it is. That's probably part of the 11%.

Speaker5:
And then I get it, too, right? We have a number of do it yourselfers and clients who would look at that and say, hey, rather than paying my FICA taxes for all of these years, what I could have done with those dollars on my own. Right. And there's an argument to be had there, too. But it's kind of like insurance, right? It works based on participation. So, um, you know, there's an argument to be to be had there. But, you know, one of the things that I think is interesting is the fact that 90% of people agree on anything, especially nowadays, you know, that that seems like a miracle in and of itself.

Speaker3:
That that's a that's a fair statement. And I, I will I will agree with that statement.

Speaker5:
Well, why don't we move on to uh, you said there's another I like the segment we did last time with the the retiree, the story with the. I can't remember who you wanted to highlight this week.

Speaker3:
Yeah. Our retiree of the week. This is kind of a neat story. Editor Dwight, uh, is the world's oldest astronaut. World's oldest astronaut. So, uh, kind of an interesting story. So he actually, um, uh, he was actually America's first black astronaut candidate back in the 1960s. Uh, but he had some other things going on. And through whatever, uh, reasoning, uh, he ended up not getting into space at that time, but he was technically the first black astronaut. Uh, now, just recently, age 90, uh, 90 years old. This is incredible. Uh, beating out William Shatner, who previously was the oldest person to go to space. The oldest, uh, astronaut to go to space. Uh, Ed Dwight recently made it to space. Uh, and it was on Jeff Bezos Blue Origin. Uh, if you're following that at all. So it wasn't, uh, the NASA launch or anything like that, but, uh, Bezos Blue Origin company, and he went into space with five other passengers, experienced a few minutes of weightlessness. And it was really only, uh, what was it, a ten minute flight? Only ten minutes. Uh, well, ten minutes in space, I should say. Yeah.

Speaker5:
Did he survive the trip?

Speaker3:
He did, as did the other five.

Speaker5:
You never know what that age. I would think the liability coverage on on that expedition was, uh, quite costly.

Speaker3:
Well, you know, the interesting thing about it is that doing anything, you know, at age 90 and, uh, last week we had talked about a woman who had done 300 some odd Ironman runs, uh, well into her 70s and 80s. Right. So I love these stories because even at age 90, uh, his lifelong dream and his lifelong goal of going into space and being an astronaut finally came true at age 90. And I think it's just a wonderful thing, uh, as we kind of close today. But, uh, looking at his military service, um, and all his other hobbies that he had and career, etc., there's still, uh, he was still able to accomplish his dreams and goals even that late in life.

Speaker5:
Yeah. And I really think that this is this is a critical thing. And I know we talk about finances and we're talking about numbers and ways to save money on taxes and where to draw from. First, all the typical conversations that we have regarding investments. But one of the biggest things that I wish I could impart for many of our listeners, especially those that are getting ready to retire, retirement isn't where you stop doing anything and just relax on the beach. Um, just think of it as more of a transition where you're closing one chapter of your life, but potentially, um, broadening your horizons. Right? Like some of the people that we've talked about, whether it's, uh, Dwight, is that his name? Dwight. The guy, the.

Speaker3:
Dwight.

Speaker5:
Ed, Dwight or the lady who did the the triathlons and the Iron Man's. Um. You know, it's important to have something like that. You know, I'm not saying you have to take it to that extreme, but to have something in retirement that you're looking forward to, whether it's volunteering, whether it's spending more time with your grand grandchildren, uh, something. Find a new a new passion, a new hobby, something that keeps, uh, keeps life interesting for you. Because the alternative, really, even though it might sound good to be retired, to spend your time sitting on the beach or sleeping in every day, that gets old, that gets old very quickly. And we hear that all the time for people who've retired and and obviously, you know. Yeah, I mean, give yourself a few weeks, enjoy it for a little bit, but then have a plan. Have a plan prior to the time that you, you get you put in your notice at your company and you let them know that you're no longer working there. Have a plan in place, and if you need help with the plan, the best person to to talk to is Trey. Trey is is really excellent in this regard. He has a million different ideas in terms of different charities and different institutions and programs, who would happily take some volunteer work from from anyone, but also just ideas on how other people have retired successfully and some things that he might recommend that you implement before you pull the plug, if you will.

Speaker3:
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, the two halves to planning retirement are number one financially. Am I sound right? Do I have the security and do I have the plan so that I can be the best steward for what I've worked for the past 30, 40 plus years so that I can get to this phase? And then the other half, the plan is, what are you going to spend your time doing? You know, and I think that's a really well said. Y'all say I really do. You don't have to have the the goal of going to space. But if it is your goal, go for it. Honestly. Um, but uh, any other final thoughts you all say before we wrap it up today?

Speaker5:
I think we've covered it. I think it's, uh, you know, we're we're, um, I mean, I guess we could talk about annuities a little bit more if you want to. Ryan. Or I know our.

Speaker3:
Mayor enough yet. Maybe we should really double down.

Speaker5:
Had a lot of truth in this. I'm not sure how much awareness we've created, but that's all right. Up until the holy month of June.

Speaker3:
No, it's it's, uh. It's good. They're good topics, and it's good to focus on them. And really, any time to to focus on your retirement plan. Right. Even if you're a Gen Xer out there that still has a handful of years left. Um, there are a ton of stats as far as, uh, retirement goes for Gen Xers. Just the same there are for baby boomers, right? Meaning that hey, who feels prepared, who feels funded or underfunded or otherwise? And so whether you're about ready to retire or just retired, if you haven't coordinated all of the pieces to your retirement plan, if you haven't gone through and looked at how they all impact each other together, and you've only looked at each one step by step, please give us a call. We'll dive in with you and we'll show you what that total coordination looks like. We'll keep you posted on Social Security as we know more about it. And with that, we thank you for listening. We hope you have a fantastic day, a fantastic week, and tune in next time. You can follow a follow a previous podcast episodes at ATF Podcast.com. If you do want to reach out to us, our phone number is (612) 286-0580. Give us an email to our first name at G. Wealth.com so Trey at G Wealth.com Ryan or yell at G. Wealth.com. Thank you again. We hope you have a great day and we'll talk again soon.

Speaker2:
Thanks for listening to all things financial. You deserve to work with retirement planning specialists who care about your money, and take a unique approach to your financial and retirement needs. Visit all things financial.com and set an appointment today.

Speaker1:
Any examples used are for illustrative purposes only and do not take into account your particular investment objectives, financial situation or needs and may not be suitable for all investors. It is not intended to predict the performance of any specific investment, and is not a solicitation or recommendation of any investment strategy.

Sonix is the world’s most advanced automated transcription, translation, and subtitling platform. Fast, accurate, and affordable.

Automatically convert your mp3 files to text (txt file), Microsoft Word (docx file), and SubRip Subtitle (srt file) in minutes.

Sonix has many features that you'd love including secure transcription and file storage, world-class support, powerful integrations and APIs, generate automated summaries powered by AI, and easily transcribe your Zoom meetings. Try Sonix for free today.