10.4.22: Audio automatically transcribed by Sonix

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

Producer:
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.

Producer:
Welcome to Money Matters with Mike, with your host, Mike Zaino. Get set for a full hour of financial information and economic news affecting your bottom line. Mike works hard each day to educate Americans like you on how to reach the financial freedom they've worked so hard for. And he can help you, too. So now let's start the show. Here's Mike Zaino.

Mike Zaino:
What's up? What's up? What's up? It's Mike Zaino coming to you live from Fort Mills, South Carolina. Happy Saturday, people. What a great day to be alive in these United States of America. And today, again, we are going to bring the heat. The whole goal of this show is to arm you with useful information that you can actually use and give you plenty of meat on the bone to chew on each and every week. I'm excited today to talk about nine ways to live comfortably during retirement. And once again, I have the distinct honor and privilege of being joined by the one and the only Mr. Matt McClure. Matt, how are you doing today?

Producer:
I'm doing great, Mike. You had a good week, I imagine.

Mike Zaino:
I have had a great week. It's been awesome.

Producer:
Yeah, it's been it's been a wonderful week for me. Busy a week as per usual. I think these days it seems to work out that way. But hey, if I'm busy, that means I'm doing stuff and hopefully getting stuff done. So as long as I'm productive, I think it's great.

Mike Zaino:
Thank you. Busy to be busy is horrible. Busy, productive is awesome.

Producer:
That's right. And hopefully we have a productive hour coming up here on the show as well. We do have nine ways, as you said, to live comfortably during retirement. We've got our right or wrong segment where will challenge our listeners and well, mainly my financial wisdom. We'll also talk about reducing your risk during these volatile times. A lot a lot more coming up in the show. So some some great stuff really that we have in store for folks. And I also wanted to mention, Mike, if our listeners are interested, if they like what they hear, we always encourage them to go to the website Money Matters with Mike dot com that website once again is Moneymatterswithmike.com It is all one word dot com or you can give Mike a call at 704 560 1573 that's 704 560 1573. And you can also listen to the show wherever you get your podcasts. I mean all of the big ones, the Spotify, the Apple podcasts, etc. etc. We love when you subscribe, we love when you listen to all the past episodes of the show. Leave us a rating, send us a message because, hey, we love hearing from you.

Mike Zaino:
We definitely do. And the feedback is how we grow and we put out what people want to hear and what they want to learn about. And it's amazing how broken the financial education system is in the United States, Right? And so we just do our part to educate the masses because a rising tide lifts all boats. And so if there's anything here that you would like us to talk about, then give me a call and let me know. Yeah.

Producer:
And that's was actually going to be what I was going to going to ask you next, Mike, was what is it like when people call you and maybe try and find out if they want to start working with you and make their financial situation hopefully better?

Mike Zaino:
Absolutely. And so when folks call us, I mean, we seek to answer a few questions, right? And number one, what does a successful retirement look like to you? What components make it successful? You know, who are you going to be doing life with in retirement? Is it just you and you're looking to be a single traveler or do you have a spouse or a significant other? Do you have friends or family or are you doing it with them? Are they included in your plans? Right. What are you looking to accomplish? Do you have any specific goals that you would like to see happen during retirement? How you plan on funding your retirement goals, and what steps you've created to make sure that you have adequate income each and every single month? And these are just some of the questions that we seek to answer. There are a whole host of other ones, and so you're only going to do business with me if we feel comfortable together, right? I mean, my goal is to get people to wake up and start looking out for themselves and lay out a pathway that is easy to follow step by step that ultimately is going to help you at least reach some financial freedom for your retirement. And if you have an advisor already, that's great. I'm not trying to take you away from your advisor, but if you haven't heard from him or her lately, please reach out to us, get a second opinion, a second set of eyes on your financial situation. Because again, our whole goal is just to help you reach your financial freedom goal.

Producer:
That's right. And it starts kind of here with the show, because the show is all about education and really, you know, knowledge is power when it comes to these things, taking control. Over your own financial situation can be such a powerful thing in your life. And so if you want to continue that, that journey or start that journey, even go to Moneymatterswithmike.com Or give a call to 704 560 1573.

Mike Zaino:
And guys that rings this phone right here my cell phone if the only time I don't answer it is when I am in a meeting with somebody on the other line or if I'm taking time with my wife who I've dated every week for the past 31 years, or if I'm just on the odd chance I'm taking a personal day. But if you leave me a voicemail message, I promise you I will get back to you.

Producer:
That is an odd chance, folks. That, like is the rarest thing. He's always working, but he's always working for you and for the for his clients out there. And once again, the website folks, Money Matters with Mike Dot com.

Producer:
And now for some financial wisdom, it's time for the Quote of the Week.

Producer:
Well, our quote of the week this time around comes from somebody you might have heard of who you know, might know a thing or two, or at least he did when he was alive. Yeah. Not so much anymore. But, you know, his legacy does live on, after all. And his name was Albert Einstein. Yeah, he was a little smart. And he said, quote, If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal and not to people or things. I think it's very profound.

Mike Zaino:
I think it is profound. Albert Einstein was an incredibly smart guy. And last week we talked about keeping up with the Joneses. Right. And that was about tying your goals to other people. Well, this week it's about just your goals themselves. And so, you know, financial planning. And when we talk about financial planning as a whole, it includes five key steps. The first one is goal setting. The second one is budgeting. The third one would be mitigating your risk. The fourth one is building wealth and then understanding how taxes affect your retirement planning. So today in our Meat on the Bone segment, we're going to talk about that first step, which is goal setting.

Producer:
Hungry for something to chew on here is some meat on the bone.

Mike Zaino:
So the first question I like to ask is why is financial goal setting important? And the answer is, is that having meaningful goals can set you on a path to a debt free life and place you on that path to financial freedom. And you should prioritize each and every single one of your goals based on how important they are to you. So some examples of financial goals would be, number one, start an emergency fund. Life is extremely unpredictable and it is important for you to be prepared. Just look at what happens during hurricane season that we've got going on right now. And last week, Hurricane Ian came in and and devastated that southwestern coast of Florida. And with all the flooding throughout the state because of how slowly it moved, there was a lot of devastation. Well, people in Florida prepare for hurricane season. So, you know, you need to be prepared by having an emergency fund because needing money and not having it is not a good position to be. And you would much rather have it and not need it. What do you think of that? Matt?

Producer:
Yeah, that's absolutely right. You know, we talk about when we talk about things like income in retirement, for example, we talk about having more money than month, not more month than money. Same same principle kind of applies here. You'd rather have that emergency fund and not needed or not need all of it, you know, have an excess of it, then really, you know, be in a situation that you didn't anticipate. And those things happen all the time to to you know, everybody everybody always has, not always, but everybody will have an emergency at some point or another that that they might need that kind of money for and to not have it would just leave you really in a bad spot.

Mike Zaino:
Yeah. I often say that life gets in the way sometimes, right? You weren't expecting to come home and find water all over your floor because your water heater broke and or you weren't expecting the washing machine to just stop working on you. And these are just expenses that you don't want to have to dip into retirement savings in order to cover. And so making sure that you have that emergency fund, that's a great example of one goal. Another goal would be to pay off debt. And that's probably one of the most common financial goals, whether it's paying off the house, paying off the car, paying off credit cards, whatever, it doesn't matter. Just pay off your debt. And then another goal would be saving for retirement. Be systematic in the way that you save. What does that mean? That means, well, every time you get paid, no matter how you get paid or how much you get paid, make sure that you're saving or better yet, investing at least 15 to 20% if possible. 30% if you can. And I promise you that once you get used to living off of less, you will never miss it. So being systematic and automatic with your savings is huge. What do you think of that advice?

Producer:
Matt Yeah, absolutely. If you make it a habit or if you make it something where you don't even necessarily feel that it's gone away, like if you have to, you know, physically go to the bank and go up to the teller and make a withdrawal and say, give me X amount of dollars, and then I'm going to take that and then transfer it over like that. You would really feel it, right? But if it's just an automatic thing that just happens each and every time you get a paycheck or whatever happens, it happens regularly on a schedule. Yeah, that's something that just makes it part of your. Or routine. I like that a lot.

Mike Zaino:
Yeah. When it's out of sight and out of mind, you're not even thinking about it. And then again, when you learn to live off less, you'll never miss it. So that's. That's huge. Another goal would be to strive for home ownership. Your home can be one of the biggest assets in your portfolio. And imagine paying for something month in and month out for your entire life and not owning it. And I know people like this who've just been habitual renters their entire life when they could have actually purchased something that grew in value and over time built equity instead of having nothing to show for it by renting. And then the last goal that I like to see people have is to to plan for fun. It is very, very important to reward yourself by taking a vacation here or there, or by purchasing something small to reward yourself for hitting your goals. The whole purpose of financial goal setting is to enable you to live a better life. And if you don't plan for fun, what's the point?

Producer:
That's very true. I am. You know, if you can't have a little fun at the end of the day, then then you know, it's all work and no play, you know? I mean, it really is.

Mike Zaino:
makes Jack a dull boy.

Producer:
That's right. And I don't want to be a dull boy. Matt doesn't want to be a dull boy. So there we go. You know, you've got to have some fun.

Mike Zaino:
Neither does Mike. And I'm sure our listeners out there, they don't want to live dull lives either. Right? So so those those are examples of different types of financial goals. But but how do you come up with your own? There's a process that you must have and you have to commit to the process. And the first thing to do is absolutely, you must write your goals down. I don't know what it is about writing your goals down, but when you write them down, it is almost like you have entered into a contract with yourself. Something about writing them down holds you accountable to them. And when I look at folks who just set their goals in their minds versus those who write them down on paper, it's not even close. The ones who write them down on paper, get them done. So do me a favor. If you're listening, write down your goals.

Producer:
Yeah, that's very true. That I think it it just sort of makes it, as you say, kind of like a contract. It just makes it a little bit more official. You know, you feel like, okay, I've written this down, This is in writing. This isn't just some abstract idea in my mind. It's something I got to stick to. And it's a it's a great, I think, psychological tool.

Mike Zaino:
Yeah. Psychologically is huge for you to look down. I mean, I know people that write down a copy, they put a copy on the on the bathroom mirror. So then when they wake up in the morning, they're washing their face and they're brushing their teeth. The first thing they look at are their goals. And that just helps them kind of set their mindset for that day. Right. Another thing about goals, you have to make your goals specific. You just can't say, Hey, you know what? I want to be better with money. What does that mean? You have to be specific in what you want to do by being better with money. If, for example, paying off debt is your goal, which debt are you going to pay off? First, you've got to quantify how much do you owe? How much can you afford to pay each and every time you get paid. If you break it down in individual steps, it becomes much, much easier. For example, if you owe, say, 5000 in credit card debt and maybe you take home about $1,000 per pay period, if you can condition your mind, take 15% of that or $150 on top of what your minimum monthly payment is. And then you take that and you throw it at your debt, that's going to get paid off a lot faster. And also give yourself a deadline. So if you want that 5000 debt to be paid off in one year, then you take 5000, you divide it by the 12 months and you're going to have to pay $417 a month. That's provided you don't continue to swipe that card and add to the debt. Your goal should scare you, but they should also be realistic. You can't just say, Hey, you know what, I want to be a millionaire by the end of the year. If it's not possible, actually for you to become a millionaire by the end of the year without winning the lottery.

Producer:
Let's get I was going to say that's about the only way that I could be a millionaire by the end of the year is to win the Powerball or Mega millions or something.

Mike Zaino:
Exactly. So the benefits of setting financial goals, they all work together and they help boost your financial health. Plus, we talked about the psychological effect and that you gain more confidence in your money management decisions and that significantly decreases money related stress.

Producer:
And that can have a big impact on your health, too. I mean, that's you know, you're talking about not only financial wellbeing but really physical well-being, because people worry. I mean, money is one of the things that people worry over more than. Anything else. And and it really that kind of stress can just compound and take it take a toll.

Mike Zaino:
Yeah, it can. And so, you know, those that that live stress free lives or relatively stress free lives, I mean it's scientifically proven fact live much longer than those who are under just that duress, that that that weight of continued stress day in and day out. And that's why you see a lot of folks who are under that much stress having heart attacks in their forties and in early fifties. It's because of all of that stress. Stress kills. So if setting these financial goals and in achieving them and rewarding yourself, if that can help you to live a longer life, you can thank me when you reach your 100th birthday.

Producer:
There you go. Send send Mike Zaino thank you. Card on on your 100th birthday for the the great advice there is especially about the stress because that's that's a good thing but yeah and people are living longer anyway so you may be getting a lot of cards. Mike Yeah.

Mike Zaino:
No. Hey, that's great. I welcome Christmas cards. I got, I got several this year, which is, which is nice because my clients love me and I love them.

Producer:
Hey, there you go. I love and I love that. That's great. And a lot of great advice there about goal setting. I think that it's something that people sort of have this idea in mind where, as you say, they can just keep it in their head and it's just sort of this abstract idea, but actually putting it down on paper and making it a more real thing I think is really helpful.

Mike Zaino:
Yeah. When you when you have just have it in your mind, it's like you put it down on the counter and life gets in the way and the next thing a year goes by and the next thing a decade goes by and the next thing you're like, Dang it, I wish I had. Or if I only had. And so stop wishing, stop regretting. Write your goals down and take action steps to complete them.

Producer:
Yeah, well, I'me I really am kind of in need to to digest those in the Meat on the Bones segment.

Mike Zaino:
Yeah, we're very we're very comprehensive when we talk about financial planning and those other steps. We'll talk about those in future segments of the meat on the bone. And it just it just again, it educates people. And if anybody just gets one nugget, one nugget that they can apply to their everyday life, then then I feel like I've done my job.

Producer:
Well, there you go. And I know that they have. So that's that's fantastic. Well, and speaking of education, kind of the the bulk of the show today is going to be about some some tips for folks on how to live comfortably during retirement. And this is really a a list of nine things and nine ways that people can live comfortably during retirement. And pretty much anybody can do these no matter how much you have saved. Right. Like there there steps that you can take, no matter how your financial situation may look right at this moment.

Mike Zaino:
Yeah, that's that's that's true. Because, you know, everything in life can be broken down into goals and steps that you should take. And these steps are huge. We're going to start with the first one. And that's, I think, very apropos in today's economic climate with inflation the way it is with interest rates and mortgage rates rising faster than they ever have in four decades. With the markets decreasing, volatility is now back in play. I mean, America got lulled to sleep and we're living in this la la land from 2010. And so COVID hit us. We we basically were sitting at the blackjack table for over a decade and we didn't lose a hand. Right. It was very, very easy to make money. Heck, a monkey could have made money during that decade. And so now that volatility is back in play and we're seeing 10% swings, 20% swings. Heck, the market has been down more than 20% so far this year. It's crazy. And so a lot of folks right now are kind of freaking out and they're wanting to go to cash. And I'm going to say, you know what, If you're younger and you still have a decade plus of work left in you, you need to stay invested. In fact, buy more OC because you don't want to go to cash right now. If you sell your investments at a loss, then you are locking in that loss. Now, on the other hand, if you're very, very close to retirement and you can't afford to lose anymore, there are better ways to protect what you have earned throughout the entirety of your working career. So you're definitely going to want to get in contact with me to learn about all the different ways we can help protect your your nest egg. But again, if you have more than ten years of work left in you. You need to stay invested.

Producer:
And don't just put that money under the mattress. Right? It's like we want to we want to let people know that you can put your money to work for you. You've worked hard for it. Let it work hard for you. And, you know, if if it's if it's under the mattress, it's just, you know, it's taking a nice long nap and not growing.

Mike Zaino:
I remember hearing my grandparents say, you know, in that generation, say, cash is king, Cash is crap. Especially especially when you have eight point something percent inflation. And even if they get a reign on that and bring it down by continually raising the interest rates, there are things that you're just not going to be able to purchase tomorrow that you are able to purchase before because it's like death by 10,000 paper cuts. I mean, just slice yourself your money, your purchasing power is diminishing. Yes. You'll still have the same number of paper dollars. It's just not going to be able to buy as much. So please don't go to cash.

Producer:
Right? Exactly. Not not good idea at all. And at this time, especially, as you say, with that high inflation. And then so as we continue the nine ways to live comfortably during retirement here, number two is implementing a Roth IRA conversion before the age of 72. Now, now, talk to folks about why that could be a good strategy.

Mike Zaino:
So so if you have IRAs or you have 401 KS that are tax deferred accounts, what you have done is you have told the government that you'd rather not pay the taxes up front. You want to defer them, hopefully, to when you're in a lower tax bracket. But let me just remind people that in the 1960s, the current 24% tax bracket was over 50%. And so it's like that has a possibility of happening again. And if that's the case, do you really want your money in a tax deferred account? Plus, if you've never paid the taxes, if you're somebody who's fortunate enough to have never needed the money, well, guess what? When you turn 72, the government is going to come knocking on your door saying, hey, you need to pay up. You need to settle up with me and pay me some taxes. In the way they make you do that. Are through this required minimum distribution rule that they have. And that just means that anything in a qualified account. So whether it's a 401 ka4 hundred 3ba 457 a TSP, you know, any of these types of tax deferred vehicles, when you turn 72, you're going to have to take required minimum distributions and how much you have to take is based on a sliding scale that the IRS comes out with. And so the way to kind of combat that is to start systematically converting some of the pre-tax dollars by taking and converting withdrawal into a Roth IRA. And you want to do that by taking the amount of money that will keep you in the same tax bracket. In other words, if you earn this and the next tax bracket is here, then you want to take this difference and convert it because you'll pay the same amount of tax on it without elevating you into the next tax bracket. So I think that's a very smart thing for most folks to do as they and do it systematically as they approach retirement and into retirement.

Producer:
That's one of those things that that is done with a very specific purpose, and you have to do that very carefully. And that's why you need someone to to help you along in that process. And that person could very well be. Mike Zaino, you know.

Mike Zaino:
Along with your CPA.

Producer:
Yes. You know, you need a little little assistance in that area. But money matters with Mike dot com is the website for more information and reach out to Mike if you want to get started down that particular path.

Mike Zaino:
And then the third way that we're going to talk about would be just working a little bit longer. Most people's full retirement age from a Social Security standpoint is either 66, 66 and two, four, six, eight or ten months or 67 and then start taking Social Security. When you draw Social Security at age 62, you're getting $0.75 on the dollar. So by waiting until your full retirement age, not only are you making more money by working during those years, but then you are also going to enable yourself to collect 100% of the Social Security benefit that you're owed. So don't settle for less by taking it to early.

Producer:
Yeah, that's a very important one because, you know, I think folks might. Say it as soon as they're eligible. Give me the money. Give me the money. I want my money. But there is a benefit to not taking those distributions. As soon as you are eligible. But delaying that so you get that that 100% of the benefit that you're owed. And that's, I think, a very a very sound strategy for a lot of people because it just is something that makes a lot of sense. It's not hard to do, at least for most people from a you know, it may be hard to do if you if you're sitting there and you've got money that's that's kind of not burning a hole in your pocket, but you're sitting there and it's enticing you and you want it, you know.

Mike Zaino:
Yeah, there are there are people like that. It becomes it almost becomes as addictive as crack cocaine. You hit it once and it's like, ooh, and you like that high that it gives you. And so you keep you keep getting it and you keep getting it, but you're long term being detrimental to your overall retirement by doing that. So something to be careful about for sure.

Producer:
Yeah, it's a it's a drug, you know. Well, so there you go. So the number four way to live comfortably during retirement. And you kind of touched on this one a little bit earlier, but I think it's one of those things that definitely bears repeating is to pay off your house or not necessarily pay it off, but downsize, sell, sell that house, downsize to something smaller and then invest the difference. Because then if you sell that larger house, chances are you can pay cash for a new smaller house and then you'll have some money left over to.

Mike Zaino:
Invest, especially right, especially in the climate that we have right now. When it comes to real estate, people are getting all time highs for the prices of their houses. And so a lot of people will say, well, where am I going to go? Well, if your intent is to truly downsize, then you know what? You can find other homes that, yeah, you will have paid more for that home than you would have even just a couple of years ago. But still, by downsizing, you're going to have cash left over and then you can direct that cash into maybe creating a personal pension. And we can talk about how to do that. When you contact me at 704 560 1573 or by reaching out to us on the website at Money Matters with Mike Dot com. So those are definitely some great advice as far as options, when you can either pay off your house or downsize and pay cash for a new or small house for sure.

Producer:
Yeah, that was one of the things after my after my father passed away that my mom asked if she should do and she really, truly did consider it. She ended up doing something else. But but then she's still in the house. But, you know, she's like, Huh, do I really need all this space? But it's not like she has a bunch of space, you know, And it's and it's all one level. She doesn't have a lot of stairs. She's it's literally one step to go up in from the garage. So she's actually okay in her spot. But again, for for somebody else, it might make a whole heck of a lot of sense to do that, especially if the nest is empty and all the kids are growing. Right.

Mike Zaino:
Exactly. Because, I mean, one of my goals and we've talked about this, we live in a house that's designed for four or five people right now, plus two large dogs. And do we really need the house? I would love to move 20 minutes out of the city and into the country a little bit more, not have to deal with an HOA. They drive me absolutely bonkers and then be able to do what I want, where I want, and have a small one level house that my knees will thank me for later in life. And so that leads me to the fifth suggestion here is to when you don't have a mortgage, you can bank the money that you save from not having to pay that mortgage and put that into an investment account. Because if you remember from our series on smart retirement planning, one of the topics we discussed was smart reinvesting. And so this is just taking the money that you were paying anyway to a mortgage and now investing that money. So so this is just again, smart planning instead of spending the money and having really nothing to show for it, you reinvest the money in those investments grow over time.

Producer:
Yeah, that's one of those money burning a hole in your pocket situations. Once again, if you just if you let it sit there and it will, it'll burn a hole in your pocket.

Mike Zaino:
So we'll find a way to spend it 100%.

Producer:
Do something with it. Right. And put it again to work for you. And then so we talked about this and we've talked about it a couple of times on the show previously, but you sort of teased it a little bit earlier in the show today. The number six thing on the nine ways to live comfortably during retirement list here, that is, build your own personal pension that you can never outlive. And people might say, okay, that sounds like it's a great would be a great thing, but how in the world do I go about doing it?

Mike Zaino:
Yeah, especially if you have some disposable money that you would otherwise be spending. If you pay off your car, if you pay off your credit card debt, if you. Pay off your house. You still have the money that you were dedicating toward paying off those things. So why not create your own personal pension? Believe it or not. Guys and gals, there are ways that you can actually participate in market like gains, but have no market risk. Never be exposed to market volatility and it allows you to grow your principal at the same time your principal is protected. So if that sounds like something that you might be interested in for sure, give me a call and we can discuss your options. And that's going to enable you to, if you're fortunate enough to have a pension from your job. And very few people are still that fortunate unless you work for the United States government on top of your Social Security, that's guaranteed for the rest of your life. This is a way that you can build income that is also guaranteed for the rest of your life. So if in any way, shape, form or fashion that interests you, you need to give me a call and let's discuss.

Producer:
Yeah. And that number once again, folks. 704 560 1573 You can also go to the website Money Matters with Mike dot com. To reach out and schedule that free full retirement plan consultation with Mr. Mike Zaino. That's right. All right. So what is number seven on the list here, Mike?

Mike Zaino:
Number seven is to replace your bonds completely. It used to be people would put 60% into stocks, 40% into bonds to provide income later on in life. And, you know, kind of like the dodo it died that that philosophy is also coming close to death if it hasn't already died because bonds this year are down 15%. And why would you ever pay for an underperforming asset? That does not make any sense whatsoever, especially when there are other strategies that enable you, like I just discussed, to create a personal pension, to have income that is guaranteed for the rest of your life no matter how long you live. And one way to do that would be through a fixed indexed annuity or laddering, even fixed indexed annuity. So, you know, I had a client earlier this month that was 52 years old and he was going to purchase an annuity at 52. And then in ten years it would turn on an income stream. At 62, he was going to purchase an an annuity at 63 and it would turn on an income stream at 63. And he was going to continue doing that for seven years from the time he was 52 to the time he was 59. So that by the time he was 62, to the time he was 69, he would have seven different additional income streams. So, you know, replacing your bonds I just think is smart because the fixed indexed annuity will never lose value due to market volatility. It's just not in the equation. It's not a variable that you have to contend with. So to me, that's just smart money.

Producer:
Yeah. And I remember when when you first told me about that particular client, not all that long ago, I just was like, wow, that is I mean, that is just smart. And, you know, if you have the resources to do that, that's amazing. And we weren't.

Mike Zaino:
Even talking about a lot of money either. It was like 25, 25, started off at 25,000. And then he said he was supposed to be getting a raise. And so he was going to put an extra 25,000, you know, in the last few years to make it 50,000. So you don't have to have a lot of money to be able to do this stuff. It just takes proper prior planning to prevent that pitifully poor performance in retirement. The seven P's.

Producer:
That's right. Don't you don't want those. All right, here we go. So. So that's number seven, right? Replace your bonds completely. Number eight on the nine ways to live comfortably during retirement is, I think, really essential one, and that is to accurately calculate your monthly expenses and build up positive income gap at the start of retirement. This is that whole thing that comes back into play, Mike, where we're talking about having more money than month.

Mike Zaino:
And it starts with tracking those expenses. I know we've talked about this many times on the shows in the past. You have to know where every single penny that you make goes, because if you don't, you're going to have money that is just leaking out of your It's like you're putting water in a sieve, right? And it's just going right through because you don't know where it's going. Well, when you start identifying where the leaks are, you can start to plug those leaks and the next thing your sieve becomes a cauldron. And now you actually have something that holds water, right? So you want to build a cash flow positive situation and not have an income gap in retirement. And that starts by. Knowing where every single penny of that you have coming in is going each and every month.

Producer:
Yeah. If you don't know where it's going, then you don't you don't know where to go from there. So it's and you're not in a good situation to begin with. So so yeah, track that and like as you say, proper prior planning and the rest of the piece. Okay that's as far as I'm going and the rest of them, as far as I'm going, it's like Peter Piper picked up a pickled peppers over here.

Mike Zaino:
Is he free to say?

Producer:
Exactly. All right, so bring us home here. Mike. We've gone through numbers one through eight in our list of nine ways to live comfortably during retirement. What is the final one? Number nine.

Mike Zaino:
Yeah, So? So most people are familiar with with having a tax deferred type of an account because it's an employer sponsored plan that you've been contributing to for the entirety of your working life. Right. But you also need to be able to diversify your accounts between tax deferred accounts, taxable accounts, and then tax free accounts. So the taxable accounts are the ones that you pay the tax on. Now, like the Roth IRA, for an example, or if your employer offers a Roth version of your 401 K or employer sponsored plan and you can get those taxes paid and out of the way, now that means that money is growing tax free for the rest of its life. Which leads me to that last bucket of having tax free money, which obviously can be completed through the Roth, or it can also be, believe it or not, achieved through putting your money into a life insurance plan, a specific type of life insurance plan that is designed for you to take tax free loans against the balance or excuse me, against the the death benefit. And by the way, when I say you're taking loans against the death benefit, these are loans that you never plan on repaying. So it just whenever you die, whatever the loan balance is, will be deducted from that death benefit. And meanwhile, you've supplemented your income in retirement with tax free money. And all of this is allowable thanks to a tax code in the IRS called 7702. And those who understand it take advantage of it and those who don't just go on life blissfully ignorant of the fact that there are ways to be able to have tax free money in retirement. Again, the whole goal of the show is just to educate folks. You don't have to have an exorbitant amount of wealth to seek professional advice. You just have to be willing to make a phone call, be willing to take that first step. And believe it or not, there are people out there that will help you.

Producer:
Yeah, and Mike Zaino is one of them folks. I'll tell you, he will absolutely do it. And like I said, this is not just something that's for the uber rich. You know, like the the Mark Zuckerberg's in the Bill Gates is in the Elon Musk of the world. This is, you know, something that is accessible for, you know, for us, for us average folks as well as us regular human beings. So, you know, go to money matters with Mike Dotcom, fill out that contact form, get in touch with Mike Zaino, and he'll be glad to have that initial conversation and consultation with you. We'll tell you more about exactly what that consultation entails coming up here in just a bit. But first, Mike, you know, we've been talking about we just did our list of nine ways to live comfortably during retirement. And one of the things that, you know, we have have discussed here on the show before I know, is, well, when are you going to retire? Timing is is everything. Maybe you find yourself not ready to fully retire. Maybe you want to sort of dip your toe in the water. Right. And I actually recently here did a little piece about that, a couple of minutes about that very thing about something called partial retirement. And it's just that it's dipping your toe into the water. Right. To see how retirement is for you. Let's listen to this. We can chat about it for just a second on the other side. How do you plan to prepare mentally for retirement? I'm Matt McClure with the retirement radio Network. Powered by a mirror Life. When you think of retirement preparation, money is likely the first thing that comes to mind. And while getting your financial house in order is extremely important, it's not the only thing to consider.

Riley Moynes:
The Mayo Clinic, the world famous Mayo Clinic, has studied retirees and they've discovered that there is a 40% likelihood that in retirement people are going to experience elements of clinical depression. That's an astounding.

Producer:
Riley Moynes is author of the book The Four Phases of Retirement. On his YouTube channel. Moynes says leaving your career behind can be a difficult thing to get used to.

Riley Moynes:
It's a time, actually, when we begin to miss the routines that we had. We miss our colleagues. We miss our our work. We miss the sense of purpose that we may well have had and we become kind of disconnected from, it seems, the world.

Producer:
For example, before retirement, you may imagine yourself loving your newfound free time, but.

Riley Moynes:
For many retirees, it's exactly the opposite of what they expected and hoped retirement would be.

Producer:
So how do you tackle the potentially negative feelings that come along with retirement? Well, one suggestion is to try a partial retirement before you jump in with both feet. A recent article in The Motley Fool says You can do this by checking with your employer to see if they're comfortable with you scaling back your work hours. You might be surprised at their flexibility, especially if you've been with them for a long time. Now, if that's not possible, try getting a part time job with a different company or starting your own freelance business. Doing that could give you the opportunity to still earn money, leaving your retirement accounts intact longer and see how you handle having more free time. And the article says that means you can potentially avoid mental issues like depression. So will you quit working cold turkey or take retirement one step at a time? That's a key question to consider as you prepare financially and mentally for the future. With the retirement radio network powered by amateur life. I'm Matt McClure. So that's a look at partial retirement, what it is and what, you know, certain circumstances you could find yourself in if you just sort of want to test the waters out a little bit. And, you know, I'll tell you, Mike, I am the kind of person I'm like my dad was. I liked to work. And so I feel like if I were at retirement age and able to retire, I probably would not fully retire because I would just go stir crazy if I didn't have something to do and get accomplished every day.

Mike Zaino:
Yeah, I'm the same way. Matt. People ask me, When do you plan on retiring? And I'm like, Never. And they kind of look at me funny and I say, I'm not going to work as hard as I work now when I'm 70, but I really don't ever plan on retiring because I work with my mouth and with my brain, right? It's not I'm not a postal employee that is having to twist and lift and step and do as much physical work as they do. I'm not a brick mason, you know, So. So I work with my mouth and my brain. But when it comes to partial retirements, you know, there's a huge difference between eligibility. All right, You're eligible to retire. And then affordability, whether or not you can actually make ends meet and have more money than months. And so I always suggest that before people retire, they try to live off of their retirement income for at least six months, maybe even a year prior to retiring. That way they can identify any income shortfalls and they can address them while they still have income. Right. And maybe it is just going to a two or three day workweek to get you socially involved. Financially involved, mentally involved, physically involved. Just having that that that partial retirement can help with all of those things, plus a little put, a little pocket change, you know, a little jingle in your pocket and a little pep in your step. So I love the idea of partial retirements for a lot of folks.

Producer:
Yeah, me too. And of course, again, we say this with a lot of the things that we talk about. Most of the things that we talk about is not necessarily for everybody, but, you know, maybe you have maybe maybe you're looking forward to sitting on your porch and sipping some sweet tea for, you know, 20 years, as soon as as soon as you reach retirement age. But that's not everybody. So, you know, everybody's situation is different. And that's just one of those ideas that could be something that that might work for any of our listeners.

Mike Zaino:
That's true.

Producer:
Well, if if our listeners out there and I keep trying to come up with with like a name for the listeners, I'm like when I call it like the Zaino Nation, do we want to call him maniacs? What do we want to do? You know.

Mike Zaino:
It's zany, funny.

Producer:
Maybe that will stick. Who knows? I'll come up with a good one one of these days. But if anyone out there who is listening to the sound of our voices right now, if they're on the way to the Home Depot or Lowe's or the or the grocery store or the Wal Mart, wherever they are going to or from on this weekend, if they're listening to us and they want to know more about all of these things that we've been talking about and we'll continue to talk about for the next few minutes here when they do reach out at MoneyMatterswithMike.com Or call the number, what's that sort of initial conversation like? I mean, we talk about it as this full retirement plan consultation. That's really I think really what it is. People are like, oh, he's going to talk to me on the phone for about 5 minutes and I'm not going to discover anything new that I didn't know. That's not the case.

Mike Zaino:
Well, the initial call might be 5 minutes, it might be 15 minutes. It's more of a discovery call. But if you agree to come in for a consultation and we sit down and we work together as far as where you are right now, and I get a much, much more in-depth look at where you are, we're going to provide an in-depth consultation, I mean, a comprehensive consultation at no cost. And there's no obligation either. You're only going to work with me if it's best for you. So we're going to help analyze specific goals that you have. We're going to look at your unique financial situation. We will closely examine what you got going on currently, where you want to go. Eventually, we'll. Discover exactly how much you're paying in fees will help you cut out unnecessary costs in your IRAs, in your 401. Case and any other retirement savings accounts. We can also help you with Social Security planning, with Medicare planning. And bottom line is, is we'll compare your current situation to what's possible if you work with me. All right. And again, you're only going to work with me if it's best for you. What you see on this show, what you hear on this show is what you're going to get in person.

Mike Zaino:
My job is not to convince you that you need to work with me. In fact, I'll try to push you away before I do that, I'll just I'll just tell you right up front. That's not what I do at all under any circumstances. So if you like that approach and you don't like the sales guy type approach, I am. I get offended when people call me a salesman. All right. Because salespeople are icky. And if you're a salesperson out there, hopefully you don't act like a salesperson, right? I educate people. I want to teach you the why behind recommendations. Because once you understand why I'm recommending what I'm recommending, you'll have buy in. And it just makes sense at that point. So give me a call. Fill out the form on money matters with Mike dot com, however you reach out to me. If anything we've discussed on today's show appeals to you in the slightest. Reach out. You've got to take the first step. I'm taking the first step by putting the info out there. You've got to take the first step by actually seeking some professional help.

Producer:
Yeah, absolutely. And once again, that website is MoneyMatterswithmike.com . Money Matters with Mike dot com or the phone number which rings directly to Mike Zaino's phone 704 560 1573. That is 704 560 1573.

Producer:
Come on down as we test your financial knowledge in right or wrong.

Producer:
And we invite you to play along with us, whether you're at home or in the car or wherever you might be on this weekend. You know, right or wrong is is a lot of fun. And I get to find out, you know, kind of how much I know about the things that we talk about here on this show, testing my financial knowledge. And Mike Daniel is the expert. He's going to tell me if these statements that I have written down here are right or if they are wrong. There are three of them. Let's see how much I know and see how much you know out there as well. Number one here, Mike, is the S&P 500 is down more than 20% year to date. But investors in fixed indexed annuities are not down at all right or wrong.

Mike Zaino:
Matt, you are 100% right on that one. The S&P environment, the the Dow Jones environment, the NASDAQ environment, the Russell 2000, it doesn't matter what market we go to. They are all down this year. But guess what? None of my clients, not a single one of them, has lost a penny this year due to market volatility. In fact, I had a call from one of my clients who on Monday he told me he was really, really concerned because at work one of his buddies had lost $40,000 so far this year due to market volatility. And he just wanted to hear from my voice that he hadn't lost anything. And when I confirmed that for him, man, he told me this is what he told me. He goes, Mike, if you were a woman, I kiss you on the lips. And I couldn't stop laughing for about 5 minutes. I said, You know that's going on the air, buddy, don't you?

Producer:
And here it is.

Mike Zaino:
I got that on the air with his permission. So I said, I'm glad I'm not a woman right now.

Producer:
Oh, that's great.

Mike Zaino:
It is. But the truth of the matter is, is that I know people that have lost 10,000, 40,000, $200,000 due to them being fully exposed in the market and those fixed indexed annuities, especially if you are nearing retirement or already in retirement, you can't afford to lose. So none of my clients have lost a single penny. So again, you are absolutely correct in that even with the market being down as brutally down as it is, none of my clients have lost a penny.

Producer:
And that is music to the ears of everybody who's invested in the stock market right now. Great, great news. All right. So there we go. That one I got right. Let's see if I get this one right or wrong. And maybe if I if I was paying attention earlier in the show, maybe I would have done better on this one. And that's just a spoiler alert for you folks out there. Okay. Here we go. Number number two, the traditional 60 to 40 portfolio, that's 60% stocks, 40% bonds is a tried and true investing strategy that's still very successful today. Is that right or is that wrong, Mike?

Mike Zaino:
Matt, I think you know the answer to that one. That one is wrong. We did touch on this earlier in today's show. This strategy was developed back in 1952, and there are way better options today. I mean, think about it. Do you really want to be using a 70 year old strategy when it comes to your hard earned money in today's environment? Fixed indexed annuities that I just talked about are so much of a better option for the safe portion of your portfolio. Your pockets may be deep enough to where you still want to maintain some money in the market, and that's fine. It's not. You know, the fixed indexed annuity is not right for 100% of most people's portfolio, but it's right for the portion that you want to protect. So I look at it as if you've just spent the last 20 to 30 years restoring a 1965 Corvette. Right. If you have purchased this when it was a pile of rust and then you've spent 20 to 30 years restoring it to where now it's just about in its prime, would you park that in a garage or would you leave half of it exposed?

Producer:
I would not leave half of it exposed. Let me tell you, I was going in the garage. Its cover. It it not only in the garage, but probably with a car cover over it. The whole thing.

Mike Zaino:
Like climate control, like all that good stuff, right? Because you want to make sure that what you've just spent 20 to 30 years refining wasn't exposed to the elements outside of the garage. Well, that's the same way that I look at bonds. All right. Bonds are down this year and they are still subjected to the interest rate environment. So every time the Fed raises the rates, the value of bonds declines. And so how much of your hard earned nest egg do you want to protect? Do you want to park it all in the garage or do you want to leave some of it exposed? Well, that's up to you.

Producer:
Oh, there you go. It's just don't let it rust. Whatever you do, that's not good for the money or the car. All right, so there we go. That's two out of the three questions here. On right or wrong are statements on right or wrong, I'm batting 500 after that swing and a miss there. But number three, we'll see if I can redeem myself. And number three is you can structure your retirement accounts to deliver tax free income during retirement. Is that one right or wrong?

Mike Zaino:
Well, Matt, again, if you listen to our show earlier this show, you'd know that you got that one right. Both Roth IRAs and specific type of life insurance, namely the indexed universal life insurance policy, can both provide tax free funds. The Roth IRAs take tax free withdrawals. They don't have required minimum distributions. The money grows tax free for the rest of its life. And with the index universal life insurance policy, again, thanks to IRS code 7702, it allows you to build up cash value inside that policy and then take tax free withdrawals from the accumulated cash value or from the death benefit as a loan that you never plan on repaying. So both of those give you options to structure your retirement accounts to deliver tax free income during the entirety of your retirement. You are Hall of Fame numbers once again, but 667.

Producer:
There you go. I am right right there with the top players of all time in the right or wrong Hall of Fame, I must say. Well, there it is. That is right or wrong, folks, if you are interested in any of the things that we've talked about on today's show, once again, the website Money Matters with Mike dot com. That's moneymatterswithmike.com All one word or call 704 560 1573. Well, it's been another great show Mike. It has flown by once again, but I'm looking forward to next week's show already and I hope you have a great week, sir.

Mike Zaino:
Buddy, I am looking forward to you. Thank you, as always for being a great co host to the people out in the listener land. Thank you for listening every single week diligently and listening on podcasts wherever you guys get your podcast from. Without you, we don't have a show. So if you know anybody that hasn't yet heard the show, please pass it on the website. Moneymatterswithmike.com . That's not a secret. My telephone number 704 560 1573. That's not a secret. Listen again from the bottom of my heart. Thank you. And as always, make it a great day.

Producer:
Thanks for listening to Money Matters with Mike. You deserve to work with a financial and insurance expert who can offer strategies for protecting and growing your hard earned money to schedule your free no obligation consultation visit moneymatterswithmike.com Or pick up the phone and call 704 560 1573 That's 704 560 1573. Not affiliated with the United States government, Mike Zaino does not offer tax, legal or investment advice. Consult with your tax advisor or attorney regarding specific situations. Opinions expressed are subject to change without notice. These opinions are not intended as investment advice, nor do they predict future performance of any product. All information provided is believed to be from reliable sources. However, we make no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of any statement. This information is intended to be educational in nature. It does not provide a guarantee or a specific result. All copyrights and trademarks are the property of the respective owners. Amerilife assumes no responsibility or liability for the content of this message. The information contained herein is provided on an as is basis with no guarantees of completeness, accuracy, usefulness. Timeliness are the results obtained from the use of this information.

Producer:
Are you concerned about market volatility, rising taxes, economic uncertainty, and how it all could affect your future in retirement? That tune in to Money Matters with Mike to learn how you can protect and grow your hard earned money. Money matters with Mike every Saturday at noon right here on FM 100.1 and AM 1340. Protect your hard earned money today and schedule a free no obligation consultation now at Money Matters with Mike.

Producer:
Where's the best place to hang your hat when you retire? I'm Matt McClure with the retirement radio Network. Powered by a Life. Whether retirement is just around the corner or several years away, time is ticking on planning not only your finances for your later years, but where you want to live out your post-retirement life. Personal finance website wallethub recently released its list of best states to retire in 2022.

Jill Gonzalez:
Florida, unsurprisingly, ranked number one, followed by Virginia, Colorado, Delaware and Minnesota, while.

Producer:
At job analyst Jill Gonzalez.

Jill Gonzalez:
The top ten continues with North Dakota, Montana, Utah, Arizona and New Hampshire.

Producer:
So what makes a state one of the best to retire in?

Jill Gonzalez:
The study was based on 47 metrics, including tax friendliness, the elderly population, golf courses per capita and shoreline mileage.

Producer:
As for Florida, which landed the top spot this year.

Jill Gonzalez:
Florida excelled in tax friendliness, fellow retirees and things to do, but could use improvement with home health aides per capita, even.

Producer:
Though the Sunshine State is number one overall, If finances are your primary concern, you might want to consider a move to Mississippi. It ranked as the state with the lowest overall cost of living. As for tax friendliness, Alaska jumps to the top of the list. But what if you want some culture in your retirement years? New York ranks as the number one state when it comes to the number of museums per capita. The tradeoff there is naturally, the Empire State is one of the most expensive in the country. So where do you want to spend most of your time in retirement? And what factors are most important to you when considering a potential move? Those are key questions to consider as you plan for the future with the retirement radio network powered by a metro life. I'm Matt McClure.

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