What Savvy Americans Are Doing to Protect Their Retirement

6.30.23: Audio automatically transcribed by Sonix

6.30.23: 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 from Fort Mill, South Carolina. Happy Saturday, people. What a great time to be alive in these United States of America. Money Matters with Mike is a show designed to arm you with information and give you plenty of meat on the bone to chew on each and every week. And today we are absolutely bringing the heat again. On today's show, we're going to talk about what savvy Americans are doing to protect their retirement. And I'll even throw in some tips for you to follow as well. As always, I have the distinct honor and privilege of being joined by the one and only my co-host and producer extraordinaire, Mr. Matt McClure. Matt, how are you doing today, brother?

Producer:
I'm doing great, Mike. I hope you are as well.

Mike Zaino:
I am. I am doing extremely well and enjoying life to the fullest.

Producer:
That's that's what you got to do. That's what you got to do. Especially when, you know, the the weather has gotten warmer now. And, you know, things are things are good. Things are cooking. And I love the topic of this show today because, you know, we've got these things that that savvy Americans that that wealthy people kind of financial habits of wealthy people. And so the goal, obviously, each and every week is to educate people. But we're going to educate our listeners this week on those things that people who are wealthy do. So maybe there are some things in here that you can emulate in your life and that you can, you know, that might help you be a little bit more wealthy yourself.

Mike Zaino:
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah.

Producer:
There we go. So we've got plenty of stuff to get to. First of all, though, Mike, I wanted to mention to our listeners, you can always go to the website. It is MoneyMatterswithMike.com. You can find out more about the show, more about Mike Zaino himself on that website as well. And you can also reach out for a free consultation. It's MoneyMatterswithMike.com 704 560 1573 Now, Mike, I also have to mention you can find our podcast there on the website or wherever you listen to podcasts, you can get this podcast version of the show and we are kind of taking off here on Facebook and on YouTube. Really. If you go either of those places, you search for Money Matters with Mike and you can interact with Mike Zaino himself, see a bunch of video highlights of the show and some special content you're not going to see anywhere else. So mean. That's great. I love it because the listeners are really getting involved. Mike Yeah, I.

Mike Zaino:
Really enjoy the interaction. I enjoy responding to the comments and and a lot of folks are out there saying, you know, giving some encouragement and saying what a good job we're doing. And, you know, by teaching as many people as we can. You know, for an example, today's show, different habits that they can elevate their their own financial well-being with. So I mean, that that is fun for me to jump on the socials and be able to answer people's questions and and just go back and forth with folks. So, you know, keep that up, listeners, if you haven't followed us yet on Facebook, make sure you do so if you haven't followed us yet on on YouTube, make sure you go ahead and like both pages, subscribe to both pages. That way you're never left in the dark when it comes to some of that special content.

Producer:
Yeah, absolutely. Keep updated on all things going on with Money Matters with Mike and you can also reach out there or via the website or the phone number to get our free report on the banking crisis, the things that you need to know, how you can protect your hard earned money from volatility that has been infecting the banking sector so far this year. It is an absolutely free of any cost report. It's also free of any obligation. All you all you have to do is reach out and you can schedule a consultation or just say, Hey, Mike, I'd like this report. That sounds like something I'm interested in. So we'd be glad to send that your way. Well, coming up on the show today, Mike, of course, as promised, the top financial habits of wealthy people. Tips to help our listeners really sort of maybe emulate what wealthy people do and help them, you know, have a have a winning strategy to deal with their own money. So more information on the lost decade as well. That period between 2000 and the end of 2009, he that was a rough ten years for the market. So we'll talk about how that affected people and their retirement. We'll also give you some reasons, and there are plenty of them to stop trying to time the market. You know, we're going to share the numbers on exactly what it looks like when you try to time the market and you'll see there aren't too many advantages of necessarily trying to do that. And then annuities being bought at a record pace. We'll have information there, some stuff about the job market and things you need to know if you are trying to change jobs soon and plenty, plenty more. So that is all coming up here on the show over this next hour. But first, Mike, let's get things rolling with our Quote of the week.

Producer:
And now wholesome financial wisdom. It's time for the quote of the week.

Producer:
And our words of wisdom this time around might come from Milton Friedman, who I know that you have loved the words of many, many times here. And Milton Friedman said this once, quote, Nobody spends somebody else's money as carefully as they spend their own.

Mike Zaino:
Man, that is so true. Right. And I love his I love his snarkiness. And I could just imagine what he would have sounded like saying that in person. But, you know, that quote to me suggests that people tend to be much more cautious, much more thoughtful, much more attentive when they're spending their own money compared to when they're spending someone else's money. It kind of reminds me of the people up in Washington right now and the debt that they've gotten us into by just, hey, let's throw money at it, right?

Producer:
Hungry for something to chew on. Here's some meat on the bone.

Mike Zaino:
There are few reasons why people may exhibit those different spending habits when it comes to their own money versus somebody else's money. So when somebody spends their own money, they directly bear the consequences of their choices. Right. Something that we have spoken about before on the show. So if they're making poor spending decisions, then they may experience financial hardship or loss. And that personal stake motivates them to be much more careful and considerate in their purchases. Okay, People have a stronger emotional connection to their own money because they earned it through their own efforts. Right. They're much more likely to be mindful of how their hard earned money is being spent and make those choices that align with their personal values as well as priorities. Okay. They have a sense of ownership and a sense of control over their own money. They have the autonomy to make those decisions based on their needs, their desires as their financial goals. And that sense of control, again, leads to more responsible spending habits when people get to spend other people's money. All right. Whether it's through an expense account or, you know, you just have it budgeted in somebody else's money that you get to spend, you're going to have a much lower level, at least a perceived lower level of personal accountability. And that reduced sense of ownership can lead to less careful and considered spending behavior. So it's important to remember that not everybody is going to behave in the same way. And there can be exceptions, obviously. But, you know, some individuals may still exercise prudence and care when they're spending other people's money due to their personal values or ethics or professional obligations. But by and large, they're much more frivolous when they're spending other people's change.

Producer:
And it all, I think, at least for me, psychologically boils down to the fact that it, you know, like you said there in the beginning, doesn't really have any consequences immediately for me. If I go spend somebody else's money, you know, it just burns a hole straight through my pocket and great, you know, I'm okay. It's out the door. Fine. My bank account still got some change in it. You know, that's kind of the thing that it boils down to for me anyway. Yeah.

Mike Zaino:
No, there's there's. There's no doubt about it. I mean, I wish people could, could have the, the, the compass. Okay. The financial compass with all money, not just their own but other people's as well. I wish our government could have that compass and not spend more than they earn, but hopefully we're going to, you know, be able to reach some form of compromise that that takes us through the remaining decades. And we don't have to constantly revisit like we had to earlier this year, the debt ceiling. Right. That's not a fun thing to have to keep coming up against each and every time that it presents itself.

Producer:
Yeah. And it seems like it comes more and more often these days. They'll reach sort of these temporary agreements that then, you know, then they have to renegotiate and always goes down to the wire. And it's not a not a fun thing to do.

Mike Zaino:
It's a Band-Aid, right? Yeah, it's exactly what it is. They're not addressing the root cause and they're just putting a Band-Aid on on a on a festering wound that just underneath the Band-Aid continues to fester. Right.

Producer:
And you're playing with get some Neosporin for that thing. No, but you're you're, you know, playing with fire, too, because you're playing around with the full faith and credit of the United States government at the same time. And then that can have global economic implications. It's not like it's, you know, you're out here playing, playing t ball in the park. You're you're playing you're playing in the major leagues here. Yeah.

Mike Zaino:
They're really playing with other people's money.

Producer:
Yeah, exactly. Exactly. And not just ours. Everybody's so. Yeah that's.

Mike Zaino:
Very true. There's no doubt. Listen, guys, if you are ready to get more serious about what's happening with your money, then we encourage you to give us a call. Book your free consultation. Go to our website. MoneyMattersWithMike.com. We're going to answer as many questions as you have and we're going to educate you on all of your options so that you can choose what's best for you and your loved ones.

Producer:
Absolutely. And we've also got some things that, you know, could be of of interest to you as well if you maybe perhaps want to be wealthy, because we've got some tips to share with you that are the top financial habits of wealthy people. This actually came from an article recently that was in Yahoo! Finance. And there are 15 of these you know what? There are some great ones in here. These top financial habits of those who are wealthy. So the idea is maybe there are a few of these, maybe several, maybe all who knows that will sort of speak to you, maybe, you know, make that little as you see in the cartoons, a little light bulb go off in in your little thought bubble above your head there and say, oh, I can do that or this is something that I can strive towards. So let's start running down this list here. Mike Number one, I think is is pretty essential and that is set financial goals.

Mike Zaino:
Yes. I mean, think about this for a second. If you don't know where you're going, it's going to be really, really hard to get there. Right? You can't plan to achieve any types of goals until you have identified what your goals actually are. And I have found that it definitely helps to both, you know, make plans for the short term, the mid term, as well as the long term. What do you want to see? Where do you want to see yourself, I should say in one year? In three years, In five years, In 20 years, Right. You'll feel more accomplished whenever you actually hit and reach a milestone. And it's going to encourage you to keep going. Wealthy people don't get discouraged and just totally abandon their financial plans if they make mistakes. Guess what? People are human. Humans make mistakes. Lord knows when it comes to money. I've made my share of them now, mostly in my 20s and 30s. Right. And kind of wised up a little bit in my 40s. And I'd like to think that I'm that I'm fairly wise now in my 50s and we'll get even wiser as I age, right? But brush it off as a lesson learned and continue working hard toward increasing your wealth. You won't lose. You know, in sports you have a W for a win and an L for lose, right? Well, your L is going to be a double L, and that's going to stand for lesson learned.

Producer:
Yeah, there you go. And and the thing is, is everybody makes mistakes, but you've got to learn those lessons. You've got to learn from those mistakes. And if you do, that's that's how you grow. That's how, you know, things get better in your life. And, you know, if you don't grow from those and you don't learn those lessons, then you're just you're stuck. You're not going anywhere. You know, you've got to make the situation better and start with learning from those mistakes that you make, because inevitably they will happen.

Mike Zaino:
Yeah. And if you don't learn from them, guess what? You're doomed to repeat them. So. So the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Make a change, set some goals, and let's put a plan in place for you to reach them.

Producer:
Absolutely. Don't be insane there. Number number two is follow a budget. I mean, this is one, Mike. I think budget is one of those it's one of those words that is sort of like a four letter word that's got more than four letters in it to a lot of people because they're like, Oh, no, that's like, it sounds like the least fun thing ever. And it's not necessarily meant to be fun, but in and of itself. But it's meant to help you be able to have fun in your life.

Mike Zaino:
No mean budget. Budget is not a four letter word. It's a six letter word. And instead of it being restrictive, like a lot of people think that it is, it can actually be 100% the opposite. It can be liberating. Freeing. Okay. And budgeting itself is very, very basic. It's kind of like personal finance 101, but following one and sticking to one can prove to be difficult. Okay. So as you earn raises or you create additional revenue streams, you're going to want to naturally just start spending more. But what you have to do is try to resist the temptation of lifestyle inflation. In other words, elevating your lifestyle when your take home is is elevated as well. If you want to improve your financial circumstances, you're going to need to save or invest that extra money that found money instead of spending it and elevating your lifestyle. You're already used to spending what you spend already. So when you have more, save more. Your future self will. Thank you.

Producer:
Absolutely will. And we spent a good deal of time on it. Weeks back talking about that very thing, about that thing that was the quote of the week actually was, you know, talking about the time to save money is when you have it, not when, not when you don't, because you know, when you don't have it, it's when you need it. And when you, you know, have it, you might not necessarily need it. So if you don't need it all, save it. You know, it's, you know, kind of a roundabout way of saying it. But when you've got money, save some, put some aside because again, future you will really really. Thank you. Yeah.

Mike Zaino:
As we said on that show, make hay when the sun shines, right?

Producer:
Absolutely. So I love that. I love that quote from your from your friend and named Jerry, I think. Right.

Mike Zaino:
That is his name. Yeah. Jerry.

Producer:
Okay, good. I remembered that because it was my dad's first name too, so I'm like connected that. But anyway, but too smart guys, too really smart guys. Number three on this list of the top habits of wealthy people is to make smart investments. And the word smart is is key there because you don't want to be, you know, the people who had invested in all the dot coms right before the.com bubble burst or anything like that.

Mike Zaino:
No. You know, I had a client that I went out to visit one time, and he was he was definitely living below his means. Okay. And he asked if I could invest some money for him, like. Absolutely. And he says, Hold on, I'll be back. And he goes off into his into his room. And I could see it because the way the house was structured, you could see right down the hallway, well, this guy kneels down and he reaches under his bed and he pulls out a suitcase and he kind of brought the suitcase into the kitchen and he set it on a table. And I could tell it was heavy by the thud it made. Right. And he's like, Here, I want you to invest this. And I'm like, What is that? And he opened it up and he had $250,000 in cash. And I'm thinking to myself, Holy cow. I said, How long have you had that? He goes, That's where I saved my money. I don't believe in banks. And I'm thinking to myself, Wow, wealthy people will understand that they shouldn't keep their money in cash under a bed or in a savings account at the bank. Right. They invest their money. They don't have idle money. Money that is just sitting there this way. The money is always working to create even more money. And so investing only will increase your wealth. Of course, if you make the right investments, millionaires know how to invest for the biggest returns, and they also get good guidance. Good advice, right? You should take the time to learn about and understand investments before you make any yourself. Never invest in anything that you don't fully comprehend. That's a sure way of making sure that you lose money.

Producer:
Yeah, exactly. Always seek that good, solid advice and make sure, as you say, that you know, the ins and outs of the things that you are investing in. And one of the ways that you can do that a lot of the time I feel like is to invest in things that you are passionate about as well and that you, you know, you really find interesting because then it's going to be easier for you to go and understand those things. You're going to already be kind of halfway there, if you will, in understanding what that investment is. Right? So some some good things to keep in mind there. Number four, habit of wealthy people save for emergencies. We we beat this drum a lot here on the show. But it's for good reason because it's it's very, very important.

Mike Zaino:
Yeah we beat it loudly. I don't think there's a show that I've done where I haven't said people wake up, you need to have an emergency fund, right? At least six months worth of living expenses in an emergency account that you don't pay bills out of. It is literally sitting there. If that is your only idle money, guess what? I am okay with that because it's only going to be roughly six months, maybe a year, depending on your spending habits worth of expenses. Okay. So having that safety net can prevent you from needing to take money from other alternatives that could cost you a lot should you suddenly need cash? Okay. For an example, in an emergency, you don't want to be forced to take an early withdrawal from your retirement fund. You don't want to be forced to take out a personal loan or, God forbid, start swiping plastic and rack up that credit card debt because all of those choices are going to come with extra fees. That will most definitely put a dent in your six letter word budget.

Producer:
Yes. Again, not actually a four letter word, folks. Not something to be scared of or think that it's that it's, you know, inappropriate to talk about because you need one. You got to do it. And an emergency fund has got to be part of it. Number five, you talked about the gentleman who you went to see, that client of yours, who you went to see, who was living below his means. I don't necessarily think that this number five on our list is going to be, you know, advising people to go that far as that guy did. But live below your means is number five on this list of the financial habits of wealthy people.

Mike Zaino:
Right. And I think that everybody out there knows that they probably shouldn't live above their means, but living below them is actually how you grow your wealth. To many people that I sit down with are not living necessarily above it, but they're living right at their means. In other words, if they're taking home, you know, $8,000 a month, they're spending 7990 and they got like ten bucks left at the end of the month. Okay. You don't want your bills and everyday costs to eat up your entire salary If you are spending your whole paycheck every single month, you could get stuck in that rut of living paycheck to paycheck. So instead, by spending less than you could actually afford to, what you're going to enable yourself to do is build that emergency safety net. You're going to be able to save some extra money. You're going to be able to invest that extra money. And so instead of elevating your lifestyle to try to keep up with the Joneses, Joneses, rather, to impress people that that you don't even like, right. Then just be a little bit more prudent with your own money and live below your means.

Producer:
Yeah, You don't have to go out to eat at the fancy restaurant every night. You don't have to have the car with the you know, $1,000 a month payment and probably almost $1,000 a month insurance payment. If your car is costing that much to you don't have to have all of those things. You know, you can stay home, have dinner at night, cook something yourself there. Have a car that's, you know, not a clunker, but something that's going to be safe and affordable that you are not going to break the budget with. I mean, it's all of these things really do make a huge difference in living below your means and having that extra money to put away for your future self. And it's super important. Well, number six then, on our list of the habits of wealthy people take advantage of benefits. This is something that, you know, people may think, oh, well, you know, I've got my my health insurance or my whatever through my company that I work for. So I'm taking advantage of the benefits. But are you sure that you're taking advantage of all of them?

Mike Zaino:
Correct. Because not all employees fully do take advantage of all of the different benefits that might be offered and others might miss out because their current employer doesn't offer a benefits suite. So aside from health insurance, you know, what employees can look for are different incentives, right? Different bonus options. If they're in a production based type of business, they should look at what type of life insurance their companies offer. If they offer an employer sponsored plan like a 401. K, if they match, for an example, taking advantage of the complete match so that they're not leaving any free money on the table. This next one, a health savings account. It blows my mind how many people don't take advantage of an HSA. So when I sit down with people and I'm like, Well, you don't have a health savings account? And they're like, Nah, we don't have one of those. I said, So you like paying taxes on the money that you're no you're going to spend on on health care each and every single year. And they kind of look at me like like, huh? And their ears kind of perk up. And I'm like, look, if you open up a health savings account for an example, right, you're not going to pay the tax. It's a tax free vehicle for you to spend money. As long as that is spent on health care. Some companies will even offer stock purchase options. And if you don't have a current employer that offers you a suite of of benefits, then changing jobs could result in not only a higher salary, but also additional benefits. So make sure that you're taking advantage of all the benefits that your employer has to offer. And if they don't offer any, you might look around at some place else.

Producer:
Yeah. And you know, I mean, always feel free to go in and ask the people in your human resources department and see if there are any thing that you're not taking advantage of that they offer. And also, you know, the vast majority of employers, especially if you work for a company of any size, are going to have some sort of online portal or resource there. Make sure that all of your your boxes are checked and there's nothing that you have missed because you could be missing out on a lot of those advantages. Number seven on the list of top habits of wealthy people, financially speaking, that is, is to strategize for taxes. Now, that is well, it's a five letter word, but still taxes also not fun. Yeah.

Mike Zaino:
Now that is a four letter word, even though it has five letters. Right? Because no one likes paying taxes. Okay. And what I have found is that people who make a lot of money, they avoid paying more taxes than are absolutely 100% necessary and required. They know how to take full advantage of deductions and work with a qualified tax preparer to ensure that they keep as much of their money as they possibly can. You know, I used to do my own taxes every year. I would sit down and I'd spend an entire day and I'd have all my paperwork spread out over the kitchen table. And it used to drive me nuts. It was literally my least favorite day of the year. And then I finally decided, you know what? I'm going to get TurboTax. And I did TurboTax for a while, and I felt like I was saving some money because I thought I couldn't afford to go to a certified public accountant. And what I found was, is eventually I needed to go to a CPA and I actually should have done it well before. So doing your taxes on your own might save you a few hundred dollars and may be the best option if you just have a, you know, a 1040 EZ.

Mike Zaino:
It's a fairly simple return. But anyone else, if you start acquiring assets, if you're starting to make money, right, you need to work with a professional who who actually does this for a living. And in fact, if you are a business owner or you're a high net worth individual, you need to make sure that you're not just seeing your accountant. Once a year I meet with my accountant literally every two months to make sure that we're doing tax planning so that we can strategize and take advantage of all of those deductions each and every time we visit. And that just keeps me on track with taxes. So you want to make sure that that anybody that you're working with obviously understands the tax laws and regulations and is able to find you as many of those legal deductions as possible so that you're not overpaying. Uncle Sam. Listen, tax avoidance is legal tax evasion. Asian is not. And that's how they got Al Capone. So you don't want to be Al Capone.

Producer:
You don't want to do that at all. And you know, there's a reason that the tax code is so complicated, right? I mean, they don't expect people to be able to take advantage or know any of the tax breaks that they're that are hidden in the tax laws. Right. So there are there are things out there that you could possibly be taking advantage of. Chances are that you're probably not. And so getting with an expert, it's just like anything, go to the experts. Go to the people who know what they're what they're talking about when it comes to your finances, planning for your retirement, planning for your future. I know that that is Mike Zaino, and you can get in touch with him at MoneyMattersWithMike.com. Now, is Mike a tax lawyer or a CPA? Absolutely not. But he knows a guy or two. He can connect you with those to handle that side of everything. But as far as your planning, as far as getting all of your ducks in a row and preparing for the future that you have dreamed of, I can think of nobody else than Mike Zaino for you to get in touch with. You can also get in touch with him and request a copy of Well, we've got a couple of books actually here. There's one called Taxes are on Sale, which yes, they are, because in the future, taxes are going up. And so there's a lot of great info there about, you know, planning for your taxes, planning for your future. With that in mind, the taxes are going to be higher in the future. There's also another book called Annuity 360 that is a great free resource we can send out to you as well. And so just do that. Call. Mike Zaino 5601573. That's in the 704 area code 704 560 1573. Mike, I tell you, a lot of great resources here that, you know, people can get with no charge, no obligation. I think that that's a great thing to take advantage of.

Mike Zaino:
It is. And people just have to send me a Facebook message, right? Send me an email. Send me a contact request saying, hey, I'd like that taxes are on sale book or I'd like that annuity 360 book or I'd like that 23 cost cutters for 2023 or I'd like that some more information on the widow's tax. I mean, we have so much information to share that is only going to provide you an arm. You all right with really, really, really good ammunition to to set your financial journey, you know, in motion and help you keep more of what you've earned and worked so hard for.

Producer:
Yeah, it's your money, so you might as well keep as much of it as you absolutely can. There you go. All right. And we're just about halfway through now with this list of the top financial habits of wealthy people. Number eight is to grow passive income. And this is one of those things, Mike, that we sort of refer to it as as mailbox money. You know, it's just the checks keep on coming, but you're not necessarily out there getting any elbow grease going, earning that money every month.

Mike Zaino:
Mailbox money, right? Imagine making money while you sleep. Okay? Wealthy people look for ways to work smarter, not necessarily harder, although if you can work smarter and harder, then growing passive income streams, whether they're dividends, whether they're interest, whether they're rental income or royalty income, they can allow you to make money without actually taking on an extra job or necessarily doing any more work except for the initial work. Right? Because not all passive income streams are truly passive. So you'll need to consider the time and the effort required to start and then maintain whatever new venture you're thinking of. And you'll also need to invest in some assets such as stocks, fixed indexed annuities or real property in order to help create that passive income stream.

Producer:
Yeah, and as you as you know, you make a very good point there, Mike, about not all passive income being truly passive. I know that you have had some rental properties throughout the years and you know something, something breaks down. A lot of times if you're if you're the landlord, you're the one who's got to go and fix it. So yeah, some of that, you just have to weigh all the things in the balance and take everything into consideration and see what, you know, strategy or investment might be right for you. Yep, absolutely. Well, okay, so number nine on our list of habits of wealthy people work with financial professionals. And by the way, guys, I know a guy just in case his name is Mike Zaino, and he's going to start talking now. Right.

Mike Zaino:
So. So if you look yourself in the mirror every single morning, every single evening, when you're brushing your teeth, you know, right after you get up and right before you go to bed, if you are not happy with the person looking back as far as the financial situation, well, then you might need to speak with somebody who knows a thing or two about how to get you to elevate your financial. Game and to make the most of their money. Wealthy people work with financial professionals as well as other professionals, like we just mentioned a minute ago. As far as tax professionals, estate professionals, it saves them a lot more money than they actually will spend on the services themselves. Millionaires won't take financial advice from the average person, and you shouldn't either. If you show me your friends, I'm going to show you your net worth. Okay. So advice from family and friends is often outdated. It's often flat out wrong, even when they have the best intentions. Okay, if I need a filling, I'm going to a dentist. If I need work on my engine in my car, I'm going to a mechanic. If you need work on your finances, please talk to a financial professional. And you don't have to be wealthy to start talking to one. All right. There are plenty of resources out there. We can at least get you started on a journey and point you in the right direction so that you can change and elevate your financial game.

Producer:
I mean, you know, Mike, I agree absolutely with everything that you said except one thing that, you know, the dentist, if you take your car to the dentist, he could possibly fix your grill. But anyway, that was pretty cheesy.

Mike Zaino:
Matt Dad Joke 101.

Producer:
There you go. That's it's my it's my specialty. I don't have my kids have four legs, but I've perfected the dad joke over the years regardless. And, you know, they don't laugh at him anyway, so, you know, it doesn't matter. All right. So on to number ten before I get, you know, vegetables and things thrown at me by the audience here. Make smart purchases. That's another good financial habit of wealthy people.

Mike Zaino:
I don't I don't know about you, but to me, this just is common sense. Right? Okay. Buying cheaper items that are lower quality or making impulsive purchases, that's going to damage your financial health. Okay. Wealthy people buy things that last and then they take the time to consider larger purchases before actually pulling the trigger and buying them. Okay. My grandfather, you know, he used to sell cars. He sold cars for 33 years for Chevrolet. It was in the legion of leaders every single year. You know, they offered him dealerships and he turned them down. He just wanted to sell them so I could have had a Zaino family dealerships. Right. But, you know, instead, I get to teach you guys how to make more money. But he always used to tell me, no matter what you do in life, buy good shoes. And I. I always wondered why he said that. And, you know, the older I got, the more I realized, hey, you need to take care of your feet, especially if you're going to be on them all day long. And I think he was really just telling me to make smart purchases, but in his own way.

Producer:
Yeah, by quality. And that's so important. A lot of people and you can even look at even the small things I think a lot of the time because you could walk down the aisle, say at the grocery store and there's, you know, the cheapo, maybe the store brand version of paper towels, for example. And they're really, you know, paper thin. They they are a lot cheaper. Maybe they're like a buck a roll or something like that. But then you look a few few things down, a few sections down, I should say, on the aisle. And there's the big name brand and it's got, you know, it's two ply or whatever, it's quilted or something and all kinds of fancy and all the things. And you might think, Oh, well, that's like three bucks a roll. The others like a buck a roll. I'm just going to get the dollar a roll thing where you're going to go through that in probably a 10th of the time. You're going to need.

Mike Zaino:
Six of those rolls to equal one roll.

Producer:
Yeah. So you might as well go ahead and buy the quality thing that you know is going to last you a lot longer. It's actually a better investment in the long run, as long of a run as you can have when you're talking about paper towels, I guess. So there's that. So make smart purchases. So number 11, I love this because as someone who has in in my adult life, a lot of it anyway battled with with credit card debt use less credit because it's going to come back to bite you.

Mike Zaino:
Yeah so I mean leverage is one thing, right? And there are good uses for leverage. But when when that leverage comes in the form of a credit card, paying interest when you don't have to is a huge waste of money. If you can afford to pay in cash, okay, then do it or pay off the credit card before you use it again the next month. At least pay the statement balance so that you're not carrying that interest over from one month to the next. If you can't do that, consider whether or not you actually need to make the purchase. You might find that it is better to save a little each week and then buy the item with your own money in cash instead. If you do need to use the credit card, try to use a lower interest one and try not to carry the balance over from month to month. Okay. Albert Einstein, we talk about this all the time and compound interest and he said those who understand it will earn it. Those who won't will pay it. And those who carry credit card debt from month to month are paying it. Matt.

Producer:
Yeah, absolutely. And you make a wonderful point there about looking at a purchase that you're going to make or you're considering making and deciding whether or not you actually need to buy that then and there. I am the type of person that has to battle against that urge to to, you know, like I see it and I want it, you know, And so I, I think about, oh, yeah, I've got to have this thing and I've got to have it right now. It becomes the most urgent thing in my mind. And, and I've in the past just gone for that, you know, and I've, I've learned over the years to battle against that more and more. And that's something that, you know, you have to do and talk about going back to what we were talking about at the beginning of the show, learning a lesson. Right? You got to learn from your mistakes. And those are some mistakes that I have made in the past that I have. Thankfully, as I'm getting to be an older dog, I'm learning those new tricks, you know? Yeah.

Mike Zaino:
I mean, you've made them. I've made them. Our listeners have made them. And everybody's nodding, Yep, I've made them right. I can just see all your heads nodding right now. We've all made mistakes. Hopefully you learn from them and you don't repeat them.

Producer:
Absolutely. And if you have made some mistakes and you want to not repeat them. MoneyMatterswithMike.com is a great place for you to go. Request a free consultation. We'll have more on that as the show goes along as well. So number 12, as we work our way through these last few financial habits of wealthy people, monitor your finances or work with somebody who is going to do it for you, Correct?

Mike Zaino:
Okay. So so people that have wealth, they don't set it and forget it. Instead, I mean, they are reviewing their stuff all the time, constantly reassessing their financial situation. Because what that does is helps identify problems or potential problems early enough and gives them the opportunity to make changes if they need to. It's all about being proactive instead of being reactive. Think about it in terms of medication. If you have a reaction to a medication that has a negative connotation, right? But if you are proactively getting ahead of things, especially when it comes to your money, that is going to land you in a much nicer and more financially stable situation. So don't set it and forget it, but monitor things, Reassess things as you earn more, save more. Don't take it home. Kind of going and into what we talked about a little bit earlier in the show. But just make sure that if you can't do that yourself, you are working with somebody who will do it for you.

Producer:
Yeah, don't set it and forget it. Set it and remember it and keep on going back and looking and assessing and adjusting if you need to. Very, very crucial to keep that in mind as you're planning for your future. Number 13 on this list of the top financial habits of wealthy people, Mike is to stay up to date on economic conditions. Days like this in times like we live in right now. I know that that can probably be a little bit difficult because you don't want to be depressed. And so you might be avoiding that, that kind of news. But yeah, I mean, it's important to stay on top of what's happening because even though something might seem like it's it's far away and like, oh, the you know, the Federal Reserve meets hundreds or thousands of miles away from me and it doesn't really impact me, but it does Every decision that they make can potentially have an impact on our everyday lives.

Mike Zaino:
It can. It does. It will. Growing your wealth requires. Okay. It requires you to stay on top of current financial topics such as interest rates, laws, regulations, stock market conditions. Why? Because all of that stuff can change over time. Now, a lot of you may be thinking, Man, that sounds really boring and that's what I pay somebody else for, but you should at least have that, you know, what's the saying? The shoulder to the the, you know, the finger on the pulse. That's what I'm looking for. I was, you know, trying to I was trying to find the little euphemism there. But the finger on the pulse of what is actually going on. Why? Because it gives you an opportunity to be proactive instead of reactive like I just discussed. Right. And make changes as they're needed.

Producer:
Yeah. And when we're not saying, of course, sit and watch, you know, CNBC or Bloomberg or Fox Business or whatever all day long. But it's like, you know, do you know, keep up with what's happening, especially if it's something that you are invested in. You can set up notifications on your phone and get an alert if there's something that's happening or, you know, just make sure that you stay abreast of the different happenings on a large scale that are affecting the overall economy. Because as we say, those really can have a big impact on you. Number 14 here on the top habits of wealthy people take. Risks. And again, got to highlight that one word educated because you don't just want to take a risk just for the sake of taking a risk.

Mike Zaino:
This is true, Matt. But I mean, if you think about it, we take risks each and every single day. Every time you get in a car and drive, you're taking a risk. If you go to the beach and get in the water, you're taking a risk, right? You don't know what's underneath that water. At least I don't. Right. If you're flying on a plane, you're taking a risk. Well, it is going to be hard. All right. To significantly grow your wealth without taking any risks, but make sure that you only take educated risks. What do I mean by that? Learn about what you're putting your money into, because playing it safe will prevent you from making more money. But taking on too much risk or unnecessary risk could cause you to lose a lot of that hard earned dough.

Producer:
Yeah, and it's about balance, you know, It's about what is right for you. Anytime that you work with with a client. Mike, I know that you go through a lot about their risk tolerance and do an assessment of what their risk tolerance is and what amount of risk might be appropriate for them. That's a very important thing to to know.

Mike Zaino:
It is. And if you don't know if or if you've never really thought about, hey, what is my risk tolerance, what does that actually mean? You can go to MoneyMatterswithMike.com and on my website I have a free risk profile questionnaire and it's going to ask you some questions in ways that you might not have thought of before. And your answers will ultimately tell me what kind of risk, you know, temperament that you have. And then we're going to share that with you to see if it actually aligns with what you thought. So make sure you go to MoneyMattersWithMike.com, fill out the risk profile questionnaire and learn what your risk tolerance actually is.

Producer:
You might be surprised to see exactly what those results are. You could be very different than you think really when it comes down to it. So very good thing to do there. And number 15 on this list, Mike, the very last one of our top habits of wealthy people hire help when it makes sense. This really goes back to something that you were talking about a little bit earlier when you you know, you said I was doing my taxes myself for years and years and years and thought that I was saving myself money. But then it turns out in the end, when I hired the expert, the person who knew what they were doing, I came out better in the end. So that is something where you realized, Oh, I need to hire help because it makes sense for me. So this goes not only to taxes but to anything else really, financially speaking, or just in life in general. Right?

Mike Zaino:
So, so many people, so many of us have really busy schedules and sometimes they have a full time job or they have multiple part time jobs as well as having side hustle or 2 or 3. So while you could save money by, for example, building that deck yourself, okay, consider whether your time is actually really worth it. I've done this before. I'm looking at something and thinking I could build that deck probably in about four hours. Three days later. Okay. I look at wow, all that time that I've spent on this, if I could have just hired a professional, maybe the professional would have been able to do it in four hours. But since I'm not the professional, it took me three days and people can become so hung up on saving money and creating that, you know, so-called sweat equity that they fail to realize that they could have come out ahead both time wise and money wise. All right. If they paid someone else to do the task at hand. Now, unless it's a labor of love. Okay. So if you're paying less than you can earn in one hour, then it might be worth it to buy the labor.

Producer:
Yeah. I mean, and I have done things like you were just talking about too, you know, especially during a pandemic. I wasn't really going anywhere for a while and I thought, you know, I can put this new flooring down in this bathroom. I'll be done in a couple hours, like you said, like three days later, because the adhesive wasn't, you know, behaving like it should. And something went wrong here and there and the other. And it didn't turn out quite to be as easy a job as I thought. It was great in the end. But yeah, you hire a professional when it makes sense for you and of course you can afford it. And if you are interested in talking to someone who can help you navigate these things, maybe help you with, you know, incorporating some of these habits of the wealthy into your everyday life. Go to MoneyMattersWithMike.com MoneyMattersWithMike.com or call 704 5601573. And talk to Mike Zaino Well Mike we're going to talk a little bit more now about. The lost decade, and we've mentioned it briefly before on the show, but want to do a little bit more of a dive into it, because it was this period of time between January 1st of 2000 and December 31st of 2009. We call it the lost decade. Explain to our listeners exactly why we say that.

Mike Zaino:
I'd like to forget that decade from a financial perspective, right? I love that decade because one of my my youngest child was born during that decade. But it's like from a financial standpoint, there's a thing called sequence of returns. Okay. And this matters, folks. This matters a great deal. And so especially when you're in retirement or about to enter retirement and you're in that retirement red zone, the five years immediately before the five years immediately in retirement, what sequence of returns is referring to is the timing in which the market gives you returns like positive growth or losses? Okay. And so the lost decade started out with three years in a row of negative returns. Now it is virtually impossible to make that up in a ten year time period. So in 2000, the market lost 9.1%. In 2001, it was down 11.9%. In 2002, it was down 22.1%. Well, then we were followed by, you know, good growth in 2003, 28.7, decent growth in 2004, 10.9. You know, we had a modest year keeping up with inflation in 2005 and 2006, it was almost 16%. In 2007, it dropped a little, barely kept up with inflation. And then we had the financial crisis of 2008 where we lost 37%.

Mike Zaino:
And I'm talking about the S&P 500, right? So that index is an index of the 500 large cap stocks. There's only 500 companies over the course. Even with in 2009, a 26.5% positive return because the first three years were negative nine, negative almost 12 and -22. Right. We never had time to make that up. And so those ten years actually had a negative return of 9.1%, -9.1% over the course of that decade. And so we want to help our clients protect themselves from what is called sequence of returns risk, which again, refers to the timing in which you either receive returns from the market or experiences loss from the market. Again, we talked about Einstein calling compound interest the eighth wonder of the world, but it's important to remember that it can work for you or against you. So please, please, please consider scheduling a free consultation with us where we can help you implement a plan that shows you how to capture stock market like gains but without stock market risk. All right. You can either do that by visiting the website at MoneyMattersWithMike.com or by giving me a call. (704) 560-1573.

Producer:
And describe what that's like, if you will. Mike When somebody does that, goes to the website, reaches out via the phone number and requests that free consultation. What do they experience in that sort of initial call, initial conversation, and then the actual sort of full consultation? Yeah.

Mike Zaino:
So the initial call is just going to be a brief 15 minute or so conversation. I'm going to get to know you a little bit about as far as what your goals, your your, your aspirations, what your current financial situation is and and kind of how you expect financial professional to help you. Right. And we're going to determine whether or not we move forward. And if we do, we're going to schedule a full, deep dive consultation. I'm going to ask you to bring me everything that you've got so I can actually, you know, perform almost like a a financial x ray of everything that you've got going on. Again, this is at no cost to our listener, no obligation to our listeners. You're only going to work with us if it is better for you. And so what I'm going to try to do is discover exactly how much you're paying in unnecessary fees and help you cut those unnecessary costs, whether they're in your IRA, whether they're in your 401. K or just your spending habits point blank. There are some people that I meet. They're great spenders, okay? They're not great savers. And we try to change those habits. If you are, you know, coming close to Social Security or Medicare age, then we're going to do some some serious Social Security maximization planning and strategizing for how do we take advantage of all four parts of Medicare, which is the government's health care system? And then bottom line, we're going to compare your situation to what's possible if you work with us. Okay? Because remember, folks, it is your money. And if it matters to you, it matters to me.

Producer:
Absolutely does. And you can go to MoneyMatterswithMike.com or call 704 5601573 to request that free full consultation. Well, Mike, just a couple of minutes left here in the show and before we run before we call it a day here on this week's edition of Money Matters with Mike, we spoke, you know, about market timing a minute ago, right, with the Lost Decade conversation. And we wanted to to kind of end on this note, which is an important thing to point out. Yeah. And it is. Stop trying to time the market. Don't don't try to pull out your crystal ball and see. Oh I think things are about to go way up right now. I'm going to get all in. Yeah, don't do that because your crystal ball chances are is broken.

Mike Zaino:
Yeah. Just like mine and just like yours has been for a very, very, very long time. Now, what does work over time is consistency, right? If you look at the two decade period from 2001 all the way to 2020, that's 20 years. Okay. If you were just to have invested $2,000 a year. So we're not even talking about big money, $2,000 a year each and every single year. Okay. If you were to try to time the market and you had bad timing, you're looking at $30,000 less than if you had perfect timing. And if you just do what's called dollar cost averaging, which means you're buying when it's low, you're buying when it's high, because that is the best way. Over time to put your dollars to work, you would have landed right in the middle. And so $2,000 a month using dollar cost averaging over those 20 years would have netted you $134,856. Now 2000 follow my math times 20 years is how much? $40,000 of your own money that you put in there, right? Two times 20, 40 grand of your own money that had more than tripled up to 134 and change almost 135. Had you just used dollar cost averaging, had you stayed in cash, it would have only been about 44,000 and change right there. So you can see that you'd much rather have a 300% return by going from cash to dollar cost averaging and not trying to time the market. Because if you miss the five or so most important days of a year, you're missing all of the growth. And that's why it's not timing the market, but it is time in the market. Now, if you're closer to retirement, then you can't afford to lose or take any negative returns. We have solutions for that.

Producer:
We absolutely do. And by we, I mean Mike Zaino does. And you can give him a call and or go to the website either one MoneyMattersWithMike.com or you can call him (704) 560-1573 and request a full free consultation. Well Mike that's going to just about do it for this episode of Money Matters with Mike. And you know it's kind of flown by here. We got a lot of great info in folks spread the word about the show, send a link to the podcast to your your friends, your family. Keep spreading the word and keep making us more popular out there. Because the more people who learn these things that we talk about each and every week, the better off I think people are in general. Mike, thank you for everything that you bring to the table, sir, and we'll talk again next week.

Mike Zaino:
Awesome. Matt, I appreciate your contribution to the show. The show wouldn't be the same without you. But more importantly, I appreciate all of our listeners that tune in diligently in the Charlotte market at 9:00 every Saturday morning, and all of our other listeners who tune in diligently as they have time across all the medium platforms that we are on on podcast. Okay, whatever you're doing this weekend, I hope you do it to its fullest extent 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.

Producer:
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 and does not provide a guarantee or a specific result. All copyrights and trademarks are the property of their respective owners. A life 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 or the results obtained from the use of this information.

Producer:
Fixed annuities, including multiyear guaranteed rate annuities, are not designed for short term investments and may be subject to restrictions, fees and surrender charges as described in the annuity contract. Guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying ability of the issuer. Remember, all of Mike's listeners receive a free financial consultation just for listening to the show. Visit MoneyMattersWithMike.com to learn more and schedule an appointment. Thanks for listening to Money Matters with Mike and subscribing wherever you listen to podcasts.

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 enterprise-grade admin tools, automatic transcription software, automated translation, world-class support, and easily transcribe your Zoom meetings. Try Sonix for free today.