Excel in Retirement

Charlie Munger is a 97-year-old billionaire and the vice-chairman of Berkshire Hathaway. You may recall Munger and Warren Buffett are primary controllers of Berkshire, and they’ve obviously both been around for a long time.

Munger was recently interviewed and stated that the stock market today is “crazier than the dotcom boom.”

From the article, “He said many companies were now trading on the US share market at prices that represented 35 times earnings – making it much harder for ordinary investors to make money on the market. It is hard to get results which could be called normal results in investing.”

This may be why CEOs and insiders have sold a record $69 billion of their stock according to a recent CNBC article. The key takeaways from the article are:

•  Looming tax hikes and lofty share prices encourage many to take profits.
•  As of Monday, sales by insiders are up 30% from 2020 to $69 billion, and up 79% versus a 10-year average, according to InsiderScore/Verity.
•  The selling is likely to increase even more as December is often an active month for sales due to tax planning.

The Result

The government continues to use extraordinary measures to stimulate the economy. The Federal Reserve has not given a clear indication of when interest rates will be increased or when the $105 billion of money printing per month will end. The government uses the newly created money to buy bonds and presumably equities. 

These drastic measures seem misplaced given the seemingly robust economy we have. But these measures may be creating an illusion of economic vitality. The challenge becomes, how do we invest in this economy?

A Possible Solution

Our philosophy is to have a diversified approach that includes:

• Investments that cannot lose principal.
• A bucket of money that is in the market and has active portfolio management.
• And a smaller portion that is more aggressively invested to combat inflation.

Obviously, the suitability of this approach will vary from person-to-person, but having your portfolio performing different tasks is prudent. This approaches allows us to attempt to earn a consistent return in different types of markets.

Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual’s situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program. 

Sometimes half the battle is deciding beforehand how we’re going to react. We live in a sensationalized world where as soon as we look at our smart phone or TV, someone is trying to outrage, anger, or frustrate us.

The “outrage economy” has flourished in the last decade. It works though, right? Negativity sells and keeps eyeballs coming back. 

A couple of weeks, I told you about going fly-fishing for the first time. Click here to read about it.

 We went with a guide who had all the equipment, so we just had to show up. After that I knew I wanted to get into it, but like most hobbies, getting started comes with a cost. I finally bit the bullet and bought my gear to become a full-fledged fly fisherman last week.

 I was itching to try my new rod and reel out, so the next morning I was out there trying to catch a fish. On the hour ride to the river, I told myself I was not going to get frustrated or disappointed if I did not catch a fish. 

I could just imagine what the fish thought when they saw my attempts to catch them. I’m sure if they could laugh, they were having a good laugh.

It turns out that YouTube confirmed later that night that I was doing several things wrong. Naturally, I didn’t catch any fish. BUT I had a great time! I enjoyed being outside, unengaged by technology, and having time to think.

If we’re not careful, it becomes easy to allow others to dictate our emotions and control how we feel. And when we fall into this trap, the next step by those telling us to be outraged is to sectionalize us into teams. Then they tell us why the other side is wrong and why we should oppose them. 

But the thing to remember is that we are in control of our emotions and of how we spend our time. It’s a challenge to be disciplined in what we spend our time on, but figuring out a balance may be necessary for finding peace.

Like many things, setting up rules beforehand for how things will go tends to create peace of mind. This is important when it comes to retirement planning as well. If we’re reacting to what the market does or any given urge, we tend to make irrational decisions. When we can outline our goals and follow a plan, we stand the best shot at long-term success in most any endeavor.

Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual’s situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program. 

Have You Ever Considered An Allocation That Isn’t Completely Market Tied

Have you heard how real estate has been doing? If you’re like some people you may be tempted to buy property or a rental. That comes with a set of obligations that may be lengthy. 

Did you know there is another way to have exposure to real estate in your portfolio without owning real estate outright?

Traditionally, this has been done by owning a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT). Hold on though, because REITs come with details you must know. Sometimes if REITs are not traded they may have liquidity limitations. Which means you can only get money out at a certain time or after a certain period or if metrics are achieved. 

If the REIT is concentrated in only one sector, obviously that’s the only exposure you have. Sometimes the fees can be hard to ascertain in REITs too. These reasons alone are enough to say “forget it!” 

But like everything, companies have developed a more palatable route. You can now use a REIT that is held in an Exchange Traded Fund (ETF). Remember that ETFs are baskets or pools of various investments held jointly.

The thought process is that if one part of the fund is doing poorly, then the other parts that are doing well will pick it up. It’s a diversification tool, and the fund we use has exposure to commercial, residential, and international real estate. This creates a broad range exposure so that if one part of the industry is impacted, perhaps the other areas can balance it out.

ETFs were first introduced in the early 1990s, and they are completely liquid. So, anytime the stock market is open you may buy and sell ETFs. You can now have real estate exposure through a REIT with an ETF wrapper.

 I believe this may be important, because real estate is only about 45% correlated to the overall market. That means if the market dips, REITs do not mirror those losses normally.

ou may participate in the upside of real estate industry without directly owning real estate outright. The REIT ETF we use for our clients has earned 9.28% gross since inception, which is strong!

Obviously, if there was another housing crisis like we saw in 2008 and 2009 this type of fund may be impacted. However, it may be appropriate to allocate a portion of your portfolio to real estate to lessen the impact of an equity market correction.

 If you’d like to discuss if a REIT ETF is applicable for you,  call us at 864.641.7955.

Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual’s situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program. 

Do You Have An IRA or 401k?

We always get questions about Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) especially as we get close to the end of the year. So, let’s take a look at what you need to know.

Please remember, before making any tax decisions, it may be appropriate to speak with a qualified tax preparer about your situation.

So, what is an RMD?

We make a deal with the government when we begin saving money in tax-deferred accounts like an IRA, 401k or 403b.

We agree that we won’t take our money out until we are at least 59.5 years old, and as a result, the IRS allows us to defer paying the taxes we owe on this money.

This helps us by lowering our taxes while we are working, but the IRS eventually wants their money. There is no legal way to avoid RMDs.

If you’re already taking money out of your tax-deferred accounts, you may already be satisfying your distribution requirement. However, it’s strongly advised to ask your tax advisor if you’ve met your requirement.

The IRS is serious about taking out the right amounts! If you fail to take the required amount, the IRS will penalize you by taking 50% of what you should have taken.

How do RMDs work?

After you reach the age of 70.5, for some people 72, you must begin taking money out of qualified retirement accounts. A law changed in early 2020 to make it 72 for everyone going forward. However, if you turned 70.5 in 2019 or before you fall under the old rule, and you should be taking RMDs each year.

The amount that you take out begins around 3.5% to 4% and it increases each year you live. Simply put, the IRS wants the opportunity to tax your money that has never been taxed.

If you have more than one qualified retirement account, you can satisfy the RMD from one account or you can split it up. You may take the required distribution from each qualified account.

Listen to learn more.

How to withdraw money from qualified accounts before 59.5

Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual’s situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program. 

It feels like we're sliding into the end of the year on two wheels, so if you're uncertain where the economy is hopefully the content below will provide you with clarity. 

The third quarter saw records in the markets, but we’ve had pervasive growth concerns. Some pundits predicted double digit growth, but GDP in the third quarter was 6.4%. Not bad, but it wasn’t what most analysts were expecting. So, where are we now that we are about halfway through the fourth quarter?

Democrats in Congress finally got a $1.75 trillion infrastructure spending bill passed to give President Biden a policy win, but our high levels of spending have already created inflationary pressure on the economy. What will additional spending do? 

When the COVID shutdowns happened last year, President Trump, with the Federal Reserve immediately turned on easy money measures, and it appears the spigot was turned on a little too strong. What does that mean?

In order to keep the economy from descending into a deep recession last year, the government began creating $120 billion per month and buying its bonds and buying equities. Also, the Federal Reserve lowered interest rates, which led to greater price increases in things like homes. This liquidity from the $120 billion per month expenditure drove the market back up last year, and is partly responsible for the markets continually hitting all-time highs this year.

This led to the inflationary pressure, which has caused the Federal Reserve to vacillate on when to begin reducing the $120 billion monthly purchases and when to raise interest rates. Remember, it took four years for the tapering process to end after the Great Recession that dipped to its slowest point in 2009.

From Yahoo Finance, “BlackRock Inc.’s Rick Rieder and Allianz SE’s Mohamed El-Erian are among those warning that systemic risks will only multiply, unless monetary officials take more decisive measures to pare extraordinary pandemic stimulus. While policy makers are acutely aware of the dangers in the easy-money era, their accommodative stances are encouraging ever-increasing flows to the riskiest markets.” 

Last week the Fed announced the tapering would start this month, and they would reduce the monthly purchases by $15 billion per month. Now we’ll wait to see if this causes volatility in the market.

Another challenge we face is a complete Biden reversal from last year when he said nobody would be forced to get a vaccination to it now being mandated...

Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual’s situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program. 

Certain people tend to play large roles in shaping our beliefs and who we become. Jerry Falwell, Sr. was one of those people for me. He's passed away now, but I want to share a few of his insights, how he thought, and his vision.  

His philosophy created a legacy that is still impacting people 14 years after his death because he focused on excellence. Here’s a link to his autobiography.

Our philosophy is, “if it’s Clients Excel, then it ought to be better.” The natural question becomes, "then how do we do that?" I’ll share a few ways.

We take a listening approach. We listen to what our client’s objectives, aspirations, and goals are. We can't fully help our folks if we do all the talking.

Then we educate our clients about topics that may impact them, like taxes or estate planning or long-term care planning. After a person becomes a client, we invite them to future educational events like the ones they often originally attended with us.

We value your retirement savings like it was our own. There is nothing we recommend for you to do that we don’t do or would not do with our money. In our business many advisors are incentivized to grow your money in order to get paid more. If done improperly, this may increase a person’s risks. Growth in the absence of safety may turn out to be like a Halloween candy sugar high.

Then we communicate and we communicate frequently. Most problems can be derived from communication issues, so we remedy this by staying in touch with our clients. I don't know of too many advisors who send out weekly correspondence like you're reading.

This process has proven to be a winning combination as we have grown each year of our existence. The best part is as we continue to grow these things will only become better for clients. We are growth minded and our desire is to help our clients excel with financial confidence, protection and growth.

As a company we understand that you can do business many places, but our goal is to make going elsewhere a chore compared to our firm.

When you’re ready to explore whether we’re a fit for your financial planning needs, please reach out at 864.641.7955.

Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual’s situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program. 

 But over the last year, something new has started to develop, and I want to share with you how it may be costing some people thousands.

We are told financial sentiment is driven by two main factors: greed or fear. It’s our basic instincts.

People tend to lean toward fear or greed, but an appropriate tone is a combination of knowing when to take risks and when to be more cautious and then developing rules for how you are invested. If you don’t have rules established beforehand, you’re just going by feelings, which is not how we want to run our finances.

If we don’t know what to do or we don’t have enough information to make a decision we sometimes default to doing nothing. In our illustration above that’s what the high school boy did. He did nothing and when he did do something the opportunity was gone.

Opportunity cost is the expense we pay when we delay making a decision, so let’s talk about why some people are hesitant.

The last 20 months have been filled with uncertainty. COVID-19 emerged and it has caused destruction, despair, and isolation. Then the government started stimulating the economy by lowering interest rates, printing money, and buying bonds and equities.

Then we had a divisive and contested presidential election that resulted in a new presidential administration. Even now things seem to be uncertain with how these things will play out in the long-term.

And many people have been reluctant to invest their retirement savings. This seems reasonable, right? Well, the bad news keeps coming.

Let’s say you have $500,000 sitting in cash (not invested) in your IRA. If you were able to make a modest 5% return, you end the year with $525,000.

There are about 231 days where the stock market is open every year. If you divide $25,000 by 231 you would get $108.23 per day. For any day you’re not invested and earning 5% in this hypothetical example you are not making $108.23. Obviously, the numbers are simplified for illustration.

That would equate lost opportunity of $2,146.50 per month when you’ve been uninvested. So, your opportunity cost is $2,146.50 per month. What can you do with $2,146.50. Does that pay your mortgage or half of your expenses? Not only are you losing money to inflation but your lost opportunity cost is significant.

If we are going to use a cash equivalent accounts, we need to establish beforehand what the parameters are for when we use it. This is why developing investing rules is important. As always, I’m happy to dive deeper on this topic if you’d like. You may  call our office at 864.641.7955.

Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual’s situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program. 

When referring to the stock market, many people equate the S&P 500 as the market. The S&P 500 is an index of 500 large companies, but did you know the largest companies make up a larger percentage of the index? 

Apple, Amazon, Facebook, Google, and Microsoft account for 22% of the entire index. What do they all have in common? They are technology companies. The bottom 250 or smallest companies comprise just 10% of the index. The point being is the technology companies are critical to how the index performs. 

The S&P 500 has more than doubled in the last five years, and it hasn’t been hard to make money in the stock market with the accommodative stance the government has taken. The government has kept interest rates artificially low since the turn of the century.

Fundamentally, we know that low interest rates are accommodative to technology companies, especially those in a start up phase. It allows them to get going with less debt. This is one of the reasons we experienced the technology crash in the early 2000s. Companies were fearful ultra low lending rates were going away. When the government begins raising interest rates, technology tends to be most quickly impacted which may lead to the overall S&P 500 being impacted. It may create a wave of disruption. 

In retirement, it’s important to have a proverbial bucket of money that productively grows but can never go down. This may be a remedy for unruly markets. We need part of our money to be in the stock market for several reasons, but it’s important to use all the tools of financial planning and be well diversified. If you’d like to talk about this topic or others or you have questions, feel free to call our office at 864.641.7955. 

Each year, I write a handful of things I want to accomplish down on a small card and typically fold it up and put in my wallet. I found my card from 2012 recently and I made it a goal to learn to fly fish, but it never happened that year.

 I hold the philosophy that it’s better to shoot for something and miss than to never shoot. With that said, I have learned to manage my expectations for my goals. In other words, I’m realistic.

Carl, my father-in-law, had been wanting to try fly-fishing also, so we did research on how to go about learning the skill. We found an instructor named Aaron who would teach us the basics, and all we had to do was show up.

Last week, we went to Saluda River in the northern part of Greenville County to meet our instructor. I grew up fishing, but never for pretty fish. I have never been one to have the...

Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual’s situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program. 

Recently, I was approached by the mission’s pastor at our church about a vision for a mural in downtown Spartanburg. Jason sent over a picture of what it would look like, and he explained that the purpose was to give the community a visually appealing piece of art that would could remind people of the hope we have in Jesus.

Jason envisioned it to be a place where people could come to pray and be reminded that no matter how bad it gets; we have an eternal hope if we have trusted Jesus as our Savior. Our company was offered the opportunity to be a corporate sponsor of this project to which we accepted. I had no idea it was going to be as big as it is. If you’re ever downtown, go down Dunbar Street and check it out. You can visit HopeInTheBurg.com to see more.  

On the site, there are videos of people being interviewed about the mural. Our sheriff is interviewed, and he mentioned that the people the Sheriff’s department interacts with don’t care about how much you know. They want to know how much you care about them. It was a good reminder that people will remember more how you made them feel than what you told them. I can wax and wane about financial topics in our newsletters, but helping people feel good about their financial well-being is most important.

The Benhams teach in their group to view our profession as our ministry. In order to do this, you have to ask yourself, “How can I minister to the people I interact with?” That’s a paradigm shifting concept because it changes the outlook I have for most every interaction. When you go in to a situation looking for ways to meet someone’s known or unknown need, your work becomes your ministry. That’s how society changes for the better.

As things seemingly drift further and further out of control in our society, I believe people are searching for answers. We can have hope and peace with Jesus, despite the turbulence of our society. Let’s hope, as Billy Graham envisioned, that God will move through the business community and elsewhere to bring a Great Awakening. Proverbs 29:12 states, “When the righteous increase, the people rejoice, but when the wicked rule, the people groan.” Christian and non-Christian alike all benefit when Biblical values are used.

I’m always happy to speak with you about anything I’ve covered here or answer any questions you may have. You may call us at 864.641.7955

Article Discussed: Click here 

Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual’s situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program. 

Here’s a quick guide on how to determine if you can retire. Some of our clients come to us when they are approaching retirement, and they're trying to figure out things like:

• How should I elect to take Social Security?
• Do I have enough money to retire?
• How should I draw my money down or use it?
• What will my health insurance cost be in retirement?
• What options do I have for long-term care?

 I’ll briefly break down each of those concerns and tell you how we go about answering these important questions. 

The first step is determining what it takes to pay your bills each month and how much money you need for lifestyle expenses. If you don’t know this number, this is a step one.

Next, we help our folks figure out the best way to claim their Social Security benefits. This decision can literally result in a difference of hundreds of thousands of dollars. If your financial advisor has not talked about your Social Security benefits, ask yourself if you think it’s an important conversation. 

There are hundreds of different claiming strategies and nuances to this decision. We will run a comprehensive Social Security Timing Report that analyzes your choices based on when you claim, what you will earn at your full retirement age, and what life expectancy you’d like to plan for.

No retirement income plan would be complete if it didn’t factor in a reduction of Social Security benefits, because the government has been warning us of this probable eventuality for more than a decade. So, we’ll factor in what a 76% reduction in benefits in 2033 will do to your portfolio. A twenty to thirty percent reduction is what most reports indicate may happen in the 2030s.

When we have the two Social Security numbers, which are what you will earn and what your benefit may be reduced to, we can figure out the most advantageous way to claim benefits. Then, we can move on to the next part of the equation.

Social Security typically only funds 40% of a person’s income in retirement. There are ways to generate income to shore up that funding gap. There are productive ways to allocate your money to equity positions to generate a somewhat reliable source of income, and this is typically achieved by active portfolio management.

Did you see Facebook went offline on Monday for hours? During the course of trading the company’s stock fell more than 5%. Commonly, people will bring their accounts that demonstrate how their money is currently invested, and many of those account statements we look at have money invested in Facebook stock.

Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual’s situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program.