Purpose with Mark Bertrang

What are the odds that as you are driving the roadways of Wisconsin that your life will end this year? Maybe the better question is: how many people are negatively Affected by accidents in the state of Wisconsin? I was discussing this with the team one morning. There are often signs with blinking lights placed next to highways that will say how many people have been killed on Wisconsin roadways during the course of the year. The most recent data from Wisconsin's DOT website was from 2020, and the total number of people that were killed was 593, which is actually a lower number than usual because people were not traveling as much during the pandemic, but it was still 593 people that died that year. That's just the people that didn't walk away from an accident. Instead, they were taken away by hearse. What about the people that were taken away by ambulance? How many people were injured? These numbers are scarier. In 2020, 32,373 people were injured in automobile accidents in Wisconsin. The number of serious injuries, these are people whose lives have been forever changed, was 3,186. The total number of crashes in our state back in 2020 was 115,694. The reason I'm discussing this is because life is risky no matter what we do, and I am always very cautious when I'm out on the roadway. I drive very, very cautiously, making sure that I look both ways, and that I stay with-in the speed limit. However, there are people out there that just appear crazy to me (in all the decisions they make), and just because you are playing it safe, it does not mean that they are. Nobody gets into a car thinking that this may be the day that they die. Nobody thinks today's the day they might get a serious injury that will leave them disabled. They don't think that this year might not turn out how they expected. They don't expect to become disabled for the long run or permanently. They don't expect to maybe lose their job because of it. Have you taken steps to ensure that 100% of your income is fully guaranteed, no matter what happens in your life? No matter your age, it is the ability to produce an income source that allows us to live the life that we want to live. I realize that even if you do have that 100% coverage you might still say that if that were to happen, what's the point, your life would be crap. Personally, I would rather have a crappy life and money than having a crappy life and not have money. Are you 100% able to say today that no matter what happens in your life medically: an accident, a disability, and/or death, that you are covered? Are you sure? It's kind of a sick joke you hear that "every single day, people are just dying to get into the obituary column of their local paper". Make sure you are 100% covered today. There is no reason to wait on any of this. It's a gift to yourself to make sure this is all setup now. Additionally, it's a gift to your family, to your loved ones. If I'm making a point to you today, then act on it. Feelings will not get you anywhere; hope only gets you so far. It's taking action today that will actually make a difference in your life. Do not become a statistic.

In my first career, decades ago, I worked as an announcer at a radio station in a small, rural town. One of my jobs included doing the emergency broadcast testing on a monthly basis. I can still remember what I needed to say during the test: "The attention signal that you just heard, had it been an actual emergency, would have been followed by official news or instructions. Remember, this is only a test." Let's talk about the test of income. Someone recently asked us: "What is an immediate annuity?" You will often hear financial professionals talk about annuities. The annuities that they are usually referring to are called an accumulation annuity. Those are annuities where you are accumulating money inside the annuities. That could be an equity index or index annuity, a fixed-interest annuity, or a variable annuity. There are many different options available when a person is putting money into an annuity. What I am referring to is not the accumulation of money within an annuity. What I'm talking about is the payout of an annuity. I actually went to my bookcase today and looked in The American Heritage Dictionary. It gave a pretty good definition of what an annuity is: "1. The annual payment of an allowance or income." Think of it as your kids receiving an allowance; you are receiving an allowance of income. "2. The right to receive this payment or the obligation to make this payment." Typically, a person or a company (usually an insurance company) is obligated to pay you on a regular basis. "3. An investment on which a person receives fixed payments for a lifetime or a specified number of years." You should be very familiar with that structure of an immediate annuity. If you are a lottery winner, you receive a choice of receiving either a lump sum or payments throughout a certain period of time. That is an immediate annuity. If you have a pension program with our local brewery in town, Trane, or with the Wisconsin Trust Fund because you were a teacher or a municipal employee, that is nothing more than an immediate annuity. In fact, you can basically say an immediate annuity is often analogous or the same thing as a pension. Payments from immediate annuities are quite unique. It can be based on the rate of return the annuity can receive from the investments put inside the annuity. It can be based on if you are a man or a woman. Men typically have shorter lives than women. Annuity payments to a woman are usually smaller because she is expected to live for a longer period of time or have a guaranteed payment for a longer period of time as compared to most men. Age also can play into it as well. Here is a great example: Social Security. We know the longer that we wait to receive the payout from the government for Social Security, the higher the payment will be. Some people elect to retire early thinking they'll get more money than if they take the money later. However, everything else being equal, it is exactly the same amount of money as the person who waits and receives a higher payment. If they have the same life expectancy as someone who is younger and takes the lesser payment, it mathematically works out to be exactly the same. You should make a decision based on things like what your health is like at that time. The longer you live with any pension, Social Security, or immediate annuity, the better off you would be. Then, based on the issuing company and the stability of the company, you should be able to have a payment with a lifetime immediate annuity that you cannot outlive. What you will typically find is a person in their 60s or 70s will begin having conversations around immediate annuities. The older a person is the more money they would receive on a monthly basis. The important thing to realize is that everyone's situation is unique. Everyone's health is unique to them. The amount of money that they have is unique to them. When you are trying to decide if you should use an immediate annuity, you must remember that you are giving up the accessibility of money. You are trading that accessibility and purchasing an income, potentially guaranteed, for your entire lifetime. If you have some specific questions about annuities or in this case immediate annuities, it's important that you go slow. Take your time and see all the possible formulas that can affect your financial situation. If you have some additional questions regarding this or anything else, please reach out to our team. "Annuity." The American Heritage Dictionary, Houghton Mifflin, Boston, MA, 1991, p. 112.

What does it mean to be a CEO, a Chief Executive Officer? Most people think about a business CEO, but what does it mean to be the CEO of your family's financial future? I got to thinking about this last week: it was the end of the quarter and I picked up a report of our corporation for the first three months of this year from my accountant. This gives me information that I need to figure out how we are doing as a company, and many of the same expenses that we take care of here at our office are the same expenses that you might take care of on the home front. First item on my report is revenue. If we're talking about the home front, that is income. Then there are expenses. Business expenses could be things like utilities, telephone, freight and postage, bank charges, advertising and promotions, repairs and maintenance, educational expenses, Social Security taxes, state taxes, federal taxes, depreciation, rent or mortgage, legal and accounting expenses, licenses, dues, subscriptions, and travel expenses. Every, single quarter, I get a breakdown on the money that is going in (revenue), and the money going out (expenses). Businesses use these reports or something similar to determine if they are a profitable business. That same reasoning should go hand-in-hand when you are your family's CEO. A lot of people get frustrated being in this position because they feel like they are not keeping up with their expenses. One of the reasons that they aren't keeping up is because they are not getting a quarterly report like I do. They are not tracking what goes and what goes out. You have to take responsibility when you are the family CEO. We do this at the office by going through the checkbook on a monthly basis. Most of our expenses are put through a company credit card because it's more cost efficient. We get some additional points that we can accumulate along the way. Instead of writing out many, many checks, we just write out one check for the list of multiple expenses to the credit card company at the end of the month. We keep track of all of the receipts, and then we share those expenses with our accountant. We make sure to keep track of everything and pay off that credit card monthly, just like you should if you have a personal credit card. When my spouse and I first got married, we realized that we really did not have our budget under control. We knew what our income was, but we really didn't have an understanding of our outgoing expenses. Starting back in 1981, we started to fill out a Dome home budget book, which you can still get at Home Depot or online. A lot of people can do all this on a phone app or excel sheet now. However, if you get the book and have to physically write everything out, it really makes the expenses that much more painful. This may be a bit old-school, but a home budget book will have many of the same things: food, clothing, laundry, rent, mortgage, electricity, gas, telephone, heating, auto, insurance, loans, education, entertainment, personal care, gifts, contributions, interest, taxes, childcare, and additional miscellaneous items. What I like about this particular booklet is that you complete each one of these areas, and then you also fill everything out on a day-to-day basis so you can see exactly where the money is going. You can see what it looks like at the end of the month. This is the recommendation that I make to people who have never done a budget before: they always think they need to come up with a budget to figure out what they should be spending, I actually believe that it's best to do several months of what I referred to as "reverse budgeting". You just keep track of what your expenses actually are for at least a few months and write it all down. Back in the 1980s, we had a particular goal that we wanted to accomplish, and it required us having an understanding of our budget. By doing reverse budgeting, we kept track of what our expenses were as they occurred, day-to-day. It only took a month or two for us to look back into the budget book and realize a problem. We realized we were spending way too much money on going out to eat, then what our income would really allow. Until we actually saw the number, we couldn't make the adjustment in our lives because we couldn't see how big of a problem it was. Treat your family as if it were a business because it is a business. Let's say your last name is Smith. Your family is now the Smith Corporation, and you are the CEO. Run it like a corporation. Look at the income. Look at the expenses going out. If your business is not making or saving between 15-20% of your income that means that there needs to be some adjustments in your lifestyle. It's just like going to my accountant on a quarterly basis and reviewing my business checkbook every month. It's something that you need to do on a monthly basis as well. You need to know and understand your numbers.

People often have a difficult time when it comes to accomplishing their goals and focusing in on their needs and wants, and the aspirations in their life. Sometimes, it comes down to just one question. In my office, I will often look up at my bookshelf and just look at one book in particular. The book is titled, The One Thing. I should probably have the back of the book facing me because it shows a big question mark that reminds me of the question that I need to ask when I'm distracted by a problem. This is the problem with many people, they get distracted by all the noise. They get distracted by all the traffic that is going by on their roadway of life. During the noon hour today, I was on a zoom call and for much of the hour, people were dealing with the problem of squirrel syndrome. You probably remember the movie "Up." One of the main characters of the movie was a dog named Doug that was very focused, unless it heard or saw a squirrel. Then, it would turn its head and yell "Squirrel" and everyone would have to wait for him to focus again. No matter what was happening, the possibility of a squirrel seemed to be the most important thing to that character. That is sometimes the way it is with us; we have "squirrel syndrome" or sometimes people will refer to it as "shiny object syndrome." Often, the newest or shiniest object will be the thing that we become most focused on. I had read this book, The One Thing, several years ago. In the book, there is one question a person needs to ask themselves: "What is the one thing I can do that such by doing it everything else would be easier or unnecessary?" Isn't that the truth. Often, if you would just get this one thing or piece done, you wouldn't have to worry about a whole host of other things that revolve around it. It's like our life is the earth with thousands of satellites orbiting around us. We chase around wondering if we should keep on looking at all the satellites, look at this or that shiny thing, or that squirrel over there. The one thing that you need to do is get a piece of paper, put a question mark on it, placing it in front of you, and ask the question, "What is the one thing I can do that such by doing it everything else would be easier or unnecessary?" What is the one thing in your life, in that moment, that you need to focus on? What is the one thing you need to do today?

People often have a difficult time when it comes to accomplishing their goals and focusing in on their needs and wants, and the aspirations in their life. Sometimes, it comes down to just one question. In my office, I will often look up at my bookshelf and just look at one book in particular. The book is titled, The One Thing. I should probably have the back of the book facing me because it shows a big question mark that reminds me of the question that I need to ask when I'm distracted by a problem. This is the problem with many people, they get distracted by all the noise. They get distracted by all the traffic that is going by on their roadway of life. During the noon hour today, I was on a zoom call and for much of the hour, people were dealing with the problem of squirrel syndrome. You probably remember the movie "Up." One of the main characters of the movie was a dog named Doug that was very focused, unless it heard or saw a squirrel. Then, it would turn its head and yell "Squirrel" and everyone would have to wait for him to focus again. No matter what was happening, the possibility of a squirrel seemed to be the most important thing to that character. That is sometimes the way it is with us; we have "squirrel syndrome" or sometimes people will refer to it as "shiny object syndrome." Often, the newest or shiniest object will be the thing that we become most focused on. I had read this book, The One Thing, several years ago. In the book, there is one question a person needs to ask themselves: "What is the one thing I can do that such by doing it everything else would be easier or unnecessary?" Isn't that the truth. Often, if you would just get this one thing or piece done, you wouldn't have to worry about a whole host of other things that revolve around it. It's like our life is the earth with thousands of satellites orbiting around us. We chase around wondering if we should keep on looking at all the satellites, look at this or that shiny thing, or that squirrel over there. The one thing that you need to do is get a piece of paper, put a question mark on it, placing it in front of you, and ask the question, "What is the one thing I can do that such by doing it everything else would be easier or unnecessary?" What is the one thing in your life, in that moment, that you need to focus on? What is the one thing you need to do today?

Imagine, you can't speak. Your eyes watch as the doctors and your family discuss your medical treatment. Your love ones don't know what to do. They don't even have the legal permission to provide the hospital staff with recommendations for your care. Worse yet, if they had the legal right, they're fighting among themselves as to what care you would even want to have. If they only knew. If they only had something from you to help direct them to all the answers, to all their questions. If they simply had the power to act on your behalf, as you lie there unable to let them know. Before we discuss this emergency event, please download this fillable PDF from the following link: https://dhs.wisconsin.gov/forms/advdirectives/f00086.pdf Mark Bertrang's guest for this episode is Denise Nicholson, BSN, RN - The Advance Care Planning Program Manager with the Gundersen Health System in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Our step-by-step discussion will assist you in creating your very own legal Advance Directive, including the Power of Attorney for Healthcare. Time Stamps 00:00 – Intro 04:57 – Power of Attorney for Healthcare vs Advance Directive 16:00– The Five D's 25:55 – Where to Store Copies 32:40 – Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Healthcare Agents 39:15 – Authority of Healthcare Agents 51:40 – Statement of Desires 1:00:05 – Being Clear and Specific with your Wishes 1:09:43 – Leaving Personal Messages 1:11:37 – What Do You Want Your Death to Look Like? 1:20:50 – Making it Legal 1:25:00 - Conclusion

A question I asked recently of a medical professional. The answer shocked and emotionally moved me.

Life Insurance is a difficult industry. Statistics have shown that about five percent of life insurance agents survive just five years in this career. Why is that, especially since improving the lives of families can be so rewarding? This conversation might draw the curtain away from the industry, so the layperson can see what this profession actually entails. This is an opportunity for a life insurance agent to understand how to become more proficient at their calling. Janet Sims, the caregiver of the Prosperity Economics Movement shares her story of what this industry has meant to her, while providing insights on how to overcome the day-to-day hardships of becoming a better advocate for families which this profession provides in helping others. 00:00 – Introduction – Janet's Background 03:10 – Listening and Being Authentic 15:00 – Moral Responsibility of a Life Insurance Agent 20:10 – Importance of Community 27:30 – "Aha" Moments – Staying Engaged 36:20 – Being "Prospect" Focused vs Engaging People at All Times 40:50 – The effect of the Pandemic and Technology on Communication 44:00 – Develop a Passion and Urgency 46:00 – Leaving a Legacy 50:45 – Conclusion Other resources: prosperityeconomicsadvisors.com prosperityeconomics.org truthconcepts.com

Have you ever made a promise? Was it for a short-term promise or was it a forever promise? There's a difference, isn't there? Forever promises typically aren't flashy. They're thoughtful and serious. This morning, I saw a promise through, which was made thirty years ago. So, as I pause and take in the scenery of this new fallen snow, let me share with you a story of a watch, a wake and a promise.

Have you ever found yourself needing to tighten a screw, but you couldn't find a screwdriver? Admit it. You went to a kitchen drawer and pulled out a butterknife, didn't you? Once the project was complete, you probably returned the knife to the drawer slightly bent at its tip, because a butter knife isn't a screwdriver. Would you have consider buttering a piece of bread with a screwdriver? Let's hope not. Here's the thing – Use the correct tool for the correct purpose. I see this time and time again with people who tell me that their 401k or their IRA is a retirement plan. Neither is a plan. They're both accounts, a place to accumulate money. In fact, there are many advisors who spend countless hours working with these products to try and create a retirement plan and I've met many attorneys who try to coordinate ways of alleviating the problems associated with these retirement accounts to correct estate planning problems or mistakes. You may believe that your account is a plan. You may also believe that a butter knife is a screwdriver. Neither is.