Rockport Wealth Truth in Investing Show - January 19, 2026

Looking for insights into building your financial future? Listen to the Rockport Wealth Truth in Investing Show as Joe Kovach, Adam Stalnaker, and Jon Arnold share their perspectives on wealth management, financial planning, and today’s markets

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Rockport Wealth LLC, doing business as Rockport Wealth Advisors and J.
Arnold Wealth Management, is an investment advisor registered with the
SEC and only transact business in states where the firm
is properly registered. Registration as an investment advisor is not
an endorsement of the firm by securities regulators and does
not mean that the advisor has attained.

Speaker 2 (00:16):
A particular skill or ability.

Speaker 1 (00:18):
Rockport Wealth compensates this radio station for airing the Rockport
Wealth Truth and Investing Show. Ron Verb is a paid
moderator of this program and not a client of the firm.
No guarantees of performance or success can be inferred from
this individual's endorsement on behalf of the advisor. Information presented
on this program is believed to be factual and up-to-date,
but we do not guarantee its accuracy, and it should
not be regarded as a complete analysis of the subjects discussed.

(00:39):
Discussions should not be construed as an offer to buy
or sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy
or sell the investments mentioned. Information provided is not intended
as tax or legal advice and should not be relied
on as such. A professional advisor should be consulted before
implementing any of the strategies discussed. All investment strategies have
the potential for profit or loss. Investments involve varying degrees
of risk and there can be no assurance that any

(01:00):
specific investment or strategy will be suitable or profitable for
a client's portfolio. Historical performance returns for investment indexes or
strategies usually do not deduct transaction or custodial charges or
advisory fees, which would reduce investors' returns. Today's radio show
is sponsored and paid for by Rockport Wealth LLC, an
investment advisor registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Rockport
Wealth Advisors is located in Fairview Park in Youngstown, Ohio.

(01:22):
Visit our website to review our disclosure documents or call 330-965-9890.
Andrew Smith CPA is a paid solicitor for Rockport Wealth
LLC and receives compensation from Rockport for investor referrals and
and is compensated for tax preparation for certain Rockport clients.

Speaker 3 (01:36):
And from NewsRadio 570 WKBN and Ron Verp, welcome to
the Rockport Wealth Truth in Investing program. As always, here Monday,
6 o'clock on NewsRadio 570 WKBN. We're joined by certified
financial planner Joe Kovach is in the studio with me.
And Joe, first of all. Good to see you again.

Speaker 4 (01:54):
Good to see you, sir.

Speaker 3 (01:55):
Love it.

Speaker 2 (01:55):
Show number two for 2026.

Speaker 4 (01:57):
Time's flying.

Speaker 3 (01:58):
We're counting them down like Casey Kasem used to do
years ago.

Speaker 2 (02:03):
All right. So we're going to do a little bit.

Speaker 3 (02:04):
About the stock markets and see what is taking place
as far as the market landscape as we enter 2026, Joe.

Speaker 1 (02:10):
Exactly.

Speaker 4 (02:13):
It's been, you know, we're all of nine or ten
trading days in here. It hasn't been all that long,
of course, so you don't want to garner too much.

Speaker 2 (02:21):
You don't sense any trends after nine days.

Speaker 4 (02:23):
No, a little short, a little short on the time
frames there. But, you know, you look at these numbers,
we're off to a good start again this year, which
is great, right? We're, you know, through the end of
last week, you know.

Speaker 2 (02:35):
The S & P was already up almost 2%, 1.8%. NASDAQ,
same thing, 1.8%.

Speaker 4 (02:43):
The big movers for the year so far, and again,
this is really, really short term, so you don't want
to read too much into this, but the Russell 2000
was up over 5% in the first 10 days of
the year here. That's small cap stocks. So that's not.

Speaker 2 (02:58):
Going to be your Googles and NVIDIAs and names like that.
They're going to be names you're not as familiar with
who have really moved well. But upward trend. Upward trend, absolutely.

Speaker 4 (03:05):
And then a couple of big movers again are the metals.
And we talked about that last show, how well the
metals did last year, gold, silver. even into copper, platinum, palladium.
They're all, I mean, this year already, silver's up, through
last Friday, it was up 12%.

Speaker 3 (03:20):
And you sit back and you say to yourself, you know,
is this driven by AI and all the stuff that
these materials are needed for as the economy continues to
go in those directions?

Speaker 2 (03:32):
Yeah, it is.

Speaker 4 (03:32):
I think that's part of it. And then I think
what's happened in particular with silver is it's caught a lot.

Speaker 2 (03:36):
Of headlines lately.

Speaker 4 (03:38):
And when you catch a lot of headlines on the
CNBCs of the world and.

Speaker 2 (03:41):
A lot of people watch that show, it just garners
more momentum.

Speaker 3 (03:47):
And you're constantly hearing in the news, you know, about
Greenland and the minerals. And, I mean, it's outside of
the stock market. I mean, it's just a regular news
thing on how important all of these countries are that
have these rare earth minerals, if you will.

Speaker 4 (04:00):
Yeah, and it adds to the, you know, the, I
don't want to call it a mania, but it kind
of is in the metals right now. You know, I've
been doing this a long time, as you know, and
this is by far the strongest industry performance in the
precious metals that I've ever seen.

Speaker 3 (04:16):
Gold never really surprises me over the years you would
watch it. I would always perceive gold, Joe, as like
that's where people would rush and buy into like if
they were nervous.

Speaker 5 (04:25):
Safety, right?

Speaker 1 (04:26):
Yes.

Speaker 3 (04:27):
Well, they viewed it as they're nervous about the market
or the economy or I would always hear about the
fiat currency and they would buy gold. And it would
be very interesting to see. And if I go back, Joe,
I could go back to you 20, 30 years ago.
And I would listen to people say that. And I
sit here 30 years later saying.

Speaker 4 (04:45):
And you're saying the same thing.

Speaker 2 (04:46):
I should have probably listened to those guys back then.
But it always appeared for people to say they just
felt comfortable for whatever reason when they go to gold.

Speaker 3 (04:55):
That's how I viewed gold. But not so much silver
and copper and the other stuff that we're talking about.
That has more to do, I guess, with just the
technology that's developed.

Speaker 4 (05:07):
I think silver, you know, silver in particular, you know,
certainly copper.

Speaker 2 (05:10):
Has always been used in manufacturing. We all know that.

Speaker 4 (05:12):
But silver definitely has a role in all this AI
and the manufacturing of chips and so forth. And I
really think it's kind of just reached a point where
it's just the momentum is building on itself, you know,
and these metals, you know, they went up. If you
look at the chart last year, I mean, silver went
from like 32 to 80 something. I don't have the

(05:33):
exact numbers. That's a big move in anything in a year.
So you had silver doing that. And then all of
a sudden, it doesn't really catch on on the headline
side until after it's already gone up.

Speaker 2 (05:45):
A lot, right?

Speaker 4 (05:46):
So silver 32 to 50 was like, yeah, silver went
from 32 to 50. It goes from 32 to 80.
It's like leading the headlines, right? It's leading the news stories.
And I bet you in the last week, we've had
a dozen calls on silver. Just that itself. So these

(06:06):
things build on themselves. That's how manias are created. That's
how bubbles are created. I'm not saying it's a bubble.

Speaker 2 (06:11):
I don't know. You don't know if it's a bubble
until after it happens. We talked about that a few
shows ago, right?

Speaker 3 (06:15):
But you just think it's got to be– I perceive
it to be important because so much in politics is
being talked about it, like I said, from Greenland to
the Ukraine and all these places that seem to be
rich in these type of materials that are needed.

Speaker 2 (06:29):
No question.

Speaker 4 (06:30):
And it's just one of those things where if you're
an investor– Yeah, proceed with caution. Is it good to
have some gold and silver? Of course it is. But
don't take your entire net worth and pile it into there.
I wouldn't tell you to do that with anything, right?

Speaker 2 (06:44):
Diversity.

Speaker 4 (06:44):
Diversity. We talk diversification all the time.

Speaker 2 (06:47):
This is a piece of the puzzle, right?

Speaker 4 (06:48):
You got stocks, maybe you got some bonds, maybe you
got some real estate, you got some precious metals, some
of you have crypto. I mean, these things are all
different asset classes that move differently, and you got to
own all of them, right? Because you don't know which
one's going to move when, and if it's something... One
thing I can tell you is when something goes parabolic,
that's the word we like to use. When you see

(07:09):
a chart and it goes from a straight line to
a straight up, a lot of times it doesn't end
really well. Now, I can't tell you when.

Speaker 2 (07:15):
Who knows when? It could be months.

Speaker 4 (07:18):
It could be years. But typically, those have the worst endings,
those type of charts do. And that's kind of what
you're starting to see in some of these, like silver
and things like that. So just tread lightly.

Speaker 2 (07:27):
Be careful.

Speaker 4 (07:28):
Be smart about it. And, yeah, it's an important part
of an allocation, though. You still have to have those.
those different asset classes, including precious metals, including real estate,
including bonds that we talked about, all different types of stocks.

Speaker 3 (07:41):
But as you mentioned, I mean, we took a look
at GDP, looked pretty good, pretty positive. When we take
a look at Christmas sales, looked pretty good. I mean,
as I kind of look out over the horizon, I'm
not a certified financial planner like the great Joe Kovach
sitting here.

Speaker 2 (07:57):
But as I look at the horizon, I'm saying, okay,
it seems like those are some nice indicators. It is.

Speaker 4 (08:05):
And the way we're kind of viewing this is The
things we watch, I would say that the environment is
still pretty good for stocks, right? So what do we
got going on here, right? You've got– to your point,
you just brought up GDP, growth domestic products. Excuse me.

Speaker 2 (08:22):
A ton tied there, huh? Yes, I am.

Speaker 6 (08:23):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (08:25):
That's trending upward. You've got what? Inflation.

Speaker 6 (08:29):
That's what?

Speaker 2 (08:29):
It's trending down. Yeah. I mean, it's still there, but
it's not as much. Year over year, it's not as much.

Speaker 3 (08:36):
And we also have things that are coming down inflation-wise
from the highs.

Speaker 2 (08:40):
Yes. Oh, very much so. I saw it driving in
the studio today.

Speaker 3 (08:44):
I saw a gas. I always like to mention this
to you. That one gas station was 245.

Speaker 2 (08:48):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (08:49):
My eyes pop, you know, at the next one. I
haven't figured this out, Joe. I don't even know a
certified financial planner can.

Speaker 2 (08:55):
I can't. It's $ 2. 45 at this one.

Speaker 6 (08:56):
It's $ 2.

Speaker 4 (08:56):
85 at the one two blocks down. Maybe they didn't
like the guy refilling it.

Speaker 2 (09:00):
I don't know.

Speaker 4 (09:00):
Yeah, that's a great question. But no, that's a great example, too.
I mean, we've talked about that in past shows and
very recently how the drop in oil prices is helping
a lot of things, right? Gas prices is just one
of them. But I think eventually that'll help filters sway
over into everything else, maybe food costs. Because, well, you've
got to get it there, right? That's still a component
of a food cost.

Speaker 3 (09:20):
Low energy cost means more money in my pocket because
I'm not spending it. However, I was reading where they
say there's still concern over the cost of natural gas,
even though we're benefiting on the price of oil, a
barrel of oil, and benefits us in gasoline and who
knows with Venezuela and all that kind of stuff. But
natural gas and some of the other things continue to
be a little expensive.

Speaker 4 (09:41):
They're a little bit more, and that heats a lot
of homes.

Speaker 2 (09:44):
Right.

Speaker 4 (09:45):
I mean, a lot of homes are heated by that
versus oil. So, yeah, I mean, it's never, you know,
I think by and large, you'll see some, hopefully see
some price relief coming in a lot of things, but
there's always going to be some outliers.

Speaker 2 (09:59):
Right.

Speaker 4 (10:00):
Know, unfortunately, a lot of times the outliers are things
you need the most.

Speaker 3 (10:03):
The thing that I hear, Joe, the thing that I
hear people complain about the most, you'll be surprised, folks,
when I hear them talk about inflation. The one word
that always comes up is beef.

Speaker 4 (10:15):
Yeah, beef has been, no, that's a great point. I mean-
And I don't have the exact number on that, but
I just read that.

Speaker 2 (10:22):
I noticed since it went up, you lost some weight. Well,
I did.

Speaker 4 (10:25):
I'm eating less, right?

Speaker 2 (10:26):
A little less McDonald's. This is a good thing. I
switched to chicken nuggets. There you go.

Speaker 4 (10:30):
But yeah, beef prices. I don't know if they're at
all-time highs. They're notably higher than what they were.

Speaker 2 (10:37):
A year ago. Very noticeably. Yeah, it is. Shortage, though,
from what I'm told.

Speaker 4 (10:42):
That's what I've been led to believe as well. Yeah,
we're not into commodities as much, but you're right.

Speaker 3 (10:49):
I think that was part of the thinking of bringing
it in from Argentina was to kind of– ease the
demand a little bit, you know, the supply, I should say.

Speaker 2 (10:59):
Absolutely.

Speaker 4 (10:59):
It could be just a supply issue. So maybe that
clears itself out a little bit in the next year
or so. But, you know, maybe then chicken prices go up.

Speaker 2 (11:05):
Who knows, right?

Speaker 4 (11:06):
It's just..

Speaker 3 (11:07):
Well, you always got the bird flu, and there's always
something that's going on to kind of screw things up.
But I mean, some of these economic indicators seem to be,
it appears to me, as Joe Bagadonitz, Johnny Fisteberger.

Speaker 4 (11:20):
Yes, our favorite brothers.

Speaker 2 (11:22):
And my wife, Joni Pepperoni. Oh, now we've got a
third person. Oh, this is good. Okay.

Speaker 3 (11:26):
I'm feeling a little more at ease, a little more comfortable.

Speaker 2 (11:30):
Maybe you just get used to it, too. You do.

Speaker 4 (11:33):
And again, okay, so look at where we are economically.
Let's go back to that again. You've got GDP going up.
You've got inflation kind of trending down. What's happening with
interest rates? They're kind of trending down, right? And maybe,
maybe even some more down.

Speaker 2 (11:49):
Who knows?

Speaker 4 (11:50):
Yeah, we'll see. I mean, it looks right now on
the interest rate front like there probably won't be a
cut in January. The odds are very slim that there
will be. A little bit better odds in March. They
don't have a meeting in February. But the best chances
look like in that April, June timeframe for another cut maybe.
But that number changes daily. So I'm saying that as

(12:12):
we sit here today. These are the odds on these
things are looking– much more likely in April and June.
But that's three pretty good things for stocks that are cooking, right? GDP, inflation,
and interest rates. And then the other thing they're not
talking about is that, and they're not calling it this yet,
but remember all the talk from years gone by on

(12:33):
what they call quantitative easing?

Speaker 2 (12:35):
Yes.

Speaker 5 (12:36):
Right?

Speaker 4 (12:36):
So we've had QE1, as they call it. Quantitative easing
1 was back in 2008 in the heart of the
financial crisis, right? That's how they inject cash into the economy. Well,
there's been four cycles.

Speaker 2 (12:47):
They always say priming the pump.

Speaker 4 (12:49):
Oh, they're priming it. They're priming it. There's no question.
So what's happened is you've had QE1, 2, 3, and 4.
It's my belief, this is not published yet, it's my
belief that QE5 is actually starting now. Now, eventually, maybe
they'll call it QE5, but they started buying back bonds again.
There you go.

Speaker 2 (13:08):
And that just puts.

Speaker 4 (13:09):
Cash back into the system. So they are, as you
like to say, that's a very good word, they're priming
the pump. These are good things for stocks. Now, the
end outcome.

Speaker 2 (13:20):
But you've got to have somebody who buys those bonds.
You do. You do. And if not, apparently the government
will buy them from you.

Speaker 4 (13:26):
That's okay, too. They buy them back on their own,
it seems like. But, you know, these are all things
that are, at least as we sit here today, I
would call favorable environments. for most investments. You know, what
happens in these, when the setup is like this, typically,
stocks tend to go up, bond yields tend to fall, okay?

(13:46):
Which means bond prices are going up. So if you've
got bonds in your portfolio, you might see some appreciation, right?

Speaker 2 (13:53):
The old cliche, right? Interest rates go down, that's good
for bonds.

Speaker 4 (13:56):
The teeter-totter, right? You know, just think of a teeter-totter
or seesaw, right? One side is interest rates, the other
is prices. When one goes down, the other one goes up.
It's very symmetrical.

Speaker 1 (14:05):
So..

Speaker 4 (14:07):
These are pretty good conditions. And I think that, you know,
these things change throughout the year. We're sitting here on,
you know, recording here on January 14th and.

Speaker 2 (14:18):
The year is just kicking off.

Speaker 4 (14:19):
It's like, you know, in trading terms, I think today
we're sitting here, it's the, as I could say, I
think it's game number 10 of the year, of the season, right?
The 10th trading day we've had, if I'm not mistaken.
So we're in game number 10 and, you know, You know, yeah,
markets can fluctuate. I think one of the bigger risks
right now is actually what we call headline risk, right?

(14:42):
What's headline risk? It's exactly what it sounds like. Oh, Venezuela,
you know, there's reactions around there. Iran, oh, there's– Powell
is going to get indicted, you know, or whatever. It's like, oh,
what about that?

Speaker 2 (14:56):
Tariffs. Yeah, tariffs.

Speaker 4 (14:57):
I mean, there's so much headline risk right now. And
the best thing to do in periods of high headline
risk is to turn off the darn headlines because, you know,
I'm telling you, nothing has to happen. But the background
setup for what's going on economically and with stocks is
generally pretty favorable right now.

Speaker 2 (15:18):
Right. As John Arnold would always say, outside of a
black swan event. That's right.

Speaker 3 (15:22):
Which is something, you know, you– You never can tell
when something like that goes on. But needless to say,
in the early beginnings here, markets go up, markets go down.
But we can't chart any trends. What's our best guess?

Speaker 2 (15:34):
But we can't say so far. So far, so good, right? Yeah, right. Exactly.

Speaker 4 (15:38):
Short term here, we're getting into the year. And, you know,
when you look at this type of environment, one other
thing I'll throw in here is that, you know, we're.

Speaker 2 (15:45):
Seeing more positive economic news than negative. I do.

Speaker 1 (15:48):
I do.

Speaker 4 (15:48):
And I think that the areas you look at when
you have this type of setup are, Things like, you know,
what are we doing? We're overweighting technology. We're overweighting industrials.
We're overweighting maybe materials, consumer discretionary. These are things that,
you know, we've been overweighting in models, but what are

(16:10):
you underweighting or eliminating? You may be underweight or eliminating healthcare, utilities,
consumer staples. Those areas tend to do not as well
when you've got this kind of setup. underneath it.

Speaker 3 (16:22):
Now, give me some analysis of that, because as you
were saying those three, you know, my ears perk up.
Joe Kovach is here. This is a Rockport Wealth Truth
and Investing program on NewsRadio 570 WKBN. When you mention
those three that you mentioned, you know, utilities, health care,
the first thing I'm thinking is..

Speaker 2 (16:38):
Stuff you need, right? Yeah, right. I have to have it.

Speaker 6 (16:42):
I know.

Speaker 2 (16:42):
I know he's kind of viewed favorably on those. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 4 (16:45):
But they're also defensives. Those are what we call defensive
areas of the market. And this is kind of more
what I would call an offensive setup. So those are
things you want to overweight when market conditions are choppy.
You've got maybe growth slowing. Maybe you've got inflation leveling
out or going up. Maybe interest rates aren't going to
do anything.

Speaker 2 (17:04):
Or go up.

Speaker 4 (17:05):
Those are really the areas you want to overweight. It's
still good to own them all. Don't hear me wrong,
but that's what I mean by overweight and underweight, right? Okay,
so you're going to have a little bit more tech
and growth stuff now and a little less dividend defensive.
That's just good portfolio management. And we've gone back to
that before, like active management, right? You need to find
an active manager for your money. Yeah, you can own

(17:29):
an index fund, right? Just give me the S &
P 500 index. Well, we've talked about this one at Nauseam, right?
It's now the S & P 7 or 8, right?
Those 7 or 8 companies, and we all know who
they are, Meta, Google, Apple, Amazon, NVIDIA, et cetera, they
control that index, right? So back in the day, back
in our day, right? You could buy an S &
P 500 index fund and say, yeah, I'm diversified. I

(17:52):
got 500 companies. This is great. Well, now those 8
to 10 companies represent 37 to 40% of the index.
Might as well just buy those 8 to 10 and
then do something else with the rest of your money
because you're not getting your bang for your buck out
of the other 490. So indexing is fine.

Speaker 2 (18:09):
Just know what you're getting. That's the key.

Speaker 4 (18:12):
Know that when you're getting an S & P 500 index,
you're really getting... seven to 10 stocks that matter and
everything else doesn't matter as much. Now you can get,
now they have really cool, we'll call them products because
that's what they are, but ETFs at equal weight, the
S & P 500, that's kind of interesting to me.
So instead of having 37, 38% of your money in

(18:32):
those seven or eight names, now all of a sudden
they're all equal weighted at, let's call it 0.5% or
whatever the number comes to, right? So that's kind of interesting.
I'd rather personally own that right now because i feel
like i'd be diversified versus the other one where i'm
just cramming everything into those names so you know interesting

(18:53):
times you got to be careful i think.

Speaker 3 (18:55):
So many factors to your age oh yeah your risk
tolerance i mean it's such an individual thing as we
talk about numerous times i mean what is your risk
tolerance what is your time frame and your and they
go together and how much have you set aside i
mean there's just So many variables. It's so specific to
the individual.

Speaker 4 (19:14):
It really is. And that's what, you know, as certified
financial planners, when you sit with us, that's what you're
going to get. We're going to have a good conversation
about risk. When you need the money, when you, you know,
do you have different goals for it? There could be
pieces that you don't need for 10 years that you
could be a little more growthy with. There could be
pieces you need in a year or two where you
better tone down the risk and know the money's going

(19:34):
to be there, right?

Speaker 3 (19:35):
Or way like two different things, bonds, dividend stocks. All
of that kind of stuff.

Speaker 2 (19:41):
Right, yeah. Percentages, I guess I'm saying. Exactly, exactly.

Speaker 4 (19:44):
And it's, you know, there are plenty of, you know,
cash alternatives out there as well now that, you know,
they're not paying as good as they were a couple
of years ago. But, you know, money markets are still 3.5%,
which is better than the 0% we had for that
15-year period coming out of 2008.

Speaker 6 (20:00):
Yes.

Speaker 2 (20:00):
Would you rather have 0 or 3.5? I'll take 3.5.

Speaker 4 (20:03):
That's okay. So, you know, but there's cash alternatives that
are a little bit better, short-term bonds and things like that. So, Again,
you said it before, we've said it before, diversification. You
got to own a little bit of everything. Putting all
the eggs in one basket might work, could work for
a long period, could work for a short period, may
not work at all. Why guess? But it's okay to

(20:27):
overweight or underweight like we were talking about, right? Say, okay,
it's all right to have a little bit more growth
right now because we're kind of in a growthier environment.

Speaker 2 (20:35):
That's fine. Just try to.

Speaker 4 (20:38):
You know, if you're not sure, call us. We'll be
glad to run a checkup on you and see if
you're diversified or not and if it fits your goals.
I mean, these are easy conversations to have with people.

Speaker 3 (20:50):
What I find interesting to talk about, we're talking with
Joe Kovach, Rockport's Wealth, Truth, and Investing program on NewsRadio
570 WKBN. And if you're looking for trusted financial guidance,
contact Joe and Adam at Rockport Wealth Advisors by calling
the office, which is located in Boardman at 7227 Glenwood Avenue.
The phone number for the office is 330-965-9890, 330-965-9890. The

(21:10):
voice of Joe Kovach, he's a certified financial planner. If
you want to talk with Joe or Adam, 330-965-9890. When
I look at all of this kind of stuff, the
job situation, how do you assess that?

Speaker 2 (21:32):
It's been– it's not bad by any means, but it's not– Stellar.

Speaker 4 (21:38):
It's not stellar.

Speaker 2 (21:39):
Right.

Speaker 4 (21:39):
That's a great point. It's just kind of been– my
classification of it has kind of been slowly deteriorating, right?
Not like it would back in 2008 where unemployment spiked.
I mean we hit a 4.5% unemployment rate not too
long ago. It's down a little bit to 4.4% now.
But it's kind of like the new job creation thing.
The growth of jobs has been kind of on a

(22:01):
steady decline. So, and who knows, could be some AI
involved in that. You know, the group that's really taken
it hard on that is the recent college graduates. They're just,
the job market's just not good for them right now.
It's an unemployment rate there at like 30%, which is,
I feel bad for the kids that have recently graduated.

Speaker 6 (22:20):
I do.

Speaker 3 (22:20):
I know in my neck of the woods here. You know,
we have battery plants, and we've had some layoffs out there,
significant ones, because the marketplace just hasn't been there for
electric vehicles, if you will, or battery-powered vehicles. So a
lot of guys with some pretty decent paying jobs are
now sidelines, and who knows what the future is there.

Speaker 2 (22:39):
No, you're right.

Speaker 4 (22:39):
I mean, the auto market has really kind of flipped,
reverted back to where it was before. pre-four, five, six
years ago, right?

Speaker 2 (22:47):
Maybe even a little.

Speaker 3 (22:48):
Bit longer, but it was all EV. I was listening
to a Ford executive that was talking. They were talking
about tariffs and parts coming from China and Mexico. And
one of the things he said I thought was interesting
to say, well, sometimes we've got to be cognizant of
keeping the cost of the car affordable and keeping the
cost down, so we have to have some degree of

(23:09):
diversification when it comes to manufacturing and where we get
things from.

Speaker 2 (23:12):
They have diversification, too? And volatility.

Speaker 4 (23:15):
And volatility, which could go up or down, by the way, right? No,
that's a great point. I think I heard a similar comment.
And I think a couple of manufacturers have even discontinued.

Speaker 2 (23:30):
Like the Ford Lightning truck. Is that the one?

Speaker 4 (23:33):
Yeah, they discontinued it altogether. So these things run in
cycles like everything else, right? Things that are popular become unpopular.
It's so hard to read. I mean, and good luck
figuring out.

Speaker 2 (23:44):
The auto market. I've never been able to figure that
one out either, how they price them or anything else.

Speaker 3 (23:48):
But I mean, you know, when you look at technology,
sometimes that was a big technology. Everybody's going to go EV,
and it appeared that they were more talk than what
happened in the marketplace.

Speaker 2 (23:56):
Exactly.

Speaker 4 (23:57):
Well, look at our friends at Apple. They're coming out
with what now? Finally, a folding phone later this year sometime.
So it'll be real engine. Now, was it Samsung?

Speaker 2 (24:04):
Samsung.

Speaker 4 (24:05):
I think it's had that for some time, right? So
we'll see if there's like a new jolt to the ecosystem.

Speaker 3 (24:10):
I've never been to an Apple store that isn't crammed
with people all the time.

Speaker 4 (24:14):
You and me both.

Speaker 2 (24:15):
Exactly.

Speaker 3 (24:15):
And, you know, I still raise an eyebrow when I say,
how much is that? But guess what? There's plenty of
customers because... You become addicted to these things. I don't
know if you use a laptop that much anymore at all.
Most people are using their phone and that.

Speaker 2 (24:28):
Kind of stuff.

Speaker 4 (24:29):
Yeah, I use the phone. I use the laptop.

Speaker 2 (24:30):
I even use an iPad. I got them all. I
got them all. You got diversification. In case one device
doesn't work, I got another one waiting.

Speaker 3 (24:37):
But if I would say to Joe Kovach, certified financial
planner with the Rockport Wealth, if I would say to
you just the– Overall, as we've talked here today, more
positive than negative?

Speaker 2 (24:50):
I would say so, yeah. In the very beginning here
of our football season, we'll call it, on the stock market.

Speaker 4 (24:57):
Game number 10, right.

Speaker 3 (24:58):
Not a lot of negativity so far.

Speaker 4 (25:01):
No, just headlines, right? Really, the headlines is what I'll
caution everybody against. I mean, headlines can steer you in
the wrong direction. They make you emotional. A great comment
I heard the other day is that– things that cause
investors anxiety are temporary. Think about that. That's a pretty
good comment, I think, right? So any of these headlines

(25:24):
aren't going to be around forever, but they can make
you react and do the wrong thing. So try to
stick to your own plan, make your own decisions, let
somebody make them for you, whatever it is, but don't
let the headlines guide your investment decisions because they'll probably
guide you the wrong way every time. Because I We've
had conversations across the board with people recently like, oh,

(25:46):
this market's going to get beat up. Look what's going on.
They're repositioning bombers. And it's like, yeah, but you know what?
I know growth is going up. Certain things are out
of your control.

Speaker 3 (25:56):
Right.

Speaker 4 (25:56):
And I know growth is going up. I know inflation
is coming down. I know interest rates are probably coming down.

Speaker 2 (26:01):
That's big picture.

Speaker 6 (26:02):
Right.

Speaker 2 (26:03):
We'll stick with it. Absolutely.

Speaker 3 (26:04):
And if you would like to get a hold of
Joe and Adam, we'll have Adam on in segment two.
Joe and Adam help clients build personalized financial plans. So
call the office to learn more. And they are located
at 7227 Glenwood Avenue in Boardman. Really easy to find
right there. It's 224 Glenwood Avenue. That's where you find
Rockport Wealth Advisors. And that's where you find Joe Kovach

(26:27):
and Adam Stalnaker. And you'll find them at 7227 Glenwood Avenue.
The office is 330-965-9890, 330-965-9890. if you want to get
a hold of the office. If you call the office,
you can schedule appointments. Then, Joe, I mean, I know

(26:48):
there are people that often want second opinions. Oh, I'd
love to get one, yeah. That maybe just are saying,
it's time for me to start thinking about this stuff.

Speaker 4 (26:56):
That happens a lot, right? I mean, they kind of
look at the calendar, they look at their age, and
they're like, oh, boy, this retirement's coming up quicker than
I thought.

Speaker 2 (27:03):
I better plan this out. You can never start too early,
is what I say. You cannot. That is a fact.

Speaker 4 (27:07):
So, you know, the earlier you start, the better. The
earlier you start, the more information you give us, the
more we can help you.

Speaker 3 (27:13):
And even if you're older, it's important, I think, because
if you don't make the right decisions, you can fall into.

Speaker 2 (27:19):
A tax trap, as we talked last time. So let's
not forget, as you age. Yes, and don't ignore taxes.
I mean, that is such an important part of a
financial plan.

Speaker 3 (27:31):
So if you like what you're hearing from Joe and Adam,
this is the kind of perspective they continually bring to
their clients. Their number is 330-965-9890, 330-965-9890. The office is
at 7227 Glenwood Avenue in Boardman. This is the Rockport
Wealth Truth and Investing Program on NewsRadio 570 WKBN. And
from NewsRadio 570 WKBN and Ron Furb, it is the

(27:54):
Rockport Wealth Truth and Investing Program here on NewsRadio 570 WKBN.
And we have Joe and Adam, of course, with us.
They help clients build personalized financial plans. Call the office
to learn more. Here's the number for you, 330-965-9890.

Speaker 2 (28:07):
That's 330-965-9890.

Speaker 3 (28:07):
The office is located at 7227 Glenwood Avenue in Boardman.
And once again, a phone number, 330-965-9890. And certified financial
planner Joe Kovach is with us and is Joe, we

(28:28):
welcome certified financial planner Adam Stollinger with us.

Speaker 2 (28:33):
The wind blew in our partner. Isn't it great?

Speaker 6 (28:36):
You guys let me back in, huh?

Speaker 2 (28:38):
Yeah, we did.

Speaker 4 (28:40):
We had such fun in segment one, but we're like,
we better have Adam come in.

Speaker 2 (28:44):
On this one. Absolutely. Get some Adam perspective.

Speaker 4 (28:48):
I like Adam perspectives. I think they're different than Joe perspective,
which is a good thing.

Speaker 2 (28:53):
Diversity.

Speaker 4 (28:55):
Diversification of your radio.

Speaker 2 (28:56):
There you go.

Speaker 4 (28:59):
So in segment two here, Adam and I thought it
was important to kind of address the things you should
be doing between now and tax day.

Speaker 2 (29:10):
Well, there's a cheery topic. Yes.

Speaker 4 (29:12):
Everybody's favorite day, April 15th, right?

Speaker 2 (29:14):
Yes.

Speaker 4 (29:15):
And there's things you need to watch out for. There's
things you can kind of do last minute. Some things
needed to be done the previous year, right, Adam? Not
everything can carry over to April or March of this year.

Speaker 2 (29:28):
You got to get it done at year end. Some
we told you so. Yeah, exactly.

Speaker 6 (29:32):
Exactly.

Speaker 4 (29:32):
So anyway, what we'll do here, Adam, let's do, you know, Well.

Speaker 6 (29:38):
Here, I'm going to start with something.

Speaker 3 (29:40):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (29:40):
Not that what you should do is what you shouldn't do. Okay.

Speaker 2 (29:43):
Love it.

Speaker 5 (29:43):
So what you shouldn't do is start calling your financial
advisor looking for your 1099s right now because.

Speaker 6 (29:49):
They're not ready.

Speaker 2 (29:50):
Oh, really?

Speaker 5 (29:54):
Ultimately, we get the calls, right? I want to get
my taxes done. And this is all filing together here
in a second. But people want to get their taxes
done as soon as possible. And these things aren't done.
And then they think that we create them. We don't
create them.

Speaker 2 (30:08):
No, it's the custodians who do.

Speaker 6 (30:10):
Yeah, it's the custodians.

Speaker 5 (30:12):
And if you have an IRA, they're usually out by
the end of January, right?

Speaker 6 (30:16):
Early February. Is that? Accurate?

Speaker 2 (30:19):
Pretty much into January for IRAs mostly, yeah.

Speaker 3 (30:21):
Isn't it different, guys? I mean, like your employer has
to have it to you, I think, by the end
of January.

Speaker 2 (30:27):
Right.

Speaker 3 (30:27):
But some of the stuff that financials send out has
later dates in it, doesn't it?

Speaker 2 (30:32):
Yeah, Adam, you probably were going to roll right into that, right? Yeah,
the non-quals. Yeah.

Speaker 6 (30:36):
The non-quals. What's the date on that? February?

Speaker 4 (30:39):
Typically mid-February, but sometimes it can stretch until end of
February and also can be amended.

Speaker 2 (30:44):
There's a lot of amendments sometimes. So sometimes you get
a 1099. Yeah.

Speaker 4 (30:49):
And you get one at the end of February. You
get one mid-February. And then all of a sudden, you
run out to file your taxes. And oops, I got
an amended one. And my tax is already done.

Speaker 6 (30:58):
I love those.

Speaker 4 (30:59):
That happens a lot.

Speaker 2 (31:00):
Well, maybe you should wait.

Speaker 6 (31:01):
We get the brunt.

Speaker 3 (31:03):
I mean, you know, I mean, well, no, I mean,
I know a lot of people say, OK, it's the
end of January. I want to get my taxes filed.
But then that stuff that you're talking about comes in.
And you got to do the amendment and all this
kind of stuff. Why not just, I'm not saying wait
till the 14th of April, but wait till you get

(31:23):
through February or whatever.

Speaker 4 (31:25):
I would never wait until, I would never file mine.

Speaker 2 (31:29):
I don't know about you, Adam.

Speaker 4 (31:29):
I'd never do it before March. I mean, my mother-in-law.

Speaker 6 (31:33):
There's so many things that change, right?

Speaker 2 (31:35):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (31:36):
Or can change.

Speaker 2 (31:37):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (31:38):
Again, sorry. I know where you're going.

Speaker 2 (31:40):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (31:40):
My mother-in-law every day. I mean, every year.

Speaker 2 (31:43):
If she doesn't have her stuff to her CPA by the.

Speaker 4 (31:45):
End of February, she starts getting really uptight. I'm like, mom,
just wait. Because anything could change that. You got another
few weeks and It's got to get done. It's got
to get done April 15th. There's still six weeks or
seven weeks or so between there.

Speaker 3 (31:59):
But you're giving your CPA a nervous breakdown by saying
we're going to wait until close to the end, and
everybody does it.

Speaker 5 (32:04):
They're listening, and they don't like us right now.

Speaker 2 (32:09):
No, I know. But you don't want to get in
a situation where you have to refile right at them.
That's the key.

Speaker 6 (32:14):
No. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (32:16):
But people have also got to know what to expect
to get, too. I mean, if somehow it's missed– You
don't get it in the mail or something like that.
You've got to have some degree of expectations of I
should have this, should have that by what this particular date.

Speaker 2 (32:30):
Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 4 (32:30):
If you don't start to see, if you've got accounts,
you know, and it does matter. If you've got IRA
accounts and you don't see something by mid-February and you
know you took money out, you might want to reach
out to your custodian or your advisor. If you've got
non-qualified accounts and you don't see anything by... you know,
third week of February, end of February, definitely reach out

(32:52):
because those are the ones, it seems like, I don't
know your opinion is Adam, but mine is those non-qualified
ones are always the sticking point.

Speaker 6 (33:00):
They are. They are.

Speaker 5 (33:01):
And it, because then they depend on the fund company
to report things. And then if they're late, like it just,
it's like a snowball effect to where these things become late.
And then it, we always seem to get the brunt
of it instead of the people that are actually causing
these things to be delayed, not us.

Speaker 4 (33:18):
That's true.

Speaker 2 (33:19):
And why do people file early? Think about it.

Speaker 4 (33:21):
They want to get that refund, right? That's what it is. Typically,
people are getting a refund. They want to get that
in their hands as quick as they can. And is
that free money?

Speaker 2 (33:33):
Tell us your own money. Hey, Adam, Joe's being– he's
a comedian here today.

Speaker 1 (33:38):
I am.

Speaker 4 (33:38):
I am.

Speaker 2 (33:39):
I know.

Speaker 6 (33:40):
There's a lot of sarcasm in Joe's voice.

Speaker 2 (33:42):
Just a bit. Just a bit. But seriously, Adam, it's
not free money, right? It's just a return.

Speaker 6 (33:48):
Of– It's your own money.

Speaker 5 (33:50):
And that's why planning is a very important part of
it too. Like, okay, if you really like the government
to get interest on your money and then get a
big chunk.

Speaker 6 (34:01):
Back, Great, right? That's more power to you.

Speaker 2 (34:04):
Your prerogative.

Speaker 5 (34:05):
The ultimate goal, if you're planning, is to get it
to zero, right? So you're having your money in your
pocket to be able to spend and use, and the
government's not keeping your money. I mean, you're giving them
a free loan that they pay no interest on. But, yeah,
I mean, it's to each their own, for sure. But

(34:28):
I think the ultimate goal would be to get to
zero and do some planning.

Speaker 4 (34:32):
So if Joe Bag of Donuts gets a $ 5, 000 refund,
he's all excited, but technically he missed out on other opportunities, right?

Speaker 2 (34:38):
He could have maybe invested that.

Speaker 6 (34:40):
He could have invested it.

Speaker 2 (34:41):
Yeah. Paid down some other debt maybe if he has that,
whatever it might be.

Speaker 3 (34:45):
You know, the true winners are those people that don't
pay very much in but get a big check back.

Speaker 2 (34:50):
Yeah. Nirvana. Never been able to figure out that in
my lifetime.

Speaker 3 (34:56):
No.

Speaker 2 (34:57):
And it's usually I'm the one sending the check in.
They're not sending me a check. No, they're not.

Speaker 5 (35:03):
No.

Speaker 4 (35:03):
That's exactly right. That's exactly right. When we look at
this tax situation, though, so Adam, what are some of
the things that people can do yet still this year
that might help them for 2025?

Speaker 5 (35:15):
Yeah, so you've got your IRA contributions, right? So if
it's a traditional, right, that's going to help your taxes.
I mean, you could still put money in a Roth,
but just remember you're not getting a tax deduction for
putting any money.

Speaker 6 (35:28):
In a Roth.

Speaker 5 (35:30):
But yeah, you can get your tax deduction, your traditional IRA.
You can put it up until April 15th. Do not
wait until April 15th to put that money in because
your advisor will curse you.

Speaker 2 (35:42):
So true. Is there a limit on it? I mean,
on how much you can put in? What is it?

Speaker 6 (35:49):
Is it $ 7, 500? $ 7, 500, yeah.

Speaker 4 (35:50):
It's going to $ 8, 000.

Speaker 2 (35:51):
Yeah, then $ 26, 000.

Speaker 6 (35:55):
And $ 1, 000 catch-up.

Speaker 3 (35:56):
How am I thinking out? You can do that if
you have a 401k at your work. You can do
that if you have a Roth IRA. You can still
put into your traditional IRA.

Speaker 2 (36:07):
Well, if you have a Roth IRA, you can't. Income limits, right?

Speaker 6 (36:10):
Right.

Speaker 4 (36:10):
So there's income limits. So you can only put so
much into IRAs total, the numbers we gave you as total.

Speaker 2 (36:15):
You can divide it up.

Speaker 4 (36:17):
Regular, traditional and Roth. But the 401k doesn't have any
effect on your contributions to these plans. It might your
income may restrict what you can deduct though on the IRA.
So you've got to be a little bit careful of that.
And then there's income limits on the Roth IRA part

(36:37):
as well, where you literally can't make a contribution if
you're over a certain income limit. So you just got
to be aware of those things.

Speaker 3 (36:45):
Could be a strategy, though, to lower your income by
doing that IRA contribution for maybe Medicare or something?

Speaker 4 (36:51):
Yeah, potentially, right? Yeah, that's part of it. The other
one's what, Adam?

Speaker 2 (36:57):
HSAs.

Speaker 4 (36:58):
So those, the house savings accounts.

Speaker 6 (37:00):
You can pop the money if you got it.

Speaker 5 (37:01):
I don't know if you can pop it into an
employer's HSA after. I think it's just like 401K, isn't it?

Speaker 4 (37:06):
Yeah, that's like payroll deduct.

Speaker 6 (37:09):
Yeah. I don't think you can.

Speaker 4 (37:12):
Some people are self-employed, though, and have HSAs, and they
can do something like that if they've got a little
bit more, I will call wiggle room to do a
few things. So, you know, you do these plans. You know,
the growth is tax-deferred. In Roth's case, it's tax-free.

Speaker 2 (37:31):
Which is huge.

Speaker 4 (37:32):
We've talked about that many times on the show, about
the power of Roth, especially for somebody younger.

Speaker 2 (37:38):
And it's all part of maximizing.

Speaker 4 (37:42):
It's, you know, you're always trying to, as a planner,
and Adam and I struggle with this a lot, you're
trying to maximize maybe, I guess I say it this way,
it's a blend between how much help you can help
yourself now and how much you're helping yourself.

Speaker 2 (37:56):
Later on, right?

Speaker 4 (37:58):
And don't get caught in the trap of, I'm just
going to worry about today, right? Because, yeah, you want
to try to make today as palatable as possible, but
at the same time, if you really, you know, for instance,
the great example is what, Adam, Roth IRA versus traditional, right?

Speaker 2 (38:20):
If you've got.

Speaker 4 (38:20):
30 years worth of contributions and 30 years of growth,
would you rather pay tax later on on a dollar
or four dollars?

Speaker 3 (38:30):
Right.

Speaker 2 (38:31):
It's a no brainer.

Speaker 4 (38:32):
So, you know, that's the Roth versus traditional, you know,
conversation that you have to wait out.

Speaker 2 (38:39):
It's a very. CPA question.

Speaker 4 (38:42):
That is, that is, that is, I mean, Andrew Smith is, yeah.

Speaker 2 (38:46):
Do I put, do I put.

Speaker 3 (38:47):
Money in my traditional IRA to, even though I'm going to,
you know, pay taxes on it later, but I'm going
to save as we've done over the years by doing
it that way.

Speaker 2 (38:55):
Absolutely. No, it's, that's exactly what it's like.

Speaker 4 (38:57):
So, but as you're doing this now, you know, other
thing to look at is what, you know, you know, Adam,
and you can expand on this a little bit for
us is what, What kind of things do you have
to be careful of on the investment side, right, that
can affect you tax-wise?

Speaker 6 (39:17):
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 5 (39:18):
So this is all about planning and communication, right? And
this is something that we try to do as advisors
and communicate as.

Speaker 6 (39:25):
Much as possible when it comes to capital gains, right?

Speaker 2 (39:28):
Yes.

Speaker 5 (39:30):
There are sales in people's accounts, you get capital gains.
You didn't take any money out of that individual account,
but you will be taxed based on what gains have
occurred based on that trade. So you've got to think
about capital gains, but then you've got to think about
long-term versus short-term. So long-term rates are your most or

(39:52):
your best rates out there. I mean, we have some
people that are in the retirement phase that have lower
incomes and based on those lower incomes, we can make
trades and readjust things and cause zero tax, even though
they have gains. So these are all planning tools, right?
And then 15% and 20%. So these are all lower
than ordinary income rates, which can top out at 37, right?

(40:14):
So as we're, But that point brings us into short-term
investment gains. Sometimes, based on markets, we've got to, you know,
incur short-term gains to get people out of the way.
What does that do to them, though? It causes them
to have more ordinary income. And so that can mess

(40:35):
with people's IRMA, right? They can mess with their tax rates.
Their tax rates can go up. So there's a lot
of things that can occur if you're not educated in
how your advisor is managing your money.

Speaker 2 (40:50):
Right.

Speaker 4 (40:51):
And IRMA is what? That's the Medicare increase. So that's
just so everybody kind of knows what that is. Remember,
Medicare premiums are indexed up based on your income. And
that's the one that kind of... I don't know about you, Adam.
I think that's the one that surprises people the most.

Speaker 2 (41:06):
It is.

Speaker 4 (41:06):
They just don't know that or they just were never
told that. So Now you're talking about this whole thing
that Adam's going through. It's like short-term capital gain, long-term
capital gain, and we've got to be cognizant of that
as investment managers. We take portfolio changes really seriously anyway
from the return standpoint, but we also take it really

(41:28):
seriously from the tax standpoint.

Speaker 5 (41:32):
Sometimes there's nothing you can do about it, right? Ultimately,
if there's something happening and we need to move, I
would rather– have somebody yell at me about taxes, then
their account, you.

Speaker 2 (41:43):
Know, right.

Speaker 6 (41:44):
Getting crushed.

Speaker 2 (41:46):
Right. Well, yeah. Right.

Speaker 4 (41:46):
If there's, if there's a time of high peril, so
to speak, it's okay to take a gain, even if
it's short term to protect your money.

Speaker 6 (41:54):
Right.

Speaker 2 (41:54):
That that's, that's where we're going with that. But did
I hear right?

Speaker 3 (41:56):
Like, let's say outside of retirement accounts, if you sell
a stock within and take your gain and reinvest it,
you don't physically take the money.

Speaker 2 (42:06):
That's still a taxable event.

Speaker 1 (42:08):
It is.

Speaker 2 (42:08):
It is, right?

Speaker 3 (42:09):
Outside of the IRAs. And you should receive some type
of tax form on that?

Speaker 2 (42:14):
Get a 1099 at year end, right?

Speaker 6 (42:17):
1099.

Speaker 4 (42:17):
That's part of that 1099 that comes a little bit later.

Speaker 2 (42:19):
Yeah, the one you hope comes in time.

Speaker 4 (42:22):
Right, the one that people start fretting about March 1st
is that one. So that's the one that really has...
Of course, the first 1099 we talked about, the IRA
withdrawals is taxable.

Speaker 2 (42:39):
You know that, right?

Speaker 4 (42:41):
The other one, and where Adam was going with this,
was could be dividends. Those are taxed at one rate.
Could be long-term capital gains. Those are taxed at a
different rate. Could be short-term capital gains that are taxed
even at.

Speaker 2 (42:56):
A third rate.

Speaker 6 (42:57):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (42:59):
So there's a lot of moving parts.

Speaker 4 (43:00):
On that 1099 that comes from what we call non-qualified accounts.
But when you're looking at that, think non-IRA.

Speaker 3 (43:07):
Right.

Speaker 2 (43:07):
That's the type of account.

Speaker 3 (43:09):
It's just like if you have a traditional CD, if
you will, and you make interest. You think, well, look
at the money you made. Well, tax that as well.
I mean, as far as your interest is concerned, there's
just no escaping. They'll never be happy until they have
all my money.

Speaker 2 (43:22):
I'm convinced, Adam.

Speaker 6 (43:25):
They're finding ways.

Speaker 2 (43:27):
Yes, they are at every turn.

Speaker 3 (43:30):
They're getting more creative, I think, along the way.

Speaker 2 (43:32):
Right, right. But then again, if you have losses, there's
a deduction there.

Speaker 4 (43:37):
Sure, you do get to, you know, losses, that's a
great point. Let's spend 30 seconds on that. So losses
will do two things. One is it will take away
any gains. So you can wash a loss against a gain.
So it'll help eliminate or reduce gains. There's no dollar
limit on that. And then it's, what, $ 3, 000 off ordinary
income on top of that if you've got additional losses,

(43:59):
if I'm correct, right?

Speaker 6 (44:00):
And then they carry forward.

Speaker 4 (44:01):
Right, and then you carry them forward, right? Losses can
be carried forward until you use them up. So that's,
you know, losses are not fun to take, but they
do have some benefit in these joint-type accounts and non-qualified-type accounts.
So one other thing that I wanted to— I'm just curious, Winnie.

Speaker 3 (44:20):
You guys are talking 1099s, you know, when you file
your tax return, now it's done electronically. And, you know,
at least in my case, I say here it is
to the CPA and you give them the 1099s. I
don't know that years ago they would mail them in
with your tax return. Do they even mail those 1099s
in or they just use them to figure out your

(44:41):
income and that kind of stuff?

Speaker 2 (44:43):
I think they just use them to figure out your income, Adam.
Do you know that? I think so, too.

Speaker 4 (44:46):
I don't think there's any actual physical document.

Speaker 6 (44:49):
They do it electronic, right?

Speaker 3 (44:51):
It's just to show, okay, this is what your income is,
and your accountant knows because of those 1099s.

Speaker 2 (44:58):
Right, right.

Speaker 5 (44:59):
Well, because when we create a 1099 for other people
that work for us, right, or do some contract work,
That's electronically submitted to the government at that time that
we put that together.

Speaker 4 (45:10):
That we produce a document.

Speaker 6 (45:12):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (45:13):
So if your tax guy is putting things together and
is not including these, they know. So they'll be able
to track you down.

Speaker 2 (45:23):
Right. Or look at your return to see if you
declared it as far as– Right. Oh, yeah. Totally.

Speaker 4 (45:29):
They know. Believe me. We get that request a lot
from people. It's like they'll maybe.

Speaker 2 (45:36):
So much is reviewed by computer anymore when you submit it. Right.

Speaker 4 (45:38):
So a lot of times you're downloading these documents from
your custodian. Sometimes people are still getting paper. And unfortunately,
as I think a lot of us know, our friends
at the Postal Service aren't the most reliable.

Speaker 2 (45:52):
Well, speak for yourself. I love my mailman. Okay.

Speaker 4 (45:54):
I love my mailman, too. I don't want to get
on anybody's bad side.

Speaker 6 (45:57):
You're hitting a whole group of people.

Speaker 2 (46:00):
That's all right. That's all right.

Speaker 4 (46:02):
But my point is– If you don't submit that form,
it's already at the IRS. And then you get a
little letter from the IRS that says– You owe this.

Speaker 2 (46:13):
Right.

Speaker 4 (46:13):
We have this as your taxable income. You have this.
It's a discrepancy letter. And you've got to address that then,
and you have to go chase down the form and
whatever it might be.

Speaker 3 (46:26):
Here's a trick question. I'm going to stump both of
you guys. You know what drives me crazy? How long
am I supposed to keep all of this stuff? It
used to be, what, seven years? I mean, you know,
when do they say, okay, is it still seven? Can
it be five? Can it be three? When do we say, okay,
all's cool.

Speaker 4 (46:44):
For what's... I still live by seven.

Speaker 2 (46:46):
What do you do, Adam?

Speaker 6 (46:48):
Yeah, I would too, but a lot of it is
all digitally held.

Speaker 1 (46:52):
It is.

Speaker 5 (46:52):
Like what we tell people is if you need it,
we've got it, right? So if they work with us,
we have copies of all those statements and tax forms.
So it's not as important sometimes, but I think you
should always– With things being digital too, right, you can
scan it in, put it on a flash drive, keep
it for seven years that way instead.

Speaker 6 (47:14):
Of having those big boxes. Oh, my God. People still do.

Speaker 2 (47:19):
They do.

Speaker 3 (47:20):
You're speaking to one of them. I am the king
of the file cabinets.

Speaker 5 (47:24):
You start a lot of fires, Ron, or how do
you get rid of all that paper?

Speaker 3 (47:28):
Well, I haven't yet. That's the problem. I just keep
buying more filing cabinets. You should see my basement.

Speaker 2 (47:34):
No, I bet.

Speaker 4 (47:34):
No, I've still got a fair amount of paper myself.

Speaker 2 (47:37):
It's crazy.

Speaker 4 (47:38):
So, hey, one other thing on the 1099 I think
it's important to mention, Adam, too, is that QCDs, we
talked about these before, Qualified Charitable Distributions, they now– are
showing up on the 1099s as a code Y. Okay,
so previously it was not accounted for in a 1099

(47:58):
at all. I don't want to say it was the
honor system, but you would make a contribution, qualified charitable distribution,
which means it's going straight from your IRA right to
the charity, and you would hopefully get a letter from
the charity that said, oh, thanks for your donation of X.
Then you'd have to give that to the accountant who
would match it up with the amount that came out
of your IRA. It was a very extensive process. Thankfully,

(48:20):
now there's a code-wide distribution on these things, which is
going to help a lot of people out, right?

Speaker 6 (48:25):
It confused a lot of accountants in the past.

Speaker 5 (48:28):
And I remember getting calls from people, my dad, who
did these things and was confused and said, no, just
tell your accountant that this is what.

Speaker 6 (48:37):
You did and whatever. Yeah, it had a lot of confusion.
Make it more clean.

Speaker 2 (48:43):
It will.

Speaker 4 (48:45):
Clean is a good word. It'll really clean that up
a lot.

Speaker 3 (48:47):
This is what I love, and I got to make
sure I get this in before we run out of time.
Life changes that can blow up your taxes. What a headline.
Listen to this, folks. Life changes that can blow up
your taxes. Buying or selling a home.

Speaker 2 (49:02):
Yeah, right.

Speaker 4 (49:03):
These are things that people don't think affect their taxes,
but sometimes they forget.

Speaker 6 (49:06):
Them, right, Adam? Yeah, of course. And frankly, yeah.

Speaker 5 (49:11):
I mean, when you sell your home, odds are it's
probably not going to come into play because I think
you've got, what is it, 500, 750?

Speaker 2 (49:20):
500, 750? Pretty big wiggle room there.

Speaker 4 (49:22):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (49:22):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (49:25):
So you've got some wiggle room there. So that's not
going to cause a huge issue. You know, there's some
tests and there's some limits on that. So you've got
to make sure on that.

Speaker 2 (49:35):
What about marriage and divorce? That's what I'm. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (49:39):
Mm hmm.

Speaker 6 (49:40):
So that causes all kinds of issues.

Speaker 5 (49:42):
Right. I mean, honestly, you're let's say, you know, sometimes
it may help like you get married and ultimately now
you're in different tax brackets and it could reduce some
of your your your your taxes due to some of the.

Speaker 6 (49:59):
Some of the phase outs that you have.

Speaker 5 (50:00):
You're allowed to do more things. So we talked about
putting money into IRAs earlier.

Speaker 6 (50:07):
Right.

Speaker 5 (50:08):
When you're married, you have much larger goalposts that you
can earn to be able to still do that.

Speaker 4 (50:13):
The income limits are wider, right?

Speaker 3 (50:16):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (50:17):
So there's some of the advantages. I mean, in another episode,
we can tell people why not to get married, but
that's just a.

Speaker 6 (50:23):
Whole other personal thing.

Speaker 3 (50:25):
And, you know, when you talk about taxes and divorce,
divorce is, well, of course, you're broke after a divorce.

Speaker 2 (50:31):
That's right.

Speaker 3 (50:33):
Your tax bracket changes dramatically.

Speaker 4 (50:36):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (50:37):
That's a fact.

Speaker 2 (50:38):
At least the people I know.

Speaker 6 (50:39):
You got no money.

Speaker 2 (50:41):
Sorry.

Speaker 5 (50:43):
But yeah, your filing status changes. It's just the opposite, right?
You may have had these larger... goalposts before, but that
you could earn up to, but then you're, you're starting
to creep down. And we, we see that with some,
some seniors, right. And, you know, they, they completely change their,
their world of taxes and they don't, especially in that
first year, it can really cause issues because you have

(51:07):
done no planning around it and it could cause all
kinds of issues going forward.

Speaker 4 (51:11):
Plan, plan, plan, financial planning, retirement planning, tax planning.

Speaker 6 (51:15):
Got it.

Speaker 4 (51:16):
Can't emphasize it enough, Ron.

Speaker 2 (51:18):
You never get a chance to relax.

Speaker 6 (51:20):
You don't.

Speaker 2 (51:21):
You don't. You know what I mean?

Speaker 3 (51:22):
I mean, really some great advice to think about. I mean,
because if you get married or divorced or you sell
your home that you're living in or maybe you have
a new birth in the family or change jobs or
move to a different state, these are all things that
you got to bring to the attention of your CPA
before you file your taxes to make sure that everything

(51:44):
is kosher, as I like to say. You know, we
got a lot of great information here today. And if
you're looking for trusted financial guidance, contact Joe and Adam
at Rockport Wealth Advisors by calling the office.

Speaker 2 (51:57):
The phone number 330-965-9890.

Speaker 3 (51:58):
Planning is always the key word. You can't start too
early and you can't start too late.

Speaker 2 (52:07):
Right. So don't think if you're 65 you don't need
to plan. Right, yeah.

Speaker 3 (52:11):
Don't think if you're 70. And if you've dropped the
ball and you haven't done it, start planning now no
matter what the age is for whether it's investing or
taxes or keeping more of your money in that sense.

Speaker 4 (52:23):
And if you're in a situation where you've got questions
on this stuff and you're afraid to maybe call in
or you just don't want to, remember we've got radioshow
at rockportwealth.com. for an email address, bring the questions in.
We'll address them right on air.

Speaker 3 (52:37):
Perfect. And you can always make an appointment and visit, uh,
Adam and, uh, Joe Kovach certified financial planners at 7227
Glenwood Avenue in Boardman.

Speaker 2 (52:47):
Their phone number is 330-965-9890. Once again, 330-965-9890 to get ahold.

Speaker 3 (52:49):
Of the office and, uh, Maybe swing down and make
an appointment to see Joe or Adam at 330-965-9890. So
for more insights like these, reach out to the team

(53:09):
at Rockport Wealth Advisors. As always, Adam, it's been nice
talking to you. Joe, good talking to you.

Speaker 2 (53:15):
Good to be here. Good to be here.

Speaker 3 (53:17):
We have the Rockport Wealth Truth and Investing Program on
NewsRadio 570 WKBN. Join us every Monday at 6 right here,
NewsRadio 570 WKBN.