Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the hidden world of wealth, where secrets of
the affluent become accessible to you. You are listening to
your Money Matters, the most provocative financial radio show on
the airwaves. You are about to start your educational journey
here on Your Money Matters with your host, Drew Prescott,
(00:22):
President of Prescott Private Wealth and Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor.
Drew will unlock the complexities of the financial landscape with straightforward,
powerful insights. Whether you're planning for retirement, managing in a state,
or looking to grow your wealth. Consider this your exclusive invitation.
Turn up the volume, lean in closer. Let's navigate the
(00:45):
hidden paths of prosperity together. Your financial enlightenment begins now.
Securities all produce a terror Financial Specialists LLC Member fen
The SIPC reservices offered through Satara Investment Advisors LLC. SATA
firms are under separate ownership from any other named entity.
(01:06):
Four five to one sixth Street, Troy, New York one
two one eight zero.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
Will I jose.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
The news today.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
Seeves my life.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
Welcome back, everybody, and you are listening to your Money Matters.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
I'm your host, Drew Prescott, Chartered.
Speaker 3 (01:42):
Retirement planning counselor, accredited wealth management advisor and President at
Prescott Private Wealth, located at four point fifty one Who's
extreet in Troy, New York. The phone over here is
five one eight two zero three one nine eight three.
Check us out on our website Prescott PW dot com.
You can sign up to be on our mail list there,
keep you up to date on all of our timely content,
(02:05):
and go ahead and follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn and gosh,
I think even Instagram now and Twitter, you name it,
we're on there. So anyways, all your support is very
appreciated and very excited to be with you this morning here.
(02:27):
And I don't know about you, but has it not
felt very cold? I know that it's actually been pretty mild,
but I feel like we had it so good for
so long that this cold here has really just kind
of gotten to me this time. And looking forward to
having the sun start to break here a little bit,
(02:48):
you know, a little bit later on, because nothing worse
than feeling like you may be able to do something
in the evening. And then you settle down, have your dinner,
you have a cup of coffee and your and thinking
maybe I could still go out and make something entertaining
this evening. But I look outside that window after having
(03:08):
a cup of coffee in my hand, and I think,
you know something I don't think so I think I'm
gonna just hang right here and stay warm, but looking
forward to getting a little bit of warmer weather here,
getting a little winter fatigue, maybe a little bit early,
But with that in mind, every time we do that,
(03:28):
we try to set up a little trip to get
away if possible. So excited to get the traveling going
here shortly. Hopefully you guys have some traveling planned here.
If you have anything exciting, reach out, let me know,
love to hear about it. And we have a lot
(03:50):
that has happened here this week, in addition to a
lot that's going to happen next week, including we have
Martin Luther King Day on Monday, which is also going
to be the inauguration day of President Trump. And very
(04:11):
very interested to see how this all goes. I don't
know about you, but something feels a little bit eerie
about this one. And Lord willing everyone is safe and
nothing weird happens. We've already had a couple of assassination
(04:32):
attempts on him, and just pray that nothing like that
happens again.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
That being said, I'm excited to have you join me.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
Today as we're going to discuss of strategies that you
really should consider before you retire and this show, I
want to take a couple of pieces from different episodes
that I've done and kind of bring them together for
you because each and every one of them is very important.
So if it's slipped through the crowd, I want to
bring it before you again to get you to kind
(05:07):
of chew on that cut a little bit more and
see if we can help you to focus on things that.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Are very important.
Speaker 3 (05:15):
So today I'm going to discuss some of these strategies
that you really want to consider before you retire, because,
as we said, retirement is a journey and it really
requires careful planning in addition to avoiding common pitfalls. So
today we're going to cover several topics, but we'll start
off with the five biggest mistakes that could derail your retirement. Now,
(05:39):
retirement is something everybody dreams about, something that you think
about as how soon you can retire, while others focus
on making sure that you have enough money saved. So
whether you're just starting your career, you're midway through, or
you're nearing retirement, it's crucial to avoid simple, yet cost mistakes.
(06:00):
And today I'm going to break down these mistakes and
I'm going to give you some actionable steps to secure
your financial future. So last time that we covered this,
I shared with you a really staggering statistic and it
was a statistic and it came from a study that
was done by Employee Benefits Research Institute, and it was
(06:23):
in twenty twenty four, and it said nearly forty percent
of Americans aged thirty five to sixty four have saved
less than fifty thousand dollars for retirement. Now that's alarming
considering how long retirement can last some of us and
how expensive life can be. So even if you've been
diligently saving, you might still be making some costly mistakes
(06:48):
in your strategy. So let's just put it into.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
This perspective here.
Speaker 3 (06:54):
So, if we're living longer and often well into our
eighties and beyond, medical advancements in addition to healthier lifestyles
have extended our life expectancy, but with that, it also
means that you'll need to make your money last much longer.
And that's not easy when life is full of unpredictable
(07:16):
events like illness, disability, divorce, or even natural disasters, and
all of these can derail the best laid savings plan.
And today I'm going to share some tips on safeguarding
your financial future. And we're going to answer some crucial
questions like is my portfolio balanced? Am I maximizing my contributions?
(07:40):
What age should I claim Social Security? And is my
income protected in the event that I become ill or disabled?
And we're going to go through and address how to
build a retirement plan that not just only talks about
the numbers, but it talks about your dreams and your goals. Now,
(08:04):
the first mistake is not having a retirement plan. So
let's do a little story time here, Okay, let me
introduce you to Jim and Linda.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
Jim was sixty two years old.
Speaker 3 (08:15):
He is factory worker who had been contributing to his
four oh one K for decades now.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
Linda his wife.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
She managed the household finances and just assumed that their
savings was enough. Well, they had plans to retire and travel,
but they didn't have a written plan. And when Jim
had a health scare, at sixty three and he had
to retire early. They realized that they hadn't saved nearly
enough to cover their expenses, let alone travel the world. So, unfortunately,
(08:45):
many Americans make this same mistake, and they assumed that
social Security will cover their needs. So let me ask you,
do you personally think that eighteen hundred and eighty two
dollars per month, which reflects the average social Security benefit
in twenty twenty four, do you think that that is
enough to live on? Well, for most people it isn't.
(09:07):
And social Security is a great supplement, but it is
not a comprehensive plan. And so to avoid this mistake,
start by writing down your retirement goals. Where do you
see yourself in retirement? Are you gardening? Are you traveling?
Maybe starting a new hobby or a business. Will studies
show that people with written retirement plans have five times
(09:30):
more money saved than those who don't. So writing down
your goals that forces you to think about the costs
that are associated with them, and it allows you to
create a roadmap. Also, you want to take control of
your savings. Now at age fifty nine and a half,
you can begin withdrawing from your four to one K
(09:54):
or your IRA without an early withdrawal penalty. But just
because you can do that does not mean that you should. Now,
your retirement savings are like your primary income source, and
early withdrawals could leave your financial picture short in the
later years. So workers that are aged fifty and older
(10:16):
can make catch up contributions to both their iras and
four oh one k's. Now, in twenty twenty four, they
had raised the limits to seventy five hundred dollars for
iras and thirty thousand, five hundred for four oh one k's. Now,
this increased limits are really a golden opportunity for late
(10:37):
savers to close the gap on the retirement goals, and
you want to take advantage of them if you haven't already. Additionally,
in twoenty and twenty five, these numbers have changed, so
let me fill you in on what they are now.
So for those of you who are under the age
of fifty, you can contribute twenty three thousand, five hundred
(10:58):
dollars for twenty twenty five. Now, if your age fifty
and over, it remains at seventy five hundred dollars for
catchup contribution. Now here's something that you want to tune
your ear to If your age is sixty to sixty three,
(11:20):
there's a special ketchup contribution increasing to eleven thousand, two
fifty and that allows your total contribution into a four
toh one K to be thirty four thousand and seven fifty.
So what does that mean. That means go online or
(11:41):
get to HR and however it is that you change
your contributions. Make sure that you're maxing that out if
you have the ability to do that. So very important.
This is the perfect time to do this. Get at
it at the beginning of the year.
Speaker 2 (11:57):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (11:59):
Now, the second stake here is not knowing where your
money goes. Now, I know every time I say this,
people say, as a matter of fact, I'll this is
this is actually pretty funny. I have a listener and
a friend of mine that always says, oh, you know,
sometimes Drew, you talk is though you only help people
with lower income. Well that's that's not the case. You know,
(12:23):
these are basic things, but you'd be shocked. I have
clients that make north of seven hundred and fifty thousand
annually and the amount of debt that they have is frightening.
It is what it is, and we help them get
through that, okay. But just because someone's a high income
(12:44):
earner and just because they have a good amount saved
inside of their retirement, sometimes their immediate financial picture is
not so clean.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
And that's why I talk about these things.
Speaker 3 (12:59):
So the second mistake is not knowing where your money goes. Now, budgeting,
as I said, it may be simple, but it is critical.
So if you don't have a good understanding of how
much you're spending, how can you actually ensure that your
savings will last well. This mistake often sneaks up on
(13:21):
people because expenses in retirement they can change dramatically. For instance,
healthcare costs tend to rise, something that people don't pay
a whole lot of attention to. You may travel more
frequently in your earlier retirement years, and new hobbies and
leisure activities can increase spending as well. So if we
look at numbers, and we look at a study that
(13:42):
was done by Fidelity Investments in twenty twenty four, the
average sixty five year old couple will need about three
hundred and fifteen thousand dollars simply to cover health care
costs throughout their retirement. Now that's just healthcare. So if
you add in living expenses, travel, and inflation, you can
(14:02):
see how easy it is to outspend your savings. So
here's a little pro tip for you. Create a detailed
budget for your retirement, be realistic about your needs and wants,
and also account for inflation. Now, if you have a
financial advisor that is always trying to get you to
(14:23):
do a financial plan, slow down and do it. Let
them help you analyze your spending patterns and make adjustments
to ensure that your money lasts. This is something I'm
very passionate about. I like all of my clients to
have a financial plan in place so that when they
log in to view their accounts, they see their scorecard
(14:44):
right there and it's in real time. So let's move
on to the next mistake. Next mistake would be underestimating longevity.
So here's a question for you, how long do you
expect to live?
Speaker 1 (14:57):
Now?
Speaker 3 (14:57):
To take this into account, Okay, the easy answer here
is in when you're talking about retirement, is that if
you feel a little bit insecure on what you've saved.
I tend to see that people say, well, I'm not
going to live that long. I don't expect to live
that long. I won't go into a nursing care facility.
I'll take care of business before that, and YadA YadA.
Speaker 2 (15:17):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
Now that's typically like a defensive reaction, But look around.
How long did mom last, how long did dad last?
Speaker 2 (15:27):
Right?
Speaker 3 (15:27):
And what type of family history did they have? Did
people have heart disease in your family? Did they have Alzheimer's,
did they have cancer? What type of things has your
family dealt with medically? And that's important to review because
maybe you're thinking, hey, I'm going to live into my nineties, okay,
(15:50):
but the reality is your family history doesn't show that. Now, again,
medicine's gotten better, right, but your genes still play a
fact into this. So this longevity is really a blessing,
but it could also mean that your retirement savings must
(16:12):
last longer than ever before. So when considering this, consider
this piece here a balanced portfolio that has a mix
of stocks and bonds. It historically provides better long term
growth than keeping your money in cash or low yield investments,
(16:33):
and it's important to review your portfolio regularly and have
it adjusted based upon your risk tolerance, your time horizon,
and your financial goals. Now, mistake number four is failing
to plan for unexpected events. Now, as you know, life
is unpredictable. You might face a serious illness, need some
(16:55):
long term care, or deal with a natural disaster, and really,
how prepare are you for these possibilities. Let me just
share a story about a friend of mine, a good
friend of mine, and he's currently in the hospital receiving treatment.
Young man thirty six years old and has a beautiful family. Now,
(17:19):
back in twenty twenty, had an event. I was having
a hard time swallowing, felt that his words just weren't
seeming to come out right, and the doctor put him
on some steroids. Over the next five years, he kept
on saying from time to time that I don't feel right,
you know, I know my body, something's wrong, And the
(17:40):
doctors just kept on poop pooing it, and so he thought, well,
maybe nothing's wrong. Well up until about two months ago,
and he all of a sudden is having a hard
time swallowing, has a hard time talking, and goes to
the local hospital. Here they do a scan, they find
(18:02):
out that he's got a tumor on the base of
his brain, and thankfully we made a couple of calls,
we were able to get him lined up with Dana
Farber and then he was able to then get into Sloan. So, thankfully,
(18:23):
by the grace of God, he met the right surgeon.
Very rare cancer that he has, only about three hundred
people per year get diagnosed with this, and they removed
a tumor from the base of his brain about the
size of a cigar. Now the scan shows that he
(18:44):
the surgeon was able to get about ninety percent of
the tumor out, thank God. And then he's going to
have to go through some proton therapy for five to
six weeks while living down in the city by Columbia.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
And getting this treatment. So as you can see, thirty six.
Speaker 3 (19:08):
Years old, that's a tough spot to be in, not
only emotionally of course, physically, but financially. And thankfully he
has some income protection for himself what we call disability insurance,
(19:33):
and he's in my industry, and when you're a profession
when you have a profession, you really need the proper
disability insurance policy. And we've talked about this before. There's
only a few companies that offer these, and you need
one that actually covers your specific day to day activities
(20:00):
as your profession because what makes a welder considered disabled
according to his job or her job is very different
than what would be considered disabled.
Speaker 2 (20:16):
When doing my job, which could be cognitive a loss
of speech.
Speaker 3 (20:21):
So I share that just to say that it was
really remarkable. I mean, I've seen a lot of people
go through health challenges, but at thirty six years old,
here I am with my friend sending them some messages,
some funny reels on Instagram, and he replies back, Hey man,
I'm gonna have to get a pretty serious surgery done,
(20:44):
and I'm concerned that they may have to fuse my
skull to my neck. And he's an active young man,
and that's a scary thing to hear from a friend.
Speaker 2 (20:58):
So why do I share that with you? Well?
Speaker 3 (21:00):
Number one, to ask that you would pray for them
when you think of them. Okay, Number two, that you realize,
you know, sometimes we live in a bubble and we
see these things happen around us, and you know, we
don't really want to internalize them because it's so much
easier to not look under the bed at night.
Speaker 2 (21:20):
But life can.
Speaker 3 (21:21):
Change just like that, and we need to be prepared
financially in the event that that happened Okay, So I
digressed a little bit, but it's an important thing to
share with you to illustrate this need. So, as I
was saying, mistake number four is failing to plan for
(21:43):
that unexpected event. And like I just shared with you
about my friend, it could be a serious illness, a
long term care event, or to deal with a natural
disaster like we're seeing in California. I mean, how prepared
are you for these possibilities now? Each and every one
of them seems like it is irrelevant to our own
(22:05):
personal lives now it is until it's not right. And
the one thing that is a vital part to your
retirement plan is insurance. It's life insurance, it's long term
care insurance, it's disability insurance. And insurance is one of
(22:28):
those things that if you if you look forward to
buying it, you may need to talk to somebody.
Speaker 2 (22:37):
Okay, you may not be right.
Speaker 3 (22:39):
Nobody wants to pay for insurance of any type, Okay,
but it's one of those things that you don't need
it until you need it. And long term care insurance,
for example, can help cover the cost of nursing home,
in home care or assisted living facilities, and with life
(23:01):
insurance that can come back in and backfill for the
income that is going to be swooped away from your
family and not come in in the event that you're there.
And then on the disability side of things, if you're
a business owner, there's an insurance that's called disability overhead insurance,
(23:22):
so that if you cannot work, let's say that you're
going through something like my friend, it would step in
and pay for your overhead of your business so that
it can continue on and your employees don't start jumping ship. Additionally,
in the household side, you should have your own individual
disability income protection policy as well that is specifically designed
(23:48):
for you and your profession. Okay, now let's move on
to mistake number five, which is ignoring estate planning. So
let's talk about something here that most people avoid, and
that is a state planning. Now, without a valid will,
your assets may be subject to state probate laws, which
(24:11):
can be time consuming and very expensive for your loved ones.
And estate planning is not.
Speaker 2 (24:17):
Just about wills.
Speaker 3 (24:18):
It's also about designating beneficiaries on your accounts and creating
a power of attorney for medical and financial decisions. And
this ensures that your wishes are honored even if you
become incapacitated. So Stacey and I have this. She has
a full authority for a power of attorney and vice versa.
(24:43):
She also we have our healthcare proxies in place, our will,
and we also have trusts. So everyone's different. Depending upon
what you own and the type of assets that you have,
there may or may not even be a need for
a trust. And that's why we would want to get
you partnered up with a proper estate planning attorney. Now,
(25:07):
typically there's a lot of people that will stand in
line as attorneys to say that they can do this
type of work. Now, if you have an attorney that
is out moonlighting for tickets at night, they may not
be the best candidate to do your estate planning or
(25:31):
if they are closing your real estate transaction, they may
not be the best the best person to do this
type of.
Speaker 2 (25:42):
Work for you.
Speaker 3 (25:43):
Typically, what we like to see is somebody that actually
hangs their shingle as an estate planning attorney. Okay, because
documents are one thing, but an understanding of the documents
is far more valuable. And that's what we want you
to have is an attorney that has an understanding of
(26:04):
the documents and how they work, and which ones are
necessary and which ones are not. So planning for retirement
it does not need to be overwhelming. But whether you're
thirty five or sixty five, the thing to understand is
that the best time to start is right now. And
to help you avoid these common mistakes, I've created a
(26:28):
free guide titled the five Things that Can Derail Your Retirement.
So if you want to get your copy today, give
us a call at five point eight two zero three
one nine eight three or visit us online at Prescott
PW dot com. This guide will give you actionable steps
to secure your financial future, and in our next segment,
(26:50):
we're going to dive deeper into the importance of knowing
where your money goes, budgeting and understanding your expenses and
why it's so critical. So don't go any place you're
listening to your money matters. I'm Drew Prescott, President and
Wealth Advisor at Prescott Private Wealth, located at four fifty
one who's extreet in Troy, New York, and I hope
you even find a value in our discussion about the
(27:13):
five things that could derail your retirement. These pitfalls that
we're talking about are more common than you think, but
with the right strategies, they're also completely avoidable. And again,
if you would like to get a copy of our
guide the five Things that Can Derail your retirement, simply
call us A five one eight, two zero three one
(27:33):
nine A three or Prescott PW dot com and we'll
send it to you immediately. So, the biggest pre retirement
mistake is putting your savings in the wrong places. So
let's dive into this. So if you're placing your hard
earned savings in the wrong places, retirement planning isn't just
(27:55):
about saving money. It's about growing that money and doing
it in the right way. And let me share a
cautionary tale with you. I'll share this story about Sarah. Now,
Sarah inherited seventy five thousand dollars from her mother, and
like many people, she wanted to keep that money safe,
so she put it in her bank's standard savings account
(28:16):
and it sat there for years untouched. Now here's the question.
Do you know that the average interest rate on a
bank account in two thousand and twenty four was only
about zero point four percent, So that means that her
seventy five thousand dollars grew by less than three hundred
(28:39):
dollars per year, barely keeping up with inflation. Now, imagine instead,
if Sarah had taken this money and invested it in
a money market fund or a raw thiarray or even
a high yield savings account over the years, the difference
could have been tens of thousands of dollars. And this
is a mistake that I see far too often because
(29:00):
people are so concerned about keeping their money safe that
they don't let it grow. But what they don't realize
is that by being overly cautious can actually cost them.
So what you want to do is strike the balance
between risk and growth. Because traditionally, when we look at
(29:22):
these things, financial advisors recommend that you approach retirement your
portfolio here should really become more conservative to minimize risk
as you get closer to retirement. Now, while the advice
makes sense on the surface, today's economy is definitely telling
us a different story.
Speaker 2 (29:42):
Now.
Speaker 3 (29:43):
We're living longer than ever before, as we talked about,
and according to Social Security Administration, the average retirement lasts
about twenty years, and nearly half of women who are
sixty five today will live to the age of ninety
and now that's a long time to make your money last.
That's twenty five years. So here's where being overly conservative
(30:07):
can be just as dangerous as not taking much risk.
So let's say that you move all of your money
into bonds or a CD and you want to play
it safe. Now, these options are less validile than stocks,
that's for sure, but they also provide lower returns. And
if inflation rises, which is currently hovering around three to
(30:28):
four percent annually in the US, your purchasing power could
shrink significantly over time. So, to put in another way,
your retirement savings must not only last longer, but they
also need to work harder. So the role of stocks
(30:49):
in a retirement portfolio is very important because stocks often
get a bad reputation for being too risky, especially for retirees.
Speaker 2 (30:59):
But here's the reality.
Speaker 3 (31:01):
Over the long term, stocks have consistently provided higher average
returns than bonds or cash. Yes, of course they are
more volatile, we're not arguing about that. That's in the
short term, but when held in a diversified portfolio, they
can help you outpace inflation and grow your wealth.
Speaker 2 (31:21):
So think about it this way.
Speaker 3 (31:22):
If you're sixty five years old today, you could easily
live another twenty five to thirty years. Now, that's long
enough for your portfolio to weather the ups and downs
of the market and still come out ahead. So here's
another common mistake. People think that they're diversified because they
own several mutual funds. Okay, don't get me started on
(31:44):
mutual funds. Hey, not a fan of mutual funds at all.
But often those funds hold the same stocks, which means
that they're not truly spreading your risk. So true diversification
means spreading your investments across small cap and large cap stocks,
international funds, bonds, reates which are real estate investment trusts,
(32:08):
and alternative investments such as commodities or private equities. Now,
the goal here is to create a portfolio that isn't
overly dependent on the success of any one sector of market. So,
for example, if the US stocks take a hit, the
international investments or bonds could help cushion that blow. Now,
(32:29):
what I like to say is that diversification it's like
having an umbrella, sunglasses, and a raincoat in your bag,
so you're prepared for whatever the weather is or whatever
the market throws at you. Now, another challenge here that
we should pay attention to that retirees are facing is
(32:49):
an overestimating returns. So if you're expecting eight to ten
percent annual growth but your portfolio only delivers four to six,
you could run out of money much faster than planned.
So this is where working where a financial advisor becomes critical.
And advisors can help you set realistic expectations based on
(33:14):
your risk tolerance, your time horizon, and your retirement goals.
They can also help you adjust your plans as needed,
ensuring that just stay on track. So let's shift gears
for one moment, and let's go back to budgeting for
a second.
Speaker 2 (33:29):
Okay, do you know how much you spend each month? Now?
Speaker 3 (33:34):
Many people estimate their expenses, especially in retirement. Now, it's
a myth that retirement automatically means that you're spending less.
In fact, you spend more in your early years. And
I always tell people this when I have new clients
that come in and they say, and the first thing
we talk about is have you put together a financial plan?
(33:57):
I would say eight times out of ten new clients
do not have Ah, I mean I'll say eight out
of ten don't. It may very well be nine out
of ten to be frank, but eight out of ten
do not have a financial plan.
Speaker 2 (34:14):
Okay, So.
Speaker 3 (34:17):
What we do is we find that these individuals are
just simply used to talking about rate of return. Now,
why is that even important if you don't have a plan, right,
If you don't have a plan, the only thing that
you can anchor to in your mind is rate of return. Well,
(34:38):
when we put together a financial plan and we understand
what the needs are and the wants and the travel
and the healthcare, that helps us know what we actually
need for a rate of return. Now, sometimes by making
the proper moves, we can reduce the stress that the
(35:01):
portfolio needs to take on for risk and also alleviate
the need for having a higher rate of return. So
we need to have that financial plan in place. I
had a lady come in that was working with a
financial advisor for about fifteen years, and that advisor kept
(35:25):
on telling her that she was going to have plenty
of money based upon some overfunded life insurance policy that
he had sold her. And we reviewed the plan and
it was clear that she was not going to have enough.
Speaker 2 (35:47):
But what we did was we use the same amount
of money that she was saving.
Speaker 3 (35:52):
We redirected it into the proper allocation through individual savings
and using her four oh one K effectively and using
a company stock options, and we were able to change
(36:14):
her entire plan dramatically and it became much more efficient. Additionally,
it also showed that if she stayed on the same path,
not only would she be running short, but it wouldn't
address a lot of her goals that she had which
she had shared with the other advisor or let me
(36:37):
just say financial representative, and she was going to miss
the mark in a big way. So simply by reallocating
her discipline savings approach, it made a tremendous difference in
her financial picture in addition to her legacy for what
(36:58):
she could leave to her children. So make sure that
you have a financial plan in place. Don't just go
based off of a piece of paper that someone's drawing
on or some illustration from an insurance company. You need
a financial plan, okay. Additionally, make sure that while you're
(37:19):
doing these plans that you take into account these healthcare
costs that we talked about three hundred and fifteen thousand
dollars for the average sixty five year old couple to
cover healthcare expenses alone in retirement. So again, create that
detailed retirement budget. All right, Now, I keep on beating
this drum, and I'm sure it's annoying, but that's okay.
Speaker 2 (37:43):
That's my job.
Speaker 3 (37:44):
This is my contribution to society, which is one of
many of them. May I add, But today my goal
is to tell you that retirement is not time to guess.
It's the time to plan strategically.
Speaker 2 (38:04):
Now.
Speaker 3 (38:04):
There are no dress rehearsals for retirement, so get yourself
a comprehensive budget, make sure that your portfolio is diversified, properly,
maximize those retirement contributions, and also have a plan for
unexpected expenses, whether that's helping a child of yours in
(38:26):
need as a young adult, an illness inside of your family,
losing a job, any of these things. These are all
things that you should have a plan for. And we
can help you navigate these complex decisions. And we can
help you determine when to claim your Social Security or
(38:49):
how to minimize taxes on your withdrawals. So, if you're
unsure about your current financial picture and your retirement plan,
or you want to avoid these common mistakes.
Speaker 2 (39:02):
Let me help you.
Speaker 3 (39:04):
I'm Drew Prescott a chartered retirement planning counselor a credited
wealth management advisor at Prescott Private Wealth, and I specialize
in guiding individuals, families, and businesses through every stage of
retirement planning. And if you want to receive our free
guide the five Things that can Derail your retirement, give
(39:26):
us a call five one eight two zero three one
nine eight three and you could visit our website PRESCOTTPW
dot com. Now, this guide is really packed with actionable
tips that can help you build a secure and fulfilling retirement.
So I'd love to get this into your possession. Now
(39:46):
let's move on to another piece here, which is understanding longevity.
Speaker 2 (39:53):
We've touched on this a little bit.
Speaker 3 (39:56):
But what people don't think about two offen They may,
but they may not dive in deep enough in this
thought as they're sitting there, is that your retirement spending
is going to be very different. I think I started
to dive into this a little bit, and I think
I might have gone down another path. But let me
(40:17):
just tell you again. So let's say that you're sixty
five years old and you're going to retire, and you say,
you know, I don't think I need as much money today, Well,
if you've got a budget to verify that, fantastic and
we build off of that. What I also tell people
is that, hey, in the beginning, what you're going to
(40:39):
learn is that every day's a Saturday.
Speaker 2 (40:42):
So your free.
Speaker 3 (40:43):
Time when you're working is limited to evenings and weekends.
But that goes away once you retire. So what I
find in doing financial planning and seeing people through their
retirement is in the beginning, from like sixty five to
seventy five, you're still young, you're still moving quickly, and
(41:09):
you have the ability to travel, You've got good health
in those years. And at minimum, from sixty five to
seventy you know you're going to be moving about. You're
going to be pretty good spender typically, but you need
to do that inside of the confines of your budget. Now,
(41:29):
when you get to seventy five, you slow down a step.
Speaker 2 (41:33):
Now.
Speaker 3 (41:33):
I know a lot of I've got a couple of
clients that are eighty five years old, ninety years old,
and they're awfully sharp, and they still get around quite
a bit, and they travel and everything. I've got an
eighty five year old client that plays golf five days
a week, God bless them. And sharp, just sharp as
attack and just such a fantastic guy. But so he
(41:57):
even still doesn't spend near what he spent when he
was in his seventies. Then I have a lady who's
ninety one, and she goes down to Florida in the
winter with her children and then comes back up here
for the rest of the year. But she's really just
(42:18):
kind of hanging out in her apartment, so she has
her rent and other than that, she spends about two
thousand dollars a month, not a lot of money that
she has to spend, but she has a lot saved. Now,
the key here is that you know what you will
(42:39):
need to spend in every stage of life. Now you
can use kind of like a you know, almost like
a laddering strategy if you would, of income for those
different timeframes, and you can put things in place so
that you know that you have that guaranteed income for
those certain periods of time. Or we can build out
(43:00):
portfolios that really stress the income component of it and
hit those mile markers at different times as well. But
the point here is that you plan accordingly for each
stage of life, and in order to do that, you
need to have a financial plan. Okay, so let's get
(43:23):
you squared away. Let's talk about what your goals are.
Maybe you want to be heavy in real estate and
you need a plan to start saving some money to
become strong on your balance sheet for the ability to
borrow money from a bank to purchase some real estate.
Speaker 2 (43:47):
Well, we have some.
Speaker 3 (43:49):
Experience in that area, and we can help you develop
a plan in non retirement assets for saving people, even
choose to pledge those as collateral and get some favorable
lending rates. Also, you may want to purchase a lake
(44:11):
house for your grandchildren to come to every weekend. Maybe
you have very specific goals that you want to help
a family member, or you don't have your emergency savings
separated from other assets. Whatever it is, We're going to
see everything and we're going to help you get these
(44:34):
pieces in place. And what is the end result of that. Well,
the end result of that is really peace of mind
to know that when these things come up that what
you have is fully liquid and you've planned properly and
(44:54):
you would not be in a bad spot. So by
having these designated accounts, the proper insurances, the proper legal documents,
we can really help you move towards a place that
you may feel as though your financial plan is bulletproof,
(45:14):
and that's our goal is to help you get to
where you want to be. Everyone's different, everyone's spending habits
are different, everyone's income is different, everyone's family is different.
But I want to be able to help you set
this up so that this is a custom made financial
plan for you and your family, not to be like
(45:36):
anyone else's because you're not like anyone else, and we
want to help you create a realistic budget. We want
to increase your savings if needed, plan for health care costs,
help you diversify your investments, and update your plan regularly.
(45:57):
So it's important that you partner with a financial advisor,
and that one that can help you navigate the complexities
of retirement expenses because it can feel overwhelming, and that's
where a trusted financial advisor comes in. Advisors help you
create and manage a comprehensive budget, strategically allocate your investments,
(46:20):
and account for rising healthcare costs and long term care costs.
They are also there to help you stay disciplined and
focused on your long term care goals because retirement is
one of the most significant financial transitions that you will
ever make, and you need to have the proper guidance
so that you can avoid these pitfalls and create secure,
(46:41):
fulfilling retirement. Now you're listening to your money matters. I'm
your host, Drew Prescott, President at Prescott Private Wealth. The
phone number here is five one eight two zero three
one nine eight three, or visit us online Prescott PW
dot com and you can request our free white paper
the five Things that Can Derail your retirement. And as
I said before, this guide is really packed with actionable
(47:03):
tips to help you avoid mistakes and take control of
your financial future. Now I want to go into a
little bit of what we talked about last week, which
is not maximizing social Security. So in this segment, what
I would like to do is talk about taking Social
(47:25):
Security benefits too early. Now, what I've seen is that
many retirees leave tens of thousands of dollars on the
table by claiming benefits at the wrong time. So stay
tuned to learn how to make the right decisions and
maximize your lifetime income. Again, you're listening to your money matters.
I'm Drew Prescott, Chartered Retirement Planning counselor and accredited wealth
(47:48):
management advisor, President and wealth advisor here at Prescott Private
Wealth located at four fifty one, who's extreet in Troy,
New York. And we're talking about five things that could
derail your retirement. Now we've already covered some big topics
and now we're going to jump into Social Security, which
is a crucial part of retirement planning. So again, before
(48:11):
we continue, I want to remind you if you'd like
your very own copy of these steps, reach out to
us at PRESCOTTPW dot com and will send you that
guide right away.
Speaker 2 (48:19):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (48:21):
Now, social Security is often misunderstood and it's often underestimated
because it's not just a government paycheck. It's a key
component to your retirement income strategy, and by making the
wrong decisions about when and how to claim your benefits,
that can leave tens of thousands of dollars on the table.
(48:43):
And here's the thing. Remember this Social Security was never
meant to be your sole source of income. It's designed
to replace about forty percent of your pre retirement income.
Yet for many Americans it is the prime or it's
the only source of retirement funds. And this makes it
(49:04):
all more important to get this right. So let me
share a story about my friend Bill. I shared this
with you guys before. But Bill, he absolutely hated his
job and for years he endured long hours, a difficult boss,
and he was daily frustrated. So he made it his
(49:25):
mission to retire as soon as he could at age
sixty two. Well, on his birthday, he walked out of
the office for the last time, and he felt like
he was triumphant. He's like, finally free and excited about everything.
I can't wait to go into retirement. And then all
of a sudden reality set in. Bill quickly discovered that
(49:46):
the monthly Social Security check that he had been counting
on was much smaller than he expected. Well, why is
that because when he was reading his statement, he continued
to look at full retirement the full retirement age, which
for him is sixty seven, but at sixty two that
(50:07):
comes with a twenty five percent reduction in your monthly
payment compared to your full retirement age. So he also
didn't know about the earnings limit. In twenty twenty four,
if you claim Social Security before your full retirement age,
you can only earn up to twenty one thousand, two
(50:28):
hundred and forty dollars per year before a penalty kicks in.
Now the penalty is for every two dollars that you
earn above that limit, Social Security withholds one dollar from
your benefits.
Speaker 2 (50:43):
So this had been really hard.
Speaker 3 (50:44):
He realized that if he had only waited until his
full retirement age, or better yet until age seventy, his
monthly benefit could have been up to seventy five percent higher.
And that's a tough lesson, but it's one that we
could we'll learn from. So let's look at the numbers
to understand the impact of you and your claiming decision. So,
(51:09):
if you claim it sixty two, your benefits are reduced
by twenty five percent compared to your full retirement age.
If you're claiming it eighty, those benefits increase by eight
percent per year beyond the full retirement age, for a
total boost of seventy six percent. So here's an example
(51:30):
of what I'm talking about.
Speaker 2 (51:33):
So if your monthly.
Speaker 3 (51:34):
Benefit at full retirement age age sixty seven for this example,
would have been two thousand dollars a month, then what
that means is at age sixty two, if you take
it early, you'd receive just fifteen hundred dollars a month. Now,
if you were to stick in there and let this
(51:56):
thing grow to full maturity, at age seventy, you would
received twenty six hundred and forty dollars per month. So
that's eleven hundred and forty dollars more per month at
age seventy than sixty two. It's only eight years now,
sounds like an eternity to some people, and depending upon
(52:16):
your situation, it may be.
Speaker 2 (52:18):
Now not saying that nobody.
Speaker 3 (52:20):
Should do age sixty two, but what I'm saying is
that make sure that you get your fanny in here.
Let's run this report and find out what is the
right option for you and your family. Because that difference
of eleven hundred and forty dollars per month at age
seventy compared to sixty two, if you look at that
(52:41):
over a twenty year retirement, the extra benefits could total
more than one hundred and twenty five thousand dollars. That's
a lot of money. So let us find a winning
strategy for you between longevity and social security. Now, according
to the Social Security Administration, a sixty five year old
(53:03):
couple in twenty twenty four has a fifty percent chance
that at least one of the spouses will live to
be age eighty nine, and a third of the couples
will have at least one partner live to age ninety five.
So what we're talking about are big numbers here, all right.
Speaker 2 (53:22):
So make sure.
Speaker 3 (53:26):
Here's what I want you to do, and you give
you some easy actionable steps. Number one, get a copy
of your most recent Social Security statement, okay. Number two,
get a copy of your four to oh one K
statement or your iras any investment accounts that you have.
(53:50):
Get a copy of your bank statement. Gather your legal documents,
and gather your insurance policies. Then I want you to
email me and ask me to send you a spreadsheet
that has all the columns for planning.
Speaker 2 (54:13):
For a proper budget. Okay.
Speaker 3 (54:17):
Want you to fill that out, and then I want
you to schedule a time for me. I'm Prescott PW
dot com. In the upper right hand corner, click schedule time.
Let's get you into the office. We're gonna review everything
and let's do a financial plan together.
Speaker 2 (54:34):
All right.
Speaker 3 (54:36):
Now, our financial plan the baseline. Now, if you have
a complex picture, it changes all My pricing is right
on the website. Okay, Now, let's get you in here
and do a financial plan. I'm going to charge you
fifteen hundred dollars for a financial plan, which is a
(54:58):
more than fair price for doing such a thing. And
what you're going to end up with is a pathway
for retirement. This is going to show you how you're invested,
if it's proper. We'll also talk about changes to your
portfolio that you can make. We'll also review how you're
saving money, where you're saving it, and if it's the
(55:20):
proper place for you to save it. One of the
most rewarding things about my job is to help somebody
review their financial picture and show them what areas it
could be improved on. And I know that you would
find tremendous value in that. So again you're listening to
your money matters. I'm your host, Drew Prescott, chartered retirement
(55:41):
Planning counselor, accredited wealth management Advisor and President of Prescott
Private Wealth, located at four to fifty one, who's extreet
in Troy, New York, and I would love to have
the opportunity to meet with you. So, if you have
a portfolio of over two hundred and fifty thousand dollars
and you do not have a financial plan in place,
(56:02):
Please reach out. Let's get you squared away here. Thank
you for listening today and I hope you have a
wonderful weekend. And God bless you, and God bless the USA.
Welcome to the hidden world of wealth, where secrets of
the affluent become accessible to you. You are listening to
your Money Matters, the most provocative financial radio show on
the airwaves. You are about to start your educational journey
here on Your Money Matters with your host, Drew Prescott,
(00:22):
President of Prescott Private Wealth and Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor.
Drew will unlock the complexities of the financial landscape with straightforward,
powerful insights. Whether you're planning for retirement, managing in a state,
or looking to grow your wealth. Consider this your exclusive invitation.
Turn up the volume, lean in closer. Let's navigate the
(00:45):
hidden paths of prosperity together. Your financial enlightenment begins now.
Securities all produce a terror Financial Specialists LLC Member fen
The SIPC reservices offered through Satara Investment Advisors LLC. SATA
firms are under separate ownership from any other named entity.
(01:06):
Four five to one sixth Street, Troy, New York one
two one eight zero.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
Will I jose.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
The news today.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
Seeves my life.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
Welcome back, everybody, and you are listening to your Money Matters.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
I'm your host, Drew Prescott, Chartered.
Speaker 3 (01:42):
Retirement planning counselor, accredited wealth management advisor and President at
Prescott Private Wealth, located at four point fifty one Who's
extreet in Troy, New York. The phone over here is
five one eight two zero three one nine eight three.
Check us out on our website Prescott PW dot com.
You can sign up to be on our mail list there,
keep you up to date on all of our timely content,
(02:05):
and go ahead and follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn and gosh,
I think even Instagram now and Twitter, you name it,
we're on there. So anyways, all your support is very
appreciated and very excited to be with you this morning here.
(02:27):
And I don't know about you, but has it not
felt very cold? I know that it's actually been pretty mild,
but I feel like we had it so good for
so long that this cold here has really just kind
of gotten to me this time. And looking forward to
having the sun start to break here a little bit,
(02:48):
you know, a little bit later on, because nothing worse
than feeling like you may be able to do something
in the evening. And then you settle down, have your dinner,
you have a cup of coffee and your and thinking
maybe I could still go out and make something entertaining
this evening. But I look outside that window after having
(03:08):
a cup of coffee in my hand, and I think,
you know something I don't think so I think I'm
gonna just hang right here and stay warm, but looking
forward to getting a little bit of warmer weather here,
getting a little winter fatigue, maybe a little bit early,
But with that in mind, every time we do that,
(03:28):
we try to set up a little trip to get
away if possible. So excited to get the traveling going
here shortly. Hopefully you guys have some traveling planned here.
If you have anything exciting, reach out, let me know,
love to hear about it. And we have a lot
(03:50):
that has happened here this week, in addition to a
lot that's going to happen next week, including we have
Martin Luther King Day on Monday, which is also going
to be the inauguration day of President Trump. And very
(04:11):
very interested to see how this all goes. I don't
know about you, but something feels a little bit eerie
about this one. And Lord willing everyone is safe and
nothing weird happens. We've already had a couple of assassination
(04:32):
attempts on him, and just pray that nothing like that
happens again.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
That being said, I'm excited to have you join me.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
Today as we're going to discuss of strategies that you
really should consider before you retire and this show, I
want to take a couple of pieces from different episodes
that I've done and kind of bring them together for
you because each and every one of them is very important.
So if it's slipped through the crowd, I want to
bring it before you again to get you to kind
(05:07):
of chew on that cut a little bit more and
see if we can help you to focus on things that.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Are very important.
Speaker 3 (05:15):
So today I'm going to discuss some of these strategies
that you really want to consider before you retire, because,
as we said, retirement is a journey and it really
requires careful planning in addition to avoiding common pitfalls. So
today we're going to cover several topics, but we'll start
off with the five biggest mistakes that could derail your retirement. Now,
(05:39):
retirement is something everybody dreams about, something that you think
about as how soon you can retire, while others focus
on making sure that you have enough money saved. So
whether you're just starting your career, you're midway through, or
you're nearing retirement, it's crucial to avoid simple, yet cost mistakes.
(06:00):
And today I'm going to break down these mistakes and
I'm going to give you some actionable steps to secure
your financial future. So last time that we covered this,
I shared with you a really staggering statistic and it
was a statistic and it came from a study that
was done by Employee Benefits Research Institute, and it was
(06:23):
in twenty twenty four, and it said nearly forty percent
of Americans aged thirty five to sixty four have saved
less than fifty thousand dollars for retirement. Now that's alarming
considering how long retirement can last some of us and
how expensive life can be. So even if you've been
diligently saving, you might still be making some costly mistakes
(06:48):
in your strategy. So let's just put it into.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
This perspective here.
Speaker 3 (06:54):
So, if we're living longer and often well into our
eighties and beyond, medical advancements in addition to healthier lifestyles
have extended our life expectancy, but with that, it also
means that you'll need to make your money last much longer.
And that's not easy when life is full of unpredictable
(07:16):
events like illness, disability, divorce, or even natural disasters, and
all of these can derail the best laid savings plan.
And today I'm going to share some tips on safeguarding
your financial future. And we're going to answer some crucial
questions like is my portfolio balanced? Am I maximizing my contributions?
(07:40):
What age should I claim Social Security? And is my
income protected in the event that I become ill or disabled?
And we're going to go through and address how to
build a retirement plan that not just only talks about
the numbers, but it talks about your dreams and your goals. Now,
(08:04):
the first mistake is not having a retirement plan. So
let's do a little story time here, Okay, let me
introduce you to Jim and Linda.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
Jim was sixty two years old.
Speaker 3 (08:15):
He is factory worker who had been contributing to his
four oh one K for decades now.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
Linda his wife.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
She managed the household finances and just assumed that their
savings was enough. Well, they had plans to retire and travel,
but they didn't have a written plan. And when Jim
had a health scare, at sixty three and he had
to retire early. They realized that they hadn't saved nearly
enough to cover their expenses, let alone travel the world. So, unfortunately,
(08:45):
many Americans make this same mistake, and they assumed that
social Security will cover their needs. So let me ask you,
do you personally think that eighteen hundred and eighty two
dollars per month, which reflects the average social Security benefit
in twenty twenty four, do you think that that is
enough to live on? Well, for most people it isn't.
(09:07):
And social Security is a great supplement, but it is
not a comprehensive plan. And so to avoid this mistake,
start by writing down your retirement goals. Where do you
see yourself in retirement? Are you gardening? Are you traveling?
Maybe starting a new hobby or a business. Will studies
show that people with written retirement plans have five times
(09:30):
more money saved than those who don't. So writing down
your goals that forces you to think about the costs
that are associated with them, and it allows you to
create a roadmap. Also, you want to take control of
your savings. Now at age fifty nine and a half,
you can begin withdrawing from your four to one K
(09:54):
or your IRA without an early withdrawal penalty. But just
because you can do that does not mean that you should. Now,
your retirement savings are like your primary income source, and
early withdrawals could leave your financial picture short in the
later years. So workers that are aged fifty and older
(10:16):
can make catch up contributions to both their iras and
four oh one k's. Now, in twenty twenty four, they
had raised the limits to seventy five hundred dollars for
iras and thirty thousand, five hundred for four oh one k's. Now,
this increased limits are really a golden opportunity for late
(10:37):
savers to close the gap on the retirement goals, and
you want to take advantage of them if you haven't already. Additionally,
in twoenty and twenty five, these numbers have changed, so
let me fill you in on what they are now.
So for those of you who are under the age
of fifty, you can contribute twenty three thousand, five hundred
(10:58):
dollars for twenty twenty five. Now, if your age fifty
and over, it remains at seventy five hundred dollars for
catchup contribution. Now here's something that you want to tune
your ear to If your age is sixty to sixty three,
(11:20):
there's a special ketchup contribution increasing to eleven thousand, two
fifty and that allows your total contribution into a four
toh one K to be thirty four thousand and seven fifty.
So what does that mean. That means go online or
(11:41):
get to HR and however it is that you change
your contributions. Make sure that you're maxing that out if
you have the ability to do that. So very important.
This is the perfect time to do this. Get at
it at the beginning of the year.
Speaker 2 (11:57):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (11:59):
Now, the second stake here is not knowing where your
money goes. Now, I know every time I say this,
people say, as a matter of fact, I'll this is
this is actually pretty funny. I have a listener and
a friend of mine that always says, oh, you know,
sometimes Drew, you talk is though you only help people
with lower income. Well that's that's not the case. You know,
(12:23):
these are basic things, but you'd be shocked. I have
clients that make north of seven hundred and fifty thousand
annually and the amount of debt that they have is frightening.
It is what it is, and we help them get
through that, okay. But just because someone's a high income
(12:44):
earner and just because they have a good amount saved
inside of their retirement, sometimes their immediate financial picture is
not so clean.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
And that's why I talk about these things.
Speaker 3 (12:59):
So the second mistake is not knowing where your money goes. Now, budgeting,
as I said, it may be simple, but it is critical.
So if you don't have a good understanding of how
much you're spending, how can you actually ensure that your
savings will last well. This mistake often sneaks up on
(13:21):
people because expenses in retirement they can change dramatically. For instance,
healthcare costs tend to rise, something that people don't pay
a whole lot of attention to. You may travel more
frequently in your earlier retirement years, and new hobbies and
leisure activities can increase spending as well. So if we
look at numbers, and we look at a study that
(13:42):
was done by Fidelity Investments in twenty twenty four, the
average sixty five year old couple will need about three
hundred and fifteen thousand dollars simply to cover health care
costs throughout their retirement. Now that's just healthcare. So if
you add in living expenses, travel, and inflation, you can
(14:02):
see how easy it is to outspend your savings. So
here's a little pro tip for you. Create a detailed
budget for your retirement, be realistic about your needs and wants,
and also account for inflation. Now, if you have a
financial advisor that is always trying to get you to
(14:23):
do a financial plan, slow down and do it. Let
them help you analyze your spending patterns and make adjustments
to ensure that your money lasts. This is something I'm
very passionate about. I like all of my clients to
have a financial plan in place so that when they
log in to view their accounts, they see their scorecard
(14:44):
right there and it's in real time. So let's move
on to the next mistake. Next mistake would be underestimating longevity.
So here's a question for you, how long do you
expect to live?
Speaker 1 (14:57):
Now?
Speaker 3 (14:57):
To take this into account, Okay, the easy answer here
is in when you're talking about retirement, is that if
you feel a little bit insecure on what you've saved.
I tend to see that people say, well, I'm not
going to live that long. I don't expect to live
that long. I won't go into a nursing care facility.
I'll take care of business before that, and YadA YadA.
Speaker 2 (15:17):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
Now that's typically like a defensive reaction, But look around.
How long did mom last, how long did dad last?
Speaker 2 (15:27):
Right?
Speaker 3 (15:27):
And what type of family history did they have? Did
people have heart disease in your family? Did they have Alzheimer's,
did they have cancer? What type of things has your
family dealt with medically? And that's important to review because
maybe you're thinking, hey, I'm going to live into my nineties, okay,
(15:50):
but the reality is your family history doesn't show that. Now, again,
medicine's gotten better, right, but your genes still play a
fact into this. So this longevity is really a blessing,
but it could also mean that your retirement savings must
(16:12):
last longer than ever before. So when considering this, consider
this piece here a balanced portfolio that has a mix
of stocks and bonds. It historically provides better long term
growth than keeping your money in cash or low yield investments,
(16:33):
and it's important to review your portfolio regularly and have
it adjusted based upon your risk tolerance, your time horizon,
and your financial goals. Now, mistake number four is failing
to plan for unexpected events. Now, as you know, life
is unpredictable. You might face a serious illness, need some
(16:55):
long term care, or deal with a natural disaster, and really,
how prepare are you for these possibilities. Let me just
share a story about a friend of mine, a good
friend of mine, and he's currently in the hospital receiving treatment.
Young man thirty six years old and has a beautiful family. Now,
(17:19):
back in twenty twenty, had an event. I was having
a hard time swallowing, felt that his words just weren't
seeming to come out right, and the doctor put him
on some steroids. Over the next five years, he kept
on saying from time to time that I don't feel right,
you know, I know my body, something's wrong, And the
(17:40):
doctors just kept on poop pooing it, and so he thought, well,
maybe nothing's wrong. Well up until about two months ago,
and he all of a sudden is having a hard
time swallowing, has a hard time talking, and goes to
the local hospital. Here they do a scan, they find
(18:02):
out that he's got a tumor on the base of
his brain, and thankfully we made a couple of calls,
we were able to get him lined up with Dana
Farber and then he was able to then get into Sloan. So, thankfully,
(18:23):
by the grace of God, he met the right surgeon.
Very rare cancer that he has, only about three hundred
people per year get diagnosed with this, and they removed
a tumor from the base of his brain about the
size of a cigar. Now the scan shows that he
(18:44):
the surgeon was able to get about ninety percent of
the tumor out, thank God. And then he's going to
have to go through some proton therapy for five to
six weeks while living down in the city by Columbia.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
And getting this treatment. So as you can see, thirty six.
Speaker 3 (19:08):
Years old, that's a tough spot to be in, not
only emotionally of course, physically, but financially. And thankfully he
has some income protection for himself what we call disability insurance,
(19:33):
and he's in my industry, and when you're a profession
when you have a profession, you really need the proper
disability insurance policy. And we've talked about this before. There's
only a few companies that offer these, and you need
one that actually covers your specific day to day activities
(20:00):
as your profession because what makes a welder considered disabled
according to his job or her job is very different
than what would be considered disabled.
Speaker 2 (20:16):
When doing my job, which could be cognitive a loss
of speech.
Speaker 3 (20:21):
So I share that just to say that it was
really remarkable. I mean, I've seen a lot of people
go through health challenges, but at thirty six years old,
here I am with my friend sending them some messages,
some funny reels on Instagram, and he replies back, Hey man,
I'm gonna have to get a pretty serious surgery done,
(20:44):
and I'm concerned that they may have to fuse my
skull to my neck. And he's an active young man,
and that's a scary thing to hear from a friend.
Speaker 2 (20:58):
So why do I share that with you? Well?
Speaker 3 (21:00):
Number one, to ask that you would pray for them
when you think of them. Okay, Number two, that you realize,
you know, sometimes we live in a bubble and we
see these things happen around us, and you know, we
don't really want to internalize them because it's so much
easier to not look under the bed at night.
Speaker 2 (21:20):
But life can.
Speaker 3 (21:21):
Change just like that, and we need to be prepared
financially in the event that that happened Okay, So I
digressed a little bit, but it's an important thing to
share with you to illustrate this need. So, as I
was saying, mistake number four is failing to plan for
(21:43):
that unexpected event. And like I just shared with you
about my friend, it could be a serious illness, a
long term care event, or to deal with a natural
disaster like we're seeing in California. I mean, how prepared
are you for these possibilities now? Each and every one
of them seems like it is irrelevant to our own
(22:05):
personal lives now it is until it's not right. And
the one thing that is a vital part to your
retirement plan is insurance. It's life insurance, it's long term
care insurance, it's disability insurance. And insurance is one of
(22:28):
those things that if you if you look forward to
buying it, you may need to talk to somebody.
Speaker 2 (22:37):
Okay, you may not be right.
Speaker 3 (22:39):
Nobody wants to pay for insurance of any type, Okay,
but it's one of those things that you don't need
it until you need it. And long term care insurance,
for example, can help cover the cost of nursing home,
in home care or assisted living facilities, and with life
(23:01):
insurance that can come back in and backfill for the
income that is going to be swooped away from your
family and not come in in the event that you're there.
And then on the disability side of things, if you're
a business owner, there's an insurance that's called disability overhead insurance,
(23:22):
so that if you cannot work, let's say that you're
going through something like my friend, it would step in
and pay for your overhead of your business so that
it can continue on and your employees don't start jumping ship. Additionally,
in the household side, you should have your own individual
disability income protection policy as well that is specifically designed
(23:48):
for you and your profession. Okay, now let's move on
to mistake number five, which is ignoring estate planning. So
let's talk about something here that most people avoid, and
that is a state planning. Now, without a valid will,
your assets may be subject to state probate laws, which
(24:11):
can be time consuming and very expensive for your loved ones.
And estate planning is not.
Speaker 2 (24:17):
Just about wills.
Speaker 3 (24:18):
It's also about designating beneficiaries on your accounts and creating
a power of attorney for medical and financial decisions. And
this ensures that your wishes are honored even if you
become incapacitated. So Stacey and I have this. She has
a full authority for a power of attorney and vice versa.
(24:43):
She also we have our healthcare proxies in place, our will,
and we also have trusts. So everyone's different. Depending upon
what you own and the type of assets that you have,
there may or may not even be a need for
a trust. And that's why we would want to get
you partnered up with a proper estate planning attorney. Now,
(25:07):
typically there's a lot of people that will stand in
line as attorneys to say that they can do this
type of work. Now, if you have an attorney that
is out moonlighting for tickets at night, they may not
be the best candidate to do your estate planning or
(25:31):
if they are closing your real estate transaction, they may
not be the best the best person to do this
type of.
Speaker 2 (25:42):
Work for you.
Speaker 3 (25:43):
Typically, what we like to see is somebody that actually
hangs their shingle as an estate planning attorney. Okay, because
documents are one thing, but an understanding of the documents
is far more valuable. And that's what we want you
to have is an attorney that has an understanding of
(26:04):
the documents and how they work, and which ones are
necessary and which ones are not. So planning for retirement
it does not need to be overwhelming. But whether you're
thirty five or sixty five, the thing to understand is
that the best time to start is right now. And
to help you avoid these common mistakes, I've created a
(26:28):
free guide titled the five Things that Can Derail Your Retirement.
So if you want to get your copy today, give
us a call at five point eight two zero three
one nine eight three or visit us online at Prescott
PW dot com. This guide will give you actionable steps
to secure your financial future, and in our next segment,
(26:50):
we're going to dive deeper into the importance of knowing
where your money goes, budgeting and understanding your expenses and
why it's so critical. So don't go any place you're
listening to your money matters. I'm Drew Prescott, President and
Wealth Advisor at Prescott Private Wealth, located at four fifty
one who's extreet in Troy, New York, and I hope
you even find a value in our discussion about the
(27:13):
five things that could derail your retirement. These pitfalls that
we're talking about are more common than you think, but
with the right strategies, they're also completely avoidable. And again,
if you would like to get a copy of our
guide the five Things that Can Derail your retirement, simply
call us A five one eight, two zero three one
(27:33):
nine A three or Prescott PW dot com and we'll
send it to you immediately. So, the biggest pre retirement
mistake is putting your savings in the wrong places. So
let's dive into this. So if you're placing your hard
earned savings in the wrong places, retirement planning isn't just
(27:55):
about saving money. It's about growing that money and doing
it in the right way. And let me share a
cautionary tale with you. I'll share this story about Sarah. Now,
Sarah inherited seventy five thousand dollars from her mother, and
like many people, she wanted to keep that money safe,
so she put it in her bank's standard savings account
(28:16):
and it sat there for years untouched. Now here's the question.
Do you know that the average interest rate on a
bank account in two thousand and twenty four was only
about zero point four percent, So that means that her
seventy five thousand dollars grew by less than three hundred
(28:39):
dollars per year, barely keeping up with inflation. Now, imagine instead,
if Sarah had taken this money and invested it in
a money market fund or a raw thiarray or even
a high yield savings account over the years, the difference
could have been tens of thousands of dollars. And this
is a mistake that I see far too often because
(29:00):
people are so concerned about keeping their money safe that
they don't let it grow. But what they don't realize
is that by being overly cautious can actually cost them.
So what you want to do is strike the balance
between risk and growth. Because traditionally, when we look at
(29:22):
these things, financial advisors recommend that you approach retirement your
portfolio here should really become more conservative to minimize risk
as you get closer to retirement. Now, while the advice
makes sense on the surface, today's economy is definitely telling
us a different story.
Speaker 2 (29:42):
Now.
Speaker 3 (29:43):
We're living longer than ever before, as we talked about,
and according to Social Security Administration, the average retirement lasts
about twenty years, and nearly half of women who are
sixty five today will live to the age of ninety
and now that's a long time to make your money last.
That's twenty five years. So here's where being overly conservative
(30:07):
can be just as dangerous as not taking much risk.
So let's say that you move all of your money
into bonds or a CD and you want to play
it safe. Now, these options are less validile than stocks,
that's for sure, but they also provide lower returns. And
if inflation rises, which is currently hovering around three to
(30:28):
four percent annually in the US, your purchasing power could
shrink significantly over time. So, to put in another way,
your retirement savings must not only last longer, but they
also need to work harder. So the role of stocks
(30:49):
in a retirement portfolio is very important because stocks often
get a bad reputation for being too risky, especially for retirees.
Speaker 2 (30:59):
But here's the reality.
Speaker 3 (31:01):
Over the long term, stocks have consistently provided higher average
returns than bonds or cash. Yes, of course they are
more volatile, we're not arguing about that. That's in the
short term, but when held in a diversified portfolio, they
can help you outpace inflation and grow your wealth.
Speaker 2 (31:21):
So think about it this way.
Speaker 3 (31:22):
If you're sixty five years old today, you could easily
live another twenty five to thirty years. Now, that's long
enough for your portfolio to weather the ups and downs
of the market and still come out ahead. So here's
another common mistake. People think that they're diversified because they
own several mutual funds. Okay, don't get me started on
(31:44):
mutual funds. Hey, not a fan of mutual funds at all.
But often those funds hold the same stocks, which means
that they're not truly spreading your risk. So true diversification
means spreading your investments across small cap and large cap stocks,
international funds, bonds, reates which are real estate investment trusts,
(32:08):
and alternative investments such as commodities or private equities. Now,
the goal here is to create a portfolio that isn't
overly dependent on the success of any one sector of market. So,
for example, if the US stocks take a hit, the
international investments or bonds could help cushion that blow. Now,
(32:29):
what I like to say is that diversification it's like
having an umbrella, sunglasses, and a raincoat in your bag,
so you're prepared for whatever the weather is or whatever
the market throws at you. Now, another challenge here that
we should pay attention to that retirees are facing is
(32:49):
an overestimating returns. So if you're expecting eight to ten
percent annual growth but your portfolio only delivers four to six,
you could run out of money much faster than planned.
So this is where working where a financial advisor becomes critical.
And advisors can help you set realistic expectations based on
(33:14):
your risk tolerance, your time horizon, and your retirement goals.
They can also help you adjust your plans as needed,
ensuring that just stay on track. So let's shift gears
for one moment, and let's go back to budgeting for
a second.
Speaker 2 (33:29):
Okay, do you know how much you spend each month? Now?
Speaker 3 (33:34):
Many people estimate their expenses, especially in retirement. Now, it's
a myth that retirement automatically means that you're spending less.
In fact, you spend more in your early years. And
I always tell people this when I have new clients
that come in and they say, and the first thing
we talk about is have you put together a financial plan?
(33:57):
I would say eight times out of ten new clients
do not have Ah, I mean I'll say eight out
of ten don't. It may very well be nine out
of ten to be frank, but eight out of ten
do not have a financial plan.
Speaker 2 (34:14):
Okay, So.
Speaker 3 (34:17):
What we do is we find that these individuals are
just simply used to talking about rate of return. Now,
why is that even important if you don't have a plan, right,
If you don't have a plan, the only thing that
you can anchor to in your mind is rate of return. Well,
(34:38):
when we put together a financial plan and we understand
what the needs are and the wants and the travel
and the healthcare, that helps us know what we actually
need for a rate of return. Now, sometimes by making
the proper moves, we can reduce the stress that the
(35:01):
portfolio needs to take on for risk and also alleviate
the need for having a higher rate of return. So
we need to have that financial plan in place. I
had a lady come in that was working with a
financial advisor for about fifteen years, and that advisor kept
(35:25):
on telling her that she was going to have plenty
of money based upon some overfunded life insurance policy that
he had sold her. And we reviewed the plan and
it was clear that she was not going to have enough.
Speaker 2 (35:47):
But what we did was we use the same amount
of money that she was saving.
Speaker 3 (35:52):
We redirected it into the proper allocation through individual savings
and using her four oh one K effectively and using
a company stock options, and we were able to change
(36:14):
her entire plan dramatically and it became much more efficient. Additionally,
it also showed that if she stayed on the same path,
not only would she be running short, but it wouldn't
address a lot of her goals that she had which
she had shared with the other advisor or let me
(36:37):
just say financial representative, and she was going to miss
the mark in a big way. So simply by reallocating
her discipline savings approach, it made a tremendous difference in
her financial picture in addition to her legacy for what
(36:58):
she could leave to her children. So make sure that
you have a financial plan in place. Don't just go
based off of a piece of paper that someone's drawing
on or some illustration from an insurance company. You need
a financial plan, okay. Additionally, make sure that while you're
(37:19):
doing these plans that you take into account these healthcare
costs that we talked about three hundred and fifteen thousand
dollars for the average sixty five year old couple to
cover healthcare expenses alone in retirement. So again, create that
detailed retirement budget. All right, Now, I keep on beating
this drum, and I'm sure it's annoying, but that's okay.
Speaker 2 (37:43):
That's my job.
Speaker 3 (37:44):
This is my contribution to society, which is one of
many of them. May I add, But today my goal
is to tell you that retirement is not time to guess.
It's the time to plan strategically.
Speaker 2 (38:04):
Now.
Speaker 3 (38:04):
There are no dress rehearsals for retirement, so get yourself
a comprehensive budget, make sure that your portfolio is diversified, properly,
maximize those retirement contributions, and also have a plan for
unexpected expenses, whether that's helping a child of yours in
(38:26):
need as a young adult, an illness inside of your family,
losing a job, any of these things. These are all
things that you should have a plan for. And we
can help you navigate these complex decisions. And we can
help you determine when to claim your Social Security or
(38:49):
how to minimize taxes on your withdrawals. So, if you're
unsure about your current financial picture and your retirement plan,
or you want to avoid these common mistakes.
Speaker 2 (39:02):
Let me help you.
Speaker 3 (39:04):
I'm Drew Prescott a chartered retirement planning counselor a credited
wealth management advisor at Prescott Private Wealth, and I specialize
in guiding individuals, families, and businesses through every stage of
retirement planning. And if you want to receive our free
guide the five Things that can Derail your retirement, give
(39:26):
us a call five one eight two zero three one
nine eight three and you could visit our website PRESCOTTPW
dot com. Now, this guide is really packed with actionable
tips that can help you build a secure and fulfilling retirement.
So I'd love to get this into your possession. Now
(39:46):
let's move on to another piece here, which is understanding longevity.
Speaker 2 (39:53):
We've touched on this a little bit.
Speaker 3 (39:56):
But what people don't think about two offen They may,
but they may not dive in deep enough in this
thought as they're sitting there, is that your retirement spending
is going to be very different. I think I started
to dive into this a little bit, and I think
I might have gone down another path. But let me
(40:17):
just tell you again. So let's say that you're sixty
five years old and you're going to retire, and you say,
you know, I don't think I need as much money today, Well,
if you've got a budget to verify that, fantastic and
we build off of that. What I also tell people
is that, hey, in the beginning, what you're going to
(40:39):
learn is that every day's a Saturday.
Speaker 2 (40:42):
So your free.
Speaker 3 (40:43):
Time when you're working is limited to evenings and weekends.
But that goes away once you retire. So what I
find in doing financial planning and seeing people through their
retirement is in the beginning, from like sixty five to
seventy five, you're still young, you're still moving quickly, and
(41:09):
you have the ability to travel, You've got good health
in those years. And at minimum, from sixty five to
seventy you know you're going to be moving about. You're
going to be pretty good spender typically, but you need
to do that inside of the confines of your budget. Now,
(41:29):
when you get to seventy five, you slow down a step.
Speaker 2 (41:33):
Now.
Speaker 3 (41:33):
I know a lot of I've got a couple of
clients that are eighty five years old, ninety years old,
and they're awfully sharp, and they still get around quite
a bit, and they travel and everything. I've got an
eighty five year old client that plays golf five days
a week, God bless them. And sharp, just sharp as
attack and just such a fantastic guy. But so he
(41:57):
even still doesn't spend near what he spent when he
was in his seventies. Then I have a lady who's
ninety one, and she goes down to Florida in the
winter with her children and then comes back up here
for the rest of the year. But she's really just
(42:18):
kind of hanging out in her apartment, so she has
her rent and other than that, she spends about two
thousand dollars a month, not a lot of money that
she has to spend, but she has a lot saved. Now,
the key here is that you know what you will
(42:39):
need to spend in every stage of life. Now you
can use kind of like a you know, almost like
a laddering strategy if you would, of income for those
different timeframes, and you can put things in place so
that you know that you have that guaranteed income for
those certain periods of time. Or we can build out
(43:00):
portfolios that really stress the income component of it and
hit those mile markers at different times as well. But
the point here is that you plan accordingly for each
stage of life, and in order to do that, you
need to have a financial plan. Okay, so let's get
(43:23):
you squared away. Let's talk about what your goals are.
Maybe you want to be heavy in real estate and
you need a plan to start saving some money to
become strong on your balance sheet for the ability to
borrow money from a bank to purchase some real estate.
Speaker 2 (43:47):
Well, we have some.
Speaker 3 (43:49):
Experience in that area, and we can help you develop
a plan in non retirement assets for saving people, even
choose to pledge those as collateral and get some favorable
lending rates. Also, you may want to purchase a lake
(44:11):
house for your grandchildren to come to every weekend. Maybe
you have very specific goals that you want to help
a family member, or you don't have your emergency savings
separated from other assets. Whatever it is, We're going to
see everything and we're going to help you get these
(44:34):
pieces in place. And what is the end result of that. Well,
the end result of that is really peace of mind
to know that when these things come up that what
you have is fully liquid and you've planned properly and
(44:54):
you would not be in a bad spot. So by
having these designated accounts, the proper insurances, the proper legal documents,
we can really help you move towards a place that
you may feel as though your financial plan is bulletproof,
(45:14):
and that's our goal is to help you get to
where you want to be. Everyone's different, everyone's spending habits
are different, everyone's income is different, everyone's family is different.
But I want to be able to help you set
this up so that this is a custom made financial
plan for you and your family, not to be like
(45:36):
anyone else's because you're not like anyone else, and we
want to help you create a realistic budget. We want
to increase your savings if needed, plan for health care costs,
help you diversify your investments, and update your plan regularly.
(45:57):
So it's important that you partner with a financial advisor,
and that one that can help you navigate the complexities
of retirement expenses because it can feel overwhelming, and that's
where a trusted financial advisor comes in. Advisors help you
create and manage a comprehensive budget, strategically allocate your investments,
(46:20):
and account for rising healthcare costs and long term care costs.
They are also there to help you stay disciplined and
focused on your long term care goals because retirement is
one of the most significant financial transitions that you will
ever make, and you need to have the proper guidance
so that you can avoid these pitfalls and create secure,
(46:41):
fulfilling retirement. Now you're listening to your money matters. I'm
your host, Drew Prescott, President at Prescott Private Wealth. The
phone number here is five one eight two zero three
one nine eight three, or visit us online Prescott PW
dot com and you can request our free white paper
the five Things that Can Derail your retirement. And as
I said before, this guide is really packed with actionable
(47:03):
tips to help you avoid mistakes and take control of
your financial future. Now I want to go into a
little bit of what we talked about last week, which
is not maximizing social Security. So in this segment, what
I would like to do is talk about taking Social
(47:25):
Security benefits too early. Now, what I've seen is that
many retirees leave tens of thousands of dollars on the
table by claiming benefits at the wrong time. So stay
tuned to learn how to make the right decisions and
maximize your lifetime income. Again, you're listening to your money matters.
I'm Drew Prescott, Chartered Retirement Planning counselor and accredited wealth
(47:48):
management advisor, President and wealth advisor here at Prescott Private
Wealth located at four fifty one, who's extreet in Troy,
New York. And we're talking about five things that could
derail your retirement. Now we've already covered some big topics
and now we're going to jump into Social Security, which
is a crucial part of retirement planning. So again, before
(48:11):
we continue, I want to remind you if you'd like
your very own copy of these steps, reach out to
us at PRESCOTTPW dot com and will send you that
guide right away.
Speaker 2 (48:19):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (48:21):
Now, social Security is often misunderstood and it's often underestimated
because it's not just a government paycheck. It's a key
component to your retirement income strategy, and by making the
wrong decisions about when and how to claim your benefits,
that can leave tens of thousands of dollars on the table.
(48:43):
And here's the thing. Remember this Social Security was never
meant to be your sole source of income. It's designed
to replace about forty percent of your pre retirement income.
Yet for many Americans it is the prime or it's
the only source of retirement funds. And this makes it
(49:04):
all more important to get this right. So let me
share a story about my friend Bill. I shared this
with you guys before. But Bill, he absolutely hated his
job and for years he endured long hours, a difficult boss,
and he was daily frustrated. So he made it his
(49:25):
mission to retire as soon as he could at age
sixty two. Well, on his birthday, he walked out of
the office for the last time, and he felt like
he was triumphant. He's like, finally free and excited about everything.
I can't wait to go into retirement. And then all
of a sudden reality set in. Bill quickly discovered that
(49:46):
the monthly Social Security check that he had been counting
on was much smaller than he expected. Well, why is
that because when he was reading his statement, he continued
to look at full retirement the full retirement age, which
for him is sixty seven, but at sixty two that
(50:07):
comes with a twenty five percent reduction in your monthly
payment compared to your full retirement age. So he also
didn't know about the earnings limit. In twenty twenty four,
if you claim Social Security before your full retirement age,
you can only earn up to twenty one thousand, two
(50:28):
hundred and forty dollars per year before a penalty kicks in.
Now the penalty is for every two dollars that you
earn above that limit, Social Security withholds one dollar from
your benefits.
Speaker 2 (50:43):
So this had been really hard.
Speaker 3 (50:44):
He realized that if he had only waited until his
full retirement age, or better yet until age seventy, his
monthly benefit could have been up to seventy five percent higher.
And that's a tough lesson, but it's one that we
could we'll learn from. So let's look at the numbers
to understand the impact of you and your claiming decision. So,
(51:09):
if you claim it sixty two, your benefits are reduced
by twenty five percent compared to your full retirement age.
If you're claiming it eighty, those benefits increase by eight
percent per year beyond the full retirement age, for a
total boost of seventy six percent. So here's an example
(51:30):
of what I'm talking about.
Speaker 2 (51:33):
So if your monthly.
Speaker 3 (51:34):
Benefit at full retirement age age sixty seven for this example,
would have been two thousand dollars a month, then what
that means is at age sixty two, if you take
it early, you'd receive just fifteen hundred dollars a month. Now,
if you were to stick in there and let this
(51:56):
thing grow to full maturity, at age seventy, you would
received twenty six hundred and forty dollars per month. So
that's eleven hundred and forty dollars more per month at
age seventy than sixty two. It's only eight years now,
sounds like an eternity to some people, and depending upon
(52:16):
your situation, it may be.
Speaker 2 (52:18):
Now not saying that nobody.
Speaker 3 (52:20):
Should do age sixty two, but what I'm saying is
that make sure that you get your fanny in here.
Let's run this report and find out what is the
right option for you and your family. Because that difference
of eleven hundred and forty dollars per month at age
seventy compared to sixty two, if you look at that
(52:41):
over a twenty year retirement, the extra benefits could total
more than one hundred and twenty five thousand dollars. That's
a lot of money. So let us find a winning
strategy for you between longevity and social security. Now, according
to the Social Security Administration, a sixty five year old
(53:03):
couple in twenty twenty four has a fifty percent chance
that at least one of the spouses will live to
be age eighty nine, and a third of the couples
will have at least one partner live to age ninety five.
So what we're talking about are big numbers here, all right.
Speaker 2 (53:22):
So make sure.
Speaker 3 (53:26):
Here's what I want you to do, and you give
you some easy actionable steps. Number one, get a copy
of your most recent Social Security statement, okay. Number two,
get a copy of your four to oh one K
statement or your iras any investment accounts that you have.
(53:50):
Get a copy of your bank statement. Gather your legal documents,
and gather your insurance policies. Then I want you to
email me and ask me to send you a spreadsheet
that has all the columns for planning.
Speaker 2 (54:13):
For a proper budget. Okay.
Speaker 3 (54:17):
Want you to fill that out, and then I want
you to schedule a time for me. I'm Prescott PW
dot com. In the upper right hand corner, click schedule time.
Let's get you into the office. We're gonna review everything
and let's do a financial plan together.
Speaker 2 (54:34):
All right.
Speaker 3 (54:36):
Now, our financial plan the baseline. Now, if you have
a complex picture, it changes all My pricing is right
on the website. Okay, Now, let's get you in here
and do a financial plan. I'm going to charge you
fifteen hundred dollars for a financial plan, which is a
(54:58):
more than fair price for doing such a thing. And
what you're going to end up with is a pathway
for retirement. This is going to show you how you're invested,
if it's proper. We'll also talk about changes to your
portfolio that you can make. We'll also review how you're
saving money, where you're saving it, and if it's the
(55:20):
proper place for you to save it. One of the
most rewarding things about my job is to help somebody
review their financial picture and show them what areas it
could be improved on. And I know that you would
find tremendous value in that. So again you're listening to
your money matters. I'm your host, Drew Prescott, chartered retirement
(55:41):
Planning counselor, accredited wealth management Advisor and President of Prescott
Private Wealth, located at four to fifty one, who's extreet
in Troy, New York, and I would love to have
the opportunity to meet with you. So, if you have
a portfolio of over two hundred and fifty thousand dollars
and you do not have a financial plan in place,
(56:02):
Please reach out. Let's get you squared away here. Thank
you for listening today and I hope you have a
wonderful weekend. And God bless you, and God bless the USA.
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