May 27, 2025 • 38 mins
In this episode of the Ask Gregory Podcast, Gregory answers a listener’s question about working past retirement age and how that affects Social Security benefits. Later in the episode, Wealth Advisor Brandon Blanchard and Gregory discuss how a team-based advisory approach may benefit clients long-term. They also break down Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs), required minimum distributions (RMDs), and the power of reaching that first $100,000 in your 401(k).
If you're considering retirement, thinking about charitable giving, or evaluating what you need from a financial advisor or firm, this episode may be able to help you make informed decisions.
For further reading, check out our blog article “Qualities to Look for When Choosing a Financial Advisor.”
For more episodes like this head over to www.gregoryricks.com/podcast
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Gregory Ricks (00:00):
Gregory, hey, welcome. I'm your host. Gregory
(00:07):
Ricks, a financial advisor hereto answer your questions and
help you win with your money. Sowe're going to jump to the
Winning at Life hotline. We'vegot John from Mandeville, how
long? And you've got a questionhere. I was about to read the
(00:28):
notes on the call in, butwelcome to the show, John. How
can I help you today?
Unknown (00:34):
Hi, Rick, thank you for taking my call. So I'm 59 years
old. I'm going to work till I'm70. I enjoy working, and I'm
probably going to take SocialSecurity, maybe at 67 or 68 so
what's the protocol on that? Howdoes it work? Is my Social
Security affected in terms ofthe amount that I would receive
if I'm still working?
Gregory Ricks (00:56):
Not if you're waiting to your full retirement
age, which sounds like would be67 without getting to your birth
year, just assume your fullretirement age is 67 like mine
will be 67 and I can't tell you,I don't have the answer for me,
because that's not something Ithink about. Because people ask
(01:17):
me, well, Gregory, when? Whenare you retiring? Whatever like.
Why would I retire from what? Idon't even see what I do as
work. I really enjoy all this
Unknown (01:28):
kind of the same way.
I'm the same way with that. Ienjoy what I do. And I could
very well work past 70. I'm justnot sure. But I just didn't know
if the amount of Social Securitywould be affected adversely if
I'm still working, or if I wouldstill get my full amount,
Gregory Ricks (01:44):
it would not it would be adversely affected if
you started taking it prior tofull retirement age, and at age
70, yeah, you've got to turn iton at that point because,
because you're just leavingmoney behind from that
standpoint. Now, if you're stillworking, you are improving it,
(02:06):
and you're probably have higherearning years that are going to
replace your early working yearsthere. So you're likely
improving it some as youcontinue to go because you're
still working, even though youmay be taking it as well.
Unknown (02:22):
I see. All right. Well, thank you so much,
Gregory Ricks (02:26):
John, can I ask you a question on the other side
of this? Because this is one ofthe things. I've got a few of
them, but I'm gonna give younumber one here real quick
thought. But if you don't wantto answer it, that's fine, but
in working with a financialadvisor or a firm, a quick
(02:47):
thought on, what are yourexpectations from that? Or what
would you be looking for?
Unknown (02:55):
Well, I'm looking for somebody who I can trust based
on their experience and based ontheir, you know, their
knowledge. I think the mostimportant thing is I want to, I
want to know that they're,they're looking out for my best
interest. You know, I get it.
They're earning, they're earningtheir money, assets under
management, and that's great.
Everybody's got to earn aliving, and that's a great way
(03:18):
to do it. But I want to makesure that they're making
decisions for me that areparticular to me and not, you
know, textbook, cookie cutterdecisions. I think that's the
most important thing.
Gregory Ricks (03:29):
Okay, that's very interesting from that
standpoint, not, not a surpriseanswer from that standpoint,
that'll help me a little bit onmy next topic I'm going to cover
there when we come back from thebreak, John, thank you for that,
and thanks for the call today.
Be safe on the road. Okay, youtoo. There you have it. You've
(03:50):
got my first question. I've gota few more questions I'm gonna
ask of you when we come backfrom the break, but I will give
John and the rest of you thatare listening a few thoughts on
that. We'll be right back. Well,three questions I've had for the
(04:10):
show today is, what are yourexpectations from a financial
advisor or from a financialfirm. And would you want a team
of people helping you? I'm justgoing to tell you, you should
have a team of people helpingyou, and that means that they
(04:32):
all know you. They allunderstand what's going on,
being connected with more thanone advisor and another analyst
or two provides more servicesfor you, allows for acting in
your best interest. They allhave that obligation to act in
your best interest, and you'reprobably working with the right
(04:56):
firm if they've got thatsuccess. US and resources, then
they're not acting or givingadvice for compensation. And
another thing I spoke aboutearlier is small firms, younger
firms struggle or even at thebig name, giant firms, where
(05:21):
they operate with many advisoryfirms under their umbrella. What
are those many firms doing?
They're on the hunt forprospects. They spend a great
deal of time doing that. AndI'll share with you, so you
(05:43):
understand we don't have thatproblem at Gregory Ricks and
Associates, the advisors on theteam. And I'm gonna pull up my
website here that you can go togregoryricks.com and then go to
menu and it lists Our Team. Andgo ahead, connect up. Brandon,
(06:07):
put him on air with me. BrandonBlanchard, which is on the team
as well, has called into theshow to he's got a few things he
wants to talk with you about aswell. So I say, I'll let you
talk to- Hey, Brandon, you'vebeen listening a little bit. So
you see where I'm going withthis. Nicholas, for example, I'm
(06:32):
gonna run through the advisorsand analysts. We got Nicholas,
roadie, Brandon Blanchard, MasonGoynes, Janae Bridges, Luke
Malter, analyst Hailey Melerineand Lance Malter as well from
that standpoint. But what one ofthe problems is the firms have
(06:54):
to find people. I'm just tellingyou, the public is not ringing
off everybody's phones andkeeping everybody busy by
volunteering to find they're onthe hunt for clients, and I'll
tell you at our firm, Nicholas,Brandon, Mason, Janae, Luke, do
(07:20):
not hunt for prospects. Theydon't hunt for clients. Gregory
Ricks and Associates does and isreally good at the getting the
word out that we're there tohelp. They spend majority of
their time working with clients,acting in best interest, keeping
(07:44):
their knowledge up. They spend agreat deal of time on investment
management and income planningand financial planning and
collaborating with each other.
So Brandon, how much time didyou spend on prospecting last
week?
Brandon Blanchard (08:03):
precisely zero minutes. Yeah. Hit the nail
on the head. There. We spend ourtime servicing clients and
making sure we're bringing valueto the table to help further
their goals. We don't spend thetime walking around, knocking on
doors, asking if anybody wantsor needs a financial advisor. We
are there servicing our clientswho have already told us, this
is what we need, and this is howyou can help.
Gregory Ricks (08:25):
Yeah, and one of the things you do, like you
presented at one of oureducational events, and that was
not a prospect thing, or lookingfor new clients event for you
that was, once again, that'spart of educational resources
that we provide for clients andthe public, and nobody's under
(08:45):
any obligation to become aclient or set an appointment,
and there's no fee charged forfor that, but it's something we
do, because it's who we are fromthat standpoint. And over your
career, has that been anydifferent? And you've been with
us a number of years. Go ahead.
Share. How long have you workedwith Gregory Ricks and
Associates?
Brandon Blanchard (09:08):
Just realized that next week will make seven
years. So I've joined up in Mayof 2018, and coming up on that
anniversary soon.
Gregory Ricks (09:16):
Yeah. So how many of those years? Or did you spend
prospecting?
Brandon Blanchard (09:23):
None. So that's one thing you told me
right when I was looking toinitially join the firm, is
that's not what we do here. Onceyou're able to start servicing
clients, you're going to hit theground running, and you will be
helping people from day one. Youknow you talk about door
knocking, and that may seemantiquated, but that is how a
lot of advisors spend a verylarge portion of their early
(09:45):
career years is beating thestreet and knocking on doors
from top to bottom in eachneighborhood, and that's the
last time that they're spendingservicing the clients they do
have.
Gregory Ricks (09:57):
Yeah, earlier in the show, don't know if you had
caught this, but because I had acall or call in about Social
Security, John and I asked him,before I let him go, I said,
"Let me, let me ask you aquestion, if you're looking for
a financial advisor, what whatwould be important to you?" And
(10:18):
his was his, his core thing wasabout acting in their best
interest, and kind of in thelast segment, I addressed that
by you've got to be working witha firm that's successful, where
a business is being done thatthey're not having to generate
(10:39):
sales or turn on new clients topay the bills, all that's
already being taken care ofbecause they're successful, and
when you're sitting in ameeting, you're not having to,
like worry about your housenote, car note, feeding the
kids, getting the wife somethingfor Mother's Day. You don't have
(11:02):
to worry about that. You'resitting there with that client
and absolutely going to offer upwhat's in their best interest,
and even if that leads them tonot working with us, we make we
give that advice and thatinterest and be truthful that,
yeah, we're probably not a fit.
Am I accurate?
Brandon Blanchard (11:26):
Yeah, you absolutely are. And a lot of
times when I have thoseconversations and it ends up at
that meeting in where you'retelling them exactly like you
had said, we're not a fit, Idon't think it's a good time for
us to work together at thisstage in your life, but here's
what we can do to help give youa little bit advice and steer
you in the right direction. Veryoften, the response I get is,
(11:47):
"Oh, I'm so sorry for wastingyour time," and I've got to
hold my hands to say, no, no,this is not a waste of anybody's
time at all. We got you somegood information. We made sure
that there was informationuncovered that you were
previously unaware of, and evenif we didn't find anything like
that, you got some reassurancethat you're on the right track
and you're doing the rightthings, and Milton that you have
(12:10):
in the room with you here... hisphrase is always "Come kick the
tires. You never know whatyou're going to find out, and
you don't know what you don'tknow." And I think that's a
great way to approach it,because even if we do reach that
conclusion of we are not a fitto work together, at least
that's one less thing you don'tknow, right?
Gregory Ricks (12:26):
Yeah, absolutely.
What one of the things and Imentioned, you know, that
creates capacity is a problemfor people at times for firms,
is they just, there's only somany hours in the day, and
that's why we have that teamstructure that everybody's
connected to more than oneadvisor, analyst, service
(12:49):
people, relationship team, andI'm a part of all of those teams
as well. So where they haveconfidence that they're going to
be taken care of, and it'sthey're going to be acted in
their best interest. Andthinking of people should look
(13:10):
at two things that, what are youthinking you expect from an
advisor? And I think it is acomplete separate question to
think, what do you expect from afirm standpoint? And I think
both of those are critical, andthat the firm also is
successful. And one way to dothat is go to their office and
(13:33):
see how the operation is going.
Does it feel successful thatthey're going to be around,
versus struggling or shortstaffed. Any thought there
Brandon?
Brandon Blanchard (13:50):
Yeah, that you're on the right track, the
larger team and having a littlebit more business activity that
gives you those good signalsthat the firm you're working
with is one that's going to bearound, and one that is
sustainable, if you have thatone man show type of operation
where it's an advisor andsomebody else answering the
phones, well, that might workwell and good if that person is
(14:13):
doing nothing but working foryou all day, every day, if they
never get sick, they never go onvacation and they never plan on
retiring. That's not the case.
So the team helps.
Gregory Ricks (14:24):
Yeah. Now I know you, you want, you've got a
couple topics that you want totalk about when we come back
from the break, but when we comeback, I'm gonna talk about, I
want to talk with you about the401(k) analyzer that we're
re-rolling out here in thecoming weeks. You can hear the
music. We're going to take ashort break. We'll be back with
more from Brandon after thebreak. This is Winning at Life
(14:46):
with Gregory Ricks. I was justsaying I'll go back to the
restaurant way here and thinkabout that. That'd be like,
Yeah, I want to filet mignon, Iwant a sweet potato and I want a
broccoli starter, but I onlywant the owner to make it. I
(15:12):
don't want one of those cooks.
I want the owner to make makethat for me. Can y'all make that
happened? What? What you thinkBrandon?
Brandon Blanchard (15:25):
Don't think that owner could probably make
it happen if you were the onlyperson in the restaurant, right?
Yeah. But once there's a fewmore people who are interested,
that's when the cracks begin toshow.
Gregory Ricks (15:35):
Yeah, he could take care of and service more
people and provide excellence.
Yeah, and that's what we do.
From financial services. Timefor your thoughts, but you know
something we talked about, andwe've done this over the years
in different iterations, butwe're re-updating our 401 (K)
(15:57):
analyzer. One of the reasons ismost every worker has some type
of retirement program. We'regoing to roll that out, but
there's not going to be a costto that either on providing that
service for existing clients andfolks that are not clients that
(16:18):
would like to utilize ourresources to make that work
better for them, because it'simportant money. It's money that
can compound and can build afortune. You've got people with
small accounts, Brandon as wellas there's folks everywhere with
seven figure 401(k)s, and youhave volatility in the market.
(16:42):
And people like, what,volatility? Yeah, this happens
every five to seven years, thatwe have corrections and
drawbacks and concerns. But wealso need people having proper
allocation and compounding. Youknow, I in our meeting, I I
brought this up yesterday, and,you know, I said Brandon, and
(17:04):
you know the answer, "what's thehardest amount of money to
accumulate?"
Brandon Blanchard (17:09):
Yes, that first $100,000 and for very many
people, that's what takes placein their 401(k)s.
Gregory Ricks (17:16):
Yeah, that that is the hardest block of money.
And you could look at itdifferently. You could call it
your first $10,000, but we'retalking about a meaningful
amount of money that becomesmagic. That first $100,000 is
the hardest. If you're going toset a goal, and you should have
goals and it and it shouldn't bemy my dream goal is, I'm set if
(17:42):
I save $10,000 or $20,000 No,you've just got a big savings
account there. But that $100,000but, and I'm gonna just go ahead
share for you the next block ofmoney. That's the easiest, is
the next $100,000 why? You couldjust let that first $100,000
(18:03):
compound, and let's say at 7.2%in 10 years, that $100,000 goes
to $200,000 and you didn't haveto do anything. You didn't have
to add any more to it. In 10more years, $200k goes to
$400,000 at $300,000 was a loteasier than that first $100,000
but people aren't getting help,guidance, the proper nudges the
(18:27):
direction on allocation taxsituations, which that leads
into what what would you like totalk about? What do you think is
important for them to hear fromyou today? You doing something
Brandon Blanchard (18:41):
Just what you said at the tail end of that
about QCDs?
statement there is taxes. Sowe're just getting around to
people finally catching theirbreath after filing their 2024
tax year. And we're starting totake that few forward look on
what comes next. How do I planfor 2025 and for a lot of
people, that does involve thebiggest topics that we cover,
(19:03):
require minimum distributions,those mandated account
distributions that the IRS tellsyou, you're old enough now to
where we're going to force thistaxable event on you. So for a
lot of people, that's kind of athing that you do begrudgingly.
You don't really want that moneyto come out. You don't want it.
You don't need it, but the taxman wants their shares, and
(19:24):
they're forcing you to take it.
So I figured one of the topicswe've covered today is something
that has been on our radar forquite some time, something
called QCDs, or QualifiedCharitable Distributions; a way
to get that money to a bettercause in a more tax efficient
manner, if you are so inclined.
Gregory Ricks (19:44):
Well, I love me some QCDs there. So what are
some of the rules regardingthat?
Brandon Blanchard (19:51):
Well, I think one of the more interesting
things about the qualifiedcharitable distribution rules is
that they never actually gotaround to modifying that age
from the original beginning agefor required minimum
distributions, which, if you allremember, all the way back to
pre-2020 that used to be 70 anda half. So they eventually
(20:13):
kicked that can down to 73 andnowadays, if you're born after
1960 you don't need to beginthose RMDs until you're age 75
but for some reason or another,that QCD age is still at 70 and
a half. So if you are at thatage 70.5 if you want to call it
(20:33):
that way, that gives youeligibility to donate from your
tax advantaged accounts likeyour traditional IRA to a
qualified charitableinstitution. And that's a very
important part of this. It doeshave to be an actual 501(c)3,
charity for this qualified and Ikind of described it as cutting
(20:55):
out you, the account owner, asthe middle man. So think about
it like this. Let's say that youare donating to popular charity
like Wounded Warrior or SaintJude, one of those big
organizations that a lot ofpeople get to regularly, and
you're making a distributionfrom your IRA to cover that.
Well, that's totally a threestep process, right? You make
(21:17):
that distribution from youraccount, you have to pay the
IRS, and then you give thatcharity their share after the
tax man has been paid. So what aQCD does is effectively cut you
out of the middle there in theQCD. What happens is the account
makes the distribution directlyto the charity, and because that
(21:40):
money never comes to you in anyspendable fashion, the IRS does
not view that as a taxableevent, but if you are required
minimum distribution age, theywill count that as a qualifying
distribution for your RMD. Soyou're kind of getting the best
of both worlds, where you'remaking sure you give that
(22:00):
charitable organization thatyou're passionate about the full
value of the donation, andyou're making sure that the tax
man is satisfied without givingmore than we have to give them.
So I think it's a great, easyopportunity to get get that
money over to a good, qualifyingcharitable organization, and
(22:21):
again, make sure that the taxman is satisfied, because nobody
wants issues with the IRS.
Gregory Ricks (22:26):
Yeah, a couple little details to that is really
important is make sure theaddress for the charity is
correct, because they need toreceive that check. And if they
don't receive the check, then itdidn't cash. So the distribution
didn't happen. If you're of RMDage, if you're prior to RMD age,
(22:49):
but 70 and a half doing it andit don't get cash, well, I
guess, no harm, no foul there.
But you can't file for it as ithappened on your tax return as
if it happened and it didn't. Soit's important that they receive
the check and they cash it inthe year of the distribution.
Two really important thingsthere
Brandon Blanchard (23:15):
Absolutely.
Another thing I would add on tothat is you want to make sure
that whichever organization youare donating this money to, that
they provide you with a veryclear receipt saying that I,
whichever organization, let'ssay St.Jude, for example, we
received this donation fromGregory Ricks in the amount of
$100, here's our tax ID number,and here's when it was received.
(23:39):
Now it's very important to havethat because, from the
perspective of the company thatholds your account, that
brokerage institution, theydon't know that you're making a
QCD, so they're going to reportthis to the IRS as a normal
taxable event. So it's on youand your CPA with that letter to
verify that this was anon-taxable event. That way you
(24:03):
don't have to pay more than youshould on this money
Gregory Ricks (24:09):
and toss out another one is got to make sure
they are a charity, legalcharity, through the IRS
Unknown (24:16):
That's right you can't give that to your buddy's
company down the street. It hasto be a qualifying charitable
organization.
Gregory Ricks (24:22):
Hey, hang on for a minute. We'll be right back
with Winning at Life. You getyou got any other thoughts for
me, or you want to cut loose?
Brandon Blanchard (24:33):
I think I'm good here. Anything else that
you want to talk about, pleaselet me know.
Gregory Ricks (24:38):
Okay, well, awesome. Thank you for joining
us today on Winning at Life.
Brandon big help, and he's partof the team at Gregory Ricks and
Associates, one of the WealthAdvisors. Thanks, Brandon. Happy
Mother's Day, and we'll see youMonday. We'll be right back.
(24:58):
Thoughts from Gregory. Yeah,that's me. I'm your host. Gosh,
what a what a wonderful day. Itis. Been a wonderful week,
wonderful month 2025. Is a greatyear. Looking forward to see how
the rest of the year shakes out.
Yeah, I'm an optimist, thingsare going to get better. If
(25:22):
you're struggling, it's going toget better. There's always
opportunity for improvement,opportunity for things to get
better. On the show today, I'vekind of posed three questions
for you, if you're working witha financial advisor, what's your
expectations? What areexpectations from a financial
firm? And it is separateexpectations with who you're
(25:47):
working with, if that advisorleft, say you retired, called it
a day, or any other number ofreasons left. Would that firm be
able to take care of you and theadvice and your expectations
(26:10):
remain the same, or what yourexpectations are that they would
be taken care of, that theycould still uphold that
fiduciary standard that is toact in your best interest and to
continue the quarterly followups, the annual reviews and or
(26:31):
mid year reviews. And thatdoesn't mean mid year reviews
always happen the middle of theyear. I just mean me on the
cycle of how your annual lookback and planning session for
the future happens. But if thatperson you're used to seeing
(26:54):
over you is gone, can theyhandle that? Or would you and do
you know the other people? Or itwould you feel like, well, now,
now I'm with somebody new Idon't even know. At our firm,
you're, you're gonna alreadyknow other people, because
there's other people going to beinteracting with you. And one
reason I structure the teamsthat way is somebody might
(27:18):
leave. I've had personnel changeover the years. And caller asked
earlier, you know, basicallyasked him that question. When he
called in about Social Security,asked him what, what's his
expectation? His big is, is toact in in the best interest, and
a firm needs to have thewherewithal to be able to do
(27:40):
that, so nobody's making adecision based on child's
tuition, mortgage payment, carnote, how am I gonna pay the
bills? They should have successto where that's not in the
thought process, as I mentionedto you in last segment, that we
could choose not to go forward.
(28:05):
Sometimes we don't go forwardbecause of a difference of the
philosophies. If we're notaligned, we're not order takers.
We show you our philosophy. Thereasons and everybody's
situation is different. Wetailor to them, but we do have
core overall beliefs of how allthis should be put together,
(28:29):
part of that, and it is becauseof me, because I got 40 plus
years in this business, decadesof meeting with people and
looking at all these situations,ongoing learning and training
for decades, and I do more ofthat now more than ever. I just
(28:49):
love absorbing information andgetting better and transferring
that to the team. And we've gotthe team that's involved and
critically thinking and planningand how all that evolves. But
there are situations where whatand here's so you understand
that first visit is that to talkyou into becoming a client, it's
(29:14):
to get to know you, and it's afit visit. It's a fit visit from
your standpoint, or is this,could this place be a home for
you as a client? And ourstandpoint is, can you be a fit
as a long term client,fundamentally? And it isn't
(29:37):
always the case, and we do havethe right to not go forward just
kind of simply, we just we'renot a fit this time. It's not
your best interest at this time,our philosophies don't align,
and certain part of ourphilosophy you might not like
(29:59):
and that might cause us to notgo forward on that, and your
understanding has to evolve. Wejust don't do this for no reason
on how we oversee assets. And ifyou don't realize this, I'll
(30:19):
share a story. I was at an eventa few days ago, and a gentleman
asked, well, Gregory, how's thefirm going? How are you doing? I
know there's been thisvolatility and market
correction. So are y'all kind ofbusy getting a lot of calls and
stuff? And I said, Bill, I'm notgetting --we-- don't get many
(30:44):
calls at all because our clientsare prepared for this. We have
the expectation that this isgoing to come. You know, this
happens every five to sevenyears. Technically, it's an
opportunity. Financial Servicesis its own going care. It's like
(31:05):
having a doctor that's givingyou own going care. And I'll
tell you this, way you get sick,you should have a doctor to go
see. And I'm serious, I'll fussyoung people like especially
employee. If you get sick, gothe doctor. We have great health
insurance. If you get sick, gothe doctor. Don't wait. And I
(31:29):
think even if you're not sick,you should go see your doctor
once a year. There's tests andstuff that you should be getting
done. It's proactive health andif something's going to go wrong
with you. When would you ratherknow after it's gone wrong and
it's revealed itself, or youcatch it before it's ready to
(31:50):
reveal itself, you got to beproactive and find out if
there's a problem coming. Whyshould you be working with a
financial advisor? It's what youdon't know. Why are you working
with a doctor? If something'swrong, you need to know if
you're gonna run out of money.
When would you like to know? Ifyou're in retirement, planning
for retirement, startingretirement. And if there's
(32:10):
something wrong with your plan,you do it yourself plan, when
would you like to know? Ifsomething's wrong with your car,
when do you want to find outbefore you head out on the road
trip or you get a couple hoursdown the highway and it breaks?
I want to be in front of healthproblems. I want to be in front
of financial problems. I want tohave a sense of things going
(32:38):
well, and if something's goingto go wrong, I need to know as
soon as possible. I talk to youso much about, you know, having
a awareness of where you arefrom a cash standpoint, your
flow of money. How does thatlook on a monthly basis? If
you're a business owner,entrepreneur, you need a sense
(33:00):
of that on a weekly. Now, onething--
another question John had askedearlier when I posed it to the
caller, and you're welcome tocall in. I'd appreciate your
thoughts there, because you'd beteaching and helping me from
what you see, I think all of youshould be working with somebody.
(33:25):
Qualities to look for whenchoosing an advisor:
qualifications and credentials.
If you're a wealth advisor, youhave to be licensed. You have to
have proper securities licenseto be a wealth advisor. An
insurance agent can't be can'tcross over and be a wealth
(33:46):
advisor, just based on aninsurance license. But Wealth
Advisors can have an insurancelicense because they can also
recommend and assist youobtaining insurance products. I
believe there should be a crossover, but there's licenses on
both sides, and that's part ofqualifications is those are no
(34:07):
easy tests and continuingeducation that is upkept, and
you might not be aware, butthere's quite a bit of continued
education that's done each year,and it's not subject to what we
want to do. We don't have achoice. We're we have to go
through these courses everyyear, and we have to be tested.
(34:28):
Then we go through SEC regulatedcheck-ins with those that
oversight us, where we ask awhole bunch of questions, making
sure we're acting in bestinterest, doing what's legally
right, and following the rulesthat are set forth. Those are
(34:49):
quarterly check-ins that we doon top of education and testing.
There's quite a bit that's beingdone. It's quite rigorous. And
but then there's othercredentials that they can also
have, such as certifiedfinancial planner, which is
additional education, testing,costs for that, and continuing
(35:10):
ed to keep up thosecertifications. And we've got
Luke Malter at our firm is aCertified Financial Planner, and
Mason Goynes is a CertifiedFinancial Planner on our staff.
Everybody's not certifiedfinancial planners, but that's
also why you should have a teamof people helping you. We have
(35:34):
that collaboration, all of thatmindset, and then you've got my
40 years of being in thebusiness that is oversighting
and interacting with all ofthem. There is a lot of
collaboration that goes on eachweek. Y'all got some questions.
Need some help.
(35:59):
Gregoryricks.com, we'll be backhere next week with more Winning
at Life. Take care of your moms.
Happy Mother's Day. Thanks somuch for listening to Ask
Gregory where we answer yourfinancial questions. You can
find us anywhere a podcast canbe found and on YouTube and
Facebook Live every Saturdayfrom 10 to one, subscribe, leave
(36:20):
a review and tune in next time.
Disclosure (36:26):
Investment advisory products and services are made
available through AE WealthManagement LLC, a registered
investment advisor, insuranceproducts are offered through the
insurance business Gregory Ricksand Associates, Inc, a wealth
management does not offerinsurance products. The
insurance products offered byGregory Ricks and Associates,
Inc are not subject toinvestment advisor requirements.
Investing involves risk,including the potential loss of
principal any references toprotection, safety or lifetime
(36:48):
income generally refer to fixedinsurance products, never
securities or investments.
Insurance guarantees are backedby the financial strengths and
claims of the paying ability ofthe issuing Carrier. This
podcast is intended forinformational purposes only. It
is not intended to be used as asole basis for financial
decisions, nor should it beconstrued as advice designed to
meet the particular needs of anindividual situation. Gregory
Ricks and Associates is notpermitted to offer and no
(37:08):
statement made during the showshall constitute tax or legal
advice. Our firm is notaffiliated with nor endorsed by
the US government or any othergovernmental agency. The
Information and opinionscontained herein provided by
third parties have been attainedby sources believed to be
reliable, but the accuracy andcompleteness cannot be
guaranteed by Gregory Ricks andAssociates. Please remember that
converting an employer planaccount to a Roth IRA is a
taxable event. Increase intaxable income from the Roth IRA
(37:31):
conversion may have severalconsequences, including, but not
limited to a need for additionaltax withholdings or estimated
tax payments, the loss ofcertain tax deductions and
credits and higher taxes onSocial Security benefits and
higher Medicare premiums, besure to consult with a qualified
tax advisor before making anydecisions with your IRA. Neither
a wealth management or advisorsproviding investment advisory
(37:53):
services through a wealthmanagement recommend or
facilitate the buying or sellingof cryptocurrencies third
parties and guests of the showare not affiliated with nor do
their opinions reflect those ofGregory Ricks and associates or
AE wealth management. Ae WealthManagement provides services
without regard to politicalaffiliation, and the views of
individual advisors do notnecessarily reflect the views of
AE wealth management. We are askGregory, you.
Gregory, hey, welcome. I'm your host. Gregory
(00:07):
Ricks, a financial advisor hereto answer your questions and
help you win with your money. Sowe're going to jump to the
Winning at Life hotline. We'vegot John from Mandeville, how
long? And you've got a questionhere. I was about to read the
(00:28):
notes on the call in, butwelcome to the show, John. How
can I help you today?
Unknown (00:34):
Hi, Rick, thank you for taking my call. So I'm 59 years
old. I'm going to work till I'm70. I enjoy working, and I'm
probably going to take SocialSecurity, maybe at 67 or 68 so
what's the protocol on that? Howdoes it work? Is my Social
Security affected in terms ofthe amount that I would receive
if I'm still working?
Gregory Ricks (00:56):
Not if you're waiting to your full retirement
age, which sounds like would be67 without getting to your birth
year, just assume your fullretirement age is 67 like mine
will be 67 and I can't tell you,I don't have the answer for me,
because that's not something Ithink about. Because people ask
(01:17):
me, well, Gregory, when? Whenare you retiring? Whatever like.
Why would I retire from what? Idon't even see what I do as
work. I really enjoy all this
Unknown (01:28):
kind of the same way.
I'm the same way with that. Ienjoy what I do. And I could
very well work past 70. I'm justnot sure. But I just didn't know
if the amount of Social Securitywould be affected adversely if
I'm still working, or if I wouldstill get my full amount,
Gregory Ricks (01:44):
it would not it would be adversely affected if
you started taking it prior tofull retirement age, and at age
70, yeah, you've got to turn iton at that point because,
because you're just leavingmoney behind from that
standpoint. Now, if you're stillworking, you are improving it,
(02:06):
and you're probably have higherearning years that are going to
replace your early working yearsthere. So you're likely
improving it some as youcontinue to go because you're
still working, even though youmay be taking it as well.
Unknown (02:22):
I see. All right. Well, thank you so much,
Gregory Ricks (02:26):
John, can I ask you a question on the other side
of this? Because this is one ofthe things. I've got a few of
them, but I'm gonna give younumber one here real quick
thought. But if you don't wantto answer it, that's fine, but
in working with a financialadvisor or a firm, a quick
(02:47):
thought on, what are yourexpectations from that? Or what
would you be looking for?
Unknown (02:55):
Well, I'm looking for somebody who I can trust based
on their experience and based ontheir, you know, their
knowledge. I think the mostimportant thing is I want to, I
want to know that they're,they're looking out for my best
interest. You know, I get it.
They're earning, they're earningtheir money, assets under
management, and that's great.
Everybody's got to earn aliving, and that's a great way
(03:18):
to do it. But I want to makesure that they're making
decisions for me that areparticular to me and not, you
know, textbook, cookie cutterdecisions. I think that's the
most important thing.
Gregory Ricks (03:29):
Okay, that's very interesting from that
standpoint, not, not a surpriseanswer from that standpoint,
that'll help me a little bit onmy next topic I'm going to cover
there when we come back from thebreak, John, thank you for that,
and thanks for the call today.
Be safe on the road. Okay, youtoo. There you have it. You've
(03:50):
got my first question. I've gota few more questions I'm gonna
ask of you when we come backfrom the break, but I will give
John and the rest of you thatare listening a few thoughts on
that. We'll be right back. Well,three questions I've had for the
(04:10):
show today is, what are yourexpectations from a financial
advisor or from a financialfirm. And would you want a team
of people helping you? I'm justgoing to tell you, you should
have a team of people helpingyou, and that means that they
(04:32):
all know you. They allunderstand what's going on,
being connected with more thanone advisor and another analyst
or two provides more servicesfor you, allows for acting in
your best interest. They allhave that obligation to act in
your best interest, and you'reprobably working with the right
(04:56):
firm if they've got thatsuccess. US and resources, then
they're not acting or givingadvice for compensation. And
another thing I spoke aboutearlier is small firms, younger
firms struggle or even at thebig name, giant firms, where
(05:21):
they operate with many advisoryfirms under their umbrella. What
are those many firms doing?
They're on the hunt forprospects. They spend a great
deal of time doing that. AndI'll share with you, so you
(05:43):
understand we don't have thatproblem at Gregory Ricks and
Associates, the advisors on theteam. And I'm gonna pull up my
website here that you can go togregoryricks.com and then go to
menu and it lists Our Team. Andgo ahead, connect up. Brandon,
(06:07):
put him on air with me. BrandonBlanchard, which is on the team
as well, has called into theshow to he's got a few things he
wants to talk with you about aswell. So I say, I'll let you
talk to- Hey, Brandon, you'vebeen listening a little bit. So
you see where I'm going withthis. Nicholas, for example, I'm
(06:32):
gonna run through the advisorsand analysts. We got Nicholas,
roadie, Brandon Blanchard, MasonGoynes, Janae Bridges, Luke
Malter, analyst Hailey Melerineand Lance Malter as well from
that standpoint. But what one ofthe problems is the firms have
(06:54):
to find people. I'm just tellingyou, the public is not ringing
off everybody's phones andkeeping everybody busy by
volunteering to find they're onthe hunt for clients, and I'll
tell you at our firm, Nicholas,Brandon, Mason, Janae, Luke, do
(07:20):
not hunt for prospects. Theydon't hunt for clients. Gregory
Ricks and Associates does and isreally good at the getting the
word out that we're there tohelp. They spend majority of
their time working with clients,acting in best interest, keeping
(07:44):
their knowledge up. They spend agreat deal of time on investment
management and income planningand financial planning and
collaborating with each other.
So Brandon, how much time didyou spend on prospecting last
week?
Brandon Blanchard (08:03):
precisely zero minutes. Yeah. Hit the nail
on the head. There. We spend ourtime servicing clients and
making sure we're bringing valueto the table to help further
their goals. We don't spend thetime walking around, knocking on
doors, asking if anybody wantsor needs a financial advisor. We
are there servicing our clientswho have already told us, this
is what we need, and this is howyou can help.
Gregory Ricks (08:25):
Yeah, and one of the things you do, like you
presented at one of oureducational events, and that was
not a prospect thing, or lookingfor new clients event for you
that was, once again, that'spart of educational resources
that we provide for clients andthe public, and nobody's under
(08:45):
any obligation to become aclient or set an appointment,
and there's no fee charged forfor that, but it's something we
do, because it's who we are fromthat standpoint. And over your
career, has that been anydifferent? And you've been with
us a number of years. Go ahead.
Share. How long have you workedwith Gregory Ricks and
Associates?
Brandon Blanchard (09:08):
Just realized that next week will make seven
years. So I've joined up in Mayof 2018, and coming up on that
anniversary soon.
Gregory Ricks (09:16):
Yeah. So how many of those years? Or did you spend
prospecting?
Brandon Blanchard (09:23):
None. So that's one thing you told me
right when I was looking toinitially join the firm, is
that's not what we do here. Onceyou're able to start servicing
clients, you're going to hit theground running, and you will be
helping people from day one. Youknow you talk about door
knocking, and that may seemantiquated, but that is how a
lot of advisors spend a verylarge portion of their early
(09:45):
career years is beating thestreet and knocking on doors
from top to bottom in eachneighborhood, and that's the
last time that they're spendingservicing the clients they do
have.
Gregory Ricks (09:57):
Yeah, earlier in the show, don't know if you had
caught this, but because I had acall or call in about Social
Security, John and I asked him,before I let him go, I said,
"Let me, let me ask you aquestion, if you're looking for
a financial advisor, what whatwould be important to you?" And
(10:18):
his was his, his core thing wasabout acting in their best
interest, and kind of in thelast segment, I addressed that
by you've got to be working witha firm that's successful, where
a business is being done thatthey're not having to generate
(10:39):
sales or turn on new clients topay the bills, all that's
already being taken care ofbecause they're successful, and
when you're sitting in ameeting, you're not having to,
like worry about your housenote, car note, feeding the
kids, getting the wife somethingfor Mother's Day. You don't have
(11:02):
to worry about that. You'resitting there with that client
and absolutely going to offer upwhat's in their best interest,
and even if that leads them tonot working with us, we make we
give that advice and thatinterest and be truthful that,
yeah, we're probably not a fit.
Am I accurate?
Brandon Blanchard (11:26):
Yeah, you absolutely are. And a lot of
times when I have thoseconversations and it ends up at
that meeting in where you'retelling them exactly like you
had said, we're not a fit, Idon't think it's a good time for
us to work together at thisstage in your life, but here's
what we can do to help give youa little bit advice and steer
you in the right direction. Veryoften, the response I get is,
(11:47):
"Oh, I'm so sorry for wastingyour time," and I've got to
hold my hands to say, no, no,this is not a waste of anybody's
time at all. We got you somegood information. We made sure
that there was informationuncovered that you were
previously unaware of, and evenif we didn't find anything like
that, you got some reassurancethat you're on the right track
and you're doing the rightthings, and Milton that you have
(12:10):
in the room with you here... hisphrase is always "Come kick the
tires. You never know whatyou're going to find out, and
you don't know what you don'tknow." And I think that's a
great way to approach it,because even if we do reach that
conclusion of we are not a fitto work together, at least
that's one less thing you don'tknow, right?
Gregory Ricks (12:26):
Yeah, absolutely.
What one of the things and Imentioned, you know, that
creates capacity is a problemfor people at times for firms,
is they just, there's only somany hours in the day, and
that's why we have that teamstructure that everybody's
connected to more than oneadvisor, analyst, service
(12:49):
people, relationship team, andI'm a part of all of those teams
as well. So where they haveconfidence that they're going to
be taken care of, and it'sthey're going to be acted in
their best interest. Andthinking of people should look
(13:10):
at two things that, what are youthinking you expect from an
advisor? And I think it is acomplete separate question to
think, what do you expect from afirm standpoint? And I think
both of those are critical, andthat the firm also is
successful. And one way to dothat is go to their office and
(13:33):
see how the operation is going.
Does it feel successful thatthey're going to be around,
versus struggling or shortstaffed. Any thought there
Brandon?
Brandon Blanchard (13:50):
Yeah, that you're on the right track, the
larger team and having a littlebit more business activity that
gives you those good signalsthat the firm you're working
with is one that's going to bearound, and one that is
sustainable, if you have thatone man show type of operation
where it's an advisor andsomebody else answering the
phones, well, that might workwell and good if that person is
(14:13):
doing nothing but working foryou all day, every day, if they
never get sick, they never go onvacation and they never plan on
retiring. That's not the case.
So the team helps.
Gregory Ricks (14:24):
Yeah. Now I know you, you want, you've got a
couple topics that you want totalk about when we come back
from the break, but when we comeback, I'm gonna talk about, I
want to talk with you about the401(k) analyzer that we're
re-rolling out here in thecoming weeks. You can hear the
music. We're going to take ashort break. We'll be back with
more from Brandon after thebreak. This is Winning at Life
(14:46):
with Gregory Ricks. I was justsaying I'll go back to the
restaurant way here and thinkabout that. That'd be like,
Yeah, I want to filet mignon, Iwant a sweet potato and I want a
broccoli starter, but I onlywant the owner to make it. I
(15:12):
don't want one of those cooks.
I want the owner to make makethat for me. Can y'all make that
happened? What? What you thinkBrandon?
Brandon Blanchard (15:25):
Don't think that owner could probably make
it happen if you were the onlyperson in the restaurant, right?
Yeah. But once there's a fewmore people who are interested,
that's when the cracks begin toshow.
Gregory Ricks (15:35):
Yeah, he could take care of and service more
people and provide excellence.
Yeah, and that's what we do.
From financial services. Timefor your thoughts, but you know
something we talked about, andwe've done this over the years
in different iterations, butwe're re-updating our 401 (K)
(15:57):
analyzer. One of the reasons ismost every worker has some type
of retirement program. We'regoing to roll that out, but
there's not going to be a costto that either on providing that
service for existing clients andfolks that are not clients that
(16:18):
would like to utilize ourresources to make that work
better for them, because it'simportant money. It's money that
can compound and can build afortune. You've got people with
small accounts, Brandon as wellas there's folks everywhere with
seven figure 401(k)s, and youhave volatility in the market.
(16:42):
And people like, what,volatility? Yeah, this happens
every five to seven years, thatwe have corrections and
drawbacks and concerns. But wealso need people having proper
allocation and compounding. Youknow, I in our meeting, I I
brought this up yesterday, and,you know, I said Brandon, and
(17:04):
you know the answer, "what's thehardest amount of money to
accumulate?"
Brandon Blanchard (17:09):
Yes, that first $100,000 and for very many
people, that's what takes placein their 401(k)s.
Gregory Ricks (17:16):
Yeah, that that is the hardest block of money.
And you could look at itdifferently. You could call it
your first $10,000, but we'retalking about a meaningful
amount of money that becomesmagic. That first $100,000 is
the hardest. If you're going toset a goal, and you should have
goals and it and it shouldn't bemy my dream goal is, I'm set if
(17:42):
I save $10,000 or $20,000 No,you've just got a big savings
account there. But that $100,000but, and I'm gonna just go ahead
share for you the next block ofmoney. That's the easiest, is
the next $100,000 why? You couldjust let that first $100,000
(18:03):
compound, and let's say at 7.2%in 10 years, that $100,000 goes
to $200,000 and you didn't haveto do anything. You didn't have
to add any more to it. In 10more years, $200k goes to
$400,000 at $300,000 was a loteasier than that first $100,000
but people aren't getting help,guidance, the proper nudges the
(18:27):
direction on allocation taxsituations, which that leads
into what what would you like totalk about? What do you think is
important for them to hear fromyou today? You doing something
Brandon Blanchard (18:41):
Just what you said at the tail end of that
about QCDs?
statement there is taxes. Sowe're just getting around to
people finally catching theirbreath after filing their 2024
tax year. And we're starting totake that few forward look on
what comes next. How do I planfor 2025 and for a lot of
people, that does involve thebiggest topics that we cover,
(19:03):
require minimum distributions,those mandated account
distributions that the IRS tellsyou, you're old enough now to
where we're going to force thistaxable event on you. So for a
lot of people, that's kind of athing that you do begrudgingly.
You don't really want that moneyto come out. You don't want it.
You don't need it, but the taxman wants their shares, and
(19:24):
they're forcing you to take it.
So I figured one of the topicswe've covered today is something
that has been on our radar forquite some time, something
called QCDs, or QualifiedCharitable Distributions; a way
to get that money to a bettercause in a more tax efficient
manner, if you are so inclined.
Gregory Ricks (19:44):
Well, I love me some QCDs there. So what are
some of the rules regardingthat?
Brandon Blanchard (19:51):
Well, I think one of the more interesting
things about the qualifiedcharitable distribution rules is
that they never actually gotaround to modifying that age
from the original beginning agefor required minimum
distributions, which, if you allremember, all the way back to
pre-2020 that used to be 70 anda half. So they eventually
(20:13):
kicked that can down to 73 andnowadays, if you're born after
1960 you don't need to beginthose RMDs until you're age 75
but for some reason or another,that QCD age is still at 70 and
a half. So if you are at thatage 70.5 if you want to call it
(20:33):
that way, that gives youeligibility to donate from your
tax advantaged accounts likeyour traditional IRA to a
qualified charitableinstitution. And that's a very
important part of this. It doeshave to be an actual 501(c)3,
charity for this qualified and Ikind of described it as cutting
(20:55):
out you, the account owner, asthe middle man. So think about
it like this. Let's say that youare donating to popular charity
like Wounded Warrior or SaintJude, one of those big
organizations that a lot ofpeople get to regularly, and
you're making a distributionfrom your IRA to cover that.
Well, that's totally a threestep process, right? You make
(21:17):
that distribution from youraccount, you have to pay the
IRS, and then you give thatcharity their share after the
tax man has been paid. So what aQCD does is effectively cut you
out of the middle there in theQCD. What happens is the account
makes the distribution directlyto the charity, and because that
(21:40):
money never comes to you in anyspendable fashion, the IRS does
not view that as a taxableevent, but if you are required
minimum distribution age, theywill count that as a qualifying
distribution for your RMD. Soyou're kind of getting the best
of both worlds, where you'remaking sure you give that
(22:00):
charitable organization thatyou're passionate about the full
value of the donation, andyou're making sure that the tax
man is satisfied without givingmore than we have to give them.
So I think it's a great, easyopportunity to get get that
money over to a good, qualifyingcharitable organization, and
(22:21):
again, make sure that the taxman is satisfied, because nobody
wants issues with the IRS.
Gregory Ricks (22:26):
Yeah, a couple little details to that is really
important is make sure theaddress for the charity is
correct, because they need toreceive that check. And if they
don't receive the check, then itdidn't cash. So the distribution
didn't happen. If you're of RMDage, if you're prior to RMD age,
(22:49):
but 70 and a half doing it andit don't get cash, well, I
guess, no harm, no foul there.
But you can't file for it as ithappened on your tax return as
if it happened and it didn't. Soit's important that they receive
the check and they cash it inthe year of the distribution.
Two really important thingsthere
Brandon Blanchard (23:15):
Absolutely.
Another thing I would add on tothat is you want to make sure
that whichever organization youare donating this money to, that
they provide you with a veryclear receipt saying that I,
whichever organization, let'ssay St.Jude, for example, we
received this donation fromGregory Ricks in the amount of
$100, here's our tax ID number,and here's when it was received.
(23:39):
Now it's very important to havethat because, from the
perspective of the company thatholds your account, that
brokerage institution, theydon't know that you're making a
QCD, so they're going to reportthis to the IRS as a normal
taxable event. So it's on youand your CPA with that letter to
verify that this was anon-taxable event. That way you
(24:03):
don't have to pay more than youshould on this money
Gregory Ricks (24:09):
and toss out another one is got to make sure
they are a charity, legalcharity, through the IRS
Unknown (24:16):
That's right you can't give that to your buddy's
company down the street. It hasto be a qualifying charitable
organization.
Gregory Ricks (24:22):
Hey, hang on for a minute. We'll be right back
with Winning at Life. You getyou got any other thoughts for
me, or you want to cut loose?
Brandon Blanchard (24:33):
I think I'm good here. Anything else that
you want to talk about, pleaselet me know.
Gregory Ricks (24:38):
Okay, well, awesome. Thank you for joining
us today on Winning at Life.
Brandon big help, and he's partof the team at Gregory Ricks and
Associates, one of the WealthAdvisors. Thanks, Brandon. Happy
Mother's Day, and we'll see youMonday. We'll be right back.
(24:58):
Thoughts from Gregory. Yeah,that's me. I'm your host. Gosh,
what a what a wonderful day. Itis. Been a wonderful week,
wonderful month 2025. Is a greatyear. Looking forward to see how
the rest of the year shakes out.
Yeah, I'm an optimist, thingsare going to get better. If
(25:22):
you're struggling, it's going toget better. There's always
opportunity for improvement,opportunity for things to get
better. On the show today, I'vekind of posed three questions
for you, if you're working witha financial advisor, what's your
expectations? What areexpectations from a financial
firm? And it is separateexpectations with who you're
(25:47):
working with, if that advisorleft, say you retired, called it
a day, or any other number ofreasons left. Would that firm be
able to take care of you and theadvice and your expectations
(26:10):
remain the same, or what yourexpectations are that they would
be taken care of, that theycould still uphold that
fiduciary standard that is toact in your best interest and to
continue the quarterly followups, the annual reviews and or
(26:31):
mid year reviews. And thatdoesn't mean mid year reviews
always happen the middle of theyear. I just mean me on the
cycle of how your annual lookback and planning session for
the future happens. But if thatperson you're used to seeing
(26:54):
over you is gone, can theyhandle that? Or would you and do
you know the other people? Or itwould you feel like, well, now,
now I'm with somebody new Idon't even know. At our firm,
you're, you're gonna alreadyknow other people, because
there's other people going to beinteracting with you. And one
reason I structure the teamsthat way is somebody might
(27:18):
leave. I've had personnel changeover the years. And caller asked
earlier, you know, basicallyasked him that question. When he
called in about Social Security,asked him what, what's his
expectation? His big is, is toact in in the best interest, and
a firm needs to have thewherewithal to be able to do
(27:40):
that, so nobody's making adecision based on child's
tuition, mortgage payment, carnote, how am I gonna pay the
bills? They should have successto where that's not in the
thought process, as I mentionedto you in last segment, that we
could choose not to go forward.
(28:05):
Sometimes we don't go forwardbecause of a difference of the
philosophies. If we're notaligned, we're not order takers.
We show you our philosophy. Thereasons and everybody's
situation is different. Wetailor to them, but we do have
core overall beliefs of how allthis should be put together,
(28:29):
part of that, and it is becauseof me, because I got 40 plus
years in this business, decadesof meeting with people and
looking at all these situations,ongoing learning and training
for decades, and I do more ofthat now more than ever. I just
(28:49):
love absorbing information andgetting better and transferring
that to the team. And we've gotthe team that's involved and
critically thinking and planningand how all that evolves. But
there are situations where whatand here's so you understand
that first visit is that to talkyou into becoming a client, it's
(29:14):
to get to know you, and it's afit visit. It's a fit visit from
your standpoint, or is this,could this place be a home for
you as a client? And ourstandpoint is, can you be a fit
as a long term client,fundamentally? And it isn't
(29:37):
always the case, and we do havethe right to not go forward just
kind of simply, we just we'renot a fit this time. It's not
your best interest at this time,our philosophies don't align,
and certain part of ourphilosophy you might not like
(29:59):
and that might cause us to notgo forward on that, and your
understanding has to evolve. Wejust don't do this for no reason
on how we oversee assets. And ifyou don't realize this, I'll
(30:19):
share a story. I was at an eventa few days ago, and a gentleman
asked, well, Gregory, how's thefirm going? How are you doing? I
know there's been thisvolatility and market
correction. So are y'all kind ofbusy getting a lot of calls and
stuff? And I said, Bill, I'm notgetting --we-- don't get many
(30:44):
calls at all because our clientsare prepared for this. We have
the expectation that this isgoing to come. You know, this
happens every five to sevenyears. Technically, it's an
opportunity. Financial Servicesis its own going care. It's like
(31:05):
having a doctor that's givingyou own going care. And I'll
tell you this, way you get sick,you should have a doctor to go
see. And I'm serious, I'll fussyoung people like especially
employee. If you get sick, gothe doctor. We have great health
insurance. If you get sick, gothe doctor. Don't wait. And I
(31:29):
think even if you're not sick,you should go see your doctor
once a year. There's tests andstuff that you should be getting
done. It's proactive health andif something's going to go wrong
with you. When would you ratherknow after it's gone wrong and
it's revealed itself, or youcatch it before it's ready to
(31:50):
reveal itself, you got to beproactive and find out if
there's a problem coming. Whyshould you be working with a
financial advisor? It's what youdon't know. Why are you working
with a doctor? If something'swrong, you need to know if
you're gonna run out of money.
When would you like to know? Ifyou're in retirement, planning
for retirement, startingretirement. And if there's
(32:10):
something wrong with your plan,you do it yourself plan, when
would you like to know? Ifsomething's wrong with your car,
when do you want to find outbefore you head out on the road
trip or you get a couple hoursdown the highway and it breaks?
I want to be in front of healthproblems. I want to be in front
of financial problems. I want tohave a sense of things going
(32:38):
well, and if something's goingto go wrong, I need to know as
soon as possible. I talk to youso much about, you know, having
a awareness of where you arefrom a cash standpoint, your
flow of money. How does thatlook on a monthly basis? If
you're a business owner,entrepreneur, you need a sense
(33:00):
of that on a weekly. Now, onething--
another question John had askedearlier when I posed it to the
caller, and you're welcome tocall in. I'd appreciate your
thoughts there, because you'd beteaching and helping me from
what you see, I think all of youshould be working with somebody.
(33:25):
Qualities to look for whenchoosing an advisor:
qualifications and credentials.
If you're a wealth advisor, youhave to be licensed. You have to
have proper securities licenseto be a wealth advisor. An
insurance agent can't be can'tcross over and be a wealth
(33:46):
advisor, just based on aninsurance license. But Wealth
Advisors can have an insurancelicense because they can also
recommend and assist youobtaining insurance products. I
believe there should be a crossover, but there's licenses on
both sides, and that's part ofqualifications is those are no
(34:07):
easy tests and continuingeducation that is upkept, and
you might not be aware, butthere's quite a bit of continued
education that's done each year,and it's not subject to what we
want to do. We don't have achoice. We're we have to go
through these courses everyyear, and we have to be tested.
(34:28):
Then we go through SEC regulatedcheck-ins with those that
oversight us, where we ask awhole bunch of questions, making
sure we're acting in bestinterest, doing what's legally
right, and following the rulesthat are set forth. Those are
(34:49):
quarterly check-ins that we doon top of education and testing.
There's quite a bit that's beingdone. It's quite rigorous. And
but then there's othercredentials that they can also
have, such as certifiedfinancial planner, which is
additional education, testing,costs for that, and continuing
(35:10):
ed to keep up thosecertifications. And we've got
Luke Malter at our firm is aCertified Financial Planner, and
Mason Goynes is a CertifiedFinancial Planner on our staff.
Everybody's not certifiedfinancial planners, but that's
also why you should have a teamof people helping you. We have
(35:34):
that collaboration, all of thatmindset, and then you've got my
40 years of being in thebusiness that is oversighting
and interacting with all ofthem. There is a lot of
collaboration that goes on eachweek. Y'all got some questions.
Need some help.
(35:59):
Gregoryricks.com, we'll be backhere next week with more Winning
at Life. Take care of your moms.
Happy Mother's Day. Thanks somuch for listening to Ask
Gregory where we answer yourfinancial questions. You can
find us anywhere a podcast canbe found and on YouTube and
Facebook Live every Saturdayfrom 10 to one, subscribe, leave
(36:20):
a review and tune in next time.
Disclosure (36:26):
Investment advisory products and services are made
available through AE WealthManagement LLC, a registered
investment advisor, insuranceproducts are offered through the
insurance business Gregory Ricksand Associates, Inc, a wealth
management does not offerinsurance products. The
insurance products offered byGregory Ricks and Associates,
Inc are not subject toinvestment advisor requirements.
Investing involves risk,including the potential loss of
principal any references toprotection, safety or lifetime
(36:48):
income generally refer to fixedinsurance products, never
securities or investments.
Insurance guarantees are backedby the financial strengths and
claims of the paying ability ofthe issuing Carrier. This
podcast is intended forinformational purposes only. It
is not intended to be used as asole basis for financial
decisions, nor should it beconstrued as advice designed to
meet the particular needs of anindividual situation. Gregory
Ricks and Associates is notpermitted to offer and no
(37:08):
statement made during the showshall constitute tax or legal
advice. Our firm is notaffiliated with nor endorsed by
the US government or any othergovernmental agency. The
Information and opinionscontained herein provided by
third parties have been attainedby sources believed to be
reliable, but the accuracy andcompleteness cannot be
guaranteed by Gregory Ricks andAssociates. Please remember that
converting an employer planaccount to a Roth IRA is a
taxable event. Increase intaxable income from the Roth IRA
(37:31):
conversion may have severalconsequences, including, but not
limited to a need for additionaltax withholdings or estimated
tax payments, the loss ofcertain tax deductions and
credits and higher taxes onSocial Security benefits and
higher Medicare premiums, besure to consult with a qualified
tax advisor before making anydecisions with your IRA. Neither
a wealth management or advisorsproviding investment advisory
(37:53):
services through a wealthmanagement recommend or
facilitate the buying or sellingof cryptocurrencies third
parties and guests of the showare not affiliated with nor do
their opinions reflect those ofGregory Ricks and associates or
AE wealth management. Ae WealthManagement provides services
without regard to politicalaffiliation, and the views of
individual advisors do notnecessarily reflect the views of
AE wealth management. We are askGregory, you.
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