July 3, 2024 • 57 mins
Are you dreaming of a worry-free retirement filled with sunshine and relaxation? But a nagging question lingers: will your finances allow it?
The answer lies in unlocking the power of Social Security! Join us on a journey with Social Security expert Reese Phillips, where we'll crack the code and empower you to secure your golden years.
Reese isn't just another talking head. This registered Social Security analyst is here to shed light on the complexities that often leave people feeling lost. Whether you're just starting your career or nearing retirement, Reese has practical, actionable advice tailored to your specific stage in life.
Imagine navigating Social Security with confidence! Picture yourself making informed decisions that could significantly impact your future income. This isn't just a seminar, it's a roadmap to financial freedom.
Here's a sneak peek at the valuable insights you'll gain:
· Start planning early! The sooner you lay the foundation, the stronger and more secure your retirement will be. Learn why your 40s and 50s are the perfect time to take action.
· Knowledge is power! Unravel the mysteries of Social Security and understand how it can dramatically affect your retirement income.
· Get personalized guidance! Consider seeking the expertise of a registered Social Security analyst like Reese to craft a plan that perfectly aligns with your unique goals.
· Marriage and Social Security? Discover how your marital status can influence your benefits and how to factor this into your overall financial strategy.
· Don't wait until it's too late! Take charge and become proactive about your retirement. The steps you take today will pave the way for a secure and comfortable tomorrow.
By joining us, you'll gain the knowledge and confidence to make smart choices about Social Security. This is your chance to turn your retirement dreams into reality. Don't wait – start planning today!
We encourage you to visit our website now at www.connect-empower.com to explore more information on our guest and to access our resources.
To ask us your questions or to share your story, email us at podcast@connect-empower.com.
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John & Erin
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Reese (00:00):
This, this conversation always leads into well, my
(00:03):
friends are doing this or myfriends or my parents did this
and I'm a very respectfulperson.
I want to be professional ineverything I do, but I also, my
job and my fiduciaryresponsibility, in my opinion,
is to tell you the facts.
You need to do the research, youneed to trust who you're working
with, and you need to make thedecision for what's best.
John (00:33):
Hi, I'm John,
Erin (00:35):
and I'm Erin.
You're listening to connect andpower.
The podcast that proves age isno barrier to growth and
enlightenment
John (00:42):
tune in each week as we break down complex subjects into
bite sized enjoyable episodesthat will leave you feeling
informed, entertained, and readyto conquer the world
Erin (00:56):
Our guests is your season guide through the twist and
turns of social security andMedicare.
Reese.
Isn't just passionate abouthelping you understand these
complex systems.
He's dedicated to empowering youto make strategic decisions that
enhance your financial stabilityand personal growth.
With his expert knowledge of thehealth care landscape.
(01:18):
He and his team are here toensure you navigate Medicare and
social security with confidenceand ease.
When Reese isn't busy bringingclarity and peace of mind to his
clients while creating strategicplans.
He is spending time with hiswife and his girls.
welcome our guest ReesePhillips.
Welcome Reese.
Thank you so much for beinghere.
Reese (01:40):
Thank you guys for having me on.
I'm excited.
John (01:42):
Yeah, this is going to be great.
Erin (01:43):
This is going to be such a good topic because I do not know
a lot about it.
I know that when I get to acertain age, I'm going to retire
and hopefully there's moneythere for me.
So today we're talking aboutsocial security, but before we
dive into that, again, welcomeReese.
Excited to have you.
If you could just share andexplain with us.
(02:04):
blah, blah, blah, blah.
blah.
John (02:06):
Wow.
Erin (02:07):
I went
John (02:08):
That was great.
You went outside the loop on
Erin (02:11):
I totally went
John (02:11):
what you got here on the cheat sheet.
Erin (02:13):
know I ran outside my norm
John (02:16):
That's horrible.
Sorry, audience that are,
Erin (02:19):
Chuck.
Check, check.
No, no, no, no.
Anyway, navigating socialsecurity and insurance can feel
like a jungle, right?
So what sparked your passion toeducate people about this topic?
Reese (02:31):
Yeah.
So that's a great question.
I'll, I'll give everyone kind ofthe blah, blah, blah side of my,
my, background.
and then we'll jump into it.
So, you know, I, I started my mycompany about seven or eight
years ago.
It's called Preferred SeniorBenefits.
we originally started as anindependent Medicare advisory
firm.
and that's what we specializedin for about six years.
(02:52):
And we found that the majorityof our clients who were asking
us about Medicare questions werein conjunction asking us about
Social Security.
And what we found is similar tothe Medicare space, the Social
Security space is as or moreconvoluted because it's
something that's being handledby the federal government.
the place that you get to makethose decisions or call for
(03:13):
those decisions are not legallyable to give you advice as
they're just employees normallyreading a script.
and it just made sense.
And I started Preferred SeniorBenefits, because of a family
tragedy that we had, to, to sumit up, my grandfather, who
raised me and who I'm namedafter, was taken advantage of by
somebody in the Medicare space,and it cost him about three to
(03:34):
five years of his life, is whatmy grandmother thought.
So We started preferencing yourbenefits to make sure that
doesn't happen to anybody in theMedicare space ever again.
And then what we found is thatpeople from a financial position
were being taken advantage of bymultiple different angles and
multiple different places,whether it be lack of
information and correctinformation.
other business lines or businessprofessionals taking advantage
(03:57):
of them for their profit, aboutsomething that is, is once
again, very confusing and canliterally make or break your
financial future, as you retire.
So it just made sense for us togo down the path to become
what's known as an RSSA.
So a registered social securityanalyst.
It's a designation you have tostudy for, take classes for, and
pass an exam to be, and then youhave continuing ed that goes
(04:19):
around with it.
we're based here in Idaho, butwe have offices in, Utah and in
California.
We serve as clients in about, 18states now, but like in Idaho,
for example, there's only aboutthree or four of us that are
licensed to do what we do.
So it's something that I justgot really passionate about
because From the Medicare sideof the space, we're definitely
going to help people make surethey're taken care of, right?
(04:39):
Their Medicare is going to begood.
They're going to understandtheir choices.
But if they don't have enoughmoney to, go buy groceries or
pay their rent, they're going tocare.
They don't care if they get, anextra 5 a month in drug cost
savings.
So, We found that giving themthat education would be really
impactful and it just made sensebecause you may or may not know
this.
(04:59):
Social Security is the majorgroup that manages Medicare
underneath it.
So it's actually the Departmentof Social Security is the big
overarching group that managesMedicare.
So it made sense to why notcorrelate the two.
And that's how we got into thespace.
And that's why we've beenfocusing on it ever since.
John (05:19):
what a story.
I'm sorry your family wentthrough that, but what an
inspiration to Grab the bull bythe horns and go with it.
And help so many other people.
I commend you for that.
That's awesome.
Erin (05:30):
And I did not know that social security was like the top
and everything else wasunderneath it.
John (05:37):
Yeah.
I didn't know that either.
Erin (05:38):
Yeah.
Reese (05:39):
when you sign up, for Medicare, you're reaching out to
social security to get the ballstarted, whether that's over the
phone, online in person, that'show the process starts.
So CMS, which is the center forMedicare services is housed
underneath the social securitydivision of the federal
government.
So it's very interesting.
Erin (05:57):
I would say, could you explain social security?
go into how we get it, where itcomes from, what, where the
money comes from.
Reese (06:05):
Yeah, that's a great question.
social security was startedyears ago.
was designed originally to beinsurance against disability.
and then it converted into astrategy to help.
People supplement theirretirement.
basically a forced process wherepeople start paying their, into
their, their W 2 taxes, orindependent owner taxes, through
(06:29):
your, federal tax process, andit correlates to two things.
It correlates to your Medicare,and then it correlates to your
Social Security.
And once you've put in a certainamount of time, energy, and
money into that, you thenqualify for Social Security
income, starting as soon as 62for most people.
(06:50):
and then you can go up to acertain age, point for most
people on when you choose totake it.
And what we've found is the timein which you choose to take it,
And the situation you're in froma finite, family perspective,
drastically impacts your futurewith using that money wisely.
Now, a lot of people may say,well, it's probably only people
(07:12):
that are really, really relianton that social security that
really care about this.
So meaning that that's going tobe their only form of
retirement.
And that is true, right?
If your only income is going tobe social security income, then
understanding how it works andscheduling and planning for it's
very, very important, right?
Cause that's your only source ofincome.
Then you have people that arereally, really wealthy, right?
(07:34):
You know, the top 10, 15, 20percent of people where.
That's a big position becausehow they're going to be taxed on
that money and what they do withother asset types is a big
impact.
So we have to understand that,right?
So you have people that aregoing to rely on it exclusively
for retirement, people that aremore concerned about the tax
(07:54):
benefits of it, and then youhave everybody in between.
And those are the threecategories we really see, which
is very similar in the Medicareworld where we have people that
are on, like low incomesubsidies, Medicare, Medicaid,
to your point earlier, you havethe ultra high net worth
individuals that are payingextra for Medicare because of
their income.
And then you have everybody elsein the middle.
(08:15):
So, so there's a lot of,similarities between the two
verticals.
Uh, and we really try to getpeople to understand how it
works, what your options are,and how certain decisions like
getting married or remarried, orhow long you've worked can
really impact those
John (08:33):
So what are some different ways somebody qualifies for
social security?
Because it's just not age too.
Because I know that sometimespeople with disabilities can
start pulling on social securityearly, correct?
Reese (08:45):
Yeah, so social security income and, social security
disability, two differentbuckets of money, right?
But that is correct.
If you're on disability, youwill qualify for that disability
insurance that we spoke onearlier, which is what social
security basically started as.
you know, and those are for thepeople, unfortunately, that do
have those disabilities.
(09:07):
and that can happen at any age,right?
That can happen at birth.
As long as you're deemed to havethose things.
so there's are really two keypieces of that.
and a lot of times the majorityof Americans are going to be
more concerned about the incomeside of that, because, you know,
thank the Lord that the majorityof Americans are not disabled,
but if you are disabled, right,there's a lot more factors, it's
(09:28):
more, there's more, complexityto dealing with those things
when it comes to a strategy,when it comes to your
caregivers, when it comes to.
Who's helping you when you draw,how you draw, you know, what
happens if a parent dies,there's just so much that
correlates to that.
And you just have to understandthat the information's out
there, just like theinformation's out there on how
(09:49):
to do your taxes.
That doesn't mean a normalperson is going to sit there and
read the 50, 000 page taxbooklet to understand if they
can deduct that pencil they justbought from their taxes.
Erin (10:00):
You mentioned something that was interesting is the age.
I'm I, I've always thoughtsocial security is when you're
65 and then I keep hearing therumors or the myths like, well,
every year if you're bornbetween this bracket, it's 65.
If you're born in this bracket,then it's what?
68, 69, 70.
So can you clarify?
Reese (10:18):
Social security has an age bracket system for lack of
better description.
for most people, and you'regoing to hear me use that term a
lot, because, you know, there's,there are liars that are outside
the norm, but for most people,you can start drawing social
security as early as 62, all theway up until age 70, okay.
(10:39):
Now the 65 mark that you'rereferencing too, is the
correlation of Medicare.
That's when most people willqualify for Medicare.
What, what is considered as ofright now in 2024, your full
retirement age also, related toas FRA is when your social
security from an incomeperspective hits a hundred
(11:01):
percent, quality.
So a hundred percent of what youcould get.
And for most people, that'sbetween 66 and a half to, 67
ish.
But yeah, you can, you can startas early as 62 and as late as 70
and there's pluses and negativesto both.
I'm sure we'll touch base onthose with further questions.
Erin (11:19):
I was gonna say, there's quite a bit.
It's a lot.
John (11:23):
Well, since it is so complicated, I want to just ask
this, as an advisor, you sitdown with people and help guide
them through this, correct?
Or are there people that dothat?
Or is it because I'm looking atthis saying, man, I want more
information.
I want to know about all thisas, as far as how it pertains to
me and my future.
Would I meet with somebody likeyou or a different advisor?
Erin (11:45):
and how soon should they meet with
John (11:47):
you?
Yeah.
What age should they startthinking about and planning
that?
Yeah.
Correct.
Reese (11:52):
Yeah, those are amazing questions.
So there's a couple of differentquestions there I'll touch base
on.
So let's talk about the firstone, which is when should you
start planning?
I think, the sooner, the betterin anything you do.
But realistically people usuallyaround 45 ish to 50 if they want
to be really super proactivewill start planning at that
point and planning is more ofunderstanding what your
(12:13):
structure is, what is it goingto look like, how is that going
to make sense.
So that's number one.
people normally start planningaround 55.
I think that's a little late inthe game, but that's in general
what we see across the industry.
so that's when you should startplanning.
Now, to answer your question is,do, what do we do or who should
I chat with?
Yeah, so we're certified, RSSAanalysts.
(12:35):
So we, We meet with people, wecharge them a flat fee, and we
do a full analysis.
So we scrape their informationfrom Social Security, we put it
into a proprietary tool, andthat proprietary tool will
analyze different scenarios,right?
Because there's a lot that goesinto this.
It goes into how much have youpaid into Social Security
already, how much are youplanning to pay into Social
(12:55):
Security the next 5, 10, 15years, what's your marital
status, What's your immigrationstatus?
how many dependents do you have?
There's multiple things thatfactor into that.
Now, you can do these things onyour own.
You can go to socialsecurity.
gov, log in online, and it givesyou a tool that Projects out
what you're doing right now.
(13:17):
The problem is that it doesn'tgive you the variables that
correlate to what drives thatdata.
So when they calculate yoursocial security income, they're
going to take a certain amountof years, your top earning years
to use that, to calculate whatyour benefits are going to look
like.
If you don't know what thoseplanning years moving forward
are going to be, it's hard foryou to do that analytical number
(13:40):
crunching, particularly on yourown.
You can do it on what you'vedone in the past, but not so
much in the future.
So, just like the Medicareworld, there, this is one piece
of the puzzle.
You have your social securityincome that was designed to be
part of your retirement, notyour full retirement.
Unfortunately, a lot ofAmericans, that is their only
(14:03):
piece of retirement.
But for people that havepensions, even though those
don't really exist very muchanymore, 401k planning,
annuities, life insurance, Allthese different things that
correlate to it, that has to belooked at in the broad picture
of when you're going to bedeciding to utilize these
different, these differentstrategies.
What we really correlate them isto different buckets.
(14:26):
When you get to retirement age,you're going to have different
buckets of money that you canleverage, and you want to
leverage them or start usingthem in the most efficient
manner.
Because you want to get thingsdone right the first time, if,
for example, if you were gonna,paint your walls in your, your
kid's room.
I only bring this up because wejust painted a, a room in our
cabin for one of our kids acouple weeks ago.
(14:46):
I'm not gonna paint the wallsfirst.
Then put the primer on and thencover the floors to make sure
they don't get paint on them.
It just doesn't make sense.
The paint would already bethere.
You don't put paint on beforeprimer.
I think all the listeners getit, right?
You'd want to put the mat downfirst.
You'd want to clean the wall.
Don't let my wife hear thatbecause she always says you
should clean the wall.
(15:07):
And I always say, you don't,you'd want to primer the wall,
and then you'd want to paint.
So the same thing when it comesto your retirement planning
around social security, you needto figure out when's the best
time to use that money.
Okay.
and there's multiple strategypoints that go along with that.
Not only about what we do andwhat we offer as advisors around
social security, but what yourfinancial advisor says, what
(15:29):
your CPA or tax professionalsays, in some cases, depending
on your net worth, what yourattorney says, there's most
multiple facets you have to lookat when constructing that game
Erin (15:40):
So one question I know I for sure have.
in the generations that areapproaching baby boomers, a lot
of them stayed at home.
They didn't work.
So what happens, whether it'sthe male or the female,
whichever partner did not workand was not able to put into
social security?
Reese (16:01):
Yeah, that's a great question.
So what happens if I was a stayat home parent?
I don't mean to usegeneralities, but in the most
part, that's a, the mom stayedhome, the dad worked,
generations ago.
In that case, as long as you'remarried for a certain amount of
years, the spouse would qualifyfor a portion of the income.
the social security income thatthe spouse generated.
And this comes up a lot, insocial security planning,
(16:24):
because people don't realizethat, let's use a real world
example, let's say you were tostay at home, mom, and your
husband was an executive forGoogle and made 2 million a
year, okay.
And you're married to thatperson for 15 years.
You guys get divorced for somereason, and then you fall madly
(16:46):
in love with this guy whohappens to work at a restaurant
as a server.
Just using that as an example.
If you get remarried to thatperson that's a server, You now
no longer will qualify to getthe income from your previous
husband or wife.
It doesn't matter, right?
So there's a lot of strategythat correlates to that when
(17:07):
you're making those decisions.
Now as social security advisors,the only thing we advise on, you
know, in my firm is socialsecurity and Medicare.
But in those types of scenarios,that's where your financial
advisor, your CPA, and yourattorney come into play about
those types of strategies.
But unfortunately, most peoplehave no clue.
(17:27):
They have no clue.
and that's really what we seeacross the board in the two
areas that we specialize in, ispeople just don't know.
And if they had the informationpresented in a very easy to
digest way, then they could makebetter educated decisions based
on the information they havenow.
Because planning for today,planning in today's world for
(17:49):
something 20, 30, 10, 5 yearsfrom now, is difficult because
we have no idea what the world'sgoing to look like, but at least
you can start taking those stepsto be successful.
Erin (18:00):
it does, but what happens if they are married the whole
time?
She never works and then hepasses away.
Reese (18:07):
Then she will still qualify for his social security.
It's completely independent ofthe money that he makes and
whether or not he or she isstill alive.
now with them passing away, onceagain, that's a whole nother
strategy of, okay, they passedaway.
What was the income lookinglike?
What was the structure?
(18:29):
How is that going to keephappening?
Where is your income going tocome from?
There's multiple variables tothat because once again, using
the example we talked about,your, your husband who passed
away was a CEO of Google, butlet's say you guys were only
married for 5 or 10 or excuseme, 5 or 10 years above the
threshold, and you go get a jobnow at a gas station, I'm just
(18:54):
using examples here, that'sgoing to impact your, your
earning years and your earningpotential.
So you want to make sure youlook at all of those different
the majority of our clients thathave convoluted or complex cases
or scenarios, a divorce, someonepassing away, something similar
in that format, with kids,particularly if they have
(19:15):
somebody who's disabled to yourpoint earlier, to look at all
the different complexities andunderstand what decision you
make, because it can literallymean the difference.
Of 47, 000 a year in retirementto 75, 000 a year in retirement.
I mean, the spread is reallythat, that big.
(19:35):
Right.
So, and that's just on average,right?
The spreads can be a lot higher.
You just have to look at it froma numbers perspective, and look
at all the variables and thenultimately make the best
decision that feels good to you.
Cause I can sit here and tellyou for most people from a
dollars and cents perspective,waiting until you're 70 to draw
(19:57):
your social security usuallymeans you're going to make the
most money from your socialsecurity from a, from a monthly
payment perspective.
But if your family on averageonly lives to 67 and you push
your social security out until70 or that's your plan and then
you die at 68, well then you gotno money.
Right?
So maybe it would have beenbetter for you to start drawing
(20:18):
it at 62, because then you wouldat least gotten four or five
years of that lower dollaramount, but you would have
received it.
So there's going to be some keytakeaways.
I hope I can relate to theaudience.
One of them should be.
Do as much due diligence andstudying and speaking with the
right people as possible to makea decision that you feel best
(20:42):
about.
But understand there is alwaysgoing to be a plus and negative
to anything you do.
There's no crystal ball, right?
If there was, you know, I wouldbe on a yacht somewhere.
Well, probably not because mywife wouldn't want to leave
Idaho, but I would have a bigfishing boat somewhere.
How about that?
Erin (20:58):
But I have a question to that.
What you just said, if someonedoes not pull their security,
social security, and they'rewaiting till later, they
happened to pass and neverclaimed it with their spouse
still be entitled to it or is itjust gone completely?
Yeah.
Absolutely.
Reese (21:15):
No, if you're going to qualify for a spousal benefit,
as long as you've met the timecriteria, once you've met the
criteria, you're going toqualify for it.
So, whether your spouse is aliveor dead, whether you're still
married to them or not, as longas you met the minimum time
requirement, which I believe is10 years, then you're going to,
you're going to have access tothat
John (21:36):
What about, so, so you're just saying the spouse, so for
instance, if say a man or awoman paid into social security
their whole life, they had acouple kids or something, they
end up passing away before theycan start collecting social
security.
It just doesn't make sense.
goes away.
The kids don't get any part ofthat social security benefit
that he had put in for all thoseyears.
(21:57):
It's gone.
Reese (21:59):
It depends on if the child is disabled or not.
It depends on the age of thechild and it depends on what the
child's doing, whether they'regoing to school or things of
that nature.
So unfortunately, those are oneof those questions that I can't
give a more defined answer to.
I would say if the child'sdisabled, the child's younger,
they're still considered, achild under 18 or they're going
(22:22):
to school in their youngeryears.
More times than not, they willget some type of access to care
or income
John (22:28):
Yeah.
It just seems interesting to mebecause I know like within, with
me, with you, with of course youReese and others, we're all
paying into social security.
Well, if something happens, weget in a car wreck or whatever,
we're right at, right at thebrink of collecting that.
And then we pass away and we'regone.
Then all that money is justgone, it's like when you're
(22:50):
putting money into something,And yes, they say that social
security may not be here,another 10 or 20 years, or
that's what I've heard.
I don't know.
That's one of my questions toyou too, is, do you have any
idea?
Is that going to be around when?
Erin (23:05):
Well, if he had the crystal ball, he'd be out on his
yacht.
Yeah.
true.
Reese (23:09):
I mean, I, I will tell you this, right?
So everyone talks about socialsecurity going away.
Now, social security is runningon some of its surplus
currently.
And yes, if you look at from awho's taking money out versus
who's putting money in, if youprojected that out, Three, four,
(23:30):
500 years.
Yes.
Eventually it would run out ofmoney.
we are getting to a point it'seither in 2025 or 2030.
I'd have to look at the specificdates, where there will be a
decision that will have to bemade about how social securities
handle, because we'll get awayfrom those reserves and we'll
start touching based on the coreof where the money sits.
(23:51):
what I've been told by peoplewho are a lot smarter than me
about this type of stuff isthat.
Realistically, what we'll see,at least in our generation,
right?
I'm 39.
You guys are probably in yourearly twenties,
Erin (24:04):
Perfect.
Reese (24:04):
32.
Um,
John (24:06):
gift card after this is over,
Reese (24:08):
we will still have it.
It may be a reduced amount,right?
A lot of numbers are thrownaround like around 80%.
but it should still be there ingeneral.
What's really going to happen,and this is getting a little
more into my personal views, isthat none of the politicians
want to deal with SocialSecurity until they have to.
Because no matter who, whichside you're on, left, right,
(24:30):
left, right.
Up, down, blue, green, gray, orotherwise, it's going to be a
polarizing topic and you'regoing to piss off half of the
country.
I mean, that doesn't matter.
I believe in the next one to twopresidential runs is when that
decision will have to be made.
And that will definitely impactthe country.
A lot of things.
(24:50):
I remember listening to, somepodcasts yesterday or two days
ago when I was flying back fromMiami or from, Vegas.
And one of the ex presidentialcandidates, I don't remember
what her name was talking aboutchanging the distribution of
Medicare and Social Security upto age 70.
(25:11):
Like making that the startingtimetable.
because they're going to have todo something different.
What that is, I don't know.
I don't know the answer.
I can tell you from Yeah, I usedto be in the banking business
when I was in my early twenties.
I was the branch manager of thelargest Wells Fargo branch in
the state as far as transactionsand stuff goes.
(25:31):
So I saw a lot of moneymanagement pluses and money
management negatives.
And I would tell you that yourbest.
Case for planning for the futureand retirement is understanding
that social security may or maynot be there and don't rely on
it.
And if it is there, then it's anadded bonus, not your only
(25:52):
option.
Now that's going to be a hardthing for certain people to
listen to or to hear.
And I totally understand that.
I'm just very conservativeviewpoint as far as financial,
like I just, I always think likeI'm going to run out of money.
So I always try to planaccordingly.
And that would be my message topeople is.
If you don't have to rely on it,then don't, but make those right
(26:14):
decisions now so you canleverage it to the best of your
ability.
As long as it's there.
Erin (26:18):
I like that advice because we don't know if it will be
there or not.
So what are you going to do ifit's not there?
What's your plan?
John (26:24):
I'm relying on You
Erin (26:25):
You are?
John (26:26):
Yeah.
You
Erin (26:29):
I got kids.
Can you still work and claimsocial security benefits?
Reese (26:36):
Absolutely.
The question then becomes is howmuch of that's going to be
taxed.
right.
there's different rules forevery 2 you spend a dollar, but
it's going to be taxed for every3 you earn, 1 going to be taxed.
And there's differentcorrelations to that.
Once again, that's a CPAquestion.
That's an analysis question forus to show you where you're
sitting and give you thosestrategies.
(26:58):
There is no, everyone that makesthis money can do this.
It's very specific to yoursituation.
Erin (27:04):
What would be a reason?
somebody would still want towork while claiming it?
is there a probe to it?
Reese (27:10):
Yeah, I mean, some people will want to keep working until
they turn 65 so they can qualifyfor Medicare, right?
Because that's, for most people,that's when you qualify for
Medicare, but all of theirfriends and family have told
them that you better draw SocialSecurity as soon as you can, or
maybe their life expectancy is66 for some reason, so they'll
start drawing at 62 when theycan, while they're still doing
(27:31):
their W 2 job, which increasestheir income and increases their
tax bracket and what they'regetting taxed as my CPA once
told me, doesn't matter how bigof a deduction doing something
is, it's not like it's puttingmoney in your pocket.
So some people may say, well, Imay only make a thousand dollars
a month in social security at 62and pay more taxes, but after I
(27:53):
pay my taxes, I'm still making800 a month.
That's better than mepotentially not making anything.
Cause I'm going to die or
Erin (28:02):
Makes
Reese (28:02):
And here's the funny thing.
This, this conversation and theMedicare conversation always
leads into well, my friends aredoing this or my friends or my
parents did this and I'm a veryrespectful person.
I, I want to be professional ineverything I do, but I also, my
job and my fiduciaryresponsibility, in my opinion,
(28:23):
is to tell you the facts.
This is what the law of averagestell us.
I'm not saying your friend'swrong, I'm just saying your
friend doesn't have the sametipping points or the same
scenarios that you do.
So yeah, take their advice andit's good to hear other people's
opinions.
But ultimately, You need to dothe research, you need to trust
who you're working with, and youneed to make the decision for
(28:45):
what's best.
Alright, another way wecorrelate it is, if you have a
problem with your leg, right,you're probably not gonna ask
four or five of your friendswhat you think's wrong with your
leg, and then you go to yourdoctor and your doctor says it's
something completely differentthan what your friend said, and
you'll be like, oh, you knowwhat, forget that doctor, I'm
just gonna do what my friendstold me to Usually not the case!
Erin (29:06):
hope not.
Reese (29:08):
Yeah.
John (29:10):
Yeah, for sure.
For sure.
Erin (29:14):
What are some of the things that we haven't talked
about that you feel Ourlisteners need to know about
like, this is very important asfar as your social security.
Reese (29:25):
What are some things that we haven't talked about that I
think is important with social
John (29:29):
Maybe some, are there some changes coming across too?
Cause I've seen some stuff inthe news that may be Medicare.
I don't know if it's Medicare orsocial security, but I've been
seeing a lot of stuff talkingabout some big changes coming in
both Medicare or socialsecurity.
Reese (29:46):
Yeah, I mean, there's big, quote unquote, big changes
that happen every year.
there's probably moresignificant changes happening in
2025.
In the medicare space and thereare technically in the social
security space.
I would, I would say the, thething that we haven't touched
base on is that let me rephrasethat we haven't gone in depth on
(30:08):
is there are systems and tools,whether it's with me, somebody
else through, through thewebsite that the government
offers, that gives you theability to understand scenarios.
And by looking at thosescenarios will give you the best
ability to make a decisionacross the board.
All right.
(30:28):
And it's just not how much moneydo I need to survive?
It's not just how much money doI need to be comfortable.
It's, a lot of the timesspouses, Don't even think about
when they're going to draw theirsocial security and how that's
going to impact their otherspouse.
So I'll give you an example.
Husband and wife are married.
(30:48):
Wife is the bigger incomeearner.
So she gets to a point where shecan retire at 62.
Husband still wants to workcause he loves his job and he's
going to work until he's 67.
the wife didn't realize that byher drawing her social security
at 62, If she dies when she's 63and now he's going to lose that
(31:11):
social security income, aportion of it because she's no
longer there, how that, how thataffects the long term planning
of the situation.
So, I would say that there'stools, there's people.
I mean, RSSA is a nationalorganization.
There's advisors all across theUnited States.
you have to figure that stuffout and you have to look at all.
(31:34):
Aspects of what's going on.
that, that's why when, whenpeople come to us as Medicare
advisors, we say, this is aportion of what your health
situation looks like, right?
There, there's multiple tiersand multiple facets to we talk
about, if there's a majormedical issue, how are you going
to pay for that medical issue?
So that normally correlates totheir CPA and their financial
(31:56):
advisor, right?
Or we talk about.
If there's a major medicalissue, who's going to take care
of you?
Who's your power of attorney?
That can be your lawyer.
Do you have a will and all theseother things, set up?
Same thing in the socialsecurity space.
if this spouse passes away, whathappens here?
If your son or daughter getsdiagnosed with something becomes
(32:18):
disabled.
What does that structure looklike?
how do they benefit from thosefor some of our lower income
clients, if you're on Medicaid,which is a state ran low income
subsidy, and you draw socialsecurity at 62 because you've
been waiting for it, and thenyou lose your Medicaid.
You're actually losing money nowon a monthly basis because you
(32:38):
didn't look at everything.
So there's just a lot thatcorrelates to it.
And I just wish and hope thatpeople understand there's tools
out there, free tools and tools.
we charge a fee for what we do.
I think it's very competitivefor the value we bring, but it
isn't what I would say cheap.
But you just have to beproactive because ultimately
(33:00):
it's your responsibility.
there's no one else that's goingto do it for you.
and I would also say to thehusband, because I'm married,
two kids, is it's responsiblefor both spouses to be involved
in this process.
Because if we meet with just thewife and the husband has no idea
what the hell is going on andthen something happens to her,
(33:21):
he's not going to know what'sgoing on and vice versa.
So even though there's a lot ofplanning that goes into how
you're going to do thingstogether, because a lot of times
people are basing theirretirement around household
income.
Well, what happens if somebodypasses away?
What happens if somebody getsdisabled?
What does that look like?
And it's good to be on ittogether.
It doesn't mean there has to be,one person is usually a point
(33:42):
person, but I think everyoneshould be involved in it So,
sorry, I started rambling there,but I get kind of passionate
about these things.
John (33:50):
I love your passion.
Okay.
So, so if myself or somebodyelse was going to meet with an
advisor, what do you need as faras information when they're
coming in to sit down with you?
Do you send them an email with akind of a breakdown of all the
information you need or, or whatdo they need to
Erin (34:11):
you?
Well, before you answer that, myquestion that I was gonna answer
we're over here like I'm goingnext.
No, I'm going next.
Is, not only what paperworkshould they bring, but what are
some of the questions that theyshould make sure to ask when
they come?
Reese (34:26):
Yeah, so we have a dedicated process that we've
gotten through RSSA, but alsothat we've developed here at
Preferred Senior Benefits that'sgoing to force them to answer
the majority of the questionsthat we come across that are
important, right?
when would you like to retire?
When can you retire?
When's the most optimal time toget income from your retirement,
(34:50):
right?
Those are questions.
What's your life expectancy?
There's actually a test thatwe're going to have everyone
take before they come meet withus.
That actually has you answer.
I think it's like 60 questionsand it gives you your life
expectancy and it's relativelyaccurate.
kid you not.
John (35:07):
Hers was 94 and mine was 106.
So I'm a little healthier thanher.
Erin (35:13):
For now.
Reese (35:14):
questionnaire, one of the questions it asks you is, do you
wear sunscreen?
Well, I'll be honest with you,I've never worn sunscreen other
than going to the beach or to awater park on a daily basis.
Well, once I got certified, I'vebeen wearing sunscreen every day
since.
Because obviously, if they'reasking that question, there's a
reason.
Because, these questions arecoming from actuaries and
scientists on the back end.
(35:36):
we're going to, we're going todrive down to those questions.
We're going to ask you factfinding questions.
We're going to have you do thosetests, to get that life
expectancy.
We're going to have you pullyour social security data from
socialsecurity.
gov.
And if you can't do that, wecan, we have a video that walks
you through it.
It's relatively easy.
but we're going to, we're goingto get all that information
together and then we're going topresent you, with a live
(35:59):
document that we can play within office and you can look at,
but once we've figured out, welike to look at three to four
different scenarios, right?
When's the minimum you couldretire?
What your full retirement ageis?
What your maximum or bestbenefits are and then maybe a
variable like usually we'll haveone where, spouse is 67 and wife
is 65 because they're reallylooking to get on Medicare just
(36:21):
before they make thosedecisions.
And then we present them with afull dedicated report that they
have that they can use from agame plan perspective and move
down that path from
John (36:31):
Now, how long does this usually take?
Is this one session with youguys or is this multiple
sessions?
how long does it take to createa plan?
Reese (36:41):
Yeah, I mean, normally we'll get with the, my team will
get with our client ahead oftime, have them do everything at
home before they come meet withus, and then our goal is when
they come meet with us, in mostcases, we can have everything
done and analyzed, in the firstmeeting.
Now, if it's a more complexscenario, it may take a second
meeting, but in general, that'snot the
John (37:03):
Perfect.
Erin (37:04):
So this might sound odd.
I know with Medicare, people sayyou should get your plan
reviewed.
Is Social Security also the sameway where you can get it
reviewed or once you start it,that's just what it is?
Reese (37:16):
Is the question on once you started drawing it, or is
the question on as you'replanning to start drawing it?
Erin (37:23):
Once you've started drawing it.
Reese (37:25):
In most cases, once you've started drawing it, it is
what it is.
Now there are a couplestrategies that you can take
once you've started drawing itto retroactive your decisions,
but that's really convoluted andit would, it'd be a whole other
podcast for us to get in onthat.
So that's why making thedecision correct the first time
(37:45):
is so important.
Erin (37:48):
So I want to just clarify it.
We need to meet with you.
Someone.
What is it?
RSS?
Is that what it is?
I'm so sorry.
Can you repeat that again?
Reese (37:58):
Yeah.
I own a company called preferredsenior benefits.
and I am an R S S a.
Designation.
So I have a registered socialsecurity analyst.
So it's a designation that youhave to study for, take an exam
to pass.
It's very difficult to do it.
It takes, three to six months,depending how much time you're
going to dedicate to it.
and that gives us the ability tocharge, and has the designation
(38:19):
to give this advice.
Erin (38:21):
So between the ages of about 45, latest 55, not saying
that they can't come later, butpreferably to get a good picture
and setting you up is when weshould find you.
John (38:33):
Or do the
Erin (38:34):
themselves.
Or do the research themselves.
They'll have a list of questionsor you can find your own
questions and really startcoming up with a plan.
Really start and figure out Whatyour life is going to look like.
When do you want to retire?
How are you going to retire allthese questions and then come
sit down with you and go, Hey,this is what I've looked at.
(38:55):
This is what I researched.
This is what I'm thinking.
Can you help me?
What does that really look like?
Reese (39:01):
exactly.
And we're gonna be an advocateto our clients, right?
So when you sit down with us,there's two things we do at
Preferred Senior Benefits.
Medicare, Social Security.
That's it, right?
So when you come to us withthese questions at 55 63, 49,
we're going to go through somuch stuff that when we're done,
you're going to have a socialsecurity game plan in place that
(39:23):
we can still review every coupleof years, every year, whatever
you want to do.
But I'm also going to refer youto a bunch of professionals that
I think are probably going to,Add value to what you're doing.
It may be a, it may be anattorney to get your will and
your trust done.
it may be a financial advisor tohelp you understand how your
401k works or, or how your lifeinsurance works, or, how does
(39:44):
that pension really work.
In regards to you and yourspouse, it may be a CPA or a tax
professional to understand,well, how do you want to get
these things structured?
for people who own businesses,right?
It might be to a businessattorney to understand there's
probably different ways for youto structure this so you can
make sure you're, Earning asmuch social security as
possible.
Cause that's, that's one thingwe didn't really touch base on
(40:06):
is that if you're a businessowner, like all of us are here
on, on the cast, there'sstrategies that you can take to
increase your social securitythat when you get to that age
that you can potentially deducton your taxes and as a business
owner, if you're not takingadvantage of those immediately.
You could be losing thousandsupon thousands of dollars on a
(40:26):
monthly basis.
there's multiple variables whenlooking at that, but we really
try to be an advocate to all ofour clients and get them in
front of the right people.
we work with different people.
around, what's the best pharmacyyou should be going to?
do you need a, a realtor tounderstand, what does downsizing
look like?
do you need a, a last wishrecorded?
(40:47):
So you have something to pass onto your family.
there's a lot of these differentthings that people.
Unfortunately don't like to talkabout because no one likes to
talk about dying.
No one likes to talk aboutgetting older.
except for maybe me because I, Ican't wait to retire.
these are things that when youforce yourself to go through
this process, naturally throughthe process you're going to
answer questions that will driveplaces that you really should be
Erin (41:11):
So I, I know I mentioned 45 earlier, but it almost sounds
like, you know,
John (41:18):
Well, it's, it's always good to have education.
So what percentage of people outthere.
actually become educated beforethey get to a situation of
crisis where they, they just,all of a sudden they, they're
like, okay, now I qualify forMedicare.
Now I qualify for socialsecurity.
I mean, what percentage ofpeople wait until last minute to
Erin (41:40):
So
John (41:41):
those decisions?
Yeah.
Very
Erin (41:42):
huh?
Reese (41:44):
Oh, I would assume the majority of people in America
are reactive, not proactive.
I mean, I, and I, I, once again,I'm not a financial advisor, so
I don't know this exact numbers,but I think one of the financial
advisors we work with in thestate of Idaho is actually the
top advisor in the state byForbes, says that like 60
percent or 65 percent ofAmericans only form of
(42:06):
retirement is social security.
Now, I'm not sure that'saccurate, but I know it's very,
very high.
So my guess is the majority ofpeople hate their jobs.
hate working are just trying toget to that 62 year old 62 point
so they can retire from thathorrible boss and you know are
(42:27):
going to figure out how tosurvive on that 1, 000, 1, 500,
2, 000 a month which is sad butonce again it is true.
so it's one of those thingswhere I would say the majority
of people do not or are notproactive right.
I would ask I'll ask you guys aquestion.
What percent of people out theredo you think have just a basic
(42:48):
will set up?
Erin (42:49):
I think 15 percent
John (42:51):
15 to 20.
It's pretty low.
Reese (42:53):
So that, that, that's what I would correlate.
I think a will is probably morelikely than someone having
social security planning, right?
Unless you work with, someonelike myself or a professional in
this vertical that, that talksabout it.
And let me be very clear.
There are a lot of people outthere that are professionals in
the financial advising space orwhatnot.
(43:16):
That have no clue on how thisstuff right?
I tell people all the time, thereason we specialize in Medicare
and Social Security at PreferredSenior Benefits is, is a
correlation to a doctorscenario.
If I had a brain tumor that was,that meant life or death, am I
(43:36):
going to go to the doctor thatdoes brain surgery every single
day of the week?
Or am I going to go to the brainsurgeon that does brain surgery
the second Tuesday of the month?
I just tell people that, that.
all things are not created equaland you have to understand what
you're looking at from aplanning perspective.
And what does that actually meanfor your retirement I don't
(43:58):
think we all come on this earthto work our butts off, no matter
what it is you do, to then haveto struggle in retirement.
When if you just took the rightstrategy or the right approach
now, Or as soon as you pop, Imean, you, you could have
somebody on this that's 67,right?
That's listening to this, thathasn't started drawing social
security yet.
(44:18):
And maybe they come chat with usand we, we figure out a strategy
that they can actually keepworking until, 68, but have the
income they thought they'd haveto work till 70.
I don't know.
I'm just using these examples.
I just wish people would be moreproactive.
Erin (44:31):
Well, that's the whole point of our podcast, right?
Is we, we were, we saw so manypeople being reactive.
We were like, we've got to fillin the gap because it's people
want to help and there's goodpeople, but we need to get that
information out.
John (44:44):
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's so true.
And, and in a way where peoplecan do a soft approach, right.
They can just listen to apodcast and they can get little
bits of information.
Then they get inspired orencouraged to make the steps to
become more
Erin (44:57):
like it's not as scary as that may seem,
John (44:59):
sure.
But there's a, but there's stilla lot to it, right?
Like a lot of what you've saidtoday, I'm that guy that kind of
waits till last minute, likewaits until, okay, now I need, I
qualify for social security.
Now
Erin (45:11):
Or we didn't know that you should start preparing now for
John (45:14):
Yeah.
I didn't know, I didn't know,that.
the last question I have, and,I'm just curious about this
because I know that there arepeople that, Get together,
right?
And they both get into asituation that they qualify for
social security.
They get into a relationship.
They're both, say, qualifying orgetting ready to, is it better
(45:35):
that they get married or is itbetter that they Maybe stay
together, but they collectsocial security
Erin (45:43):
Well, cause that's a trend starting.
A lot of them are
John (45:45):
Yeah, Yeah, Because of the, the, the amount of money
that they can pull inseparately.
It's quite different than theywould being
Erin (45:54):
Yeah.
What are your thoughts?
Reese (45:56):
Yeah, a hundred percent.
Just like the scenario we talkedabout earlier where the, the
wife stayed at home and thehusband was a CEO for Google.
Then they got divorced and thenshe started, she found the love
of her life that works at a, agolf shop or something like
that.
We just were in a meeting acouple of weeks ago where a
very, very successful man hasbeen with a very successful
woman for about five or 10years.
(46:16):
They finally talked about justgetting married just for funs
and giggles.
We had a conversation and weshowed them.
you guys can still go have thewedding and you can even change
your last name, but by gettinglegally married, this is what
it's going to do to your socialsecurity.
And they both were like, well,we're not getting married.
John (46:33):
Yeah.
Reese (46:33):
kid you not.
Erin (46:34):
Wow.
Reese (46:36):
I don't mean to get too into the weeds here, It's the
legal contract of the marriagethat's going to directly
correlate to social security.
Not what you, like you said,what you do in the eyes of God
and doing that, that'scompletely different.
That's just my viewpoint.
I mean, we've had to haveuncomfortable conversations with
clients, about how, If they weredivorced, they would qualify for
(46:59):
Medicaid individually, whichwould allow them to get the
drugs they need to survive.
Cause they're going to die ifthey don't versus by staying
married, they don't cause theymake too much money combined may
sound heartless.
You know, it may sound whatever,but that, that may be the
strategy that they have to take.
Erin (47:15):
But I think I, and I appreciate you saying that
because I think people don'tunderstand.
And if I love you, I love you.
And it's a very personal choiceof why someone may split.
This means our survival andbeing able to afford a lifestyle
that we need.
Let's have that conversation.
We don't have to do it, butlet's know all of our facts and
(47:36):
have a conversation.
Does this fit?
Will it work?
John (47:39):
I'm glad I, I'm glad I asked that question.
because there's a lot of peopleI think that are unaware of how
it could really factor inbecause like you said earlier,
Reese, there are a lot of babyboomers or people maybe in that
age group now, a big group thataren't prepared and they're
going to be very reliant onsocial security.
And if they're in love and theygo off and they get married.
(48:01):
Then there's social securitytogether is going to be a lot
less than it would be if theywere two separate individuals
still acting like they'remarried, living together,
everything, but they, would bepulling in a lot more,
Reese (48:13):
we always talk about divorce in such a negative
manner and I'm a big parablesperson.
another thing that's reallytalked about in a negative
manner is bankruptcy.
Bankruptcy.
Right.
If you have a bankruptcy or ahorrible financial person, yada,
yada.
Bankruptcy is just another toolthat people use when it comes to
business and money management.
how many billionaires and multimillionaires have used
(48:35):
bankruptcy as a strategy toincrease or protect their
wealth?
So once again, not talking aboutthe religious side of it, I'm
very, big believer in God.
And I've been a Christian sinceI was 16 years old at church
camp at my birthday.
our kids go to private Christianschools.
That's a big part of our lifeand what we believe in.
John (48:53):
Yeah.
Reese (48:54):
But I think when it comes to financial and medical
decisions.
You have to look at it to what'sgoing to suit you best and keep
you protected.
Because what good is it to, tobe doing something if you're
homeless, can't afford the drugsthat you're, that you need to
survive and die in six months.
John (49:13):
Or you're dragging down your partner financially too,
right?
if you can qualify for so muchmore because you don't have
much, it's really going toaffect your partner as well.
and where you could still staywithin, have more money or more
help and support because you'dqualify for more.
So
Erin (49:30):
social security now is more interesting.
So thank you.
John (49:37):
Yeah.
We really appreciate your wealthof knowledge and your expertise
in this.
And,
Erin (49:43):
do have another question, a final question for you.
I'm like, don't you wrap him upyet?
John (49:46):
Okay.
All right.
You go ahead.
Erin (49:51):
We love to travel.
Please share with us what is onyour adventure list of something
you want to do and, or a placethat you've been that you want
to share with us.
Reese (50:03):
Oh, that's a great question.
Well, so I'm turning, 40 thisyear.
yeah, in August and, we'rebreaking down the 40 year
birthday into different events.
So the big, the big birthdayparty is about, I don't know,
10, 15, 30 of us are going to godown to Tahoe for my birthday
party because that's where Ispent my 30th birthday.
And that's where I sent mybachelor party.
(50:24):
I love Tahoe.
so we're doing that.
that's somewhere I've been thatI love.
Big, big advocate of it.
And then somewhere I'm going togo is, I've always wanted to get
in a great white shark tank.
Like, you know, where you get inthe ocean with a
John (50:37):
Yeah,
Reese (50:38):
So, we're in the process of scheduling that.
I would like to go to SouthAfrica because that's where the
biggest sharks are.
My wife says I'm crazy forthinking of that.
but we're actually going to behaving a meeting about that next
week to decide where exactlywe're doing because before the
end of this year, I'm going toget scared to, to heaven and
(50:59):
everything by getting in a sharktank.
It's
John (51:00):
I love
Erin (51:01):
that.
Do you have your life insurancepolicy before
John (51:03):
you
Erin (51:04):
that?
Reese (51:05):
Oh, yeah.
got a life insurance policy whenI was in my 20s.
John (51:09):
Make sure you, and make sure you get a GoPro, because if
you don't have one, I'll loanyou mine, because you'll
definitely want a GoPro.
So when you're down in that cageand you're getting hit, you
capture all of it,
Erin (51:20):
it'd be awesome.
The question I forgot to ask youwhat is the one thing you wish
people would ask you?
Reese (51:26):
What is the one thing I would in realms to social
Erin (51:30):
Yes.
Yes.
If you have clients come andit's like, gosh, why didn't they
ask me this?
Or why didn't, you know, ask methis question so I can help you.
Reese (51:39):
I would say the one question I wish more people
would ask, and I'll be, and I'llbe very candid.
Normally we, we make them ask itor we ask it for them is what is
your realistic goal withretirement?
Cause you have to know that tobe able to plan around it.
And once you know that, have youtaken the best steps possible in
(52:04):
your situation to achieve that?
Erin (52:06):
I like
Reese (52:07):
Cause once you know what you'd like to achieve, And you
know, either you have or havenot done everything you can to
achieve it.
Then everything else is easy.
The first step's the mostdifficult.
If my goal in retirement is tolive in Florida, fish every
single day, play golf everysingle day and see my grandkids
as much as possible.
(52:27):
Okay, you know what you want,but you've done no planning
around how to get there, thenokay, well now we know there are
steps that need to be taken.
Versus, you know what you want,you've done everything possible,
well then you're good to go.
That's, I mean, that's a big paton the back.
Most people have not done that,but that would be the situation.
Figure out what you want.
(52:48):
And then figure out, have youdone everything possible to get
there?
If the answer is no, thenthere's steps to be taken.
And there's no shame.
There's no, Oh, I should havedone this 15 years ago.
There's, you can only react tothings now.
So let's make the decision andlet's move forward.
It's really that simple.
I think, I think when you meetwith a professional,
(53:08):
Particularly somebody like me,who's just as blunt as I am.
And I think we, we've all talkedabout this offline.
I'm just going to tell you thefacts.
There's pluses and negatives tono matter what you do, which
path do you want to go down?
It's not right or wrong.
It's, it's your path.
You design it.
Let us help you figure that out.
And once you get past that andjust jump into it, you'll feel
(53:29):
better.
I promise you, you will.
Erin (53:30):
Can you work with anybody anywhere or only in Idaho?
Reese (53:35):
Oh no, we can help anyone, anyone that's going to,
are you talking about socialsecurity?
I
Erin (53:39):
Yes.
Reese (53:40):
yeah, anyone that has, Ida or so in Medicare, we're
only licensed in 18 States, 17or 18 States right now.
we can get licensed though in amatter of a week or two.
That's not a big deal.
So, Medicare, a little limited,Social Security, anywhere.
Anyone that has Social Securityquestions, obviously if they're
not, you know, in Idaho we can'tmeet with them personally, but
I'd say 70 percent of ourmeetings are done via Zoom, just
(54:04):
because it's, it's easier forclients to be at home with all
those, all those documentation.
And if they don't feelcomfortable with Zoom, and they
can't make it in person, face toface, we can do it over the
phone.
I'm just a visual person, I liketo show people things.
So what we usually would do isif we do it over the phone,
we'll put together theillustrations, put together the
information, and we'll send itto them via email.
(54:24):
And then go down that paththere.
Erin (54:26):
Oh, this has been so great.
John (54:29):
Yeah.
Erin (54:29):
This has been awesome.
Thank you, Reese.
John (54:31):
Yeah, All right.
Erin (54:34):
Well.
I think that's all I have formyself.
I do, I do feel like ourlisteners are going to listen to
this and come out of it justlike we did going, Oh my gosh,
you're going to hear that phone.
It's been awesome.
Yeah.
Thank you so much again for yourtime.
John (54:51):
Thank you for tuning in to another episode of Connect
Empower.
We want to express our gratitudeto you for being part of our
community, and we hope today'sepisode has provided you with
valuable insights andinspiration to enhance your life
and that of a loved one.
Erin (55:06):
We are more than just a podcast.
We are a community dedicated toenhancing the lives of our aging
adults and their support system.
We encourage you to visit ourwebsite now at www.
connect empower.
com.
Explore more information aboutour guests from today's episode
and to access our freeresources.
John (55:27):
resources.
Our mission doesn't end at theconclusion of this episode.
We invite you to take action nowby sharing the knowledge you've
gained today with someone whomay benefit from it.
Whether it's a family member,friend, or colleague, your
influence can spark positivechange.
Erin (55:42):
Remember, Subscribing to our podcast ensures you never
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So hit that subscribe button andstay connected with us.
Your commitment is the drivingforce behind our mission and
together we can create amovement for a brighter future
as we age.
John (56:02):
I'm John.
Erin (56:03):
I'm Erin.
Until next Wednesday.
This, this conversation always leads into well, my
(00:03):
friends are doing this or myfriends or my parents did this
and I'm a very respectfulperson.
I want to be professional ineverything I do, but I also, my
job and my fiduciaryresponsibility, in my opinion,
is to tell you the facts.
You need to do the research, youneed to trust who you're working
with, and you need to make thedecision for what's best.
John (00:33):
Hi, I'm John,
Erin (00:35):
and I'm Erin.
You're listening to connect andpower.
The podcast that proves age isno barrier to growth and
enlightenment
John (00:42):
tune in each week as we break down complex subjects into
bite sized enjoyable episodesthat will leave you feeling
informed, entertained, and readyto conquer the world
Erin (00:56):
Our guests is your season guide through the twist and
turns of social security andMedicare.
Reese.
Isn't just passionate abouthelping you understand these
complex systems.
He's dedicated to empowering youto make strategic decisions that
enhance your financial stabilityand personal growth.
With his expert knowledge of thehealth care landscape.
(01:18):
He and his team are here toensure you navigate Medicare and
social security with confidenceand ease.
When Reese isn't busy bringingclarity and peace of mind to his
clients while creating strategicplans.
He is spending time with hiswife and his girls.
welcome our guest ReesePhillips.
Welcome Reese.
Thank you so much for beinghere.
Reese (01:40):
Thank you guys for having me on.
I'm excited.
John (01:42):
Yeah, this is going to be great.
Erin (01:43):
This is going to be such a good topic because I do not know
a lot about it.
I know that when I get to acertain age, I'm going to retire
and hopefully there's moneythere for me.
So today we're talking aboutsocial security, but before we
dive into that, again, welcomeReese.
Excited to have you.
If you could just share andexplain with us.
(02:04):
blah, blah, blah, blah.
blah.
John (02:06):
Wow.
Erin (02:07):
I went
John (02:08):
That was great.
You went outside the loop on
Erin (02:11):
I totally went
John (02:11):
what you got here on the cheat sheet.
Erin (02:13):
know I ran outside my norm
John (02:16):
That's horrible.
Sorry, audience that are,
Erin (02:19):
Chuck.
Check, check.
No, no, no, no.
Anyway, navigating socialsecurity and insurance can feel
like a jungle, right?
So what sparked your passion toeducate people about this topic?
Reese (02:31):
Yeah.
So that's a great question.
I'll, I'll give everyone kind ofthe blah, blah, blah side of my,
my, background.
and then we'll jump into it.
So, you know, I, I started my mycompany about seven or eight
years ago.
It's called Preferred SeniorBenefits.
we originally started as anindependent Medicare advisory
firm.
and that's what we specializedin for about six years.
(02:52):
And we found that the majorityof our clients who were asking
us about Medicare questions werein conjunction asking us about
Social Security.
And what we found is similar tothe Medicare space, the Social
Security space is as or moreconvoluted because it's
something that's being handledby the federal government.
the place that you get to makethose decisions or call for
(03:13):
those decisions are not legallyable to give you advice as
they're just employees normallyreading a script.
and it just made sense.
And I started Preferred SeniorBenefits, because of a family
tragedy that we had, to, to sumit up, my grandfather, who
raised me and who I'm namedafter, was taken advantage of by
somebody in the Medicare space,and it cost him about three to
(03:34):
five years of his life, is whatmy grandmother thought.
So We started preferencing yourbenefits to make sure that
doesn't happen to anybody in theMedicare space ever again.
And then what we found is thatpeople from a financial position
were being taken advantage of bymultiple different angles and
multiple different places,whether it be lack of
information and correctinformation.
other business lines or businessprofessionals taking advantage
(03:57):
of them for their profit, aboutsomething that is, is once
again, very confusing and canliterally make or break your
financial future, as you retire.
So it just made sense for us togo down the path to become
what's known as an RSSA.
So a registered social securityanalyst.
It's a designation you have tostudy for, take classes for, and
pass an exam to be, and then youhave continuing ed that goes
(04:19):
around with it.
we're based here in Idaho, butwe have offices in, Utah and in
California.
We serve as clients in about, 18states now, but like in Idaho,
for example, there's only aboutthree or four of us that are
licensed to do what we do.
So it's something that I justgot really passionate about
because From the Medicare sideof the space, we're definitely
going to help people make surethey're taken care of, right?
(04:39):
Their Medicare is going to begood.
They're going to understandtheir choices.
But if they don't have enoughmoney to, go buy groceries or
pay their rent, they're going tocare.
They don't care if they get, anextra 5 a month in drug cost
savings.
So, We found that giving themthat education would be really
impactful and it just made sensebecause you may or may not know
this.
(04:59):
Social Security is the majorgroup that manages Medicare
underneath it.
So it's actually the Departmentof Social Security is the big
overarching group that managesMedicare.
So it made sense to why notcorrelate the two.
And that's how we got into thespace.
And that's why we've beenfocusing on it ever since.
John (05:19):
what a story.
I'm sorry your family wentthrough that, but what an
inspiration to Grab the bull bythe horns and go with it.
And help so many other people.
I commend you for that.
That's awesome.
Erin (05:30):
And I did not know that social security was like the top
and everything else wasunderneath it.
John (05:37):
Yeah.
I didn't know that either.
Erin (05:38):
Yeah.
Reese (05:39):
when you sign up, for Medicare, you're reaching out to
social security to get the ballstarted, whether that's over the
phone, online in person, that'show the process starts.
So CMS, which is the center forMedicare services is housed
underneath the social securitydivision of the federal
government.
So it's very interesting.
Erin (05:57):
I would say, could you explain social security?
go into how we get it, where itcomes from, what, where the
money comes from.
Reese (06:05):
Yeah, that's a great question.
social security was startedyears ago.
was designed originally to beinsurance against disability.
and then it converted into astrategy to help.
People supplement theirretirement.
basically a forced process wherepeople start paying their, into
their, their W 2 taxes, orindependent owner taxes, through
(06:29):
your, federal tax process, andit correlates to two things.
It correlates to your Medicare,and then it correlates to your
Social Security.
And once you've put in a certainamount of time, energy, and
money into that, you thenqualify for Social Security
income, starting as soon as 62for most people.
(06:50):
and then you can go up to acertain age, point for most
people on when you choose totake it.
And what we've found is the timein which you choose to take it,
And the situation you're in froma finite, family perspective,
drastically impacts your futurewith using that money wisely.
Now, a lot of people may say,well, it's probably only people
(07:12):
that are really, really relianton that social security that
really care about this.
So meaning that that's going tobe their only form of
retirement.
And that is true, right?
If your only income is going tobe social security income, then
understanding how it works andscheduling and planning for it's
very, very important, right?
Cause that's your only source ofincome.
Then you have people that arereally, really wealthy, right?
(07:34):
You know, the top 10, 15, 20percent of people where.
That's a big position becausehow they're going to be taxed on
that money and what they do withother asset types is a big
impact.
So we have to understand that,right?
So you have people that aregoing to rely on it exclusively
for retirement, people that aremore concerned about the tax
(07:54):
benefits of it, and then youhave everybody in between.
And those are the threecategories we really see, which
is very similar in the Medicareworld where we have people that
are on, like low incomesubsidies, Medicare, Medicaid,
to your point earlier, you havethe ultra high net worth
individuals that are payingextra for Medicare because of
their income.
And then you have everybody elsein the middle.
(08:15):
So, so there's a lot of,similarities between the two
verticals.
Uh, and we really try to getpeople to understand how it
works, what your options are,and how certain decisions like
getting married or remarried, orhow long you've worked can
really impact those
John (08:33):
So what are some different ways somebody qualifies for
social security?
Because it's just not age too.
Because I know that sometimespeople with disabilities can
start pulling on social securityearly, correct?
Reese (08:45):
Yeah, so social security income and, social security
disability, two differentbuckets of money, right?
But that is correct.
If you're on disability, youwill qualify for that disability
insurance that we spoke onearlier, which is what social
security basically started as.
you know, and those are for thepeople, unfortunately, that do
have those disabilities.
(09:07):
and that can happen at any age,right?
That can happen at birth.
As long as you're deemed to havethose things.
so there's are really two keypieces of that.
and a lot of times the majorityof Americans are going to be
more concerned about the incomeside of that, because, you know,
thank the Lord that the majorityof Americans are not disabled,
but if you are disabled, right,there's a lot more factors, it's
(09:28):
more, there's more, complexityto dealing with those things
when it comes to a strategy,when it comes to your
caregivers, when it comes to.
Who's helping you when you draw,how you draw, you know, what
happens if a parent dies,there's just so much that
correlates to that.
And you just have to understandthat the information's out
there, just like theinformation's out there on how
(09:49):
to do your taxes.
That doesn't mean a normalperson is going to sit there and
read the 50, 000 page taxbooklet to understand if they
can deduct that pencil they justbought from their taxes.
Erin (10:00):
You mentioned something that was interesting is the age.
I'm I, I've always thoughtsocial security is when you're
65 and then I keep hearing therumors or the myths like, well,
every year if you're bornbetween this bracket, it's 65.
If you're born in this bracket,then it's what?
68, 69, 70.
So can you clarify?
Reese (10:18):
Social security has an age bracket system for lack of
better description.
for most people, and you'regoing to hear me use that term a
lot, because, you know, there's,there are liars that are outside
the norm, but for most people,you can start drawing social
security as early as 62, all theway up until age 70, okay.
(10:39):
Now the 65 mark that you'rereferencing too, is the
correlation of Medicare.
That's when most people willqualify for Medicare.
What, what is considered as ofright now in 2024, your full
retirement age also, related toas FRA is when your social
security from an incomeperspective hits a hundred
(11:01):
percent, quality.
So a hundred percent of what youcould get.
And for most people, that'sbetween 66 and a half to, 67
ish.
But yeah, you can, you can startas early as 62 and as late as 70
and there's pluses and negativesto both.
I'm sure we'll touch base onthose with further questions.
Erin (11:19):
I was gonna say, there's quite a bit.
It's a lot.
John (11:23):
Well, since it is so complicated, I want to just ask
this, as an advisor, you sitdown with people and help guide
them through this, correct?
Or are there people that dothat?
Or is it because I'm looking atthis saying, man, I want more
information.
I want to know about all thisas, as far as how it pertains to
me and my future.
Would I meet with somebody likeyou or a different advisor?
Erin (11:45):
and how soon should they meet with
John (11:47):
you?
Yeah.
What age should they startthinking about and planning
that?
Yeah.
Correct.
Reese (11:52):
Yeah, those are amazing questions.
So there's a couple of differentquestions there I'll touch base
on.
So let's talk about the firstone, which is when should you
start planning?
I think, the sooner, the betterin anything you do.
But realistically people usuallyaround 45 ish to 50 if they want
to be really super proactivewill start planning at that
point and planning is more ofunderstanding what your
(12:13):
structure is, what is it goingto look like, how is that going
to make sense.
So that's number one.
people normally start planningaround 55.
I think that's a little late inthe game, but that's in general
what we see across the industry.
so that's when you should startplanning.
Now, to answer your question is,do, what do we do or who should
I chat with?
Yeah, so we're certified, RSSAanalysts.
(12:35):
So we, We meet with people, wecharge them a flat fee, and we
do a full analysis.
So we scrape their informationfrom Social Security, we put it
into a proprietary tool, andthat proprietary tool will
analyze different scenarios,right?
Because there's a lot that goesinto this.
It goes into how much have youpaid into Social Security
already, how much are youplanning to pay into Social
(12:55):
Security the next 5, 10, 15years, what's your marital
status, What's your immigrationstatus?
how many dependents do you have?
There's multiple things thatfactor into that.
Now, you can do these things onyour own.
You can go to socialsecurity.
gov, log in online, and it givesyou a tool that Projects out
what you're doing right now.
(13:17):
The problem is that it doesn'tgive you the variables that
correlate to what drives thatdata.
So when they calculate yoursocial security income, they're
going to take a certain amountof years, your top earning years
to use that, to calculate whatyour benefits are going to look
like.
If you don't know what thoseplanning years moving forward
are going to be, it's hard foryou to do that analytical number
(13:40):
crunching, particularly on yourown.
You can do it on what you'vedone in the past, but not so
much in the future.
So, just like the Medicareworld, there, this is one piece
of the puzzle.
You have your social securityincome that was designed to be
part of your retirement, notyour full retirement.
Unfortunately, a lot ofAmericans, that is their only
(14:03):
piece of retirement.
But for people that havepensions, even though those
don't really exist very muchanymore, 401k planning,
annuities, life insurance, Allthese different things that
correlate to it, that has to belooked at in the broad picture
of when you're going to bedeciding to utilize these
different, these differentstrategies.
What we really correlate them isto different buckets.
(14:26):
When you get to retirement age,you're going to have different
buckets of money that you canleverage, and you want to
leverage them or start usingthem in the most efficient
manner.
Because you want to get thingsdone right the first time, if,
for example, if you were gonna,paint your walls in your, your
kid's room.
I only bring this up because wejust painted a, a room in our
cabin for one of our kids acouple weeks ago.
(14:46):
I'm not gonna paint the wallsfirst.
Then put the primer on and thencover the floors to make sure
they don't get paint on them.
It just doesn't make sense.
The paint would already bethere.
You don't put paint on beforeprimer.
I think all the listeners getit, right?
You'd want to put the mat downfirst.
You'd want to clean the wall.
Don't let my wife hear thatbecause she always says you
should clean the wall.
(15:07):
And I always say, you don't,you'd want to primer the wall,
and then you'd want to paint.
So the same thing when it comesto your retirement planning
around social security, you needto figure out when's the best
time to use that money.
Okay.
and there's multiple strategypoints that go along with that.
Not only about what we do andwhat we offer as advisors around
social security, but what yourfinancial advisor says, what
(15:29):
your CPA or tax professionalsays, in some cases, depending
on your net worth, what yourattorney says, there's most
multiple facets you have to lookat when constructing that game
Erin (15:40):
So one question I know I for sure have.
in the generations that areapproaching baby boomers, a lot
of them stayed at home.
They didn't work.
So what happens, whether it'sthe male or the female,
whichever partner did not workand was not able to put into
social security?
Reese (16:01):
Yeah, that's a great question.
So what happens if I was a stayat home parent?
I don't mean to usegeneralities, but in the most
part, that's a, the mom stayedhome, the dad worked,
generations ago.
In that case, as long as you'remarried for a certain amount of
years, the spouse would qualifyfor a portion of the income.
the social security income thatthe spouse generated.
And this comes up a lot, insocial security planning,
(16:24):
because people don't realizethat, let's use a real world
example, let's say you were tostay at home, mom, and your
husband was an executive forGoogle and made 2 million a
year, okay.
And you're married to thatperson for 15 years.
You guys get divorced for somereason, and then you fall madly
(16:46):
in love with this guy whohappens to work at a restaurant
as a server.
Just using that as an example.
If you get remarried to thatperson that's a server, You now
no longer will qualify to getthe income from your previous
husband or wife.
It doesn't matter, right?
So there's a lot of strategythat correlates to that when
(17:07):
you're making those decisions.
Now as social security advisors,the only thing we advise on, you
know, in my firm is socialsecurity and Medicare.
But in those types of scenarios,that's where your financial
advisor, your CPA, and yourattorney come into play about
those types of strategies.
But unfortunately, most peoplehave no clue.
(17:27):
They have no clue.
and that's really what we seeacross the board in the two
areas that we specialize in, ispeople just don't know.
And if they had the informationpresented in a very easy to
digest way, then they could makebetter educated decisions based
on the information they havenow.
Because planning for today,planning in today's world for
(17:49):
something 20, 30, 10, 5 yearsfrom now, is difficult because
we have no idea what the world'sgoing to look like, but at least
you can start taking those stepsto be successful.
Erin (18:00):
it does, but what happens if they are married the whole
time?
She never works and then hepasses away.
Reese (18:07):
Then she will still qualify for his social security.
It's completely independent ofthe money that he makes and
whether or not he or she isstill alive.
now with them passing away, onceagain, that's a whole nother
strategy of, okay, they passedaway.
What was the income lookinglike?
What was the structure?
(18:29):
How is that going to keephappening?
Where is your income going tocome from?
There's multiple variables tothat because once again, using
the example we talked about,your, your husband who passed
away was a CEO of Google, butlet's say you guys were only
married for 5 or 10 or excuseme, 5 or 10 years above the
threshold, and you go get a jobnow at a gas station, I'm just
(18:54):
using examples here, that'sgoing to impact your, your
earning years and your earningpotential.
So you want to make sure youlook at all of those different
the majority of our clients thathave convoluted or complex cases
or scenarios, a divorce, someonepassing away, something similar
in that format, with kids,particularly if they have
(19:15):
somebody who's disabled to yourpoint earlier, to look at all
the different complexities andunderstand what decision you
make, because it can literallymean the difference.
Of 47, 000 a year in retirementto 75, 000 a year in retirement.
I mean, the spread is reallythat, that big.
(19:35):
Right.
So, and that's just on average,right?
The spreads can be a lot higher.
You just have to look at it froma numbers perspective, and look
at all the variables and thenultimately make the best
decision that feels good to you.
Cause I can sit here and tellyou for most people from a
dollars and cents perspective,waiting until you're 70 to draw
(19:57):
your social security usuallymeans you're going to make the
most money from your socialsecurity from a, from a monthly
payment perspective.
But if your family on averageonly lives to 67 and you push
your social security out until70 or that's your plan and then
you die at 68, well then you gotno money.
Right?
So maybe it would have beenbetter for you to start drawing
(20:18):
it at 62, because then you wouldat least gotten four or five
years of that lower dollaramount, but you would have
received it.
So there's going to be some keytakeaways.
I hope I can relate to theaudience.
One of them should be.
Do as much due diligence andstudying and speaking with the
right people as possible to makea decision that you feel best
(20:42):
about.
But understand there is alwaysgoing to be a plus and negative
to anything you do.
There's no crystal ball, right?
If there was, you know, I wouldbe on a yacht somewhere.
Well, probably not because mywife wouldn't want to leave
Idaho, but I would have a bigfishing boat somewhere.
How about that?
Erin (20:58):
But I have a question to that.
What you just said, if someonedoes not pull their security,
social security, and they'rewaiting till later, they
happened to pass and neverclaimed it with their spouse
still be entitled to it or is itjust gone completely?
Yeah.
Absolutely.
Reese (21:15):
No, if you're going to qualify for a spousal benefit,
as long as you've met the timecriteria, once you've met the
criteria, you're going toqualify for it.
So, whether your spouse is aliveor dead, whether you're still
married to them or not, as longas you met the minimum time
requirement, which I believe is10 years, then you're going to,
you're going to have access tothat
John (21:36):
What about, so, so you're just saying the spouse, so for
instance, if say a man or awoman paid into social security
their whole life, they had acouple kids or something, they
end up passing away before theycan start collecting social
security.
It just doesn't make sense.
goes away.
The kids don't get any part ofthat social security benefit
that he had put in for all thoseyears.
(21:57):
It's gone.
Reese (21:59):
It depends on if the child is disabled or not.
It depends on the age of thechild and it depends on what the
child's doing, whether they'regoing to school or things of
that nature.
So unfortunately, those are oneof those questions that I can't
give a more defined answer to.
I would say if the child'sdisabled, the child's younger,
they're still considered, achild under 18 or they're going
(22:22):
to school in their youngeryears.
More times than not, they willget some type of access to care
or income
John (22:28):
Yeah.
It just seems interesting to mebecause I know like within, with
me, with you, with of course youReese and others, we're all
paying into social security.
Well, if something happens, weget in a car wreck or whatever,
we're right at, right at thebrink of collecting that.
And then we pass away and we'regone.
Then all that money is justgone, it's like when you're
(22:50):
putting money into something,And yes, they say that social
security may not be here,another 10 or 20 years, or
that's what I've heard.
I don't know.
That's one of my questions toyou too, is, do you have any
idea?
Is that going to be around when?
Erin (23:05):
Well, if he had the crystal ball, he'd be out on his
yacht.
Yeah.
true.
Reese (23:09):
I mean, I, I will tell you this, right?
So everyone talks about socialsecurity going away.
Now, social security is runningon some of its surplus
currently.
And yes, if you look at from awho's taking money out versus
who's putting money in, if youprojected that out, Three, four,
(23:30):
500 years.
Yes.
Eventually it would run out ofmoney.
we are getting to a point it'seither in 2025 or 2030.
I'd have to look at the specificdates, where there will be a
decision that will have to bemade about how social securities
handle, because we'll get awayfrom those reserves and we'll
start touching based on the coreof where the money sits.
(23:51):
what I've been told by peoplewho are a lot smarter than me
about this type of stuff isthat.
Realistically, what we'll see,at least in our generation,
right?
I'm 39.
You guys are probably in yourearly twenties,
Erin (24:04):
Perfect.
Reese (24:04):
32.
Um,
John (24:06):
gift card after this is over,
Reese (24:08):
we will still have it.
It may be a reduced amount,right?
A lot of numbers are thrownaround like around 80%.
but it should still be there ingeneral.
What's really going to happen,and this is getting a little
more into my personal views, isthat none of the politicians
want to deal with SocialSecurity until they have to.
Because no matter who, whichside you're on, left, right,
(24:30):
left, right.
Up, down, blue, green, gray, orotherwise, it's going to be a
polarizing topic and you'regoing to piss off half of the
country.
I mean, that doesn't matter.
I believe in the next one to twopresidential runs is when that
decision will have to be made.
And that will definitely impactthe country.
A lot of things.
(24:50):
I remember listening to, somepodcasts yesterday or two days
ago when I was flying back fromMiami or from, Vegas.
And one of the ex presidentialcandidates, I don't remember
what her name was talking aboutchanging the distribution of
Medicare and Social Security upto age 70.
(25:11):
Like making that the startingtimetable.
because they're going to have todo something different.
What that is, I don't know.
I don't know the answer.
I can tell you from Yeah, I usedto be in the banking business
when I was in my early twenties.
I was the branch manager of thelargest Wells Fargo branch in
the state as far as transactionsand stuff goes.
(25:31):
So I saw a lot of moneymanagement pluses and money
management negatives.
And I would tell you that yourbest.
Case for planning for the futureand retirement is understanding
that social security may or maynot be there and don't rely on
it.
And if it is there, then it's anadded bonus, not your only
(25:52):
option.
Now that's going to be a hardthing for certain people to
listen to or to hear.
And I totally understand that.
I'm just very conservativeviewpoint as far as financial,
like I just, I always think likeI'm going to run out of money.
So I always try to planaccordingly.
And that would be my message topeople is.
If you don't have to rely on it,then don't, but make those right
(26:14):
decisions now so you canleverage it to the best of your
ability.
As long as it's there.
Erin (26:18):
I like that advice because we don't know if it will be
there or not.
So what are you going to do ifit's not there?
What's your plan?
John (26:24):
I'm relying on You
Erin (26:25):
You are?
John (26:26):
Yeah.
You
Erin (26:29):
I got kids.
Can you still work and claimsocial security benefits?
Reese (26:36):
Absolutely.
The question then becomes is howmuch of that's going to be
taxed.
right.
there's different rules forevery 2 you spend a dollar, but
it's going to be taxed for every3 you earn, 1 going to be taxed.
And there's differentcorrelations to that.
Once again, that's a CPAquestion.
That's an analysis question forus to show you where you're
sitting and give you thosestrategies.
(26:58):
There is no, everyone that makesthis money can do this.
It's very specific to yoursituation.
Erin (27:04):
What would be a reason?
somebody would still want towork while claiming it?
is there a probe to it?
Reese (27:10):
Yeah, I mean, some people will want to keep working until
they turn 65 so they can qualifyfor Medicare, right?
Because that's, for most people,that's when you qualify for
Medicare, but all of theirfriends and family have told
them that you better draw SocialSecurity as soon as you can, or
maybe their life expectancy is66 for some reason, so they'll
start drawing at 62 when theycan, while they're still doing
(27:31):
their W 2 job, which increasestheir income and increases their
tax bracket and what they'regetting taxed as my CPA once
told me, doesn't matter how bigof a deduction doing something
is, it's not like it's puttingmoney in your pocket.
So some people may say, well, Imay only make a thousand dollars
a month in social security at 62and pay more taxes, but after I
(27:53):
pay my taxes, I'm still making800 a month.
That's better than mepotentially not making anything.
Cause I'm going to die or
Erin (28:02):
Makes
Reese (28:02):
And here's the funny thing.
This, this conversation and theMedicare conversation always
leads into well, my friends aredoing this or my friends or my
parents did this and I'm a veryrespectful person.
I, I want to be professional ineverything I do, but I also, my
job and my fiduciaryresponsibility, in my opinion,
(28:23):
is to tell you the facts.
This is what the law of averagestell us.
I'm not saying your friend'swrong, I'm just saying your
friend doesn't have the sametipping points or the same
scenarios that you do.
So yeah, take their advice andit's good to hear other people's
opinions.
But ultimately, You need to dothe research, you need to trust
who you're working with, and youneed to make the decision for
(28:45):
what's best.
Alright, another way wecorrelate it is, if you have a
problem with your leg, right,you're probably not gonna ask
four or five of your friendswhat you think's wrong with your
leg, and then you go to yourdoctor and your doctor says it's
something completely differentthan what your friend said, and
you'll be like, oh, you knowwhat, forget that doctor, I'm
just gonna do what my friendstold me to Usually not the case!
Erin (29:06):
hope not.
Reese (29:08):
Yeah.
John (29:10):
Yeah, for sure.
For sure.
Erin (29:14):
What are some of the things that we haven't talked
about that you feel Ourlisteners need to know about
like, this is very important asfar as your social security.
Reese (29:25):
What are some things that we haven't talked about that I
think is important with social
John (29:29):
Maybe some, are there some changes coming across too?
Cause I've seen some stuff inthe news that may be Medicare.
I don't know if it's Medicare orsocial security, but I've been
seeing a lot of stuff talkingabout some big changes coming in
both Medicare or socialsecurity.
Reese (29:46):
Yeah, I mean, there's big, quote unquote, big changes
that happen every year.
there's probably moresignificant changes happening in
2025.
In the medicare space and thereare technically in the social
security space.
I would, I would say the, thething that we haven't touched
base on is that let me rephrasethat we haven't gone in depth on
(30:08):
is there are systems and tools,whether it's with me, somebody
else through, through thewebsite that the government
offers, that gives you theability to understand scenarios.
And by looking at thosescenarios will give you the best
ability to make a decisionacross the board.
All right.
(30:28):
And it's just not how much moneydo I need to survive?
It's not just how much money doI need to be comfortable.
It's, a lot of the timesspouses, Don't even think about
when they're going to draw theirsocial security and how that's
going to impact their otherspouse.
So I'll give you an example.
Husband and wife are married.
(30:48):
Wife is the bigger incomeearner.
So she gets to a point where shecan retire at 62.
Husband still wants to workcause he loves his job and he's
going to work until he's 67.
the wife didn't realize that byher drawing her social security
at 62, If she dies when she's 63and now he's going to lose that
(31:11):
social security income, aportion of it because she's no
longer there, how that, how thataffects the long term planning
of the situation.
So, I would say that there'stools, there's people.
I mean, RSSA is a nationalorganization.
There's advisors all across theUnited States.
you have to figure that stuffout and you have to look at all.
(31:34):
Aspects of what's going on.
that, that's why when, whenpeople come to us as Medicare
advisors, we say, this is aportion of what your health
situation looks like, right?
There, there's multiple tiersand multiple facets to we talk
about, if there's a majormedical issue, how are you going
to pay for that medical issue?
So that normally correlates totheir CPA and their financial
(31:56):
advisor, right?
Or we talk about.
If there's a major medicalissue, who's going to take care
of you?
Who's your power of attorney?
That can be your lawyer.
Do you have a will and all theseother things, set up?
Same thing in the socialsecurity space.
if this spouse passes away, whathappens here?
If your son or daughter getsdiagnosed with something becomes
(32:18):
disabled.
What does that structure looklike?
how do they benefit from thosefor some of our lower income
clients, if you're on Medicaid,which is a state ran low income
subsidy, and you draw socialsecurity at 62 because you've
been waiting for it, and thenyou lose your Medicaid.
You're actually losing money nowon a monthly basis because you
(32:38):
didn't look at everything.
So there's just a lot thatcorrelates to it.
And I just wish and hope thatpeople understand there's tools
out there, free tools and tools.
we charge a fee for what we do.
I think it's very competitivefor the value we bring, but it
isn't what I would say cheap.
But you just have to beproactive because ultimately
(33:00):
it's your responsibility.
there's no one else that's goingto do it for you.
and I would also say to thehusband, because I'm married,
two kids, is it's responsiblefor both spouses to be involved
in this process.
Because if we meet with just thewife and the husband has no idea
what the hell is going on andthen something happens to her,
(33:21):
he's not going to know what'sgoing on and vice versa.
So even though there's a lot ofplanning that goes into how
you're going to do thingstogether, because a lot of times
people are basing theirretirement around household
income.
Well, what happens if somebodypasses away?
What happens if somebody getsdisabled?
What does that look like?
And it's good to be on ittogether.
It doesn't mean there has to be,one person is usually a point
(33:42):
person, but I think everyoneshould be involved in it So,
sorry, I started rambling there,but I get kind of passionate
about these things.
John (33:50):
I love your passion.
Okay.
So, so if myself or somebodyelse was going to meet with an
advisor, what do you need as faras information when they're
coming in to sit down with you?
Do you send them an email with akind of a breakdown of all the
information you need or, or whatdo they need to
Erin (34:11):
you?
Well, before you answer that, myquestion that I was gonna answer
we're over here like I'm goingnext.
No, I'm going next.
Is, not only what paperworkshould they bring, but what are
some of the questions that theyshould make sure to ask when
they come?
Reese (34:26):
Yeah, so we have a dedicated process that we've
gotten through RSSA, but alsothat we've developed here at
Preferred Senior Benefits that'sgoing to force them to answer
the majority of the questionsthat we come across that are
important, right?
when would you like to retire?
When can you retire?
When's the most optimal time toget income from your retirement,
(34:50):
right?
Those are questions.
What's your life expectancy?
There's actually a test thatwe're going to have everyone
take before they come meet withus.
That actually has you answer.
I think it's like 60 questionsand it gives you your life
expectancy and it's relativelyaccurate.
kid you not.
John (35:07):
Hers was 94 and mine was 106.
So I'm a little healthier thanher.
Erin (35:13):
For now.
Reese (35:14):
questionnaire, one of the questions it asks you is, do you
wear sunscreen?
Well, I'll be honest with you,I've never worn sunscreen other
than going to the beach or to awater park on a daily basis.
Well, once I got certified, I'vebeen wearing sunscreen every day
since.
Because obviously, if they'reasking that question, there's a
reason.
Because, these questions arecoming from actuaries and
scientists on the back end.
(35:36):
we're going to, we're going todrive down to those questions.
We're going to ask you factfinding questions.
We're going to have you do thosetests, to get that life
expectancy.
We're going to have you pullyour social security data from
socialsecurity.
gov.
And if you can't do that, wecan, we have a video that walks
you through it.
It's relatively easy.
but we're going to, we're goingto get all that information
together and then we're going topresent you, with a live
(35:59):
document that we can play within office and you can look at,
but once we've figured out, welike to look at three to four
different scenarios, right?
When's the minimum you couldretire?
What your full retirement ageis?
What your maximum or bestbenefits are and then maybe a
variable like usually we'll haveone where, spouse is 67 and wife
is 65 because they're reallylooking to get on Medicare just
(36:21):
before they make thosedecisions.
And then we present them with afull dedicated report that they
have that they can use from agame plan perspective and move
down that path from
John (36:31):
Now, how long does this usually take?
Is this one session with youguys or is this multiple
sessions?
how long does it take to createa plan?
Reese (36:41):
Yeah, I mean, normally we'll get with the, my team will
get with our client ahead oftime, have them do everything at
home before they come meet withus, and then our goal is when
they come meet with us, in mostcases, we can have everything
done and analyzed, in the firstmeeting.
Now, if it's a more complexscenario, it may take a second
meeting, but in general, that'snot the
John (37:03):
Perfect.
Erin (37:04):
So this might sound odd.
I know with Medicare, people sayyou should get your plan
reviewed.
Is Social Security also the sameway where you can get it
reviewed or once you start it,that's just what it is?
Reese (37:16):
Is the question on once you started drawing it, or is
the question on as you'replanning to start drawing it?
Erin (37:23):
Once you've started drawing it.
Reese (37:25):
In most cases, once you've started drawing it, it is
what it is.
Now there are a couplestrategies that you can take
once you've started drawing itto retroactive your decisions,
but that's really convoluted andit would, it'd be a whole other
podcast for us to get in onthat.
So that's why making thedecision correct the first time
(37:45):
is so important.
Erin (37:48):
So I want to just clarify it.
We need to meet with you.
Someone.
What is it?
RSS?
Is that what it is?
I'm so sorry.
Can you repeat that again?
Reese (37:58):
Yeah.
I own a company called preferredsenior benefits.
and I am an R S S a.
Designation.
So I have a registered socialsecurity analyst.
So it's a designation that youhave to study for, take an exam
to pass.
It's very difficult to do it.
It takes, three to six months,depending how much time you're
going to dedicate to it.
and that gives us the ability tocharge, and has the designation
(38:19):
to give this advice.
Erin (38:21):
So between the ages of about 45, latest 55, not saying
that they can't come later, butpreferably to get a good picture
and setting you up is when weshould find you.
John (38:33):
Or do the
Erin (38:34):
themselves.
Or do the research themselves.
They'll have a list of questionsor you can find your own
questions and really startcoming up with a plan.
Really start and figure out Whatyour life is going to look like.
When do you want to retire?
How are you going to retire allthese questions and then come
sit down with you and go, Hey,this is what I've looked at.
(38:55):
This is what I researched.
This is what I'm thinking.
Can you help me?
What does that really look like?
Reese (39:01):
exactly.
And we're gonna be an advocateto our clients, right?
So when you sit down with us,there's two things we do at
Preferred Senior Benefits.
Medicare, Social Security.
That's it, right?
So when you come to us withthese questions at 55 63, 49,
we're going to go through somuch stuff that when we're done,
you're going to have a socialsecurity game plan in place that
(39:23):
we can still review every coupleof years, every year, whatever
you want to do.
But I'm also going to refer youto a bunch of professionals that
I think are probably going to,Add value to what you're doing.
It may be a, it may be anattorney to get your will and
your trust done.
it may be a financial advisor tohelp you understand how your
401k works or, or how your lifeinsurance works, or, how does
(39:44):
that pension really work.
In regards to you and yourspouse, it may be a CPA or a tax
professional to understand,well, how do you want to get
these things structured?
for people who own businesses,right?
It might be to a businessattorney to understand there's
probably different ways for youto structure this so you can
make sure you're, Earning asmuch social security as
possible.
Cause that's, that's one thingwe didn't really touch base on
(40:06):
is that if you're a businessowner, like all of us are here
on, on the cast, there'sstrategies that you can take to
increase your social securitythat when you get to that age
that you can potentially deducton your taxes and as a business
owner, if you're not takingadvantage of those immediately.
You could be losing thousandsupon thousands of dollars on a
(40:26):
monthly basis.
there's multiple variables whenlooking at that, but we really
try to be an advocate to all ofour clients and get them in
front of the right people.
we work with different people.
around, what's the best pharmacyyou should be going to?
do you need a, a realtor tounderstand, what does downsizing
look like?
do you need a, a last wishrecorded?
(40:47):
So you have something to pass onto your family.
there's a lot of these differentthings that people.
Unfortunately don't like to talkabout because no one likes to
talk about dying.
No one likes to talk aboutgetting older.
except for maybe me because I, Ican't wait to retire.
these are things that when youforce yourself to go through
this process, naturally throughthe process you're going to
answer questions that will driveplaces that you really should be
Erin (41:11):
So I, I know I mentioned 45 earlier, but it almost sounds
like, you know,
John (41:18):
Well, it's, it's always good to have education.
So what percentage of people outthere.
actually become educated beforethey get to a situation of
crisis where they, they just,all of a sudden they, they're
like, okay, now I qualify forMedicare.
Now I qualify for socialsecurity.
I mean, what percentage ofpeople wait until last minute to
Erin (41:40):
So
John (41:41):
those decisions?
Yeah.
Very
Erin (41:42):
huh?
Reese (41:44):
Oh, I would assume the majority of people in America
are reactive, not proactive.
I mean, I, and I, I, once again,I'm not a financial advisor, so
I don't know this exact numbers,but I think one of the financial
advisors we work with in thestate of Idaho is actually the
top advisor in the state byForbes, says that like 60
percent or 65 percent ofAmericans only form of
(42:06):
retirement is social security.
Now, I'm not sure that'saccurate, but I know it's very,
very high.
So my guess is the majority ofpeople hate their jobs.
hate working are just trying toget to that 62 year old 62 point
so they can retire from thathorrible boss and you know are
(42:27):
going to figure out how tosurvive on that 1, 000, 1, 500,
2, 000 a month which is sad butonce again it is true.
so it's one of those thingswhere I would say the majority
of people do not or are notproactive right.
I would ask I'll ask you guys aquestion.
What percent of people out theredo you think have just a basic
(42:48):
will set up?
Erin (42:49):
I think 15 percent
John (42:51):
15 to 20.
It's pretty low.
Reese (42:53):
So that, that, that's what I would correlate.
I think a will is probably morelikely than someone having
social security planning, right?
Unless you work with, someonelike myself or a professional in
this vertical that, that talksabout it.
And let me be very clear.
There are a lot of people outthere that are professionals in
the financial advising space orwhatnot.
(43:16):
That have no clue on how thisstuff right?
I tell people all the time, thereason we specialize in Medicare
and Social Security at PreferredSenior Benefits is, is a
correlation to a doctorscenario.
If I had a brain tumor that was,that meant life or death, am I
(43:36):
going to go to the doctor thatdoes brain surgery every single
day of the week?
Or am I going to go to the brainsurgeon that does brain surgery
the second Tuesday of the month?
I just tell people that, that.
all things are not created equaland you have to understand what
you're looking at from aplanning perspective.
And what does that actually meanfor your retirement I don't
(43:58):
think we all come on this earthto work our butts off, no matter
what it is you do, to then haveto struggle in retirement.
When if you just took the rightstrategy or the right approach
now, Or as soon as you pop, Imean, you, you could have
somebody on this that's 67,right?
That's listening to this, thathasn't started drawing social
security yet.
(44:18):
And maybe they come chat with usand we, we figure out a strategy
that they can actually keepworking until, 68, but have the
income they thought they'd haveto work till 70.
I don't know.
I'm just using these examples.
I just wish people would be moreproactive.
Erin (44:31):
Well, that's the whole point of our podcast, right?
Is we, we were, we saw so manypeople being reactive.
We were like, we've got to fillin the gap because it's people
want to help and there's goodpeople, but we need to get that
information out.
John (44:44):
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's so true.
And, and in a way where peoplecan do a soft approach, right.
They can just listen to apodcast and they can get little
bits of information.
Then they get inspired orencouraged to make the steps to
become more
Erin (44:57):
like it's not as scary as that may seem,
John (44:59):
sure.
But there's a, but there's stilla lot to it, right?
Like a lot of what you've saidtoday, I'm that guy that kind of
waits till last minute, likewaits until, okay, now I need, I
qualify for social security.
Now
Erin (45:11):
Or we didn't know that you should start preparing now for
John (45:14):
Yeah.
I didn't know, I didn't know,that.
the last question I have, and,I'm just curious about this
because I know that there arepeople that, Get together,
right?
And they both get into asituation that they qualify for
social security.
They get into a relationship.
They're both, say, qualifying orgetting ready to, is it better
(45:35):
that they get married or is itbetter that they Maybe stay
together, but they collectsocial security
Erin (45:43):
Well, cause that's a trend starting.
A lot of them are
John (45:45):
Yeah, Yeah, Because of the, the, the amount of money
that they can pull inseparately.
It's quite different than theywould being
Erin (45:54):
Yeah.
What are your thoughts?
Reese (45:56):
Yeah, a hundred percent.
Just like the scenario we talkedabout earlier where the, the
wife stayed at home and thehusband was a CEO for Google.
Then they got divorced and thenshe started, she found the love
of her life that works at a, agolf shop or something like
that.
We just were in a meeting acouple of weeks ago where a
very, very successful man hasbeen with a very successful
woman for about five or 10years.
(46:16):
They finally talked about justgetting married just for funs
and giggles.
We had a conversation and weshowed them.
you guys can still go have thewedding and you can even change
your last name, but by gettinglegally married, this is what
it's going to do to your socialsecurity.
And they both were like, well,we're not getting married.
John (46:33):
Yeah.
Reese (46:33):
kid you not.
Erin (46:34):
Wow.
Reese (46:36):
I don't mean to get too into the weeds here, It's the
legal contract of the marriagethat's going to directly
correlate to social security.
Not what you, like you said,what you do in the eyes of God
and doing that, that'scompletely different.
That's just my viewpoint.
I mean, we've had to haveuncomfortable conversations with
clients, about how, If they weredivorced, they would qualify for
(46:59):
Medicaid individually, whichwould allow them to get the
drugs they need to survive.
Cause they're going to die ifthey don't versus by staying
married, they don't cause theymake too much money combined may
sound heartless.
You know, it may sound whatever,but that, that may be the
strategy that they have to take.
Erin (47:15):
But I think I, and I appreciate you saying that
because I think people don'tunderstand.
And if I love you, I love you.
And it's a very personal choiceof why someone may split.
This means our survival andbeing able to afford a lifestyle
that we need.
Let's have that conversation.
We don't have to do it, butlet's know all of our facts and
(47:36):
have a conversation.
Does this fit?
Will it work?
John (47:39):
I'm glad I, I'm glad I asked that question.
because there's a lot of peopleI think that are unaware of how
it could really factor inbecause like you said earlier,
Reese, there are a lot of babyboomers or people maybe in that
age group now, a big group thataren't prepared and they're
going to be very reliant onsocial security.
And if they're in love and theygo off and they get married.
(48:01):
Then there's social securitytogether is going to be a lot
less than it would be if theywere two separate individuals
still acting like they'remarried, living together,
everything, but they, would bepulling in a lot more,
Reese (48:13):
we always talk about divorce in such a negative
manner and I'm a big parablesperson.
another thing that's reallytalked about in a negative
manner is bankruptcy.
Bankruptcy.
Right.
If you have a bankruptcy or ahorrible financial person, yada,
yada.
Bankruptcy is just another toolthat people use when it comes to
business and money management.
how many billionaires and multimillionaires have used
(48:35):
bankruptcy as a strategy toincrease or protect their
wealth?
So once again, not talking aboutthe religious side of it, I'm
very, big believer in God.
And I've been a Christian sinceI was 16 years old at church
camp at my birthday.
our kids go to private Christianschools.
That's a big part of our lifeand what we believe in.
John (48:53):
Yeah.
Reese (48:54):
But I think when it comes to financial and medical
decisions.
You have to look at it to what'sgoing to suit you best and keep
you protected.
Because what good is it to, tobe doing something if you're
homeless, can't afford the drugsthat you're, that you need to
survive and die in six months.
John (49:13):
Or you're dragging down your partner financially too,
right?
if you can qualify for so muchmore because you don't have
much, it's really going toaffect your partner as well.
and where you could still staywithin, have more money or more
help and support because you'dqualify for more.
So
Erin (49:30):
social security now is more interesting.
So thank you.
John (49:37):
Yeah.
We really appreciate your wealthof knowledge and your expertise
in this.
And,
Erin (49:43):
do have another question, a final question for you.
I'm like, don't you wrap him upyet?
John (49:46):
Okay.
All right.
You go ahead.
Erin (49:51):
We love to travel.
Please share with us what is onyour adventure list of something
you want to do and, or a placethat you've been that you want
to share with us.
Reese (50:03):
Oh, that's a great question.
Well, so I'm turning, 40 thisyear.
yeah, in August and, we'rebreaking down the 40 year
birthday into different events.
So the big, the big birthdayparty is about, I don't know,
10, 15, 30 of us are going to godown to Tahoe for my birthday
party because that's where Ispent my 30th birthday.
And that's where I sent mybachelor party.
(50:24):
I love Tahoe.
so we're doing that.
that's somewhere I've been thatI love.
Big, big advocate of it.
And then somewhere I'm going togo is, I've always wanted to get
in a great white shark tank.
Like, you know, where you get inthe ocean with a
John (50:37):
Yeah,
Reese (50:38):
So, we're in the process of scheduling that.
I would like to go to SouthAfrica because that's where the
biggest sharks are.
My wife says I'm crazy forthinking of that.
but we're actually going to behaving a meeting about that next
week to decide where exactlywe're doing because before the
end of this year, I'm going toget scared to, to heaven and
(50:59):
everything by getting in a sharktank.
It's
John (51:00):
I love
Erin (51:01):
that.
Do you have your life insurancepolicy before
John (51:03):
you
Erin (51:04):
that?
Reese (51:05):
Oh, yeah.
got a life insurance policy whenI was in my 20s.
John (51:09):
Make sure you, and make sure you get a GoPro, because if
you don't have one, I'll loanyou mine, because you'll
definitely want a GoPro.
So when you're down in that cageand you're getting hit, you
capture all of it,
Erin (51:20):
it'd be awesome.
The question I forgot to ask youwhat is the one thing you wish
people would ask you?
Reese (51:26):
What is the one thing I would in realms to social
Erin (51:30):
Yes.
Yes.
If you have clients come andit's like, gosh, why didn't they
ask me this?
Or why didn't, you know, ask methis question so I can help you.
Reese (51:39):
I would say the one question I wish more people
would ask, and I'll be, and I'llbe very candid.
Normally we, we make them ask itor we ask it for them is what is
your realistic goal withretirement?
Cause you have to know that tobe able to plan around it.
And once you know that, have youtaken the best steps possible in
(52:04):
your situation to achieve that?
Erin (52:06):
I like
Reese (52:07):
Cause once you know what you'd like to achieve, And you
know, either you have or havenot done everything you can to
achieve it.
Then everything else is easy.
The first step's the mostdifficult.
If my goal in retirement is tolive in Florida, fish every
single day, play golf everysingle day and see my grandkids
as much as possible.
(52:27):
Okay, you know what you want,but you've done no planning
around how to get there, thenokay, well now we know there are
steps that need to be taken.
Versus, you know what you want,you've done everything possible,
well then you're good to go.
That's, I mean, that's a big paton the back.
Most people have not done that,but that would be the situation.
Figure out what you want.
(52:48):
And then figure out, have youdone everything possible to get
there?
If the answer is no, thenthere's steps to be taken.
And there's no shame.
There's no, Oh, I should havedone this 15 years ago.
There's, you can only react tothings now.
So let's make the decision andlet's move forward.
It's really that simple.
I think, I think when you meetwith a professional,
(53:08):
Particularly somebody like me,who's just as blunt as I am.
And I think we, we've all talkedabout this offline.
I'm just going to tell you thefacts.
There's pluses and negatives tono matter what you do, which
path do you want to go down?
It's not right or wrong.
It's, it's your path.
You design it.
Let us help you figure that out.
And once you get past that andjust jump into it, you'll feel
(53:29):
better.
I promise you, you will.
Erin (53:30):
Can you work with anybody anywhere or only in Idaho?
Reese (53:35):
Oh no, we can help anyone, anyone that's going to,
are you talking about socialsecurity?
I
Erin (53:39):
Yes.
Reese (53:40):
yeah, anyone that has, Ida or so in Medicare, we're
only licensed in 18 States, 17or 18 States right now.
we can get licensed though in amatter of a week or two.
That's not a big deal.
So, Medicare, a little limited,Social Security, anywhere.
Anyone that has Social Securityquestions, obviously if they're
not, you know, in Idaho we can'tmeet with them personally, but
I'd say 70 percent of ourmeetings are done via Zoom, just
(54:04):
because it's, it's easier forclients to be at home with all
those, all those documentation.
And if they don't feelcomfortable with Zoom, and they
can't make it in person, face toface, we can do it over the
phone.
I'm just a visual person, I liketo show people things.
So what we usually would do isif we do it over the phone,
we'll put together theillustrations, put together the
information, and we'll send itto them via email.
(54:24):
And then go down that paththere.
Erin (54:26):
Oh, this has been so great.
John (54:29):
Yeah.
Erin (54:29):
This has been awesome.
Thank you, Reese.
John (54:31):
Yeah, All right.
Erin (54:34):
Well.
I think that's all I have formyself.
I do, I do feel like ourlisteners are going to listen to
this and come out of it justlike we did going, Oh my gosh,
you're going to hear that phone.
It's been awesome.
Yeah.
Thank you so much again for yourtime.
John (54:51):
Thank you for tuning in to another episode of Connect
Empower.
We want to express our gratitudeto you for being part of our
community, and we hope today'sepisode has provided you with
valuable insights andinspiration to enhance your life
and that of a loved one.
Erin (55:06):
We are more than just a podcast.
We are a community dedicated toenhancing the lives of our aging
adults and their support system.
We encourage you to visit ourwebsite now at www.
connect empower.
com.
Explore more information aboutour guests from today's episode
and to access our freeresources.
John (55:27):
resources.
Our mission doesn't end at theconclusion of this episode.
We invite you to take action nowby sharing the knowledge you've
gained today with someone whomay benefit from it.
Whether it's a family member,friend, or colleague, your
influence can spark positivechange.
Erin (55:42):
Remember, Subscribing to our podcast ensures you never
miss an episode and we have moreincredible guests and resources
in store for you.
So hit that subscribe button andstay connected with us.
Your commitment is the drivingforce behind our mission and
together we can create amovement for a brighter future
as we age.
John (56:02):
I'm John.
Erin (56:03):
I'm Erin.
Until next Wednesday.
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