Let's Talk Money

September 30th, 2023

Episode Transcript

(00:24):
Okay, hello and good morning onthis last day of September. Boy oh
boy, folks, I don't knowabout you, but when you're sitting in
my seat, and I happen tobe sitting in historic downtown Troy today,
where it's rainy, cloudy, dismal, just like the stock markets were for

(00:48):
the month of September and the thirdquarter. Thank god, it's behind us.
Tomorrow's October. Let's kick off thefourth quarter on a positive note.
The only thing I can guarantee youis the markets are closed today and tomorrow
and you can't lose any money withyour stock investments or your bond investments.
So if you have any questions whatsoeverpertaining to your portfolio one eight hundred talk

(01:15):
WGY any questions whatsoever. One eighthundred eight two five, five, nine
four nine. I can't thank youenough for tuning in today. As they
said, it is, at leastin Troy, it is pretty pretty.
You know, how much more raincan we get? I feel like every

(01:36):
weekend we're talking about rain. Wehad a couple of nice weeks, but
it's pouring in Troy. I sawthe weather report. I thought they said
it was going to stop by nineten o'clock. I guess, I guess
that's not so true. One eighthundred eight two five fifty nine forty nine.
So as they said, you know, we ended the month of September

(01:59):
on a downer. The week waswas a downer, The third quarter was
a downer. It's just you know, we gave a little bit back.
We're still doing pretty good, youknow. For the week. Listen,
the SMP was down almost three quartersof a percent, but I know there's

(02:21):
always a button. The Nasdac compositewas up, baby, up point zero
six. I guess that's like kissingyour grandmother, right, Nazdac one hundred
q q Q up point one zero. Russell two thousand was up almost a
half a percent. That gets meexcited because we need all those other stocks

(02:45):
outside of the magnificent seven to takepart of this rally. So you know,
it was a week where where themarket on the whole was down,
Nasdac was actually up. Thank godfor those Magnificent seven. Here to date,
you got the Nazdac composed it upstill a handsome twenty six almost twenty
seven percent QQQ. The Nastac onehundred composite up almost thirty five percent,

(03:10):
and the SMP is still up twelvepercent with dividends, you know, twelve
and a half almost thirteen percent.It's not you know, we're we're about
eight percent off the high. Itwas up almost twenty percent. If you
remember, QQQ was up over fortypercent. So we gave some back the
third quarter, you know, wegave some back for the for the quarter.

(03:34):
You know, listen, one ofthe worst performing sectors was the long
bond index. You know, ifyou look at twenty years plus on the
treasury, that was down fourteen percentjust for the just for the third quarter.
I'm not talking year today. Forthe third quarter of the Russell two
thousand, down five and a halfpercent, NASDAC down four point one two.

(04:00):
You know, it was just itwas just one of those one of
those quarters. SMP down three pointsix five, believe it or not,
because of those magnificent seven stocks NAZDACone hundred, QQQ was only down three
point zero six. I I sayonly, but compared to four point one
two for the entire NASTAC composite.For QQQ to hang in there and be

(04:26):
down less than the SMP, I'mgood with that. It's it's one of
our major holdings, so I'm veryvery good with it. For the quarter,
the best performing sector was energy,up eleven almost twelve percent. Energy
did well. You know oil,we know is is approaching one hundred dollars
a barrel, and we'll see whathappens. You know, oil, when

(04:50):
when when you think on Friday,we're we're at about ninety one dollars a
barrel, up thirty percent from theseventy one dollars a barrel at the end
of the j Lie when cuts weremade by OPEC and other folks around the
world. The rally, you know, we're we're we're we're nearing one hundred

(05:11):
dollars in barrel. On Wednesday,oil prices were up almost four percent after
the Federal Record Keepers said US commercialcrude inventories had fallen to their lowest level
since December, supplying demand. Soyou know when when when you look at
it, you know, barn issupply crisis. There's when you when you

(05:36):
think of the experts who follow oil, a few analysts think oil can can
sustain above one hundred dollars of barrel. That's good news for you and I,
folks, because I don't know ifyou've looked, but filling up your
car, it's getting closer to beone hundred dollars. You know, if
you're near empty, you're you're,you're, you're seventy eighty ninety dollars that

(06:00):
fill up your car. And that'sexpensive. That is expensive. Gas is
four dollars a gallon almost just acouple of years ago, it was two
dollars a gallon, you know,near two dollars a gallon. I know,
it's still off from near five dollarsa gallon a year ago, but
it's still high, folks. Gasis so high, it's just it's crazy.

(06:24):
And you know, higher prices arejust listen Americans, you know,
according to JP Morgan, they're they'rethey're driving less, they're flying less.
Gas consumption dropped in July month onmonth, more than it usually does.
According to JP Morgan, Airlines recentlyreported sales at the lower end of expectations.

(06:48):
Chinese demand growth driven largely by millionsof travelers taking to the skies as
Beijing relaxed their travel restrictions. Awfulalso off their you know, the rally
that they were you know experiencing.Jet fuel consumption has has recovered to its

(07:14):
pre pandemic level, and China hasstarted tapping into its own crude inventories,
ramping up refinery runs and exporting morefuel. It's it's mess. Oil is
a mess. So energy was upbecause oil is up, and that means
that you and I are paying moreat the gas pump, and that equates
into inflation. Obviously, I keepsaying we need food, we need energy,

(07:41):
and both are up more than theoverall inflation rate, something that the
Fed is going to be looking atone eight hundred eighty five fifty nine forty
nine. Any questions you have,folks, give me a call. I
would love, would love to talkto you anything, anything whatsoever. For
the week, you know, youhad treasury bond yields, rows stocks down

(08:07):
as we end a month, andthe quarter oil was up. Congress,
you know, listen, don't getme started on what I think about these
elected officials. You and I andeverybody listening elected these officials to represent us

(08:28):
in Washington, and to think thatwe're going into another maybe shut down,
it's just crazy. How come justtell me, please, how come they
can't just get along, compromise,come to a deal so they don't have
to send fear through out so manyof us. I don't care, you

(08:52):
know, whether you're worried that yourSocial Security check may not come, whether
the reports that come out that theLabor Statistics Bureau won't happen, whether the
you know, beautiful parks around thecountry will close. Listen, folks,
you and I just should not beexperiencing this. These elected officials should should

(09:15):
be able to get along, cometogether, and come up with some kind
of a compromise so that they're notthey're not scaring us. Enough is enough
with the shutdown. But we're livingthrough the shutdown, and it's it's it's
just crazy. As they said,for the week, the SMP down point
seven four percent. Now as thatup point zero six percent, SMP down

(09:39):
three point six percent, you knowfor the quarter, SMP down almost four
percent for the quarter. It's it'sit's just it is what it is.
As far as individual companies go,Hey, listen, some good news for
you Netflix binge watchers. Hollywood Writersreached a tenant deal out there in Hollywood

(10:05):
where all the beautiful people, allthe glamour hang out and live. Hollywood
Writers, hopefully for those of youthat want to kind of snuggle in and
watch your favorite show or watch anew show. We'll see if they come
to an agreement. Ford suspended constructionof a three point five billion dollars EV

(10:28):
battery plant that would have used Chinesebattery technology. You heard me right,
We were getting our batteries or forwardsgetting their batteries from from from China.
You know, you aw. Theyare strong, they are powerful. They
are determined to create havoc around thecountry with the striking you know, listen,

(10:52):
I'm all in favor of unions negotiatingfor fair and reasonable wages and benefits
and working conditions, but I amnot in favor of unions being able to
leverage their number one powerful tool andthat shutting down factories that crimp the economy,
that send tremors through it, becauseit's a trickle down effect. You

(11:15):
know, there's when these folks areout of work and they're paying a lot
of money in union dudes, payinga bunch of money and union dudes,
and now they're going to go weeksor months without a paycheck, and that
means they're not going to be youknow, eating out, They're not going
to go to the movies there.You know, it's a trickle down effect,
so UAW is pretty powerful. Theyexpanded their strike this week against Ford

(11:41):
and GM. You had the FederalTrade Commission and seventeen state attorneys sued Amazon
for using a set of inter locking, anti competitive and unfair strategies to maintain
its monopoly power. There you haveit. I don't like that because Amazon

(12:03):
as one of our top holdings,so I did not like seeing those headlines.
You had a New York State judgeruled that former President Trump fraudulently inflated
the value of his assets. We'llsee how that plays out. And China,
ever, Grand Group suspended trading inHong Kong after its founder came under

(12:28):
police surveillance. So there's the newsof what happened in and around companies in
this great country of ours and aroundthe world. You know. Good news
is Amazon took a one point twofive billion billion, not million billion steak
in Ai firm and Tropic, whichcould be as much as a four billion

(12:52):
dollars steak. So that was actually, you know, I'd like to see
Amazon do well, as they said, it's one of our top holdings.
One eight hundred eight two five fivenine four nine. Any questions whatsoever,
folks, give me a call.We're going to kick off the day with
Jim and Hadley. Hello, Jim, how you doing, Seve? Well,

(13:13):
I'm doing wonderful. Let me askyou a question. Is it raining
in Hadley? It is? Itlooks like it wants to, but it
hasn't started yet. Day. Ohit is. I mean it's raining here
and it's not good. You knownothing of I mean, how much more
rain are we going to take?Since Memorial Day? It seems like between

(13:39):
Memorial Day and Labor Day it almostrained every couple of days, and then
we had a nice stretch of weather. But this rain enough is enough?
Jim? Anyway, I know youdidn't call the talk about the weather.
What can I have today? Well, I'm interested in is I'm I have
some CDs I'm renewing and I'm wondering. Is there a rule of thumb when

(14:03):
you look at call protected versus noncall protective, how big the spread should
be before you go to a noncall protected CD. Yeah? Well,
you know, to be honest,if I were in your shoes, I'd
be buying treasuries right now, Jim, not CDs, And you don't have
to worry about it being called becausethey're not going to be called you know,

(14:26):
right now, I'm I'm giddy overbonds. Ryan, just Ryan and
our investment committee, just for ourclients that have the wherewithal not. You
know, I always say clients withsmall dollars in their fixed income allocations sleep
can't really afford to buy a lotof bonds. But the clients that can.
Ryan just went in yesterday and wetook advantage of these rates. I

(14:50):
mean, when you got the tenyear yielding almost four point six percent,
that's that's huge. And believe me, I'm not going to sit here and
say that it won't go to fourpoint seven or four point eight or maybe
even five. If it does,that's okay. It's a good buying opportunity.
Bonds right now are a good buyingopportunity. You can get short term

(15:13):
paper for over five and a halfpercent, close to five point six percent
for one year or less Treasury bills, and they're state tax free. And
why fool around with banks? Inall the shenanigans that we've dealt with,
there's a lot of news over thelast six months on banks, So I
would I would steer you towards sometreasuries. I think that's the way you

(15:37):
should go. Jim, Well,I am buying some treasuries outside my IRA,
but the CDs are inside my IRA. Okay, so I'm not going
to be hit with the tax atall. Yeah, yeah, right back
right now? Yeah? Are theylocal banks requirement district? Now there.

(15:58):
I look on Fidelity and I geta wide range of banks across the country
and they're all FDIC insured And aslong as I keep it down to beloup
two hundred and fifty thousand, Ishould be Okay. Well, I wouldn't
be buying I wouldn't be buying anyany CD or bond that could be called
because these interest rates I think arepretty handsome, pretty attractive, and why

(16:22):
risk that they may call it ofinterest rates go down and you get stuck
having to reinvest those proceeds from aCD or a bond into something that's going
to yield less. So I wouldsteer away from the callable instruments and just
make sure that if you buy aCD, it's going to be in your

(16:45):
possession until it matures, and you'regoing to get a pretty attractive yield.
And there's nothing wrong with That's that'sgood advice, that's kind of where I
was going, because it's if theycall the CD, then I got to
go in and buy something else.So it's probably not worth a half hour.
Well exactly. And remember they're callingthe CD because interest rates are lower.

(17:07):
Why should they be paying you,you know, five and a half
six percent when now they can callthat CD back and give you four and
a half percent. You know whatI'm saying, exactly exactly. Yeah,
no, you're thinking the right way. Okay, Well, you got me
pointed in the right directions. Useto use your line. Yeah, Well

(17:30):
that's that's That's all I care about, is getting you pointed in the right
directions. So I've been doing thisshow for twenty eight years. In my
goal, I get energized when Icome in and do the show. My
goal is to help the listening audienceand give them some advice. It's kind
of my way of giving back tothe community. So thank you for that

(17:51):
comment. You be well, stayhealthy. Thanks for calling. Jim one
eight hundred eight two five five ninefour nine. Let's go back to the
phone lines. We have Ron inGlen's Falls. Hello, Ron, Yeah,
I'm listen. We'll say how areyou doing a quick question? My
daughter is she's she's twenty three,and she has about twenty thousand in her

(18:21):
Uh no, no, sorry,though she has about eleven thousand in a
row I ra a that's just sittingthere in cash. And so, you
know, we were trying to figureout where to park it right now.
But with the markets going up anddown, up and down, and I
watch CNBC and and they were talkingabout because the SMP has gone down a

(18:45):
little bit, they're saying that withinthe next couple of weeks there may be
a more of a buying opportunity.And so I'm just looking for some guidances.
What would you suggest that that weshe would park that that eleven thousand
dollars, it'll be seventeen by thetime. Uh. The twenty twenty three

(19:10):
is uh you know put in whatwould you suggest her put it in?
Yeah? So how old your daughter? Twenty three? Twenty three? You
said, So, you know,there's that joke out there. You go
to the doctor, you say,hey, doc, it hurts when I
raise my my my arm and thedoc looks at and says, don't raise

(19:33):
your arm. So don't watch CNBCron because it's financial porn. Most of
the shows, most of those.You know, I am not a fan
of Jim Kramer. He is themost popular guy on CNBC, and in
my eyes, he's a joke.He just he's a brilliant man, but
he's an entertainer. He's not ajournalist, so be careful of And that's

(19:57):
just one of man on CNBC.I actually watch more Bloomberg because it's more
what I'm looking for as journalism,financial journalists that aren't looking for their guests
to argue with each other and anopportunity for them to talk over their guests.
I'm looking for information. That's whatI want from a news program,

(20:19):
and there's very few programs that Ilike on CNBC. That's my personal opinion.
Don't don't don't hold that against meif you're a big fan of Jim
Kramer or others. But I thinkif there was ever a way of following
and tracking Jim Kramer's picks, Ithink you would be losing a boatload of

(20:41):
money. This guy is an entertainerand most of CNBC. So I say
that tongue in cheek, I sayit, but I'm serious. Right now,
your daughter, being twenty three yearsold one, she should be funding
that Roth Irara now and with themarkets being off, you know, as

(21:02):
they said, from the highs,the SMP is off about eight percent now.
I'm not saying that we won't havemore volatility. I'm not saying that
maybe a week or two weeks ora month from now, maybe the markets
will be off ten percent. Mypersonal gut feeling is there's more reason to

(21:22):
be optimistic than not. There's morereason for the markets to go up than
not. I'm not in the campthat the FED has to hike rates when
they come out in August thirty firstand November first, when when they meet.
I'm not in the camp that theyhave to hike rates again. But

(21:45):
they bite, and if they do, it's already baked into the cakes.
So there's I'm optimistic that the marketswill will rally. I'm hopeful that we
won't go into a recession. Ifwe do, it'll be shallow. Friday's
jobs report, which will will giveus a barometer of how we looked in

(22:06):
September, I'm hoping will be good. I'm hoping that the FED doesn't get
their wish where millions and millions andmillions of people have to be laid off
or lose their job in order forthem to, you know, pound their
chest and say, hey, eleveninterest rate hikes at work. You know,
recession is here. People are losingtheir job, and inflation is coming

(22:27):
down to two percent, which inmy mind is a crazy number. So
I'm optimistic and I could be wrong. I'm optimistic that there's more good days
than bad days in the market,and at twenty three years old, whether
the market goes down another two percentfive percent doesn't matter when you're twenty three

(22:48):
years old, I would have Iwould instruct your daughter to fund that IRA
and be one hundred percent invested inthe stock market. Hey, I'm sixty
five, I'm one hundred percent sendinvested in the stock market. Stocks go
up more than down, and Iknow that there's rainy days, but it's
sunnier on the stock market. Thesun shines more than a dozen't. So

(23:11):
that's that's my advice. I wouldhave her. I would have her fund
that money and put it in nowand get it invested. If you help
me to the ground. Our twocore holdings is the broad stock market index
in QQQ, and that's exactly whatI would recommend for your daughter. Hopefully

(23:33):
that helps. Thanks for calling oneeight hundred eight two five five nine four
nine. Kathy from Nisky Una.I know you're there waiting. I'm going
to ask for you to wait throughthe news because we're going to take a
quick break, So don't go anywhere, Kathy, I know, I know
you're on hold and I'll pick youup. One eight hundred eight two five

(23:53):
fifty nine forty nine. Any questionswhatsoever, folks, give me a call.
I'd love to get you pointed inthe right direction. You're listening to
Let's Talk Money, brought to youby Bouchef and Answer Group where we help
our clients prioritize their health while wemanage their wealth for life. And I'm
here live, sitting right at mydesk in historic downtown Troy. And as

(24:15):
I said on the other side ofthe news break, if you have any
questions one eight hundred eight two fivefive nine four nine, and Kathy,
you stay on hold. Seeing acouple of quick minutes. Hello and welcome

(24:48):
back, folks. Thanks for hangingin through the news. I promised you
it would be a short news break. One eight hundred eight two five five
nine four nine. Any questions whatsoever, Give me a call. Let's go
back to the phone lines Kathy hasbeen holding and Niskuna. Hello Kathy,
Hi Steve, how are you.Thank you for taking my call. I'm

(25:10):
doing well. Thank you. Yeah. I wanted to campidate first to just
like thank you for your weekend programsbecause I do always learn something from them,
and I do this in each week. So I just wanted to thank
you for you know, this servicethat you provide. And also I am

(25:33):
I'm sorry, go ahead, Nope, I was going to just I appreciate
those comments. You know, Isaid on the first half of the show.
I love doing the show. Iget energized when I know I'm doing
this show. Sometimes I have someof my colleagues fill in for me if
I need to take a break orwhatever. I know next week I won't
be here, so I have acouple phenomenal colleagues that will fill in and

(25:57):
they'll give you as much great informationas I give you. But I get
energized to come in. This isyou know, the community has been good
to me. I grew up inhumble beginnings. I come from, you
know, I'm I don't take lifefor granted, and if I can help
people in return, this is oneof my ways of giving back to the

(26:19):
community to help people that are listeningthat may not know what to do,
where to go. And we alsohave a lot of clients that listen,
so for them it's like a newsletter. They get to hear us every week,
weekend, week out. So thankyou Kathy for those comments. Yes,
absolutely, And also, like whenI listen to you program, it

(26:41):
does comfort me because you are,I know, are a big believer in
the stock market and you'll also oftenmentioned q q Q and I do own
that. So at times when themarket's going up and down, when I
listen to you, you know,you will just offer advice on how to

(27:02):
ride it through. And well that'sthat's the key. Yeah, that's the
key. I mean, the bestthing investors can do is absolutely do nothing.
If they have a well diversified portfolio, they shouldn't be listening to their
brother in law at Sunday dinner.They shouldn't be, you know, as
I said to one of the earliercallers, you know, listening to the

(27:23):
bad news bears on the financial pornTV shows. They really shouldn't be doing
anything other than riding it out.Because the one guarantee I give every new
client is they will lose money.And I say it in all seriousness.
I said this way. When youcall me and you say, hey,
Steve, I got my statement,I lost money, and I'll say,

(27:47):
I know, I guaranteed you would. You know, stocks don't just go
up, and last year we foundout that bobs don't go up either.
In this year, bonds are downalmost two percent, first time in history
where bonds might finish the year downtwo years in a row. So what
do investors do. They just writeit out, that's the best thing they

(28:10):
can do, and then thank youfor that. And then on a last
note, I did invest this weekin interest sparing money markets, so I
hope that you know, I hopeI made a good choice with that.
Well you're getting you should be gettingover five percent, are you, yes,
yes, it was a point twothree nice. I mean when was

(28:34):
the last time that happened on onon such liquid cash. I mean,
that just hasn't happened in decades.So no, that's that's a good move.
The only downside to that is ifit's money that you think is going
to be invested in fixed income likeinvestments over the next year, two years,

(28:57):
three years, well, if interestrates stabilize and there will be a
point when the Fed, believe itor not, will have to start cutting
rates, then that five point twothree percent will come down. And that's
where not getting greedy with short termand I've said this often over the last

(29:19):
several weeks and months, when itcomes to fixed income instruments, whether it
be bonds, treasury, or corporateor CDs, you should be laddering a
portfolio in right now. As Isaid on the first half of the show,
Ryan actually went in and bought alot of long term bonds on behalf
of our clients when I saw thatten year yield at four point six percent.

(29:45):
Now, sure we can get fivepoint six on a T bill less
than twelve months, but the problemwith that T bill is you know when
that six month comes to in sixmonths, then where do you put that
money? Will interest rates be higheror lower? I'm guessing they'll be lower.
And that's why not getting greedy withyields, especially short term yields,

(30:07):
pays off. And if you ifyou have money that you're not going to
need and you want a well balancedportfolio, we would strongly recommend that you
ladder a portfolio with bonds or CDsout, take advantage of them one year,
three year, five year, sevenyear, ten year, balance it
out, and when they come toyou, just renew wherever interest rates are.

(30:30):
That's the best strategy. Cathy,great, Steve, thank you so
much for that feedback. I appreciateit all right. Listen, thank you
for tuning in and being a loyallistener. And hopefully I'll continue to help
you. Yes, I'm sure youwill. And thanks, you know,
thanks for obvious feedback today. Ireally appreciate it. All right. Kathy,

(30:52):
you be well, stay healthy,and thank you for tuning in.
One eight hundred eight two five,five, nine, four nine. Any
questions, any questions whatsoever, giveme a call. So you know,
I talked about the UAW and theirleverage of forcing strikes on companies and the
thousands and thousands and thousands of hardworkers that are not getting a paycheck.

(31:18):
They're out on that picket line.You know, it's crazy. And this
is where so you hear you hadPresident Biden out there supporting the UAW workers,
right, but President Biden, howmany governors around the country are pushing
ev vehicles? Think about that.One of the things the car companies say,

(31:41):
is they don't need as many workersas the trend goes to more EV
vehicles being sold. Think about that, and you have these politicians that are
pushing for EV vehicles. So electricvehicle sales, I mean they're setting you
records right now. Cox Automotive,who really compiles a lot of this data,

(32:06):
and they updated its US forecasts basicallysaying all new car sales should come
in at about fifteen point four millionunits this year, up from last year
fourteen point two millions, but trailingpandemic sales of almost seventeen million. So
we're not back to where we werebefore COVID hit that ugly word COVID,

(32:30):
right, that just COVID is abad, bad, bad, bad bad
thing. So you know, we'restill way off from where we were before
COVID. But it's the electric vehicles. This quarter sales came in at about
three hundred thousand, up forty eightpercent from last year and basically accounting for

(32:54):
about eight percent of new car sales. So you have you have the President,
isn't it supporting the UAW workers standingon the line, and then also
pushing an agenda to push us morefor EV vehicles, and these companies are
saying, don't do that. Youknow, we don't need as many workers

(33:15):
to produce an EV vehicle as wedo a traditional vehicle. So try to
wrap your your your arms around thatthought process. Kind of crazy, isn't
it. What eight hundred eight twofive five nine four nine. Let's go
back to the phone lines where wehave John on hold? Hello, John,
Oh, how are you okay?I was calling. If you get

(33:42):
money from an insurance company for insurance, is that taxful? Is income?
No? No, life insurance began? Now what do you mean second hand?
Well, actually comes from the insurancecompany. But my sister is the

(34:04):
one that inherited it. Yeah,But now they're saying that I probably wouldn't
be liable to get it because they'relooking for a family member of the first
one that had died, my sister'sfriend. And but that doesn't make sense

(34:25):
to me, because if the beneficiarywas my sister and she's supposed to get
it, than the court in theright state, lie, I think,
Yeah, so family members would wouldget it. Yeah. So in most
cases life insurance, you know,they're they're not subject to income tax.

(34:46):
But however, there are some exceptionsin specific situations where tax may be applicable.
For like, if a policy ownerhas assigned the policy as collateral for
a own, you know, anygain maybe maybe taxable. It's always you
know, it's always good to consultwith the tax professional. But for the

(35:08):
most part, John, when whenyou are you know, when when you
get a life insurance death benefit andyou get that check one, it's what
we call sudden money. And weyou know, we we get a lot
of people that come in and say, oh my god, I didn't expect
this, but you know, somebodyin my family or a friend died and

(35:32):
I got this life insurance benefit.But it's not taxable to you. So
let's make believe your sister is thebeneficiary and she gets a check for a
hundred thousand dollars cash. She canturn around and give you that hundred thousand
dollars cash, and it's not taxableto you. She can't because she died.

(35:52):
Oh this is a death benefit fromyour sister. Well, in a
way it would be. I meanthey died so close together. Oh well
one, I'm sorry John to hearthis. So this is where a contingent
beneficiary comes in. So let's makebelieve your sister was the beneficiary and she

(36:15):
passed and the policy holder did notupdate the beneficiary. Now it goes to
a contingent beneficiary, and if there'sno contingent beneficiary, it'll go to that
person's estate. John, Okay,so what's the continuent beneficiary? I don't.

(36:37):
You'd have to check to see whothe contingent beneficiary is. And if
not, then whoever the policy holderwas that that past, it'll go to
that person's estate. John m Okay, hopefully that helps you. Give the

(37:00):
gi give the insurance company a call, and I'm sorry to hear about your
sister, but hopefully that helps you. Okay, Okay, thanks for John,
you'd be well, stay healthy.One eight hundred and eight two five,
five, nine, four nine.This happens a lot folks, beneficiaries.

(37:22):
It's amazing. We just had anothercase this week where somebody realized that
their expouse was beneficiary on you know, their their pension plan. And we
you know, my advisors, theycheck beneficiaries whenever we have meetings with clients

(37:42):
to make sure they're updated. Becauselet's make believe. Let's make believe you
have life insurance policy and you makesomebody a beneficiary. Well, if that
somebody passes before you do and youdon't update that, well now it goes
to the contingent beneficiary. Usually there'sa contingent beneficiary which says that if you

(38:07):
know you're leaving your benefits to soand so and they're no longer with us,
then I have an alternative backup plan. That's what we call it contingent
beneficiary. So if you haven't checkedout your beneficiaries lately, if you think
that maybe somebody that you had asa beneficiaries no longer with us, you

(38:30):
absolutely want to change that. Whetherit be on a life insurance or retirement
plan IRA for oment, K forold three B doesn't matter. And also,
folks, if you've gone through adivorce, man, oh man,
unless you want your ex to benefitfrom from you know this, you definitely

(38:54):
want to Probably I'm guessing you definitelywant to change that. I got a
funny story. One of my oldestdearest friends. You know, he and
his ex are actually pretty close toeach other. They're they're they're good friends,
and they've been divorced for ten yearsand both are clients. And I

(39:15):
said, you know, you know, you got your your your ex as
as beneficiary. She says, Oh, I don't think my current husband would
be too happy with me if Idied, would he? I said,
probably not? But check your beneficiariesreally one eight hundred eight two five five,

(39:35):
nine four nine. Let's go backto the phone lines. We have
Jack in Clifton Park. Hello,Jack, good morning. How are you.
I'm doing wonderful. How about you? Good? Oh? Something you
could talk a little bit more aboutcallable financial instruments versus one that can't be
called And can you general which onesgenerally cannot be called or you though can't

(40:07):
be called versus ones that are moresusceptible to being callable. Yeah, So
basically callable financial securities, they're basicallyinvestment instruments, bonds, preferred stocks,
and whoever issued it, you know, could be Wells Fargo, Bank of

(40:29):
America. They had the right toredeem or call back the security before its
maturity date. I went over thisin the first half of the show with
regards to CDs that are callable.So when a security is called, the
issuer buys back the security from theinvestor at a predetermined price, usually at

(40:52):
par value or maybe even a premiumThis allows the issuer, So whoever issued
that whatever, whether it be youknow, Wells Fargo, Marylyn, Bank
of America, whatever, the issueris able to refinance the security at a
lower interest rate if market conditions changeand they're favorable. So when you purchase

(41:17):
these securities that you will know ifthey're callable or not. And what you
want to do is probably stay away. My advice is stay away from the
callable securities at this point because I'mgiddy. I'm excited about interest rates being
where they are. I mean,we're we're being rewarded for all those decades

(41:43):
of getting next to nothing. Allof a sudden, we're getting decent yields
on these bonds or CDs. Andif you're buying one of them, don't
buy a callable one, not rightnow, because I think we may be
near I'm not going to go outon the limbs. I did this a
few months ago, where I thoughtthe US ten year Treasury note peaked at

(42:05):
four point two percent. Little didI know, here we are at four
point six percent. So I'm notgoing to go out on a limb again.
I'm going to be like an economistson one hand this and on the
other hand, that I'm going tosay that even if yields go up a
little bit more, Jack, don'tget greedy, lock in and don't buy
a callable because I think we maybe near the high water mark. And

(42:30):
even if interest rates do go upa little bit more, you can't be
you can't feel bad about locking inat these rates. These rates are as
good as they've been in twenty plusyears. So I would steer away from
a callable security. So I understandthat. But you said you'll know if

(42:52):
it's callable or not. Yeah,when you buy it, it tells you
if it's callable. Yeah, butthat is advertised that this is callable.
Er. This is done. Ithas to be. It has to be
disclosed to you Jack. When youbuy it, you're either buying a callable
or a non callable security. Soany security an everybody that are never callable.

(43:21):
A lot of securities aren't callable.Sure, it's up to the issue.
That's why I say, if you'rebuying a preferred stock or a bond
or a CD, you want tofind out if it's callable or non callable
right now. My recommendation would beI would be buying non callable instruments not

(43:43):
callable. Well, for instance,are you as treasuries always not callable?
Yeah, when you buy a bond, you hold onto those until maturity.
Okay, thank you very much.Does that help you, yes, thank
you perfect one eight hundred eight twofive five nine four nine one eight hundred

(44:14):
eight two five five nine four nine. Yeah. US treasuries are not callable,
so when you and that's why Isaid, and they're state tax free.
So whether you buy a Treasury bill, a Treasury note, of treasury
bond, they're issued by the USgovernment, this great country of ours,
the finance its operation, and they'reconsidered to be among the safest investments out

(44:38):
there. I keep saying, youbuy a US ten year Treasury note,
that's as good as it gets aroundthe world. Unlike corporate bonds or other
securities like preferred, US treasuries donot do not have a call feature,
meaning that the US government cannot redeemthem before their maturity dates. This makes

(45:02):
US treasuries popular for investors seeking lowrisk and stable returns and what interest rates
being where they are right now,folks, they are they haven't been this
attractive in a long time. Andthat's you know, my go to security

(45:24):
right now on fixed income is UStreasuries state tax free. They're not callable,
they're backed by this great country ofours, and it doesn't get much
better than that. So that's reallyI think the way to go one eight
hundred eight two five, five,nine, four nine. Any questions,

(45:47):
give me a call. So youknow I was talking about electric vehicles.
You know their sales are creeping up, and you know, believe me,
it doesn't take much to make anelectric vehicle. The problem is there aren't
many charging stations, so it's notlike there's, you know, a gas

(46:07):
station on every corner. You gottasearch high and low for a charging station.
This is one of the downsides tobuying an electric vehicle. And I
have an electric vehicle and I'm tellingyou it's faster than fast it is.
You step on it, wholly molly, you take off. I mean,
it goes pretty darn fast. Theonly thing is you don't have the roar

(46:31):
of the engine. So you know, inventories right now, electric vehicle dealer
inventories are running at about ninety sevendays on demand compared to about fifty seven
for traditional vehicles. And we'll seewhat happens with the UAW and the the

(46:52):
you know, the lemma that they'recreating around the country with the Big three
four GM you know Stillanta. Imean, we'll see how much how much
craziness they create. Remember, Teslais a non union shop. Tesla's workers
get a whole lot paid a wholelot less than the Big three. But

(47:15):
the UAW isn't in Tesla. Theyare in the Big three, and they
are going to create havoc. Soyou know, US electric vehicle sales rose
about six percent year over year throughAugust. Tesla's grew thirty percent from a
year earlier. In the first half. Production delays explained some aforge growth,

(47:37):
but EV demand is also an issueright now. Cox Automotive, where where
I'm reading this report, projects thatEV sales will account for twenty three percent
of all new car sales in Californiain the third quarter. Why because you
got a governor out there that isdictating what those residents can buy, and

(48:02):
you've got other states that it's it'sgoing the same way. Listen, whatever
it is, EV is as funas they are to drive. If you're
going on a long, long trip, you may you may want to take
the old gas guzzler. Between thecold weather that we're coming up and the

(48:24):
you know, on the average that'ssay two hundred mile range of ev you're
gonna have some You're gonna have somesome some challenges. Folks. We're coming
up to the end of the show. I can't believe it. I can't
thank you enough for tuning in today, great questions. I'll be back tomorrow
morning, eight am October. First, you're listening to Let's Talk Money,

(48:45):
brought to you by Bouschefing and wherewe help our clients prioritize their help while
we manage their wealth for life.Thank you for tuning in and go to
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lot of good information on our firmand a lot of good blogs in white

(49:06):
paper. Thanks for tuning in,folks. I'll see you tomorrow morning.
Bye bye,