Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:18):
Oh yeah, oh yeah, folks. If this doesn't get you
going nothing, well, well, good morning w KRP in Cincinnati. Oops,
that was a TV show. Well, Good morning WGY eight
ten Radio EK ten in upstate New York and all
across the country actually with the wide world web in
(00:40):
the iHeartRadio app all over the world. Good morning everybody.
March second. Days are getting wronger, sun's getting warmer, snow
and ice are disappearing. You know that spring is in
the air. We're almost there, folks, And I thank you
for taking time out of your Sunday morning to tune in.
I am Stephen Bouchet, I here live, and I believe me.
(01:02):
I have some amazing talented colleagues, twenty professionals that surround me,
and I built out a team that's second to none,
and when they do the radio, it's dynamic. But today
you have me, and I can't thank you enough for
tuning in on this Sunday morning. The radio lines or
the phone lines are open one eight hundred talk WGY
(01:26):
one eight hundred eighty two, five, five, nine, four nine,
So good news this morning. I saw that Pope Francis
gave his blessing and written form he remains in the hospital,
where the Vatican earlier confirmed he is still resting. You know,
he had a peaceful night. He continues to recover from
(01:47):
double pneumonia. I mean, it's that's not good for anybody
to get And I said yesterday, I hope that we
can all say a prayer for Pope Francis. I like
this man. I think he's passionate, genuine, good to all people.
He doesn't care who you are, where you come from,
(02:08):
who you love. This Pope is good for all people.
And basically, he said, I am still sending you these
thoughts from the hospital. I feel in my heart the
blessing that is hidden within reality, because it is precisely
in these moments that we can learn even more to
trust in the Lord. At the same time, I thank
(02:30):
God for giving me the opportunity to share, in body
and spirit the condition of so many sick and suffering people.
I would like to thank you for the prayers which
rise up to the Lord from the hearts of so
many faithful from many parts of the world. I feel
all your affection and closeness, and at this particular time,
(02:52):
I feel as if I am carried and supported by
all God's people. So let's say a prayer. If you
don't pray, maybe you know, take a moment of silence,
and let's hope hope Francis recovers. I said yesterday, I've
kept it kind of quiet, but I actually have a
private meeting with the Pope right after Easter, and I'm
(03:16):
hoping that I'm able to meet Pope Francis. It's something
that I'm looking forward to. As you know, I had
a really, really really rough year and I'm just coming
out of that rough year. So meeting the Pope and
being in in front of him will be something that
but I think will be good for me. And every
morning I say prayers for so many people and reach
(03:39):
out to so many people that I know are going
through different things in their life, and it brings me joyce.
So I hope Pope Francis gets better. Not because I'm
going to see him, but I hope he gets better.
Even if I can't see him, I hope he gets
better and continues on anyway, folks, March second. I can't
(04:03):
believe February and January are behind us. Before we know it,
the first quarter will be behind us. March will fly by.
It's been you know, the week wasn't so good with
everything that went on, and there was a lot of news,
as we know, a lot of emotional news, and you know,
(04:24):
the week was crazy week. The markets, the major indexes
kind of ended down for the week. You had the
SMP down almost one percent, NANSDAK one hundred down three
point three eight percent, the entire NASDAK composite down three
point four seven percent. And year today, SMP is up
(04:48):
one point two percent, NANSDAK composite down two point four percent,
and the Nasdaq one hundred down six tenths of a
percent QQQ. When you buy QQQ, you're buying the Nasdaq
one hundred, as I said, down six tenths of a percent,
Russo two thousand down three percent. That's the one index
that I watch, and I watch closely. I want that
(05:11):
index to do well because that means that the entire
market is taking part in a rally. And I shared
yesterday with the listening audience, and we had some great
questions yesterday. Actually, we get great questions every every weekend.
We get great questions. And you know my spiel, there's
not a question out there that's too silly to ask.
(05:32):
If you have a question. I can assure you there's
somebody else in the listening audience that will be thankful
that you asked the question because they will get something
out of it. So there's no when it comes to
your financial future, folks, you hear me say a lot.
You get one opportunity to retire. You can't. You cannot
go back and make up for decades and decades and
(05:53):
decades of working somehow, some way. You have to find
a way to save money. You're working as hard as
it is, and I understand that cash flow is hard.
The problem is human nature. All the money that comes
into our pocket and pocketbook, we spend, it's just human nature.
(06:14):
You spend it somehow, someway. There's always that black hole
in a budget. If I were to ask you, think
about what your take home pay is. That's the money
that gets deposited into your checking account. Think about what
your take home pay is and tell me where every
week that money goes. You're going to have a lot
of money you can't figure out where it goes. That's
(06:37):
the black hole in our budget, which is why the
key to being financially independent, the key to being able
to retire with the quality of life that you dread of.
The key to being able to retire when you want
to retire is to save money along the way while
you're working. While you're earning money, pay yourself first, somehow,
(07:00):
some way, have money go into your pension plan at work.
If you don't have a pension plan at work, open
up an ira or a roth ira. The difference between
the two ira. A traditional ira, you get a tax
right off. If you put one hundred dollars in, Maybe
you miss seventy dollars out of your paycheck because Uncle
(07:20):
Sam is subsidizing that you get. You're not being taxed
on that one hundred dollars that goes into your pension plan.
That's a nice incentive, folks. That's the traditional ira. Also
the traditional four oh one k. Now you have a
roth ira or a wroth four to one k, just
the opposite. You put one hundred dollars in, you're taxed
(07:40):
on one hundred dollars. That one hundred dollars goes in.
The entire one hundred dollars go in. Now the beauty
about both they grow tax deferd So decades down the
road when you want to retire, I don't care if
it's that fifty five sixty, sixty five seventy. Whenever you
want to retire, that money grows tax deferred, so you're
(08:02):
not paying tax on it along the way when you
start taking it out in retirement on the traditional ira,
because you got a tax break for the money going in,
you'll be taxed on it coming out on the raw
ira or four to oh one k. Because you pay
tax on the money going in. The beauty is you're
(08:25):
not taxed on it coming out. It's a beautiful thing
when you don't pay tax. So you have to decide
what's better for you. If you're in a low tax bracket, now,
probably putting money into a raw ira or wroth four
owen k makes sense because you're not in a high
tax bracket. That money gets to grow tax deferred. And
(08:47):
believe me, the power of growth, especially if you're invested properly,
the power of growth is just a beautiful thing. And
if that money grows tax deferred and you take it
out and it's tax free, boy, there's nothing better. But
the key, folks, The key is while you're working. I
(09:08):
don't care how young or old you may be, you
need to put money into that retirement plan. You need
to get started. You need to because when you retire,
social Security will pay you about fifteen thousand dollars a year.
And if you need more than fifteen thousand dollars a
year to live on if you're married, let's call it
thirty thousand dollars a year. You get the picture. On average,
(09:30):
some people more, some people less, but on average fifteen
or thirty thousand if you're married. If you need more
than that to live on, let's make believe you need
fifty thousand dollars to live on. That twenty thousand dollars
has to come from the money that you've saved up
along the way. That's the power of savings, and the
(09:51):
sooner you get started, the better off you'll be. Tomorrow
is not guaranteed, folks, Believe me, I found out that
the hard way. Tomorrow is not guarant So enjoy today.
As a certified financial planner, as a firm that really
helps clients plan for their future, I always say to clients,
our job is to plan for your future, but remind
(10:13):
you that you need to live for today. These tomorrow's
not guaranteed, So that's why you need to start saving.
If you're not saving, go in tomorrow, tell your business
office you want to save. If your company matches up
to six percent and you're only saving three percent, you're
leaving money on the table. That's free money, folks. It's
(10:33):
the boss is willing to give you money to save
for your retirement. Take advantage of that free, free, free money.
It's a beautiful thing when there's free money out there.
And if you haven't done any retirement planning, if you're
not saving ten to fifteen percent, you're not saving enough.
I know it sounds crazy. I promise you if you
(10:56):
go in tomorrow you say, hey, I'm going to take
Steve's advice, just bump me up to ten percent. I
promise you the first few paychecks, you won't like me.
You actually may call into the show and say, hey, Steve,
thanks for the advice. I got less money to spend
on an extra Budweiser at the bar or an extra
latte at Starbucks. But after a year, you'll see that
(11:19):
money being saved. After a few years, you'll see it
grow not only with your savings, but by being invested properly.
And before you know it, you're going to look back
and maybe I'll even get a Christmas card or a
Birthday card. I'll take either just to thank you. You'll
see that money grow and you'll be very happy, folks.
(11:42):
That's how you become financially independent. Tomorrow, the phone lines
are open. It's Sunday morning, March second, early, early, Grab
yourself a cup of joe and listen for the next
you know. We're on till nine and the phone lines
are open. One eight hundred eighty five five nine four nine.
(12:02):
One eight hundred eighty two five fifty nine forty nine.
Let me take a quick fifteen second break so I
can have a sip of my coffee and I'll see
you real quickly. One eight hundred eighty two five five
nine four nine. It's a beautiful morning, folks, and I
(12:28):
thank you for tuning in. One eight hundred eighty two
five five nine four nine. If you've never gone to
our website, check it out. We we we really take pride.
Every week. We update it with different stuff right on
the homepage this week. I'm looking at it right now.
It's funny. I talked yesterday about the tariffs that Trump
wants to put in. I did not realize that Pollo
(12:50):
literally literally on Thursday. Just did a white paper understanding
Trump's tariffs, what they mean for trade and the economy.
I said, yes, they do not get scared. Listen, this
is a guy who talks big, he talks strongly. He's
some people say he's a bully. Whatever you think of him,
I don't care. What I'm saying is he will use
(13:14):
these tariffs to get our country in a better spot.
We will be better off for, our economy will be
better off for. And he's doing what he feels is right.
He's the president. Okay, every president does what they feel
is right. This is his take. And Pollo I did
not realize wrote a white paper on it, understanding Trump's tariffs.
(13:37):
So that's right there on the homepage. Dreaming of warmer
weather and retirement after the winter we went through in
Upstate New York. Absolutely. Harmony Wagner, another one of my
wealth advisors, wrote a beautiful, beautiful paper on dreaming of
warmer weather and retirement and what you should think about.
(13:57):
And then John Mlay to shift team. Should investors be
concerned about the rising US national debt? Absolutely we should.
I talked about that yesterday as well. This great country
of ours is thirty six trillion dollars in debt trillion
twelve zeros at the end of one trillion worth thirty
(14:18):
six trillion dollars in debt. Every year we spend more
than we make, we sell bonds. That's how we settle up.
Countries like China buy our paper. We actually loan them money.
We pay them interest with higher interest rates. Our expense
for that obviously is higher. When you have interest rates
(14:40):
at four or five percent, it's a whole lot different
than when interest rates were near one percent. And that
means at our expense for paying out countries like China
is a lot. Countries like China love buying our paper
because we're the safest country in the world. They know that,
and if we can give them a decent interest rate.
(15:02):
So every time we spend more than we bring in,
that's how we settle up. Now, you and I and
our personal household budgets, we have to either borrow money
by taking equity out of our home, which is never
a good thing. I always say, when you enter retirement
and you have your home paid off, it's a beautiful thing.
That's equity. It's the foundation. If you kind of think
(15:25):
of your financial house as a pyramid. That home is
the foundation of your pyramid, and it's nice when that's
paid off or almost paid off. You borrow money on
credit cards, which is never a good thing. Right now,
Interest on credit cards, if you look at the fine print,
you could be paying twenty percent or more. So, if
(15:47):
you earn fifty thousand dollars a year, you need to
make sure your budget, which includes saving for retirement, doesn't
go over fifty thousand dollars or you're in trouble. Unfortunately,
this country spends more than it takes in. We run
trillions in deficit. President Trump, whether you like him or not,
(16:07):
a love musk, is now in charge of DOGE. He
feels he's going to be able to trim up trillion
dollars out of our deficit. That means by getting rid
of some waste, you may not we may not as
a country have as much of a deficit, which means
our overall that may not grow as much. So John
(16:28):
Mlay wrote a white paper Should investors be concerned about
the rising US national debt? Folks, there's a lot of
good information on our website Bouchet dot com. That's bas
En boy O U c ch e y dot com
one eight hundred eighty two five five nine four nine
Any questions one eight hundred eight two five fifty nine
(16:51):
forty nine. Let's go to the phone lines. We have
Carrie in this Keyuna. Hello Carrie, Oh Steve Bouche.
Speaker 2 (16:59):
I have been a longtime fan and longtime listener since
you were there on Sundays, and I've called in many times,
and I want you to know that we finally are
ready to retire. And when we met with the wonderful Andrea,
Catherine Buck and John Malay and we are Bouchet clients,
my husband is so happy. We almost turned around and
(17:20):
just ran right and to sign the paperwork. And can
you imagine after saving with all your wonderful advice, we
got all our savings to where they should be. And
my husband is actually ready to do with sixty forty
because he hears you say it all the time, even
though he's a kind of a scaredy cat when it
comes to investments. But we really feel we're in great
(17:41):
hands with your people. And I was so sad not
to meet you because, as I said, I've been a
longtime fan and listener. We've talked so many times. You
and I talked years ago, and you had said, Nope,
you're not ready as yet to retire. I wasn't at
the age we are now. We can't wait. We don't
want to leave anything on the table. We are so
(18:02):
happy with you and all your bouchet family.
Speaker 1 (18:04):
I have to say, Carrie, this might be the greatest for.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
All that advice, because it's because of you we are
where we are today with what we had to do.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
Carrie, I can't thank you enough for calling in. I try.
You know, people ask me do I get tired doing
the radio, and I say I don't. I've been doing it.
This year will be thirty years. I've been doing the radio,
and I never get tired. I get energized when I
get that microphone in front of my face. And I
have a face for radio, you know, Carrie. But when
(18:38):
I tell you, I get energized. I get energized because
I know people like you. This is why I love
doing the radio. So if I've been able to help
you and your husband for all those years and now
your clients, and I can't thank you enough for placing
your trust and faith in us. I don't think you'll
be disappointed whatsoever. I have a team second to none professionals.
(19:01):
And I'll let Katie, John and Andrea know that you
called in. But I'm telling you, this is why I
love doing the radio, just because of what you're saying.
So I was able to get you and your husband
to think about saving, putting money away, and now you're
able to retire. Now you're able to enjoy your retirement years,
which is what retirement is really all about. So I
(19:25):
can't thank you enough for this phone call. I don't
think I could have a better phone call in the
thirty years of radio. This may be one of the
best phone calls I could get.
Speaker 2 (19:34):
Well, I have to tell you. I don't know if
you will remember this, but years ago you were so
confident in the S and P and my husband lost
his passwords to a DSD, but I did not, So
we rocked the call in the S and P fund
for so many years, and then when we looked at it,
he went, oh, did you know what was there? Yes?
And you can thank Steve Bouchet for that because and
(19:59):
you know, but and years ago you said, well, I'm
going to make you a friend and family. And I
got to tell you, friend and family, you are not right.
I got to tell you I love your group and
they are worth every single penny. I think we'll be
working with Scott going forward, so I'm interested and anxious
to meet him. But because that's what I was told
(20:20):
by Catherine, Catherine, Katie, I can't wait to sit with
her because I'm just so confident in everybody, and Andrea
can't be more helpful. I'm telling you everybody, and I
know I've talked to Angie in the past, and Lauren
is just wonderful again. You can hear the gushing in
my voice. But I love you and I want you
(20:41):
to know I make your favorite cake and I'm one
of the best makers of your favorite cake. So someday
you need to meet you, and I know you're going
to be there. I'm going to bring it with me.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
So letting you carry you're making me tear up. Carrie,
and you know the listening weddings can see the tears
in my eyes right now. I mean now, Lauren's my daughter,
and she is so proud to be working for me
and helping me, and everybody in my office does a
great job. And you're gonna love Scott. He's an IRS
(21:13):
enrolled agent, so he'll be able to help you with
so much. He's just, you know, amazing. And Katie just
became a certified financial planner. She's she's a you know,
my rock star, up and coming rock star.
Speaker 2 (21:28):
She's wonderful. And we're so confident. And I have to
tell you, you know, we're both retiring basically around the
same time. You know, me first, probably, but you know,
there's that anxiety, there's that oh no, what happens if?
And guess what your people alleviated that. So we are
in your hands. We feel confident, and we now want
(21:50):
to enjoy the rest of our lives, you know, doing
what we want to do on our time clock.
Speaker 1 (21:56):
So that gonna be the biggest thing, you know, Carrie,
I tell clients, when you have your health, you have everything.
When you have each other, your your spouse, your partner,
your loved one, you're really, really fortunate. And if financially
you can do things, don't mess around because you never
know when your health or your loved one may be
(22:17):
taken away from you. I found out the hard way
last year, losing Sue and having my health change. And
I'm all good now, knock on wood, but I don't
have Sue in my life anymore. So now you know
all of the plans that SOE and I have, they're different.
So I'm glad you and your husband did that. Thank
you for the phone call. You will see me next
(22:39):
time by Carrie. Oh what a beautiful phone call. One
eight hundred eight two five, five, nine four nine. Any questions, folks,
you're listening to Let's Talk Money, brought to you by
Bouchet and Answer Group where we help our clients prioritize
their health while we manage their wealth for life. We're
coming up to the bottom of the hour for the
(23:01):
news break. I will be here on the other side
of the news break with Zach Harris, my longtime producer.
One eight hundred eight two five, five nine four nine.
(23:27):
Well oh yeah, well, folks, I'm not sure if you're
lucky or not, but you have Stephen Bouchet here live.
I have some beautiful, amazing, very talented colleagues, but you
have me this morning, March second. The days are getting longer,
the sun is getting warmer or longer, warmer, you get it.
(23:50):
You know, spring is in the air. Thank you for
tuning in. Thank you for hanging in through the news.
One eight hundred eighty two five five nine, four nine.
Let's go to the phone lines. We have Lisa in Bethlehem. Lisa, Lisa,
come on back. We lost li said, let's go back
to the phone lines. We have David Delmar Dave, are
(24:11):
you there.
Speaker 3 (24:12):
I'm here, I'm here, Steve, good morning, Good morning. I say,
for a guy who doesn't like to talk politics, you
talk a lot about politics. It seems I'm also a blank.
But obviously I leaned a different way. But I'm one
who does care about democracy, and I'm just you know,
we just voted with Russia against the United Nations resolution
(24:35):
condemning Russia as the aggressor in the war against Ukraine.
That just just doesn't seem right. And You've also commented
in the past that Trump is a a good business man.
I don't. I don't see it that way. I mean,
he's filed for bankruptcy what how many times? Five or
six times? Good businessman? Don't do that. And one last point,
you know, government isn't meant to be run like a business.
(24:58):
You you as I know, you give a out to charity,
so you know, the goal of businesses to make a profit,
and the goal of government is to serve the people.
And you also have said in the past that you
voted for the vote for the person who lies the
least to you. Do you like less terms, less thirty
thousand lives. Your colleagues don't talk about politics hardly at all,
(25:18):
but you do.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
Yeah, well, you know, I appreciate your thoughts, Dave, I
really do, and I respect your your thoughts. So let
me kind of sum up my feelings. I really don't
talk politics now. When I talk about the economy, and
when I talk about the things that Trump is doing,
that's not talking politics, Dave. That's talking facts. That's talking
(25:44):
about the what's going on in this great country of ours.
And if you liked what was going on in this
great country of ours, where cities across this great land
of ours look worse than Ukraine being battled and decimated
by Russia, then you know, that's just not right. If
you feel like walking down the street, you can't be safe.
(26:06):
If you feel like, maybe you know, because of the
color of your skin or who you elect to love,
that you have to, you know, kind of, you know,
keep your guard up all the time. That's not good, Dave.
That's not good at all. And that's the world we
were living in and now we're not living in that
world as much. And this has nothing to do with politics.
(26:30):
This has to do with common sense. And when I
talk about the economy, when I talk about tariffs, and
go to our website, Paula la Pietra did a great
job talking about terriffs. And when I talk about tariffs, Yes,
you may think Trump is a bully. I could care
less what people think about Trump as a man. What
(26:51):
did you think about Clinton, Dave?
Speaker 4 (26:53):
Did you think he was a great man doing what
he was doing in the Oval office? But he was
a pretty good politician, right, go back to the good
Senator Joe Bruno, Senator Bruno, Shelley Silver, Governor Pataki, behind
closed doors, would.
Speaker 1 (27:09):
Dooke it out. They would argue, they would disagree, but
then they would come out in front of the TV cameras,
in front of their constituents, and they would be united.
They would work out all their problems. That's what we
call negotiating. Trump knows how to negotiate, he knows how
to use things. Listen, we're the greatest country in the
world and we should not be taken advantage of. And
(27:33):
I'm sorry if I don't care if Russia is the aggressor.
I agree with you, Russia is the aggressor. Do I
feel that there should be a way for Russia and
Ukraine to maybe settle this difference without it going on,
without those soldiers being killed or wounded, or just having families,
(27:55):
you know, the tragedy in families lives as Absolutely. I
think that however we negotiate that piece deal, there won't
be It won't be great for Russia, it won't be
great for Ukraine. That's what negotiating is about. And I
think Trump does that well. Dave, So, I don't really
(28:15):
when I sit here, I'm not talking politics. I'm not
a Republican. I'm not a diehard Republican. I do think
Trump can be a narcissist. I do think he can
be a bully, but I also feel in my heart
that he has this great country of ours first and
foremost in his mind. Listen. I think with my heart
as a Democrat, I want to give as much as
(28:39):
I can, and I do. I give more than probably
any wealth advisor in the Capital Regionary gives back to
the community. I believe that in my heart I can't
help people out enough. I can't give my money away enough.
I can't give my resources and share them with non
for profits enough. So from my heart, I'm a Democrat.
(29:02):
From my head, I know that we have to pay
for it somehow. Where there's country is going to be ruined.
That's why I'm a blank and I do. I've voted
for Democrats, I voted for Republicans. I really try to
vote for who I think will lead the country the best.
And right now, I'm optimistic on the economy, Dave, I am,
(29:24):
and you have to be as well. I think that
the stock market's going to do well. I think our
economy is going to do well. I think we're going
to have more jobs brought back to this great country
of ours. I think a lot of good things are
going to come out. And yes, it's like Trump's a
bully in the schoolyard and beating up on all those
(29:45):
smaller kids. I get it, and I agree with you
that's how it feels. But at the end of the day,
I think he's going to accomplish the mission that he's
trying to do and get our country in a better
place than where it's at economically. And that's what I'm
talking about. Economically. I'm not sitting here talking politics. I
talked about the good that President Biden did as well.
(30:08):
I respect everybody in that office in that seat. They're
our president, they need our support for them to do
a good job. Anyway, Dave, thank you for sharing your feelings.
I truly, truly appreciate it. One eight hundred eight two
five five nine four nine one eight hundred eighty two
five fifty nine forty nine. Let's go back to the
(30:29):
fall lines. Lisa Hello, Lisa Hello.
Speaker 5 (30:34):
I was going to make a joke before asking my
financial question of what did Biden do that was positive?
But then I die, I shouldn't.
Speaker 1 (30:40):
So no, you know what, because you know what, half
the country said, Yeah, half the country feels that he
did a good job. Half the country feels that he
did it. And that's what you have to look at.
It's like Dave. Obviously, Dave doesn't think that Trump will
do a good job, and I respect that. This is
why when it comes to you know, I love to
(31:02):
listen to people because I learned if I'm talking all
the time, I never learned. And especially like if I
say that Trump I feel will do good for the economy.
I love when somebody has a different opinion, because sometimes
I can pick up on that and learn from that.
Speaker 5 (31:19):
But you know, I do everything.
Speaker 1 (31:22):
I do respect whoever's sitting in that seat in the
White House because they're our president and they need our support,
the support of all of us.
Speaker 5 (31:33):
I will, I will, I will respectfully disagree with thinking
Biden did a good job. But I'll move on to
my financial questions. I'm just got our borders are secure
and we're safer again in the country.
Speaker 1 (31:48):
I'm gonn't agree with you more. Oh my god, that's
what I said. You said listen. You know, if you listen,
I did not like the direction this country was going in.
And that's not because I'm a raving Republican. It's because
I just didn't feel safe. I haven't been the San
Francisco in years. San Francisco used to be my favorite
(32:10):
big city. I used to go to New York City
once a month. I don't go to New York City
anymore because I wouldn't feel safe. So I'm feeling safer.
I'm feeling better, right.
Speaker 5 (32:23):
I agree with that. Well, I have a financial question.
If you don't mind about five twenty nine plans. So
I researched the dependent care through through my employer who covers,
and I researched dependent care covers like camps, school camps
and babysitting and things like that. Excuse me, child here
(32:47):
through an accredited place. So, and I was I was
looking at that versus the IRS protocols where you can
like deduct like school expenses off of your TAXI as
if you itemize, which I don't. But my question Q
is if you send a child to a element of
private elementary school and it's extremely expensive, you could either
(33:11):
use your five twentt nine plan or I thought you
could write it out as dependent care in your taxes,
but it looks like you can't from with IRS rules.
I'm reading you're not allowed to write off schooling on
your taxes for any reason. It has to be pre
tax or depend care plan, which is only like I said,
daycare and right, or you would use a five twenty
(33:32):
nine plan to pay for like a private school on
the elementary level.
Speaker 1 (33:36):
Is there?
Speaker 5 (33:37):
I just was worrying if I'm looking at that correctly. And
my question to you is is there any tax saving
methods that I should be looking at? He is so
by twent nine plan for elementary school.
Speaker 1 (33:49):
Yeah, no five twenty nine plan, especially the New York
Saves NY saves dot org is that I think the
best in the land. Each state has different rules and regulations.
And in New York, if you're a New York resident,
if you're single, you get up to five thousand dollars
New York state tax deduction, and if you're married, up
(34:12):
to ten thousand dollars. The money that you put into
a five twenty nine, So that could save you seven
eight hundred dollars in taxes. And you know five twenty
nine has to be used for qualified expenses for it
to be tax free. Higher education obviously college and universities,
some key through twelve education, private school tuition up to
(34:32):
ten thousand a year per student, and some student loan repayments.
So you know, each each state is different. As far
as the deductibility, you know, that's going to be a question.
And I have four CPAs in my office. I don't
know if any of them are listening this morning. If
if you are Vinny or you know John O. Ryan
(34:53):
or you know, if Scott's listening, you know, give me
a call and we can you know, we can help
answer Lisa's question better. So I don't have an exact
question there, and I don't want to mislead you. We
need to we need to get a tax advisor to
tell you what you do there, okay.
Speaker 5 (35:16):
And I was asking that question because I was reading
a lot about five twenty nine plans and such, and
that it's gonna even though I only get a ten
thousand dollars deduction off my year on taxes, you know,
if I put like twenty or thirty into it a year,
imp only right off ten. I was reading that it's
still a good idea to possibly put that twenty year
thirty thousand in a year if you have the money
(35:37):
because you're front loading this savings plans so to speak.
That's going to grow for fifteen years. So I wash
neark State gave me more than ten thousand, like I
I know college is going to do. I look at
RPI tuition. It's eighty five thousand a year for example.
Speaker 2 (35:51):
I know, I know I came.
Speaker 5 (35:54):
Across the college and you know ten thousand a year
for two children isn't going to go very far.
Speaker 1 (36:01):
Yeah, well, you know, a beautiful, A beautiful thing, Lisa,
is for you to put money in that five twenty
nine plan, have enough to help pay for your children's education,
and then have your children be as smart as smart
can be and get a full ride, and then you're
then you may have to pay tax on the growth
(36:22):
of that money you put in, which is okay because
it's not being used for college and you can use
it for other things, so it could be win win
in a different way. That money grows tax deferred for
all those years.
Speaker 6 (36:36):
But you know at college age, yeah, you know, you know,
if you don't use it for qualified if you don't
use it for qualified expenses, as they said, let's make
believe your child gets a full ride to RPI and
you don't need that money for college.
Speaker 1 (36:54):
You can use it for you can use it for
another child's education. You can go back to college and
use it to take art classes or whatever you want
to take, believe it or not. But if you don't
use it for qualified expenses, you can use it for retirement.
You'll just pay tax on the growth of it. It's
a beautiful thing. Lisa. Thank you for your Yeah, thank
(37:16):
you for your bye. Lisa. You'll be well, Oh, folks,
I'm not here talking politics, but I do appreciate the
phone call from Dave, and I appreciate Lisa's comments. I
do and will give comment on the deficit this country
is in, and I do think it's a shame. It's
a state of shambles. Thirty six trillion dollars and that's
(37:40):
Democrats and Republicans are responsible for that. That's not just
the Democrats. That's listen, we had COVID, we had a
lot of stuff that that that came up in our lives.
So our deficit group and now the key is to
try to reduce that deficit. The better of a job
(38:01):
we do it. Reducing that deficit, this great country bus
is going to be in a better financial shape. And listen,
we're the best country in the world and we need
to be strong. We need to be the leaders, and
we need to be financially independent. Just like the first
half of the show I talked about you being financially
independent in retirement. That's what you have to pay attention to,
(38:21):
is being financially independent. We as a country need to
do the same thing. And I do disagree with Dave.
I don't think we should be running in a deficit
because we're the government. We should have a balanced budget,
which means that if we feel we should be spending,
if we're bringing in five trillion dollars a revenue, we
(38:42):
should try to spend five trillion dollars in expenses, not
six trillion or seven trillion, where we're adding a trillion
or two onto that thirty six trillion dollars that we're
in debt. The nation is in debt thirty six trillion.
That's that's how I look at it. So I want
the economy to get better. I want I think tariffs
(39:04):
will be good. Believe it or not, I think they're
They're being used as a tool, as a weapon. It's
a negotiating tool. One eight hundred eighty two five five
nine four nine one eight hundred eighty two, five fifty
nine forty nine. If you have any questions, give me
a call. I'd love, love, would love to talk to you,
(39:26):
any questions whatsoever. So in the next couple of weeks,
because here we are March second, we know April fifteenth
is around the corner, which means that we're going to have,
you know, April fifteenth our deadline for filing taxes. You
could also still put money into an IRA or roth
ira believe it or not, up until April fifteenth for
(39:49):
last year. That's a beautiful thing, isn't it. So you
can still fund an ira roth are traditional for last
year twenty twenty four, right up in until April fifteenth,
twenty twenty five. But there was a great article in
the weekend edition of the Wall Street Journal, really don't
(40:09):
let a scam artists file your taxes for you. And
I found it really interesting because I learned something I
love to learn. Let me give out the phone numbers
one more time. We got time for some more calls,
and if you have questions or comments, give me a call.
One eight hundred eighty two five five nine four nine
(40:29):
one eight hundred eight two, five fifty nine forty nine.
So your tax ID, you know tax id that happens
like this. Somebody I call them a thug, but in
this article they call them a frauds that uses a
real person's information data birth social Security number to file
(40:51):
a fake tax return in that person's name. The fake
return claims a made up we found that typically goes
to the frauds account. Then when the real taxpayer files
the actual return, the IRS computers rejected because they already
processed the return with that name and IDs, so the
real filth filer has to resolve the problem. And it's
(41:15):
a pain in the net. Folks. If somebody steals your ID,
believe me, it's not easy to get it back, not
easy at all. So victims must you know, you got
to file affidavits, you got to prove your identity, submit paperwork,
wait for refunds if you're going to get them. It's
(41:35):
a total pain in the net. And last year fiscal
year twenty twenty four, the IRS hit four hundred and
seventy thousand open cases in which it was assisting tax
id that victims. According to a report from the National
Taxpayer Advocate, a person by the name of Aaron Collins.
(41:58):
She runs an independent arm inside the IRS and basically
to prevent this, IRIS encourages taxpayers and I did not
know those folks. So when you get your taxes done,
ask your tax preparer to apply for a six digit
ip PIN. Monday morning, I plan on asking my tax
(42:20):
preparer for this. It stands for Identity Protection Personal Identification
Number taxpayers who have them. The IRS is computer reject
returns without the proper number to prevent fraud. This number
is different from the five digit PIN many taxpayers used
to e file. So ip pins is something that's you know,
(42:45):
it's like double verification. It's just another layer. And it's
as I said, I plan on asking about it tomorrow.
And it's just another way to protect yourself. I always say,
if you have your social Security card in your wallet,
take it out right now. Hide it somewhere in a
(43:08):
you know, hide it in your sock drawer. Just don't
carry it in your wallet. If you lose your wallet,
now you boss your social security number. Somebody will have
your social Security number more than likely. Guess what, you
have your driver's license in your wallet. That means that
now somebody has not only your social Security number, but
(43:29):
they have your name, your address, your data, birth, your
driver's license ID. They have everything they need to steal
your identity. If you have your social Security number in
your wallet, take it out, folks, right now. Don't wait,
take it out right now. Do not ever carry your
(43:49):
social Security number in your wallet. Bad, bad, bad, bad,
bad thing to do. And if you haven't signed up
for some of these that blocks and everything, think about it,
look into it, research it, ask your tax prepare. Listen,
listen I'm getting text on my phone, spam text on
(44:13):
my phone? How do they get my cell phone number? Crazy?
And I mean, how many times do I need to
renew the warranty on my car? I never even knew
what the warranty on my car was up. You get
the picture and the emails that you get. So the
scam artists are getting more sophisticated. They're finding better ways
(44:36):
to steal your identity, to suck you into sharing information
that you shouldn't share. Any legitimate organization will not do
that to you. And the scam artists they use emails
with logos. Listen, you can copy and paste a logo
of any financial institution or whatever. You can copy and
(44:59):
paste their logo. You get the picture. So you've got
to be really really careful about what you do and
how you do it. Just you know, keep it in
the back of your mind. And if listen, if you
have parents or grandparents that you care for, they are
targeted and help them. Make sure you check in with them,
(45:22):
make sure they're not answering the phone. You know, one
of the biggest biggest scam techniques right now is, hey,
we have your grandson. You need to you know, give
you know, this money to bail them out of jail
or your granddaughter, and older people fall for it because
there there is some some older people are naive. So
(45:46):
try to try to protect your parents or grandparents. Check
in with them, you know, kind of check their caller
ID and if you see you know, I think you
can actually set up your phone. I think I have
it set up on my phone where if it's a
number you're not aware of, it won't ring, it'll go
(46:06):
right to voicemail. And we know these scam artists never
leave voicemails, so it's really another way that you don't
have to worry about somebody getting through to you. And
it's just you know, help out your parents and grandparents
and help out yourself. The best thing you can do
(46:26):
is just always be one step ahead of the scam artist,
the thugs in the world that are really you know,
I mean, did you ever get a letter from Nick
Arraga where you know, you know, hey, just give us
a check for ten dollars and we're going to give
you a million dollars. We just need the ten dollars
to get your bank account information. Hey, folks, great show,
(46:48):
great comments. I respect all of your opinions you're listening
to Let's Talk Money, brought to you by Bouchet fin
Answer Group, where we help our clients prioritize their health
while we manage their wealth for life. I can't thank
you enough for tuning in today. Go to our website
Bouche dot com. That's bia zen boy O U C
h e y dot com. We got some great articles there.
(47:11):
Have a great Sunday come back next weekend. Be well, folks,
stay healthy,
Oh yeah, oh yeah, folks. If this doesn't get you
going nothing, well, well, good morning w KRP in Cincinnati. Oops,
that was a TV show. Well, Good morning WGY eight
ten Radio EK ten in upstate New York and all
across the country actually with the wide world web in
(00:40):
the iHeartRadio app all over the world. Good morning everybody.
March second. Days are getting wronger, sun's getting warmer, snow
and ice are disappearing. You know that spring is in
the air. We're almost there, folks, And I thank you
for taking time out of your Sunday morning to tune in.
I am Stephen Bouchet, I here live, and I believe me.
(01:02):
I have some amazing talented colleagues, twenty professionals that surround me,
and I built out a team that's second to none,
and when they do the radio, it's dynamic. But today
you have me, and I can't thank you enough for
tuning in on this Sunday morning. The radio lines or
the phone lines are open one eight hundred talk WGY
(01:26):
one eight hundred eighty two, five, five, nine, four nine,
So good news this morning. I saw that Pope Francis
gave his blessing and written form he remains in the hospital,
where the Vatican earlier confirmed he is still resting. You know,
he had a peaceful night. He continues to recover from
(01:47):
double pneumonia. I mean, it's that's not good for anybody
to get And I said yesterday, I hope that we
can all say a prayer for Pope Francis. I like
this man. I think he's passionate, genuine, good to all people.
He doesn't care who you are, where you come from,
(02:08):
who you love. This Pope is good for all people.
And basically, he said, I am still sending you these
thoughts from the hospital. I feel in my heart the
blessing that is hidden within reality, because it is precisely
in these moments that we can learn even more to
trust in the Lord. At the same time, I thank
(02:30):
God for giving me the opportunity to share, in body
and spirit the condition of so many sick and suffering people.
I would like to thank you for the prayers which
rise up to the Lord from the hearts of so
many faithful from many parts of the world. I feel
all your affection and closeness, and at this particular time,
(02:52):
I feel as if I am carried and supported by
all God's people. So let's say a prayer. If you
don't pray, maybe you know, take a moment of silence,
and let's hope hope Francis recovers. I said yesterday, I've
kept it kind of quiet, but I actually have a
private meeting with the Pope right after Easter, and I'm
(03:16):
hoping that I'm able to meet Pope Francis. It's something
that I'm looking forward to. As you know, I had
a really, really really rough year and I'm just coming
out of that rough year. So meeting the Pope and
being in in front of him will be something that
but I think will be good for me. And every
morning I say prayers for so many people and reach
(03:39):
out to so many people that I know are going
through different things in their life, and it brings me joyce.
So I hope Pope Francis gets better. Not because I'm
going to see him, but I hope he gets better.
Even if I can't see him, I hope he gets
better and continues on anyway, folks, March second. I can't
(04:03):
believe February and January are behind us. Before we know it,
the first quarter will be behind us. March will fly by.
It's been you know, the week wasn't so good with
everything that went on, and there was a lot of news,
as we know, a lot of emotional news, and you know,
(04:24):
the week was crazy week. The markets, the major indexes
kind of ended down for the week. You had the
SMP down almost one percent, NANSDAK one hundred down three
point three eight percent, the entire NASDAK composite down three
point four seven percent. And year today, SMP is up
(04:48):
one point two percent, NANSDAK composite down two point four percent,
and the Nasdaq one hundred down six tenths of a
percent QQQ. When you buy QQQ, you're buying the Nasdaq
one hundred, as I said, down six tenths of a percent,
Russo two thousand down three percent. That's the one index
that I watch, and I watch closely. I want that
(05:11):
index to do well because that means that the entire
market is taking part in a rally. And I shared
yesterday with the listening audience, and we had some great
questions yesterday. Actually, we get great questions every every weekend.
We get great questions. And you know my spiel, there's
not a question out there that's too silly to ask.
(05:32):
If you have a question. I can assure you there's
somebody else in the listening audience that will be thankful
that you asked the question because they will get something
out of it. So there's no when it comes to
your financial future, folks, you hear me say a lot.
You get one opportunity to retire. You can't. You cannot
go back and make up for decades and decades and
(05:53):
decades of working somehow, some way. You have to find
a way to save money. You're working as hard as
it is, and I understand that cash flow is hard.
The problem is human nature. All the money that comes
into our pocket and pocketbook, we spend, it's just human nature.
(06:14):
You spend it somehow, someway. There's always that black hole
in a budget. If I were to ask you, think
about what your take home pay is. That's the money
that gets deposited into your checking account. Think about what
your take home pay is and tell me where every
week that money goes. You're going to have a lot
of money you can't figure out where it goes. That's
(06:37):
the black hole in our budget, which is why the
key to being financially independent, the key to being able
to retire with the quality of life that you dread of.
The key to being able to retire when you want
to retire is to save money along the way while
you're working. While you're earning money, pay yourself first, somehow,
(07:00):
some way, have money go into your pension plan at work.
If you don't have a pension plan at work, open
up an ira or a roth ira. The difference between
the two ira. A traditional ira, you get a tax
right off. If you put one hundred dollars in, Maybe
you miss seventy dollars out of your paycheck because Uncle
(07:20):
Sam is subsidizing that you get. You're not being taxed
on that one hundred dollars that goes into your pension plan.
That's a nice incentive, folks. That's the traditional ira. Also
the traditional four oh one k. Now you have a
roth ira or a wroth four to one k, just
the opposite. You put one hundred dollars in, you're taxed
(07:40):
on one hundred dollars. That one hundred dollars goes in.
The entire one hundred dollars go in. Now the beauty
about both they grow tax deferd So decades down the
road when you want to retire, I don't care if
it's that fifty five sixty, sixty five seventy. Whenever you
want to retire, that money grows tax deferred, so you're
(08:02):
not paying tax on it along the way when you
start taking it out in retirement on the traditional ira,
because you got a tax break for the money going in,
you'll be taxed on it coming out on the raw
ira or four to oh one k. Because you pay
tax on the money going in. The beauty is you're
(08:25):
not taxed on it coming out. It's a beautiful thing
when you don't pay tax. So you have to decide
what's better for you. If you're in a low tax bracket, now,
probably putting money into a raw ira or wroth four
owen k makes sense because you're not in a high
tax bracket. That money gets to grow tax deferred. And
(08:47):
believe me, the power of growth, especially if you're invested properly,
the power of growth is just a beautiful thing. And
if that money grows tax deferred and you take it
out and it's tax free, boy, there's nothing better. But
the key, folks, The key is while you're working. I
(09:08):
don't care how young or old you may be, you
need to put money into that retirement plan. You need
to get started. You need to because when you retire,
social Security will pay you about fifteen thousand dollars a year.
And if you need more than fifteen thousand dollars a
year to live on if you're married, let's call it
thirty thousand dollars a year. You get the picture. On average,
(09:30):
some people more, some people less, but on average fifteen
or thirty thousand if you're married. If you need more
than that to live on, let's make believe you need
fifty thousand dollars to live on. That twenty thousand dollars
has to come from the money that you've saved up
along the way. That's the power of savings, and the
(09:51):
sooner you get started, the better off you'll be. Tomorrow
is not guaranteed, folks, Believe me, I found out that
the hard way. Tomorrow is not guarant So enjoy today.
As a certified financial planner, as a firm that really
helps clients plan for their future, I always say to clients,
our job is to plan for your future, but remind
(10:13):
you that you need to live for today. These tomorrow's
not guaranteed, So that's why you need to start saving.
If you're not saving, go in tomorrow, tell your business
office you want to save. If your company matches up
to six percent and you're only saving three percent, you're
leaving money on the table. That's free money, folks. It's
(10:33):
the boss is willing to give you money to save
for your retirement. Take advantage of that free, free, free money.
It's a beautiful thing when there's free money out there.
And if you haven't done any retirement planning, if you're
not saving ten to fifteen percent, you're not saving enough.
I know it sounds crazy. I promise you if you
(10:56):
go in tomorrow you say, hey, I'm going to take
Steve's advice, just bump me up to ten percent. I
promise you the first few paychecks, you won't like me.
You actually may call into the show and say, hey, Steve,
thanks for the advice. I got less money to spend
on an extra Budweiser at the bar or an extra
latte at Starbucks. But after a year, you'll see that
(11:19):
money being saved. After a few years, you'll see it
grow not only with your savings, but by being invested properly.
And before you know it, you're going to look back
and maybe I'll even get a Christmas card or a
Birthday card. I'll take either just to thank you. You'll
see that money grow and you'll be very happy, folks.
(11:42):
That's how you become financially independent. Tomorrow, the phone lines
are open. It's Sunday morning, March second, early, early, Grab
yourself a cup of joe and listen for the next
you know. We're on till nine and the phone lines
are open. One eight hundred eighty five five nine four nine.
(12:02):
One eight hundred eighty two five fifty nine forty nine.
Let me take a quick fifteen second break so I
can have a sip of my coffee and I'll see
you real quickly. One eight hundred eighty two five five
nine four nine. It's a beautiful morning, folks, and I
(12:28):
thank you for tuning in. One eight hundred eighty two
five five nine four nine. If you've never gone to
our website, check it out. We we we really take pride.
Every week. We update it with different stuff right on
the homepage this week. I'm looking at it right now.
It's funny. I talked yesterday about the tariffs that Trump
wants to put in. I did not realize that Pollo
(12:50):
literally literally on Thursday. Just did a white paper understanding
Trump's tariffs, what they mean for trade and the economy.
I said, yes, they do not get scared. Listen, this
is a guy who talks big, he talks strongly. He's
some people say he's a bully. Whatever you think of him,
I don't care. What I'm saying is he will use
(13:14):
these tariffs to get our country in a better spot.
We will be better off for, our economy will be
better off for. And he's doing what he feels is right.
He's the president. Okay, every president does what they feel
is right. This is his take. And Pollo I did
not realize wrote a white paper on it, understanding Trump's tariffs.
(13:37):
So that's right there on the homepage. Dreaming of warmer
weather and retirement after the winter we went through in
Upstate New York. Absolutely. Harmony Wagner, another one of my
wealth advisors, wrote a beautiful, beautiful paper on dreaming of
warmer weather and retirement and what you should think about.
(13:57):
And then John Mlay to shift team. Should investors be
concerned about the rising US national debt? Absolutely we should.
I talked about that yesterday as well. This great country
of ours is thirty six trillion dollars in debt trillion
twelve zeros at the end of one trillion worth thirty
(14:18):
six trillion dollars in debt. Every year we spend more
than we make, we sell bonds. That's how we settle up.
Countries like China buy our paper. We actually loan them money.
We pay them interest with higher interest rates. Our expense
for that obviously is higher. When you have interest rates
(14:40):
at four or five percent, it's a whole lot different
than when interest rates were near one percent. And that
means at our expense for paying out countries like China
is a lot. Countries like China love buying our paper
because we're the safest country in the world. They know that,
and if we can give them a decent interest rate.
(15:02):
So every time we spend more than we bring in,
that's how we settle up. Now, you and I and
our personal household budgets, we have to either borrow money
by taking equity out of our home, which is never
a good thing. I always say, when you enter retirement
and you have your home paid off, it's a beautiful thing.
That's equity. It's the foundation. If you kind of think
(15:25):
of your financial house as a pyramid. That home is
the foundation of your pyramid, and it's nice when that's
paid off or almost paid off. You borrow money on
credit cards, which is never a good thing. Right now,
Interest on credit cards, if you look at the fine print,
you could be paying twenty percent or more. So, if
(15:47):
you earn fifty thousand dollars a year, you need to
make sure your budget, which includes saving for retirement, doesn't
go over fifty thousand dollars or you're in trouble. Unfortunately,
this country spends more than it takes in. We run
trillions in deficit. President Trump, whether you like him or not,
(16:07):
a love musk, is now in charge of DOGE. He
feels he's going to be able to trim up trillion
dollars out of our deficit. That means by getting rid
of some waste, you may not we may not as
a country have as much of a deficit, which means
our overall that may not grow as much. So John
(16:28):
Mlay wrote a white paper Should investors be concerned about
the rising US national debt? Folks, there's a lot of
good information on our website Bouchet dot com. That's bas
En boy O U c ch e y dot com
one eight hundred eighty two five five nine four nine
Any questions one eight hundred eight two five fifty nine
(16:51):
forty nine. Let's go to the phone lines. We have
Carrie in this Keyuna. Hello Carrie, Oh Steve Bouche.
Speaker 2 (16:59):
I have been a longtime fan and longtime listener since
you were there on Sundays, and I've called in many times,
and I want you to know that we finally are
ready to retire. And when we met with the wonderful Andrea,
Catherine Buck and John Malay and we are Bouchet clients,
my husband is so happy. We almost turned around and
(17:20):
just ran right and to sign the paperwork. And can
you imagine after saving with all your wonderful advice, we
got all our savings to where they should be. And
my husband is actually ready to do with sixty forty
because he hears you say it all the time, even
though he's a kind of a scaredy cat when it
comes to investments. But we really feel we're in great
(17:41):
hands with your people. And I was so sad not
to meet you because, as I said, I've been a
longtime fan and listener. We've talked so many times. You
and I talked years ago, and you had said, Nope,
you're not ready as yet to retire. I wasn't at
the age we are now. We can't wait. We don't
want to leave anything on the table. We are so
(18:02):
happy with you and all your bouchet family.
Speaker 1 (18:04):
I have to say, Carrie, this might be the greatest for.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
All that advice, because it's because of you we are
where we are today with what we had to do.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
Carrie, I can't thank you enough for calling in. I try.
You know, people ask me do I get tired doing
the radio, and I say I don't. I've been doing it.
This year will be thirty years. I've been doing the radio,
and I never get tired. I get energized when I
get that microphone in front of my face. And I
have a face for radio, you know, Carrie. But when
(18:38):
I tell you, I get energized. I get energized because
I know people like you. This is why I love
doing the radio. So if I've been able to help
you and your husband for all those years and now
your clients, and I can't thank you enough for placing
your trust and faith in us. I don't think you'll
be disappointed whatsoever. I have a team second to none professionals.
(19:01):
And I'll let Katie, John and Andrea know that you
called in. But I'm telling you, this is why I
love doing the radio, just because of what you're saying.
So I was able to get you and your husband
to think about saving, putting money away, and now you're
able to retire. Now you're able to enjoy your retirement years,
which is what retirement is really all about. So I
(19:25):
can't thank you enough for this phone call. I don't
think I could have a better phone call in the
thirty years of radio. This may be one of the
best phone calls I could get.
Speaker 2 (19:34):
Well, I have to tell you. I don't know if
you will remember this, but years ago you were so
confident in the S and P and my husband lost
his passwords to a DSD, but I did not, So
we rocked the call in the S and P fund
for so many years, and then when we looked at it,
he went, oh, did you know what was there? Yes?
And you can thank Steve Bouchet for that because and
(19:59):
you know, but and years ago you said, well, I'm
going to make you a friend and family. And I
got to tell you, friend and family, you are not right.
I got to tell you I love your group and
they are worth every single penny. I think we'll be
working with Scott going forward, so I'm interested and anxious
to meet him. But because that's what I was told
(20:20):
by Catherine, Catherine, Katie, I can't wait to sit with
her because I'm just so confident in everybody, and Andrea
can't be more helpful. I'm telling you everybody, and I
know I've talked to Angie in the past, and Lauren
is just wonderful again. You can hear the gushing in
my voice. But I love you and I want you
(20:41):
to know I make your favorite cake and I'm one
of the best makers of your favorite cake. So someday
you need to meet you, and I know you're going
to be there. I'm going to bring it with me.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
So letting you carry you're making me tear up. Carrie,
and you know the listening weddings can see the tears
in my eyes right now. I mean now, Lauren's my daughter,
and she is so proud to be working for me
and helping me, and everybody in my office does a
great job. And you're gonna love Scott. He's an IRS
(21:13):
enrolled agent, so he'll be able to help you with
so much. He's just, you know, amazing. And Katie just
became a certified financial planner. She's she's a you know,
my rock star, up and coming rock star.
Speaker 2 (21:28):
She's wonderful. And we're so confident. And I have to
tell you, you know, we're both retiring basically around the
same time. You know, me first, probably, but you know,
there's that anxiety, there's that oh no, what happens if?
And guess what your people alleviated that. So we are
in your hands. We feel confident, and we now want
(21:50):
to enjoy the rest of our lives, you know, doing
what we want to do on our time clock.
Speaker 1 (21:56):
So that gonna be the biggest thing, you know, Carrie,
I tell clients, when you have your health, you have everything.
When you have each other, your your spouse, your partner,
your loved one, you're really, really fortunate. And if financially
you can do things, don't mess around because you never
know when your health or your loved one may be
(22:17):
taken away from you. I found out the hard way
last year, losing Sue and having my health change. And
I'm all good now, knock on wood, but I don't
have Sue in my life anymore. So now you know
all of the plans that SOE and I have, they're different.
So I'm glad you and your husband did that. Thank
you for the phone call. You will see me next
(22:39):
time by Carrie. Oh what a beautiful phone call. One
eight hundred eight two five, five, nine four nine. Any questions, folks,
you're listening to Let's Talk Money, brought to you by
Bouchet and Answer Group where we help our clients prioritize
their health while we manage their wealth for life. We're
coming up to the bottom of the hour for the
(23:01):
news break. I will be here on the other side
of the news break with Zach Harris, my longtime producer.
One eight hundred eight two five, five nine four nine.
(23:27):
Well oh yeah, well, folks, I'm not sure if you're
lucky or not, but you have Stephen Bouchet here live.
I have some beautiful, amazing, very talented colleagues, but you
have me this morning, March second. The days are getting longer,
the sun is getting warmer or longer, warmer, you get it.
(23:50):
You know, spring is in the air. Thank you for
tuning in. Thank you for hanging in through the news.
One eight hundred eighty two five five nine, four nine.
Let's go to the phone lines. We have Lisa in Bethlehem. Lisa, Lisa,
come on back. We lost li said, let's go back
to the phone lines. We have David Delmar Dave, are
(24:11):
you there.
Speaker 3 (24:12):
I'm here, I'm here, Steve, good morning, Good morning. I say,
for a guy who doesn't like to talk politics, you
talk a lot about politics. It seems I'm also a blank.
But obviously I leaned a different way. But I'm one
who does care about democracy, and I'm just you know,
we just voted with Russia against the United Nations resolution
(24:35):
condemning Russia as the aggressor in the war against Ukraine.
That just just doesn't seem right. And You've also commented
in the past that Trump is a a good business man.
I don't. I don't see it that way. I mean,
he's filed for bankruptcy what how many times? Five or
six times? Good businessman? Don't do that. And one last point,
you know, government isn't meant to be run like a business.
(24:58):
You you as I know, you give a out to charity,
so you know, the goal of businesses to make a profit,
and the goal of government is to serve the people.
And you also have said in the past that you
voted for the vote for the person who lies the
least to you. Do you like less terms, less thirty
thousand lives. Your colleagues don't talk about politics hardly at all,
(25:18):
but you do.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
Yeah, well, you know, I appreciate your thoughts, Dave, I
really do, and I respect your your thoughts. So let
me kind of sum up my feelings. I really don't
talk politics now. When I talk about the economy, and
when I talk about the things that Trump is doing,
that's not talking politics, Dave. That's talking facts. That's talking
(25:44):
about the what's going on in this great country of ours.
And if you liked what was going on in this
great country of ours, where cities across this great land
of ours look worse than Ukraine being battled and decimated
by Russia, then you know, that's just not right. If
you feel like walking down the street, you can't be safe.
(26:06):
If you feel like, maybe you know, because of the
color of your skin or who you elect to love,
that you have to, you know, kind of, you know,
keep your guard up all the time. That's not good, Dave.
That's not good at all. And that's the world we
were living in and now we're not living in that
world as much. And this has nothing to do with politics.
(26:30):
This has to do with common sense. And when I
talk about the economy, when I talk about tariffs, and
go to our website, Paula la Pietra did a great
job talking about terriffs. And when I talk about tariffs, Yes,
you may think Trump is a bully. I could care
less what people think about Trump as a man. What
(26:51):
did you think about Clinton, Dave?
Speaker 4 (26:53):
Did you think he was a great man doing what
he was doing in the Oval office? But he was
a pretty good politician, right, go back to the good
Senator Joe Bruno, Senator Bruno, Shelley Silver, Governor Pataki, behind
closed doors, would.
Speaker 1 (27:09):
Dooke it out. They would argue, they would disagree, but
then they would come out in front of the TV cameras,
in front of their constituents, and they would be united.
They would work out all their problems. That's what we
call negotiating. Trump knows how to negotiate, he knows how
to use things. Listen, we're the greatest country in the
world and we should not be taken advantage of. And
(27:33):
I'm sorry if I don't care if Russia is the aggressor.
I agree with you, Russia is the aggressor. Do I
feel that there should be a way for Russia and
Ukraine to maybe settle this difference without it going on,
without those soldiers being killed or wounded, or just having families,
(27:55):
you know, the tragedy in families lives as Absolutely. I
think that however we negotiate that piece deal, there won't
be It won't be great for Russia, it won't be
great for Ukraine. That's what negotiating is about. And I
think Trump does that well. Dave, So, I don't really
(28:15):
when I sit here, I'm not talking politics. I'm not
a Republican. I'm not a diehard Republican. I do think
Trump can be a narcissist. I do think he can
be a bully, but I also feel in my heart
that he has this great country of ours first and
foremost in his mind. Listen. I think with my heart
as a Democrat, I want to give as much as
(28:39):
I can, and I do. I give more than probably
any wealth advisor in the Capital Regionary gives back to
the community. I believe that in my heart I can't
help people out enough. I can't give my money away enough.
I can't give my resources and share them with non
for profits enough. So from my heart, I'm a Democrat.
(29:02):
From my head, I know that we have to pay
for it somehow. Where there's country is going to be ruined.
That's why I'm a blank and I do. I've voted
for Democrats, I voted for Republicans. I really try to
vote for who I think will lead the country the best.
And right now, I'm optimistic on the economy, Dave, I am,
(29:24):
and you have to be as well. I think that
the stock market's going to do well. I think our
economy is going to do well. I think we're going
to have more jobs brought back to this great country
of ours. I think a lot of good things are
going to come out. And yes, it's like Trump's a
bully in the schoolyard and beating up on all those
(29:45):
smaller kids. I get it, and I agree with you
that's how it feels. But at the end of the day,
I think he's going to accomplish the mission that he's
trying to do and get our country in a better
place than where it's at economically. And that's what I'm
talking about. Economically. I'm not sitting here talking politics. I
talked about the good that President Biden did as well.
(30:08):
I respect everybody in that office in that seat. They're
our president, they need our support for them to do
a good job. Anyway, Dave, thank you for sharing your feelings.
I truly, truly appreciate it. One eight hundred eight two
five five nine four nine one eight hundred eighty two
five fifty nine forty nine. Let's go back to the
(30:29):
fall lines. Lisa Hello, Lisa Hello.
Speaker 5 (30:34):
I was going to make a joke before asking my
financial question of what did Biden do that was positive?
But then I die, I shouldn't.
Speaker 1 (30:40):
So no, you know what, because you know what, half
the country said, Yeah, half the country feels that he
did a good job. Half the country feels that he
did it. And that's what you have to look at.
It's like Dave. Obviously, Dave doesn't think that Trump will
do a good job, and I respect that. This is
why when it comes to you know, I love to
(31:02):
listen to people because I learned if I'm talking all
the time, I never learned. And especially like if I
say that Trump I feel will do good for the economy.
I love when somebody has a different opinion, because sometimes
I can pick up on that and learn from that.
Speaker 5 (31:19):
But you know, I do everything.
Speaker 1 (31:22):
I do respect whoever's sitting in that seat in the
White House because they're our president and they need our support,
the support of all of us.
Speaker 5 (31:33):
I will, I will, I will respectfully disagree with thinking
Biden did a good job. But I'll move on to
my financial questions. I'm just got our borders are secure
and we're safer again in the country.
Speaker 1 (31:48):
I'm gonn't agree with you more. Oh my god, that's
what I said. You said listen. You know, if you listen,
I did not like the direction this country was going in.
And that's not because I'm a raving Republican. It's because
I just didn't feel safe. I haven't been the San
Francisco in years. San Francisco used to be my favorite
(32:10):
big city. I used to go to New York City
once a month. I don't go to New York City
anymore because I wouldn't feel safe. So I'm feeling safer.
I'm feeling better, right.
Speaker 5 (32:23):
I agree with that. Well, I have a financial question.
If you don't mind about five twenty nine plans. So
I researched the dependent care through through my employer who covers,
and I researched dependent care covers like camps, school camps
and babysitting and things like that. Excuse me, child here
(32:47):
through an accredited place. So, and I was I was
looking at that versus the IRS protocols where you can
like deduct like school expenses off of your TAXI as
if you itemize, which I don't. But my question Q
is if you send a child to a element of
private elementary school and it's extremely expensive, you could either
(33:11):
use your five twentt nine plan or I thought you
could write it out as dependent care in your taxes,
but it looks like you can't from with IRS rules.
I'm reading you're not allowed to write off schooling on
your taxes for any reason. It has to be pre
tax or depend care plan, which is only like I said,
daycare and right, or you would use a five twenty
(33:32):
nine plan to pay for like a private school on
the elementary level.
Speaker 1 (33:36):
Is there?
Speaker 5 (33:37):
I just was worrying if I'm looking at that correctly. And
my question to you is is there any tax saving
methods that I should be looking at? He is so
by twent nine plan for elementary school.
Speaker 1 (33:49):
Yeah, no five twenty nine plan, especially the New York
Saves NY saves dot org is that I think the
best in the land. Each state has different rules and regulations.
And in New York, if you're a New York resident,
if you're single, you get up to five thousand dollars
New York state tax deduction, and if you're married, up
(34:12):
to ten thousand dollars. The money that you put into
a five twenty nine, So that could save you seven
eight hundred dollars in taxes. And you know five twenty
nine has to be used for qualified expenses for it
to be tax free. Higher education obviously college and universities,
some key through twelve education, private school tuition up to
(34:32):
ten thousand a year per student, and some student loan repayments.
So you know, each each state is different. As far
as the deductibility, you know, that's going to be a question.
And I have four CPAs in my office. I don't
know if any of them are listening this morning. If
if you are Vinny or you know John O. Ryan
(34:53):
or you know, if Scott's listening, you know, give me
a call and we can you know, we can help
answer Lisa's question better. So I don't have an exact
question there, and I don't want to mislead you. We
need to we need to get a tax advisor to
tell you what you do there, okay.
Speaker 5 (35:16):
And I was asking that question because I was reading
a lot about five twenty nine plans and such, and
that it's gonna even though I only get a ten
thousand dollars deduction off my year on taxes, you know,
if I put like twenty or thirty into it a year,
imp only right off ten. I was reading that it's
still a good idea to possibly put that twenty year
thirty thousand in a year if you have the money
(35:37):
because you're front loading this savings plans so to speak.
That's going to grow for fifteen years. So I wash
neark State gave me more than ten thousand, like I
I know college is going to do. I look at
RPI tuition. It's eighty five thousand a year for example.
Speaker 2 (35:51):
I know, I know I came.
Speaker 5 (35:54):
Across the college and you know ten thousand a year
for two children isn't going to go very far.
Speaker 1 (36:01):
Yeah, well, you know, a beautiful, A beautiful thing, Lisa,
is for you to put money in that five twenty
nine plan, have enough to help pay for your children's education,
and then have your children be as smart as smart
can be and get a full ride, and then you're
then you may have to pay tax on the growth
(36:22):
of that money you put in, which is okay because
it's not being used for college and you can use
it for other things, so it could be win win
in a different way. That money grows tax deferred for
all those years.
Speaker 6 (36:36):
But you know at college age, yeah, you know, you know,
if you don't use it for qualified if you don't
use it for qualified expenses, as they said, let's make
believe your child gets a full ride to RPI and
you don't need that money for college.
Speaker 1 (36:54):
You can use it for you can use it for
another child's education. You can go back to college and
use it to take art classes or whatever you want
to take, believe it or not. But if you don't
use it for qualified expenses, you can use it for retirement.
You'll just pay tax on the growth of it. It's
a beautiful thing. Lisa. Thank you for your Yeah, thank
(37:16):
you for your bye. Lisa. You'll be well, Oh, folks,
I'm not here talking politics, but I do appreciate the
phone call from Dave, and I appreciate Lisa's comments. I
do and will give comment on the deficit this country
is in, and I do think it's a shame. It's
a state of shambles. Thirty six trillion dollars and that's
(37:40):
Democrats and Republicans are responsible for that. That's not just
the Democrats. That's listen, we had COVID, we had a
lot of stuff that that that came up in our lives.
So our deficit group and now the key is to
try to reduce that deficit. The better of a job
(38:01):
we do it. Reducing that deficit, this great country bus
is going to be in a better financial shape. And listen,
we're the best country in the world and we need
to be strong. We need to be the leaders, and
we need to be financially independent. Just like the first
half of the show I talked about you being financially
independent in retirement. That's what you have to pay attention to,
(38:21):
is being financially independent. We as a country need to
do the same thing. And I do disagree with Dave.
I don't think we should be running in a deficit
because we're the government. We should have a balanced budget,
which means that if we feel we should be spending,
if we're bringing in five trillion dollars a revenue, we
(38:42):
should try to spend five trillion dollars in expenses, not
six trillion or seven trillion, where we're adding a trillion
or two onto that thirty six trillion dollars that we're
in debt. The nation is in debt thirty six trillion.
That's that's how I look at it. So I want
the economy to get better. I want I think tariffs
(39:04):
will be good. Believe it or not, I think they're
They're being used as a tool, as a weapon. It's
a negotiating tool. One eight hundred eighty two five five
nine four nine one eight hundred eighty two, five fifty
nine forty nine. If you have any questions, give me
a call. I'd love, love, would love to talk to you,
(39:26):
any questions whatsoever. So in the next couple of weeks,
because here we are March second, we know April fifteenth
is around the corner, which means that we're going to have,
you know, April fifteenth our deadline for filing taxes. You
could also still put money into an IRA or roth
ira believe it or not, up until April fifteenth for
(39:49):
last year. That's a beautiful thing, isn't it. So you
can still fund an ira roth are traditional for last
year twenty twenty four, right up in until April fifteenth,
twenty twenty five. But there was a great article in
the weekend edition of the Wall Street Journal, really don't
(40:09):
let a scam artists file your taxes for you. And
I found it really interesting because I learned something I
love to learn. Let me give out the phone numbers
one more time. We got time for some more calls,
and if you have questions or comments, give me a call.
One eight hundred eighty two five five nine four nine
(40:29):
one eight hundred eight two, five fifty nine forty nine.
So your tax ID, you know tax id that happens
like this. Somebody I call them a thug, but in
this article they call them a frauds that uses a
real person's information data birth social Security number to file
(40:51):
a fake tax return in that person's name. The fake
return claims a made up we found that typically goes
to the frauds account. Then when the real taxpayer files
the actual return, the IRS computers rejected because they already
processed the return with that name and IDs, so the
real filth filer has to resolve the problem. And it's
(41:15):
a pain in the net. Folks. If somebody steals your ID,
believe me, it's not easy to get it back, not
easy at all. So victims must you know, you got
to file affidavits, you got to prove your identity, submit paperwork,
wait for refunds if you're going to get them. It's
(41:35):
a total pain in the net. And last year fiscal
year twenty twenty four, the IRS hit four hundred and
seventy thousand open cases in which it was assisting tax
id that victims. According to a report from the National
Taxpayer Advocate, a person by the name of Aaron Collins.
(41:58):
She runs an independent arm inside the IRS and basically
to prevent this, IRIS encourages taxpayers and I did not
know those folks. So when you get your taxes done,
ask your tax preparer to apply for a six digit
ip PIN. Monday morning, I plan on asking my tax
(42:20):
preparer for this. It stands for Identity Protection Personal Identification
Number taxpayers who have them. The IRS is computer reject
returns without the proper number to prevent fraud. This number
is different from the five digit PIN many taxpayers used
to e file. So ip pins is something that's you know,
(42:45):
it's like double verification. It's just another layer. And it's
as I said, I plan on asking about it tomorrow.
And it's just another way to protect yourself. I always say,
if you have your social Security card in your wallet,
take it out right now. Hide it somewhere in a
(43:08):
you know, hide it in your sock drawer. Just don't
carry it in your wallet. If you lose your wallet,
now you boss your social security number. Somebody will have
your social Security number more than likely. Guess what, you
have your driver's license in your wallet. That means that
now somebody has not only your social Security number, but
(43:29):
they have your name, your address, your data, birth, your
driver's license ID. They have everything they need to steal
your identity. If you have your social Security number in
your wallet, take it out, folks, right now. Don't wait,
take it out right now. Do not ever carry your
(43:49):
social Security number in your wallet. Bad, bad, bad, bad,
bad thing to do. And if you haven't signed up
for some of these that blocks and everything, think about it,
look into it, research it, ask your tax prepare. Listen,
listen I'm getting text on my phone, spam text on
(44:13):
my phone? How do they get my cell phone number? Crazy?
And I mean, how many times do I need to
renew the warranty on my car? I never even knew
what the warranty on my car was up. You get
the picture and the emails that you get. So the
scam artists are getting more sophisticated. They're finding better ways
(44:36):
to steal your identity, to suck you into sharing information
that you shouldn't share. Any legitimate organization will not do
that to you. And the scam artists they use emails
with logos. Listen, you can copy and paste a logo
of any financial institution or whatever. You can copy and
(44:59):
paste their logo. You get the picture. So you've got
to be really really careful about what you do and
how you do it. Just you know, keep it in
the back of your mind. And if listen, if you
have parents or grandparents that you care for, they are
targeted and help them. Make sure you check in with them,
(45:22):
make sure they're not answering the phone. You know, one
of the biggest biggest scam techniques right now is, hey,
we have your grandson. You need to you know, give
you know, this money to bail them out of jail
or your granddaughter, and older people fall for it because
there there is some some older people are naive. So
(45:46):
try to try to protect your parents or grandparents. Check
in with them, you know, kind of check their caller
ID and if you see you know, I think you
can actually set up your phone. I think I have
it set up on my phone where if it's a
number you're not aware of, it won't ring, it'll go
(46:06):
right to voicemail. And we know these scam artists never
leave voicemails, so it's really another way that you don't
have to worry about somebody getting through to you. And
it's just you know, help out your parents and grandparents
and help out yourself. The best thing you can do
(46:26):
is just always be one step ahead of the scam artist,
the thugs in the world that are really you know,
I mean, did you ever get a letter from Nick
Arraga where you know, you know, hey, just give us
a check for ten dollars and we're going to give
you a million dollars. We just need the ten dollars
to get your bank account information. Hey, folks, great show,
(46:48):
great comments. I respect all of your opinions you're listening
to Let's Talk Money, brought to you by Bouchet fin
Answer Group, where we help our clients prioritize their health
while we manage their wealth for life. I can't thank
you enough for tuning in today. Go to our website
Bouche dot com. That's bia zen boy O U C
h e y dot com. We got some great articles there.
(47:11):
Have a great Sunday come back next weekend. Be well, folks,
stay healthy,
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On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com