August 14, 2025 • 41 mins
On today’s episode of Simply Money presented by Allworth Financial, Bob and Brian break down what an extended U.S.–China trade truce really means for your money — from Wall Street to your wallet. They explore the economic ripple effects, where the opportunities (and risks) might be for investors with serious assets, and why patience might pay off in this uncertain climate.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Big beautiful bill is happening on fifty five KRC the
talk station.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Tonight.
Speaker 3 (00:16):
What an extended trade truce between the United States and
China could mean for your money. You're listening to Simply Money,
presented by all Worth Financial on Bob Sponseller along with
Brian James Well, in case you missed it, the US
and China have agreed to extend their tariff truths yet.
Speaker 4 (00:32):
Again by another ninety days.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
And on the surface, it sounds like progress, and I'm
sure there is progress going on behind the scenes. Stock
Stock's obviously got a little bumped yesterday based on that
news and the inflation print business headlines remain cautiously optimistic.
But bottom line, what does this actually mean for long
term investors?
Speaker 4 (00:55):
Brian walk us through it.
Speaker 5 (00:57):
Now. This is the real, the real deadline right this
time around.
Speaker 6 (01:00):
It counts right this time, we're going to stick to it,
and this is when we're going to be done with this,
right Bob, Please?
Speaker 5 (01:06):
Now, I I think.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
Heart, I think he I think hard deadlines. Hard deadlines
under this president lead to uncertainty and volatility. I'm frankly
completely fine with the ongoing negotiation. Not do anything drastic
so far, markets are responding in kind, and it's been
a pretty good year so far.
Speaker 4 (01:30):
That's not I don't mean that as a political statement.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
I just mean that as a practical reality of what
we're seeing here since April, since Liberation Day where we
ripped the band aid off and the markets went haywire.
Speaker 6 (01:42):
But in the reality, yes, is that that a deadline
is not a deadline under this under this president.
Speaker 5 (01:48):
And we know this.
Speaker 6 (01:48):
We've seen this many many times when we first had
these threats. Remember what the market did back in April.
The market got absolutely crushed and we were quickly down
fifteen almost twenty percent because oh my gosh, these deadline
what happens on Liberation Day, It's all going to change immediately,
And that didn't happen. So the good news is the
market has learned to kind of roll with the punches
on this. And I think we all know not to believe.
You know that the deadline is really the deadline.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
We're gonna Well, but Brian, just to push back a
little bit, how is this any different than how Congress operates?
I mean, we need bills passed, and we have deadlines
for government shutdowns all the time, and they kick the
can right down the road till most of the time
three o'clock in the morning until they get something done
(02:31):
and markets get volatile and everything gets settled at the end.
Speaker 4 (02:35):
I think same thing.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
I think markets have learned to adjust to how business
is being done right now.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
They have.
Speaker 6 (02:41):
But again, these kind of tariff decisions literally affect if
I'm going to order something from overseas to support my business,
my price is this today, it's that tomorrow. That's how
this is actually going. And so the kinds of question,
Congress hasn't made decisions like that recently that it have
impact literally overnight. So that's why the I mean, I
think we've learned to roll with it. Businesses got used
(03:03):
to it. They need to be super nimble right now.
But that's the real difference these decisions, Uh, you know,
regardless whether we agree with them or disagree with them,
that's that doesn't matter. But it does affect exactly how
a business would decide to decide it's important decisions today
versus tomorrow.
Speaker 5 (03:18):
So I think that's a huge difference.
Speaker 4 (03:20):
No, And I think that's a good point.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
And I think that's why on the employment front, you know,
you're not seeing a lot of layoffs, but you're seeing
hiring slow down, there's no doubt about it. And I
think I think you make a good point there. I
think there is uncertainty embedded in this economy relative to
interest rate policy, teariff policy, and that's why people are
(03:42):
just kind of cautiously optimistic.
Speaker 4 (03:44):
Right now but not making big, big bets.
Speaker 3 (03:47):
And it's it's for I think you make a good point,
you know, when he doesn't know what's coming.
Speaker 6 (03:52):
Yeah, yes, absolutely, So let the record show that Bob said,
Brian was right. Now we're going to move on quickly
to the next topic before he can respond to that statement.
Speaker 3 (03:59):
I'm just trying to be I'm just trying to be
polite because we're on the radio together.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
But go.
Speaker 6 (04:04):
Ahead, all right, enough sillyness, let's provide the folks actual,
real information.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
So let's start with the basics of this.
Speaker 6 (04:11):
So this ninety day extension, both countries are once again
hitting pause on any additional tariffs that we're supposed to
go into effect next month.
Speaker 5 (04:18):
So we're just buying more time.
Speaker 6 (04:19):
The diplomats have more time to go back and forth,
and they're not acting under the immediate threat of hey,
do this by Wednesday or bad stuff happened. So but
remember this. That also means the flip side of this
is that nothing substance in substantive has actually changed yet.
We don't have a deal, didn't have one yesterday, we
don't have one today. We're not rolling back any existing tariffs.
Absolutely nothing has changed. We are simply adding more time
(04:41):
for the for the various parties to continue to talk.
So if you don't look at this as you know,
as something that's some kind of all clear signal or
you know, everybody back in the pool, everything is one.
The fact that the market really seems to like it.
The market simply likes the fact that for now the
fog has lifted. We know that there's not an immediate
change coming today tomorrow because we just bumped it out
(05:02):
by ninety days and we know we're going to run
right up against that deadline most likely.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
Yeah, while we're on the topic of tariffs, I think
this is a good good topic to just kick around
for a couple minutes. I mean, whether you like it
or hate it, or like I always say, anything in between,
I think reality is settling in here. With respect to
the President, Trump sees tariffs as a permanent solution here
(05:27):
both to raise revenue for the federal government, and whether
you want to call it a tax increase or not,
it is a tax increase. I mean, consumers are ultimately
going to pay the cost of these tariffs, and I
think it takes a little bit of time for these
permanent tariffs, if they do stay permanent, and I think
they're going to be permanent at least for a while,
(05:50):
it takes a while for those increased costs to make
their way to the consumer.
Speaker 4 (05:55):
To your point, Brian, as businesses adjust.
Speaker 3 (05:58):
The flip side of that, and the POTENTI so positive
is we've seen trillions of dollars get committed to get
invested in the United States and create jobs and build
out critical infrastructure and plant equipment in this country. That's
going to take time to manifest itself as well. So
we're just seeing a paradigm shift in terms of how
(06:20):
this president and this administration want a role here. And
it's just different, and it takes time for consumers and
companies and everybody to adjust.
Speaker 6 (06:32):
Yeah, and now let's take a look at tariffs. We've
been talking about these all year long, really, and so
when we know we were in a position like you
just said, well, we are collecting dollars, and it is
having an impact on the decisions businesses are making. They're
building factories and building resources here on shore, and that's
a good thing. But you know, let's look at where
these dollars go, right, somebody's paying these and they're landing somewhere. Well,
tariffs get collected by customs and Border Protection and they
(06:55):
go they go right into the general revenue pool of
the US Treasury, so they're not necessarily ear marked for anything.
They're just fresh dollars that we can kind of do
whatever we want to do with, you know, less Congress
decides something more specific.
Speaker 5 (07:07):
So let's talk about some numbers.
Speaker 6 (07:09):
In July of twenty five, the US collected almost three
times as much in customs duties.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
Year over year versus last year.
Speaker 6 (07:15):
That's just pure tariffs, so we're always collecting, right, Tariffs
didn't just drop out of sky. We've always had tariffs.
Other countries have had tariffs against us. It's always been
in place. We've simply increased what we're charging to do
business here, so we have tripled the amount of revenue
that we're pulling in.
Speaker 5 (07:29):
However, the July.
Speaker 6 (07:30):
Budget deficit still grew about twenty percent compared to year
over years. So what that should tell us is that
tariffs may help us bring more business on shore, but
in the short run, they're not going to help close
that budget deficit because that is still a much larger
item to worry about.
Speaker 4 (07:44):
Yeah, yeah, for sure.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
And that's where I think the administration is planning on
all this stuff, eventually generating economic growth, growing the pie,
which eventually grows tax revenue. It remains to be seen
what that growth rate will be and when it starts
to manifest itself, and that's what makes this interesting to watch.
You're listening to Simply Money, presented by all Worth Financial.
(08:07):
I'm Bob Sponseller along with Brian James. All Right, enough
of Bob and Brian speculating about the world and you know,
kicking around tariff policy.
Speaker 4 (08:16):
We have no control over this whatsoever.
Speaker 3 (08:18):
Let's about it, Bob, Well, let's bring it home to
everybody's financial plan. What should we be doing right now
in this season where markets are at an all time high.
We've got uncertainty around interest rates and tariffs. As we've
discussed ad nauseum. What should the average investor be doing now?
As they monitor their financial plan.
Speaker 6 (08:39):
Brian, Well, so, just like any other headline, we don't
want to overreact to it. Matter of fact, I'll go
ahead and say that there really are zero headlines that
you would read as soon as you wake up and
pick up your phone in the morning. There are zero
headlines that should cause you to rush to your portfolio
and go do something if you've set it up properly
to begin with. If you have speculative stuff that bounds
as well, then yeah, you've chosen that lifestyle and enjoy that,
(09:01):
but make sure you understand what your exposure is. Stay diversified. Right, So,
I have a lot of clients over the past many
years who have said, you know what, I just don't
why do we need to own anything other than the
S and P five hundred's let's get out of all
all the international stuff that doesn't do anything. Let's move around. Well,
the US has changed how it operates, and the market
(09:21):
has recognized that. The market is recognizing that the US
is aroundabout way exiting certain markets by being harder to
work with. So therefore other countries have found and created
deals with each other, and that creates opportunities for companies
that don't happen to be invested in the United States.
You can get exposure to that. That simply means have
a little bit maybe if it's in an all soock portfolio,
maybe it's fifteen to twenty percent that you put on
(09:42):
the international side. But this is important because international stocks
so far are up over twenty percent this year because
the market has recognized this opportunity.
Speaker 5 (09:49):
It's a catalyst, that's all.
Speaker 3 (09:51):
Yeah, nobody saw that coming heading into this year. And really,
to your point, nobody has really wanted to touch or
discuss in our national stocks for three, four or five
years from now, or for three or four five years now.
And yeah, occasionally we always get questions like, hey, why
do you have that stuff in the portfolio because it's underperformed. Well,
(10:12):
lo and behold, this is a good year to illustrate
why a diversified portfolio makes sense, including international exposure.
Speaker 4 (10:20):
And I'll remind folks again.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
Over it's about a third of the S and P
five hundred right now is cap weighted in those magnificent
seven stocks and tech stocks have had a.
Speaker 4 (10:32):
Great run here.
Speaker 3 (10:33):
But yeah, stay diversified, get things spread around a little bit,
and make sure you are a position for any volatility
in anyone sector or company that comes down the pike.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
And I'll also throughout.
Speaker 6 (10:45):
I just had a conversation yesterday with somebody had a
client drop and one of my all time favorite clients
dropped in just to say hello, and we wound up
talking about some things what's going on, and we actually
wound up making some financial moves he didn't he wasn't
thinking about. So he's got some he has a he
had a truck loan leftover. He's just got some debts
out there that he's been thinking about and tired of
making payments on. And as we talked through it, we
(11:06):
concluded that you know what, yeah, mate, this is in
your IRA. You're gonna have pay income taxes on it.
But at the same time, the market is in an
absolute high, So let's go ahead and pull that out now.
Speaker 5 (11:16):
Because he was literally we did the math.
Speaker 6 (11:17):
He was literally doing it with money he didn't have
two days ago, because the market has because of the
way the market has run, so we were simply using
found money to pay off the debts. So my point
in all this is, look at your situation. If you
have stuff coming up, if you've got big bills coming up,
or maybe you've always wanted to refresh the emergency fund.
If the cash is leaked down to a certain point
where maybe you're a little uncomfortable. Now would be a
(11:38):
great time. The market is at and high. Act proactive
things you can do to take advantage of that, or
use the cash for something else. You've got money you
didn't have before. Pay off those little debts. Blow some
of that little stuff up. If you've got a wedding
coming up for a kid or some big expense, carve
that out.
Speaker 5 (11:52):
Maybe you don't pull it out.
Speaker 6 (11:53):
Of the investment, if it's an IRA or something like that,
but carve it out and stick it in cash and
wait until it's time to pull the trigger.
Speaker 5 (12:00):
That will remove the stress in the future.
Speaker 6 (12:02):
If three months from now the market is taking a
massive hit and that bill has truly come due, well
that's good because you already set it aside and you
don't have to eat that hit on that particular situation.
Speaker 3 (12:12):
Yeah, exactly, just because the market's at an all time high.
Don't treat your stock portfolio or tech stocks in particular,
as an ATM machine. If you need money in thirty
sixty ninety days treat your money accordingly, and don't you know,
don't let us sit there and.
Speaker 4 (12:28):
Drop by potentially ten percent if we do have a pullback.
Speaker 3 (12:31):
All right, here's the all Worth advice. A trade truce
is not a trade solution. Use this window of time
to stress test your plan before any new policy shifts
come down the pike. Next, a new claim about why
stocks are lower in August and September and how you
should react to it, if at all. You're listening to
(12:53):
Simply Money, presented by all Worth Financial on fifty five
KRC the talk station.
Speaker 7 (12:58):
Fin Angel, a registered advisory firm. Any ideas presented during
this program are not intended to provide specific financial advice.
You should consult your own financial advisor, tax consultant, or
a state planning attorney to conduct your own due diligence.
Speaker 3 (13:17):
You're listening to Simply Money, presented by all Worth Financial
enmop spon Seller along with Brian James. How do you
dial back the risk without sacrificing the growth you still
need for your portfolio and retirement plan. It's one of
several questions we're going to answer and are ask. The
advisors segment coming up at six forty three all right,
(13:37):
here's a tough one, especially for anyone sending a kid
off the college. This month, a new report shows that
more parents are tapping into retirement accounts and home equity
loans to cover rising tuition bills. Brian, I see this occasionally.
I mean, it's just, you know, obviously the cost of
(13:57):
college has gotten completely out of whack. Walk us through
some of the latest research here.
Speaker 6 (14:04):
This comes from Sally May, which is the student loan
government or government agency that helps us keep things together
in terms of moving money back and forth to help
people get to college, similar to what Fannie May Freddie
Mack do for mortgages. But new study how America pays
for college shows nine percent of people use retirement savings
to help cover their cost this year. That doesn't sound
like much, it's a single digit number, but it's going up.
(14:27):
And that's the that's the issue. That's not money just leaving.
Speaker 5 (14:30):
Right.
Speaker 6 (14:30):
So if you spend money, whenever you spend a chunk
like that, that money has come out and it will
not be there for your retirement.
Speaker 5 (14:36):
And so we're assuming you.
Speaker 6 (14:37):
Know, you're on average, your average retiree who you're sorry,
your average parent who has a kid in college is
probably maybe early late forties, early fifties, mid fifties. That's
really early in the retirement timeframe to be drawing on
those assets already, and so therefore we're going to lose
out on the ability to compound those assets. They won't
be there when they're twenty twenty five. So even if
(14:59):
it's a you know, a fifty thousand dollars expense now
means one hundred hundred and fifty twenty five years from now.
So that can be a big concern. So what should
we do differently, Well, one thing you could do is
just just change your thinking. It's not a bad thing
for kids to come out with student loans. Student loans
are relatively friendly, you know, in terms of they beat
the heck out of credit cards. For sure, you can
(15:20):
help them with payments. So maybe especially if you're under
fifty nine and a half, there's some people out there
that take these distributions, Bob, and they pay income taxes
of course to draw on their iras, but they also
have to pay penalties because they're using it. Because they're
not using it, they're under age. You're under fifty nine
and a half. So what you can do is find
a way to pay for it, even if that includes
student loans, and then once you're fifty nine and a half,
(15:41):
then you can start taking smaller amounts out to help
make that payment. Focus on the payment, maybe not the
entire balance, if there's no other way to do it.
Speaker 1 (15:49):
Well.
Speaker 3 (15:49):
I got a couple thoughts on this topic. I mean,
you know, obviously, if your kids going to college this
month and there's a they're a freshman and they're just
going and it's a done deal, there's nothing you could
do about it now now. But I find once in
a while, I mean, this is just a cultural thing.
I think the cultural norm has become, Hey, my kids
are going to go to college, and I'm going to
help them pay for it because my parents did that
(16:11):
for me. And I want my kids to get into
the best school they can get into, and we're going
to find a way to pay for it. And the
price tag of that approach just keeps skyrocketing. And what
we hate to see people do is put their own
retirement viability of their retirement plan and jeopardy just to
pay for a hugely expensive college education for their kids.
(16:34):
I think the other thing people need to start to
look at if they haven't already. If there's a little
leeway between you know, the age of your kids and
when they go to college, I think you've got to
look at a return on investment of a college education,
depending on what the major is. You got to look
at that just like any other investment. Look at the
earnings prospects and whether this is a good deal to
(16:57):
you know, spend sixty thousand dollars a year on a
degree in history or you know, I don't know. I
think you got to start to look at this and
say does this make sense? And then have the kid
be a little invested in the results and collaborate and
make a good decision that's going to make financial sense
for the parents now. And also even with those loans,
(17:21):
you know what the kids staring at when they're twenty
two to twenty three years old and all the frat
parties in and reality sets in and they got bills
to pay every month.
Speaker 6 (17:30):
That sounds like a conversation you've had at a dinner
table once or twice, once or twice.
Speaker 5 (17:35):
All right, Yeah, so this is a big deal.
Speaker 6 (17:37):
About thirty two percent of parents financially aid their adult
children anyway, and about twenty seven percent of them say
that those decisions are delaying their own retirement. Remember, just
like Bob said, you you're Bob referenced earning's capability and
that kind of thing out there. So your your younger
children have more potential to earn dollars than you will
simply because of how much time they have left, so
(17:57):
they will be able to get loans for things you
will not in retirement.
Speaker 5 (18:01):
Does so plan accordingly?
Speaker 3 (18:02):
All right, switching gears here, let's hit on this one quick, Brian.
We told you last week that August is historically a
down month for the stock market on an average downward
return of zero point six percent over the last thirty
five years for the S and P five hundred, despite
you know what the scary headlines tell you. You know,
new studies have shown that the weather actually impacts people's
(18:26):
sentiment toward the stock market. And now that daylight starts
to disappear and temperatures eventually start to go down, that
psychologically is impacting why money managers and investors feel like
the stock market's going to go down. Brian, I think
this is a bunch of hogwash, like a lot of
things the media puts out there. But Hey, I'm just
(18:50):
one guy with an opinion. What do you say about
that study?
Speaker 6 (18:53):
I mean, and sometimes clients bring this kind of thing
up because they'll spot an article or something like that
and the one and we all want every to be
black and white, Bob, Right, So when people come in
all the time wanting to I want this predictable. I
want A plus B to equal C. Therefore, I'm going
to look for indicators. I'm going to look for triggers
that will to do A or B based on, you know,
whichever way the arrow is pointing. And this is just
(19:14):
one of those. It's just one of those that says, well,
if it's if we're looking at, if it's gonna the
skies are going to be great for the next couple
of weeks, well then that means the world is going
to be depressed and they're going to be less interested
in buying stocks and so on, and so that none
of this stuff should impact. But again, at the whole
point is we all are on this endless chase for
how can I predict what the market's going to do?
Show me the blinking red light or the blinking green
(19:34):
light that shows me what to do.
Speaker 5 (19:35):
And I've spent.
Speaker 6 (19:36):
We all spend most of our careers getting people off
of this this subsession that there is any ability to
predict it. It's more about understanding what the impact will
be and reacting accordingly, not trying to control it because
you can't.
Speaker 3 (19:50):
Yeah, I mean, everybody wants that black box solution, you know,
to time the market and make the right calls and
all that. But I I'm going contrarian on this for
the reasons you brought up. Everybody is always looking for
an edge and a way to make money, and I
think people are interested in making money whether there's snow
on the ground, sun and the skies, whether it's ninety
(20:11):
degrees or forty five degrees out. So I don't buy
this whole weather thing. All right, here's the all Worth advice.
Markets may feel gloomy when the skies do, but don't
let short term mood swings throw off a long term strategy.
We want to make you aware of multiple new scams
that have come to the service and surface, and we're
gonna do that next with our good friend Josil Erlik
(20:34):
from the Cincinnati Better Business Bureau. You're listening to Simply Money,
presented by all Worth Financial on fifty five KRC the
Talk Station.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
Little do you know it, we've been taking you back
to school all summer.
Speaker 2 (20:47):
It sounds like.
Speaker 4 (20:48):
A high school term paper that got a little.
Speaker 2 (20:51):
More continued education.
Speaker 8 (20:53):
Yeah, that's just smart.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
Fifty five KRC.
Speaker 8 (20:56):
The Talk Station an iHeartRadio station.
Speaker 3 (21:03):
You're listening to Simply Money, presented by all Worth Financial.
I'm Bob Spunseller along with Brian James, joined tonight by
our good friend josial Erlik, who's the president and CEO
of our Greater Cincinnati Better Business Bureau.
Speaker 4 (21:17):
Josial thank you for making time for us tonight.
Speaker 3 (21:20):
As always, you've got some warnings to put out there
about posting those back to school photos on your kids
as we head into back to school season, and we're
talking about social media here right absolutely.
Speaker 8 (21:33):
You know you've all seen those pictures of the little
child holding up the sign.
Speaker 9 (21:37):
You know, Johnny is going.
Speaker 8 (21:39):
To Saint Agnes's school and missus Thomas's class, third grade class,
et cetera, et cetera. Those scammers can use that information
to commit ID theft. And if you're one of more
than fifty percent of adults who use their child's personal
information and passwords, Posting that picture can lead you open
to a security breach. Not to mention, these details are
(22:02):
used a lot of times in security questions for your
bank or your credit card accounts. So before you post
that picture, pay attention to the information that is described
on that sign. Also pay attention to any house numbers
or street signs, or other identifiable location in the background.
Make sure no school signs or other landmarks are visible
(22:25):
that could reveal places that your child frequents for obvious reasons,
and double check your privacy settings. Be aware of who
you're allowing to see your posts. You might want to
consider removing any personal information from your account that others
can see, like your phone number or your address.
Speaker 6 (22:45):
Okay, Josie, actually you made me think of something there.
You mentioned a lot of that being available on social media.
Something else I've been seeing a lot lately, especially on
like neighborhood group pages. That kind of thing is pictures
of lost doggies and kitticats, And so what I think
what you're about to tell me is that often those
aren't real.
Speaker 9 (23:01):
Well not exactly.
Speaker 8 (23:03):
You did lose your dog or your cat, and you
post it up there. You want everybody to be on
the lookout for Spot and here's a picture of Spot.
But generally on those posts that you make you have
posted your phone number or your email ways that people
can contact you. Scammers are scouring social media for that
(23:27):
kind of information. You got your phone number up there,
you're gonna get caulllls, and they're not always from people
who have actually found your pet. We're seeing a couple
versions of this scam.
Speaker 9 (23:37):
In one, you.
Speaker 8 (23:38):
Get a text message from somebody saying they found little
Spot and you ask them to describe the animal or
send you a picture, but there's an excuse as to
why that can't happen. Maybe the person is out of town,
or goodness, their smartphone isn't working and they can't send
you a picture. Instead, they're going to pressure you for
money or maybe a gift card, so that they will
(24:01):
return your pet to you. Once they get your money.
Even if you're tempted, don't pay up. The scammer does
not have your pet. They're just going to take your
money and disappear.
Speaker 9 (24:11):
Now.
Speaker 8 (24:12):
In another version of the scam, you get a social
media message from somebody about drone technology or search parties
that can help you find your pet.
Speaker 9 (24:21):
They'll ask you to.
Speaker 8 (24:22):
Pay up front, of course, and they'll likely ask you
to send it through a peer to peer payment.
Speaker 9 (24:26):
App like zell.
Speaker 8 (24:28):
Before you pay for drones or search parties, look up
the business on BBB dot org to see if the
business is real, or check BBB Scam Tracker to find
out if anybody else has reported a similar experience.
Speaker 3 (24:42):
All right, Joe Sile, this next one hits pretty close
to home. I didn't even know these things existed until
about two weeks ago.
Speaker 4 (24:48):
And then lo and.
Speaker 3 (24:49):
Behold, I saw Brian with one of these things hanging
off of his work bag, and we're talking about these
lubooboo dolls, and it sounds like there's some counterfeit scam
going on with those two.
Speaker 4 (25:02):
I don't know why anybody would want to collect.
Speaker 3 (25:04):
These ugly little varmints, but talk about the scam that's
happening here.
Speaker 4 (25:08):
As they become more popular.
Speaker 8 (25:11):
They are not the most attractive doll in the world.
La Boo boos are small monster dolls that are really
hot commodity with young people. They're sold through TikTok live streams,
and the excitement about these dolls, or at least part
of it, is that you don't know which doll you're
going to get until the package comes, and some of
them are worth hundreds of dollars apparently. So of course,
(25:33):
where moneys involve, scammers are cashing in on a labooboo
trend by creating fake websites that mimic the official site
look almost identical to it. You're directed to these fraudulent
sites through Instagram ads or maybe TikTok live streams, where
they're using a sense of urgency and excitement to pressure
you into a quick sale.
Speaker 9 (25:54):
These live streams often claim that they just got a.
Speaker 8 (25:57):
New inventory, and as soon as you get a new inventory,
they sell out out uh and they use countdowns to
encourage you to act fast before they sell out, so
you don't really have time to think of it. They're
a hot commodity. Maybe you want to get it for
your child or your grandchild as a birthday present, so
you buy quickly without thinking about it. For the scammers
that actually have a product to sell, it's the knockoff lafufoo.
(26:22):
That's f u f u rather than the original love
boo boo, which.
Speaker 9 (26:26):
Is bu bu.
Speaker 3 (26:31):
Behaviorself Brian, please behave sorry.
Speaker 8 (26:36):
Okay, you can do with that as you watch and
you get anyway, you're going to get nothing for your money.
You're either going to get a fake knockoff that is
worth absolutely nothing and might not even look like these
monster dolls, or they're not going to send you anything.
Speaker 6 (26:52):
So okay, I'm going to take over the rest of
the show here because Bob just ran out of the
studio with an armload of lafufoos that he has to
go dump on eBay real quick before so he doesn't
was all this funny.
Speaker 5 (27:01):
Kerry's going to kill you, man.
Speaker 6 (27:02):
Okay, So let's talk about another a little more a
little more common, right, So anymore, we all buy everything
off Amazon, and my guess is that when I go
to Col's, eighty percent of the people wandering around in
there are returning Amazon stuff.
Speaker 5 (27:13):
So Amazon comes with scams. Tell us about the latest
one coming out of that space.
Speaker 8 (27:18):
The latest one is they're sending texts claiming there's a
problem with something that you bought. You're going to get
a text that looks like it's from Amazon claiming they
did a routine quality inspection. I'm doing air quotes here
and your recent purchase doesn't meet Amazon's standards.
Speaker 9 (27:34):
Or it was recalled.
Speaker 8 (27:36):
They offer you a refund and say you don't need
to return the item, but you do have to click
a link.
Speaker 9 (27:41):
To request your refund.
Speaker 8 (27:43):
Well, needless to say, there was no quality inspection and there.
Speaker 9 (27:46):
Is no refund.
Speaker 8 (27:47):
It's just a phishing scam to steal your money or
your personal information. Now, if you are worried about a
recent purchase, log in through the Amazon website or the
app to see if there's a problem with your order.
Speaker 9 (28:00):
Don't use the link in the text, All.
Speaker 3 (28:03):
Right, Joe Sial in the thirty or forty seconds we
got left here.
Speaker 4 (28:07):
These jury duty scams are prevalent.
Speaker 3 (28:09):
You've talked about them in the past, and it sounds
like another one is cropping up here in recent weeks
and months.
Speaker 8 (28:16):
Yeah, they say they're from the police.
Speaker 9 (28:18):
They are not.
Speaker 8 (28:18):
In this version, they send you to a site that
looks legitimate official found in URL government looking seals. Then
it'll ask you to enter your birthday in social and
to look up how much you owe. It might ask
you to pay as much as ten thousand dollars in
fines on the site, or they'll send you to a
government kiosk, which there is no such thing to pay.
(28:39):
By cryptocurrency. Every bit of.
Speaker 9 (28:41):
This is a scam, all right.
Speaker 4 (28:43):
You've covered a lot of great ground tonight.
Speaker 3 (28:45):
As always, Joe Cia, we so much appreciate you coming
on with us and appreciate everything you do for us
out here in the Greater Cincinnati community. You're listening to
Simply Money presented by all Worth Financial on fifty five
KRC the Talk station Reading.
Speaker 6 (29:01):
It's not as if there are people sitting there reading
every piece of information the US government has writing.
Speaker 7 (29:07):
China is writing the rules while we're left.
Speaker 3 (29:09):
Behind math deploying fake mass and accounting gimmicks to hide
the true cost of their bill.
Speaker 2 (29:16):
Little do you know it? It keeps changing every day.
We've been taking you back to school all summer. It
sounds like a.
Speaker 3 (29:23):
High school term paper that got a little mark.
Speaker 1 (29:25):
Continued Education on fifty five KRS the Talk station.
Speaker 2 (29:31):
Get on the road to victory and welcome to here.
Why do we keep letting thousands of people come over
and do nothing about it?
Speaker 8 (29:37):
My family's safety is.
Speaker 1 (29:38):
At risk fifty five KRC, the talk Station.
Speaker 3 (29:46):
You're listening to Simply Money presented by all Worth Financial
on Bob Sponseller along with Brian James.
Speaker 4 (29:51):
Do you have a financial question you'd like for us
to answer.
Speaker 3 (29:53):
There's a red button you can click while you're listening
to this show right on the iHeart app. Simply record
your question and it will come straight to us. Speaking
of questions, Andy, and Lebanon is going to lead us off.
Speaker 4 (30:06):
He says, I'm retiring in the next two years.
Speaker 3 (30:09):
How do I make sure I'm not taking on too
much risk but still getting enough growth?
Speaker 4 (30:14):
Brian, what say you?
Speaker 9 (30:16):
Well?
Speaker 6 (30:17):
Andy, first off, congratulations that you're kind of in the
glide path or retirement over the next couple of years.
That's got to be an exciting and also terrifying time,
which is I'm sure you know what's driving some of
this type of questions.
Speaker 5 (30:27):
So yeah, So I'm not.
Speaker 6 (30:29):
A believer Andy that just because I am retired or
you know, I've got that label on myself, or I
don't I'm on a fixed income quote unquote that kind
of thinking. I do not believe at all that that
is an instant trigger to my investments have got to
be safe, safe, safe, safe safe. I do believe what
you're what you're doing is you're doing the correct thing.
You're starting to take to take the starting to figure
(30:49):
out where the changes should be. So in that case,
what I think about is it doesn't matter how old
you are, what your status is. What matters is when
do I need these particular piles of dollars. We all
have individual specific piles of dollars that we will need
at different times based on our different life circumstances. So,
for example, if you know you've got we've got a
wedding to pay for in a couple a couple of
years or six months or whatever, then that bill is
(31:09):
coming due. Let's focus the investments for that particular pile.
Make sure that you know that might be what we
said earlier. The market currently is at an all time high,
so maybe that should come out and be carved out
if that bill's come and due. On the other hand,
once you've identified all of those piles of money that
have a calendar date on them as to when they
come do to cover the bill. Everything that does not
(31:30):
have a date on it really is your is your
still your long term portfolio, and that should still be
oriented for growth, because that's the way that you're going to,
you know, to fight off inflation. Even the littlest old
widow needs something growing out there to keep.
Speaker 5 (31:41):
Up with inflation.
Speaker 6 (31:42):
Let's move on to Bob and Westchester Bob. Bob says
he's got a three million dollar portfolio, but he doesn't
have a pension. So how much could they rely on
drawing out of that three million dollar portfolio without running
out of money?
Speaker 5 (31:53):
Bob?
Speaker 2 (31:53):
Other Bob.
Speaker 3 (31:55):
Yeah, Bob, I'll start by by saying this, you know,
we have no idea. First of all, congratulations on building
that three million dollar portfolio. I'm sure you've worked very
hard for many years. Congrats on that. Uh, you know,
you probably have Social Security income. And then we got
to make this three million dollar pile work for you.
The big, the big part of answering that question is
(32:17):
how much of that is in pre tax and after
tax investments. You remember, you got to factor in taxes
to any withdrawal strategy. So I would say, you know,
and I know these articles are out there, four percent,
four and a half whatever, don't go by those you know,
plain vanilla, broad based you know assumptions, because again, taxes
and how much you spend are going to matter a lot.
(32:40):
And I'd say make sure you put in a little
buffer for healthcare costs too.
Speaker 4 (32:44):
So bottom line, I think sit down with a.
Speaker 3 (32:47):
Good fiduciary advisor, a CPA or both and map out
an income strategy taking into account present in future taxes,
and that will help you arrive at that responsible withdraw
amount or percentage that's going to make you feel good
about heading into retirement. All right, Let's hear next from
Susan in Hyde Park. She says, I've been maxing out
(33:09):
my four oh one K and doing a.
Speaker 4 (33:12):
Backdoor roth IRA. So Susan's on top of it.
Speaker 3 (33:15):
Brian, what else should she be doing to lower her
taxable income?
Speaker 6 (33:20):
Good job, Susan, you're taking some of the right steps there.
I want to make sure we've got our terms correct.
Earlier you said you're maxing out your four oh one K,
and now I'm assuming you don't specify here, but I
am assuming you're referring to your pre.
Speaker 5 (33:30):
Tax four oh one k, not the roth side.
Speaker 7 (33:33):
Uh.
Speaker 6 (33:33):
And so therefore yes, and then that's that's a good
step in the right direction. If your goal is to
reduce taxes, the back door raw that's a different story.
That is not helping you lower your taxable income. Now,
that does not make it a bad decision at all.
But if you're doing a roth IRA, whether it's a
backdoor or front door, that does not have an impact
on your on your current taxes. You're gonna pay income
taxes at the same level you already are no matter what.
(33:55):
But again, not a bad idea that will What that
will do is that a little assuming those dollars would
otherwise have wound up in some kind of pre tax arrangement.
Maybe then you're lowering your future requirementum distributions, which isn't
a bad thing. But your question, how else can you
lower your tax will income? Well, problem is in twenty seventeen,
we had a tax act that reduced or that increased
(34:17):
the standard deduction and made it a lot easier for
people to get to these deduction levels without actually having
to take any steps. So in twenty twenty five, the
standard deduction for a single person is fifteen thousand dollars.
It's thirty thousand for married couples filing jointly. You're getting
that deduction as soon as you get out of bed.
You don't have to do anything for it. The only
things you can do to increase that are could possibly
(34:38):
make significant charitable donations. Right, you might don donate some
appreciated stock if you've got that in your situation and
possibly use something called a donor advised fund. So, for example,
if you donate, let's say you know you're going to
give ten thousand dollars to some organization every year for
the next five years, pull all of that forward into
a one fifty thousand dollars donation into a donor advised fund,
(35:00):
and you can take a fifty thousand dollars deduction now,
and the charity on the other end doesn't know any different.
You still get to control it, and you can never
pull it back. You've given it up, but you can
still control how it gets doled out to that charity
that will give you a current taxable income deduction. Okay,
Jared's keep going. We got other questions here to answer.
So Jerry and Anderson asks, should he use a home
equity line to pay for a vacation home or would
(35:21):
it be better to liquidate his investment set and then
just pay it in cash?
Speaker 5 (35:24):
Do you think, Bob, Well, I'm going to use the
age old.
Speaker 4 (35:27):
It depends.
Speaker 3 (35:28):
And you know the first thing, Jerry, we got to
make sure you can afford a vacation home. I don't
know what your time horizon is until retirement. But I
will say this, and this is my personal bias, take
it or leave it. I do not like taking out
loans for homes, especially as you get close to retirement,
especially at near seven percent. So this all comes down
(35:50):
to you know, home equity, liquidating investments, what have you.
It depends on how your money's invested and what assumptions
you want to make and how much risk you want
to take in terms of future retre In other words,
if you don't like the idea of paying a seven
percent you know, interest rate on anything, and you don't
think your investment portfolio has a high probability as its
(36:12):
structured to outpace a guaranteed seven percent loan, then you
take investments out. You know, you don't borrow the money.
If you're a growth person and you say, hey, I
got a ten, fifteen, thirty your time horizon and we
think we're going to average nine ten percent in stocks
and I'm willing to pay you know, six point seventy
five to seven for you know, home and equity line
(36:36):
or a standard mortgage, well then that's a different answer.
But I think you got to sit down and map
out your time horizing what your true strategy is and
then make decisions accordingly. All right, Coming up next, Brian's
got his bottom line where he's going to talk about
the pros and cons of instant gratification versus I guess
being a little more patient. You're listening to Simply Money,
(36:57):
presented by all Worth Financial on fifty five KRC the
talk station.
Speaker 1 (37:02):
It's the main event for the importance events of today.
Every day we discover something new and important.
Speaker 6 (37:08):
It's control our capital city, direct federal control.
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Check in throughout today, summit with there will be land swaps.
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Fifty five KRC the talk station.
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That next month, I have to choose between groceries for
my kids or gas for my car.
Speaker 1 (37:37):
Talk about it here fifty five KRC the talk station.
You're listening to Simple Money, presented by all Worth Financial.
I'm Bob spun Seller along with Brian James, and it's
time for Brian's bottom line. Where Brian's going to share
with us, why we shouldn't be having any fun at
all and always stash your money away for a later date.
Speaker 6 (38:00):
Hit it, Brian, that's just the worst lead in ever, Bobb.
You've depressed everybody now and they have to listen to me,
so well, for anybody who's still listening, I'm gonna say
it anyway. So No, I've had a rash of these
situations kind of come across my desk kind of coincidentally.
And it's never, I'll say, for our listeners out there
who come in, who listen to us here and they
come in and they want to have meetings, these are
not the types of situations that hit my desk. It's
(38:22):
always their kids or some relative or something. People who
seek out financial education and have done so far their
entire lives do not wind up in these situations. But
if you don't, here's what might happen. So one case,
I've got a case where a this is a client's
mother who had been married three times, never for more
than ten years, and also never worked you know, much
(38:46):
a day in her life, frankly, and she is in
a situation now where she is in her mid sixties.
Speaker 5 (38:50):
This literally results in no social security for her.
Speaker 6 (38:53):
She did not have much of anything on her own record,
and she got divorced three times before the ten year
limit passed, so she does not bet of it from
any of her prior husbands. This is a real situation
where she has moved in uh with this individual and
he's just going to have to support her for the
rest of her life.
Speaker 5 (39:08):
She can work a little bit.
Speaker 6 (39:09):
But not that much anymore because obviously as we age,
there are health problems coming on. So there are these
are real situations that happened because we don't do things
when we're younger. Bob, you look like you want to
say something.
Speaker 5 (39:18):
Go ahead, I.
Speaker 3 (39:19):
Don't want to say anything. I'm not touching this. You
said she didn't work a day in her life. My
question is does she raise children?
Speaker 4 (39:25):
Brian?
Speaker 5 (39:26):
She did well, fair enough, but at the same she worked.
Speaker 6 (39:32):
She worked, but she didn't plan ahead, and that's the
whole point of this segment, right, she didn't take it
into account what's going to happen. She made She made
very flippant, kind of spur of the moment decisions. So
you're right, there's an awful lot of work in raising children.
But at the same time, those children are now raising
her all right, So more importantly, how are you helping
this dear woman?
Speaker 5 (39:49):
Uh?
Speaker 6 (39:49):
Dig out helping helping them? See that you know this this,
These are the outcomes. This is just realistic. We have
simply built a plan that accounts for a third person
in the household, as all three of them are going
to try to be retired someday.
Speaker 5 (40:03):
There's no magic to it, though, So another quick, quick
one we're gonna run.
Speaker 4 (40:07):
The message here is follow follow your brain, not your heart.
Is that the message?
Speaker 5 (40:12):
That is a yes?
Speaker 6 (40:12):
And another super super quick one for anybody out there
who runs across a relative who thinks they're sticking it
to the man by working under the table and taking
in cash which until well into their forties, you have
not won any games. You are simply building a no
retirement income situation at all because the soci Scurity administration
doesn't think you've made any money.
Speaker 5 (40:28):
So think twice about that.
Speaker 4 (40:31):
Oh okay, thanks for listening.
Speaker 3 (40:33):
You've been listening to simply Money present up by all
Worth Financial on fifty five KR.
Speaker 2 (40:37):
See the talk station Mark Levin.
Speaker 10 (40:40):
Let me Tellyson. The Internet is breeding evil, breeding evil,
and TikTok is the main culprit and I don't know
what's happening with TikTok, but that damn thing needs to
be sold now and it needs to be cleaned up.
And I don't want to hear about free speech and
everything else. It's a private company. The company needs to
clean it up because this is crazy between the comment
is Chinese and all the crap that people put on
(41:02):
this stuff.
Speaker 1 (41:03):
Mark Levin tonight at ten o six on fifty five KRC,
the talk station
Big beautiful bill is happening on fifty five KRC the
talk station.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Tonight.
Speaker 3 (00:16):
What an extended trade truce between the United States and
China could mean for your money. You're listening to Simply Money,
presented by all Worth Financial on Bob Sponseller along with
Brian James Well, in case you missed it, the US
and China have agreed to extend their tariff truths yet.
Speaker 4 (00:32):
Again by another ninety days.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
And on the surface, it sounds like progress, and I'm
sure there is progress going on behind the scenes. Stock
Stock's obviously got a little bumped yesterday based on that
news and the inflation print business headlines remain cautiously optimistic.
But bottom line, what does this actually mean for long
term investors?
Speaker 4 (00:55):
Brian walk us through it.
Speaker 5 (00:57):
Now. This is the real, the real deadline right this
time around.
Speaker 6 (01:00):
It counts right this time, we're going to stick to it,
and this is when we're going to be done with this,
right Bob, Please?
Speaker 5 (01:06):
Now, I I think.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
Heart, I think he I think hard deadlines. Hard deadlines
under this president lead to uncertainty and volatility. I'm frankly
completely fine with the ongoing negotiation. Not do anything drastic
so far, markets are responding in kind, and it's been
a pretty good year so far.
Speaker 4 (01:30):
That's not I don't mean that as a political statement.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
I just mean that as a practical reality of what
we're seeing here since April, since Liberation Day where we
ripped the band aid off and the markets went haywire.
Speaker 6 (01:42):
But in the reality, yes, is that that a deadline
is not a deadline under this under this president.
Speaker 5 (01:48):
And we know this.
Speaker 6 (01:48):
We've seen this many many times when we first had
these threats. Remember what the market did back in April.
The market got absolutely crushed and we were quickly down
fifteen almost twenty percent because oh my gosh, these deadline
what happens on Liberation Day, It's all going to change immediately,
And that didn't happen. So the good news is the
market has learned to kind of roll with the punches
on this. And I think we all know not to believe.
You know that the deadline is really the deadline.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
We're gonna Well, but Brian, just to push back a
little bit, how is this any different than how Congress operates?
I mean, we need bills passed, and we have deadlines
for government shutdowns all the time, and they kick the
can right down the road till most of the time
three o'clock in the morning until they get something done
(02:31):
and markets get volatile and everything gets settled at the end.
Speaker 4 (02:35):
I think same thing.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
I think markets have learned to adjust to how business
is being done right now.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
They have.
Speaker 6 (02:41):
But again, these kind of tariff decisions literally affect if
I'm going to order something from overseas to support my business,
my price is this today, it's that tomorrow. That's how
this is actually going. And so the kinds of question,
Congress hasn't made decisions like that recently that it have
impact literally overnight. So that's why the I mean, I
think we've learned to roll with it. Businesses got used
(03:03):
to it. They need to be super nimble right now.
But that's the real difference these decisions, Uh, you know,
regardless whether we agree with them or disagree with them,
that's that doesn't matter. But it does affect exactly how
a business would decide to decide it's important decisions today
versus tomorrow.
Speaker 5 (03:18):
So I think that's a huge difference.
Speaker 4 (03:20):
No, And I think that's a good point.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
And I think that's why on the employment front, you know,
you're not seeing a lot of layoffs, but you're seeing
hiring slow down, there's no doubt about it. And I
think I think you make a good point there. I
think there is uncertainty embedded in this economy relative to
interest rate policy, teariff policy, and that's why people are
(03:42):
just kind of cautiously optimistic.
Speaker 4 (03:44):
Right now but not making big, big bets.
Speaker 3 (03:47):
And it's it's for I think you make a good point,
you know, when he doesn't know what's coming.
Speaker 6 (03:52):
Yeah, yes, absolutely, So let the record show that Bob said,
Brian was right. Now we're going to move on quickly
to the next topic before he can respond to that statement.
Speaker 3 (03:59):
I'm just trying to be I'm just trying to be
polite because we're on the radio together.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
But go.
Speaker 6 (04:04):
Ahead, all right, enough sillyness, let's provide the folks actual,
real information.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
So let's start with the basics of this.
Speaker 6 (04:11):
So this ninety day extension, both countries are once again
hitting pause on any additional tariffs that we're supposed to
go into effect next month.
Speaker 5 (04:18):
So we're just buying more time.
Speaker 6 (04:19):
The diplomats have more time to go back and forth,
and they're not acting under the immediate threat of hey,
do this by Wednesday or bad stuff happened. So but
remember this. That also means the flip side of this
is that nothing substance in substantive has actually changed yet.
We don't have a deal, didn't have one yesterday, we
don't have one today. We're not rolling back any existing tariffs.
Absolutely nothing has changed. We are simply adding more time
(04:41):
for the for the various parties to continue to talk.
So if you don't look at this as you know,
as something that's some kind of all clear signal or
you know, everybody back in the pool, everything is one.
The fact that the market really seems to like it.
The market simply likes the fact that for now the
fog has lifted. We know that there's not an immediate
change coming today tomorrow because we just bumped it out
(05:02):
by ninety days and we know we're going to run
right up against that deadline most likely.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
Yeah, while we're on the topic of tariffs, I think
this is a good good topic to just kick around
for a couple minutes. I mean, whether you like it
or hate it, or like I always say, anything in between,
I think reality is settling in here. With respect to
the President, Trump sees tariffs as a permanent solution here
(05:27):
both to raise revenue for the federal government, and whether
you want to call it a tax increase or not,
it is a tax increase. I mean, consumers are ultimately
going to pay the cost of these tariffs, and I
think it takes a little bit of time for these
permanent tariffs, if they do stay permanent, and I think
they're going to be permanent at least for a while,
(05:50):
it takes a while for those increased costs to make
their way to the consumer.
Speaker 4 (05:55):
To your point, Brian, as businesses adjust.
Speaker 3 (05:58):
The flip side of that, and the POTENTI so positive
is we've seen trillions of dollars get committed to get
invested in the United States and create jobs and build
out critical infrastructure and plant equipment in this country. That's
going to take time to manifest itself as well. So
we're just seeing a paradigm shift in terms of how
(06:20):
this president and this administration want a role here. And
it's just different, and it takes time for consumers and
companies and everybody to adjust.
Speaker 6 (06:32):
Yeah, and now let's take a look at tariffs. We've
been talking about these all year long, really, and so
when we know we were in a position like you
just said, well, we are collecting dollars, and it is
having an impact on the decisions businesses are making. They're
building factories and building resources here on shore, and that's
a good thing. But you know, let's look at where
these dollars go, right, somebody's paying these and they're landing somewhere. Well,
tariffs get collected by customs and Border Protection and they
(06:55):
go they go right into the general revenue pool of
the US Treasury, so they're not necessarily ear marked for anything.
They're just fresh dollars that we can kind of do
whatever we want to do with, you know, less Congress
decides something more specific.
Speaker 5 (07:07):
So let's talk about some numbers.
Speaker 6 (07:09):
In July of twenty five, the US collected almost three
times as much in customs duties.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
Year over year versus last year.
Speaker 6 (07:15):
That's just pure tariffs, so we're always collecting, right, Tariffs
didn't just drop out of sky. We've always had tariffs.
Other countries have had tariffs against us. It's always been
in place. We've simply increased what we're charging to do
business here, so we have tripled the amount of revenue
that we're pulling in.
Speaker 5 (07:29):
However, the July.
Speaker 6 (07:30):
Budget deficit still grew about twenty percent compared to year
over years. So what that should tell us is that
tariffs may help us bring more business on shore, but
in the short run, they're not going to help close
that budget deficit because that is still a much larger
item to worry about.
Speaker 4 (07:44):
Yeah, yeah, for sure.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
And that's where I think the administration is planning on
all this stuff, eventually generating economic growth, growing the pie,
which eventually grows tax revenue. It remains to be seen
what that growth rate will be and when it starts
to manifest itself, and that's what makes this interesting to watch.
You're listening to Simply Money, presented by all Worth Financial.
(08:07):
I'm Bob Sponseller along with Brian James. All Right, enough
of Bob and Brian speculating about the world and you know,
kicking around tariff policy.
Speaker 4 (08:16):
We have no control over this whatsoever.
Speaker 3 (08:18):
Let's about it, Bob, Well, let's bring it home to
everybody's financial plan. What should we be doing right now
in this season where markets are at an all time high.
We've got uncertainty around interest rates and tariffs. As we've
discussed ad nauseum. What should the average investor be doing now?
As they monitor their financial plan.
Speaker 6 (08:39):
Brian, Well, so, just like any other headline, we don't
want to overreact to it. Matter of fact, I'll go
ahead and say that there really are zero headlines that
you would read as soon as you wake up and
pick up your phone in the morning. There are zero
headlines that should cause you to rush to your portfolio
and go do something if you've set it up properly
to begin with. If you have speculative stuff that bounds
as well, then yeah, you've chosen that lifestyle and enjoy that,
(09:01):
but make sure you understand what your exposure is. Stay diversified. Right, So,
I have a lot of clients over the past many
years who have said, you know what, I just don't
why do we need to own anything other than the
S and P five hundred's let's get out of all
all the international stuff that doesn't do anything. Let's move around. Well,
the US has changed how it operates, and the market
(09:21):
has recognized that. The market is recognizing that the US
is aroundabout way exiting certain markets by being harder to
work with. So therefore other countries have found and created
deals with each other, and that creates opportunities for companies
that don't happen to be invested in the United States.
You can get exposure to that. That simply means have
a little bit maybe if it's in an all soock portfolio,
maybe it's fifteen to twenty percent that you put on
(09:42):
the international side. But this is important because international stocks
so far are up over twenty percent this year because
the market has recognized this opportunity.
Speaker 5 (09:49):
It's a catalyst, that's all.
Speaker 3 (09:51):
Yeah, nobody saw that coming heading into this year. And really,
to your point, nobody has really wanted to touch or
discuss in our national stocks for three, four or five
years from now, or for three or four five years now.
And yeah, occasionally we always get questions like, hey, why
do you have that stuff in the portfolio because it's underperformed. Well,
(10:12):
lo and behold, this is a good year to illustrate
why a diversified portfolio makes sense, including international exposure.
Speaker 4 (10:20):
And I'll remind folks again.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
Over it's about a third of the S and P
five hundred right now is cap weighted in those magnificent
seven stocks and tech stocks have had a.
Speaker 4 (10:32):
Great run here.
Speaker 3 (10:33):
But yeah, stay diversified, get things spread around a little bit,
and make sure you are a position for any volatility
in anyone sector or company that comes down the pike.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
And I'll also throughout.
Speaker 6 (10:45):
I just had a conversation yesterday with somebody had a
client drop and one of my all time favorite clients
dropped in just to say hello, and we wound up
talking about some things what's going on, and we actually
wound up making some financial moves he didn't he wasn't
thinking about. So he's got some he has a he
had a truck loan leftover. He's just got some debts
out there that he's been thinking about and tired of
making payments on. And as we talked through it, we
(11:06):
concluded that you know what, yeah, mate, this is in
your IRA. You're gonna have pay income taxes on it.
But at the same time, the market is in an
absolute high, So let's go ahead and pull that out now.
Speaker 5 (11:16):
Because he was literally we did the math.
Speaker 6 (11:17):
He was literally doing it with money he didn't have
two days ago, because the market has because of the
way the market has run, so we were simply using
found money to pay off the debts. So my point
in all this is, look at your situation. If you
have stuff coming up, if you've got big bills coming up,
or maybe you've always wanted to refresh the emergency fund.
If the cash is leaked down to a certain point
where maybe you're a little uncomfortable. Now would be a
(11:38):
great time. The market is at and high. Act proactive
things you can do to take advantage of that, or
use the cash for something else. You've got money you
didn't have before. Pay off those little debts. Blow some
of that little stuff up. If you've got a wedding
coming up for a kid or some big expense, carve
that out.
Speaker 5 (11:52):
Maybe you don't pull it out.
Speaker 6 (11:53):
Of the investment, if it's an IRA or something like that,
but carve it out and stick it in cash and
wait until it's time to pull the trigger.
Speaker 5 (12:00):
That will remove the stress in the future.
Speaker 6 (12:02):
If three months from now the market is taking a
massive hit and that bill has truly come due, well
that's good because you already set it aside and you
don't have to eat that hit on that particular situation.
Speaker 3 (12:12):
Yeah, exactly, just because the market's at an all time high.
Don't treat your stock portfolio or tech stocks in particular,
as an ATM machine. If you need money in thirty
sixty ninety days treat your money accordingly, and don't you know,
don't let us sit there and.
Speaker 4 (12:28):
Drop by potentially ten percent if we do have a pullback.
Speaker 3 (12:31):
All right, here's the all Worth advice. A trade truce
is not a trade solution. Use this window of time
to stress test your plan before any new policy shifts
come down the pike. Next, a new claim about why
stocks are lower in August and September and how you
should react to it, if at all. You're listening to
(12:53):
Simply Money, presented by all Worth Financial on fifty five
KRC the talk station.
Speaker 7 (12:58):
Fin Angel, a registered advisory firm. Any ideas presented during
this program are not intended to provide specific financial advice.
You should consult your own financial advisor, tax consultant, or
a state planning attorney to conduct your own due diligence.
Speaker 3 (13:17):
You're listening to Simply Money, presented by all Worth Financial
enmop spon Seller along with Brian James. How do you
dial back the risk without sacrificing the growth you still
need for your portfolio and retirement plan. It's one of
several questions we're going to answer and are ask. The
advisors segment coming up at six forty three all right,
(13:37):
here's a tough one, especially for anyone sending a kid
off the college. This month, a new report shows that
more parents are tapping into retirement accounts and home equity
loans to cover rising tuition bills. Brian, I see this occasionally.
I mean, it's just, you know, obviously the cost of
(13:57):
college has gotten completely out of whack. Walk us through
some of the latest research here.
Speaker 6 (14:04):
This comes from Sally May, which is the student loan
government or government agency that helps us keep things together
in terms of moving money back and forth to help
people get to college, similar to what Fannie May Freddie
Mack do for mortgages. But new study how America pays
for college shows nine percent of people use retirement savings
to help cover their cost this year. That doesn't sound
like much, it's a single digit number, but it's going up.
(14:27):
And that's the that's the issue. That's not money just leaving.
Speaker 5 (14:30):
Right.
Speaker 6 (14:30):
So if you spend money, whenever you spend a chunk
like that, that money has come out and it will
not be there for your retirement.
Speaker 5 (14:36):
And so we're assuming you.
Speaker 6 (14:37):
Know, you're on average, your average retiree who you're sorry,
your average parent who has a kid in college is
probably maybe early late forties, early fifties, mid fifties. That's
really early in the retirement timeframe to be drawing on
those assets already, and so therefore we're going to lose
out on the ability to compound those assets. They won't
be there when they're twenty twenty five. So even if
(14:59):
it's a you know, a fifty thousand dollars expense now
means one hundred hundred and fifty twenty five years from now.
So that can be a big concern. So what should
we do differently, Well, one thing you could do is
just just change your thinking. It's not a bad thing
for kids to come out with student loans. Student loans
are relatively friendly, you know, in terms of they beat
the heck out of credit cards. For sure, you can
(15:20):
help them with payments. So maybe especially if you're under
fifty nine and a half, there's some people out there
that take these distributions, Bob, and they pay income taxes
of course to draw on their iras, but they also
have to pay penalties because they're using it. Because they're
not using it, they're under age. You're under fifty nine
and a half. So what you can do is find
a way to pay for it, even if that includes
student loans, and then once you're fifty nine and a half,
(15:41):
then you can start taking smaller amounts out to help
make that payment. Focus on the payment, maybe not the
entire balance, if there's no other way to do it.
Speaker 1 (15:49):
Well.
Speaker 3 (15:49):
I got a couple thoughts on this topic. I mean,
you know, obviously, if your kids going to college this
month and there's a they're a freshman and they're just
going and it's a done deal, there's nothing you could
do about it now now. But I find once in
a while, I mean, this is just a cultural thing.
I think the cultural norm has become, Hey, my kids
are going to go to college, and I'm going to
help them pay for it because my parents did that
(16:11):
for me. And I want my kids to get into
the best school they can get into, and we're going
to find a way to pay for it. And the
price tag of that approach just keeps skyrocketing. And what
we hate to see people do is put their own
retirement viability of their retirement plan and jeopardy just to
pay for a hugely expensive college education for their kids.
(16:34):
I think the other thing people need to start to
look at if they haven't already. If there's a little
leeway between you know, the age of your kids and
when they go to college, I think you've got to
look at a return on investment of a college education,
depending on what the major is. You got to look
at that just like any other investment. Look at the
earnings prospects and whether this is a good deal to
(16:57):
you know, spend sixty thousand dollars a year on a
degree in history or you know, I don't know. I
think you got to start to look at this and
say does this make sense? And then have the kid
be a little invested in the results and collaborate and
make a good decision that's going to make financial sense
for the parents now. And also even with those loans,
(17:21):
you know what the kids staring at when they're twenty
two to twenty three years old and all the frat
parties in and reality sets in and they got bills
to pay every month.
Speaker 6 (17:30):
That sounds like a conversation you've had at a dinner
table once or twice, once or twice.
Speaker 5 (17:35):
All right, Yeah, so this is a big deal.
Speaker 6 (17:37):
About thirty two percent of parents financially aid their adult
children anyway, and about twenty seven percent of them say
that those decisions are delaying their own retirement. Remember, just
like Bob said, you you're Bob referenced earning's capability and
that kind of thing out there. So your your younger
children have more potential to earn dollars than you will
simply because of how much time they have left, so
(17:57):
they will be able to get loans for things you
will not in retirement.
Speaker 5 (18:01):
Does so plan accordingly?
Speaker 3 (18:02):
All right, switching gears here, let's hit on this one quick, Brian.
We told you last week that August is historically a
down month for the stock market on an average downward
return of zero point six percent over the last thirty
five years for the S and P five hundred, despite
you know what the scary headlines tell you. You know,
new studies have shown that the weather actually impacts people's
(18:26):
sentiment toward the stock market. And now that daylight starts
to disappear and temperatures eventually start to go down, that
psychologically is impacting why money managers and investors feel like
the stock market's going to go down. Brian, I think
this is a bunch of hogwash, like a lot of
things the media puts out there. But Hey, I'm just
(18:50):
one guy with an opinion. What do you say about
that study?
Speaker 6 (18:53):
I mean, and sometimes clients bring this kind of thing
up because they'll spot an article or something like that
and the one and we all want every to be
black and white, Bob, Right, So when people come in
all the time wanting to I want this predictable. I
want A plus B to equal C. Therefore, I'm going
to look for indicators. I'm going to look for triggers
that will to do A or B based on, you know,
whichever way the arrow is pointing. And this is just
(19:14):
one of those. It's just one of those that says, well,
if it's if we're looking at, if it's gonna the
skies are going to be great for the next couple
of weeks, well then that means the world is going
to be depressed and they're going to be less interested
in buying stocks and so on, and so that none
of this stuff should impact. But again, at the whole
point is we all are on this endless chase for
how can I predict what the market's going to do?
Show me the blinking red light or the blinking green
(19:34):
light that shows me what to do.
Speaker 5 (19:35):
And I've spent.
Speaker 6 (19:36):
We all spend most of our careers getting people off
of this this subsession that there is any ability to
predict it. It's more about understanding what the impact will
be and reacting accordingly, not trying to control it because
you can't.
Speaker 3 (19:50):
Yeah, I mean, everybody wants that black box solution, you know,
to time the market and make the right calls and
all that. But I I'm going contrarian on this for
the reasons you brought up. Everybody is always looking for
an edge and a way to make money, and I
think people are interested in making money whether there's snow
on the ground, sun and the skies, whether it's ninety
(20:11):
degrees or forty five degrees out. So I don't buy
this whole weather thing. All right, here's the all Worth advice.
Markets may feel gloomy when the skies do, but don't
let short term mood swings throw off a long term strategy.
We want to make you aware of multiple new scams
that have come to the service and surface, and we're
gonna do that next with our good friend Josil Erlik
(20:34):
from the Cincinnati Better Business Bureau. You're listening to Simply Money,
presented by all Worth Financial on fifty five KRC the
Talk Station.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
Little do you know it, we've been taking you back
to school all summer.
Speaker 2 (20:47):
It sounds like.
Speaker 4 (20:48):
A high school term paper that got a little.
Speaker 2 (20:51):
More continued education.
Speaker 8 (20:53):
Yeah, that's just smart.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
Fifty five KRC.
Speaker 8 (20:56):
The Talk Station an iHeartRadio station.
Speaker 3 (21:03):
You're listening to Simply Money, presented by all Worth Financial.
I'm Bob Spunseller along with Brian James, joined tonight by
our good friend josial Erlik, who's the president and CEO
of our Greater Cincinnati Better Business Bureau.
Speaker 4 (21:17):
Josial thank you for making time for us tonight.
Speaker 3 (21:20):
As always, you've got some warnings to put out there
about posting those back to school photos on your kids
as we head into back to school season, and we're
talking about social media here right absolutely.
Speaker 8 (21:33):
You know you've all seen those pictures of the little
child holding up the sign.
Speaker 9 (21:37):
You know, Johnny is going.
Speaker 8 (21:39):
To Saint Agnes's school and missus Thomas's class, third grade class,
et cetera, et cetera. Those scammers can use that information
to commit ID theft. And if you're one of more
than fifty percent of adults who use their child's personal
information and passwords, Posting that picture can lead you open
to a security breach. Not to mention, these details are
(22:02):
used a lot of times in security questions for your
bank or your credit card accounts. So before you post
that picture, pay attention to the information that is described
on that sign. Also pay attention to any house numbers
or street signs, or other identifiable location in the background.
Make sure no school signs or other landmarks are visible
(22:25):
that could reveal places that your child frequents for obvious reasons,
and double check your privacy settings. Be aware of who
you're allowing to see your posts. You might want to
consider removing any personal information from your account that others
can see, like your phone number or your address.
Speaker 6 (22:45):
Okay, Josie, actually you made me think of something there.
You mentioned a lot of that being available on social media.
Something else I've been seeing a lot lately, especially on
like neighborhood group pages. That kind of thing is pictures
of lost doggies and kitticats, And so what I think
what you're about to tell me is that often those
aren't real.
Speaker 9 (23:01):
Well not exactly.
Speaker 8 (23:03):
You did lose your dog or your cat, and you
post it up there. You want everybody to be on
the lookout for Spot and here's a picture of Spot.
But generally on those posts that you make you have
posted your phone number or your email ways that people
can contact you. Scammers are scouring social media for that
(23:27):
kind of information. You got your phone number up there,
you're gonna get caulllls, and they're not always from people
who have actually found your pet. We're seeing a couple
versions of this scam.
Speaker 9 (23:37):
In one, you.
Speaker 8 (23:38):
Get a text message from somebody saying they found little
Spot and you ask them to describe the animal or
send you a picture, but there's an excuse as to
why that can't happen. Maybe the person is out of town,
or goodness, their smartphone isn't working and they can't send
you a picture. Instead, they're going to pressure you for
money or maybe a gift card, so that they will
(24:01):
return your pet to you. Once they get your money.
Even if you're tempted, don't pay up. The scammer does
not have your pet. They're just going to take your
money and disappear.
Speaker 9 (24:11):
Now.
Speaker 8 (24:12):
In another version of the scam, you get a social
media message from somebody about drone technology or search parties
that can help you find your pet.
Speaker 9 (24:21):
They'll ask you to.
Speaker 8 (24:22):
Pay up front, of course, and they'll likely ask you
to send it through a peer to peer payment.
Speaker 9 (24:26):
App like zell.
Speaker 8 (24:28):
Before you pay for drones or search parties, look up
the business on BBB dot org to see if the
business is real, or check BBB Scam Tracker to find
out if anybody else has reported a similar experience.
Speaker 3 (24:42):
All right, Joe Sile, this next one hits pretty close
to home. I didn't even know these things existed until
about two weeks ago.
Speaker 4 (24:48):
And then lo and.
Speaker 3 (24:49):
Behold, I saw Brian with one of these things hanging
off of his work bag, and we're talking about these
lubooboo dolls, and it sounds like there's some counterfeit scam
going on with those two.
Speaker 4 (25:02):
I don't know why anybody would want to collect.
Speaker 3 (25:04):
These ugly little varmints, but talk about the scam that's
happening here.
Speaker 4 (25:08):
As they become more popular.
Speaker 8 (25:11):
They are not the most attractive doll in the world.
La Boo boos are small monster dolls that are really
hot commodity with young people. They're sold through TikTok live streams,
and the excitement about these dolls, or at least part
of it, is that you don't know which doll you're
going to get until the package comes, and some of
them are worth hundreds of dollars apparently. So of course,
(25:33):
where moneys involve, scammers are cashing in on a labooboo
trend by creating fake websites that mimic the official site
look almost identical to it. You're directed to these fraudulent
sites through Instagram ads or maybe TikTok live streams, where
they're using a sense of urgency and excitement to pressure
you into a quick sale.
Speaker 9 (25:54):
These live streams often claim that they just got a.
Speaker 8 (25:57):
New inventory, and as soon as you get a new inventory,
they sell out out uh and they use countdowns to
encourage you to act fast before they sell out, so
you don't really have time to think of it. They're
a hot commodity. Maybe you want to get it for
your child or your grandchild as a birthday present, so
you buy quickly without thinking about it. For the scammers
that actually have a product to sell, it's the knockoff lafufoo.
(26:22):
That's f u f u rather than the original love
boo boo, which.
Speaker 9 (26:26):
Is bu bu.
Speaker 3 (26:31):
Behaviorself Brian, please behave sorry.
Speaker 8 (26:36):
Okay, you can do with that as you watch and
you get anyway, you're going to get nothing for your money.
You're either going to get a fake knockoff that is
worth absolutely nothing and might not even look like these
monster dolls, or they're not going to send you anything.
Speaker 6 (26:52):
So okay, I'm going to take over the rest of
the show here because Bob just ran out of the
studio with an armload of lafufoos that he has to
go dump on eBay real quick before so he doesn't
was all this funny.
Speaker 5 (27:01):
Kerry's going to kill you, man.
Speaker 6 (27:02):
Okay, So let's talk about another a little more a
little more common, right, So anymore, we all buy everything
off Amazon, and my guess is that when I go
to Col's, eighty percent of the people wandering around in
there are returning Amazon stuff.
Speaker 5 (27:13):
So Amazon comes with scams. Tell us about the latest
one coming out of that space.
Speaker 8 (27:18):
The latest one is they're sending texts claiming there's a
problem with something that you bought. You're going to get
a text that looks like it's from Amazon claiming they
did a routine quality inspection. I'm doing air quotes here
and your recent purchase doesn't meet Amazon's standards.
Speaker 9 (27:34):
Or it was recalled.
Speaker 8 (27:36):
They offer you a refund and say you don't need
to return the item, but you do have to click
a link.
Speaker 9 (27:41):
To request your refund.
Speaker 8 (27:43):
Well, needless to say, there was no quality inspection and there.
Speaker 9 (27:46):
Is no refund.
Speaker 8 (27:47):
It's just a phishing scam to steal your money or
your personal information. Now, if you are worried about a
recent purchase, log in through the Amazon website or the
app to see if there's a problem with your order.
Speaker 9 (28:00):
Don't use the link in the text, All.
Speaker 3 (28:03):
Right, Joe Sial in the thirty or forty seconds we
got left here.
Speaker 4 (28:07):
These jury duty scams are prevalent.
Speaker 3 (28:09):
You've talked about them in the past, and it sounds
like another one is cropping up here in recent weeks
and months.
Speaker 8 (28:16):
Yeah, they say they're from the police.
Speaker 9 (28:18):
They are not.
Speaker 8 (28:18):
In this version, they send you to a site that
looks legitimate official found in URL government looking seals. Then
it'll ask you to enter your birthday in social and
to look up how much you owe. It might ask
you to pay as much as ten thousand dollars in
fines on the site, or they'll send you to a
government kiosk, which there is no such thing to pay.
(28:39):
By cryptocurrency. Every bit of.
Speaker 9 (28:41):
This is a scam, all right.
Speaker 4 (28:43):
You've covered a lot of great ground tonight.
Speaker 3 (28:45):
As always, Joe Cia, we so much appreciate you coming
on with us and appreciate everything you do for us
out here in the Greater Cincinnati community. You're listening to
Simply Money presented by all Worth Financial on fifty five
KRC the Talk station Reading.
Speaker 6 (29:01):
It's not as if there are people sitting there reading
every piece of information the US government has writing.
Speaker 7 (29:07):
China is writing the rules while we're left.
Speaker 3 (29:09):
Behind math deploying fake mass and accounting gimmicks to hide
the true cost of their bill.
Speaker 2 (29:16):
Little do you know it? It keeps changing every day.
We've been taking you back to school all summer. It
sounds like a.
Speaker 3 (29:23):
High school term paper that got a little mark.
Speaker 1 (29:25):
Continued Education on fifty five KRS the Talk station.
Speaker 2 (29:31):
Get on the road to victory and welcome to here.
Why do we keep letting thousands of people come over
and do nothing about it?
Speaker 8 (29:37):
My family's safety is.
Speaker 1 (29:38):
At risk fifty five KRC, the talk Station.
Speaker 3 (29:46):
You're listening to Simply Money presented by all Worth Financial
on Bob Sponseller along with Brian James.
Speaker 4 (29:51):
Do you have a financial question you'd like for us
to answer.
Speaker 3 (29:53):
There's a red button you can click while you're listening
to this show right on the iHeart app. Simply record
your question and it will come straight to us. Speaking
of questions, Andy, and Lebanon is going to lead us off.
Speaker 4 (30:06):
He says, I'm retiring in the next two years.
Speaker 3 (30:09):
How do I make sure I'm not taking on too
much risk but still getting enough growth?
Speaker 4 (30:14):
Brian, what say you?
Speaker 9 (30:16):
Well?
Speaker 6 (30:17):
Andy, first off, congratulations that you're kind of in the
glide path or retirement over the next couple of years.
That's got to be an exciting and also terrifying time,
which is I'm sure you know what's driving some of
this type of questions.
Speaker 5 (30:27):
So yeah, So I'm not.
Speaker 6 (30:29):
A believer Andy that just because I am retired or
you know, I've got that label on myself, or I
don't I'm on a fixed income quote unquote that kind
of thinking. I do not believe at all that that
is an instant trigger to my investments have got to
be safe, safe, safe, safe safe. I do believe what
you're what you're doing is you're doing the correct thing.
You're starting to take to take the starting to figure
(30:49):
out where the changes should be. So in that case,
what I think about is it doesn't matter how old
you are, what your status is. What matters is when
do I need these particular piles of dollars. We all
have individual specific piles of dollars that we will need
at different times based on our different life circumstances. So,
for example, if you know you've got we've got a
wedding to pay for in a couple a couple of
years or six months or whatever, then that bill is
(31:09):
coming due. Let's focus the investments for that particular pile.
Make sure that you know that might be what we
said earlier. The market currently is at an all time high,
so maybe that should come out and be carved out
if that bill's come and due. On the other hand,
once you've identified all of those piles of money that
have a calendar date on them as to when they
come do to cover the bill. Everything that does not
(31:30):
have a date on it really is your is your
still your long term portfolio, and that should still be
oriented for growth, because that's the way that you're going to,
you know, to fight off inflation. Even the littlest old
widow needs something growing out there to keep.
Speaker 5 (31:41):
Up with inflation.
Speaker 6 (31:42):
Let's move on to Bob and Westchester Bob. Bob says
he's got a three million dollar portfolio, but he doesn't
have a pension. So how much could they rely on
drawing out of that three million dollar portfolio without running
out of money?
Speaker 5 (31:53):
Bob?
Speaker 2 (31:53):
Other Bob.
Speaker 3 (31:55):
Yeah, Bob, I'll start by by saying this, you know,
we have no idea. First of all, congratulations on building
that three million dollar portfolio. I'm sure you've worked very
hard for many years. Congrats on that. Uh, you know,
you probably have Social Security income. And then we got
to make this three million dollar pile work for you.
The big, the big part of answering that question is
(32:17):
how much of that is in pre tax and after
tax investments. You remember, you got to factor in taxes
to any withdrawal strategy. So I would say, you know,
and I know these articles are out there, four percent,
four and a half whatever, don't go by those you know,
plain vanilla, broad based you know assumptions, because again, taxes
and how much you spend are going to matter a lot.
(32:40):
And I'd say make sure you put in a little
buffer for healthcare costs too.
Speaker 4 (32:44):
So bottom line, I think sit down with a.
Speaker 3 (32:47):
Good fiduciary advisor, a CPA or both and map out
an income strategy taking into account present in future taxes,
and that will help you arrive at that responsible withdraw
amount or percentage that's going to make you feel good
about heading into retirement. All right, Let's hear next from
Susan in Hyde Park. She says, I've been maxing out
(33:09):
my four oh one K and doing a.
Speaker 4 (33:12):
Backdoor roth IRA. So Susan's on top of it.
Speaker 3 (33:15):
Brian, what else should she be doing to lower her
taxable income?
Speaker 6 (33:20):
Good job, Susan, you're taking some of the right steps there.
I want to make sure we've got our terms correct.
Earlier you said you're maxing out your four oh one K,
and now I'm assuming you don't specify here, but I
am assuming you're referring to your pre.
Speaker 5 (33:30):
Tax four oh one k, not the roth side.
Speaker 7 (33:33):
Uh.
Speaker 6 (33:33):
And so therefore yes, and then that's that's a good
step in the right direction. If your goal is to
reduce taxes, the back door raw that's a different story.
That is not helping you lower your taxable income. Now,
that does not make it a bad decision at all.
But if you're doing a roth IRA, whether it's a
backdoor or front door, that does not have an impact
on your on your current taxes. You're gonna pay income
taxes at the same level you already are no matter what.
(33:55):
But again, not a bad idea that will What that
will do is that a little assuming those dollars would
otherwise have wound up in some kind of pre tax arrangement.
Maybe then you're lowering your future requirementum distributions, which isn't
a bad thing. But your question, how else can you
lower your tax will income? Well, problem is in twenty seventeen,
we had a tax act that reduced or that increased
(34:17):
the standard deduction and made it a lot easier for
people to get to these deduction levels without actually having
to take any steps. So in twenty twenty five, the
standard deduction for a single person is fifteen thousand dollars.
It's thirty thousand for married couples filing jointly. You're getting
that deduction as soon as you get out of bed.
You don't have to do anything for it. The only
things you can do to increase that are could possibly
(34:38):
make significant charitable donations. Right, you might don donate some
appreciated stock if you've got that in your situation and
possibly use something called a donor advised fund. So, for example,
if you donate, let's say you know you're going to
give ten thousand dollars to some organization every year for
the next five years, pull all of that forward into
a one fifty thousand dollars donation into a donor advised fund,
(35:00):
and you can take a fifty thousand dollars deduction now,
and the charity on the other end doesn't know any different.
You still get to control it, and you can never
pull it back. You've given it up, but you can
still control how it gets doled out to that charity
that will give you a current taxable income deduction. Okay,
Jared's keep going. We got other questions here to answer.
So Jerry and Anderson asks, should he use a home
equity line to pay for a vacation home or would
(35:21):
it be better to liquidate his investment set and then
just pay it in cash?
Speaker 5 (35:24):
Do you think, Bob, Well, I'm going to use the
age old.
Speaker 4 (35:27):
It depends.
Speaker 3 (35:28):
And you know the first thing, Jerry, we got to
make sure you can afford a vacation home. I don't
know what your time horizon is until retirement. But I
will say this, and this is my personal bias, take
it or leave it. I do not like taking out
loans for homes, especially as you get close to retirement,
especially at near seven percent. So this all comes down
(35:50):
to you know, home equity, liquidating investments, what have you.
It depends on how your money's invested and what assumptions
you want to make and how much risk you want
to take in terms of future retre In other words,
if you don't like the idea of paying a seven
percent you know, interest rate on anything, and you don't
think your investment portfolio has a high probability as its
(36:12):
structured to outpace a guaranteed seven percent loan, then you
take investments out. You know, you don't borrow the money.
If you're a growth person and you say, hey, I
got a ten, fifteen, thirty your time horizon and we
think we're going to average nine ten percent in stocks
and I'm willing to pay you know, six point seventy
five to seven for you know, home and equity line
(36:36):
or a standard mortgage, well then that's a different answer.
But I think you got to sit down and map
out your time horizing what your true strategy is and
then make decisions accordingly. All right, Coming up next, Brian's
got his bottom line where he's going to talk about
the pros and cons of instant gratification versus I guess
being a little more patient. You're listening to Simply Money,
(36:57):
presented by all Worth Financial on fifty five KRC the
talk station.
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That next month, I have to choose between groceries for
my kids or gas for my car.
Speaker 1 (37:37):
Talk about it here fifty five KRC the talk station.
You're listening to Simple Money, presented by all Worth Financial.
I'm Bob spun Seller along with Brian James, and it's
time for Brian's bottom line. Where Brian's going to share
with us, why we shouldn't be having any fun at
all and always stash your money away for a later date.
Speaker 6 (38:00):
Hit it, Brian, that's just the worst lead in ever, Bobb.
You've depressed everybody now and they have to listen to me,
so well, for anybody who's still listening, I'm gonna say
it anyway. So No, I've had a rash of these
situations kind of come across my desk kind of coincidentally.
And it's never, I'll say, for our listeners out there
who come in, who listen to us here and they
come in and they want to have meetings, these are
not the types of situations that hit my desk. It's
(38:22):
always their kids or some relative or something. People who
seek out financial education and have done so far their
entire lives do not wind up in these situations. But
if you don't, here's what might happen. So one case,
I've got a case where a this is a client's
mother who had been married three times, never for more
than ten years, and also never worked you know, much
(38:46):
a day in her life, frankly, and she is in
a situation now where she is in her mid sixties.
Speaker 5 (38:50):
This literally results in no social security for her.
Speaker 6 (38:53):
She did not have much of anything on her own record,
and she got divorced three times before the ten year
limit passed, so she does not bet of it from
any of her prior husbands. This is a real situation
where she has moved in uh with this individual and
he's just going to have to support her for the
rest of her life.
Speaker 5 (39:08):
She can work a little bit.
Speaker 6 (39:09):
But not that much anymore because obviously as we age,
there are health problems coming on. So there are these
are real situations that happened because we don't do things
when we're younger. Bob, you look like you want to
say something.
Speaker 5 (39:18):
Go ahead, I.
Speaker 3 (39:19):
Don't want to say anything. I'm not touching this. You
said she didn't work a day in her life. My
question is does she raise children?
Speaker 4 (39:25):
Brian?
Speaker 5 (39:26):
She did well, fair enough, but at the same she worked.
Speaker 6 (39:32):
She worked, but she didn't plan ahead, and that's the
whole point of this segment, right, she didn't take it
into account what's going to happen. She made She made
very flippant, kind of spur of the moment decisions. So
you're right, there's an awful lot of work in raising children.
But at the same time, those children are now raising
her all right, So more importantly, how are you helping
this dear woman?
Speaker 5 (39:49):
Uh?
Speaker 6 (39:49):
Dig out helping helping them? See that you know this this,
These are the outcomes. This is just realistic. We have
simply built a plan that accounts for a third person
in the household, as all three of them are going
to try to be retired someday.
Speaker 5 (40:03):
There's no magic to it, though, So another quick, quick
one we're gonna run.
Speaker 4 (40:07):
The message here is follow follow your brain, not your heart.
Is that the message?
Speaker 5 (40:12):
That is a yes?
Speaker 6 (40:12):
And another super super quick one for anybody out there
who runs across a relative who thinks they're sticking it
to the man by working under the table and taking
in cash which until well into their forties, you have
not won any games. You are simply building a no
retirement income situation at all because the soci Scurity administration
doesn't think you've made any money.
Speaker 5 (40:28):
So think twice about that.
Speaker 4 (40:31):
Oh okay, thanks for listening.
Speaker 3 (40:33):
You've been listening to simply Money present up by all
Worth Financial on fifty five KR.
Speaker 2 (40:37):
See the talk station Mark Levin.
Speaker 10 (40:40):
Let me Tellyson. The Internet is breeding evil, breeding evil,
and TikTok is the main culprit and I don't know
what's happening with TikTok, but that damn thing needs to
be sold now and it needs to be cleaned up.
And I don't want to hear about free speech and
everything else. It's a private company. The company needs to
clean it up because this is crazy between the comment
is Chinese and all the crap that people put on
(41:02):
this stuff.
Speaker 1 (41:03):
Mark Levin tonight at ten o six on fifty five KRC,
the talk station
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