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Joe Krause:
On this Father\’s Day weekend, we say hello and welcome in everyone to Roadmap to Retirement The Radio Show as we come to you on Talk Radio 1210 WPHT. Happy Father\’s Day to everyone. Thank you so much for listening and tuning into the program on this Saturday. Karen according to Forbes Magazine I found this very interesting in looking at some of the pre-show notes for the program today. 96% of Americans claim their social security benefits at the wrong time. We have talked about that so many times, which is why it jumped out to me. That mistake, on average, over $100,000 it will cost an individual should you make the wrong decision.

Karen Bezar:
That\’s startling, right?

Joe Krause:
It\’s unbelievable.

Karen Bezar:
It\’s really scary. And one of the things we focus on here is social security and it\’s almost like this mysterious thing out there. People think they know about it, but the more you look into it the more confusing it actually is. And sometimes people think that retirement equals social security, that as soon as you retire you have to start social security. I have actually had that comment said to me so there is a lot of confusion. So we\’re going to try to clear up a little bit today. So yes, you can control your strategy to maximize your social security benefit. So if you\’re out there listening and you\’re thinking of retiring, chances are good you\’re probably eager to start collecting social security.

Karen Bezar:
But, if you\’re like most people you don\’t understand how these important benefits work. In fact again, more than nine in 10 adults don\’t have a clue how to maximize social security. And like you said Joe, if you make the wrong decision you\’re leaving tens of thousands and sometimes you can leave hundreds of thousands of dollars on the table. And I\’m going to read a direct quote from Bloomberg and it says, \”According to new research,\” like you said, \”96% of hardworking Americans can lose an average of $111,000 in social security benefits and it\’s all due to critical timing mistakes.\” So it\’s really, really important that you know what you\’re doing. One of the things we offer here at Thrive is a social security analysis.

Karen Bezar:
This is just a piece of the puzzle and if you claim social security too early you can mistakes and if you claim it too late, you could possibly make a mistake. This is directly from Forbes, \”There are 2,728 rules in the IRS Handbook.\” That\’s the rules for social security that they have.

Joe Krause:
And here is the one rule that I think is 100% accurate. If you make a mistake, you do not get a do-over with social security. Is that fair or is that-

Karen Bezar:
For the most part.

Joe Krause:
Okay.

Karen Bezar:
For the most part, if you make a mistake and it\’s been 12 months or less.

Joe Krause:
Okay, I didn\’t mean to confuse you.

Karen Bezar:
You can actually stop your social security, but you got to pay back what you took. And we\’ve actually met with people and we have done that, because their mistake was so critical in their retirement plan that if they didn\’t it could have messed things up. So luckily some people have seen us just in about the right amount of time. So there is this game with social security we call it the age game. When do I start social security? If you start too early, what\’s going to happen? If you start too late, what\’s going to happen? Everybody knows their date of birth, but you don\’t know your date of death and this is really important but you could always plan for things happening.

Karen Bezar:
That\’s just so important. It\’s again, it\’s the age game do I start early, do I start late? Am I better off holding off? Am I better off waiting until 70? So what makes us different is we will actually do the analysis for you. Some people sit there and they calculate and they try to figure out, \”Where\’s the break even point? When is the best time to start? If I start now, when will I break even?\” Guess what? We will offer you that analysis and we can do that for you and we can show you the difference. If you start too early this is what it\’s going to look like, this is how much money you\’re going to lose. If you start too late, this is what it\’s going to look like.

David Bezar:
Well, the most important part of the analysis is when we find plenty of people come in with nice spreadsheets, Excel spreadsheets and they\’ve done that break even analysis but what they forgot is that they\’re married. So they did a break even analysis as individuals but the way social security rules work, there is 567 different election options. So our software actually takes all of that in the consideration from a timing, whether you\’re married, longevity and all of that. What you get via this algorithm is the exact timing. And then what we\’ll do is we actually confirm yes, you can adopt that. Because a lot of people say, \”Well, if I don\’t take social security, how am I going to live from the time I retire to the time I got to take money out at age 72?\” Again, so many moving puzzle pieces, Joe.

Joe Krause:
No way you can do it on your own. I don\’t see how you can do it-

David Bezar:
Tons of people try. I mean and it\’s okay but again, if you want to optimize retirement, that\’s the key word is optimize. Get the most out that you can, you take some analysis.

Karen Bezar:
Right. And remember social security check, your social security income the reason it\’s so good for you and the reasons it\’s part of your plan is it\’s indexed to inflation. So if you don\’t have a pension it\’s indexed to inflation. So it does actually grow in income not a lot, but it balances your Medicare\’s charges. It\’s guaranteed for as long as you live and no matter if the markets go up or the markets go down, you\’re still going to get that payment every month. So that\’s why it\’s so important to make sure you make the right decision. Another aspect of social security that we are aware of and we take into account and sometimes people are shocked and dismayed almost is guess what? Your social security check is taxed. So if you don\’t have a strategy to prevent some of the taxation on your social security check, you\’re in for a rude awakening. Up to 85% of your social security check is taxed. You can have it taxed at 0% that\’s federal tax or 50% or 85%. Joe how much of your social security check would you like taxed?

Joe Krause:
I would like it to be 0%. Is that the right answer?

Karen Bezar:
Guess what? That\’s the right answer and that\’s the common answer that we get. So if you want that, you definitely need to do some forward tax planning and that\’s something that you really need to work out. So just here is some mistakes that we see and here is some rules. Yes, you can claim at 62 but should you? Should you start early? We can do that analysis for you. When you start early it can mess other things up. You can delay your claim until 70. Your lifetime benefit doesn\’t change based on timing. Your spouse can claim based on your earnings. How is that possible? And again, this was actually something in my list today is you do get a do-over, but it has to be 12 months or less.

Karen Bezar:
And there is a formula that you can work to increase your benefit especially if you\’re a couple. There is a formula that you have to do together. So if you\’re out there and you think you have to start with social security soon, don\’t start unless you\’ve talked to us first or your advisor. If you don\’t know these answers than don\’t start yet. How does your age when you file affect the amount of your benefits? How are your benefits calculated? Are you entitled to spousal or survivor benefits. So if you\’re out there and you\’ve made an average or above average income throughout your working life, the traditional rules for filing for your social security benefits don\’t apply to you.

Karen Bezar:
You\’ve probably been told that delaying your benefits as long as possible will yield more income and that\’s true, but is it the best move? So it could cost you thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars if you don\’t do the right strategy. Because when you consider or you haven\’t considered the impact of taxes on Medicare premiums, the net-net could be actually far less which is crazy. Learn how you can maximize social security income by giving us a call at (215) 987-2430. That\’s (215) 987-2430. Leave us a message and calendars are filling up, so please give us a call.

Joe Krause:
Well done and well said. Good opening topic for the show today on Roadmap to Retirement The Radio Show. As we come to you from Thrive Financial Services located right here in the Delaware Valley. In Fort Washington, Pennsylvania is where we\’re broadcasting and we thank you for consuming the show. Again, (215) 987-2430. We\’ll get to a commercial break. More after the break. And back here on Roadmap to Retire The Radio Show as we come to you on Talk Radio 1210 WPHT. Let\’s see Bret a pandemic, an economic shut down, the stock market is up and down, civil unrest with protesting and everything else that\’s happening.

Bret Elam:
Is that it?

Joe Krause:
It\’s incredible.

Bret Elam:
It\’s Groundhog Day, right?

Joe Krause:
No doubt about it.

Bret Elam:
It\’s just like last year.

Joe Krause:
It\’s absolutely, absolutely, unbelievable. I think all of that Bret makes us, makes me, makes the listening audience very uncomfortable, very uneasy-

Karen Bezar:
My anxiety level just went up.

Joe Krause:
Very nervous.

Bret Elam:
You know what we are? We\’re creatures of habit.

Joe Krause:
Yes, sir.

Bret Elam:
And you know what\’s unnatural is change and all of a sudden we get that shock to the system, Krausey, it\’s like my gosh [inaudible 00:11:47]. I love today\’s topic, four things you can do. Again, what\’s an opportunity? You\’ve got to take advantage of it. Okay, we\’ve been talking about that on a recent shows and I thought when David concluded the show last week Krausey he talked about the difference between investment management and financial planning. And I love how we echo week in and week out where we\’re not trying to have people drinking out of a fire hydrant about which investment and that stock and this mutual fund and that and… No, this is about the plan and putting things together four things you can do.

Bret Elam:
And what I want to start on today it\’s the foundation of any financial plan is you have the ability to control how many streams of income, income planning that you will have in retirement. I referenced quite a bit a great periodical that the Harvard Business Review saying our mindset to retirement is wrong. So many of us worry about net worth and forget about monthly income. If you want to read just a couple of things here before we go a little bit deeper. \”Successful retirements are not built on assets,\” exactly what I just said, \”Or the amount of money have you saved. They\’re built on your ability to generate income in retirement.\” And that\’s where we\’re going to go today, some specifics of what we can do.

Bret Elam:
Your income again the foundation, the backbone whatever you want to call it is your income is the backbone of that retirement game plan. Because again, it\’s not about simply a plan to generate income, here\’s the risk remember on how we started, how many streams? It\’s all about the diversification of those streams. Put all my money in stocks, put all my money in bonds, put all my money in annuities. No, diversification of what we have that\’s out there that\’s going to generate that income. Here\’s a recent study from one of the largest insurance companies in North America. Six out of 10 people, this sounds just like the Thrive people we meet, that they\’re afraid of running out of money before they die.

Bret Elam:
So you know how you can alleviate that fear? Have an income plan, not a fault in the head an actual plan, that\’s it and retirement it\’s all about income. Know where your money will come from. What does that mean? It\’s now on you. You\’re not getting that paycheck from your employer or if you\’re self employed, it\’s now on you. It\’s on your savings to generate that income creating that paycheck inevitably it\’s out there. And why is it such a big deal? Why has this changed? Bret we\’ve always need to worry about income plan. Well let\’s talk about history it\’s history and transitioning. So what a lot of people think about and again we\’re creatures of habit, we just said it Krausey.

Bret Elam:
Again, as people are entering retirement or getting ready to retire, my twenties, my thirties, my forties, my fifty income why do I need to be worrying about income? I\’m getting it from a paycheck but this is where that transition of the mindset needs to change. And again, change is unnatural it\’s why we do and it\’s why we\’re passionate everyday day in and day out about what we do here at Thrive. Is starting to transform the mind, getting ready. So many people in our world all they care about is climbing the road to retirement climb, climb, climb, climb, climb. Now by all means we can help people with that as well, but you know who participates in that more than anyone else Krausey? Investment managers.

Bret Elam:
And then here\’s the problem as they continue that same theme, let me just help you grow, grow, grow, grow, grow and then they get to retirement and they don\’t change anything. Maybe they may rebounds or reallocate or something along those lines if you will but they didn\’t generate income. They just built the same darn portfolio, maybe they\’re not working now, maybe it changed a little bit but it\’s where are you generating that income stream? And here\’s the one thing we never see, it\’s not diversified. So it\’s like, \”Okay Brett I hear that and again why is this problem any different than where we were before?\” Okay Let\’s think about your parents.

Bret Elam:
Where a lot of people we sit down with and go, \”Do you remember what the interest rate was on the first mortgage that you got?\” And I love that question because you\’ll get people starting to reminisce back into the seventies and the eighties and I\’ll get 7%. And I\’m like, \”Where were you at?\” I\’m like, \”What bank was that with?\” And then I\’ll get the real people like, Yeah 16%, 17% mortgages out there.\” Guess what else was 16 and 17% way back then? Savings rates, CD rates, inflation rates, it was very easy for somebody that was retiring during that point in time. I remember my first day in banking a young lady 1999 comes into the bank crying I\’m like, \”All right Bret welcome to banking.\”

Bret Elam:
And I said, \”Can I help you?\” And she says, \”I don\’t think so.\” I\’m like, \”Okay.\” I was like I love being a problem solver I go, \”Can I try?\” She goes, \”Sure.\” She goes, \”My CD from 1979 paying 18% is coming due.\” I go, \”You\’re right, there\’s nothing I can do.\” Now listen here audience you\’ll probably appreciate what I\’m getting ready to say. In 1999, 20 years later from the 1979 we\’re at least able to get her 7%. So what\’s the problem? Today we\’re fighting, we\’re shopping, we\’re spending more money on gas going from bank to bank to bank or spending time on the internet trying to find a 2% CD today. Not seven, not 18, two or let alone zero. So when we understand where saving rate is [inaudible 00:17:05] that\’s… What is that? Is that Italian for zero?

Karen Bezar:
I think it is.

Bret Elam:
Or we can go in so many zero is zero, I know my Spanish I took about 12 years of that at the end of the day but zero is zero. And if you\’ve got a million dollars and you\’re not earning any interest on it guess how much you\’re getting for income? Nothing. So now it\’s starting to change the pace, the mindset, the shock to the system. And here\’s the scariest thing and we\’ll talk about it again, the FED just came out. And what did they say last week? We\’re going to keep interest rates essentially at zero for at least two years. For two months? No, no, no two years. So for the listening audience that plans on living for at least the next two years we now have an issue.

Bret Elam:
How are we conservatively, how are we going to generate that income? And again, not all in one spot. So again, I said it a little bit earlier, is it stocks, is it bonds, is it annuities, is it real estate? It\’s a combination. So I want to talk a little bit about some of the solutions that are out there of how we can go to generate income. Because so many of us we grew up and we are built on this mindset Krause, you have the three legged stool in retirement. What\’s the three legged stool? Well the leg number one Karen just spoke about it, it\’s social security. Leg number two which many people have but it\’s becoming few and far between now, less and less people are getting it it\’s the pension.

Bret Elam:
So now all of a sudden we\’ve got a leg that\’s shorter than the other and guess what the third leg is? It\’s our savings and our ability to generate income in these challenging times. Before the three legged stool used to have three even legs, now with social security at least that\’s still alive. We talked about some of the stresses that are going on with COVID and what that\’s going to lead to. Pensions, a thing of the past. I mean I read some scary things over the past week about some of the pension crisis that are out there in Detroit, all sorts of different places around the country. It\’s scary, we think it\’s guaranteed, it\’s not. So we got to rely on that savings.

Bret Elam:
So what are some of the solutions that are out there and how we can generate some of that savings? So the very first way that we can start generating income is something that\’s called an immediate annuity. So when we start talking about investment tools Krausey, there is always three characteristics that we look for in any kind of an investment. Liquidity, growth and principal protection. Again liquidity, growth and principal protection. Here\’s the problem, there\’s no one investment that has all three. So what did we say, how many streams that was plural, it means diversify. Sometimes you\’re going to get liquidity and principal protection no growth.

Bret Elam:
Sometimes you get liquidity and growth no principle protection. Sometime you give up on some liquidity to pick up growth and principal protection. Diversification because each of these tools that I\’m going through has different characteristics associated with it. And immediate annuity it\’s essentially you creating a pension. You say, \”Hey I don\’t have one of those pensions but maybe I have a large 401k and I just want to give that company. I\’m getting ready to retire today, I\’m going to take a half million dollars from my 401k give it to the insurance company. And then they\’re going to give me a paycheck. I created my paycheck for me and/or maybe my spouse over a period of time and/or life.\”

Bret Elam:
Again, we lose the liquidity control but it\’s peace of mind with the strength of the insurance company that it\’s out there, of a check that\’s going to be generated for much of our lifetime. And again, that\’s no different than our pensions that are out there today, there\’s typically some company that\’s backing it behind the scenes. Another way to generate interest, laddering bonds. Rule of thumb interest rates are high like back in 1999 where I met that young lady with the CD. She had a 20 year CD God bless her, 18% for 20 years what a blessing. So that\’s great… She has it there. You have target date funds that are out there. Again, these 20/20, 20/25 funds.

Bret Elam:
You have dividends stocks, here\’s the important thing to understand listening audience. We have we see dividend paying portfolios, we have them here at Thrive as well. A lot of changes going on right now in the economy, we need to be conscious of did that company get rid of their dividend or not? You have corporate bonds investment grade. The FED just came out last week and said, \”Hey we\’re going to start pumping money into corporate bonds ourselves.\” You have municipal bonds that are out there where you have the ability to, you\’re investing in some localities, maybe some states. You obviously have real estate that\’s out there, you have regular annuities.

Bret Elam:
We had a gentleman mid sixties, they wanted peace of mind Krausey but they didn\’t want to lose control. They took a half million dollars, said I don\’t need it for five years. We were able to generate for them a $35,000 check for them and their wife guaranteed until the day they died. Where if they both died, both of them were going to end up getting the money and it all gave them a little bit of longterm care insurance as well. But Krausey what\’d you hear me say a little bit ago? 0% interest rates through 2022, 0%. This makes generating income virtually impossible from those traditional sources like we said CDs, savings account. So this is forces us to take some investment risks.

Bret Elam:
But given that recent rollercoaster ride and everything you started the segment that\’s going on, can you really stomach it? The good news is there\’s better options for generating income that you may not even know exist. And that\’s why we\’ve created that retirement income analysis. It\’s a 15 minute analysis where we\’ll quickly assess your situation and share the strategies other people are successfully using today to generate that steady and diversified stream of income that never ever stops. Now we\’re going to do this customized retirement analysis for our listeners of the show today Krausey and we\’re not going to charge a dime.

Bret Elam:
So if you\’ve saved more than $250,000 call today (215) 987-2430. Our staff only sets aside a handful of slots every week for these appointments and they absolutely fill up quickly. So please do not wait again, that number again is (215) 987-2430. Again (215) 987-2430.

Joe Krause:
As we go to the commercial break here on Roadmap to Retirement The Radio Show, I want the audience to realize and understand the passion in Bret\’s voice comes from a position of being an advocate. And it is so important for everyone to understand that. How do you reduce risk in investment? We\’ll deal with that conversation as we roll along on talk radio 1210 WPHT.

Speaker 1:
So are you a member of the thrive army? If not it\’s okay, you can still get a sample RMD tax report at no charge. All you have to do is go to thrivefinancialservices.tyl16lnm-liquidwebsites.com.

Joe Krause:
And welcome back everyone to Roadmap to Retirement The Radio Show on Talk Radio 1210 WPHT. It\’s unsettling David and I don\’t mean to use that word to be a downer but it\’s just the reality. The unsettling feeling word from the street, I do a labor show the union guys are thinking about early retirement. There are so many different balls up in the air, people are looking for answers and financially you have to find the right ones.

David Bezar:
Yeah, and we\’ve talked about a lot of great things. social security is a big decision today right?

Joe Krause:
Big decision.

David Bezar:
Just making sure that income is a priority, I mean that\’s such a big one. We get so many people that we talk with and they\’ve got a great net worth, I mean they\’ve built up a lot of assets. And it\’s interesting because there\’s this sometimes in the back of their mind this fear about I might run out of money if I spend too much money. Which is yeah I mean, certainly that will happen but you might be able to actually spend more than you think. And I mean isn\’t that really the idea of retirement? Is to enjoy yourself after 40 plus years of potentially working? So some people scrimp and save in retirement because they want to keep that six or seven figure number.

David Bezar:
And we just wonder a lot of times, if you learn how to generate income more sufficient than you currently are it could be a great scenario for you. But here\’s the thing Joe, if you do create more income you may have to pay more taxes and that\’s the big concern because it\’s not what you make, it\’s what you end up keeping. Here\’s a great thing for our listening audience to know though is you can control how much you pay in taxes during retirement. You can control it, you just need a plan. Again, last week investment management versus financial planning. Investment management does not include income, does not include social security and certainly does not include tax planning.

David Bezar:
Financial planning encompasses all of that. And if it\’s done by a fiduciary who\’s got a legal obligation to make sure it\’s done correctly, should give you a real sense of peace of mind in retirement. So here\’s what\’s challenging today from a tax perspective, the government is building debt like we\’ve never seen before. And ultimately probably the vast majority of the people listening to our show today are the target of our government when it comes time to pay taxes. Because baby boomers, and I\’m a baby boomer we control the largest amount of net worth of any segment of the population. So truthfully uncle Sam wants to get their percentage of what money we have.

David Bezar:
So now defensive tax strategies are going to be critically important. It was important before, it\’s now critically important because of all this debt that\’s going to have to be paid off or literally our country will not survive. So in the next 10, 15, 20 years we\’re going to see I mean, I can\’t guarantee it but we certainly can build a very strong case. That we\’re going to see marginal tax rates go up very, very dramatically. In our sense it could potentially happen as early as the first of the new year if a new administration comes in. So we\’ll see. So the more you pay on taxes the less secure your retirement is and the greater your chances of running out of money actually happen.

David Bezar:
I mean you worked really hard for your retirement nest egg, so the idea of paying taxes on those savings isn\’t exactly all that appealing. If you know what you\’re doing you can avoid overpaying uncle Sam as you start collecting social security, making withdraws, those things like required minimum distributions from your IRAs your 401ks. But unfortunately though, retirees don\’t always know all that\’s in the tax code, the ins the outs and as a result end up paying way more, way more in taxes than actually is necessary. Here\’s just a little thing. I had a client call me the other day and this is a gentleman who retired and then decided to go back to work and both in his former employment, he made really good money and now back out of retirement and employed again he\’s earning good money.

David Bezar:
And he\’s in his early sixties and he happened to be on his… We\’ve set up an account for him at TD Ameritrade which is the custodian that we utilize. And he was going through his online account and as he was reading it he noticed that he could contribute even with his income to some IRAs, both he and his wife could make $7000 contributions to his IRA and that\’s for 2019. Because we got a delay in taxes, he hasn\’t filed his taxes yet he could still do that. And his question was should I do that? And you would think the natural responses is yeah, if I could put money away and it\’s tax deferred and I get a tax deduction maybe I would instantly do that.

David Bezar:
But if you\’re higher income earner and you\’ve saved a ton of money already couldn\’t that potentially exacerbate what you\’re going to owe in the future? The answer is yeah, absolutely. So it was really wise on his part to reach out to me as his financial planner in fiduciary and say \”Dave what should I do?\” So it could be as simple as a yes or no answer but because we are very focused on helping retirees navigate taxes successfully, we introduced them to this idea of making that contribution. One for his wife, one for himself $7000 each in \’19 and then immediately doing what\’s called a back door Roth IRA conversion. Joe have you ever heard of that before?

Joe Krause:
I have not.

David Bezar:
And most people really haven\’t. It\’s got some complex IRS tax rules but it\’s a wonderful wonderful alternative especially… Basically here\’s what it comes down to, and Bret can jump in here real quick if he\’d like. But it basically is you make your IRA contribution, you get your tax deduction and then you instantly reclassify it-

Bret Elam:
Yeah what it is, it\’s because they were a high income earner they were above the limit for the deduction. So they put it in and couldn\’t deduct it because you can\’t deduct it as David said. Sounds illegal but it\’s absolutely legal back door the contribution because you couldn\’t deduct it from the IRA to a Roth IRA. That\’s it. There\’s some there\’s some magic that goes on there but again, you never know year in and year out what is your situation. And is there an opportunity to put money away get it into a Roth otherwise you say, \”Ah I make too much money there\’s nothing I can do.\” Yes you can do. Yes there is, that\’s why the book is yay thick. It\’s what David just showed was a phenomenal example of people that just think, \”Ah I make too much money there\’s nothing I can do.\” Yeah, but understand all the rules.

David Bezar:
Yeah. And that\’s an exclusive situation by any stretch. I mean yeah, he doesn\’t make millions of dollars annually he makes good six figure income and he saved a couple of million dollars for retirement. But that certainly doesn\’t exclude folks that are getting ready to go to retirement that didn\’t make that kind of money or haven\’t saved seven figures. You need to look at that, that if you are at an income level that may have disqualified you from a direct Roth contribution here\’s an excellent way to do that. I would really highly encourage people that are listening today, if you\’re wondering is there a way to get a Roth IRA contribution in for yourself just give us a call.

David Bezar:
I mean it\’s that simple, we could do a very quick analysis. You call us at (215) 987-2430 just whoever answers the phone just say, \”Hey I want to schedule a quick 15 minute discovery call I got a question about Roth IRA contributions.\” You\’re going to get Bret, myself, Karen, one of our very, very, very well trained advisors who are equally as good at tax planning as we are. And you\’ll get that answer for you and there\’s no guesswork at that particular point. You don\’t have to go search the internet, you don\’t have to get on Google all that other stuff. See what I\’d like to explain is what exactly is tax planning? So what you have to understand is tax planning is the analysis of finances from a tax perspective with the purpose of ensuring maximum tax efficiency.

David Bezar:
So considerations of tax planning including timing of income, size of income, timing of purchases and planning for expenditures. Things pop up in retirement unanticipated right? I might have to put a new roof on my house. Where do I take that money for that 40 or 50 grand that may end up being an expense that I didn\’t anticipate? Do I just take it out of my savings? Do I take it out of my IRA? What\’s the tax implication? I want to buy a vacation home, I want to buy a new car, I want to take a wonderful trip. People tend to make those decisions of where they\’re going to get that money, they just do it randomly. There\’s no analysis done to it whatsoever.

David Bezar:
So again, if those are the types of things that people are wondering and having questions about that\’s what tax planning will absolutely help with. Retirees who plan carefully can often pay a much lower tax bill in retirement however, the tax mistakes can have a dramatic effect on your finances when you\’re on a fixed income. So poor or haphazard tax planning might actually move you into a higher tax bracket or as a result basically needlessly have you end up spending more in taxes. So with everything that\’s happening in our world right now it can be really unsettling to say the least. We\’ve been stuck in our homes for months, our economy has been put on hold and more than on hold.

David Bezar:
It\’s natural to kind of be fearful and uncertain about everything but when you think about it, all of these things are out of your control. Like I said earlier, the one thing that can be in control for you is how much you pay in taxes. So if you\’d like to get a tax analysis done like I said, just a quick 15 minute discovery call let\’s get to know each other a little bit, let\’s see what your questions are. I might be able to answer them directly right on the phone or I may need to produce a report. You can get all of that done easily by calling (215) 987-2430. That\’s (215) 987-2430.

Joe Krause:
Here\’s what I want to say as we go into the break and I find myself every week learning so much more from this radio show. Thrive Financial Services is flat out a resource. They know what you don\’t know and on that I\’m going to a commercial break, you\’re on Talk Radio 1210 WPD. And back here on Roadmap to Retirement The Radio Show. Happy Father\’s Day to everyone tuning in and listening to another show that has knocked me back in my chair, has educated me once again. And Karen we begin the final segment with you and I come to you saying what I\’ve learned from this show. Minimize risk, control what you can control. First thing, talk to Thrive Financials Services.

Karen Bezar:
Thanks. And it\’s true you can minimize your risk but there\’s people that we meet with that some are okay with the little risk. Ah we talked to some people and they\’re like [inaudible 00:36:47]. Especially now they\’re like we\’re in retirement and this market up and this market down and there\’s no sense out there and it\’s scary. So instead of going to your financial advisor and at this point you need a personalized plan. There\’s so much information out there, how are you going to get that personal plan? You need to speak with somebody who is a financial planner not just a financial advisor. And like you were just saying Bret, and I\’ve actually spoken to somebody who\’s done the same thing.

Bret Elam:
Yeah. I mean, Krause we\’re going to call us that the defacto financial planner. Let me tell you what\’s going on out there and I love this. And again, we\’re echoing the theme investment management versus financial planning. So a lot of radio personalities here on the station with us and in our field and other people out there as well. But how I know we\’re making an impact is when I hear members of the Thrive Army, whether they\’re an incognito or not, that when we\’re now getting the opportunity to speak with them because they\’re dialing in from the show. What we\’re hearing more and more and more and more and more we\’ve been a listener of the show for the last couple of years and we\’re calling our advisor.

Bret Elam:
And we\’re hearing these things that you\’re talking about and we\’re asking them. We appreciate what you\’re doing. So then here\’s my next question, \”You\’re paying a fee for that person?\” They say, \”Yeah.\” \”What are you getting for that fee?\” And here\’s the conversation that comes back and forth every time. \”And we talk about the investments we switch from here and we switch to that one.\” So you\’ve got an investment manager. Again, that\’s not financial planning right there. Again, one of our listeners today just said, \”Think about that.\” You\’re hearing information elsewhere, Jim Kramer gives phenomenal tips on TV.

Bret Elam:
You could call him and ask him any question you hear from the Thrive army as well and he could probably answer, he\’s an educated guy. But how come he\’s not telling you on TV when the sell the stock that he told you to sell a month ago? Because he\’s talking to everybody. How about if you\’re working for an advisor and you\’re having to constantly go to them for questions, asking them the questions. Maybe they can or they cannot answer those questions. I need you need to think about this, you\’re going back and back and back, you\’re hearing things everywhere else. Somebody is manning the store for you, managing your assets yet all they\’re doing is managing the assets.

Bret Elam:
They\’re not creating the plan for people. I need people to really just understand when you get to retirement the set of rules is completely different. So four things you can do, you need to go find yourself that defacto financial planner. You need to find a fiduciary. You need to find somebody that understands all the puzzle pieces not just that investment piece, everything. It\’s so important. Fees become an issue when there\’s absence of value and the conversations that we\’re having with people day in and day out I\’m asking why are you paying a fee? Why are you paying a fee?

David Bezar:
And I think the point that Bret\’s trying to make… And it\’s not frustrating for us because again, we\’ve been so blessed with our business. And so many people that have listened to us on radio, people who\’ve watched us on TV, people who\’ve read our books they ultimately know to make the right decision and they become clients of ours. And it wasn\’t through any type of a sales pressure, no chasing people down, it was just presentation, education, advocacy and value. I\’ve always lived by that, do good by people and people will ultimately do good by you. What happens some times and I really want to give some encouragement of thought here is the idea of loyalty.

David Bezar:
And we respect it and we get it and we hear it. I\’ve been working with my financial advisor again for us, that just tends to mean 99.9% of the time my investment manager, the person who helps me make decisions on where to put my money. So what we hear is I\’ve had this relationship for 20 years or 30 years I feel really bad leaving them and we respect that. And the word defacto financial planner that Bret used is people are listening to us and they\’re watching us and they\’re reading stuff that we publish and they go, \”Geez that\’s really an awesome idea. Let me go talk to my financial advisor about that.\”

David Bezar:
And we\’re okay with that, we put it out there in the public space and we\’re okay and we don\’t moan or complain that they\’re not our clients. But Bret raises a really important question is why are you paying that fee and what are you getting for that fee? And if you have to be the one who is proactive in the approach think about all the people who don\’t listen to the show, what\’s happening to them? No one\’s in their ear saying you should be thinking about your social security decisions, you should be thinking about your risk profile, you should be figuring out how to generate better income and more tax efficiently.

David Bezar:
So there\’s tons and tons and tons of people out there that aren\’t even getting the opportunity to hear the information to put the question, to pose the question to their financial professional. What I would encourage though is I\’ve said this in the past, I consider Thrive and our financial planners here that we\’ve trained. The best analogy I could give is in Major League Baseball, which unfortunately were not getting much of right now. I did see some games from South Korea. Did you catch out on ESPN by the way? That\’s-

Bret Elam:
You\’re getting your fix.

David Bezar:
Yeah, get a little bit of it in there from South Korea. But in Major League Baseball and Joe I know you\’re a big sports fan, a good starting pitcher will get you typically to what inning? What do you think?

Joe Krause:
Today you\’re going to get into the sixth inning.

David Bezar:
Yeah right? Six, seven maybe the seventh inning if you\’re really good at it.

Joe Krause:
20 years ago they\’re going eight innings strong. Today analytics say no.

David Bezar:
Yeah, exactly. So then what\’s the GM do? Or the coach goes they tap the arm, they look at the bullpen and they bring in a specialist. And they determine which specialist to bring in based on who\’s coming up to bat next. There\’s a lot of analysis that goes into that but that specialist is going to have a good curve ball, a good slider, a good sink but whatever it may be to kind of finish that game with a W in the column. We look at most financial advisors and again, not disrespectfully but they\’re like starting pitchers. So if you\’re in that stage of life where you\’re accumulating money for retirement it\’s a pretty simple set of skills.

David Bezar:
But once you cross over or getting really close to let\’s say that six or seventh inning, it may be time for you to consider looking at a specialist. Again, just because it\’s our business model we don\’t work with younger couples and that\’s kind of deliberate because they\’re not going to be really able to truly benefit from everything that we do. But when you\’re in retirement and you got those social security, Medicare, longterm care, investment reallocation and rebalancing, taxes, legacy planning, trust planning all of those different types of things you need a specialist. And that\’s what thrive does, that\’s solely what we do.

David Bezar:
Is help you navigate that last couple of innings of the game so that you end up with a W in the column. So if you\’re interested and you\’re part of our listening audience I\’d encourage you to take 15 minutes, get on a discovery call with us, get to meet us, get to know us a little bit. Ask us a bunch of questions and find out if a Thrive Retirement Roadmap Review which is an all encompassing financial analysis could be done as a second opinion or it could be done as a first opinion depending where you\’re at. We\’re happy to do it, it\’s complimentary, it\’s fully educational and you can simply get it done by calling us at (215) 987-2430.

Joe Krause:
Well done, well said. Great program today for the listening audience. As we get ready to say goodbye on this Father\’s Day weekend, we broadcast here on Saturdays Dom Giordano does a Saturday afternoon show. A couple of weeks back Thrive was on, was part of a Dom\’s show on that Saturday afternoon it was a terrific segment. And in my followup with Dom after that he said, \”Man I get it. I want more people to get to know who Thrive Financial is.\” And it is so true and so accurate and that doesn\’t come very often from a gentleman who makes his living on understanding what\’s really happening in the Delaware Valley. So well done by you more on that as we roll along, I don\’t want to let the cat out of the bag but more coming up on that with Dom. That\’s going to do it for this week\’s edition of Roadmap to Retirement The Radio Show. On behalf of David Bezar, Karen Bezar and Bret Elam and all of our listeners I\’m Joe Krause. See you next week everybody.