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David, I want to start with you immediately because I often thought this week many times, the thought came into my mind every time there was a story posted about the tariffs on China, and then China retaliating against the US, the market jumping up, the market jumping down. And it brought into, in my mind, a thought popped in my mind about how important it is, we talk so much about what you can control and what you can\’t.

Yeah, and the volatility is back. I mean, there\’s just no question. We saw early in the week, on Monday, we saw things moving down like three percent, and yeah, just all over the place throughout the week. But it\’s important and, as a matter of fact, what\’s interesting, Vanguard, which is one of the mutual fund companies, one of the largest mutual fund companies out there, who really is more designed for the do-it-yourself crowd. When we see a lot of people who are self-managed with their investments, typically, we see a lot of Vanguard clients.

And interestingly enough, on the front page of Vanguard\’s website, they have a downloadable article, talking about the benefits of working with a financial advisor. And I think we\’ve addressed this once or twice before on the show, but during these crazy times, a lot of counsel, a lot of the behavioral modifications that most people go through can be curtailed or enhanced by working with the financial advisors.

The summary of the report is that, working with the financial advisor will actually improve the performance of a portfolio by three percent. So it\’s interesting to kind of see that. And sometimes, I\’ve always said this and I\’ve said it a number of times on the show, what\’s popular isn\’t always right, and what\’s right isn\’t always popular. Meaning, in times of these types of volatility, depending on your personal situation, not the masses, not what you think your financial advisor may say, but really tailored specifically for you, there may be tactics, there may be strategies to employ that the masses wouldn\’t be, that could be really advantageous.

Like when the markets are in turmoil like they are right now, a lot of people have lost some money in the markets, they tend to just stay the course. That\’s the advice either that they\’ve learned, or they\’ve adopted, or they\’ve gathered from a financial advisor. And crazy enough, there are opportunities where things like this, times like this, you may actually want to sell. And it\’s more from a tax perspective than a performance perspective. But we may address that in another show.

No, that\’s good stuff, and a good way to start. And David, I often feel as though, as I sit here each week, and I consume the information that we talk about, I often feel as though I am the audience, I represent the thoughts and the questions that are in the minds of individuals I don\’t even know.

And I feel as though I want to tell the audience, it\’s okay to not know. It\’s okay to not understand because once you start to understand, you will be able to have a better conversation with you. You will be able to look at something and have a clearer picture of at least what it means, and I think that\’s a good place for people to start.

It\’s critical. It\’s critical.

What you find from these conversations is that you end up sitting on the same side of the table with your financial advisor, right. If you\’re a more educated, a person who\’s had more conversations, it\’s going to make for a better relationship with a financial advisor.

If you\’re the type of person who just kind of rolls over and does whatever your financial advisor tells you to do, that may not be the ultimate type of relationship. Our goal has always been advocacy and education. We think if we can educate up the client, it will definitely foster a much stronger understanding of the relationship, and a much stronger understanding of the situation.

For everybody that is enrolled, unofficially enrolled as a member of the Thrive Army, thank you so much for being a part of this program.

Bret, on your agenda today, for the audience, we always get the truth about taxes, details, and specifics. What do you have lined up for us today?

We\’re about a month into everyone having their taxes being done from 2018, so again, year one of eight. So I want to talk about something, you shared an article with me, Crouse, again called The Huge Tax Break Retirees May Not Know About. So going to dive deep into talking about that topic because we haven\’t hit on it too hard.

But I want to talk about it because when David, Karen, and I sit down with people, we definitely find some people that may be able to take advantage of this, as well. And again, just talking about some of the other tax changes that we had spoken about previously, as well. So we\’re going to go deep, talking about a little bit of taxes today.

Karen Bezar is also here. Karen, I hope all is well, and nice to have you here on a Saturday morning.

Thank you, and we\’re going to talk about one of the top concerns that people have, heading into retirement. That\’s one that we see a lot, \”Is my money going to last? Am I going to outlive my money?\” And we have a few, I like my lists, so we have some steps for you to take to start working on that, so you\’re not so concerned about when you retire.

No doubt about that, and that is a topic, and we\’ve even touched on that many, many times on this program about the, we\’re living longer. We\’re going to live longer than we thought we were going to live. I think that\’s an accurate statement.

Oh, yeah. I mean, statistically we see it, actuarily, tables are telling us, medical science continues to improve. So it\’s a genuine concern. I don\’t know that it necessarily on everybody\’s radar, but yet one of the interesting things that we see, is we do see it pop up with people that have a couple hundred thousand dollars saved for retirement.

And we see it pop up for people who have millions of dollars saved for retirement, because it\’s all kind of relative, right. Add a zero or drop a zero, but one of the things that we do during our Thrive Retirement Roadmap Review, is we do a stress test. And the goal of that stress test is to validate whether or not money will last throughout your lifetime. And if you happen to be a married person, for your spouse, as well, because that\’s, obviously, a very strong consideration.

And some of the things that people forget about those stress tests, and people have said to me, \”Well, I\’ve done a stress test. I\’ve done it, Fidelity has a website,\” it\’s very linear the way they do that. The way we do it, is we\’re able to actually go into the software, manipulate the software on circumstances that we believe are possible, not necessarily probable, but certainly possible, and we want to know worst case scenarios.

So we\’ll put things like medial crisis, right, so we\’ll throw, for most people we talk with, we don\’t see long-term care insurance in the equation. So we\’ve got to account for a possible need for long-term care costs. God forbid, it\’s Alzheimer\’s or Dementia, there\’s a big significant cost. Stroke, cancer, accident, things of that sort, so we\’ll throw those figures in.

And we\’ll also throw figures in for market corrections because they\’re going to happen, and we typically see, I\’ve been doing this 30 years, and I\’ve seen the S&P 500 go down at least 40% three different times. So we\’ve got to allocate for those, as well, Joe. And that\’s part of that Thrive Retirement Roadmap.

Let\’s dig into the conversation I just talked about taxes. So you had shot me this article, which I thought was very timely, just coming out of tax preparation time for everybody. And it\’s called The Huge Tax Break for Retirees Might Not Know About.

So, I actually just ran into a client last week, and it becomes a little bit scary when people are talking about, we always talk about people are self-managing their own assets. And we meet so many other people, as well, that are doing their own taxes through a Turbo Tax, which is typically the most common of what we hear.

And the story that came out of it was a couple, both working, both making very good incomes, and the question came up that Mrs. did not work for a company that had a retirement plan. And I asked them why they did not put money into a retirement plan for her, a traditional IRA, and they said, \”Turbo Tax did not tell them that.\” And it showed that they made too much money.

So, he\’s like, \”I\’m not sure if I hit the wrong button or not,\” but again, it\’s always being careful because again, the damage was done, the timing was over. That\’s not something that they could go backwards and make that contribution. So again, it\’s always seeking out those second opinions, and that was somebody who came through that Thrive Retirement Roadmap Review. And again, we put a ton of time and effort into that process. The people that come in, we believe they care about it, as well, just as much as we do. And so the more information they\’ll able to share, is we\’re able to come up with things like that. And again, it\’s very important for people that are self-managing, self-preparing taxes that are out there.

Another one that\’s huge, too, Crouse, digging into the topic that you had sent to me previously, talking about that Huge Tax Break Retirees Might Not Know About. David, Karen, and I, and the rest of the team here at Thrive, when we sit down with people going others these Thrive Retirement Roadmap Reviews, we meet a bunch of people that have already hung up the cleats, that are still doing a little bit of something. Something, typically, is consulting. Sometimes they\’re going back from five days a week down to three or two days a week, whatever that case may be.

Meaning, that a lot of people aren\’t just necessarily hanging up the cleats and saying, \”I\’m done.\” They\’re saying, \”I\’m trying to keep my brain fresh, I\’m trying to find purpose,\” and everything else associated with it. So this becomes very important for people. Again, this is all part of what we call the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. Many of you of our regular listeners have never heard that term coming out of our mouth. In layman\’s terms, that\’s the Trump tax changes that were done in \’17, that again, that we just went one year, that we\’re one year into.

And this is a big one, and I want to read a little bit here. It says, \”The huge tax break retirees may not know about, and people that have retired, but still pull down some income on a contract or a freelance basis, may be able to take advantage of this break. It\’s a 20% tax deduction for businesses structured as so-called pass-through entities, which include 95% of all United States businesses.” So, a retiree who puts in hours as a consultant, that\’s the most popular one that we hear, a coach, a speaker, a tutor, or other non-payroll work, may not think they qualify for the same tax break that we hear about on TV, as like the grocery store, the auto parts manufacturer. But the definition of a pass-through entity is broad.

And this is important, gang, for all our listeners out there. \”It could include an escort, it could include a partnership, could include a limited liability company.\” Or, as so many of our listeners and so many people that we meet, as part of that Thrive Retirement Roadmap, they\’re simply sole proprietors. They file, they\’re making money under their own tax ID number. That, instead of getting a W-2, now they\’re getting a 1099. Again, that\’s where you would file what we call is a Schedule C on your tax return.

So in layman\’s terms. Let\’s say we made a $100,000 top line revenue, and we were a part of what we call is a service-based business. I\’ll get into that here in just a little bit. But what that means is, right off the top, if I made a $100,000 as part of the tax code, the first 20% of that income automatically goes away. Again, when we talk about standard deductions and stuff like that during our workshops and we meet people as part of the Thrive Retirement Roadmap Review, again, now we\’re talking about our self-employed people that we get in front of and our listeners that we get in front of. Is the ability to take off 20% right off the top. Sometimes we see rental properties can be included into that, as well.

Again, the importance of working with a tax preparer sometimes, you want to find a full-timer, nothing wrong with some of those big companies that are out there, but I can say, sometimes when you\’re getting part-time helper sometimes giving you part-time help. Sometimes it\’s worthwhile and it may not cost you anymore if you do a little bit of due diligence. We just seen it with the people that come through that Thrive Retirement Roadmap, the importance of working with an accountant and/or CPA. We\’re trying to find some of these things that I\’m speaking about.

Again, am I missing a spousal contribution into a retirement plan? Am I missing these 20% write-offs right off the top? Here\’s another quote. \”No one is talking about the wonderful retirement planning technique this deduction is allowing for professionals,\” says this gentleman, a Professor at the Advance Planning at the American College of Financial Services. Most of us don\’t flat out retire, we consult and continue to work a little bit part-time.

Ready for this one? People age 65 or older are at least twice as likely to be self-employed, as workers in any other age group, and is the fastest growing segment of the labor force. Number one reason I can tell you why, so many people come in here in their late-50s, early-60s and they\’re let go, they\’re severance, they\’re retirement, whatever the case may be, or they think they\’re retired.

Because they say, \”Bret, I can\’t go out there and find a job resembling anywhere near the income that I was making before, making a healthy six-figure job, and maybe I\’m saying welcome to so-and-so, or I\’m out doing something I never thought I would be doing. Where it\’s like, you know what? Sometimes I know what I\’m good at, and maybe I need to go out there, and go out there and consult a little bit.\” So again, it\’s that self-employment side of things.

The important thing is, is the rules weren\’t too clear when they rolled out in 2018, is that you\’re still getting opinions coming out from the government, the IRS. So again, another one of the reasons that we may want to seek out the advice of an accountant or tax preparer to make sure that we\’re doing things correctly. But the good news is, is that deduction is relatively straightforward for most retirees because they typically don\’t have full-time income. Where it says, \”These are professionals whose businesses depend on the reputation and skills.\” Again, so many people, that\’s you\’re consulting, rather than a product. Again, so the different between service versus product is where that comes out with.

[bctt tweet=\”it\’s okay to not know\” via=\”no\”]

Where most professionals who retire, but then pick up part-time workload typically are in these skill-based lines of work, defined as service businesses. So again, if you\’re a retired accountant and you prepare tax returns for everyone in your condo complex and you\’re making a $100,000 a year, you\’re eligible for that deduction. Again, it\’s a service, not a product.

And I think, as we get further along in time, I think the percentage of people that are going to become consultants, or that are going to start to use what they have, what their skill set is, to generate revenue for themselves, I think is real.

You heard it, twice as likely. Twice as likely, people 65 and older. Again, we\’ve talked about this on the air over the past two months. About how 70 and a half is moving to age 72. Gang, what\’s that telling us here, our radio listeners? It\’s saying, the government\’s saying, \”Actually, we are living longer.\” Like I\’m not going to be shocked if we hear over the next six, 12, 18 months, that they\’re going to start pushing out what retirement ages are related to Social Security and Medicare. Why? They\’re already saying, \”Hey, we\’re cutting you a break over here, that we\’re stretching out because we believe you\’re going to live a little bit longer, you don\’t need to take your monies at 70 and a half, we\’re not going to start it until 72.\”

But, gang, that\’s almost telling us that we\’re going to be living longer, and we\’re going to be delaying these other things, and so we need to be conscious of these things. When life happens, again, we close our eyes at the age of 25. I start a job and I\’m going to be with that company for the next 40 years. I can tell you, it doesn\’t happen too often anymore. So being prepared, again, loyalty, I\’ve heard from so many people, sitting down as part of that Thrive Retirement Roadmap, they feel like it gets flushed down the toilet.

So when we talk about things like spousal contributions, and we talk about this 20% deduction, and we talk about things like qualified charitable distributions, and we talk about if I have debt out there, does it make sense to finally retire the debt? I would tell you that these four things that I\’ve just spoken about right there, Crouse, again spousal contributions, again self-employment consulting income, qualified charitable distributions, do I have debt? Those are probably the four things that we see that when people are coming in as part of that Thrive Retirement Roadmap, is that when people have available to them ways to do things differently than that they were doing 2017 and before.

And again, all these topics, again, whether you come out and see us.

Good job. Great segment. Love it. Thank you so much for just starting the conversation. And I do believe that number twice as likely will become emphatically proven with time.

We\’ll go now to Karen Bezar, and at the end of this segment, get your pencil handy or pen, I\’m going to give you the number for the new text message board.

Exciting.

I\’m very excited to roll that out.

And we\’ll do some promos with that throughout the next couple of weeks, but very excited about another way for the listening audience to communicate with us, with you at their leisure.

We tried to do our best without you in the chair last week. I think we got there, we made it to the finish line, but we missed your segment. So it\’s nice to have you.

Well, thank you so much. So what I\’m going to talk about, we\’re always educating ourselves, always reading articles, magazines, anything out there that we can see, that helps us with our practice and helps us with what we do on a daily basis. And this headline just grabbed my attention. It was, and it said, \”Going Broke Remains the Top Concern in Retirement.\” And this is an organization of financial planners, and they\’re also CPAs, a big organization out there, and so I just started reading through the article.

And when people come and visit with us, that\’s one of the top concerns they have is, \”Is my money going to last? Am I going to outlive my money?\” And like David said, when we meet with people the first time, we have people that their assets can range anywhere from $500,000 to millions of dollars, and it is all relative. They do have that question. Sometimes people come in, and they say, \”This is what I want to spend on a monthly basis, and the person that I\’m working with said that we\’ll be fine.\” And I said, \”What did they use to justify that answer?\” And he\’s like, \”They just looked at what I want to spend every month, and how much we have, and they said, yeah, you should be good.\”

So, with a degree of confidence, if you come in and meet with us, we can give you a little bit more than, \”Yeah, you should be good.\”

If you ever hear the phrase, and I\’ll say it, \”You don\’t have to, you\’ll be fine.\” Run from that phrase.

Right.

I think you have to, and I\’m not trying to be disrespectful. There\’s no way to know if you\’re going to be fine if you don\’t have a plan.

Right.

I\’m learning that very quickly.

Right, and it\’s kind of, not that I\’m promising any insurance companies, but there\’s a commercial on TV and, \”It\’s okay. You\’ll be okay.\” There\’s like a moving company and, \”How are you rated?\” \”We\’re okay.\” Well, do you want somebody to say, \”You\’re okay,\” or, \”You\’re good?\” Or, \”If you\’re not good, we\’ll tell you if you\’re not good.\”

So I\’m just going to touch on a few things here. I actually have my list, like I said, of some information to help you kind of prepare for retirement. But anybody out there listening, if you have that question in your head, give us a call, or check out website out thrivefinancialservices.tyl16lnm-liquidwebsites.com. Come on in, or come to a seminar, or come to one of our workshops, and come in and meet with us. And we can answer that for you by running some other reports, and I\’ll remind people out there, the reports we offer to run.

We do a Social Security Maximization Report, which everybody thinks they know everything about it, there\’s lots of ins and outs, which show, I know you\’ve heard, you\’ve learned from listening to our show, there\’s so many little things in there that you don\’t know about Social Security. Tax clarity, we\’re going to give you an idea of what it\’s going to look like, what is taxation going to look like for you, at least as far as we can tell for now. Once the tax rules change, and then we\’ll deal with that when that happens.

Is there anything you can do to prevent paying taxes once you\’re retired? Maybe, come on and meet with us. We do an overall stress analysis, like David said, we take into account many different things. We take a look at if you need $4,000 a month to live now in retirement, and you\’re in retirement for another 20 to 30 years, $4,000 is not going to be $4,000. You\’re going to need 5,000, 6,000. You\’re going to need a lot more money for that money to last.

And we throw in their inflation, we throw in there market corrections, like David said, we could throw in a medical crisis if you want. And then we also do a risk and fee analysis. So we take a look at your current holdings, how you\’re invested. If you think you\’re not risky, you might be surprised to see your investments might be a little bit more riskier than you\’re hoping to take.

And I know that, and this is the difference between sometimes between husbands and wives. I know there\’s a tolerance level, where I may have a higher tolerance for risk versus my wife, who\’s incredibly conservative.

Right.

And does not share the same tolerance. I think one of the reports will help reflect that.

Right. And funny, sometimes when we have couples in, we send an email to get their risk tolerance number, and sometimes we have to send separate ones. And it always makes for an interesting second meeting with people when they come in.

But so some of the things that are causing stress out there are rising healthcare costs, market fluctuations, there could be unexpected costs that maybe, if you\’re not working with a financial advisor, there might not be things that you\’re thinking about that could affect you in retirement.

Other things of concern, people that are going into retirement, is they don\’t want to be a financial burden on their relatives. So these are all things that people are thinking out there. Not news to me, maybe news to you.

Another area, which we guide people and can give them some more information on, is they want to leave inheritance. They want to have a legacy left behind for children, or grandchildren, or they might have relatives, or children that are not able to take care of themselves. And it\’s something else that we may be able to guide you and give you some insight on.

But I have a list here, the list says, \”To help Americans feel more confident about their retirement readiness.\” Here are some steps to start taking now, and the number one thing that they say is, \”Don\’t wait,\” right. You definitely want to have a plan for the future. But number one is don\’t wait, explore long-term care coverage early. As individuals are living longer, having a plan in place for serious illness or incapacity is critical for maintaining peace of mind. Individuals should first consider all the options available for dealing with prolonged medical and personal care in a way that accomplishes their goals, within constraints of their financial situation.

So the longer you wait for long-term healthcare, you might not be able to get it. And some people just can\’t get it out there. But there\’s also hybrid long-term care insurance products out there, which we are very familiar with, and there\’s more than one. So if you\’re not working with an advisor, you may not even know that they\’re out there, and that\’s an option for you. And there\’s, we could do a whole radio show on just that, for sure. So that\’s number one. Don\’t just worry about it, do something about it.

And don\’t be afraid, it\’s a great opportunity for me to use that, Karen, to say don\’t be afraid if you can\’t talk, or can\’t speak, or don\’t have time to call.

It\’s an opportunity for me to transition out of that and say, you can text.

Yes.

And use our Text Board at 267-870-8210. And I\’ll give everybody the number again, and I\’ll come back to Karen in just a minute. The text number is 267-870-8210, you can simply text the word, \”Question\” to the number and that will get you engaged, and get you started.

Yeah, give it a shot.

Yeah, why not? So I\’ll go through my list here. One was look at long-term care or some of the options out there. Number two, don\’t look at your portfolio too often. It does go up and it does go down. But if you have an advisor there over the long haul, then you\’ll be good. You want to ramp up savings, if possible. When you\’re over 50, you can take advantage of putting more money into a Roth or more money into a traditional. Bret touched on that a little bit today.

Number four, have a tax efficient draw down strategy. Again, that\’s something that we can do with our Tax Clarity Report, that\’s what we do for our clients. And once you\’re heading into retirement, it is a good idea to pay off some of your debt before you get into retirement. And you want to watch your expenses and reduce your expenses.

And we cover all that in our complimentary consultation, so give us a call 800-516-5861. Go to our website thrivefinancialservices.tyl16lnm-liquidwebsites.com. Or, now you can text us.

Or you can text to 267-870-8210. It is the Text Board for Thrive Financial Services. Simply text the word, \”Question\” to the number 267-870-8210. And that will open up the dialogue via your smart phone.

That\’s all you\’re going to hear from me, David, on this segment. I\’m all ears for our conversation about the State of Florida.

Awesome, Joe. Thanks. So let me tell you about the impetus that got me onto this particular topic. Do you remember Monday of this past week, Joe?

I do.

Yeah, it was cold.

It was one of those days that you wanted to sleep in, and because you didn\’t sleep in and showed up to work, it was one of those days that just didn\’t go the way you wanted.

It was bad, right?

Yeah.

You know what I always think when those days happen? Sunshine will cure all of that. What do you think?

I think that\’s a good thought.

Yeah, there we go, right. So for Karen and I, and I think many, many listeners of the Thrive Army, there\’s always a consideration about moving to Florida. On Monday, I started doing some research on all of this, as something that we want to do in our future. We have an office down in Miami, a little further South than we actually want to be, but I want to understand what the whole process is.

So the first thing I want to talk that may have some benefit got our listening audience is, what are the tax benefits of moving to the State of Florida? But before I do that, just warm weather, blue waves. If you like Cuban food, it\’s really good down there. They got Disney World. There\’s all kinds of good stuff down there, a lot of things to do.

So when we talk about taxes, in terms of taxes, one of the key benefits of moving to Florida, is what isn\’t there. And namely, that is State Income Tax. So alongside just six other states in the United States, Florida does not impose an income tax on the state side. The law is written in the State Constitution, making it highly unlikely to ever change. And even better, that the Constitution prohibits municipalities and counties from levying personal income tax, we well.

So how\’s that sound so far?

That sounds great.

It\’s one of those things, whereas you sit here in Pennsylvania, you\’re like, \”Wow, is that true?\”

It is true. Yeah, right. You get used to what you deal with on a daily basis. Now that you can see sometimes the grass may be greener on the other side, literally, right. So now similarly, in 2001, they had a thing called the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act. And the Sunshine State does not impose a State Death Tax or a State Level Estate Tax. So you end up keeping a whole lot more for your family after your passing. Big deal.

Very big deal.

And then, in response to the Conservative Tax Reform passed in late 2017, that limits tax deductions for many earners, among other measures, Florida Governor Rick Scott told The New York Post, \”I want to personally welcome anyone escaping high tax states to join the hundreds of thousands of their former neighbors, who have already moved to Florida.\” So they\’re actually even being proactive right now about enticing people from the Northeast to move down to the Southeast.

Now on a personal level, and I mean for our audience, so personal taxes, what are some of the benefits? Well, the tax advantage of living in Florida don\’t just end with a lack of State Income Tax, many other perks come in the form of personal tax breaks. So one is, if you own a home in Florida, they have what\’s called the Save Our Home Act, which provides a Homestead Exemption, protecting the first $50,000 of your home\’s taxable value from taxation. Now the only exception to that is school district taxes, which only have a $25,000 exemption, but it\’s obviously for a good cause.

Now when it\’s time for your kids to hit the books, don\’t sweat the taxes.

Every August, Florida hosts a tax-free weekend for school supplies that cost up to $60. Now maybe not a big deal for our listening audience, but don\’t forget, that the other summertime tax holidays are out there, which removes taxes on preparedness items like portable lights, radios, first aid kits, big generators, batteries, all those things that, the downside is you get hurricanes, but we get them here, as well. But so they give some tax advantages to purchasing preparedness-type stuff. So that\’s on a personal level.

Now if you happen to be a business owner, Florida\’s tax climate is extremely welcoming to businesses. Here\’s an example of the business related taxes you won\’t have to pay down in the Panhandle. Corporate income tax on limited partnerships, or sub-chapter S corporations, corporate franchise tax on capital stock, property tax on business inventories or goods in transit, sales tax on the purchase of raw materials for use in product intended for resale, and use of tax on co-generation of electricity.

So any of those types of businesses, but the most important, I think probably the most relative, somebody like me, small business owner, if my corporation is based in the State of Florida, then I don\’t have any taxes that I\’m paying to the state.

Too good to be true.

Wait a minute, can we all just pick up and relocate to Florida?

No, no. Listen, Joe. I like Florida, but I don\’t want that many people down there, right. We want to still keep it nicely populated.

And look, there are other states, as well, that have similar benefits if Florida\’s not the one for you. But the idea that if you are still earning money during retirement, that you\’re not going to pay state taxes on it, or if you own a business, or the Homestead Act. There\’s a number of wonderful features. The estate planning, all that type of stuff is very advantageous to consider.

When you were referencing that, the estate tax, I went through the process with my mother-in-law, when her estate was being settled here in Pennsylvania, that\’s why you had the reaction from me.

Sure.

That I did. It\’s staggering.

Yeah, and again, if you put it all together collectively, and it really proves for a very strong case for consideration.

Yes, absolutely.

So now, what if you say, \”Gee, Dave. That really made a whole lot of sense. How do I officially become a Florida resident?\” All right, and again, we know that there\’s tons of people, snowbirds that go down, but you want to have to have that be your primary residence to take advantage of all the tax features. So there are actual steps so that you are clean and pure, from a sense from the IRS.

So the first thing, is you do have to file a Florida Declaration of Domicile. Now again, if people are interested in all this, they can just text to the number that you had mentioned earlier, Joe, put down \”For question.\” And even if you want to come in for a consultation, specifically on this topic, we\’d love to be able to do that. I\’m not going into the, I\’ll give you the headlines on what it takes to become officially, if people are really interested, we can dive deep on it.

So number one, file a Florida Declaration of Domicile. Number two, is obtain a Florida Driver\’s License. Big deal of proof. Number three is register your vehicles in Florida. Number four is register to vote in Florida. Open some local bank accounts would be number five. Number six is notify tax officials. An accountant could definitely help with that. If you\’re going to purchase versus rent, you want to apply for the Florida Homestead Exemption. And then lastly, update your estate plan. Make sure that things are now focused from a Florida perspective versus the state that you may be moving from or now just spending part-time in.

I know that all sounds overwhelming, perhaps, to somebody to think about picking up, uprooting their life that has been here for the benefit of simply getting all of those advantages. But those advantages equal real dollars.

Huge dollars.

Yeah.

Significant changes in your retirement plan for the better.

Yeah, I just sat with a client on last Friday, and nice amount of assets, nice quality of life, all that. They own a home in Bryn Mawr, they own a home in Margate, typical kind of Philly scenario, and then they rent three months down in Florida, in the Boca Raton area. So we started talking a little bit about the math behind it all.

And I asked them, \”Are you going to do what most of us Philadelphians do, is you\’ll sell the house here in PA, start to live full-time in your Margate house, and then maybe vacation down in Florida?\” And he said, \”That\’s our plan.\” I said, \”Let\’s take a look at it from a math perspective.\” Completely changed the point of view.

What was the result?

Yeah, we need to buy in Florida. We need to make that our primary residence, sell Margate and keep the house close to the kids.

Wow, good stuff. The text number if you want to get engaged in that conversation is 267-870-8210. 267-870-8210, text the word \”Question\” to that number. That will get you engaged with Thrive Financial Service. Schedule an appointment. Come in and talk about what David just scratched the surface on, about going to Florida.

And as we get ready to say goodbye on a Saturday morning, I want to go around the horn. And Bret, I come back and start with you. It all comes back down to taxes.

Gang, it\’s just simply, get a second opinion. Again, just get a second opinion. I mean, we drive that point home so much at the workshops, as well. Again, if you\’re doing it yourself, get a second opinion, \”Is there a better way from what I\’ve been doing for years?\”

Karen, same thought?

Yeah, complimentary, right. Come on in. Come visit us. We\’re here.

David, I know you\’re willing to share lots of information about Florida.

I just think it\’s critical to get to one of our workshops, Joe, I really do. I see the results of people who attend the workshop, the education lift that they get, the questions they ask when they come in for their consultation, and then the way they feel when they walk out. Just that air of confidence. \”I\’m on track. I like these guys. It was fun. It was easy.\” I just really encourage people to go through that process.

Thank you to everyone who was involved, that last segment will wrap it up for us today. We would like to thank the Thrive Army for continued support in the pursuit of becoming educated about their own financial health. We will be back next week!