Can you trust your financial plannning strategy?
Wealth Talks
The market is a mess. Stocks are down, the Dow is down, the S&P 500 is down. Are you happy with your strategy for financial planning? Or does it feel more like gambling in Las Vegas? People are being failed by their financial planning strategy, leaving them dependent on Social Security. This is a problem. You need a foundation that isn’t affected by the latest plunge in the market. Listen now to find out why it is so critical to have this foundation, and how to get it.
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Pitfalls of Typical Fiancial Planning
Wealth Talks
Typical financial planning has failed, leaving many dependent on social security. 401Ks, simple IRAs and other Tax Qualified Plans, are the “golden goose” that can kill you financially if you don’t know and understand the “terms and conditions” of each. Although it seems like “free money” when your employer is contributing some sort of match, will that “free money” actually cost you in the long run? In today’s episode, Tom and John talk about some of the consequences that could ensue in the future with these typical systems. Surprises can be nice, but tax implications you...
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Clocks and Life Insurance Policies
Wealth Talks
Today on Wealth Talks Michele joins Tom and John… and so does Mr. Higgins! Well, sort of. Poor Mr. Higgins lives in a book and has a clock but cannot tell if it is on time! Mr. Higgins buys another clock only to discover that neither clock displays the same time. Now Mr. Higgins is in despair! He can’t tell which clock is correct! Is Mr. Higgins doing the same thing with clocks that some people do with life insurance? Listen Now to find out, not only what some people do with life insurance, but also what Mr. Higgins does to fix his problem.
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Tax Advice from a former IRS Auditor
Wealth Talks
How can you tell if you’re paying more in taxes than you should be? Can section 199A really give businesses a leg up? What about the Secure Act? Is Life Insurance really a good tool to leave a legacy? Jack Cohen worked as an IRS Auditor for 33 years, In fact, he won the IRS Employee of the Year Award in 2006. Since then, Jack has switched the “black hat” for the “white hat”, helping people pay as little as they legally can in taxes. Today he joins Tom and John on Wealth Talks to answer questions about section 199A, the Secure Act, and others. Also, he offers to review...
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Health is Wealth with OHS
Wealth Talks
Health is indeed a part of Wealth. And with so many options for diets and supplements in today’s world, where do you even start to start? Do nutrition and supplementation really play a role in helping you reach Optimal Health? Doug Grant is the founder of Optimal Health Systems (OHS). Before founding OHS in 1997, Doug was the 1st nutritionist ever hired by an NBA team. He has continued on to work with athletes in MLB, the NCAA, the Olympics, and even publishing Ironman magazine for a couple of years. Listen in as Doug Grant joins Tom and John to talk about health and nutritional needs, and...
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Planning for Retirement
Wealth Talks
There are many Retirement Calculators out there, insert your numbers and Ta-Dah! The calculator spits out how much money you need to have in order to retire. But these calculators can’t guarantee how much money you will need in retirement. What chunk of your money will inflation gnaw off throughout your retirement? Are your retirement savings tax free? Or only tax deferred? Will you ever require special medical care? What about assisted living? Or emergencies, or… or… or… Today on Wealth Talks, Tom and John talk about events that can catch you by surprise in retirement. Don’t trust...
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The Fedral Reserve and the Stock Market
Wealth Talks
The Federal Reserve has been artificially lowering interest rates for years. This has been driving up the cost of stocks, far beyond their economic value. Meanwhile, other central banks are printing up legal currency in order to buy shares of stock. Our own Federal Reserve is printing up currency with which they are purchasing mortgages. Sooner or later, a return to economic reality will have to take place. Today Tom and John are joined by Dr. Paul Cleveland, Ph.D. in Economics and Professor of Economics and Finance at Birmingham-Southern College. Join the conversation as they talk about the...
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What Is Your Financial Risk Tolerance?
Wealth Talks
Risk tolerance is a big term in typical financial planning. Basically, risk tolerance is the amount of nerve you have to watch your investment portfolio lose money without flinching. According to typical financial planning, the higher your “risk tolerance” the more money you should risk losing to try and get big returns. But typical financial planning isn’t working out so good for most Americans. People are running out of money in retirement and the median savings for someone age 65 or older is only $63,000. If you are allergic to risk and you hate losing money, if you believe that when...
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Why 401(ks)s aren't Making Americans Wealthy!
Wealth Talks
How is wealth created? According to George Gilder, there are three things that create wealth. (Listen to find out) People who put money in a 401(k) limit their access to their own money which makes it hard to create wealth… and 401(k)s aren’t treating people all that well, to begin with. The average 401(k) balance is pretty low especially considering many employees are betting on their 401(k) to make retirement a reality. That’s probably the reason most retired Americans depend on Social Security for at least 50% of their retirement income. People who believe in the future use their...
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Money and Politics Meet again
Wealth Talks
Governments and central banks are taking the low road. They are attempting to artificially stimulate the economy by implementing negative interest rates. John says it will work probably work short-term Tom says it could cause people to hoard tangible assets like gold, silver, antique automobiles and art. What is it that really stimulates an economy long-term and causes wealth to be created? Why do you think most business regulations are put in place? A. To protect small business from getting overrun by big business B. To make it hard for small business to compete with big business Now...
info_outlinehe SECURE Act was signed into law by President Trump on December 20, 2019. Here are some key changes you should know as you plan for retirement:
Generally, the SECURE Act:
- Removed Maximum Age limit for IRA Contributions
- Increased the age for Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) from age 70.5 to 72
- Enforces a 10yr distribution window for most inherited retirement accounts - no more stretch IRAs
The SECURE Act is likely to increase age tax-qualified account balances because people will be encouraged to save more in these accounts. It will also increase government tax revenues because of the 10yr distribution rule on inherited accounts.
Also under the Secure Act, employers get a tax credit by automatically enrolling employees in the company sponsored retirement plan (Small-Employer Automatic Enrollment Credit). If you don’t want to be automatically enrolled into contributions to your company retirement plan you may need to take action to opt-out.
Now is a good time to consider how much of your money you wish to invest in tax-qualified accounts compared to paying the tax and building wealth in other types of accounts where you have more control, lower fees and less market risk.
For example: Target-date mutual funds are a default option for most retirement plans with an automatic enrollment. Target-date funds are sold as a “set it and forget it management strategy” and they are also notorious for high fees. Fees are a killer whenever you try to grow your money.
Compare target-date funds with the guaranteed values that build in participating whole life insurance policy over a similar time period. It could make sense to keep the control of your money and lock in guaranteed growth through life insurance + leave any legacy to your heirs income tax-free, instead of putting them into a higher tax-bracket with required distributions on an inherited tax-qualified account.
Wealth Workshop in Las Vegas Jan 18th - Register now
Most people are losing money with typical financial planning. Learn to use Life Insurance as a Financial tool while you’re living so you can keep more of the money you make and have financial peace of mind.