The old saying goes that two things are certain in life: death and taxes. Unfortunately, it may be time to add inflation to the list! On this week’s show, we will tell you why central banks in many countries are warning that inflation will remain elevated, and what that means for interest rates. Plus, Woody will answer more listener questions about Social Security, retirement income and more!

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inflation demonstration
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6.23.23: Audio automatically transcribed by Sonix

6.23.23: this mp3 audio file was automatically transcribed by Sonix with the best speech-to-text algorithms. This transcript may contain errors.

Producer:
Any examples used are for illustrative purposes only and do not take into account your particular investment objectives, financial situation or needs and may not be suitable for all investors. It is not intended to predict the performance of any specific investment and is not a solicitation or recommendation of any investment strategy.

Producer:
Welcome to The Buckeye Advisor with your host, Woody Bowling. Woody is a fiduciary licensed financial advisor and Medicare expert who always places your needs first. Woody works hard each day to educate Americans like you on how to reach the financial freedom they've worked so hard for. And he can help you, too. So now let's start the show. Here's Woody Bowling.

Woody Bowling:
Good morning to everyone, all the listeners out there in Radio Land, podcast Land and the great land of Ohio. Welcome to the show. This is Woody Bowling. I am The Buckeye Advisor, and that's also just happens to be the name of our show, The Buckeye Advisor. We are coming to you on 94.5 FM in Dayton, Ohio. We are proud to be a part of this station now for about a year. Wonderful conservative talk throughout the week, all day long. Lots of great people to listen to. And now we are honored that you chose to listen to us and spend part of your day with us here. We are excited to be on from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Today's version is six 2423 on Saturday, and it's also aired again on Sunday at the same time on the 25th. So without further ado, I'm going to welcome a very vital part of our show each week. Mr. Vitality himself. Matt McClure. Welcome, Matt. How's it going this week?

Producer:
It's going great, Woody. You know, you look up vitality in the dictionary and it's right there beside it. Big picture of me. That's what it's. That's what it is.

Woody Bowling:
Yeah. It's either you or Dick Vital, who's one of my all time favorite college basketball guys, but I think he's probably twice your age and he does not have your great head of hair, so. Well.

Producer:
This is.

Woody Bowling:
True. That's right. We're glad to have you. And we have a big show for people. I do want to give a big shout out to our listeners, whether it's your first time, 10th time or 21st time. Welcome back and welcome. If it's your first time. Our goal each week, Matt, as we tell people, is we're here to educate. We're here to help people understand various topics that perhaps they don't understand well. And look, people have different careers. They have different fields that they work in. It's not your job always to understand what we do. Your job can be to help us. Let us help you understand. And as a independent fiduciary advisor, I love what I do. I'm a hybrid advisor. We're here to talk about different topics each week insurance, Medicare investments. I'm also a registered investment advisor on one part of my business as well as a licensed insurance agent. So we offer a lot of great strategies and solutions for people to help them gear up towards the retirement that they want. That's what we're all about. And Matt, I know you're going to fill us in on some great things, but we're doing show and podcast number 50. That's right. Number five zero. We started just a little over a year ago. We take a week off occasionally, but Matt, can you believe it? We're at the big 50 already.

Producer:
That is kind of wild. I can't believe that we are already at that mark because each and every week and we make this comment, I think, to each other pretty much every time we do the show or like really it flew by again. So I guess I shouldn't be all that surprised because it does fly by and boy, I can't wait until number 100 and we'll be there before long.

Woody Bowling:
Yeah, I know it. Tell the listeners what they've got to look forward to in the show today and let's get this thing going. Let's help some people.

Producer:
Yeah, let's do it. And I just wanted to remind everyone too, you know, you can go to The Buckeye Advisor.com on the web, get all the past episodes, all 50 of them. Now you can get on the website there. You can also find us on YouTube and on Facebook as well. Just search for The Buckeye Advisor, both of those places and that's advisor with an Or by the way. Or you can call Woody bowling at (937) 974-6201. So coming up on today's show, a little bit of an inflation demonstration for you and interest rates. Those high ones that have been around now ever since the Fed started raising them here several months back now. Well, they may be here to stay for a while. So we'll tell you why that is. Also going to take some questions from our listeners. You know, we did that in the last show and thought it went really well. So we've got some more here for for some more listeners and we'll answer those questions as well. 4th of July travel forecast. That's another one of those things I can't believe is here already 4th of July just around the corner. And we'll tell you about how people are going to celebrate America's birthday. It's coming right up. And then if you want to retire earlier, we've got some things you can avoid buying later on in the show. And that will be something that that you'll want to stay tuned for, as well as this week in history if we get there before the show is history for this week. Now also want to say what you know if you folks out there if you've been listening to the show and you are interested in improving your financial situation and your retirement, some one on one attention can be yours, right, Woody? Mean, there's no cost and no obligation to our listeners. You can sit down with them, help them sort of break down their current situation and see if you can improve on it. Yeah.

Woody Bowling:
And you know, the thing I'll tell everybody and remind everybody, a lot of financial advisors out there today, if you don't bring a certain amount of dollars to the table, they don't even want to take the time to meet with you in person. Or you might get the quote unquote junior advisor or associate advisor. You don't actually get to see what I would what I would term the big dog. Let's say I'm not like that. I'm looking to help people in all different areas of life with their money. You know, I work with people that have some I work with people that have a lot, and there's also people that I help with Medicare and long term care issues and life insurance issues that don't necessarily have a lot of money or a ton of money. And that's okay because I offer different services for different people. There's a lot of people. Matt, that I help with. All of those things I just mentioned above, and that's what we're here to do is help people understand. And if you take the time to meet with me, that's the best way for me to get a snapshot, a very good snapshot of your picture and understand your overall scenario so I can determine, hey, what strategies can I come back and go back and do research and find the best strategies that are going to apply to their unique situation.

Woody Bowling:
And that's what's fun about this, is everybody's situation is different. Everybody has a different goal for retirement. They have different amounts of income they're going to get in retirement. They want in retirement. They have different amounts of money saved in their 401 seconds and 403 B's. Some people are interested in doing a Roth IRA conversion. Some are not. So the beauty about this is everybody's different, but the underlying theme is, is as an independent fiduciary advisor, that works in your best interest, I'm going to come back and make recommendations based on your situation, and that's what the standard is for me to do and then establish that long term relationship that we can work together to help monitor that plan in an ongoing basis. And that's what we're here to do.

Producer:
That's right. And if you are interested in that, folks, just go once again to TheBuckeyeAdvisor.com and that's advisor with an Or by the way or call Woody at (937) 974-6201. All right we're going to get into the meat of the show here and we start off by giving you our quote of the week.

Producer:
And now wholesome financial wisdom. It's time for the Quote of the Week.

Producer:
And those words of wisdom this time around come from Sam Ewing, who said this one time, quote, Inflation is when you pay $15 for the $10 haircut you used to get for $5 when you had hair.

Woody Bowling:
That's a good one. First of all, is Sam Ewing related to J.R. and Bobby?

Producer:
That was going to be my my thought there because it sounded like, you know, of course, obviously Ewing. I immediately thought a J.R. Ewing. But this Sam Ewing was actually a professional baseball player before he retired several years back. And I had to sort of double check because the quote sounds almost like it would have come from Yogi Berra. You know, it.

Woody Bowling:
Was Yogi Berra, man. But, you know, the quote is very amusing and it's on point. And it couldn't be more appropriate because as we still are in the midst of this inflation battle, and I think this is going to be a multi year battle with inflation, it's already two years old plus a lot of it was started by certain policies in my own personal belief. And a lot of people believe that there are certain consequences to certain policies. When you say you're going to go green, when you do all this, you do all that. So that's just part of the inflation story. I'm not going to delve into politics. I don't do that on this show, nor do I do it with clients usually either. But. There are consequences in that haircut. I've got a couple of buddies that don't need haircuts, as we know. So it's funny, but it's very true. Inflation is here to stay. We're going to talk a little bit more about that. It's here to stay for a while, I think, unfortunately. But good saying. Good quarter of the week by Sam Ewing.

Producer:
Yeah, absolutely. So I thought that was just hilarious and very, very true. And so one thing to want to know about, we're sort of focusing on two things this week here on the show. One being inflation. And we'll do we'll talk a little bit more about that whole inflation picture as far as the rate of inflation, interest rates, how those may stick around for a while, being being elevated as they are right now, at least, you know, according to compared to rather what we've been used to over the past, you know, previous decade plus. But we're also talking about taxes and protecting your retirement plan from both of those things, from inflation and from taxes, because, you know, everybody pretty much agrees taxes are going to have to go up in the future. So talk about some ways here, Woody, that our listeners can sort of prepare for that. And, you know, knowing that fact that that pretty much everyone agrees that that's going to happen, how they can use that knowledge to their advantage.

Woody Bowling:
Yeah, I mean, there's different ways. And what a lot of people want to do is they want to divest the IRS from their retirement to the highest degree possible. And I've said it before, it's not always easy to come up with 100% way to get rid of the IRS. Okay. Because Big Brother is always there. They're omnipresent, but you can do some things that will minimize the impact on your retirement. You know, number one strategy is a Roth IRA. And the government really got this right when they came out with the Roth IRA and. One of the big issues, I guess probably with the Roth IRA and they knew it when they came up with these, is there are limitations each year as to how much you can put into it because they want to keep the ultra wealthy from putting all of their money in a Roth IRA. Right. So, you know, with a Roth IRA, when you set it up with after tax dollars, you don't have to worry about taxation on that Roth IRA later. But when you convert a Roth IRA. In two from a traditional IRA. There's a tax that has to be paid and dealt with. So the question for some people that I've worked with has been, do we want to convert all of that 401. K or a portion of that 401. K or traditional IRA? How much of it do we want to move each year into? The Roth IRA. And that's going to be predicated by and we have tax software that can help us plan this and make this move very smooth. And we can come up with the amount each year based on your current level of earnings, that we can move without jumping you into another tax bracket.

Woody Bowling:
So we want to make it tax efficient as we can and that's the name of the game and that's how you can effectively that's one of the strategies you can use to effectively try to minimize the impact of taxation and the IRS in retirement. So a Roth IRA converting a traditional or 401. K in 403 B into a Roth IRA may be a perfectly great strategy depending on your situation. Some people say, I'll just deal with it as I get older. I'll wait till I have to take my RMDs, my required minimum distributions. Now let's start at age 73. So it's not for everybody. Some people just don't want to deal with the tax implications right then whether it's all at once or over a 3 or 4 year conversion period. And that's okay. You know, that's the beauty about it. It's up to you because, Matt, we know that our listener, you are the one that have earned your money over that 40 year plus work history or whatever it is or your own business that you started 20, 30 years ago. So it's their money. They can do with what they want. I'm just here to make recommendations and show them different strategies and then we'll they can pick the strategy they want to use to execute to help them get where they want to be. And that's where I come in. But we've got a team of tax pros, estate planning attorneys and much more behind the scenes that I can call on to help us with strategies. The second option is whole life and indexed universal life options, because I just want to remind our listeners, a life insurance policy, the death benefit. Matt, do you remember? How's that death benefit treated as far as taxation?

Producer:
It is tax free. And that was you know, I always say that's the next best thing to free money is tax free money. So when that check comes in, boy, that that feels good.

Woody Bowling:
Yeah, exactly. And you know, the funny part is, is people when it comes to life insurance, some people are man, they are so, so into it. They believe in it wholeheartedly, no matter what their age. And everybody should have some. It depends on the amount of assets that you've acquired and accumulated over time. So the amount you need probably varies, you know, for people that have a greater amount that they've been able to save. You know, life insurance can help offset taxes on that estate for those left behind that are going to inherit that estate. So life insurance can be your friend, not only on an index universal life, which if you're in your 40s, 30s, 40s, maybe early 50s and index universal life plan policy can be a great way to over fund a life policy for several years, maybe 10 to 12 years and then let that ride and have that be able to create a substantial potentially substantial income for you when it's time to retire and start on Social Security. And guess what? That life insurance distribution is going to be tax free. It's a great plan. A lot of people don't know about index universal life. I've met with a couple this week where an agent sold a gentleman at age 63, an index universal life plan. That's not a good idea. You know, it's almost to me malpractice from an insurance perspective. But they did it anyways. The couple didn't understand the implications that the cost of insurance is going to go up each year. So at age 63, an index universal life is not a great idea. But in your 40s or maybe early 50s, it can be. And you need to understand how it works, how it can grow over time following an index and how you can over fund it to create that excess money that you can come back and borrow against later and take those tax free distributions. Matt That's exciting. I got goosebumps when you said tax free.

Producer:
The same thing happens to me. I don't know what it is. It's just those two words, you know, you put them together and they cause all kinds of great magic to happen here. It's a.

Woody Bowling:
Beautiful thing. I think I'm getting teary eyed.

Producer:
That's right. I can see that. But, you know, folks, if you are just kind of sick and tired of worrying about the future because, you know, you know, taxes are going to go up and said, oh, gosh, these you know, that's going to be an extra burden on me in retirement because I have these tax deferred retirement accounts like a 401. K or maybe a traditional IRA, those kinds of things. Then you're not powerless to to do something about it. You actually can do something and you can do it with the help of The Buckeye Advisor. You can call today, you can visit the website. The website is The Buckeye Advisor.com or you can call (937) 974-6201 because Woody has one goal and that is really to to help you make the most of your financial situation and the most of your retirement years. That is what it boils down to.

Producer:
Want to know where your hard earned money is going. It's time for an inflation demonstration.

Producer:
So, Woody, as we talk about inflation today, we've got a look at this from The Wall Street Journal. And it's really not something that if you're going to be in the market to buy a car or buy a house or if you have credit card debt or anything like that, you're going to be looking forward to hearing. But this Wall Street Journal article says high interest rates could be here to stay for a while.

Woody Bowling:
Yeah, it's unfortunate, but it's true. Everything that I see in the economy and the Fed this week announced that, yes, we knew already that they did not raise rates at their last meeting. They don't get back together again until the end of July. But in the meanwhile. He said. We didn't raise rates, but everybody agrees on the committee that we are open to raising rates again at least once, maybe twice, if we have to. They're going to assess the incoming data over the next few weeks. So by the end of July, that's we'll be recording that day that they announce what's going on. You know, they could raise rates easily. But look, everybody is getting used to I'm going to use my air quotes. People are getting used to five, 5.5% inflation. They don't realize, you know, we've gone 13, 14 years with an inflation rate of two, two and a half. And now it's been out of control since January, especially since January of last year, interest rate wise especially, that's when the Fed went on their super aggressive campaign and raised their rates more quickly and faster than they have since the 1980s, which was not a good decade economically. So inflation is crazy. It's here. It affects us every day at the gas pump, at the grocery store checkout line, all those things, goods and services.

Woody Bowling:
Look at some of these prizes are not coming back down. And that's a problem. So, you know, to create income solutions for you and retirement is an amazing thing. And I love doing that. And people are amazed at some of the income numbers that I'm able to come up with for people, you know, based on a certain amount of income that they that they need and are looking for from an amount of money that may not be nearly as much as they thought they would need to do that. So, again, that's the result of competition between insurance companies that I work with. And I'm an independent. I work with lots of them, all very highly rated, all fighting it out to do business with the public. And that's how they get to the public is through me. And we're going to find the best avenues to create that income and retirement to help combat inflation. And if you could actually get that stream of income locked in for life and then guess what? If the market does well and the index you follow does well, your income can even be increased and stepped up. And most people have never heard of anything like that. So that's a beautiful thing. And that's why, you know, just a part of why I love what I do.

Producer:
Yeah. And, you know, having that inflation protection is such a key. And again, you know, customizing that plan for each individual is really where it, you know, comes home. I feel like for for the listeners Woody is because, you know, this is not a situation where you can just kind of go to the go to the big box store and pick out a retirement plan from the shelf. And they all look the same, you know, and it's it's like, oh, I'm going to go buy my cereal and my my soup and my and my retirement plan off the shelf. No, it doesn't work that way. It's got to be customized for you. And that's really the point here with all of this that we go through and with, you know, the Wall Street Journal article, I mean, the underlying inflation in the US and Europe remaining 5% or higher wage growth, stable central banks revising their inflation forecasts, that's upward. You know, you've got to you've got to have protection built into your plan for that. And, you know, I mean, there including the Fed, you know, also the European Central Bank and the regulators over in in London as well, facing the challenge to decide whether it's going to be a temporary high for inflation or if they're going to have to take more drastic measures to address it. And, you know, again, should be a wake up call that no matter what happens, yeah, inflation has come down from the higher rates that it was over, let's say here about, you know, a year ago. But it's still high and you got to be prepared no matter what.

Woody Bowling:
You couldn't have.

Woody Bowling:
Said it better, Matt. It's still high and it's going to remain high. And it's again, people are getting accustomed to it. And that's what happens over a long period of time when things don't change quickly. People get accustomed to it. And you know what I'm afraid of and what I'm concerned about, especially when people retire and they think about it the way they get accustomed to the higher prices that they see at the grocery store and in restaurants is they spend less money because they can't spend as much. So they make cuts, they make changes, and those are lifestyle choices that they have to make. And that's not fun for anyone. And, you know, you want your retirement to be golden years. And you know, all those stats about the central banks in Europe, the central bank here, all you know, interest rates are high. They're going to remain ballpark where they're at. So that's not going to change. And, you know, I think, Matt, our listeners, a lot of them are looking for stability. They're looking for guarantees. And that's what many of the programs that I work with, whether it's a Medicare plan that offers you certainty with your medical care, your co-payments, your lower cost. Or it comes to retirement savings. Let's take a portion of that. Let's guarantee that that's not going to lose money and we'll take the other part and we'll keep it in market like investments and we'll manage the risk associated. But at the same time, we're going to provide those guarantees in income and retirement because that's what retirement is about. People want safety, they want certainty, and they want that kind of assuredness that they're going to have enough money coming in every month to battle this darn high inflation that we're still battling.

Producer:
Yeah, And the battle does continue with inflation at the level of the Federal Reserve, obviously, and the other regulators that we've that we've spoken about. And also just with us here, as average, average, everyday Americans having to pay more for the goods and services that we use. It's a struggle. And so we're going to keep continuing to talk about it and giving our listeners strategies about how to combat it and how to plan and prepare for it, you know, control the things you can. You can't necessarily control the rate of inflation just as one individual or a couple or a family, but you can control how you respond to it and prepare for it. Well, just about out of time now, Woody, in this first half of the show. But don't worry, folks, We got plenty more of the Buckeye adviser to come. We're going to answer some more of your questions coming up after the break. And we'll, of course, start out the second half with our dad Joke of the Week.

Producer:
Stick around. Thanks for listening to The Buckeye Advisor. If you like what you're hearing, subscribe to our YouTube channel to watch videos from this program and other recent episodes.

Producer:
Welcome back to The Buckeye Advisor Radio Show and podcast. I am Matt McClure here alongside Woody Bowling. He is The Buckeye Advisor. Yes, that Buckeye advisor of Buckeye Advisor fame. That's Woody Bullock. And we're going to continue talking about all things financial retirement planning, inflation and more. Coming up. We're going to answer your questions as well. Remember to go to The Buckeye Advisor.com. That's The Buckeye Advisor with an o R.com or you can call Woody at (937) 974-6201.

Producer:
Oh, sure, you can handle ghost peppers. You choose scorpions like Skittles. But can you stomach the dad joke of the week?

Producer:
Okay, Woody, everyone has been waiting with bated breath. Let's give it to him. Now. Here is the dad joke of the week.

Woody Bowling:
Matt, I actually have to tell you quickly, I do love the intro to this segment of the show. It's always makes me laugh when I'm listening. Matt, what sound does a witch's car make?

Woody Bowling:
Ooh, sound is that?

Producer:
I don't know. What sound does a witch's car make?

Woody Bowling:
Broom. Broom. Gosh.

Woody Bowling:
I have to roll my eyes at that one as well. It almost makes me teary for the wrong reason. I was getting teary in the first part because I was excited about tax free stuff. We were talking about second half. I had to roll my eyes and almost cry at the joke. That's right. Come back next week. There's no charge for that one. Come back next week and we will try again.

Woody Bowling:
Yeah.

Producer:
Free, free of charge, folks. The the eye rolls and you know, all are always free. The chuckles as well are always free here on The Buckeye Advisor. Another another good one there but an eye roll. Yeah absolutely. So we're going to do a little something that we we kind of started last week and it went so well last time around. We were going to do it again here, and that is answering questions from our listeners. And, you know, we really want to do a thank all of our listeners who did send in those questions that we answered last week. We got such a nice positive response to that. Go to the website The Buckeye Advisor.com or even call Woody (937) 974-6201. Send an email Woody at The Buckeye Advisor.com. Also you can do any of those things and ask a question and we would love to answer them right here on the air. So this time around. Woody Our first question comes from Larry in Dayton, and he says this I'm curious about how much money I should have before I retire. Any tips or guidance would be appreciated. So what do you say to Larry there.

Woody Bowling:
Larry.

Woody Bowling:
Number one, thanks for the question. We appreciate it. Thanks for listening.

Woody Bowling:
This is a.

Woody Bowling:
Multi-part answer, really. I mean, really, the first thing you got to look at in retirement, it's about income. I know people get caught up in a number, Oh, my God, I want $1 million for retirement. In fact, most people are never going to get that number. Okay. So we got to live in the land of reality. If you have that million, great. I'd love to talk with you, help you figure out how much of it you want to protect and structure and create income, how much you want to pass on to the next generation, tax free. Lots of things we can work with, but it's about the amount of income you can create with that nest egg. And then the other decision is how much of that nest egg do you want to leave at market risk? We can help you manage that part of your portfolio as an investment advisor representative through Brookstone Capital Management. We have some great, great ideas and strategies that can help you grow your money and mitigate risk as based as much as possible, based upon your answers to the risk profile questionnaire. Secondly, you know, what are the retirement goals and lifestyle expectations that you have in retirement, Larry, Because, you know, that's kind of the baseline that sets everything that kind of we got to build everything around that. That's the foundation. What do you want? How much do you need? What are you spending right now? Are you going to do much traveling in the first few years out of retirement? So great question.

Woody Bowling:
Next, I would recommend you consult with a financial advisor to assess how much you do have saved. How much you're going to be able to save until you're ready to retirement, because I don't know how old you are, Larry, but if you're 60, how much more are you going to be able to save before you hit your magic retirement date of 65, 66 and change or 67? Or some people can even go to all the way to 70 before they kick off their Social Security because they're giving themselves that 8% raise annually to Social Security. That's not a bad thing. 8% for just waiting a little bit longer if you can tolerate it, If you're making it up, money is a good thing. Secondly, there are lastly, I should say, if you're contributing to a 403, B, 401. K, take advantage of it. If you're still working, you're employed. It sounds like you are, you know, keep maxing those out. Take advantage of that free employer contribution, whatever they're matching. And if you can go over and above that with your own contributions, please do so. I think it's a great idea. Throw it in there. And for most people, it's not going to dramatically impact your current lifestyle by trying to throw in more money towards that 403 B or 401. K. So, Larry, thanks for the question. Who's next? Well, now.

Producer:
What do we have Sharron in Trotwood writing in to say this? I want to explore different retirement savings options. Can you provide insights on the best ones available for baby boomers today? So what do you have for Sharron there?

Woody Bowling:
Yeah, great question. Sharron, thanks for writing in to us. We appreciate it for listening. We couldn't do it without you. Great question.

Woody Bowling:
Well, look, there's different options.

Woody Bowling:
There's Roth IRAs, as we mentioned briefly in the first part of the show. Traditional IRAs, there's tax advantages for both and flexibility. You know, you might want to look at an indexed universal life policy depending on your age and your health and also depending on how much money you've already set aside and already have accumulated in your retirement plan currently. Look at annuities. We use fixed indexed annuities. We think they make a lot of sense. And why is that, you may ask? Good question, because variable annuities are what we consider to be too hot. They're all market risk. Their fees are outrageous, anywhere from 3 to 5% or 6% I've seen That's a real drag on your return. But here's the other thing. If you're if you're subaccounts in that variable annuity, are all mutual funds, which that's what they are on top of all of the expenses involved. When the market has a bad year, your variable annuity is worth 2,030% less than it would be had you been in a fixed indexed annuity that was principal protected. Also, with that fixed indexed annuity, we're talking either a no fee product or program or maybe a one 1.25% annual fee depending on the program that's best for you. So we think they are a great thing to consider. It's definitely part of what I do with most of the people I work with and also. Max out that 401. K contribution. Make sure you keep doing that. Pile it in there as much as you can. Great question. Sharon. Thanks for thanks for sending it.

Producer:
Yeah, definitely So, Sharon, thank you. And one more question here. Woody from Steve. He sent sends this in from Beaver Creek saying I'm a bit confused about Social Security. Can you explain how it works and when I can start receiving my benefits? Well, I got to say, Steve, it's only an hour show. But Woody, try to give us the Reader's Digest version or the Cliff Notes version here.

Woody Bowling:
Yeah, Good.

Woody Bowling:
Good comment about being an hour show. That's true. Social Security can be very confusing. So can Medicare. You know, when I sit with people and show them a one page version of Medicare, that's very simple to understand. People look at me with this look of relief on their face and say, Wow, that 800 page booklet that I got from Medicare called Medicare. And you that's all this is about. Yes, it really is. So I love doing this. I love explaining to people. Steve, thanks for writing in. Social Security can be a very difficult topic. First of all, if you don't have an account, get one set up@ssa.gov. Okay, get that account username password set up. You can look once you're logged in, you'll be able to view your earnings history and verify your earnings history. For the last x number of years, they go all the way back. They're going to base the amount of social Security benefit that you get on your highest 35 years of earnings. Most people don't know that. So that's helpful, I hope. The earliest you can get your Social Security benefits is age 62, and that's unless you become disabled and that happens to people. It's unfortunate, but it does for various reasons.

Woody Bowling:
So if you're going to keep working past 62, which most of the time we recommend that unless your health is really coming to a point where you can't do it anymore, for most people today, their full retirement age is 66 years and a few months. Okay, so that's where it's at. So make sure you go on tsa.gov. It'll give you multiple numbers to look at at age 62. How much is your benefit at age 65, at your full retirement age? 66 years and some months. And also your last year that you can wait and then start taking at age 70, It's going to give you that benefit and that number is going to be big, way bigger than the age 62. So the longer you wait, the better for you and your guaranteed income for the rest of your life from Social Security. And don't forget, you can push it to age 70. Give yourself an 8% raise each year. And then once your Social Security benefit starts, you're going to get annual adjustments when appropriate based on the cost of living adjustments that Social Security does on their set of inflation indicators.

Producer:
There you go. So a lot of info there. And as you say, Woody, it can be confusing, but well, you distilled it down to some easy to understand points there about Social Security. So, Steve, thank you so much for asking that question. Really do appreciate it. And if you would like to get your question answered by Woody Bowling right here on The Buckeye Advisor. Well, you can just go to The Buckeye Advisor with an or.com or call Woody at (937) 974-6201. And you can do that same thing or either one of those same things I should say to also schedule a complimentary financial and retirement plan consultation. And as part of that, going back to Steve's question, you can get your Social Security maximization maximization report as well. With that, it's all free of charge. When you meet with Woody Talk Woody, if you will, for just a sec about that whole process and what that looks like when people do reach out and request that free consultation.

Woody Bowling:
Well, you know.

Woody Bowling:
As an advisor, I can only work with the information that I'm given. And it's so important that people have an avenue with someone like me to be able to really look to me and say, Hey, you understand insurance. I don't. You understand investments? I don't as much as I wish I did. I do care about how much risk I have now because I'm this age and I want to have this much money saved in this number of years, or I want to create a certain amount of income. So, you know, as I said earlier in the show, people have their own careers and you're good at what you do in your career. And then I'm good at what I do to help keep you guided towards the right direction and to explain things. And I think that's what brings me and my clients a lot of happiness is I like to explain people to people the things that I do for them and that I'm offering to help them with, give them solutions that are easy to understand so they know why they're doing what they're doing. And then we're going to monitor those plans. So if you give me good information and you tell me what your goals are and where you're at, it's all about that disclosure process. And I'm going to do my homework. And then, you know, if you've been listening for a while and you've been thinking about calling me or emailing me, do it. What do you have to lose? It doesn't cost you anything for us to sit down and chat. And there's been several listeners that have done that over the last year since we started and it's been very gratifying. And that's why we're here. We're here to help people in our area understand and grow personally and help make that retirement journey a better one, more enjoyable and a safer one for our people that we work with. Absolutely.

Producer:
Helping your golden years actually be golden. That is right. It's all about The Buckeye Advisor. Dot com is the website once again folks and you can call (937) 974-6201. Well we're going to talk here about saw this article in Yahoo finance and thought it was it was very interesting and what the person who wrote this article said were five things that you should never buy if you want to retire earlier. Now, a lot of people want to retire earlier. As a matter of fact, my my sister was just able to retire and she's in her 50s and she was able to to retire early, thankfully. And, you know, she was a teacher for for almost three decades and was able to to call it quits. And she loved teaching. She loved the kids. But, you know, it can be it can be a lot. So she she kind of got to that point and was able to do that. So if you want to be kind of in that same boat, here are some things to avoid. Right? We've got, you know, whatever the reasons you want to. Attire early, whether it's your, you know, you're tired of your job or you just want to, you know, go and travel and see the world and all these things, Here are the things to avoid, at least according to this article. Number one, Woody, is luxury vehicles. And we don't mean just cars. We also mean boats and RVs.

Woody Bowling:
We do. And I do want to say quickly, congratulations to your sister. That's an awesome thing to hear. I work with several teachers over the years and those 403 BS, you know, they can be complicated that the state retirement system, the teachers, the the other ones in Ohio and other states, they are not easy to understand and they don't provide a lot of great guidance to those teachers and those other public employees. So if you're one of those, reach out, I can help you navigate your options. And because you were a teacher and one of the teachers I worked with last year and of course she's still a client because we're managing some of her money and the rest of it went into an annuity. You know, she did 30 years with the public school system in the area. That's a long time. But she was only 59 at retirement. So now she's teaching for a small Christian school. And it's completely different atmosphere. And she absolutely loves this her second career because she doesn't want to sit home and just do nothing yet. You know, But luxury vehicles, we do mean those other things, automobiles, boats and RVs. You know, Matt, a lot of people don't know. But when you roll that car off the lot, it's a 20 to 30% depreciation right off the bat. Big price tags. They also have big repair bills, very expensive in most cases. And I think most people do it for status symbols and keeping up with the Joneses, keeping up with the Smiths, keeping up with the McClure's, whatever it may be. Right. So, you know, when they see you rolling in your Lamborghini in the neighborhood, they might get that urge and they might have a spouse or significant other say resist that urge because we really want to have a more comfortable retirement. And it may not be nearly as important in retirement than it is right now.

Producer:
Yeah, you know, I mean, all the people get jealous when I drive through in my Mazda. They're really I can see all the people's faces green with envy and love my car. But I do. But yeah, it's definitely not a Lamborghini by any stretch, but that's what, you know, the old saying it's it's not very a very familiar old saying, but it is an old saying that we've seen before. It's better to drive a Honda to the hills than a Lambo to the office can be very, very true. Holiday homes and timeshares. Woody That's the next thing here on our list And yeah I mean I can not the vacation home thing but the timeshare thing I can attest to the fact that those can can be expensive and as a matter of fact and not to divulge too much information here, but I was able to actually get to to somewhere we go on vacation a lot a timeshare at very, very little cost for the actual timeshare. But what you don't necessarily know up front are all the yearly maintenance fees and and the other stuff that comes along with it. And by that point you're like, well, maybe just should have gotten a hotel every time we go. Stay.

Woody Bowling:
Yeah, exactly. And you know, there's an industry now, there are attorneys that specialize in advertise for we're going to help people get out of their timeshare. And, you know, it's bad when they get to that point. And it's they've been out there now for a few years. I've unfortunately, I would say, sat through, got trapped into got suckered into a couple of timeshare presentations where they basically locked the door and wouldn't let you go. And that's a scary thing when you got to sit there for an hour, hour and a half, two hours, relentlessly being stalked almost into buying a timeshare. And that's how most people buy them, unfortunately. But look, I do think there are ways. There are attorneys that advertise online and on the radio that say we can help you get out of it. But look, those can take valuable resources in retirement. It's a different game. And and after so many years of going to a certain place on vacation, do you really need that? Can you sell that timeshare? Can you sell that second home? Do you need that vacation home really? Because we don't know. And you know, what's scary for me is when I meet with people and all of their money is at 100% risk in the stock market because their stockbroker, their financial advisor doesn't do anything that I do regarding safe money adage, ideas and strategies because they're always going to be 100% in the market no matter what they want. The client invested in stock mutual funds and bond mutual funds, which we talk about. It's not a good way to go anymore. We're in a high interest rate environment. Those bonds got smashed in. 2022, along with the along with stocks, and they're not doing much better at all in 2023. So, look, those old strategies are no longer applying. It takes new strategies to help people. And when you're fully exposed to the stock market, be very careful. It's always good to get a second opinion to understand why it might make sense not to be 100% exposed in the market and give those vacation houses a second houses. Give them a second thought.

Producer:
That's absolutely true. And the next thing to avoid buying if you want to retire early, is the latest and greatest technology. You know, a lot of us feel like we just have to have those brand new gadgets. And, you know, I'm not so much that way, but I have fallen into that trap before. And it can you know, it's easy to get overwhelmed financially when every time something new comes out, you have to have it.

Woody Bowling:
Well, you know, the.

Woody Bowling:
Advertisers and the people that sell these things make you feel inadequate that if you don't have the most up to date one. Now, my cell phone is four and a half years old.

Woody Bowling:
It's an iPhone ten.

Woody Bowling:
I'm perfectly happy with it. I keep it in good shape. Overall, I dropped it a couple times, but nothing major. So it's in good shape. It works. It functions. I'll replace it eventually. Yes. But you know my TV, I don't have to have the latest 4K, OLED or whatever. They call this new technology with curved screens and this and that. But, you know, the prices of certain things. The good news is if you hold up, you wait, wait a year, wait two years, you're going to be able to get better deals on those things. Really big discounts. The technology is still going to be good because eventually that manufacturer or that seller is going to need to get rid of that inventory and that's where you come in and take advantage.

Woody Bowling:
Yeah, that's 100% true.

Producer:
Also excessive daily conveniences. You know, these are the things we're talking about going to going to the Starbucks once or maybe even twice a day and buying, you know, your $6 latte or something.

Woody Bowling:
It blows.

Woody Bowling:
Me away. And in most people, you know, especially younger people, they've built it into their budget. It's their lifestyle. And if it works for them, great. I guess I don't recommend it. I would rather them invest $200 a month that they're spending at Starbucks. I'd rather them invest it into a Roth IRA and build something that's going to build a tax free or an index universal life policy overfund that thing and create income that's tax free later on in retirement. So there's a lot better ways to be smart with your money. And you know, we talk about it with subscriptions, things that are automatically taken on credit cards and to this a streaming to this, a streaming service, to this and that. So do you really need all those? Think about it, because it may or may not sense make sense. And if you manage those properly, you're going to wind up further ahead down the road.

Producer:
Absolutely. So. And then one more thing to avoid buying. If you want to retire early, high fee financial products and investments. You know, you spoke about high fees a little bit ago, talking about variable annuities. Woody, Some other things, of course, come with a lot of high fees as well.

Woody Bowling:
Yeah, not only high fees, but also high risk. I mean, I talk to people, I've got a couple of clients that have their own little side investment accounts. I get questions sometimes still about cryptocurrency. I get questions occasionally about individual technology companies. Hey, Woody, would you buy this? What do you think about this? I listen as an investment advisor rep, we deal with, you know, ETFs, we deal with mutual funds, we deal with strategies that can help you. Spread the risk around. I don't recommend people concentrate a lot of risk, a lot of their money into one area or one company. So risky proposition. So not only the fees are a concern, but also the amount of risk in one area on one company so that people need to be careful about that. All you listeners, please take heed.

Producer:
Definitely take heed, gird your loins and take heed, as Woody would say. All right. So one more thing here quickly to run down. I just want to talk about this briefly because I teased it at the top and I don't want to disappoint. And that is the 4th of July travel forecast for this year because it's just around the corner. You know, more than 60% of people in a recent survey in America plan to travel for Independence Day this summer. If you plan to travel, you know, you got to hit the road early and arrive at the airport plenty of time if you're flying by air, because, I mean, things are back up to pre-pandemic levels, even higher than that in a lot of cases. Woody, As far as travel goes. So a lot of people hitting the road for 4th of July coming up. And we don't want you to be stuck in all of that traffic and we don't want you to break the bank with that that trip either. So watch the wallet as you travel as well. Well, Woody, that is very quickly that look at the 4th of July travel forecast and quickly, because, well, our time has come and gone, sir. But I thank you for everything that you bring to the table each and every week, and we look forward to doing it again next time.

Woody Bowling:
Matt, thanks for joining us. Another great show in our humble opinions, of course. And if you're listening, thank you for joining us on the podcast or on the radio. We appreciate your time. We hope you found it enjoyable, entertaining and informative, and we hope you learn something and reach out. Let us know. We appreciate it. We'll look forward to talking to you again next week. Have a blessed week, everyone.

Producer:
Thanks for listening to The Buckeye Advisor. You deserve to work with an experienced and licensed expert who will strategically work to protect and grow your hard earned assets to schedule your free no obligation consultation with Woody, visit TheBuckeyeAdvisor.com or pick up the phone and call (937) 974-6201. That's (937) 974-6201.

Producer:
Investment Advisory Services offered through Brookstone Capital Management, LLC, BCM, a registered investment advisor, BCM and The Buckeye Advisor are independent of each other. Insurance products and services are not offered through BCM, but are offered and sold through individually licensed and appointed agents. Investments involve risk and unless otherwise stated, are not guaranteed. Past performance cannot be used as an indicator to determine future results.

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