Speaker 1 0:01
Stay tuned right now for Retire Smart Maryland, the radio hour from Elite Income Advisors, focused on helping you build a stronger financial future and make the best of your retirement years. Retire Smart Maryland covers income and investment strategies, opportunities to help you grow and protect your wealth, examining tax-efficient planning techniques and addresses legacy and estate planning considerations. Also, perspectives on the latest financial headlines and what you need to do. It’s time right now for Retire Smart Maryland with Elite Income Advisors.
Speaker 2 0:35
Welcome in everyone. So glad to have you with us. I’m Mike Bauer. This is Retire Smart Maryland, and as always, I’m happy to be joined by Prashant Sabapathi of Elite Income Advisors. And Prashant, today’s show built around one idea: is the fact that the plans we made for retirement years ago may need a second look. Not just because they’re wrong. Not that doesn’t mean they were wrong, but just because the world keeps changing. For anybody listening, if you’re getting close to retirement, you’re already retired, or just trying to figure out how the world is changing over the years and making smart decisions with what you’ve built, stick around. We’re going to get into that today, and you can always give Prashant a call, and the team at Elite Income Advisors can be reached at 833-856-1387. That is 833-856-1387. Prashant. let’s get right into it. The robots are taking our jobs.
Speaker 3 1:27
Yeah, I know, right? Isn’t that what we’ve been hearing in the news? It’s it’s always everyone’s losing their jobs due to AI, right? Yeah,
Speaker 2 1:33
I’m joking about it because that is you know that’s the headline. You see that on the you know or down in the bottom breaking news, but honestly, this is probably something that you’ve encountered before, where you know millions of Americans have carried around the same backup plan of that. Hey, you know, if money gets tight, I’ll just go back to work, and because the world is changing, and jokingly the robots are taking our jobs, but that backup plan that people have had for decades and generations of just going back to work if things get tight, is that still something people can count on?
Speaker 3 2:08
I think it looks a lot different, Mike, than it it has in in prior decades and prior years. And look, I think AI is definitely going to have its impact on the American job market and the American economy as a whole. There’s a couple takeaways that I have here. Number one is the the kind of false security blanket. Remember, a backup plan only works if that plan is actually available at the time that you need it. And so, when I talk about the false security blanket, it’s like millions and millions of pre-retirees assume that they can just easily re-enter the workforce when they’re retired if inflation bites or if if they have supplemental income needs. I think how we have to look at this though is that AI doesn’t need to replace every job in order to make the the the prospect of re-entering the workforce a little bit more difficult. It doesn’t have to take every job. If it just lets businesses operate with, I don’t know, let’s say 20% or 30% fewer workers, then those job openings go down as well. So now you have more people competing for less jobs, which makes it that much more difficult. So I would not just automatically assume that re-entering the workforce, either full time or part time, is a foregone conclusion. As businesses are kind of squeezing to make more profits, as they’re cutting expenses, as they’re using technology to improve efficiency. I think there’s a serious concern over whether or not part-time work is actually going to be available. And so, in the event that it is not available, Mike, I think the question pre-retirees and even retirees have to ask themselves is if your next paycheck stopped tomorrow. How does your financial engine stand on its own? Does it stand on its own? Does it stall? If it stalls, what is your plan? So many people have not thought out some of those contingency scenarios,
Speaker 2 4:18
and that’s exactly what Prashant and the team at Elite Income Advisors, do is they help you game out these scenarios, project forward that if your next paycheck isn’t there for whatever reason, that you’re not going to be hitting the panic button, that you’ll be all right. If you can always reach Prashant and Elite Income Advisors at 833-856-1387. That’s eight seven, or go online to eliteincomeadvisors.com. You can schedule that appointment, first visit, no cost, no obligation, but have your calendar ready when you call because you’re going to get right on Prashant’s calendar. So you know maybe that fallback plan, and you mentioned the false security blanket of having. Having a job to go back to. I mean, there’s there’s maybe not a lot of people that are hiring a first time job seeker at the age of 65 or 67 out there. I think real world, it’s not just AI. It’s also the fact that hey, you know, out there you’re also now competing against technology. You’re competing against other people looking for jobs as well. And really, there’s value in stress testing your career the way that maybe you would stress test your investment portfolio.
Speaker 3 5:25
Yeah, absolutely. I think most of our clients like to stress test every part of their financial situation, not just the investment plan or their income plan, but also their contingency plans as well. Here’s the analogy I always think of. It’s kind of like if you remember, you know, in college, you’d have a final exam coming up, and your choice was either study for weeks and really understand the material so that you go into the test with a really good shot of passing, or you cram like crazy the night before, you pull an all-nighter so that you learn, learn, quote unquote, learn as much as you can to try to pass the test, right? And so this is how I think about stress testing a retirement plan. One thing is for certain, in my opinion, planning for uncertainty inevitably creates greater confidence. And so, my opinion is you should try to think of different negative scenarios that could come up within reason. Whether it’s a healthcare event, whether it’s higher taxes in the future, whether it’s higher cost of living, and figure out whether or not your plan stands up to some of those harder stress tests. I think the reason people don’t stress test their plan, Mike, is not because they don’t want to or they don’t care to. It’s that they don’t know how to, or their advisor has not taken them through it. And so that’s something that I always come back to: is you might have a great plan in place. In fact, most of the people that come to visit with us already have some sort of a plan in place. It’s not often that people come in and say, “You’re the very first financial professional that I’ve ever met with. Most people already have some sort of a plan. They’re just not sure whether the plan they set up five years, seven years, 10 years ago is still relevant and appropriate for them, given the current events and their current lifestyle. If it’s been some time since you’ve really stress tested, or if you’re not even sure how to stress test it, I’d I’d say to give us a call and schedule that no cost, no obligation visit. Again, that phone number it’s 833-856-1387 to schedule that appointment. Yeah,
Speaker 2 7:46
Prashant, just really quickly, what’s the big takeaway for everybody listening today in terms of maybe at one point in time the plan was I’ll go back to work if I need to. What’s the big takeaway for anybody just just jumping in now?
Speaker 3 7:58
I think the biggest takeaway here is that if that is your plan, if your entire retirement plan relies on the assumption that you can just go back to work if the market dips or if inflation rises, I think you’re playing a very dangerous game of chance with your future. Yes, technology is changing, and as a result, the employment landscape is changing faster than ever. And a backup plan is only a plan if it’s actually guaranteed to be there. So I would suggest not to leave your golden years at the mercy of a changing job market. Pick up the phone right now. Give us a call: 833-856-1387 833-856-1387. Let’s sit down. Let’s dive into your specific situation. Let’s build a written income blueprint that stands on its own two feet. No extra paycheck required. It’s a total, totally free appointment. No obligation to become a client or to do business. It’s just an opportunity to see where you stand and stress test your plan to make sure that you’re on track for the retirement you deserve. It’s 833-856-1387. Appointments available virtually in Ellicott City at the headquarters as well as Annapolis, Maryland.
Speaker 4 9:15
Hey, let’s be honest. A lot of people wish they’d started retirement planning earlier, but honestly, beating yourself up about the past it doesn’t really help anything. What matters now is making smart decisions moving forward with what you’ve already built. That’s why the team at Elite Income Advisors they help people organize their investments. They review taxes, they review risk, and they create retirement strategies designed around where you are today not where you think you should have been years ago. Call now to schedule your complimentary retirement planning session at 833-856-1387. That’s 833-856-1387, or visit eliteincomadvisors.com.
Speaker 1 9:58
You’ve never retired. Before, so how do you know what to plan for? Retirement isn’t something you get to practice, and for many, it can feel unfamiliar because it’s not a phase of life you’ve experienced before. There are decisions around Social Security, taxes, income, withdrawals, healthcare planning, and investment risk, and each one can shape how your retirement unfolds over time. Elite Income Advisors works with individuals every day, just like you, designing retirement strategies built around income, taxes, and long-term decisions. Call Elite Income Advisors today to get started on your complimentary retirement review. 833-856-1387. That’s 833-856-1387. Don’t let retirement test you. Have the team at Retire Smart Maryland help you fill in the answers. Claim your free complimentary retirement session right now. Call 833-856-1387. That’s 833-856-1387, or schedule your own time at their website eliteincomadvisors.com.
Speaker 2 11:01
Welcome in everyone. So glad you’re joining us on Retire Smart Maryland. I’m Mike Bauer, and more importantly, I’m joined as always with Prashant Sabapathi of Elite Income Advisors online at EliteIncomeAdvisors.com. All right, Prashant. So a recent study. You know, I always kind of keep an eye out for studies and surveys and all this stuff. So Gallup and Edward Jones asked 1000s of Americans a question that doesn’t get asked maybe nearly enough. Not how much money do you have, but does your money actually support the life you want to live? And the answer: only about one in six people said yes. So let’s do the reverse math on that. That means about five out of six people, including many folks who are financially successful from the outside, are either stressed about money or stuck somewhere in the middle, conflicted. They’re in this limbo zone between stressed and actually financially fulfilled. So, when researchers or you know the people that put out a study here. When they say and they ask, “Are you financially fulfilled? Let me put that to you, Prashant. What do you think financial fulfillment means in a study like this?
Speaker 3 12:11
You know, I think it’s really interesting when I look at some of my own clients, and I always try to draw common threads across my most successful clients, and by the way, when I say most successful, I’m not necessarily talking about the clients that just have the most amount of money. I don’t define success simply by how much money any person has. That’s not what success is to me. I define a successful retirement as to what. that person’s expectation of retirement would be before they retired, and then what it turned out to be after they retired, how close was the expectation to the reality? And for my most successful clients, the ones that their retirement turned out exactly like they expected, or even better than they expected. I’ve noticed a couple of different things. Number one is those folks. It’s not so much possessions or account balances that make them quote unquote fulfilled. It’s the fact that they have experiences and relationships that they can actually enjoy in retirement. So I think that’s one piece of it. I think the second piece of it, Mike, is how much financial stress do those folks, the most quote unquote successful folks in retirement, how much financial stress do they undertake on a day to day and month to month basis, and the answer is hardly any. And so, if you have somebody who is not assuming financial stress, I think the logical question is how do they get to be that way? And I think two or three things are in common. Number one is they know exactly how much income they are going to have coming in every month, every year for the rest of their lifetime. They understand whether or not that income is actually going to be guaranteed to them. Meaning, will it show up regardless of market conditions? And the last piece, as it pertains to income is going to be. Does that income actually increase as the cost of living goes up? I found with some of my most successful clients, they understand where the income is coming from. A large percentage of their income is actually guaranteed income, and then they have an increasing income through their retirement. I always said, and if you’ve watched my TV show or you listen to the radio in the past, you’ve heard me say this: the higher the income is, the better the outcome is. And what I found is that the higher the income is, the more successful people’s retirement feels, and the more stress-free it tends to be.
Speaker 2 14:56
You know, and just looking at this study, you’re talking about stress-free when you. You see a study from Gallup and Edward Jones asking 1000s of Americans if the money actually supports the life they want to live, and only one out of six people say yes. There’s a there’s a big distance there between those who are financially fulfilled that one out of six, and maybe those other ones. You know, and and you mentioned Prashant those three elements. How much income will you have in retirement? Will that income be guaranteed, and will that increase as your cost of living increases? What are some of the ways when you sit down with folks, and let’s say that they’re listening right now and they’re taking notes and they want to ask you, how do I do that, Prashant? What are some of the options that that you can offer out there to, and I’m putting two and two together here. That more money doesn’t automatically mean you’re fulfilled. So, somebody with a small portfolio or a large portfolio, if they’re looking for that pathway that you just laid out, how do you help folks find it, regardless of their portfolio size?
Speaker 3 15:57
Look, I think there’s several different ways to go about creating income. There’s non-guaranteed sources of income, things like dividends, interest, rental incomes, those types of things. Then you have guaranteed income sources, things like social security, pensions, annuities. I think for any client or any person, really, it’s about understanding how much of the income should be guaranteed versus non-guaranteed, and everyone’s got a different comfort level for what that should look like. There actually is no cookie cutter approach to saying every single client should have X amount of their income guaranteed versus non-guaranteed, and so oftentimes when we sit down with folks, we talk it through with them to reason through how much of their own income they want as a true certainty versus how much of their income do they want that could be variable like that’s market driven like dividends and interest and oftentimes how this manifests itself is in an idea that we call bucketing okay and so bucketing is this idea that you should have multiple buckets of money designed to do different things. For example, I oftentimes use colors in my office: blue bucket, green bucket, red bucket. So blue bucket is just like bank money. It’s money that’s liquid. It’s available. You go put your hands on it, like a high yield savings account. You can go access it anytime you want. It doesn’t grow a whole heck of a lot, but it’s safe and it’s accessible. And then you have your red bucket of money. The red bucket of money is typically going to be market-based money. That’s money that goes up and down with the stock market or the bond market. You can typically access all that money anytime you want. However, you want to try to avoid selling at a loss because remember the old saying on Wall Street was buy low and sell high. So you don’t want to do the opposite where you’re selling low. But the issue with that is that it might not be readily accessible at any time you want because you don’t want to sell low. So if the market is not favorable, you might not access that money, and then you have your green bucket of money. Typically, it’s going to be market protected money that’s safe, that creates guaranteed income, and that could be things like annuities and bond ladders, and and so on and so forth. And so, with every person that we come into contact with, I think it’s really important to understand how the client wants to position each of these buckets. I’ve seen people that want to have an even split between all three buckets. I’ve seen people that want to weight the majority into the red bucket. I’ve seen people that want to weight the majority into the blue and the green buckets. I’m not sure what the right combination is it that totally depends on your specific financial situation. But if your advisor has never taken you through a bucketing plan where every bucket has its own purpose designed to help you through your retirement, I think it might be a great opportunity to sit down and just revisit that because it’s definitely an alternate way to potentially think about your retirement plan,
Speaker 2 19:02
and you can sit down and revisit that with Prashant Sabapathi of Elite Income Advisors. Just have your calendar ready because when you call, you’re going to get right on his calendar: 833-856-1387. That number again is 833-856-1387, or you can go online to eliteincomadvisors.com, schedule an appointment there. So Prashant, the study that we’re talking about from Gallup, and you know, and and and it actually talked about the fact that you know people were asked how much money do they have to support the life they want to live, and only one in six said yes. But the study found a big gap between fulfilled and stressed Americans when it came to working with an advisor. What does that data tell you in terms of the fact that I think 60% of financially fulfilled Americans work with a professional advisor, and just 14% of financially stressed Americans work with an advisor?
Speaker 3 19:58
Well, look. Let’s take the final. Financial industry out of it. Let’s just say it was the medical industry instead, right? Like if you had a problem with your knee or you felt sick and you you had chest pains all the time, are you going to feel more comfortable visiting with a doctor? You going to feel more comfortable trying to figure it out on your own, right? I think most people listening would say, “Of course, I’ll go see a doctor, and yet when it comes to finances, people, for whatever reason, I think the industry has something to do with this, but for whatever reason, feel either scared, embarrassed, a little bit put off, nervous about visiting with a financial professional, I think when sourcing the right professional for you, I think there’s certain things that you should keep in mind. Okay, instead of saying you absolutely should work with a financial advisor, I think you should work with the right advisor based on your situation. And so, like, I can’t speak for other advisors out there. I’m not in the business of of saying anything negative about other advisors. I can just talk about how my practice runs here. We work on the basis that we do not work with anyone that is not a great fit for us, and we are a great fit for them. So, to me, when examining whether or not an advisor is even the right fit for you? You should evaluate two or three different things. Number one is: Do you align on certain things philosophically? Meaning, do you have the same philosophy when it comes to how to plan retirement? How much do taxes play play a role in that? How much do investment strategy play a role into that. How? What type of investment strategy is most appropriate for someone in your situation? How do we deal with things like account maintenance, plan maintenance, inheritance, and estate planning? I think you have to align on all of those things before you can even determine that someone’s the right fit. Number two is I think you have to like your advisor. Nobody needs nobody needs a relate another relationship where they feel like they are not actually in tune with the the person that they’re working with. So you got to like each other. And number three, you have to set appropriate expectations. Right. So both parties need to understand what a successful relationship looks like, and how how are both parties going to live up to their end of it. And so, when you come in to visit with us, like I said, I can’t speak for other advisors, but when you come in to visit with us, part of our first visit is going through these three things: Are we even a good fit? Do we like each other? Do we agree on certain things philosophically, and are we able to define what a successful relationship looks like? If you’re going to interview financial advisors and they don’t proactively talk to you about at least these three things, I would maybe pause and ask whether or not you’re actually in the right relationship potentially, and so if you’re not sure where to start, come on in and visit with us, and let’s see whether or not it’s a good fit. If it’s not a good fit, you are welcome to tell me to my face. It’s totally fine. We will still be friends. We’ll still be on good terms, but maybe it will be a good fit. Maybe we’ll find an opportunity to professionally work together. You won’t know unless you give us a call. It’s 833-856-1387 833-856-1387. It’s no cost, no obligation. It’s a confidential opportunity to sit down with our team of retirement specialists, talk through your retirement, and let’s make sure that you’re on track for the retirement that you deserve.
Speaker 4 23:44
Call the team at Elite Income Advisors for your free portfolio review and risk assessment at 833-856-1387. You know the market feels a lot different when retirement starts getting closer. When you’re younger, a bad market year feels annoying, but when you’re thinking about retirement income, it can feel very, very personal. A lot of people right now are wondering if they’re taking too much risk or if their investments are really lined up for this stage of life. That’s why the team at Elite Income Advisors they offer a free portfolio risk report and a protection review to help you understand where you stand. Call Elite Income Advisors today at 833-856-1387. That’s 833-856-1387, or visit Elite Income advisors.com.
Speaker 1 24:38
Call Elite Income Advisors today to get your free Social Security and retirement income review at 833-856-1387. When you take Social Security can affect more than just when the checks begin. You’ve paid into Social Security for decades, so how do you know when to take it to get the most out of it? On the surface, it may seem like an easy call, but your benefit amount can vary to. Depending on when you claim, if you’re married, your decision could affect your spouse as well. And depending on your overall income, a portion of those benefits may be subject to taxes. So it’s not just about picking a date; it’s about how that decision fits into your overall retirement income plan. How will Social Security work alongside your other accounts, your investments, not just today but years down the road, these are the kinds of decisions that can benefit from a coordinated approach. Elite Income Advisors and Retire Smart Maryland works with individuals to evaluate Social Security timing and the strategies as part of a broader retirement plan, helping bring clarity to how these pieces may fit together. So call Elite Income Advisors today to get your free Social Security and retirement income review 833-856-1387 that’s 833-856-1387 or schedule your time at their website eliteincomadvisors.com.
Speaker 4 25:54
You know, saving money for retirements and living off that money are two completely different things. At some point, people stop asking, “How much am I putting away? and they start asking, “Okay, how do we turn this into income? That’s where the planning becomes really important. The team at Elite Income Advisors they build retirement income strategies designed to help create reliable income streams while balancing taxes, balancing investments, also long-term goals. Call Elite Income Advisors today to develop your complimentary retirement income plan. The number it’s 833-856-1387. One more time: 833-856-1387, or visit eliteincomadvisors.com.
Speaker 2 26:41
Hey, thanks so much for joining us on Retire Smart Maryland. I’m Mike Bauer, joined by Prashant Sabapathi of Elite Income Advisors. You can always reach Prashant and the team at Elite Income Advisors online at eliteincomadvisors.com. They have the headquarters in Ellicott City. They also have a satellite office in Annapolis. They’re available for virtual meetings as well. You can always set up a visit at 833-856-1387 833-856-1387. Prashant, let’s let’s talk some trendy stuff here. Maybe not trendy stuff, but there’s a couple trends happening at opposite ends of the age spectrum. On one end, younger workers they’re taking longer planned breaks from working life, maybe a gap year, not a vacation, but like a multi-month or multi-year pause. And at the other end, you got a lot of retirees who are heading back to the workforce. So while one generation is stepping off the treadmill early. The others climbing back on. Prashant, what does that mean that both are happening at the same time?
Speaker 3 27:46
This one’s really interesting. What I make of it is that both trends are almost, in a way, telling us the same thing from opposite directions. The traditional model of work for 40 years, retire, enjoy the fruits of your labor. Like that model is starting to break down. Like I think Gen Z is rejecting the deferral model. That that like before they’ve even started on that deferral model, they’ve started to reject it. I mean, how often do you sit down with you know Gen Zers now, and it’s all about experiences. It’s all about living today, and we’ll figure out tomorrow. Tomorrow, right? And so, yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. YOLO, right? It’s a YOLO, and it’s a FOMO. It’s it’s definitely a FOMO environment. I think Gen Zers in the social media era see all these people doing things that they’re not doing, and as a result, they were would willingly sacrifice their future in order to have some of those experiences today. I think both trends, though, whether you’re going back to work or taking a pause in your career, are symptoms of the same kind of broken assumption, and so whether you’re a baby boomer looking at reemployment or you’re a younger earner wanting life balance, I think the the common theme is that your strategy must protect your long term compounding, like taking a one year career break in your 20s without a strict financial model, could be precisely the type of thing that costs you 50, 100, $150,000 of compounding interest over the course of your lifetime. So, as you make these very important decisions, or for a radio audience out there, as your children or grandchildren make these really important decisions, I just encourage that it’s well thought out before the decision is made.
Speaker 2 29:44
Is there a well thought out version of taking a year off work in your 20s? I mean, because I’m sure there’s a lot of people listening that hear this quote unquote micro retirement or a gap year and think there’s no way I would have ever done that. I couldn’t have gotten away with that. Is there is there a response? Way for somebody to, again, in their 20s or 30s, not make a reckless decision, but through planning, actually be able to figure out a way to YOLO and FOMO that you you know you only live once in fear of missing out is to not miss out because you only live once.
Speaker 3 30:17
I think there absolutely is. Look, the world isn’t the way that it was 20 and 30 years ago? I think with the advancement of technology, like we saw in in segment one that we talked about in segment one, there’s opportunities to quote unquote work and earn a living while not having to go into an office every single day. So that is absolutely still on the table. One of my best friends in the world worked at one of these big tech companies. I’ll leave them unnamed, but he he put in some time there, like 10 years or so, and as a result, he’s accumulated enough resources through stock and through his own financial planning that he’s going to take an indefinite amount of time off in his 30s, and that’s great. Like 20 years ago, nobody would have ever considered leaving a high-paying tech job in your early 30s to to just take time off with no plan. But he’s in a position that he can do that. He did a great job saving money. He’s done a great job financial planning, and now taking this one year or more break is not going to affect him because he’s done all the planning on the front side. So, is there a way to do it? I think absolutely there’s a way to do it, especially with the advancement of technology and the ability to to side hustle your way and to be able to create income, but that being said, it took him a lot of planning to get to that point. Right, he didn’t just wake up one day and say, “Well, hey, I’m I’m quitting, and and now I’ll figure it out. Like he had a plan in place that he’s going to execute, and I think it’s going to work great for him. But he did all the hard work on the front side.
Speaker 2 32:00
You know, for anybody listening, we’re talking about boomers and Zoomers, right? Zoomers, the Gen Z, and who might have the better or their different retirement strategies. If any of this is hitting home for you, or maybe another generation in your life, your your your kids, your grandkids, don’t find out the hard way. Call 833-856-1387. Set up a visit with Prashant and the team at Elite Income Advisors 833-856-1387. You can always go online eliteincomadvisors.com to schedule that conversation in Ellicott City or Annapolis. And again, the website eliteincomeadvisors.com. So times they are changing. Does that, you know, that that idea of actually taking time off in your 30s sounds so foreign? But does that actually mean that maybe the younger generation is right to sacrifice early on in life, buy buy yourself a little bit of time while you’re healthy and and able to enjoy that time rather than waiting until retirement, and as you mentioned, the deferral mindset.
Speaker 3 33:05
I’m hesitant to say which way is better and who’s right and who’s wrong. I’m not trying to get on anyone’s bad side here, but here’s what I would here’s what I would say. I almost look at this as kind of the relay race versus the sprint type of deal, right? Like the old, like the the the older generations who are retiring now, and who will be retiring, they ran a blind, like kind of like a blind marathon sprint, right? And you sprinted to the finish line, and when you got to the finish line, you had everything you need to retire, only to find that the goalposts probably moved a little bit. I think the younger generation, the Zoomer generation, wants to still run the race, but they want to take a bunch of water breaks along the way, right? And so it’s it’s kind of interesting. If you stop running too early without enough fuel, you won’t finish the race if you run too hard before getting to the finish line. You might burn out, right? So who’s to say who’s right and who’s wrong? I think the more you can map this type of stuff out, the more likely it is that you’ll end up with a favorable outcome, and that’s just kind of common sense, isn’t it? The more you plan for something, the more likely it is that you’re going to think of every contingency and come out with a scenario that actually makes really good beneficial sense for you. So to me, it’s not so much about which path you take; it’s about how you plan out which path is going to be most appropriate for you and how much you’ve thought of all of the different contingent scenarios that could possibly derail you. The more prepared you are, the more likely you are to have a favorable outcome.
Speaker 2 34:49
You know, I mean, regardless of age, that’s you know, the more that you plan, I think that’s kind of the lesson behind both of these trends. Whether it’s it’s boomers returning to work, it’s Zoomers taking. What to previous generations would be an unthinkable, uncertain amount of time off in the middle of their working years. But I mean, long story short, Prashant, and correct me if I’m wrong here, but financial security has never been about following a generational script, a playbook. But it really the lesson here is that the more that you plan for whatever the future holds, the more better off the better off you are going to be either way.
Speaker 3 35:25
Yeah, I think you have to custom tailor that planning to your specific situation because look, at the end of the day, what’s best for your golf buddy or your coworker, your best friend or your brother-in-law, isn’t necessarily the best thing for you. In fact, it’s not the best thing for you. You have to figure out what makes the most sense for you. So, if you’re not sure where to start planning, I’m going to give you a great resource website. The website is retiremaryland.com. That’s www.retiremaryland.com. Visit the website retiremaryland.com. There’s an opportunity on that website. You’ll be able to get a 100% free copy of my book. It’s called Fiscal Health Retirement Wealth. It’s your prescription for income generation, tax management, financial peace of mind. So visit retiremaryland.com. Fill out the quick survey. I will mail you the copy of the book. I’ll take care of the shipping. You’ll be able to read this book. It’s about 80 pages. It’s an easy read. You’ll be able to read it in a day or two. You can share it with your friends. You can have them request their own copy. But in the book, we talk about how to go beyond the numbers, like how to dream about retirement in the in the right way, how to think about the biggest five risks of retiring today. How to close the gap in your income, optimize your Social Security, and most importantly, we talk about rescuing your IRA to design a tax-preferred retirement and how to avoid paying income tax potentially on a big subset of your retirement assets. So all of that is in the book. Visit retiremaryland.com. Get your free copy of Fiscal Health Retirement Wealth. You can also dial 833-856-1387 833-856-1387 to schedule your complimentary no cost no obligation retirement review today.
Speaker 4 37:20
When people think about retirements, most are not chasing perfection. They just want to feel more comfortable about where they stand. Maybe that means more confidence about income. Maybe it means understanding taxes better. Maybe it’s simply knowing there’s an actual plan in place. The team at Elite Income Advisors they help people evaluate their current strategy and look for ways to improve clarity, improve structure, also long-term planning. Call the team at Elite Income Advisors today at 833-856-1387. That’s 833-856-1387, and visit eliteincomadvisors.com.
Speaker 1 37:58
Your career, your decisions, your experiences-they’ve all been unique. Your retirement plan should be designed for you. Think about the path that brought you here, the choices that you made along the way, where to work, how to save, when to invest-what mattered most to you and your family. No two paths looked exactly the same. So when it comes to planning for retirement, a one-size-fits-all approach may not fully capture what you need moving forward because retirement planning today involves more than just picking investments. It’s about how your income will be structured, how taxes could impact what you keep, and how your plan may need to adjust over time. Elite Income Advisors takes the time to understand your goals, your timeline, and your priorities, then builds a strategy designed around those factors. The goal is to bring clarity to your financial decisions and help you move forward with a plan that reflects your situation, not somebody else’s. Call Elite Income Advisors today to schedule your complimentary retirement review. 833-856-1387. That’s 833-856-1387, or go to the website eliteincomeadvisors.com.
Speaker 4 39:04
Hey, you out there! If you’re an investor, then I want to ask you a very, very important question: Do you know what you’re paying in investment fees? Because most people don’t, and it’s not because they’re careless. It’s because those fees can be surprisingly hard to find. Over time, even small costs inside retirement accounts. They can quietly eat away at long-term growth. That’s why Elite Income Advisors-they can help you review your accounts. They can uncover hidden fees and also explain things in plain English, so you know exactly what you’re paying for. Call today for your free portfolio analysis and fee finder report at 833-856-1387. That’s 833-856-1387. Or visit eliteincomadvisors.com.
Speaker 2 39:52
Thank you so much for joining us on Retire Smart Maryland. I’m Mike Bauer, joined by Prashant Sabapathi of Elite Income Advisors. You can find him in Ellicott. City and also the satellite office in Annapolis. You can set up an appointment at either one of those locations or virtually at 833-856-1387. That’s 833-856-1387 or [email protected]. You know, Prashant. Recently, we talked about we learned a lot. We learned about YOLO and FOMO and side hustles. And YOLO is you only live once. FOMO is fear of missing out. I want to talk about fire, and this has nothing to do with flames. This is financial independence, retire early, and that’s a a movement that you see. You know, not just like oh this influence, but there’s articles written about it. There’s entire you know documentaries done about fire, financial independence, retire early. And long story short, the the idea is save aggressively. Emphasis, bold, underlined on aggressively. Invest heavily, minimize lifestyle expenses, and I’ll even say minimize lifestyle, and get to a point where work becomes optional way earlier than a traditional retirement age. So, why has that movement, the fire movement, become so popular, Prashant?
Speaker 3 41:14
I think a lot of younger Americans watch their parents deal with a lot, right? Whether it’s layoffs, burnout, financial stress, delayed retirement, and so I think younger generations look at that, and I think it makes sense for people today to want more control over their time and their finances. I mean, how often have we seen our parents struggle even later in life to retire, or maybe you know somebody that worked their entire life and then retired, immediately got sick, and wasn’t able to enjoy their retirement. Like I think the younger generation sees all these different types of scenarios and says, “How do I fast track this thing to make sure that I can actually enjoy whatever time we have on this earth, and that I don’t waste 30 or 40 years of it working for some big corporation only to enjoy 10 or 20 years of it? And so it goes back to this delayed gratification mindset, or I should say, lack thereof of that mindset. And by the way, it doesn’t necessarily mean that retirement early, from this standpoint, the fire movement is a bad thing, right? Because this talks about sacrificing up front a little bit to try to fast track that retirement. So I think that’s why it’s becoming more and more popular, it’s because we are seeing the generations before us still struggle at the back end of their back end of their career and early part of their retirements, and wondering why should we aspire to the same exact thing,
Speaker 2 42:56
Prashant. What do you say to somebody who comes into your office, or just somebody listening now who’s yelling at the radio and saying, “This is just kids these days don’t want to work, and then they put a label on it and they call it a fire movement, financial independence, retire early. What do you say to somebody who sees this and then looks at maybe a member of their family, their kid, their grandkid, and says they just don’t want to work, but now they’re just coming up with a label to put on it, and you know, what do you say to someone like that? Yeah,
Speaker 3 43:25
look, I think everyone’s a little bit different, and it’s not necessarily for me to say any person is right or wrong in how they feel because you’re entitled to how you feel about everything. I would just go back to facts at the end of the day. If somebody has a plan and they are working really hard to try to retire when they’re 40 or 45, I mean, my cousin just retired. He was in investment banking and in software. He did that for almost 25 years, and he’s retiring when he’s like 43 or 44 years old. He’s getting to retire really early, but that’s because he did a great job saving money. He did a great job investing money, and he has a financial plan for how it’s going to take care of him. So, look, whether it’s perception that younger generations just don’t want to work or they’re working towards something else, I think that’s for them to reconcile on their own. I don’t really judge. What I try to instill upon people is the idea that whether you’re retiring at 43, like my cousin, or 55 a little bit earlier, or if you’re the person that needs to retire when they’re 70 years old, I think it comes down to the same core principles. At the end of the day, it’s primarily about money coming in and money going out. Even if you retire at 43, you’re still going to need some money coming in from somewhere to pay the bills, and the money coming in has to be more than the money going out, and that applies whether you’re 4353, 63, or 73 years old. And so let’s start there. Let’s. Figure out where our money in is going to come from, and let’s see whether or not that supports the money out that our lifestyle is going to end up costing at the end of the day.
Speaker 2 45:10
Give Prashant and the team at Elite Income Advisors a call 833-856-1387. You can set up an in person visit at the headquarters in Ellicott City. You can also set up a a meeting on the at the satellite office in Annapolis, and always [email protected]. Hey Prashant, so this movement, this fire financial independence retire early movement, is is maybe one of the ancillary benefits. The fact that a rising tide raises all ships in terms of the fact that the more people are talking about whatever movement and social media trend, at least there’s information out there, and it’s an opportunity for people to learn about you know retirement and finance and better financial habits overall, even if people aren’t retiring at 4353 or something like that.
Speaker 3 46:01
Look, I think more information is typically going to be better. More exposure creates more awareness, and I like that. But just like almost every other topic that we look at online, social media doesn’t oftentimes tell the full story, Mike. And I think we’ve learned that over the years with not just financial stuff, but with politics and with almost every other thing that is on the internet is you oftentimes just get a snippet of it and not the entire picture. And most often, you’re getting the snippet that looks really good, and it leaves all the other risks out of it. Right. So I think you have to just have a comprehensive understanding of what happens if you’re going to employ a strategy like this, and it’s something that you got to take a close look at. One thing I always look at for folks, anyone who’s retiring early, regardless of how early that is, is how much time does your money actually have to last? Like I do a lot of work with Anne Arundel County firefighters, and if you know anything about the the firefighters that serve, they get into the service really early, like typically right out of college. They put in their time 2025, 30 years, they retire really early, and it presents this really unique situation where they might retire. Like I, I helped a firefighter retire. I think it was three or four years ago. He was 48 years old when he retired, and statistics show that there’s a good chance that guy’s going to live to be mid 80s or even 90 years old, and so think about this: you might have people spending more time in retirement than they actually spent working. And on one hand, that’s really cool and really neat.
Speaker 2 47:54
Right.
Speaker 3 47:55
On another hand, it can be very scary because if your money runs out at some point, or if you have a major health event that causes you to spend more money than you ever thought you would spend, it’s precisely the thing that could derail you. And because of all the reasons we talked about in segment one, re-entering the workforce is not a guaranteed prospect. So retiring early means that your portfolio has to survive 2030, 4050, years in some cases, and that could be 50 years of inflation, medical costs, down markets. How are you going to deal with that? I’m not saying don’t do it. I’m just saying make sure you have a plan to deal with it. For that firefighter, we put together a comprehensive income plan, and now he has an understanding of exactly where his income is going to come from, regardless of if the market goes up or down, and he feels really good about it, which is why he retired in the first place.
Speaker 2 48:48
Yeah, and and and that sounds that sounds incredible. You know, you able to make that that possible for that for that firefighter, Prashant. Somebody comes in, and let’s say that they’re you know, I mean, we we use the threes, right? You know, you mentioned 4353, but let’s say that somebody is whether they’re 43 or they’re 63, and they come to you in their first visit, complimentary at 833-856-1387, and they come in in your first visit, and they just simply say, “What do I have to do to retire early, Prashant? Help me do that. This is what I want to do. Where does the conversation go from there for you, regardless of the age?
Speaker 3 49:25
It starts with what do we want our lifestyle to look like. I always say, plan with the end in mind. How can you know how much money you need, how much income you need, if you have no vision of what you want your life to look like, right? So you tell me what retirement looks like to you. Is it traveling? Is it international travel? Is it domestic travel? Is it volunteering? Is it spending time with family? If you are, what types of activities are you going to be doing? And most importantly, we take all those retirement dreams. And we translate it into a monthly cost. Okay. By the way, this is what we talk about literally in chapter one of the book. the the The title of chapter is “Go Beyond the Numbers: Your Retirement Dream, and that’s what we talk about in chapter one of the book, which you can get at retiremaryland.com. So at first, we’re trying to create a vision of what we want retirement to look like. From there, we’re just going to work backwards into how do we fund that vision. If we have retirement accounts, this is a great example. If we have retirement accounts that we can’t access until we’re 59 and a half years old, well, then does it make sense to start stacking a bunch of money in retirement accounts if our goal is to retire at 48 or 50? Probably not, because that money is going to be inaccessible. So we need to have other money that we can reliably tap into if that was to happen. That’s just one quick example. So whether you’re dreaming of an early exit from the corporate grind or you’re kind of already on the edge of retirement. I think relying on generic rules of thumb or just internet-based formulas, well, that’s a pretty high-stakes gamble with your lifestyle. Okay, I think your life savings shouldn’t be governed by some cookie-cutter approach. You need a plan that’s independent, stress-tested for the real world, and so that’s why you’re going to give us a call. Schedule that free, no cost, no obligation visit. Let’s talk specifically about your situation and figure out how to make sure that you are on track. It’s 833-856-1387 833-856-1387.
Speaker 2 51:39
You know, Prashant, you just mentioned the book as well: fiscal health, retirement, wealth. You reference the first chapter, and you close your first chapter by these items: a call to action of how do you want to retire, figure out what you want your retirement to look like, develop a spending plan, identify your income gap, and work with a fiduciary to fill the income gap. As Prashant mentioned, he can help you do all of those things. Give him a call 833-856-1387 or that book that we just mentioned absolutely free retiremaryland.com for everybody at Retire Smart Maryland and at and at Elite Income Advisors. I’m Mike Bauer. He’s Prashant Sabapathi. Thanks so much. We’ll see you next week.
Speaker 4 52:28
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