Excel in Retirement

You've probably heard by now that Silicon Valley Bank failed last Friday. It appears the bank rapidly took deposits over the last few years, and they needed somewhere to place their funds. And here begins the problem. The bank put money in Treasury bonds and mortgage-backed securities. When interest rates go up, bonds lose value.A few depositors figured this out and began withdrawing their large deposits in the bank. Eventually the bank was unable to meet the demand of withdrawals. Which is a bank's worst nightmare!If you've been following this saga, you may be reading about fears of “contagion,” which is a fancy way of saying when one bank fails there is risk that other banks may fail due to fear of similar circumstances.Just last week, head of the Fed Jerome Powell indicated that interest rates will continue to rise in his comments to Congress. The government had appeared to think inflation was coming down, and interest rate increases might slow down. But after the economy added more jobs than expected this year, Powell began indicating that the rates are likely to continue rising. It will be interesting to see if the government pauses raising rates when they meet later this month or if the Fed will continue its plan to raise rates.What should you do? If you have a well-thought-out plan of action, you should probably do nothing.Nick Murray, an advisor and prolific author on the market, wrote, “Wealth is not determined by investment performance, but by investor behavior.”The goal with financial planning is doing the planning so that you don't have to be reactionary when difficult times happen in the market. People with no plan have to play defense all the time, but we know the only way to win is by playing offense.You can be positioned to play offense by staying invested in difficult periods if you have a plan. Time and time again I have people tell me that if only they had not sold and had stayed invested, they'd be so much better off. Selling in difficult markets is what we do when we don't have a plan. If you don't have a financial plan now is the time to develop it.Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual's situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program.

Like a lot of people, I've always had a job where I work with people, and it's always fascinated me to try to figure out why people think the way they do. People are unique, but their themes are similar.In my role as a financial planner, I primarily assist Baby Boomers who are navigating how to retire. Or that's often when we were first acquainted. In our initial meeting I always ask, “How are you feeling about the stock market?” You'd be surprised at the responses, but one theme repeats.I ask this question when the stock market is doing well, and when it's struggling like it has been recently. Naturally, the answers vary, but in our current prolonged downturn I've been getting an interesting response.People have frequently said something along the lines of, “The market is down, but I believe in the market. It'll come back, and we'll (America) get it figured out.” I don't disagree but think with me about the importance of our order of returns. Steve and Bill are brothers. Bill has a few years on Steve. Bill retired in 2000, and Steve retired in 2010. They both entered retirement with $500,000 saved. They both began withdrawing $30,000 to supplement their incomes.From 2010 to 2019 the worst market return came in 2018, but it wasn't even a 6.5% decline. Most will recall that 2000 to 2009 was a wildly different situation. The market had four negative years with the worst of which being a drop of 38%.Who do you think came out better? Clearly, Steve had more favorable circumstances. Steve, retiring in 2010 had over $874,000 in 2019 while taking the $30,000 away each year. Bill on the other hand was left with less than $97,000.Managing risk in retirement is as important as managing our portfolio for returns. We call it going from an accumulation phase to an income and distribution phase. When we're younger and have a longer time horizon we should work to accumulate, but when we're five years out from retirement or in retirement we should be in an income and distribution phase. The later goal being figuring out how to make our funds last as long as possible.So, this begs the question. What is your strategy for managing your risk in retirement? If you don't have one, we'd be happy to talk with you to share how we help our clients manage their downside exposure.Do you have a question? Would you like to learn more? EmailConnect@ClientsExcel.com or call 864.641.7955. Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual's situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program.

With inflation at 40-year highs some seniors feel this year's big cost of living increase in Social Security is falling short. Yahoo Finance had an article last week that said, “According to a new survey by the Senior Citizens League, 54% of older Americans think the 8.7% increase in the Social Security cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) this year won't keep up with inflation.”What's troubling is that the government's rapid interest rate increases over the last year have done little to slow inflation. The latest government reports reveal inflation is remaining elevated at 6.4%. The government has stated they are resolved to bring inflation levels down to the 2% range, which means we have a long way to go at our current rate. It's a juggling act. The economy has continued to grow despite the rate increases which is a problem for the government. The Federal Reserve is attempting to not break the economy, and get inflation lowered. Interestingly, for the first time in recent memory the government is on the other side of the table from investors like you and me. Generally, the government is trying to keep the economy going and the stock market growing. AARP reports, “Nearly half (48 percent) of households headed by someone 55 and older lack some form of retirement savings, according to the latest estimates by the U.S. Government Accountability Office.”So, the government is now on the side of the table of folks with little to no savings. What I mean by this is the government is trying to lower the cost of things for those most impacted by price increases: those with little savings. We've got a front row seat to see how this plays out.What should you do? Listen in to find out...Do you have a question? Would you like to learn more? EmailConnect@ClientsExcel.com or call 864.641.7955. Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual's situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program.

When we age into the time we can claim Social Security the temptation is strong to get the money as soon as we can. In fact, most people claim as soon as they can at 62. I get it. I love having extra money in my pocket, but it's important to understand that we may be giving up quite a bit of money.The Wall Street Journal had an article last Sunday about this topic. It said, “A recent study, funded by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, finds that retirees often give up tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars by taking Social Security benefits too early.” The article states that researchers found that 90% of people would benefit from waiting to claim until 70, and this would increase discretionary income spending by 10% or $182,370. Did you ever think that claiming early could be that costly?If you've already claimed, you're not alone. Only 10% of people will wait until age 70. I've found that most people get little to no help with making Social Security decisions. The rules surrounding how to claim are daunting too. It's been estimated that there are 81 age combinations and 567 sets of calculations to determine how and when to claim your Social Security. It's not exactly easy to figure out. In our office we use software to analyze the best claiming strategies. The computer program will show you how you can get the most out of your benefits over your lifetime. Unfortunately, you won't get this help at the Social Security office. Sadly, the government is not equipped to give you advice on how to claim a benefit that you've paid into since you began working. Also, what I find is that most people who come into our office to talk about their Social Security have a financial advisor, and yet that advisor has never given them an objective plan for how to claim their benefits. You have to scratch your head and wonder why. After all, the difference in how we can claim Social Security can be the difference of over a hundred thousand dollars. Making the wrong decision may cost you. If you'd like to get a Social Security report that illustrates how to get the most out of Social Security, please let us know. We can schedule a 15-minute call to get a few details to run the report. We'd be happy to provide this complimentary resource. You can reach us at 864.641.7955.Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual's situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program.

Did you ever read Sherlock Holmes? In the 1894 story entitled “The Adventure of Silver Blaze” Holmes noticed something odd when he was attempting to solve the mystery.Holmes said, “the curious incident of the dog in the night-time” and the detail that the dog did not bark or make a commotion during the commission of the crime. Holmes concluded that the suspect must be someone the dog knew because the dog didn't stir. If someone is breaking into a house and a dog resides there, you'd expect the dog to bark and growl.The decline in the market this year has been analogized in some ways. Often, when the market experiences a downturn, there  are lots of sudden uproar about the hit people are feeling. Just think back to the year 2020 when the pandemic started in the spring. On several trading days the market triggers paused trading because the market was selling off so quickly.This year is different in the sense that we are familiar with who's causing the market decline. You may have already figured out where I'm going. The government is leading us into a recession, but we're not seeing the uproar that often coincides with market downturn. And I think it may be because we're familiar with the culprit.While the economy has slowed as evidenced by us technically being in a recession, it has not slowed enough to cool inflation. This means the pressure is on the Federal Reserve to do more, but they are limited in their ability to have an impact.What this means for people in the market: First, we should not have money in the market we will need in the next ten years. However, we need our money productively allocated to maintain our lifestyle in retirement. You have options for your income money in retirement.Second, if our market volatility is causing you turmoil consider using a hedge called a buffered ETF. This has resonated with some of our clients this year. You can be buffered against the first 15% of losses in the S&P 500. In exchange for the buffer, we are capped at earning around 15% of what the S&P 500 produces over the next twelve months.This allows you to not have to attempt to time the market (nobody can), but allows some peace of mind that if the market drops further, you have a buffer in place. If you'd like to learn more about this strategy or others, please call our office at 864.641.7955.Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual's situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program.

The media and the government have gotten creative with answering whether we are in a recession or not in order to make our economic situation better than reality. The traditional definition of a recession is being redefined. Historically, the definition of a recession has been two negative quarters of growth in the gross domestic production. In the first quarter of this year the GDP declined -1.16% and at the end of June the second quarter reading was -0.90%. We are by definition in a recession.According to Tom Siomades , the chief investment officer of AE Wealth Management, the average recession has lasted on average six to twelve months since World War II. He states in recent commentary that we should be mindful of the possibility of another six months of negative economic growth.Remember, we want three types of funds: Liquid, protected, and growth. Check out last week's newsletter for a description of the three types of money.We have become increasingly spoiled by the market popping back up after recent downturns like it did in 2020. This pop effect is due in large part to the government intervening in the markets to stabilize them. Now the government is on the other side of the table from investors.Simodaes stated, “We are not seeming impetus for the market to come back up.” Why? Because if the government lowers interest rates or uses quantitative easing to create more new money, inflation runs away.If you've lost money in the first half the year, brace yourself for the possibility of more losses. This may not be a bad thing if you're properly allocated and have a plan in place. If you're winging it right now though, you have reason to be concerned.The government's hands are tied with how much they can help the economy bounce back this time. This is a problem for folks who have gotten used to the market bouncing back and taking off for more growth. This may not happen this go around. It may take longer for the economy to right itself.Adding lighter fluid to the issue is the Federal Reserve has not stated what it'll do at its September meeting. They could give forward guidance as to where rates may go but they are not, which is driving market sentiment down. Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual's situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program.

Wall Street has done a great job of marketing us. So much so that they have convinced us that we should sell our Amazon stock to pay our cable bill. Warren Buffett once said, “If you aren't willing to own a stock for ten years, don't even think about owning it for ten minutes.” We take his advice to heart. We can't be invested in the market for ten years if we are using that same bucket of money to create income. So, what do we do?This brings us to our last point which is our “income bucket.” The worst year for the stock market in the last hundred years was a loss of over 43%. That's an impactful loss for the portfolio. We can't control what the markets are doing so we separate out our income bucket from our growth bucket.The liquid bucket and income bucket are designed to meet our lifestyle needs in retirement. We use the income bucket to cover all of our income needs for ten years. We want this money to be some place that's protected. No, we don't want it buried in the backyard losing purchasing power.We want it to have some growth. Historically, we could use several asset classes to find something that provides interest or dividends. We're looking for something that will earn four to six percent on average. This enables us to leave our growth bucket alone for ten years like Buffett suggests and capture the returns of the market.  Does this philosophy resonate with you? Our approach enables us to tell our clients, like I tell Amelia about school, that we don't have to be nervous about market volatility. When the difficult times come in the market hopefully you'll remember the team at Clients Excel set your portfolio up with ten years of income. This gives the market time to recover from any potential losses it may face. We do this because our goal is for it to enable you to be worry free in retirement. Don't fall into the trap of being completely in equities or pulled out of the market completely. If we're all in equities, we are suffering this year. And if we are trying to time the market by selling and buying back in at the right time we'll likely be disappointed.  Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual's situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program.

We sometimes  become quite loyal to the companies we are invested in. It may be a company we worked for or it may be an investment we inherited from our parents. Oftentimes, people in this scenario have a high concentration of their portfolio in one stock or one industry sector.The problem with this type of investing is that sometimes companies or sectors falter and this could leave us overexposed and feeling distraught.  Just as if Thriller or Boogie Woogy were to break, Amelia would be disappointed. We don't want to be overly allocated in one sector in the event that the investment underperforms.If we're invested in stocks, it makes sense to have numerous companies, but often a lower cost way that requires less rebalancing is to use index funds.An example of an index is the S&P 500. The index was created in 1957 and it was designed to represent 500 large US companies. Today there are many different types of indexes to allocate to. We can use index funds to allocate to bonds, commodities, real estate, technology, emerging markets, international markets and the list goes on. With index funds we are diversified amongst the companies inside of the index and this prevents us from being over exposed to one company. Also what this does is it allows us to be diversified, thereby not being disappointed if a company underperforms.   When the market turns down as it has this year, it's a great time to evaluate how your portfolio has performed under stress and assess whether you need to rebalance to get your holdings in line with your priorities. Perhaps an index fund may be appropriate for you. If you need assistance with rebalancing and accessing whether your allocations are in line with your goals and objectives please call our office at 864.641.7955.Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual's situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program.

In my twenties I loved riding and racing bicycles! Most of my races were on a closed circuit that was less than a mile long. The race would go around the closed loop for anywhere from 45 minutes or an hour.This kind of racing gets fast! My strategy was to stay in the front third of the group of racers and then in the last lap sprint to the finish. During that hour leading up to the finish it's a fight to survive and not crash. Every race was an adrenaline rush, but a few of them stand out as extra memorable. The races I won are enjoyable to reminisce about, but that's only half of the picture. Unfortunately, the ones I crashed in tend to be stamped in my mind due to the physical pain they induced.Many of these races were in downtown settings as they naturally had turns and were easy to create a circuit. My friend Phillip and I had driven to downtown Roanoke, Virginia, for a race one summer. I was hanging in the top third of the racers. Everything seemed to be going my way until I made a turn to the right and my pedal scraped the ground. This sent me to the ground with a big thud. Normally, if you can get to the wheel change area, you can get back in the race when something like this happens. Fortunately, I wasn't injured and was able to get back in the race. I ended up  placing eighth in the sprint finish. Some people in the market have had it going their way until this year, but the market has made a turn. Some savers have been beaten up a little, but they may be okay if they have enough time to recover their losses. At this point they may feel like they can stay in it and live to see another day. But if they're taking income off their positions they may be really hurting in this down market.Later in the year Phillip and I traveled to downtown Salisbury, North Carolina, for a race. It was close to where I grew up so my parents came out to watch. They were standing just beyond the finish line. This race course was like a figure eight where on both ends of the course we navigated a small city block and then there was a wide-open stretch in between each square to race back and forth to. This allowed the race to generate a swift pace because it was essentially a sprint to each corner.I had just upgraded to a more advanced level of competition and this race was fast! I found myself not meeting my goal of staying in the top third of the riders.  A few laps into the race I was on the outside of the road to the right. We were turning left. Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual's situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program.

It was recently revealed that the stock market had its worst first half of the year since 1970 and several analysts are indicating the market still has further to drop. The article linked here states equities “Face a triple whammy of sticky inflation, recession risks, and the threat to corporate profits sinking consumer confidence.”   We don't have to believe the adage that nobody could have seen this problem coming. Congressman Thomas Massise astutely warned in March of 2020 that “The popular bill to spend $2 trillion dollars and shut down our economy was ‘the biggest mistake in history.' That bill and subsequent bills that spent another $4 trillion are the reasons we now have shortages and inflation.”This should be common sense for the Federal Reserve, but Janet Yellen, a former Fed chair, stated she was wrong and didn't see this coming. When the government pulls back its money printing and raises rates it becomes easy to anticipate what will happen. The most recent example to point to is in 2018 the government raised rates, and the market went down over six percent.In our July 2021 podcast, I warned of the coming inflationary problem we are experiencing and fortunately were able to help many prepare for what is transpiring this year. The worst thing we can do when faced with uncertainty is to do nothing. We don't want to be the deer caught in the oncoming car's headlights. Like the deer, we need to move and we need to do it quickly. When we hear people stating they did not see what is happening coming, I recommend being done with their advice like Amelia was done with Burglar Bill!Are you positioned the best you can be if things get more dicey in the economy? Let's find out. Call our office at 864.641.7955 to schedule an appointment. Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual's situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program.

Our idea of successful retirement planning is creating a proverbial space suit for our clients that insulates them from twitches in the financial markets that we can't control.We create a buffer that allows our clients to know that they have a stable bucket of money available to them for income and expenses. This bucket of money is productively growing and can be drawn down over ten years.After we have our income and expenses bucket of money taken care of, we use another bucket of money to participate in the stock market. If the market has a correction like this year, our client's have the benefit of having ten years to recover. The market has always come back, but that does not prevent short-term pain. With our first bucket we lessen the pain of market losses. When the hard times in the market happen we begin hearing pundits preach about how it's a unique period or this has never happened before. I normally don't give that train of thought consideration but I recently read a compelling rationale for this actually being a unique correction. Peter Mallouk is an author and CEO for a financial services firm that manages north of $210 billion. He said in a recent interview, “I think it's a more complicated time than normal,” noting key differences between this year's market downturn and the past four bear markets.  “‘These were four very scary bear markets but they all had one thing in common: They all had a single cause,' Mallouk said, citing the tech bubble, 9/11, the 2008-09 financial crisis and the 2020 coronavirus pandemic.”“In the past four bear markets, the Federal Reserve ‘was on the investor's side' and pumping money into the system, Mallouk said. Now, given high inflation and low unemployment, ‘this is the first bear market in a long time when the Fed is on the opposite side and wants the market to cool down,' he added.”Our goal as a company is to insulate our client as much as possible so that they can be less affected when things are haywire. If we are only using one or two financial tools for retirement planning we may be disappointed when the hard times in the market come. We strive to be holistic and comprehensive in our approach to allow our clients to have the greatest opportunity at success.   Whenever you're ready to learn more about our process, please give us a call at 864.641.7955. We'd be happy to share with you our unique Excel in Retirement process. Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual's situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program.

When I was in college I loved riding road bicycles. One of the first full years riding, I rode about 3,500 miles. The next year I started racing. Some people didn't have a base of previous mileage on their legs before they raced. From the muscle memory perspective,  I felt advantaged that I had done the training the prior year. I raced for two years and was able to win two races. It's addictive. When we start physical activities, oftentimes we feel sluggish and it's hard. But once we achieve a level of fitness our physical exertion takes less effort and becomes more enjoyable. After I quit racing and started spending more time on career aspirations, I quickly fell out of racing shape. When I got on the bike I felt sluggish and riding took more effort. I was still in relatively good physical fitness shape, but I was riding less. Naturally, it felt more burdensome.Without having the time to ride 6 or even 7 days a week I wasn't able to be in “race shape” fitness. I found it hard to ride my bike when I wasn't in race shape. I robbed myself of the ability to enjoy something I previously had enjoyed because I did not make a mental transition to the next stage in my life.When helping people plan for retirement, I've observed that some folks have issues transitioning to a retirement planning mindset. Some of our readers have been great savers and have accumulated enough money to fund their retirement but you may still be playing the game. You have not transitioned to the next life stage. Think about this: The Carolina Panthers are on the 5-yard line and up by 6 points with 30 seconds left in the game. Does Cam Newton throw a 5-yard touchdown? NO! He would kneel. The Panthers have won the game. Why would they keep playing?When we continue playing the retirement accumulation game it may cause us to take unnecessary risks. The gains of the market over the last 12 years have become addictive like my aspirations for race shape fitness was.The goal with planning for retirement is to figure out how to take income and distribution off of our accounts and how to make it sustainable. Figuring this out may allow you to have more peace of mind when deciding if now is an appropriate time to retire.  If something here has resonated with you, please forward this to a friend who may benefit. As always we would be happy to discuss your particular goals and objectives with you in a private comfortable settings. Call our office at 864.641.7955. Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual's situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program.

If you're watching the news this week you may have seen the wild swings in the market. If one thing is certain it's that we need to know that when we're in the market, we may lose money. The market has been generous for over a decade due to easy money policies like ultralow interest rates and government bond buying.The market tends to be forward looking and price events before they have happened, but the government has done a lousy job forecasting the impact of inflation. Government officials thought inflation would be “transitory” last year, but late in the game they realized it was a problem. Even knowing this, the government was still buying bonds in March which increased the money supply, increasing inflation along with it. Stanley Druckenmiller, a seasoned money manager and billionaire, states that the economy has never had a soft landing when inflation has gotten above 4.5%. “It's a historical fact,” according to him. What Druckenmiller is saying is we are heading for a recession.But, what's stopping this recession from happening now? Well, Americans are sitting on their savings which has allowed spending to continue. Once savings are depleted however, the recession will begin in haste. This may take 3 months, 6 months, or it may begin next year.On Monday, we saw the market take a big hit, because of the higher than expected inflation numbers from the previous Friday. Advisor David Nicholas states, “The market thought inflation peaked. The Fed thought inflation peaked.” They were wrong and the market sold off. It's further evidence that the government is gasping for answers for how to fix the inflation problem.For these reasons, when we as advisors comprehensively help folks with planning, we suggest not having 10 years-worth of income in the market. Because remember we build all-weather proof financial plans. We help our clients figure out how to generate their retirement income from a stable bucket that cannot lose value. One that can only go up in value. This allows us to stay in the market and ride out storms like we are having this year. In the long-term, this allows our clients market positions to appreciate over time because the allocations have not affected my emotional sentiment.If you are concerned about how your account is allocated and how the market may impact you, please call our office at 864.641.7955 or reply here to schedule a complimentary 15-minute call. Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual's situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program.

On The Podcast This WeekDoug, our new support staff member, joins David on the podcast this week. Doug and David talk about the ideal time to retire. Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual's situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program.

Our business is growing! We've grown each year of our existence and we are on track to continue that pattern this year. We are growth minded, client focused, and desire to continue to serve new clients. Like most businesses, we were required to innovate during the COVID pandemic and fortunately, we came out of that situation stronger than we were. We are growth minded, client focused, and desire to continue to serve new clients. Like most businesses, we were required to innovate during the COVID pandemic and fortunately, we came out of that situation stronger than we were.Taxes are on sale right now. We may have talked with you previously about how it may be a good idea to convert your tax-deferred accounts to tax-free Roth accounts. If you believe taxes will be higher in the future than they are today, then this may be a good idea. We are thirty trillion dollars in debt as a country and our unfunded obligations are fatiguing to consider. The writing seems to be on the wall that taxes will have to be much higher than they are today to continue funding our government. We've been able to skirt this issue in the last decade because America has been able to print more money to buy bonds and equities. But we can't even do that now, or at least not right now. We printed too much money during the pandemic and it's what's causing our inflation issue. In order to tame inflation, the government is now increasing interest rates. Meaning, the government won't be able to print more money to keep the wheels of industry turning or to make up its gap in funding. This means taxes are at an even higher likelihood of increasing than they otherwise were.Now you may be scratching your head thinking “but why are taxes on sale?” As of last Friday, the S&P 500 was down 18.14% for the year. If you have $500,000 in your 401k and it's down 18.14% you now have $409,300. When the market is down there is less to pay taxes on to convert to tax-free. At times, we may be able to create a situation for select clients where they will receive a bonus to enable them to make up some of their losses.If you'd like to discover more about this, click here to schedule a 15-minute call with me.Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual's situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program.

While it looks all but certain that we are heading into an economic recession, it's important to consider what positive outcomes may be possible during this time. It's also important to understand that if we do experience a setback due to market losses, we may be able to recover more quickly if we have good investing habits in place. Part of this habit is developed at the outset with clearly defined expectations on how to or how not to react when the market declines.I recently watched a video from Craft Ventures about its raising of assets for private investors to place their money in. It mentioned that a couple iconic companies such as Google, Amazon, Airbnb, and Paypal were founded during the early 2000s Dot Com market correction. Many of us are very familiar with the success of these companies, regardless of what major obstacles have come their way. These companies are prime examples of how having the right financial habits set in place can set you up for long term success.Ultimately, what the government is intending to do with increasing interest rates is to bring down the cost for our everyday goods. This hopefully means we'll soon be paying less for basic necessities like food and gas. The economy tends to slow down during these times which often allows us to gain new perspectives about what's most important to us in our lives.For some, this could be physical assets. Others, like myself, hold family as the most important thing in our lives. Regardless of what this is for you, one thing is clear, we need to make sure that what we do have is cared for, protected, and secure.With a well thought out, all weather proof financial plan in place, the necessity to fret about a downturn in the economy is lessened. Planning allows us to not have to dream about what we want. It allows us to work toward our aspirations, and that's exactly what we help our clients do each and every day. Whenever you're ready to talk more about this, please call us at 864.641.7955.  Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual's situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program.

Often people attempt to guess at what will cause the next market correction, and sometimes we are taken off guard. Things like September 11th happen or the Coronavirus. Nobody saw those events coming, and they caused a major downturn in the market. These are commonly referred to as “black swan” events.This year is different. We've seen this recession coming. The government announced last year that the Fed would begin increasing interest rates and decreasing its balance sheet. The government bought bonds and equities and lowered rates during the pandemic to stabilize the economy. In hindsight, the government did too much of these things and it has caused inflation to reach 40-year highs. Something had to be done to decrease prices, so rate increases were prescribed by Fed policy makers.We recently saw the biggest rate increase we've had in 20 years and some people are left wondering, will the Fed go too far in pushing rates up? It feels like this is a controlled burn and the government is facilitating a potential recession, which is unlike anything we've seen in the recent past. The issue is the government doesn't have many choices about how to deal with surging inflation. So, how do we create retirement income plans when we know things will happen along the way that we can't control? We preface any conversation with the fact that we know we will have down years in the market, but historically, the market has always gone up over time.Next, we know in order to not be a speculator in the market, we have to have time in the market to allow for our values to increase and to be earned in the long-term. We set up two buckets.One bucket is in the market and our goal is to advise our clients to not touch this bucket and allow it to appreciate. We seek a modest return, because if we are batting for the fences, we unnecessarily increase our risk.Then we have a bucket of money that can only go up. It can't decrease. We illustrate to grow less than it typically will and we draw income from this bucket that can't lose value.Once this bucket is depleted, we can replenish it with our other bucket that has grown. With our approach we are diversified, we have decreased risks, and our clients don't have to wonder if they'll have income money.When is the right to take action on creating a retirement income plan? It's like most things in life. When we have new knowledge and we can act it's often appropriate to execute as soon as possible. This year it's even more true because waiting may increase your risk of continual losses. Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual's situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program.

Shortly after the turn of the century a doctor named Gordon Lithgow in the UK coined a new term. Seeking to distinguish between the years we are healthy and functional and our actual lifespan he began using the word “healthspan.”Dr. Peter Attia defines longevity using two things. He says lifespan is how long we live and healthspan is how well we live. Within healthspan he states there are three dimensions. There is the cognitive dimension, the physical dimension or your ability to carry out activities of daily living, and the third is our emotional dimension, which he admits is harder to quantify.The thought process surrounding our healthspan is important to contemplate because we obviously want our healthspan to correspond with our lifespan. If you'd like to learn more about this concept, check out Dr. Attia's website. He has a practice focused on longevity. I've found his insights helpful. Click here to go to his website.The S&P 500 is down nearly 13% this year while the technology heavy NASDAQ is down over 20% this year. Years like these typically attract investors to bonds, but with interest rates going up, bond values are down also. The S&P US Aggregate Bond Index is down 8.42% this year.I happened to be on call awhile back with a financial advisor named David Moore. He created an index that adheres to rules that the S&P 500 index was designed to follow.The S&P 500 was created in 1957. It was supposed to only have US stocks in the index and the companies were supposed to have positive earnings for the past four quarters. These things aren't happening any longer. To further cause issues, larger companies have a larger weighting. So, if one of the large companies has a bad earnings report it may cause the whole market to experience volatility.Moore's index is comprised of only US companies, and twice per year companies are removed from the index that have not maintained positive earnings. The companies are also equally weighed.  With Moore's index, each of the stocks are weighted equally. The result when it comes to stocks is less volatility because one company does not have an outsized influence. Year-to-date Moore's index is up 1.13%.  If you'd like to learn more about this, please let us know. You can reach me by calling 864.641.7955. Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual's situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program.

So, you're considering retiring, and maybe you're wondering how to go about ensuring you have your ducks in a row. I'll share some actionable tips for how you can make informed decisions about how to begin the retirement planning process. I'll share with you part one of the steps we walk through with our clients and next week I'll share the second half of our process.Senator  Portman stated a few years ago that 10k Baby Boomers retire every day in a Wall Street Journal article. The goal with any financial planning in retirement should start with attempting to help you avoid common pitfalls that you may encounter along the way. With our clients we start with the question, “How much money does it take to pay your bills each month?” If you don't know this number, this is step one. The next area we help our clients with is determining how to get the most out of their Social Security Benefits. This decision can result in a difference of literally hundreds of thousands of dollars. We then consider our client's healthcare needs. Then we consider long-term care. The government states that 70% of us will need long-term care but what we find is most long-term care products are not palatable because they are “use or lose it” type scenarios. The other topics we discuss with our clients include what we can do to lessen the risk of a sequence of returns issue. If you experience a significant loss right before you retire or right after you retire it may be a problem. Economist  Tom Hegna states that longevity is a risk multiplier. If we pass away four or five years into retirement it does not matter when we take Social Security or how much of our investment portfolio we are withdrawing because we only had a few years to plan for. We then look for ways to ultimately lessen their taxes in retirement. Most people today have used tax-deferred savings vehicles like 401Ks or 403Bs to save for retirement. Finally, we believe in the power of diversity. If we are only using equities, bonds or insurance products, we may be disappointed when the economy experiences a hardship. We don't use one financial product at the exclusion of others. We seek to be holistic and comprehensive in our approach. If you've found this guide helpful, please let me know.Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual's situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program.

I enjoy a well thought out plan of execution, and I'm lucky because Mallory, my wife, does as well. The pain with this mentality is that we tend to analyze things and come up with a game plan, then re-examine all the possible scenarios. At any rate, we tend to go into things wide-eyed. I haven't always been this meticulous. In my teens and twenties, I enjoyed saying “yes” to new opportunities. It was easy to be spontaneous when you had limited bills and felt invisible. Why not jump off that cliff into the lake or ride that motorcycle, right?In my twenties, I lived in Colorado for a couple of years, and my buddy, Chris, was out for the summer visiting. We had done a lot of hiking and camping together in Virginia, where I went to college, and naturally did a fair amount of hiking that summer in Colorado. One of the crown jewels of outdoor activities in Colorado is hiking to the top of 14,000 foot mountains. There are 54 mountain peaks in Colorado that are 14,000 feet or taller. I think I conquered five or six of them. More continued in show...One area that I see where people could use a little extra planning is estate planning, so that they are not caught on the proverbial mountain with no water. Nobody wants to plan their demise, but having proper legal documents in place in the event that you are incapacitated or you pass away is important. I am not an attorney, but we have strategic partners that we refer our clients to assist with estate planning.A will that goes over how your assets should be distributed is a key to ensuring that your wishes happen after you pass away. Having a healthcare and financial power of attorney is helpful if you are in the unfortunate situation of being incapacitated while you are still alive. I have sat in the hospital with a family member that did not have a healthcare power of attorney when a social worker came to visit. At that point, the pressure was put on me and other family members to decide how that person may want their end-of-life decisions made. I do not, personally, want anyone else to have to make those decisions for me. That is why we have elected to have estate planning documents drafted. We do not want to neglect this important detail.I know this subject may be a little morbid but it is one topic that I have often seen placed on the back burner. If you have questions about estate planning or would like to be connected with an attorney outside of our office to discuss your particular situation, please give us a call at 864.641.7955.Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual's situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program.

A couple weeks ago rates went up by a quarter point, and Jerome Powell, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, recently said nothing will stop the government from increasing rates by a half a point in May. The expectation is that if the economy tolerates it, rates may go up six times this year.First Trust, a portfolio manager, stated in their March 18th commentary that home sales had declined in February by 7.2% and were down 2.4% compared to last year. Real estate is one of the first places that see the impact of rising interest rates because the cost to borrow often increases.The commentary stated, “Despite affordability issues there is still significant pent-up demand, with buyer urgency so strong in February that 84% of existing homes sold were on the market for less than a month. The combination of strong demand and sparse supply has pushed median prices up 15.0% in the past year, but the good news is that price gains have decelerated since hitting a year-to-year gain of 23.6% in May. Put it all together and we do not foresee any sort of collapse in home sales even with higher mortgage rates.”So, did the interest rates medicine work so far? It seems to have when it comes to real estate. Obviously, there are other considerations to take into account, and this is only one example. My takeaway is we are in a “wait and see” pattern when it comes to the next rate increase in May. Expect unease in the market this year because the market does not like uncertainty, so we may continue to see a market that can't find its footing as has been the case this year.If you're wondering if your accounts are properly allocated for what's happening with current events, we will run a complimentary report for you outlining the statistical probability of how your accounts may perform over the next six months. If we do nothing else for you, we'd be happy to run this report for you. Just call our office at 864.641.7955. Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual's situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program.

If you've been following the news, you may have started hearing the term “stagflation” being tossed around, so I thought I'd share what it is and tease this concept out. We haven't had to consider this term since the 1970s, and back then the average Baby Boomer was just getting out of school and entering the workforce. The lexicon definition is, “persistent high inflation combined with high unemployment and stagnant demand in a country's economy.” The good news is we don't have it yet, but market analysts are beginning to warn of the possibility of stagflation happening.   Here is a practical example of how it may become a problem. Denmark has warned that their economy may be impacted by stagflation if Russian oil imports were to end. This would theoretically cause oil prices to be inflated, productivity would slow, and jobs may go away. “The crisis will not pull the rug from underneath the Danish economy, but Russia's brutal invasion of Ukraine will take a toll on growth,” the Danish Finance Minister Nicolai Wammen said according to Bloomberg News.The challenge is to tame inflation and in America, the government needs to raise interest rates. We saw a small 0.25% increase last week, but at least one Federal Reserve governor is saying that wasn't enough. Jerome Powell, the head of the Fed has said the government may raise rates six times this year, but James Bullard, who is on the board of the Federal Reserve, says it's not enough. Bullard says the government should be looking at raising rates twelve times this year.But here's the problem. If interest rates move too quickly, it will slow economic output. Raising rates may be one of the few things the government can do, so how does this apply to you? Market Watch had a recent article that opened with, “Rising stagflation risks in the U.S. and Europe are raising the possibility of a ‘lost decade' for the 60/40 portfolio mix of stocks and bonds, historically seen as a reliable investing choice for those with moderate risk appetites.”Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual's situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program.

Many of us are left hoping for the best this year when it comes to the market. The Nasdaq is down nearly 18% this year and the S&P 500 is down close to 12%. When I'm talking with people, I normally ask how they are feeling about the market. The overall sentiment I get is, “we're hoping for the best.”If when I went to the foul line when I was playing basketball and I had known I was going to make the basket, I would have loved it. That known outcome would have been a relief, and I could have had greater confidence in my ability to win at basketball. Many of us are left hoping for the best this year when it comes to the market. The Nasdaq is down nearly 18% this year and the S&P 500 is down close to 12%. When I'm talking with people, I normally ask how they are feeling about the market. The overall sentiment I get is, “we're hoping for the best.”  If when I went to the foul line when I was playing basketball and I had known I was going to make the basket, I would have loved it. That known outcome would have been a relief, and I could have had greater confidence in my ability to win at basketball  When it comes to investing, we normally don't have known outcomes, but there are some types of insurance vehicles that do have these known elements. People tend to gravitate to safety in times like these when the economy is volatile.We want balance in our approach and to not use one type of product at the exclusion of others. With that said, when we are within five years of using a segment of our money, we believe the bucket of money we are using for income should remain somewhat consistent.  We would be better off taking income from a bucket of money that we know will be in place for us. Right now, there are three places we can put money to do this.  We can use the bank, but our money isn't productive. We can use bonds, but we don't want to do that when interest rates are going up like they are this year. When interest rates go up bond values go down. So, where's the best place? We use fixed annuities for our income bucket. With a fixed annuity your money is going to be there no matter what which may bring peace of mind in markets like we are having this year.  I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have on what I've covered here. You can reach us at 864.641.7955.  Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual's situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program.

The Wall Street Journal ran a headline on Monday this week that read, U.S. Retirement Funds, Heavy on Stocks, Brace for Losses. It said, “A sustained downturn could squeeze state and local government budgets.” Article hereWhile pensions have been slowly phased out from most workplaces, many governments are still using them. But most pensions today are a far cry from how they were originally used. The first issue came about when employers began putting the burden of retirement readiness on employees in the last 1970s.Congress passed a law in 1978 that allowed for a tax-deferred 401k. Employers thought it was a great thing because they were no longer responsible for paying an indefinite amount of lifetime income to their employees in retirement, and the employees could buy the company's own stock in some cases. This was a double win for employers.A pension manager used to look at a hundred-year swath of time and he or she could plot out boom and bust cycles. This is not as easy to do anymore because the government does things like keep interest rates artificially low for years on end.Pensions are interest rate sensitive and must have normalized rates to work properly. For the better part of the last twenty years interest rates have been ultralow, so it has made generating a sure income for retirees with pensions a challenging proposition. This is the second major challenge pension systems have today.What have governments done to compensate? They started using risk assets like equities. When equities are used, the value of the underlying portfolio fluctuates with the market. Then, how well funded the pension system is depends on hoAs a society we have experienced one challenge after another the last few years. I highlight the issues with pensions because I know that this impacts many of our clients and readers and my goal as an advisor is to help you avoid pitfalls that stand between you and a successful retirement. And we can't do that if we are not informed of challenges. We want to be cognizant of these things because this may inform how our other accounts are allocated.If you have a question about anything covered here, please reach out to me by calling our office at 864.641.7955. I would be happy to share with you how we help mitigate against risks in retirement.Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual's situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program.

Given the level of economic uncertainty we are experiencing this year you may be wondering if there is a better way to handle your retirement. Below, I'll share with you how we are helping our clients.When it comes to making sure our retirement plans are in order there seems to be a lot of people asking, “Is there a better way?” The volatility level in the markets ratcheted up this past week as Russia began its assault on Ukraine.The timing of Vladimir Putin's attacks seems to eerily coincide with our government's stated timeline of increasing interest rates and ending the economic stimulus plans that began when COVID began in 2020. The new war further complicates our government's ability to rein in inflationary pressure.Our reduction on monetary easing is one of the leading reasons for the correction territory markets are in now. We were expecting market gyrations to continue in March before the conflict arose.The question now becomes how will the Federal Reserve move with the Russian / Ukrainian uncertainty? The head of the Fed will have eyes directed on him as he testifies before Congress twice this week.When it comes to timing the market or making predictions about what may happen, we should exercise caution in listening or following advice like this. But what our clients can rest on in their retirement plan is that we have different buckets performing different functions. In retirement we advise using your money in the market as a long-term seldom touched resource that is eventually used to replenish your income bucket. Time in the market is the leading indicator of success when it comes to being in the market.What we are trying to avoid is tapping into positions that are depressed due to market losses. If your plan has you using your money that is down, you run the risk of this bucket running out sooner than it otherwise would.We design an income bucket to help our clients establish a method of creating retirement income. This bucket productively grows their money, and they also have the ability to know it will be there and ready for them to draw it down over time. With our process our goal is for our clients to be insulated when news of war starting or a bombing or black swan event occurs.It's fulfilling helping people ensure their retirement planning house is in good order. If you have a question about something I've covered here or would like to discuss your situation, please call us at 864.641.7955.Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual's situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program.

The rout in the markets continues. According to the Monday edition of the Morning Brew newsletter, the Nasdaq is down over thirteen percent, the S&P is down nearly nine percent, and the Dow is down six percent this year.Ongoing expectation that the government will increase interest rates soon and end the bond purchasing program it started during 2020 is part of the reason for the pullback.The government recently released the inflation numbers and stated that inflation was seven percent last year. Suddenly, the hundred-dollar bill you have in the bank is worth ninety-three dollars.Then the incessant talk about Russia invading Ukraine isn't good for the markets. The market grows in times of predictability and we have a lot of uncertainty this year.  With these three major issues persisting, this is a great time to ensure that your portfolio is optimized for times like these. The value of a second opinion can't be understated. And as we saw last week in the newsletter, if the strategy is “Hold on, hold on, it'll come back,” that's insufficient to create steady retirement income.I'd be happy to speak with you about your specific situation and help you gain an understanding of how your money is working if that's needed or answer questions you may have. Our desire for each of our clients is to have as much peace of mind as possible. When you're ready, call our office at 864.641.7955.Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual's situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program.

Over the weekend I read an article from advisor David Nicholas, and in the article, he described the power of hedging. The idea behind this concept is that as your portfolio gains interest, you begin taking some of the gains off the table. You then invest those gains in things that are hedged from losses.Here's an example of how this works. Forbes states that the S&P 500 gained 26.9% in 2021. Clearly, a great year for the market. If you had a portfolio of one million dollars, that's a gain of $269,000. You now have $1,269,000.In our hypothetical example, if the market corrected, 40% this year, your $1,269,000 would turn into $761,400. In Nicolas' article, he writes, “'Don't worry, the market always comes back.' If you haven't heard this comment yet -- from a well-meaning friend or co-worker, or maybe a concerned financial professional -- you almost surely will. We're all hoping for the best but bracing for the worst as the market continues to react to political and economic uncertainty. Your friends and colleagues aren't wrong. Historically, the stock market always has come back, and investing in stocks has been a good way to grow retirement savings over the long term.Of course, historical data doesn't offer much comfort when the loss is personal, especially for investors who are in or approaching retirement and don't have a lot of time to recover from this latest bear market. Waiting for the market to come back may not sound like much of a solution if you are retired or you're planning to retire in the next few years and are depending on those assets for income.”Back to your $761,400 you were left with. If the market went up 26.9% next year like it did in 2021, you'd have $966,216. If we have 25 or 30 years until we need our money to create retirement paychecks this may not be problematic. If we're in retirement or within ten years of retirement market corrections may become more meaningful.A possible solution may be to use hedges or remove some of your gains and place them in financial vehicles that can predictably create retirement income. If our only tool we are using in our portfolio is equities, we can't build a financial house that's going to  shield us from economic storms. Imagine only using a hammer to build a house.  If you'd like to discuss this more or have a question, call our office at 864.641.7955.  Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual's situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program.

Many of us are seeing these shocking inflationary prices in our everyday life, and the government is cognizant of it. Interest rates have been very low for a very long time, and the Federal Reserve has not had much success increasing them in recent years. It normally causes volatility, which is what investors don't like.The market prices in events before they happen. That's why the government has been talking about raising rates since last year. Now we're closing in on the projected date to begin rate increases and investors are nervous.But here's the catch. The government seems to feel they have to raise interest rates to lower inflationary pressure. It's a Catch-22, and according to the head of the Federal Reserve, the plans are set to move forward with rate hikes in March.Now, you may have heard Facebook stock prices fell off a cliff recently. MSN put it this way, “The meltdown in highflying technology stocks like Facebook is just the start of the financial changes that will probably result from the Federal Reserve's decision to end a prolonged era of free money and make borrowing more expensive.”Technology stocks are inherently sensitive to interest rates, so when rates go up they tend to go down. One explanation for this is tech companies use debt to finance growth and when debt gets more expensive profitably reduces.https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/facebook-s-faceplant-on-wall-street-could-be-just-the-beginning-for-some-tech-stocks/ar-AATvqC2So, interest rates increasing may impair the growth of publicly traded companies because they can't borrow as cheaply.Before the revelations about what the Federal Reserve would do with interest rates or before the volatility in the market started this year our clients had a plan in place to weather the good times and the bad.When we have years ahead of us before we need our savings to supplement our retirement income, what's happening in the markets may not be as big of a deal. But when we're five years out from retirement, or in retirement, the approach should change to an all-weather plan.I hope your plan has been stress tested and is ready for the road ahead. If you're not sure, call our office at 864.641.7955 to figure out if your plan is ready.Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual's situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program.

Volatile markets like we are having this year remind me why I became an advisor. When things go south and get difficult is where value is seen. It's a great feeling when we are able to communicate to our clients that they will be okay. With our process, we help our clients develop a plan to weather rocky times like these.The Washington Post put it this way. Click the link to read. We have the perfect storm brewing with a possible Russian conflict and the expectation of rising interest rates. Last week, the Federal Reserve Chair stated that the government's plans have not changed, but he stated the Fed would be “humble and nimble” moving forward. I interpreted that to mean that he wasn't sure what to expect. Uncertainty is the thing the market does not like, and it's getting it from multiple angles.This is why I became an advisor: To help people navigate their retirement with as much ease as possible and eliminate as much uncertainty as we are able. We never lose sight of what matters and what we can control.It's our belief that we do not have to chase overall market returns to have a successful outcome in retirement. Productive returns and limiting volatility are our goal. It doesn't have to be complicated, and in fact, the best things are normally those we can explain in our sleep. Learning the recipe is the challenge, but once that is accomplished, our hope is for our clients to see volatile times and not be as worried as they would be if they had no plan for the challenging time.I'd encourage you to not delay evaluating the risk you are taking on in your accounts. Here's an example of what we look at to help people understand where they are currently. Do you know the probability of what you'd lose with your current allocations if the S&P went down 30%? If you need assistance figuring that out,  call our office at 864.641.7955.Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual's situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program.

The markets have been wild so far this year. On Monday, the market was trading down most of the day and at some points it was down a thousand points. But then at the end of trading the market bounced back. Expect more volatility.In 2021, the economy experienced record growth. According to the LA Times, the stock market saw 68 record highs. But the burner may have turned on a little too hot and now our proverbial dinner is getting burned by inflation. When our money buys less product, everybody feels it.When overheating happens, it indicates that the economy is growing too quickly and it normally can't continue. The Federal Reserve is tasked with a huge decision: Increase interest rates to tame inflation or keep them as they are. If the Fed doesn't increase rates, it may prolong the inflationary problem. If they do increase rates, it may create a recession. The Fed is expected to give indication today if they will raise rates in March.If the Fed decides to hold rates where they are at near zero, the markets will probably bounce even higher and ballooning prices will stay. I read a great analogy that Tarek Mansour gave on Twitter to describe this situation.It's always a good idea to assess your allocations to determine how much risk you are taking on. Your risk changes as markets change if you are in equities, you may need to rebalance.  Determine how long you expect to go before you'll need access to your money. If it's more than 10 years, you may not need to do anything. However, if you're within 10 years of needing your money, I suggest removing some risk.The traditional way to remove risk has been by buying bonds or holding cash. Neither of those is generally a winning proposition in today's climate. Remember, when interest rates go up, bond values will go down.At the end of the day most people will come to find that their income in retirement determined their outcome.Most people save for years and work hard to hopefully eventually be able to retire and enjoy life. It doesn't really matter what amount you were earning for 30 years, if at the end your money is reduced and you can't afford your retirement. This is what the fixed indexed annuity guards against and that's why we believe it's an essential element to a well thought out financial plan. Call us at 864 641.7955.Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual's situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program. 

Did you also know that the age of those requiring long-term care is actually decreasing? The stats shared in this newsletter are taken from Genworth.In 2010, 81% of care recipients were 65 or older. In 2018, 57% of care recipients were 65 or older. So, younger people are needing long-term care.Remember, that Medicare will only pay 100% of the cost at a skilled nursing facility for 20 days. Also noteworthy, 21% of people require long-term care after an accident.The need for knowledge about this subject is only going to increase. By 2030, one billion people worldwide will be over 65. And until 2030, ten thousand Baby Boomers will turn 65 each day. 70% of individuals will need long-term care in their life-time. On average, people that need long-term care will need it for three years.What do we do with this knowledge? Let's start with what has historically been done.Someone may learn the above information and say, "I want a long-term care policy." Here's how they generally work: the person may think to themselves, “Well, if I need help and I need the most help, I guess that would be about $8,821 per month. So, I'd like a policy that will pay that amount.” Then they may choose to have a 30-day elimination period. What this means is 30 days after you needed care, the policy will begin paying you. Sometimes they may add an inflation provision. It's common for people to experience sticker shock when they figure out how much their coverage will cost. If the person can could afford the coverage, I've generally found that they probably started it in their 40s or 50s. So, the insurance company knew they would be paying for it for many years before they actually used it.Each year the price may change for the policy, and if the insurance company that issued the policy found a lot of people in a certain state were needing the policy to payout, they may seek to increase the rates. I've talked with numerous people who saw their rates sore.If the person in the above example could not afford it or was unwilling to pay for the above scenario, they may lower the monthly amount the policy will pay and increase the elimination period to 60, 90, or even 180 days.But here's the kicker. It's like your home or auto insurance. If you never use it, you normally lose it and all the money you put into it is gone. Sometimes you can pay extra for a return of a premium provision that will return your money if you don't use  the benefit. This may increase the cost and may make it less palatable.Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual's situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program. 

One of the speakers at the conference referenced a famous quote by author John Maxwell. Maxwell once said, "When you find your why, you'll find your way.”Think about it. When I know why I'm doing something, I can do more of it. For example, when I register to run a three-mile race, it's easier to put in the training miles, because I know why I'm making myself endure the difficulty of getting in shape. Before we do anything, it's important to ask why we are doing what we're doing.The book illustrates the power of small changes by using a plane that's traveling fromLos Angeles to New York City. “If the nose of the plane is pointed only 1 percent off course—almost an invisible adjustment when the plane's sitting on the tarmac in Los Angeles—it will ultimately end up about 150 miles off course, arriving either upstate in Albany or in Dover, Delaware.”Mike Tyson, the boxer, once said, "Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth." It's easy when the market is favorable and a major bull run is happening to take on more and more risk and it may even be encouraged depending on where your recommendations are coming from. But bear market happens, and we get punched in the mouth. After this painful experience, we sometimes figure out we need a better plan, or at least a different plan. But this is normally not the best time to be figuring out our new plan.A single, seemingly small, positive or negative decision may have a dramatic result.The author is using this example to illustrate the power of bad habits, but this can also illustrate the power of good or bad financial planning. One seeming small decision to allocate a certain way may result in a wildly different result than you were expecting.Darren Hardy, the author of the Compound Effect, said, “Unsuccessful people carry their goals around in their head like marbles rattling around in a can, and we say a goal that is not in writing is merely a fantasy.”Obviously, I want you to be successful and glide through retirement with as much ease as possible. In order to do that, we need to have a well thought out comprehensive plan that looks at all the possible solutions available to you. Together, we can achieve that.If you would like to receive a one-page written outline of our financial planning process, please  email us at Connect@ClientsExcel.com and we'll forward it to you. Or you may call our office at 864.641.7955. This outline explains the steps we go through with our folks and allows you a snapshot of our process.Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual's situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program. 

Something I've learned is to set achievable goals. It's deflating to make a huge goal, then figure out weeks or months later that the goal is unrealistic. I've started making yearly goals that are going to be a stretch, but I believe I can accomplish them. This creates motivation for the next year, because when you have had success it creates positive momentum for the next year. And it allows me to have occasion to celebrate my accomplishments.Toward the end of 2020, the Wall Street Journal had an article that I wrote about last year. Click the orange font above for a list of possible goals for retirees. I just reread the Journal article and something new stuck out. It discusses the idea that we should strive to always be a beginner, so we should always be trying to learn new things. The title of the article is For New Year's Resolutions, Never Think You're Too Old to Become a Beginner.Most of us want to at least be as good mentally and physically as we are today. In order to do this, we should find new things to try to strengthen our minds and bodies. This is particularly important for me because cognitive decline has touched me closely. In 2018, at the age of 63, my mom was diagnosed with dementia. Today she is nothing like her former self. We may not be able to stop the dreaded Alzheimer's or dementia diseases, but we can be proactive about trying to prevent diseases. Of course, the only medical training I have is doing CPR on a dummy, but we know that a "merry heart does good like a medicine." Creating and finding happiness in our lives is essential to our wellbeing. The other half of that Bible verse says, "a broken spirit dries the bones." We were not created to just exist. I believe we were created for a purpose and to strive to find it. By doing this, I believe we'll find happiness.  If you'd like to learn how we help some people create a long-term care benefit that's generally tax-free reply to this email or call our office at 864.641.7955.Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual's situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program. 

Jim Stack said, “The parallels we have today are historically very, very concerning. The current froth is the icing on the cake, and when you look through it, you see a lot of other underlying issues.” The article began by saying, “Despite a steep 30% market correction last year, the longest bull market on record has helped the S&P 500 surge nearly 300% over the past ten years—roughly in line with the growth in the ten years preceding the dot—com crash in 2000, after which stocks plunged 40% over two years.” A  risk factor is how the government will unwind its bond purchasing program down. The government began buying bonds and equities and lowered interest rates to help the economy combat COVID-19, and there has been much debate as to what the Federal Reserve will do. They have penciled in three interest rate increases for 2022.Hindsight is twenty-twenty and many people hold the view that the government began stimulating the economy too much in 2020 and it has accelerated inflation. We are feeling the effects now on things like food, gas, and basic services. Figuring out how to lessen the inflationary impact will be on the government's priority list.It's possible that since the market tends to pre-price changes ahead of time that the interest rate hikes won't have much of an impact. At least that's what the government is hoping. It's possible that the market continues up and we don't see major problems in 2022. Keep in mind, if this is the case, I believe inflationary pressure will persist. That's why it's imperative to not sit on cash.There are two main reasons to not sit on excessive cash. We define excessive cash as more than one year of bill paying money.If we hold large amounts of cash, we are losing purchasing power. When inflation is two percent, this is not felt as easily. When it's six to ten percent it is going to be felt.The second reason is nobody knows what will happen. Remember, after the 2008 correction, the government used similar measures as they are using now. The methods were slightly different, but some market commentators from 2010 to 2019 were calling for a market crash that did not materialize. If we held cash through this period, we significantly hurt ourselves. There are ways to be invested and only experience gains if there is a concern.There is a difference between gambling and taking investment risk. With a well thought approach, the risk can be lessened in your portfolio. I would be happy to discuss how we help our clients mitigate risk.  Call our office at 864.641.7955 to learn more. Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual's situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believe

Bloomberg ran an article this week that stated, “One of the interesting aspects of the brief selloff in stocks in late November was that breadth deteriorated markedly. The broad indexes were only down a few percentage points, but there were more than a thousand stocks making 52-week lows on a daily basis.” So, large indexes were only down a little, but over thousand stocks were the lowest they've been in a year. Big companies like Apple and Facebook and Microsoft help lessen the impact of the smaller companies losing.The article continues to explain that nearly every investor owns those large companies, because they are used as hedge. As the market decreases, they tend to rise. In the early 2000s, the hedge stock was Cisco Systems, but when the volume of trading continually declined, it was the start of the Dot-com bubble.But many people are unwilling to get out of the big stocks because their cost basis is so low. “Psychology dictates that people don't experience as much pain with the loss of big unrealized gains as they do with outright losses, and are willing to withstand corrections of some magnitude. If you have a 500% gain on a stock instead of a 1,000% gain, it's still a 500% gain." The author also explained that another advantage for the market has been people's willingness to continue holding because it seemingly only goes up. The author concluded by saying, “I have also come across more and more investors who characterize themselves as optimists. Sure, optimism works most of the time. But there are long stretches when it doesn't. Most people forget how painful the dot-com bust was at the time. It was a full three years before stocks finally returned higher. And don't forget the sad period of 1929-1945. If the time you have to wait for new highs isn't for years or decades, it's not easy to be an optimist. Remember, as recently as 13 years ago, pessimism worked as a strategy. They made a movie about it, if you recall: The Big Short.”What To Look Out ForIf you're within ten years of retirement, what the market is doing is important to consider. How you're allocated matters more as you get closer to using your investments for income. Consider whether what you're doing is appropriate for your situation and verify whether it is with a trusted advisor. David can be reached at 864.641.7955 or by emailing connect@ClientsExcel.comInvestment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual's situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program. 

...One of the thoughts I had as I cleaned the leaves up was that there is power is in doing small things in small sessions. Often, the hardest thing to do is the first thing, but when I practice doing a little every day, it results in accomplishments.James Clear, a popular author, adapted the famous quote about how Rome was built when he said, “Rome wasn't built in a day, but they were laying bricks every hour. You don't have to build everything you want today, just lay a brick.” What bricks are you laying today?Retirement comes with a set of adjustments, and how we set goals may need to be adjusted. I just read an interesting article about the challenges of beginning retirement, and while the article was largely geared toward men retiring, there is practicality for women as well. From the article:“Here's one of the main factors that lead to a good adjustment: Both of you must recognize that your husband will still have a deep need for significance and contribution—including beyond the family. This doesn't mean that he won't enjoy some time off. But sooner or later, many men have told me that they feel ‘rudderless.' I should note that this is not just a “guy thing”, but it appears to be more acutely felt for men in retirement than for women in retirement. We all have a purpose for our lives, after all—deep callings and ways that we are built to contribute in a meaningful way.” For more practical tips check the article out here.Turing a corner in life can be a rewarding time where you're able to refocus on important things, and invest time in people and organizations that matter to you. I've quoted this Zig Ziglar quote before but it's truth never fades. “Every time the opportunity (alarm clock) goes is another opportunity to get up and go.” What opportunities do you have to make an impact?I guarantee you there are non-profit organizations close to your home that would highly value your input and assistance. You could make a major impact serving in a volunteer capacity. Or better yet, how can you serve those closest to you like your family?Consider what you'll aspire to achieve in 2022. Start thinking about it now, so you have time edit it or fully think it through. Then, write those goals down, so next year around this time you can see what you've achieved. It's important to commit our goals to pen and paper because we can't improve what we don't track.Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual's situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program. 

Charlie Munger is a 97-year-old billionaire and the vice-chairman of Berkshire Hathaway. You may recall Munger and Warren Buffett are primary controllers of Berkshire, and they've obviously both been around for a long time.Munger was recently interviewed and stated that the stock market today is “crazier than the dotcom boom.”From the article, “He said many companies were now trading on the US share market at prices that represented 35 times earnings – making it much harder for ordinary investors to make money on the market. It is hard to get results which could be called normal results in investing.”This may be why CEOs and insiders have sold a record $69 billion of their stock according to a recent CNBC article. The key takeaways from the article are: Looming tax hikes and lofty share prices encourage many to take profits. As of Monday, sales by insiders are up 30% from 2020 to $69 billion, and up 79% versus a 10-year average, according to InsiderScore/Verity. The selling is likely to increase even more as December is often an active month for sales due to tax planning.The ResultThe government continues to use extraordinary measures to stimulate the economy. The Federal Reserve has not given a clear indication of when interest rates will be increased or when the $105 billion of money printing per month will end. The government uses the newly created money to buy bonds and presumably equities. These drastic measures seem misplaced given the seemingly robust economy we have. But these measures may be creating an illusion of economic vitality. The challenge becomes, how do we invest in this economy?A Possible SolutionOur philosophy is to have a diversified approach that includes:Investments that cannot lose principal.A bucket of money that is in the market and has active portfolio management.And a smaller portion that is more aggressively invested to combat inflation.Obviously, the suitability of this approach will vary from person-to-person, but having your portfolio performing different tasks is prudent. This approaches allows us to attempt to earn a consistent return in different types of markets.Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual's situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program. 

Sometimes half the battle is deciding beforehand how we're going to react. We live in a sensationalized world where as soon as we look at our smart phone or TV, someone is trying to outrage, anger, or frustrate us.The “outrage economy” has flourished in the last decade. It works though, right? Negativity sells and keeps eyeballs coming back. A couple of weeks, I told you about going fly-fishing for the first time. Click here to read about it. We went with a guide who had all the equipment, so we just had to show up. After that I knew I wanted to get into it, but like most hobbies, getting started comes with a cost. I finally bit the bullet and bought my gear to become a full-fledged fly fisherman last week. I was itching to try my new rod and reel out, so the next morning I was out there trying to catch a fish. On the hour ride to the river, I told myself I was not going to get frustrated or disappointed if I did not catch a fish. I could just imagine what the fish thought when they saw my attempts to catch them. I'm sure if they could laugh, they were having a good laugh.It turns out that YouTube confirmed later that night that I was doing several things wrong. Naturally, I didn't catch any fish. BUT I had a great time! I enjoyed being outside, unengaged by technology, and having time to think.If we're not careful, it becomes easy to allow others to dictate our emotions and control how we feel. And when we fall into this trap, the next step by those telling us to be outraged is to sectionalize us into teams. Then they tell us why the other side is wrong and why we should oppose them. But the thing to remember is that we are in control of our emotions and of how we spend our time. It's a challenge to be disciplined in what we spend our time on, but figuring out a balance may be necessary for finding peace.Like many things, setting up rules beforehand for how things will go tends to create peace of mind. This is important when it comes to retirement planning as well. If we're reacting to what the market does or any given urge, we tend to make irrational decisions. When we can outline our goals and follow a plan, we stand the best shot at long-term success in most any endeavor.Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual's situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program. 

Have You Ever Considered An Allocation That Isn't Completely Market TiedHave you heard how real estate has been doing? If you're like some people you may be tempted to buy property or a rental. That comes with a set of obligations that may be lengthy. Did you know there is another way to have exposure to real estate in your portfolio without owning real estate outright?Traditionally, this has been done by owning a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT). Hold on though, because REITs come with details you must know. Sometimes if REITs are not traded they may have liquidity limitations. Which means you can only get money out at a certain time or after a certain period or if metrics are achieved. If the REIT is concentrated in only one sector, obviously that's the only exposure you have. Sometimes the fees can be hard to ascertain in REITs too. These reasons alone are enough to say “forget it!” But like everything, companies have developed a more palatable route. You can now use a REIT that is held in an Exchange Traded Fund (ETF). Remember that ETFs are baskets or pools of various investments held jointly.The thought process is that if one part of the fund is doing poorly, then the other parts that are doing well will pick it up. It's a diversification tool, and the fund we use has exposure to commercial, residential, and international real estate. This creates a broad range exposure so that if one part of the industry is impacted, perhaps the other areas can balance it out.ETFs were first introduced in the early 1990s, and they are completely liquid. So, anytime the stock market is open you may buy and sell ETFs. You can now have real estate exposure through a REIT with an ETF wrapper. I believe this may be important, because real estate is only about 45% correlated to the overall market. That means if the market dips, REITs do not mirror those losses normally.ou may participate in the upside of real estate industry without directly owning real estate outright. The REIT ETF we use for our clients has earned 9.28% gross since inception, which is strong!Obviously, if there was another housing crisis like we saw in 2008 and 2009 this type of fund may be impacted. However, it may be appropriate to allocate a portion of your portfolio to real estate to lessen the impact of an equity market correction. If you'd like to discuss if a REIT ETF is applicable for you,  call us at 864.641.7955.Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual's situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program. 

Do You Have An IRA or 401k?We always get questions about Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) especially as we get close to the end of the year. So, let's take a look at what you need to know.Please remember, before making any tax decisions, it may be appropriate to speak with a qualified tax preparer about your situation.So, what is an RMD?We make a deal with the government when we begin saving money in tax-deferred accounts like an IRA, 401k or 403b.We agree that we won't take our money out until we are at least 59.5 years old, and as a result, the IRS allows us to defer paying the taxes we owe on this money.This helps us by lowering our taxes while we are working, but the IRS eventually wants their money. There is no legal way to avoid RMDs.If you're already taking money out of your tax-deferred accounts, you may already be satisfying your distribution requirement. However, it's strongly advised to ask your tax advisor if you've met your requirement.The IRS is serious about taking out the right amounts! If you fail to take the required amount, the IRS will penalize you by taking 50% of what you should have taken.How do RMDs work?After you reach the age of 70.5, for some people 72, you must begin taking money out of qualified retirement accounts. A law changed in early 2020 to make it 72 for everyone going forward. However, if you turned 70.5 in 2019 or before you fall under the old rule, and you should be taking RMDs each year.The amount that you take out begins around 3.5% to 4% and it increases each year you live. Simply put, the IRS wants the opportunity to tax your money that has never been taxed.If you have more than one qualified retirement account, you can satisfy the RMD from one account or you can split it up. You may take the required distribution from each qualified account.Listen to learn more.How to withdraw money from qualified accounts before 59.5Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual's situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program. 

It feels like we're sliding into the end of the year on two wheels, so if you're uncertain where the economy is hopefully the content below will provide you with clarity. The third quarter saw records in the markets, but we've had pervasive growth concerns. Some pundits predicted double digit growth, but GDP in the third quarter was 6.4%. Not bad, but it wasn't what most analysts were expecting. So, where are we now that we are about halfway through the fourth quarter?Democrats in Congress finally got a $1.75 trillion infrastructure spending bill passed to give President Biden a policy win, but our high levels of spending have already created inflationary pressure on the economy. What will additional spending do? When the COVID shutdowns happened last year, President Trump, with the Federal Reserve immediately turned on easy money measures, and it appears the spigot was turned on a little too strong. What does that mean?In order to keep the economy from descending into a deep recession last year, the government began creating $120 billion per month and buying its bonds and buying equities. Also, the Federal Reserve lowered interest rates, which led to greater price increases in things like homes. This liquidity from the $120 billion per month expenditure drove the market back up last year, and is partly responsible for the markets continually hitting all-time highs this year.This led to the inflationary pressure, which has caused the Federal Reserve to vacillate on when to begin reducing the $120 billion monthly purchases and when to raise interest rates. Remember, it took four years for the tapering process to end after the Great Recession that dipped to its slowest point in 2009.From Yahoo Finance, “BlackRock Inc.'s Rick Rieder and Allianz SE's Mohamed El-Erian are among those warning that systemic risks will only multiply, unless monetary officials take more decisive measures to pare extraordinary pandemic stimulus. While policy makers are acutely aware of the dangers in the easy-money era, their accommodative stances are encouraging ever-increasing flows to the riskiest markets.” Last week the Fed announced the tapering would start this month, and they would reduce the monthly purchases by $15 billion per month. Now we'll wait to see if this causes volatility in the market.Another challenge we face is a complete Biden reversal from last year when he said nobody would be forced to get a vaccination to it now being mandated...Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual's situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program. 

Certain people tend to play large roles in shaping our beliefs and who we become. Jerry Falwell, Sr. was one of those people for me. He's passed away now, but I want to share a few of his insights, how he thought, and his vision.  His philosophy created a legacy that is still impacting people 14 years after his death because he focused on excellence. Here's a link to his autobiography.Our philosophy is, “if it's Clients Excel, then it ought to be better.” The natural question becomes, "then how do we do that?" I'll share a few ways.We take a listening approach. We listen to what our client's objectives, aspirations, and goals are. We can't fully help our folks if we do all the talking.Then we educate our clients about topics that may impact them, like taxes or estate planning or long-term care planning. After a person becomes a client, we invite them to future educational events like the ones they often originally attended with us.We value your retirement savings like it was our own. There is nothing we recommend for you to do that we don't do or would not do with our money. In our business many advisors are incentivized to grow your money in order to get paid more. If done improperly, this may increase a person's risks. Growth in the absence of safety may turn out to be like a Halloween candy sugar high.Then we communicate and we communicate frequently. Most problems can be derived from communication issues, so we remedy this by staying in touch with our clients. I don't know of too many advisors who send out weekly correspondence like you're reading.This process has proven to be a winning combination as we have grown each year of our existence. The best part is as we continue to grow these things will only become better for clients. We are growth minded and our desire is to help our clients excel with financial confidence, protection and growth.As a company we understand that you can do business many places, but our goal is to make going elsewhere a chore compared to our firm.When you're ready to explore whether we're a fit for your financial planning needs, please reach out at 864.641.7955.Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual's situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program. 

 But over the last year, something new has started to develop, and I want to share with you how it may be costing some people thousands.We are told financial sentiment is driven by two main factors: greed or fear. It's our basic instincts.People tend to lean toward fear or greed, but an appropriate tone is a combination of knowing when to take risks and when to be more cautious and then developing rules for how you are invested. If you don't have rules established beforehand, you're just going by feelings, which is not how we want to run our finances.If we don't know what to do or we don't have enough information to make a decision we sometimes default to doing nothing. In our illustration above that's what the high school boy did. He did nothing and when he did do something the opportunity was gone.Opportunity cost is the expense we pay when we delay making a decision, so let's talk about why some people are hesitant.The last 20 months have been filled with uncertainty. COVID-19 emerged and it has caused destruction, despair, and isolation. Then the government started stimulating the economy by lowering interest rates, printing money, and buying bonds and equities.Then we had a divisive and contested presidential election that resulted in a new presidential administration. Even now things seem to be uncertain with how these things will play out in the long-term.And many people have been reluctant to invest their retirement savings. This seems reasonable, right? Well, the bad news keeps coming.Let's say you have $500,000 sitting in cash (not invested) in your IRA. If you were able to make a modest 5% return, you end the year with $525,000.There are about 231 days where the stock market is open every year. If you divide $25,000 by 231 you would get $108.23 per day. For any day you're not invested and earning 5% in this hypothetical example you are not making $108.23. Obviously, the numbers are simplified for illustration.That would equate lost opportunity of $2,146.50 per month when you've been uninvested. So, your opportunity cost is $2,146.50 per month. What can you do with $2,146.50. Does that pay your mortgage or half of your expenses? Not only are you losing money to inflation but your lost opportunity cost is significant.If we are going to use a cash equivalent accounts, we need to establish beforehand what the parameters are for when we use it. This is why developing investing rules is important. As always, I'm happy to dive deeper on this topic if you'd like. You may  call our office at 864.641.7955.Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual's situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program. 

When referring to the stock market, many people equate the S&P 500 as the market. The S&P 500 is an index of 500 large companies, but did you know the largest companies make up a larger percentage of the index? Apple, Amazon, Facebook, Google, and Microsoft account for 22% of the entire index. What do they all have in common? They are technology companies. The bottom 250 or smallest companies comprise just 10% of the index. The point being is the technology companies are critical to how the index performs. The S&P 500 has more than doubled in the last five years, and it hasn't been hard to make money in the stock market with the accommodative stance the government has taken. The government has kept interest rates artificially low since the turn of the century.Fundamentally, we know that low interest rates are accommodative to technology companies, especially those in a start up phase. It allows them to get going with less debt. This is one of the reasons we experienced the technology crash in the early 2000s. Companies were fearful ultra low lending rates were going away. When the government begins raising interest rates, technology tends to be most quickly impacted which may lead to the overall S&P 500 being impacted. It may create a wave of disruption. In retirement, it's important to have a proverbial bucket of money that productively grows but can never go down. This may be a remedy for unruly markets. We need part of our money to be in the stock market for several reasons, but it's important to use all the tools of financial planning and be well diversified. If you'd like to talk about this topic or others or you have questions, feel free to call our office at 864.641.7955. Each year, I write a handful of things I want to accomplish down on a small card and typically fold it up and put in my wallet. I found my card from 2012 recently and I made it a goal to learn to fly fish, but it never happened that year. I hold the philosophy that it's better to shoot for something and miss than to never shoot. With that said, I have learned to manage my expectations for my goals. In other words, I'm realistic.Carl, my father-in-law, had been wanting to try fly-fishing also, so we did research on how to go about learning the skill. We found an instructor named Aaron who would teach us the basics, and all we had to do was show up.Last week, we went to Saluda River in the northern part of Greenville County to meet our instructor. I grew up fishing, but never for pretty fish. I have never been one to have the...Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual's situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program. 

Recently, I was approached by the mission's pastor at our church about a vision for a mural in downtown Spartanburg. Jason sent over a picture of what it would look like, and he explained that the purpose was to give the community a visually appealing piece of art that would could remind people of the hope we have in Jesus.Jason envisioned it to be a place where people could come to pray and be reminded that no matter how bad it gets; we have an eternal hope if we have trusted Jesus as our Savior. Our company was offered the opportunity to be a corporate sponsor of this project to which we accepted. I had no idea it was going to be as big as it is. If you're ever downtown, go down Dunbar Street and check it out. You can visit HopeInTheBurg.com to see more.  On the site, there are videos of people being interviewed about the mural. Our sheriff is interviewed, and he mentioned that the people the Sheriff's department interacts with don't care about how much you know. They want to know how much you care about them. It was a good reminder that people will remember more how you made them feel than what you told them. I can wax and wane about financial topics in our newsletters, but helping people feel good about their financial well-being is most important.The Benhams teach in their group to view our profession as our ministry. In order to do this, you have to ask yourself, “How can I minister to the people I interact with?” That's a paradigm shifting concept because it changes the outlook I have for most every interaction. When you go in to a situation looking for ways to meet someone's known or unknown need, your work becomes your ministry. That's how society changes for the better.As things seemingly drift further and further out of control in our society, I believe people are searching for answers. We can have hope and peace with Jesus, despite the turbulence of our society. Let's hope, as Billy Graham envisioned, that God will move through the business community and elsewhere to bring a Great Awakening. Proverbs 29:12 states, “When the righteous increase, the people rejoice, but when the wicked rule, the people groan.” Christian and non-Christian alike all benefit when Biblical values are used.I'm always happy to speak with you about anything I've covered here or answer any questions you may have. You may call us at 864.641.7955Article Discussed: Click here Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual's situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program. 

Here's a quick guide on how to determine if you can retire. Some of our clients come to us when they are approaching retirement, and they're trying to figure out things like:How should I elect to take Social Security?Do I have enough money to retire?How should I draw my money down or use it?What will my health insurance cost be in retirement?What options do I have for long-term care? I'll briefly break down each of those concerns and tell you how we go about answering these important questions. The first step is determining what it takes to pay your bills each month and how much money you need for lifestyle expenses. If you don't know this number, this is a step one.Next, we help our folks figure out the best way to claim their Social Security benefits. This decision can literally result in a difference of hundreds of thousands of dollars. If your financial advisor has not talked about your Social Security benefits, ask yourself if you think it's an important conversation. There are hundreds of different claiming strategies and nuances to this decision. We will run a comprehensive Social Security Timing Report that analyzes your choices based on when you claim, what you will earn at your full retirement age, and what life expectancy you'd like to plan for.No retirement income plan would be complete if it didn't factor in a reduction of Social Security benefits, because the government has been warning us of this probable eventuality for more than a decade. So, we'll factor in what a 76% reduction in benefits in 2033 will do to your portfolio. A twenty to thirty percent reduction is what most reports indicate may happen in the 2030s.When we have the two Social Security numbers, which are what you will earn and what your benefit may be reduced to, we can figure out the most advantageous way to claim benefits. Then, we can move on to the next part of the equation.Social Security typically only funds 40% of a person's income in retirement. There are ways to generate income to shore up that funding gap. There are productive ways to allocate your money to equity positions to generate a somewhat reliable source of income, and this is typically achieved by active portfolio management.Did you see Facebook went offline on Monday for hours? During the course of trading the company's stock fell more than 5%. Commonly, people will bring their accounts that demonstrate how their money is currently invested, and many of those account statements we look at have money invested in Facebook stock.Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual's situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program. 

Michael Wilson (pictured below) is a strategist for Morgan Stanley. His firm is calling for a twenty percent drop in the near term for the market. “He sees earnings revisions from American corporations ‘and higher frequency macro data pointing to a decelerating economy, amid demand pull forward, supply chain issues and margin pressure; which he forecasts could lead to a 20% drop, a near-term outcome, in a research note dated Sept. 20th.”Speculation may conclude that the bear market could turn out to be worse. We never hope for this, because most all investors are negatively impacted by a down market in one way or another. The point to note is that we are not helpless. We can take steps to create a safety net around our portfolio.Bloomberg ran a recent article that said, “When the story of this era in financial markets is written, it will be said that many investors were overtaken with fanciful notions of money growing to the moon, leading them to make costly mistakes that could have been avoided with simple steps to safeguard and grow their savings. But this era is not over yet, and it's not too late to get on the smart side of history.”When there hasn't been a major problem in the stock market in a decade, people tend to forget what may happen. The article continued, “Expectations about what a diversified portfolio can achieve have also become silly. In its latest survey of individual investors, French lender Natixis SA reported that U.S. investors expect their portfolios to generate a long-term return of 17.5% a year after inflation, a big jump from the already unrealistic 10.9% they expected in Natixis's 2019 survey.” The old adage, “pigs get feed and hogs get slaughtered” seems appropriate.There are a few ways to create safety nets around your retirement portfolio. We always want to keep six months of bill paying money in our savings account. After that safety net, there are allocations you can make with your money that carry less risk or no investment risk at all. The suitability of these strategies will vary from person to person.It's important to know what all your options are, because if you don't, how can you make educated decisions? I'd be happy to schedule a 15-minute call with you to talk through all of your options. You may  call our office at 864.641.7955.Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual's situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program. 

While September is great for apples, it is turning out to be a rough month for the stock market, and the culprit is multi-faceted. It's easier on the mind when we can point to one thing that's causing a disruption, but this time we're not that fortunate. Over in China, a large property development company called Evergrande is on the verge of default, and from my research, their overuse of leverage is a major contributor. The company agreed to the use of highly speculative development projects and in recent years ventured into business sectors outside of their expertise. Because world economies are interconnected and dependent on one another, this appears to have caused uncertainty in world financial markets. A research company, Emerging Portfolio Fund Research, Inc., stated last week that “Almost $62 billion was pulled from cash accounts in the week of September 15th. Of that $51.2 billion went into equities, $16.1 billion into bonds and $37 million into gold.” Much of this appears to be motivated by the expectation that the Federal Reserve will continue its easy money policies, but that's not what the Fed is signally. The head of the Fed has said they may begin tampering or reducing the amount of bonds the government is purchasing. The bond buying program is one of the leading factors causing higher inflation. The government has no money. What do they do? They print money or borrow money for any venture the government undertakes. Taxes are not enough to cover government spending. So, the government creates money to buy its bonds. Thus, driving down the purchasing power of our money. When there's more of anything, it's worth less. In stands to reason, when there is more money in circulation, it devalues current dollars. This is government induced inflation. This has worked out to a degree for equity investors because the market has gone straight up for more than a decade. A stock market crash would be devasting for people overly exposed to equities because it will be a double hit due to inflation. If portfolios are depressed and inflation is rampant, it could majorly impact purchasing power.I'm always happy to discuss the topics I've discussed here further, answer any other questions, or share how we serve our clients. You may reach me at 864.641.7955.Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual's situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program.

In news that'll make you do a double take, the Wall Street Journal reported last week that Robert Kaplan, a guy who sits on the board of the Federal Reserve, made multiple million-dollar-plus stock trades in 2020.The Federal Reserve is a group of non-elected regulators who help determine what our interest rates will be, and whether the government should create currency to buy government bonds to stimulate the economy.The officials like Kaplan are required to file public disclosures, and his fillings indicate that his trading represented at least $27 million. This is nothing out of the ordinary, though. Past board members have operated similarly. It just makes me scratch my head and think: should people who stand to directly benefit from the Fed's decisions get to have a say in the Fed's decisions?Last year, the government was buying bonds issued by Apple. Kaplan's disclosure indicates that he was trading Apple stock. Do you see what's going on here? If there was ever an ethically gray area, this is it.If you ever turn on CNBC, you may have seen a bald guy wearing a tie commenting on the stock market. His name is Jim Cramer. He's normally bullish on the stock market, but last week he began blowing the alarm whistle.  The reasons go on outlined in show.Bloomberg News wasn't far behind CNBC in reporting that “top banks came out with a nervous message about the stock market.” Deutsche, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Citi Group, and Bank of America all weighed in that the stock market is vulnerable to a pullback.Are you getting sucked in to the market at what may be its top? Or have you allocated your savings in such a way to minimize the downside risks? Do you know how much risk you have in your accounts? If we do nothing else for you, we'd be happy to show you so you can be informed. If you'd like to take us up on a risk report, call our office at 864.641.7955.Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual's situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program.

On Labor Day I ran the Reedy River 10k with my buddy Greg. I'm glad I committed to run it because I was dreading it! It's hard to back out when you've told somebody you'll be there. When we registered, the form asked what we anticipated our completion time to be, and I must have been thinking I could fly.We were placed in the first heat to take off, and after about a thousand yards, I was thinking there was no way I would be able to maintain this pace. So, for the next 6.2 miles, I could almost hear a vacuum sucking me to the back of the pack.It's easy to see people passing me and become dissatisfied. I've found that when I begin comparing myself to other runners who may have a “runner's body” or have other perceived advantages, it's easy to get sulky. But what good does that do? After all, I heard it once said that the death of contentment is comparison.Sometimes when people meet with me after we've talked about their accounts, they ask how their money compares to other people. I'm always careful to answer this question.I think they are asking a deeper question than they sometimes may even realize. I've found normally what they are concerned about is do I have enough to retire. It's easy when you don't feel like you have enough money to become discontent, but it's self-defeating. The better perspective may be to ask, “How can I make my money last as long as possible?”The absolute wrong perspective is to feel like you should aggressively invest because you don't have enough time or want to increase your money quickly. We hear that from folks with differing amounts of money. Remember, just because we perceive something doesn't necessarily mean it's completely accurate.The flip side of this is called “overconfidence bias.” From a website called Toptal, “Outside of finance, in a 1980 study, 70-80% of drivers reported themselves to be in the safer half of the distribution. Multiple studies – of doctors, lawyers, students, CEOs – have also found these individuals to have unrealistically positive self-evaluations and overestimations of contributions to past positive outcomes. While confidence can be a valuable trait, it can also lead to biased investing decisions.” Obviously, there is a fine balance between feeling like you don't have enough money and feeling like you are set no matter what comes your way. Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual's situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program.

At our church, we sing a song called The Father's House. It's a moving song about failure. It starts, “Sometimes on this journey, I get lost in my mistakes. What looks to me like weakness is a canvas for your strength. And my story isn't over, my story's just begun. Failure won't define me ‘cause that's what my Father does. Yeah, failure won't define me ‘cause that's what my Father does.” Cory Asbury, the song writer is pictured below. Sometimes we get stuck in the past. But as Zig Ziglar used to say, “Remember that failure is an event, not a person.” He also said any time the “opportunity clock” goes off in the morning is another chance to get up and go.When you talk to people about their finances, you inherently learn about what has worked well for them and what has been a challenge. I talk with people who have overcome major obstacles, and went on to be successful. It's inspiring, but what is even better is when we get to help them move from a bad situation to a better situation. In fact, when we experience setbacks, it often helps up hone our skills or create a better situation. In my life, things are normally not easy starting out. Don't you envy the people who pick anything up and easily become proficient?When I was in middle school, my parents wanted to home school me. I remember thinking that was fine with me. I could spend hours outside by myself. I've never minded some quality alone time. My parents had a challenging time teaching me the content as I got older, so they figured they should put me in school for high school.Wouldn't you know they picked probably the most academically challenging school to enroll me in? I was quickly overwhelmed with the more rigorous course work and my grades reflected it. I saw quite a few one legged “As” that year. It taught me some important lessons. When the going gets tough, we have to keep going. Failure is an event. It was never me. I ended up getting a wonderful education at that school, and I'm grateful that my parents did not choose the easy route. If it had been up to me, I would have been tempted to switch schools to try to find an easier route for my kid, but my parents never offered that solution.I think more than anything, when we face these obstacles in life, what's really happening is Jesus is extending his hand to help. The songs goes on to say, “When the Father's in the room. Miracles take place. The cynical find faith. And love is breaking through. When the Father's in the room. The Jericho walls are quakin'. Strongholds now are shakin'. Love is breaking through. When the Father's...Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual's situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program.