Podcasts about playchecks

Annuities might sound boring, but you know what's NOT boring? Having Paychecks and Playchecks... Tom Hegna famously describes it like this... Being able to enjoy *every* opportunity that comes your way in retirement – stress-free, All because you covered your basic expenses like utilities, food, and taxes with a steady, guaranteed income, So you can focus on the fun stuff – traveling, spoiling the grandkids, or chasing new adventures.

Welcome to another episode of The Richer Geek Podcast. Today, we are joined by Mark Murphy, CEO of Northeast Private Client Group and a renowned expert in financial planning and wealth management. He explains the importance of building multiple income streams and designing a life with intention. Discover the principles of cash confidence, the significance of investing in your money-making endeavors, and the importance of creating both paychecks and playchecks. Learn how an entrepreneurial mindset and strategic collaboration can transform your financial future. Plus, explore Mark's book, 'The Ultimate Investment,' and uncover the secrets to achieving financial freedom. In this episode, we're discussing: Cash Confidence: Importance of maintaining liquid assets or reliable income streams to navigate financial challenges. Money Machine: Investing in one's business to generate a significant return on investment. Paychecks vs. Playchecks: Differentiating between income-generating assets and expendable assets for financial stability. Entrepreneurial Mindset: Emphasizing strategic planning and financial engineering to create multi-generational wealth. Collaboration Over Isolation: Working with a team of financial experts to optimize wealth management. Transformational Language: Using impactful, memorable language to reinforce financial strategies and principles. Invest in Yourself: Continual self-improvement and education to advance career and financial goals. Diversified Asset Classes: Understanding the significance of various asset classes beyond traditional investments. Resources from Mark Email | Northeast Private Client Group | Contact number: 973-422-9140  Resources from Mike and Nichole Gateway Private Equity Group |  REI Words |  Nic's guide

What's in this episode:- Planning for retirement the right way- Improve your portfolio performance- Appreciating assets- What's happening in crypto?- Becoming a millionaire- State of the economyAbout Tom:Tom Hegna is an economist, author, and retirement expert. He has been an incredibly popular industry speaker for many years and is considered by many to be THE Retirement Income Expert.As a former First Vice President at New York Life, retired Lieutenant Colonel, and economist, Tom has delivered over 5,000 seminars on his signature "Paychecks and Playchecks" retirement approach, helping Baby Boomers and seniors retire the "optimal" way. He has condensed a large chunk of his considerable knowledge into 5 books.Contact Tom:Website: tomhegna.comYouTube: @TomHegnaLinkedIn: Tom Hegna Catch the full video of this conversation:Text BUZZ to (816) 727-7610 to connect directly with us and share your favorites from the episode or learn more about upcoming events and challenges happening in our industryJoin Weaver Sales Academy: https://www.weaversa.com/Follow Michael & Courtney on social media:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mandcweaverInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/mandcweaver/Youtube:Michael LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-weaver-a2940095Courtney LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/courtney-weaver-4b8139a0/

Scott welcomed Retirement Expert, Economist, Best Selling Author, Public TV host and International Speaker Tom Hegna virtually in studio to have a discussion on financial planning in the current economy, the importance of using the right tools at the right time, and practicing what he preaches when it comes to his own retirement.Tom Hegna is an economist, author, and retirement expert. He has been an incredibly popular industry speaker for many years and is considered by many to be THE Retirement Income Expert!As a former First Vice President at New York Life, retired Lieutenant Colonel, and economist, Tom has delivered over 5,000 seminars on his signature "Paychecks and Playchecks" retirement approach, helping Baby Boomers and seniors retire the "optimal" way. He has condensed a large chunk of his considerable knowledge into 5 books.As a financial professional, after learning from this value packed episode you will walk away with a greater understanding of how wealth preservation strategies can deepen client relationships and grow your business better moving into the future.Connect with Scott on LinkedInConnect with Tom on LinkedInFor more on The Optimized Advisor Podcast click here  For more on Tom Hegna click hereFollow us on LinkedInFollow us on InstagramFollow us on Facebook **This is the Optimized Advisor Podcast, where we focus on optimizing the wellbeing and best practices of insurance and financial professionals. Our objective is to help you optimize your life, optimize your profession, and learn from other optimized advisors. If you have questions or would like to be a featured guest, email us at optimizedadvisor@mailpcwest.com

Having a guaranteed lifetime income (your paychecks) during retirement can help you cover your basic living expenses, so you can focus on what's left — the playchecks. In this episode, J. Barry Watts speaks with retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel Tom Hegna, who is now a retirement expert, best-selling author, public TV host and international speaker. Together, they share ways to build reliable sources of retirement income and minimize risk.  Colonel Hegna discusses: Key takeaways from his books “Paychecks and Playchecks” and “Don't Worry, Retire Happy!” The benefits of insurance (and why people should not see it as something negative) How insurance companies differ from banks (in light of the Silicon Valley Bank fiasco) Why retirees should always consider long-term care in their financial plan And more Resources: “Paychecks and Playchecks: Retirement Solutions for Life” by Tom Hegna “Don't Worry, Retire Happy! Seven Steps to Retirement Security” by Tom Hegna “The Secret to a Happier Retirement: Friends, Neighbors and a Fixed Annuity” by The Wall Street Journal Connect With Tom Hegna: TomHegna.com LinkedIn: Tom Hegna Connect With Barry Watts: Schedule an Introductory Call PriorityCare@WealthCareCorp.com  800-278-1755 WealthCareCORP.com LinkedIn: J Barry Watts LinkedIn: WealthCareCorporation Twitter:@jbarrywatts  About Our Guest: Tom Hegna is an economist, author, and retirement expert. As a former First Vice President at New York Life, retired Lieutenant Colonel, and economist, Tom has delivered over 5,000 seminars on his signature "Paychecks and Playchecks" retirement approach, helping baby boomers and seniors retire the "optimal" way. Tom specializes in creating simple and powerful retirement solutions. He has the unique ability to pump up a crowd, make people laugh and solve complex financial problems using easy-to-understand words, ideas and stories. He's been featured in Business, Forbes, Money Rates, and many other leading publications. He is available to speak with businesses, government organizations, professional associations, financial professionals and their clients across the globe.

Retirement Income Expert Tom Hegna Shares Financial Secrets To A Happy, Healthy Retirement Welcome to episode #30 of Social Security: Answers From The Experts with Martha Shedden. In this episode Martha sits down with Tom Hegna and they discuss many aspects of his wide-ranging knowledge on retirement planning. This episode would be useful for both consumers and financial professionals who want to understand the current situation surrounding successful retirement planning. Tom Hegna is an economist, author, and retirement expert. He has been an incredibly popular industry speaker for many years and is considered by many to be the Retirement Income Expert. As a former First Vice President at New York Life, retired Lieutenant Colonel, and economist, Tom has delivered over 5,000 seminars on his signature "Paychecks and Playchecks" retirement approach, helping Baby Boomers and seniors retire the "optimal" way. He has condensed a large chunk of his considerable knowledge into 5 books. Here is what to expect on this week's show: A look into Tom's background, how he went into retirement issues and how his extensive experience in the Army plays into his life now. Why are the financials of retirement planning so different from other types of financial planning? (With examples of how this plays out) Important highlights from Tom's PBS TV special Don't Worry, Retire Happy. What financial planning help is most needed these days, and how has it changed recently over the past few years? What is it that the average thing that pre retiree do not understand about security and what problems are created by this lack of understand? Why must one use insurance products and annuities to remove retirement risks? What dilemmas do baby boomers face that other generations have not faced in the past? More information about annuities and the value of adding them to your retirement portfolio.   Relevant Links: https://tomhegna.com/ Connect with Tom LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/pub/tom-hegna/40/83a/336 Twitter: https://twitter.com/tomhegnaspeaks Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tomhegnaspeaks YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/tomhegna Email: info@tomhegna.com   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tom Hegna is an economist, author, and retirement expert. He has been an incredibly popular industry speaker for many years and is considered by many to be THE Retirement Income Expert!.As a former First Vice President at New York Life, retired Lieutenant Colonel, and economist, Tom has delivered over 5,000 seminars on his signature "Paychecks and Playchecks" retirement approach, helping Baby Boomers and seniors retire the "optimal" way. He has condensed a large chunk of his considerable knowledge into 5 books. Paychecks and Playchecks: Retirement Solutions for Life.This has sold over 120,000 copies around the world. The top-rated Kindle version has been the #1 best-seller in its category for over 2 years.Retirement Income Masters: Secrets of the Pros.This book compiles the very best tricks of the trade from the very best retirement experts.Paycheques and Playcheques: Retirement Solutions for Canadians.Tom has teamed up with Canadian financial advisors Steve Tate and Rob Gawthrop to share the math and science behind a successful retirement!Don't Worry, Retire Happy! Seven Steps to Retirement SecurityThis book is based on Tom's popular Public Television Special. Haven't seen it? You can LEARN MORE HERE!Don't Worry, Retire Happy! Seven Steps to Retirement Security for CanadiansFor his latest book, Tom collaborated with Jim Ruta and Michael Morrow to help Canadian retirees Retire Happy! LEARN MORE HERE!Tom specializes in creating simple and powerful retirement solutions. He has the unique ability to pump up a crowd, make people laugh and solve complex financial problems using easy-to-understand words, ideas and stories. He's been featured in Business, Forbes, Money Rates, and many other leading publications. He is available to speak with businesses, government organizations, professional associations, financial professionals and their clients across the globe.

Have you ever filled out a questionnaire at your financial advisor's office? If you have, it was probably a risk tolerance questionnaire. I have my own opinions about them, but you'll have to wait until the end of this episode to hear what it is.  On this episode of Retirement Starts Today, we'll explore an article from AdvisorPerspectives.com written by Dr. Wade Pfau and Alex Murguia which argues that risk tolerance questionnaires (RTQs) don't work. You'll hear new retirement slang and acronyms as well as a discussion of retirement income sourcing.  Dr. Pfau has also developed his own tool to use that can help you select the best deaccumulation approach. Don't forget to stick around until the end to hear my thoughts.  Outline of This Episode [2:22] How risk tolerance questionnaires are used [5:45] The different approaches [10:35] Two different styles [12:58] My personal criticisms of risk tolerance questionnaires What are risk tolerance questionnaires used for? RTQs are a tool that help financial advisors identify the amount of volatility that clients can handle in their investment portfolios. These tools generally consist of 9 questions and they are designed to establish a baseline so that the advisor can rank the investor on a scale of 1-5 from conservative to aggressive. These documents are especially helpful for advisors to stay compliant as they choose portfolio recommendations. Why retirement investing is different RTQs work best in the accumulation stage of people's lives, but when it comes to retirement they fall flat. In retirement, a person must shift their way of thinking from accumulation to decumulation and this can be a challenging adjustment in mindset. Viewpoints on funding daily expenses inevitably change when one is completely dependent on living off one's investment capital without the luxury of human capital to cushion the blows of a bear market.  Retirement brings added risks In addition to a change in mindset, there are unavoidable spending shocks that arise in retirement. This means that retirees need to consider how much of their assets they need to keep on hand for these unexpected events and market downturns.  Not only are there the everyday expenses that come along, but retirement brings on further risks. There is constantly the risk of outliving your money and becoming a burden to others since no one knows their own longevity. Another retirement risk is lifestyle risk. To maintain a comfortable lifestyle in retirement it is important to ensure enough discretionary income to fully enjoy retirement.  Why RTQs don't work  RTQs work better for people in the accumulation stage of life because they weren't designed to handle the broader questions that retirement brings. They can play a small role in helping to decide asset allocation, however, they cannot be used in place of a retirement plan.  It is important to come up with a retirement income strategy based on goals first. By beginning a retirement plan with a questionnaire you end up boxing yourself into a strategy that may not be in alignment with your ultimate retirement goals. Listen in to hear why I think RTQs are a poor excuse for proper retirement planning.  Resources & People Mentioned Boomer Benefits Why Risk Tolerance Questionnaires Don't Work for Retirees The Mullet Episode BOOK - Paychecks and Playchecks by Tom Hegna Wade Pfau's Retirement Researcher blog The American College Connect with Benjamin Brandt Get the Retire-Ready Toolkit: http://retirementstartstodayradio.com/ Follow Ben on Twitter: https://twitter.com/retiremeasap Subscribe to the newsletter: https://retirementstartstodayradio.com/newsletter Subscribe to Retirement Starts Today on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn, Podbean, Player FM, iHeart, or Spotify

This week on the Against All Odds Radio Show, hosts Sean V. Bradley, CSP and L.A. Williams discuss how to become a millionaire.   While a million dollars isn't what it used to be, most people are going to make well over $1,000,000 in their lifetime.  Over your lifetime, a person making $50,000 a year with regular pay raises is going to make $3.7 million over 40 years.  The question is not only how much money you are going to make, but also how much of that are you going to keep?  How much of that will you have for retirement?  Joining Sean and L.A. this week is Tom Hegna.  Tom is an economist, author, and retirement expert.  Considered as THE Retirement Income Expert, he has been a subject matter expert and speaker for many years.  As a former First Vice President at New York Life, retired Lieutenant Colonel, and economist, Tom has delivered over 5,000 seminars on his signature "Paychecks and Playchecks" retirement approach, helping Baby Boomers and seniors retire the "optimal" way.Tom specializes in creating simple and powerful retirement solutions. He has the unique ability to pump up a crowd, make people laugh and solve complex financial problems using easy-to-understand words, ideas and stories. He's been featured in Business, Forbes, Money Rates, and many other leading publications. He is available to speak with businesses, government organizations, professional associations, financial professionals and their clients across the globe.ResourcesDealer Synergy & Bradley On Demand: The automotive industry's #1 training, tracking, testing, and certification platform and consulting & accountability firm.The Millionaire Car Salesman Podcast: is the #1 resource for automotive sales professionals, managers, and owners.  Also, join The Millionaire Car Salesman Facebook Group today!The Against All Odds Radio Show: Hosting guests that have started from the bottom and rose to the top.  Also, join The Against All Odds Radio Show Guests & Listeners Facebook Group for the podcasted episodes.For more interactivity, join The Millionaire Car Salesman Club on Clubhouse.Win the Game of Googleopoly: Unlocking the secret strategy of search engines.Sean V. Bradley, CSP is the star of Vice TV's hit show, I Was A Teenage Felon, season 2.  New episodes return this fall, and “King of Clubs”, the season 2 finale starring Sean, airs on November 22, 2021 at 10:00 PM EST.The Against All Odds Radio Show is Proudly Sponsored By:Car.com: Visit Car.com today, where they do the research and you do the driving.Scar Food: Scar Treatment for Scars, Acne Scars, & Stretch marks - visit ScarFood.com today!

Tom Hegna   – The Insurance Marketing Organization Podcastwith Seth GreeneEpisode012Tom Hegna Tom Hegna is an economist, author, and retirement expert. He has been an incredibly popular industry speaker for many years and is considered by many to be THE Retirement Income Expert! As a former First Vice President at New York Life, retired Lieutenant Colonel, and economist, Tom has delivered over 5,000 seminars on his signature "Paychecks and Playchecks" retirement approach, helping Baby Boomers and seniors retire the "optimal" way. He has condensed a large chunk of his considerable knowledge into 5 books. Tom specializes in creating simple and powerful retirement solutions. He has the unique ability to pump up a crowd, make people laugh and solve complex financial problems using easy-to-understand words, ideas and stories. He's been featured in Business, Forbes, Money Rates, and many other leading publications. He is available to speak with businesses, government organizations, professional associations, financial professionals and their clients across the globe.   Listen to this insightfulepisode with Tom, full of valuable financial tips: Here is what to expect on this week's show: How the pandemic changed the insurance landscape Why you need to invest against inflation Inside Tom's “paychecks VS playchecks” approach Why life insurance is the best gift to pass on to your kids   Connect withTom: Guest Contact Info: Website: Twitter: https://twitter.com/oneincsystems Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/oneincsystems/ Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/one-inc/   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Economist, author, and retirement expert Tom Hegna joins us to share his expertise on handling finances and preparing for retirement. Find out how he helps people solve complex financial problems using easy-to-understand words.   Read more and get additional financial resources here: https://www.cornerstonevegas.com/ep-13-paychecks-and-playchecks-author-shares-top-retirement-tips/    About our guest: https://tomhegna.com/    What we discuss on this episode:  1:27 – Meet Tom 3:34 – Books 5:01 – Fixed expenses 6:03 – Transition to another paycheck 8:31 – Income 11:03 – Guaranteed sources of income 13:11 – Don't Worry, Retire Happy 14:32 – Legacy 16:57 – Long-term care 20:46 – Social Security 23:25 – Fear of tax brackets

Josh Jalinski, The Financial Quarterback is joined by Tom Hegna, economist, author, and retirement expert. Tom is a former First Vice President at New York Life, retired Lieutenant Colonel, economist and author of multiple books. Tom has delivered over 5,000 seminars on his signature "Paychecks and Playchecks" retirement approach, helping Baby Boomers and seniors retire the "optimal" way. His latest book Tom Hegna's Guide to Social Security and Medicare 2020: Income Maximization Strategies is a 36-page booklet that explains why Americans should maximize their Social Security retirement benefits and provides useful advice, tips, and websites you can use to increase your lifetime income from the Social Security Administration. In this segment, Josh and Tom break down the sequence of returns risk and how it can wipe out a retirement portfolio. Listen to the Financial Quarterback live every Sat/Sun 9am EST on WOR AM710. Follow Josh on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Visit Jalinski.org for more information, and pick up his latest book, Retirement Reality Check now.

Josh Jalinski, The Financial Quarterback is joined by Tom Hegna, economist, author, and retirement expert. Tom is a former First Vice President at New York Life, retired Lieutenant Colonel, economist and author of multiple books. Tom has delivered over 5,000 seminars on his signature "Paychecks and Playchecks" retirement approach, helping Baby Boomers and seniors retire the "optimal" way. His latest book Tom Hegna's Guide to Social Security and Medicare 2020: Income Maximization Strategies is a 36-page booklet that explains why Americans should maximize their Social Security retirement benefits and provides useful advice, tips, and websites you can use to increase your lifetime income from the Social Security Administration. In this segment, Tom Hegna explains why you can't retire optimally without an annuity in the portfolio. Listen to the Financial Quarterback live every Sat/Sun 9am EST on WOR AM710. Follow Josh on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Visit Jalinski.org for more information, and pick up his latest book, Retirement Reality Check now.

Josh Jalinski, The Financial Quarterback is joined by Tom Hegna, economist, author, and retirement expert. Tom is a former First Vice President at New York Life, retired Lieutenant Colonel, economist and author of multiple books. Tom has delivered over 5,000 seminars on his signature "Paychecks and Playchecks" retirement approach, helping Baby Boomers and seniors retire the "optimal" way. His latest book Tom Hegna's Guide to Social Security and Medicare 2020: Income Maximization Strategies is a 36-page booklet that explains why Americans should maximize their Social Security retirement benefits and provides useful advice, tips, and websites you can use to increase your lifetime income from the Social Security Administration. In this segment, Josh and Tom discuss why right now, it's the best time to buy annuities. Listen to the Financial Quarterback live every Sat/Sun 9am EST on WOR AM710. Follow Josh on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Visit Jalinski.org for more information, and pick up his latest book, Retirement Reality Check now.

Josh Jalinski, The Financial Quarterback is joined by Tom Hegna, economist, author, and retirement expert. Tom is a former First Vice President at New York Life, retired Lieutenant Colonel, economist and author of multiple books. Tom has delivered over 5,000 seminars on his signature "Paychecks and Playchecks" retirement approach, helping Baby Boomers and seniors retire the "optimal" way. His latest book Tom Hegna's Guide to Social Security and Medicare 2020: Income Maximization Strategies is a 36-page booklet that explains why Americans should maximize their Social Security retirement benefits and provides useful advice, tips, and websites you can use to increase your lifetime income from the Social Security Administration. In this segment, Josh's guest Tom Hegna talk about why long term care insurance is so important and why people are advised to purchase life insurance. Listen to the Financial Quarterback live every Sat/Sun 9am EST on WOR AM710. Follow Josh on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Visit Jalinski.org for more information, and pick up his latest book, Retirement Reality Check now.

Josh Jalinski, The Financial Quarterback is joined by Tom Hegna, economist, author, and retirement expert. Tom is a former First Vice President at New York Life, retired Lieutenant Colonel, economist and author of multiple books. Tom has delivered over 5,000 seminars on his signature "Paychecks and Playchecks" retirement approach, helping Baby Boomers and seniors retire the "optimal" way. His latest book Tom Hegna's Guide to Social Security and Medicare 2020: Income Maximization Strategies is a 36-page booklet that explains why Americans should maximize their Social Security retirement benefits and provides useful advice, tips, and websites you can use to increase your lifetime income from the Social Security Administration. In this segment, Josh's guest, Tom Hegna talks about "Paychecks and Playchecks" and why it's important to have guaranteed lifetime income. Listen to the Financial Quarterback live every Sat/Sun 9am EST on WOR AM710. Follow Josh on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Visit Jalinski.org for more information, and pick up his latest book, Retirement Reality Check now.

In this episode we talk about how important it is to have both political as well as financial information that you can trust. Tom talks about how to position your retirement so you don't run out of paychecks and playchecks. He talks about the differences and importance of both.

In this podcast Ed Greene and I interview Tom Hegna. In 12 minutes, Tom shares some key things to consider as you plan for retirement. Tom is an economist,author of five books including Paychecks and Playchecks,and public television host of Don’t Worry, Retire Happy! seen in 80 million homes.  

Today Tom Hegna, best-selling author of https://tomhegna.com/shop/product/9/book-paychecks-and-playchecks-retirement-solutions-for-life (¨Paychecks and Playchecks,¨) breaks down the complexities and myths surrounding savings, annuities, and long-term life insurance, with practical pointers based on current maths and science metrics.  In a time of great uncertainty, his fail-proof method of securing a risk-free retirement by covering your necessities with guaranteed life-income sidesteps flashy marketing gimmicks for solid steps that will weather future obstacles, and get your retirement back on track for 2021.  Discussion Topics https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/12/technology/bitcoin-passwords-wallets-fortunes.html (¨Lost Passwords Lock Millionaires out of Their Bitcoin Fortunes¨) The benefits of opening a ROTH IRA for children and grandchildren. Important age milestones for your retirement journey.  Get your retirement on track for 2021. Why you need to save and invest 20% of your earnings instead of 10% Why a 401K is not the best place to put your money.  How to prepare for retirement as a young investor. Getting life basics covered with guaranteed lifetime income. Why long-term care is a 3-in-1 saver. Why you should spend all your money and leave your children life insurance.  How to increase your savings right now.  Resources: Buy:https://tomhegna.com/shop/product/9/book-paychecks-and-playchecks-retirement-solutions-for-life ( ¨Paychecks and Playchecks¨ )by Tom Hegna Buy: https://tomhegna.com/shop/product/10/book-dont-worry-retire-happy-seven-steps-to-retirement-security (¨Don't Worry, Retire Happy¨ )by Tom Hegna Website: https://tomhegna.com/ (tomhegna.com) Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZLVr1-144LsPDrWR1cyqWQ (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZLVr1-144LsPDrWR1cyqWQ) Social:https://www.facebook.com/TomHegnaSpeaks/ (Tom Hegna - Facebook) https://tomhegna.com/shop/product/10/book-dont-worry-retire-happy-seven-steps-to-retirement-security (Tom Hegna - LinkedIn) https://www.facebook.com/retirementresource/ (Beau Henderson - Facebook) https://www.linkedin.com/in/beauhenderson/ (Beau Henderson - LinkedIn) https://twitter.com/richlifeadvisor (Beau Henderson - Twitter) About Beau Henderson:Beau Henderson is a retirement consultant, money and business coach, best-selling author, radio host, and Founder of RichLife Advisors. He has helped over 3,000 clients to not just improve their relationship with money, but to live their unique definition of a fulfilled life with purpose. RichLife Advisors helps clients across the United States approaching retirement with a strategy to: Save more money Pay less in taxes Properly address the 12 components of creating a successful retirement Protect the people and things that they care about the most Live their unique definition of a RichLife in retirement The Retirement Resource is produced by http://crate.media (Crate Media).

This week's guest on Marketing for Financial Advisors is financial expert, speaker, and author Tom Hegna to discuss the concept behind his best selling book Paychecks and Playchecks and his book / PBS special Don't Worry Retire Happy. Tom Hegna and Don Anders discuss how important guaranteed income is inside your portfolio, and why financial advisors should make sure their client's income is covered first and foremost. Tom and Don get into a discussion about the all annuities are bad myth, and what it truly means to be a fiduciary. Resources:Tom's Coaching, Webinars, and Resources (Tip: Watch one of his webinars for a lifetime discount): TomHegna.comMeet The Author Customized Webinars: https://www.advisorsplatform.com/products/tomhegna

Tom Hegna is an economist, author, and retirement expert. He has been an incredibly popular industry speaker for many years and is considered by many to be THE Retirement Income Expert! As a former First Vice President at New York Life, retired Lieutenant Colonel, and economist, Tom has delivered over 5,000 seminars on his signature "Paychecks and Playchecks" retirement approach, helping Baby Boomers and seniors retire the "optimal" way. He has condensed a large chunk of his considerable knowledge into 5 books. To learn more about Tom, make sure you check out his webinars at https://tomhegna.com/webinars (https://tomhegna.com/webinars) Check out Club Capital Univeristy's Latest Course Financial Essentials for Insurance Agents. (https://clubcapital.teachable.com/p/financial-essentials) Check out the Club Capital Website: www.club.capital (https://my.captivate.fm/www.club.capital) Check out our Sponsor: www.directclicksinc.com (https://my.captivate.fm/www.directclicksinc.com) Find Club Capital in Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ClubCapitalLLC/Find (https://www.facebook.com/ClubCapitalLLC/Find) Find Club Capital on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joinclubcapital/ (https://www.instagram.com/joinclubcapital/)

This week, Jamie Hopkins talks with Tom Hegna about income planning for retirement, long-term care, and annuities vs bonds. Tom is a thought leader on income planning for retirement space and has written several books on the topic.  You can find show notes and other information at CarsonGroup.com/Framework.

On this week's podcast, we sit down with well-known financial author and speaker, Tom Hegna. Tom discusses his book Paychecks & Playchecks and different methods that can generate a lifetime income stream. Important Links: Website: PlanWiseRetireFreePodcast.com Call: 800-779-4592

In our talk today, Tom Henga, author of "Don't Worry, Retire Happy" and "Paycheck & Playchecks" broke down the science behind the optimal way to retire and the many reasons most Americans don't have a comfortable, confident retirement.

Tom Hegna (Economist, Author, former Vice President at New York Life) joins The Insurance Guys podcast to discuss life insurance, financial services, and how to start planning to become a Million Dollar Roundtable Agent (MDRT). Tom is an industry expert and thought leader in the world of financial services. Tom has done more than 5,000 seminars on helping people with retirement and income and is the author of Paychecks and Playchecks, Don't Worry Retire Happy!, and Retirement Income Masters. Resources: Website - tomhenga.com Books: Paychecks and Playchecks: Retirement Solutions for Life Don't Worry, Retire Happy! Seven Steps to Retirement Security   About The Insurance Guys The Insurance Guys Podcast is made and dedicated to agents by agents. Scott Howell and Bradley Flowers discuss all aspects of becoming an insurance agent and give real-life examples of their experiences in all aspects of hiring, sales and the day-to-day reality of running your own successful insurance agency. Please subscribe, review and rate our show on iTunes, SoundCloud, IheartRadio App, Spotify & Overcast.  

On this show, we talked with Tom Hegna about designing retirement income. Tom is an economist, author, speaker and is regarded by many to be THE retirement income expert. You can learn more about it from Tom at TomHegna.com, Facebook and Twitter. For Tom's book, Paychecks and Playchecks, click here. For Don't Worry, Retire Happy, click here. For any other questions or to contact George, click here.

Today’s episode is on retirement income solutions. Tom Henga is a retirement income specialist. Learn more at MarkMiletello.com. Note: “Where The Insurance Pros Meet” is an audio podcast and is meant for the ear. A transcript of the audio is provided for referencing a particular section or for you to follow along. Listen to the episode to get the most out of our show. We use both speech recognition software and human transcribers to create the transcripts so they may contain errors. If you’re going to quote us in print, please be sure to check the corresponding audio. TRANSCRIPT Announcer 1 Where the Insurance Pros Meet, Episode 2. Announcer 2 If you really want to get good, I mean, you want to be the best in the business, you've got to train a little bit every single day just like the pro football players do. Announcer 1 Where the Insurance Pros Meet is a podcast that brings the greatest talent in the world together: managers, coaches, and producers. The very best experts the insurance and financial services industry has to offer. Get ready to change the way you do business to have your most successful year ever. Now, here's Mark Miletello, a top one percent producer, manager, and your host of "Where the Insurance Pros Meet". Mark Miletello Today we're going to discuss retirement income solutions. We have on the show with us the retirement income specialist himself. He's the author of four best sellers, "Paychecks and PlayChecks", "Retirement Income Masters", "Paycheck and Playchecks for Canadians", and most recently, "Don't Worry Be Happy: Seven Steps to Retirement Security, which has played on public television to over 72 million homes in the US and Canada. Our guest specializes in creating, what I love, is simple and powerful retirement solutions based on math and science and not opinions. I've seen him speak myself. He's exciting. You should look him up. He speaks to businesses, government organizations, professional associations, financial professionals, and more importantly, clients across the globe. The road warrior himself, Tom Hegna. Welcome to the show, Tom. Tom Hegna Thank you, Mark. Thanks for having me. Mark Miletello Well, Tom, NFL season is here. I'm excited. The pros are practiced, rehearsed, the butterflies are gone. It's game time. Tom, congratulations, and thanks for being a leader, a voice, and a consummate professional in the insurance industry; and is, really, the leading speaker and coach in the financial services industry. So, thanks for coming to the show. Can you give us a kickoff of this show with a professional tip or advice just to start us off and get this game going? Tom Hegna Sure. I mean, since you're talking about pro football, let me ask you a question. How often do they train do you think? Do they train once a quarter? Once every six months? A couple of times a year? They train every single day. Sometimes they do doubles. Sometimes they do triples. What people don't understand is that the top producers in any business, but let's just say pro football, they're constantly training. You know what else, they've got a coach. Why would they need a coach? They're the best players in the world. Because the coach sees things they don't. The coach can come up with a game plan. And I think what both you and I do is we focus on training and coaching. Why do people in our industry think that they don't need to train every single day? And, you know, if you or I were training or coaching them, even for 10 or 15 minutes every day, imagine how much better they would be in three months, six months, nine months. And so, I guess that would be my opening pitch, is that if you really want to get good, I mean, you want to be the best in the business, you've got to train a little bit every single day just like the pro football players do. Mark Miletello You know, I'm even more excited now because you're spot on. As a producer, as an agent, sometimes we're out there by ourselves; and here I am, 27 years into my career, and I still have a coach. I still have a mentor. I still look for more knowledge. So, you're exactly right, and that's the type of stuff I knew we were going to get right off the bat from you. Right now, let's break for industry news. There's no secret, the Department of Labor rulings are dominating the news in the insurance and financial services stadium. Tom, help us out. How do you think the industry will or will not change with these Department of Labor rulings? Tom Hegna Well, you know, it's kind of interesting, I was just on a nationwide debate last week with Knute Rothstead. He's the co-founder of the fiduciary standard, and he debated for the ruling. I debated against it. And I'd encourage your listeners to listen to it. It's free. They can go to apviewpoint.com and register for free and it's in there, or just look up any of my social media. I've got the recordings posted, but I encourage them to listen to it. But to your question, I would say this. I think some good things will come out of it. We all know there were some bad products out there. We all know there were some bad people out there. But what I tried to say in the debate is, you know, Bernie Madoff was a fiduciary, but I don't go around saying all the fiduciaries are Bernie Madoff, and I don't have anything wrong with fiduciaries. But my point in the debate is, right now, it's legal in all 50 states to do business with a fiduciary. So, if you really want a fiduciary, guess what? You can do business with one, but not everybody's choosing that. I said this, "If fiduciaries were so good at what they did, if they were so good, guess what, they'd put everybody else out of business." How could State Farm do what they do? How could New York Life do what they do? How could American National do what they do? If fiduciaries are so good, everybody would have to become a fiduciary, or they'd go out of business. But here's the truth, the truth is they aren't always that great. There are fiduciaries who are not taking longevity risk off the table. There are fiduciaries who are not taking long-term care risk off the table. There are fiduciaries who aren't using life insurance to leverage wealth transfer to children and grandchildren. So, my question to them is how can you be doing what's in the best interest of your clients if you're not using annuities, life insurance, and long-term care? So, that is on their side. But on our side, I would say this, I think we are going to see products, maybe a little more leveling of the commission, which I don't think is bad. I don't think there should be necessarily you make more commission on that versus this, and then you're tilted to recommend that over that. I think that's one of the good things that will come out of this rule is that companies are going to really must look at what is in the best interests of their clients? Now I don't agree that just a fiduciary puts their best interests. I see insurance professionals or financial professionals all over the country, every day, who are putting their client's best interests first; but I think there will be some good things that will come out of it as well. Mark Miletello Well, the Department of Labor ruling, I mean, I agree. I think that protecting clients ultimately is the goal, and that's more important than anything, but there is a balance, and I think that's the issue that you're talking about. We must find the balance, right? Tom Hegna Right. And what I proposed, at the end, instead of just beating up on my opponent or just trying to trash the DOL rule, what I tried to propose was a fiduciary process. You see I think the argument about fees versus commission, that's ridiculous. I can show you plenty of places where a commission is better for a client, and they can show you plenty of places where a fee is better. So, let's just agree that the fee commission argument just depends on the client. That's a ridiculous rule. But, let's also agree that nobody knows what's going to be the best. Here's the problem with the fiduciaries. It's the best interest. Did you know that if you go to five different fiduciaries, give them your exact same set of circumstances, you will get five different courses of actions proposed? Speaker 5 Exactly. Tom Hegna All in your best interests? I mean, that doesn't even make sense. How could five different people give five different solutions if this is in my best interest? So, what I say is let's agree that nobody knows what's going to be the best, all right? And what math and science do is when you get into a situation where you don't know what's going to be the best, there are so many variables, what math and science look for is the optimal way to do it. And all optimal means is this will be the best more often than anything else will be the best and it'll never be the worst. So, what I propose and what I talk about all the time, I don't talk about the best way to retire, because nobody knows what's the best way to retire. I talk about the optimal way. And so what I proposed at the end of the debate is something that I think both sides could agree on. What if we had a fiduciary process that said step number one you got to have a plan, and it's got to be in writing, and you need to work with a financial professional, and it needs to be reviewed regularly. That'd be step one. Step two, why don't we insist that they cover their basic living expenses with guaranteed lifetime income. That's what all the PhDs who study retirement say you should do. And then what if we said for the rest of the portfolio you optimize that to protect yourself against inflation. Or, if you weren't in the securities business, you could ladder their income products, so they could have one that starts at age 60, one that starts at age 65, one that starts at age 70; but the key is to give them increasing income for the rest of their life. What if we taught our clients how to maximize their social security benefits? See social security's the largest retirement asset most people have. What if we said that no retirement plan is complete without a plan for long-term care and that we were required to discuss a long-term care plan with the people. And then what if we used life insurance as the most efficient way to pass wealth. That if they have a life insurance policy for the kids, they could spend more of their money in retirement. I said now that is a process that would be based in math and science that, whether you are a fiduciary or non-fiduciary, whether you sell annuities or manage money, or you pay fees or commissions couldn't we agree that that would be a powerful process that would be in the client's best interest, and then we can just disagree. To me, that's the solution. Mark Miletello Wow. And thanks for being a voice for our industry. We need a voice right now more than ever, and really, you're a voice for the client as well. As I've read and studied and followed you, the sound advice you give is on behalf of the client and, like you said, the little things, how commissions are paid, that's the little things. Now giving more than 5,000 speeches and seminars and really influencing hundreds of thousands of advisors out there, let's talk about you. Let's talk about Tom Hegna himself. Can you tell us in your own words how you arrived at the point where you are today? Tom Hegna Well, look, I'm driven right now by one thing. There are 78 million baby boomers out there who are retiring. They're either in retirement or close to retirement. And tens of millions of them are going to run out of money if we don't get to them first. And so, I'm really driven by the fact that I can't get in front of 78 million people, but you know what? You can get in front of a 1,000. They can get in front of a 1,000. They can get in front of a 1,000. They can get in front of a 1,000. So, if I can get in front of 300, 500 thousand advisors, a million advisors, through the leverage of their work, we can get in front of most of these 78 million. Look, most people won't do everything they're supposed to, but we can fix a lot of them. I've been in the business for over 30 years. I've learned a lot in that time. When I was at New York Life, I was kind of in charge of their retirement income push, and so I found out things I never knew. Mortality credits. Longevity credits. I learned things about longevity risk. I learned things about why guaranteed income is so important. And happiness in retirement. See, I talk to people all the time. You know, it's one thing to retire optimal or not optimal, but don't you want to be happy in retirement; because I can show people how they can be happy in retirement. And happiness in retirement is tied almost 100% to guaranteed lifetime income, and so I can demonstrate that to them. I can show them all the research and all the articles that have studied it. And so that's kind of what gets me up in the morning is I'm trying to help 78 million baby boomers. I can't get to all of them, but I can get a bunch of advisors and try to help them help their clients. Mark Miletello Well, perfectly said. I'm looking at the parallels in our history. First, thank you for your service in the army, six years’ service. I had six years’ service in the army, as well, before I started my career, during my career. But I was an agent, I was a producer, and nine years ago I went into management. I had won a lot of the awards that I set out to and had the success that I wanted to have as a producer. I think at a point I wanted to touch more people, as well. I found that my passion and heart is helping clients with what you call miracles, selling life insurance, which I totally agree with that in your book. But what I wanted to do was touch more lives, just like you said. And going into management, I felt like building 20, 30, 40 agents, we could touch more lives and get the message out there. I love the fact that you've taken it even additional, and that's, of course, the reason for this podcast, having a place where we can touch more people, help more people through the things that you talk about and teach in securing and doing the right things. I told you right before we started to show that I read your book a third time Monday on a plane. I couldn't put it down until I got to St. Louis and I must tell you, it just meant something totally different to me at this point in my career. So, we talked about the industry, the news, we talked a little bit about you, and congratulations on all the accomplishments you've had, and the best sellers that you've had. Let's talk a little bit about clients. What is the number one piece of advice, Tom, that you would give to retirees today? Tom Hegna Well, that they've got to have a plan to retire. See, most people don't have a plan. And again, that plan should include some very simple things. They should make sure that their basic living expenses are covered with guaranteed lifetime income so that no matter what happens to the market or no matter what happens to interest rates, they will at least have their basic living expenses covered. Then they got to have a plan for inflation because guaranteed lifetime income, if you just buy one, unless you buy inflation protection on it, it's going to stay the same, and over time prices go up. So, you've got to have a plan for inflation and I leave that up to the advisor. They can recommend a market-based solution of stocks or mutual funds, commodities, real estate, that's fine, or you can ladder your guaranteed products. That's what I've done. I've got eleven of them and I've got them starting at different ages, and so I will have increasing income for the rest of my life. You've got to have a plan to protect yourself against inflation, and then you've got to have a plan to protect yourself against the risk of long-term care. That's probably, after longevity risk, that's the other biggest risk. Seventy-two percent of all people will need to have a plan for long-term care. They should maximize their social security benefits. That's the largest retirement asset that most of them have and, in general, just very simple, the breadwinner should delay. So, if you've got a husband or wife, and the husband made more money than the wife, the wife can take her benefits early if she wants to, but the husband should wait until 70 because his check covers both lives. That's why the breadwinner should delay. And then use your home equity wisely. There are all kinds of new things like reverse mortgage market. You can sell your home and capture capital gains tax breaks, and so use your home equity wisely. Then I always say leave life insurance to your kids for pennies on the dollar, and then just go out and spend your money and have fun in retirement. So, I talk a lot about how to have fun in retirement, how to never run out of money in retirement, and how to not have to go to a nursing home so you get to stay in your house for the rest of your life because you have a plan. And so, those are the concepts that I talk with retirees. Mark Miletello Well, I've been training based on a lot of what you've said, and I've also been following and mentoring with Van Mueller who, by the way, speaks very highly of you. Tom Hegna Dan's a great guy. We go way back. Mark Miletello Absolutely. And so, I've been rolling out to the agents that I'm mentoring and acronym, TVFIL, taxes, volatility, fees, inflation, and longevity. In your book, Paychecks, and Playchecks, you say the greatest threat to retirees is longevity. It's a multiplier of the rest. Can you expound on that? Tom Hegna Yeah, because the longer you live, the more likely the market will crash. The longer you live, the more likely you'll take out too much money. The longer you'll live the more likely inflation will decimate your purchasing power. The longer you live the more likely you're going to need long-term care. What I tell the people is this. Look, if you retire when you're 65, and you drop dead when your 68, it doesn't matter if the market crashes 10,000 points. It doesn't matter if inflation was 15%. It doesn't matter if you were drawing 12% a year. It doesn't matter if you forgot to buy long-term care insurance. You didn't a life long enough. But if you live to be 75, 80, 85, 90, it's all those other risks that will wipe you out. So, of all the research, I can find from the smartest PhDs in the world who study retirement said this: "To retire successfully you must take longevity risk off the table." Well, guess what, stocks can't do that. Bonds can't do that. Mutual funds can't do that. Real estate can't do that. Only some form of an annuity can do it. A lifetime income annuity, you might call it an SPIA, a deferred income annuity, you might call it a DIA, or an income or withdrawal benefit rider from a fixed index variable annuity, that is it. Those are the only things that can take longevity risk off the table. So, you've got to put an annuity in that portfolio. And then people don't understand that the reason is that you put it in the portfolio is to take longevity risk off the table. Why? Because only a life insurance company can issue an annuity. Why? Because only a life insurance company sells life insurance to be on the other side of that risk. See because an insurance company is on both the life insurance and annuity side, that if people die too soon or live too long, they can neutralize themselves. Because if this person lives to be 115, that's okay, that person over there died when they were 60, so they're protected against both longevity and mortality risk because they're on both sides of the risk. Your banker can't do it. Your broker can't do it. Only the life insurance industry can protect people from dying too soon or living too long. That is a mathematical, scientific, and economic fact. Mark Miletello I'm so pumped up right now. I read your book on a plane. I got off to give a speech. I believe it was the most powerful speech of my career. And in the speech, I held up your book and ... it was a study group of the top leaders in my company. I held up your book, and I said, "You have to find your voice right now." One of the things that you said in your book, Paychecks, and Playchecks, you said, "We are at different times." And I think one big message that you give is to wake up. Wake up and look around. And I think that's the hardest thing for me, was for me, is to find that voice like you have found, like Van's found, like others succeeding and ... Let me go back to one little point. You had mentioned annuities that pay for life, and you know what, I get caught up or have been caught up, with clients talking about rates of return. You get completely away from that, and you focus on the longevity. The income stream for life and the value and importance of that, and I really had some of my first discussions where I said that the interest rate doesn't matter. Can you dive a little deeper into how reps should consider ...? Because I've got to be honest, I've sold tons of annuities, tons of life insurance, I've helped protect families and clients; but I've never really until, I think this week, saw the value and importance of what you say and how you use these products to protect people in these uncertain times. Tom Hegna I often talk about the payout rates of annuities. And if you look at SPIA OR a DIA, the guaranteed payout rates for those things are very high. They're 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 percent guaranteed for the rest of the client's life. And I always tell advisors, I say someday if you talk about payout rates the client's going to ask you, "Okay, but what is my interest rate?"  I got two ways to answer that. Number one, "What would you like it to be?" Because the insurance company does not set the interest rate on an income annuity. They set the payout rate. It never sets the interest rate the client by how long they live. So, I say, "If you want a higher interest rate, just live longer. If you want a higher interest rate than that, live longer than that." That's what I love about these products. You get to set your own interest rate. I hope you set it very high. But the second way I handle it is this. It doesn't matter. Just like you said, it doesn't matter what the interest rate is. When somebody asks you "what is the interest rate", in their mind they think this is an investment that they want to compare to their Merrill Lynch or their Schwab or their Edward Jones investment. And what I would say that an income annuity is not an investment. It is a guaranteed paycheck for the rest of your life. So, if I went on an appointment with that advisor, these are the exact words that would come out of my mouth. "I'd say Mr. and Mrs. Client, congratulations, you're now retired. In retirement, you're going to need a paycheck. Now at our company, you can have your paycheck guaranteed or non-guaranteed, which do you prefer?" Most people say guaranteed. "We can guarantee it for your life or for both of your lives, which would you prefer?" Most of them say for both of our lives. So, I repeat it back. "What I just heard you say is you would like a guaranteed paycheck for the rest of both of your lives." Yes. That's what this does. And there's no other product in the world you can buy that will give you a higher guaranteed paycheck for the rest of both of your lives. So, it doesn't matter what the interest rate is. You want a paycheck. You want it guaranteed. You want it guaranteed for the rest of both of your lives. That's what this does. Merrill Lynch, Schwab, E-trade, they can't do that. Mark Miletello So, I've got my checkbook out. I feel like I need to pay you for that. Tom Hegna I mean, let's keep it simple, and let's have fun in the appointments too. I have fun when I'm in front of people. I get in front of more people probably than almost all your listeners combined. So, I'm in front of people every day and I have fun with it. [crosstalk 00:21:36 Mark Miletello Absolutely, and I'm glad I asked that question because I needed the answer to that, and I would imagine a lot of my agents and my listeners as well needed the answer to that. And so, that'll help us find our voice in competing again what interest rate is at, and just spot on. I obviously brought up "Paychecks and Playchecks" several times. That book is just filled with so many nuggets. I've highlighted the entire book, and it's going to be part of my process going forward and training, and teaching, and reading, and learning myself. I'm excited to hear a little bit more about, "Don't Worry Retire", but before that, what inspired you to write "Paychecks and Playchecks"? Tom Hegna Here's kind of what happened. I was still at New York Life at the time when I was asked to speak at the top of the table for MDRT, which is a huge honor. This is a top of the table event of MDRTs, the top of the top of the top, but I didn't know that MDRTs, that to test their speakers because it's a smaller group. It's the highest group, but there are only about 500 people. If you do good there, then they'll ask you to domain platform at MDRT, the general session, where there's six, seven thousand. But anyway, I had a presentation and they said you got have a name for this thing, you got to have a name for this. And we talked about it and said what about Paychecks and Playchecks. I said, "Oh, that's a great name." So, we titled my talk "Paychecks and Playchecks". Well, it was a huge hit, and then I did MBRT the next year in Vancouver. It was a huge hit. I didn't have a book. And that's killer. You're on the main platform at this big thing. I didn't have a book. Everybody said, "You've got to have a book." So, I sat down and I wrote the book and then what we did is we took my "Paychecks and Playchecks" talk from MDRT and we broke it out into chapters, and then we built up the chapters. I put in all the knowledge that I'd learned over the years and that was "Paychecks and Playchecks". And it was a foundational book. It sold over two million dollars. I mean less than one percent of books ever sell a million dollars. That sold over two million and "Don't Worry, Retire Happy" has now sold over a million. So, it's kind of cool. I got two books in the top one percent of all books ever written, but it was I wrote it out of my heart, you know. It was really all the knowledge and all the words and language. Because I tell people this, people think this is a knowledge business. I've got news for them. This is not a knowledge business anymore. You give me an iPad and the internet for 15 minutes, I can figure out anything I need to figure out. This is not a words business. This is a language business. This is a questions business, and this is a stories business. And my books are full of words, language, questions, and stories that are powerful. I always tell people if you don't have your ... People say all the time you got the words, you got the questions, you got the stories. You can borrow the stories, borrow the words, borrow the ... that's what I did when I was brand new. I listened to audiobooks every single day. I watched tapes of the Kinder Brothers so I could close business the way the Kinder Brothers taught me how to close business. I can handle objections the way they taught me to handle rejections. And what I did was learn the words, language, questions, and stories of the top producers in this industry 30 years ago and those words, language, questions, and stories made me millions of dollars. And now I've got the words, language, questions, and stories for this retirement income market and people can make millions of dollars off of that, but they're worried about spending 35 bucks on an audiobook or something. It's crazy. You've got to invest ... and I'll tell you this. The best investment you'll ever make is not in stocks or bonds or bitcoin, the best investment you'll ever make is an investment in yourself. That will make you the most millions. Mark Miletello It's perfectly said. I believe that what you've said it's not that ... you look at my upbringing and my challenges and I had Richard Weylman on the show last week and the struggles that he came through. It's about finding your voice and telling a story. And like I said in a speech, I used several things that you've said from "If a dollar was a second, what would a trillion dollars mean?" And things like that. It's just stories and I held up the book and I said, "You have to learn these stories because you don't have to make them up." They've already ... someone's already paved that way and you learn from the Kinder Brothers. We all have learned and quoted from someone that has inspired us, so thank you for putting that together. You know, I've got some self-published books and maybe that's what I need to do, record myself speaking and quit trying to sit down and write everything out. That's some good advice. But you know what? I work with a young team, but even us veterans we've, keeping with the theme of football, we've all had fumbles; and so, looking back, do you ever think about some mistakes that you could avoid, or you would have avoided for these new agents that are. Tom Hegna Well, kind of my best advice for new people is activity. I say an app a day keeps depression away. Look, this is a business is where you go way up, and you go way down emotionally. You go out and you close a million-dollar sale and you're on top of the world, "Oh, man I just sold the biggest case I ever did." And then two days later you get a call, and he says "Well, I talked to my brother-in-law. He says it's stupid. Please cancel that." Or, the guy got declined, or he changed his mind, or whatever. And now you're down and the depths of depression, and then you write another case and you go up here and then something bad happens, and you go down here. So, what got me through the storms, because I went up and down terribly. My first, in my first year, was very hard, but what I found is the more activity I had, then I could weather it. See if I got 12 applications in, and I lose one no big deal. If I got one application in, and I lose one, that's a life-threatening event. So, I started trying to see three people a day and then once I started doing that I saw five people a day. And then I would see seven people every day, and if you're seeing five to seven people every day, I promise you, you'll get through it. An app away keeps depression away. I tried to write at least one app a day, and my record I think was 13 apps in one day and I routinely get five or six in a day, that was not uncommon at all. I never had a blank week my entire time as a producer. I'm kind of proud about that because it was drilled into me activity, activity, activity. And so, there are only three ways to increase your production. See the people. See the people. See the people. So, I would encourage new advisors, see people face to face every single day. Mark Miletello Well, we can dive more into that. That could be its own separate show, but the good news on this show is you get the repeat of a first down. You get a do-over, so you're starting over, Tom, you know how tough today is, you're starting over right now, how do you grow a successful practice? I think you've given us a lot of these nuggets already, but I'm just going to point blank ask you because this is what a new agent wants to hear. What do you hear today? Tom Hegna I think you've got to build your frontal as full as you can, and what I mean is that you've got to be on social media. You've got to be on Facebook. You've got to be on Twitter. You've got to be on LinkedIn. I guess Instagram for millennials and all these guys. But you've got to be on social media. You've got to network and get as many people into your funnel. I don't care how well you know them. Go to Chamber of Commerce, get everybody's business card, put them in your funnel, connect with everybody you can. Because what you want to do it early in your business now you want to get thousands of people in your funnel of social media and then you want to watch your social media because you can learn a lot about people. Oh, we got engaged. That'd be a perfect person to call. Oh, we just got married. Oh, my dad died. My mom died. We had a baby. All that's on social media. Well, those are all life events that people need to buy more life insurance and they need to roll their 401K or they need to do something, right? So now today we can know when all these things are happening. When I was an agent, we didn't know. We had to buy a baby list from the paper or something and we'd get it like six weeks later or something, or the obituary list and you got go through there and figure whose parents they are. I mean, really, seriously? Now you've got all these tools and then there are marketing people that I'm not the marketing guy, but there are marketing people that can help you do campaigns and do things to get more leads. And then I would encourage people to do seminar selling. It does work. It's not dead. People think it's dead. It's not dead. I do seminars every single day almost. And they fill the place with three, four, five hundred people. If you're giving great content, great content, people will come. The number one producer I work with is a guy down and Florida. He does about a million a month in commission, a million a month, okay? And he runs educational seminars, no food; he brings them in two or three a day, does two or three days a month, he brings in top speakers, he said all the money I used to spend on restaurants now I put into my speakers. And he just is known as the educational place for all these retirees and they bring their friends, their neighbors, their brothers, their sisters. There's no selling done at these seminars. They are just educational workshops. He brings me in. He brings in Mary Beth Franklin, and he brings Moshe Maleski in, and he just educates people in the community. And guess what, they do a lot of business on him. Mark Miletello I bet. Well, activity is the key, we all know that, and you're right. There are almost so many places to go to create an activity that one doesn't know where to go. I think sometimes they're just looking around at all the different places and they don't know which one to choose. But you said get out there, get involved, and everyone watches it, make contacts because one thing you and I know that it's about timing more important than anything. You can call me today and discuss an annuity and a year and a half from now might be the right time to discuss that annuity. So, in this industry what I've found is when I was born there wasn't a big sign at the hospital that said Welcome into the world, Mark Miletello, natural born insurance salesman or financial services agent. No one's born, you know, you practice, rehearse, study, and so whether you find yourself successful or not, I believe activity is the key and timing, as well, is the key and with social media, we can hit that timing a lot better than we did just culling obituaries. Tom Hegna It's a numbers game, right? So, you want to have lots of numbers in your circle. As many as you can, even if you don't know them well. Then it's a timing thing, and then you've got to have the skills. So, it's really three things. It's numbers, it's timing, and it's skilled. And so, if you have the skills if you have the words, the language, the questions, and the stories and you know somebody who's right for talking to and you have enough of those people every day you've got people to go see every day. Just stop by. Hey, I saw you had a baby. We have a bib in our office, and it's just, you know, give them something. We used to hand out road atlases. I don't know what you hand out anymore, but just something you could give them, or bring them a little present, bring them some chocolates. I don't know what but get in front of people who it's the right time to talk about things and build a relationship with them and then help them. Do what's in their best interest, and they'll refer people to you. Mark Miletello Wonderful. Well, Tom, it's the future. It's the year 2027. This is maybe one of the toughest questions I'm going to ask you because this is on the minds of all of us with everything going on around, but also technology the future. What will the industry look like in ten years and how do we fit in, how do we stay relevant? Tom Hegna Well, there's all kinds of people worried about that, and I know on the P&C side they're worried that amazon.com is going to have a little thing you just plug into the USB port and you drive from here to the store and it just charges 12 cents to your prime account for insurance. And then you drive across to California and it's $2.42 for insurance. That your insurance will charge you by the number of miles that you drive, and it will be automatic, and you won't have to worry about it. That's was the P&C people are worried about. I think for life insurance, annuities, and long-term care investments you know these robot advisors, yeah, that's fine, let's see how that all works when that market crashes 50 percent. At the end of the day, people need help from people. People trust people. And I think they're going to need a financial person to walk them through this. The average person doesn't spend enough time learning about this stuff and what they hear, they hear from Ken Fisher or Susie Orman or Dave Ramsey. People are giving them opinions, not facts. And that's why I say stick with Tommy. Tommy's got the facts, and the facts beat opinions 100 percent of the time. And so, if we can just present them mathematical, scientific, and economic facts these are irrefutable. These are not opinions. I can win every argument with Ken Fisher because he's dead wrong. You know when he says, "Oh, anything you can do with an annuity, you can do better elsewhere." That's a lie. You know what I'm going to do? This week, I'm going to write an open letter to the SEC, because what I think he is doing is almost criminal and he's leading people astray and for the SEC and [Senator 00:34:37 to allow that kind of stuff to happen ... I'm just going to write an open letter and I'm going to clearly expose him for what he's doing. He's not doing good things. So, I got math and science behind me. He's got his opinion. Let's see how that works for him when that market crashes 50 percent. Mark Miletello Well, what you're saying is, we can't predict what the next 10 years are going to be, but we can sure be prepared. We can be an advocate for our clients. So, thank you for protecting us, and doing those things. You're right. Some of it is ... I don't even know what to say about some of the things that I hear, but one thing that I keep going back to that's one of the most powerful things that I've read in your book, and that's, "I talk about facts." I'm going to use that if you don't mind. I'm going to steal that when I'm talking to clients is that you know let's not look at all the opinions out there, let's talk facts. Tom Hegna Facts win, every time. Mark Miletello That's right. So, look, I would like to keep you for hours on end. I know your time's valuable, and thank you for sharing with us. We've gotten so much already. I'd like to ask you a hundred more questions, but give us your professional recommendations. How do we get started following you? What steps do we take to find, maybe this is a two-pronged question, but how do we get started to find a voice like you have found? Is part of that following you? What can we do? Tom Hegna Well, look, I know you got some great training, and you said Van was one of your mentors. Van and I are good friends. We've done a lot of work together. Joe Jordan was one of my mentors, as were the Kinder Brothers, as were some of the top producers back in the day, the Ben. And now Mark Feldman has a great book, "Man on a Mission", all about life insurance. Great life insurance questions. But if people want to follow me, I'm at tomhegna.com. I'm easy to find. If you google my name a million things will pop up. I got free videos on YouTube they can sure watch. I've got a subscription service called Tom Hegna on Demand where I literally put my entire brain online, sorted by video clips, three to eight minutes. over ten hours sorted by life insurance, annuities, long-term care, questions, sales ideas, handling objections, social security, all that stuff. So, my entire brain is there available 24 hours day, seven days a week. And I say what if you spent 10 minutes a day there, 15 minutes a day, or what. How good would you be in three months or six months or nine months? There's also a coaching site where, let's say, they get to the appointment at ten minutes early. They get on the iPhone. They go to the coaching site, and a video of me pops up. I say, tell me about this appointment. Is your client single or married? They put single. How old is this person? She's 70. Once you hit those two buttons, a video of me pops up. Okay, so you're going to an appointment with a 70-year-old widow. Here's going to be her key questions. Here's how I would answer those. Here's going to be her objections. Here's how I would answer those. Here's the product you're going to want to use. Here are the questions you want to ask her. And I coach you for 5, 10 minutes before you go on your appointment. The next day you're going on an appointment with a 45-year-old couple. You hit married, 45, and I coach you totally different than I did for the 70-year-old widow. Now that's all available online. We've got package deals on our podcast. So just go to tomhegna.com. I'm easy to find. Mark Miletello Well, the financial investment is ridiculous. That's a no-brainer. What we must do, and what I've tried to teach and install in the ones that I mentor is the time investment. And it's not that much. It could be 5, 10 minutes. It could be a ride on an airplane. But we must take what you're handing us, and we got to pass it down to the next generation. We got to build upon that, so that's what this podcast is for, is to reach out. With all the noise out there, it's getting hard to find who's the real deal. And you are the real deal, and I'm going to continue to follow you. I appreciate the advice on man on a mission. I didn't know that one. I'll look that one up. I hope that everyone out there listening to this will immediately go to your website. You are one of the top one or two that I recommend following, as well as you mentioned, Gary Kinder, the Kinder Brothers, and Van Mueller as well. So, thank you for being a guest on the show, and thank you for all you do. Tom Hegna Thank you, Mark. Great being with you. Mark Miletello Absolutely, and you can follow me on markmiletello.com. If you like what you hear on the show, go to iTunes and rate and review, and you'll help others find us.    

Where are we at so far We've defined a couple of things Pensions are all but history for most Americans Accumulating assets for retirement is pretty much up to you You better figure out how you are going to get a steady paycheck when you retire Annuities can offer a guaranteed income for life Have you ever looked at investing in an annuity? It can be overwhelming. There are a lot of choices and some have many moving parts that it's hard to decide which one is best. In addition, I have to admit there are some bad annuities out there and worse there are some really bad annuity peddlers. I call them peddlers because they really aren't professionals and care more about what they earn then doing what's best for the client. I know, pretty sad, but true. Let's dissect the annuity for a minute. I want to say from the outset that there really is no such thing as the perfect investment. Every place you could ever secure your money has some give and take. The important thing is that you get as close as you can to meeting your objectives, you should be okay. Where we start is by identifying the three basic types of annuities. Here they are: Fixed Variable Indexed Next, we want to identify characteristics that are the same in each of them. By the way, when it really gets down to it, the differences are in how they credit your interest or growth. For the most part, they are all trying to accomplish the same thing, even though their crediting methods are different. What they have in common: They grow tax-deferred. All annuities grow tax-deferred until such time as you take it money out. You aren't necessarily required to take money out, unless it's owned by a qualified plan, such as an IRA where the government makes you take destitutions beginning at age 70 ½. This means you can defer the income taxes on the growth as long as you want. No upfront sales charges – The vast number of annuities have no sales charges to get in. This means 100% of your money goes to work. There are some variable annuities that have sales loads, so you'll want to make sure you understand those charges if part of the annuity. Surrender Charges – Instead of charging a fee/load upfront most annuities have a surrender charge period. This means if you take money out of the annuity during the surrender charge period it could cost you. The surrender charge period might be as short as 5-7 years and as long as 20 years. Be sure that the surrender charge period lines up with your overall objectives. This is generally not an issue if you are using the annuity for lifetime income. 10% free withdrawal – As a general benefit, most annuities will let you take out up to 10% each year without a surrender charge. This is typically more than adequate for those looking for a bit of additional income and also want to keep their principal intact. It's also nice for an emergency of some sort if you need to get at some of your money. The 59½ rule – The IRS will add a 10% penalty to ANY of the funds taken out before age 59½. This means you would be liable for the taxes on the growth and the penalty if you are not of age. The only time this penalty is not applied is to a single premium immediate annuity (SPIA). A SPIA is where you make a deposit and immediately begin taking income. There is no inside cash build up or “deferment” of taxes as income has begun immediately. Guaranteed Lifetime Income – The term for this is “annuitization” or “annuitizing” your annuity. One of the key strongpoints to an annuity is to be able to generate a guaranteed lifetime income without ever worrying about your next paycheck. Although it seems many people who own annuities manage their income stream by taking withdrawals each year without annuitizing. There are pros and cons to this that we'll discuss as we go along. For instance, once you annuitize, there is no turning back you can't change your mind. The paycheck is not coming and won't quit until the predetermined time. However, you do not have to annuitize your annuity; you can take systematic or partial withdrawals each year as well. No Probate - An annuity bypasses probate at your death and makes transferring your assets more efficient and without courts interfering. Many people invest in annuities for that simple reason alone. Privacy, ease, no losses. Those are some of the benefits that pretty much run through every annuity out there. As I said earlier, the crediting method is what really differentiates each one. Crediting Methods FIXED ANNUITY:  As you may have guessed by its name this credits a FIXED rate of return. Very similar to a CD each year the annuity company assesses it's assets and where they are at and then sets a fixed rate for the year. You can get 1, 3, 5, and even as long as 10 year fixed rates. There are typically no costs or fees in a fixed annuity. The annuity company sets the rate and makes a little bit more. After it pays you the company uses the difference to keep its doors open. By the way, you want a profitable annuity company. You want them to be there throughout your lifetime. The problem with a fixed annuity right now is the low-interest rates it pays. Most of the time the rates are better than bank CD or Money Market rates, but still low. If interest rates do rise these can become more attractive. There are still many investors who do not want to take any risk or chances are perfectly happy with the compounding of a fixed annuity, even at these interest rates. Think about the trillions of dollars still in CDs. CDs are taxed each year as well. A lot of that CD money will be passed on to heirs. An annuity can provide tax deferral on the funds. I mean why pay tax on money you didn't use that year? Why not control when, if ever, you want to pay the tax? You can hold a fixed annuity almost indefinitely without taking any income unless as stated earlier it's in an IRA, then you'll have to take distributions at 70½. So again, you can control when the taxes are paid. And again, bypasses probate. Your annuity goes directly to whom you've named. Your beneficiary sends in a death certificate, the check is cut. A piece of cake! VARIABLE ANNUITY (VA): The next annuity we'll talk about is the variable annuity. As the fixed annuity described its “fixed” return, the variable annuity describes its “variable” return. A variable annuity is made up of sub-accounts. What is a sub-account? It's essentially a mutual fund. Most sub-accounts are managed by the same mutual fund companies and often with the same management and philosophy as the mutual fund. Because the underlying investments are essentially mutual funds, you take the risk of the market. Will it go up, will it go down, who knows? You bear the risk and you get the rewards. There are some things about VA's that you should understand as well. The fees can be quite high. There are normal management fees charged by the mutual fund company. Then there are advisor fees charged for portfolio creation and management. Then there are mortality and expense fees. Finally, some VA's do a sales load on top of all that. In all, you may find VA's have between 3-5% in fees each year. Fees can obviously eat into the returns each year. If you happened to hit a VA on a good market year and the market goes up 10%, then you may only realize 5-7% depending on the fees being charged. Keep in mind that these fees are charged even in DOWN markets. You can lose money due to the market and then lose even more due to fees. The other unknown is if the sub-accounts (mutual funds) will meet or beat the market returns. This is a subject for another time, but statistically, only about 4% of all mutual funds beat the S&P 500 market returns. Even then the ones that do, rarely repeat. Consistently picking the right fund that beats the market year after year could be quite a feat. Most VA's have a death benefit guarantee. This is possible because of the Mortality and Expense fee that is charged. The fee is typically 1.25% to 1.75%. What this does is guarantees that if you die and the market is down, your beneficiaries will at least get what you put in. Suppose you put $100,000 into a VA. The following year the market tanks and your account value is now $75,000. If you were to die, your beneficiaries would at least get the $100,000 you put in. When its time to take income you have the option to annuitize, just like any other annuity. Once you do this you effectively take your funds out of the market, as the annuity company now has to guarantee that income and will not take a further risk with the funds. It's not a big deal in that once you annuitize all you care about is the steady paycheck. The real question is this, is a VA worth the risk? You have unlimited downside loss potential (except at death). You have to pick funds that you hope do at least as well if not better than the market. You have to subtract fees that can run as high as 5% against any market gains and even when the market goes down. The final type of annuity is called an Index Annuity. INDEX ANNUITY (Hybrid): Often times you'll hear an Indexed Annuity referred to as a “Hybrid.” The indexed annuity is more than 21 years old. Long enough to experience a few market cycles, including the massive market drop in 2008 and 2009. This is really a simple concept but can be very confusing as well. Let's start out with the simple concepts. An indexed annuity is essentially a fixed annuity. You can't lose, your account value can't go backwards due to the market returns, and the underlying investment is guaranteed. Of course, the guarantees behind any annuity relies on the strength of the issuing company. The difference in an index annuity is the returns participate with an INDEX, such as the S&P 500. One thing to understand is that your money is never invested in the index. Your funds simply participate with the index. Okay, so how does that work? To understand how this works you have to have a little knowledge about options. Options can be risky and usually best left to those who understand them completely and how they work. Let me explain it like this. Suppose you were driving along and noticed a piece of property you like. You go and talk to the owner and explain that you'd like to buy the property, but not for a year, and you may not be able to get the financing either. You strike a deal with the owner. You work out an arrangement. You are going to pay him $1000 for an option to buy the property. In return, you lock in the current price and you have a year to buy the property. If you decide to buy the property you must purchase it within the year. If you decide not to buy the property or can't get the financing before the end of the year term, you lose your $1000 and walk away. That is referred to as a buying a CALL option. You have the right, but not the obligation, to buy that property at the stated price, before a determined date. You might ask how does an option work in an index annuity. An Index Annuity is really a fixed annuity. The money is not invested in the market and your investment is not subject to risk. The annuity company takes the fixed interest that they earn on the money, but instead of crediting you a stated interest rate for the year, they take that money and buy an option on an index. Let's suppose the annuity company can get 3% on the underlying investments and they were going to credit you 2.5% for the year. They take the 2.5% and instead of putting it into your account they buy an option on the S&P 500. By the way, there are options on several indexes, but the S&P 500 is the most popular. Okay so now what? Well, if the market goes up then you will participate with the market increase. If the market goes down the worst you can have is a flat year. You can't go backwards if the market goes down. The only money at “risk” is the interest from the underlying investments, not the investment itself. Now, this is where it gets a bit complicated. You see in this low-interest rate environment there is not enough interest to purchase an entire option.  In other words, an option is much more expensive than the 2.5% interest we have to spend in our example. If you or I didn't have the money for the full price of the option they would simply say, see ya, come back when you have more dough. Because the annuity companies deal with sizeable chunks of dough, the options dealers will “share” in the cost of the option. Again, this is a simplified example, but suppose we only had enough money to buy 50% of the option. Essentially the options dealer will put up the other 50% and then share in the profits 50/50. In the end, you'll see an indexed annuity have what are called CAPS, SPREADS, PAR RATES. All these are various ways to share in the option. For instance, you may see a CAP of say 5%. This means is that you get all the upside of the index option up to 5%. The option dealer is taking the chance that the option will do better than 5% as he gets everything over 5%. Your return will have a CAP at 5%. The other way to manage this is by using a SPREAD. In this case, the company may have a spread of say 2%. This means that the first 2% goes to the option cost and you get the rest. If the market goes up 8%, they take the first 2% spread and you get the other 6%. Finally, PAR RATES. These are participation rates. Say for instance the participation rate is 50%. This means you will participate in the return. You get 50% of the upside. The market goes up 10% for the year; you participate up to 50% or 5%. There are other methods and more coming out regularly. It's a good idea to have someone you work with understand all these methods. All the rates are dictated somewhat by the current interest rate environment. Since the annuity company is not taking a risk and investing your principal in the market, they can only use the interest earned. If interest rates are high you will see caps, and par rates higher, and spread lower. It's also good to know that the option and market gains are not a profit center for the annuity company. They would love to see you get 100% of the market. Their hands are tied so to speak to interest rates as well. INCOME RIDERS: Now we better talk about income riders. What is an income rider? It's essentially a combination of both the accumulation phase of an annuity and the income phase of an annuity. This rider starting showing up about 10 years ago, and now you see it as an option in just about every annuity out there. Here is the gist of it. It's essentially a way to take income without annuitization. See, when you annuitize you lose control over your principal. That's not a bad thing in a lot of situations as the intent for that money was to generate an income – an income you can't outlive. Annuity companies played with the payouts and mortality credits and came up with a way that you could get income, that you couldn't outlive, and still have access to your capital. Of course, the income stream would go against your capital like any other investment. Let me give you a 30,000-foot overview. There are several different ways companies go about this, but this will give you a general idea. Suppose after you looked at all the options and benefits you felt the income rider was a good option for you. Here's what will happen. During the accumulation phase, the annuity company will continually use two different calculations on your account. I often say they keep two sets of “books” regarding your annuity. Here's what I mean. In one calculation, or on one set of books, the annuity tracks your actual performance. Suppose you chose an indexed annuity and it has a participation rate of say 60%. Remember this means if the market goes up 10% you would be credited 6%. The other calculation would be the income rider. Income riders have an annual rate applied to them, no matter what happens to the actual account value. For this example, we'll say that the income rider's compounding rate is 5%. This means that each year the income rider side of the “books” would be calculated at 5%. This set of books would be calculated at 5% no matter what the annuity actually credited. For this rider, most annuities charge around 1%. Each year your actual account value is reduced by 1%. This will not affect the 5% compounding on the income rider side of things. In the years where the index crediting was 0% on the actual side (remember in an index annuity 0% is your worst year) the income rider would still credit 5% on its side of the ledger. Year after year you have two calculations, what actually was credited and the 5% income rider calculation. With each annual statement, you see both calculations. Fast-forward 10 years and you are ready to take some income from your annuity. Now you get to make a choice. Which side of the ledger will you take your income, from the actual account value or from the income rider value? Here is where it gets a bit tricky. You would probably assume that you would take income from the side of the ledger that had the most money in it. I would agree, that makes the most sense. What if the market had 4 horrible years that produced no returns and yet the income rider continually compounded 5% every year over the same period of time, there is a very good chance that the income rider side would have a higher value. Here's how it works. Let's assume we are completely out of the surrender charge period so you have access to all your funds without a surrender charge. Further, let's assume you are over 59 ½ and you there are no penalties for withdrawal. Most likely you are past retirement age when you begin to take income anyway, so both those assumptions are reasonable. You can take out as much as you want from your actual account value. You can take regular income. You can take a percentage out each year. You can take a specified amount each year. You can even annuitize to assure you will have a guaranteed income the rest of your life. The payout for annuitization is based on your account value, your age, and of course if you want to provide income for a spouse or children after your death. On the income rider side, the annuity company will determine how much you can take out each year. If you are under 65 years of age the payout percentage is around 5-6%.  Over 75 you may get more than 6%. By the way, do you remember what the “Bulletproof” Withdrawal Rate according to the Wall Street Journal? You got it, 2-3%. This is the rate that the WSJ says you can take and have a pretty good chance that your money will last your lifetime. The thing you have to understand is in order to take full advantage of the income rider, you shouldn't plan on taking your money in a lump sum, you should take your money out using the set percentage rate as income. Hence the name – income rider. If you do want more than the stated annual percentage or you want to take a lump sum, then that will come from the “actual” account value, which then reduces the income rider calculation on future payments. Let's talk about an example. Suppose we put $200,000 into an indexed annuity at age 55. Over a 10 year period, we were actually credited year after year an average of 6%. Which, by the way, is pretty close to what they've done. On the other side of the ledger, the income rider was crediting 7% each year. In the end, we have two account values: The Actual Account Value = $358,169.54 The Income Rider = $393,430.97 You are now out of the surrender charge period. You can do anything you want with the actual account value. You can even take all your money buy an RV and cruise the country! Let's suppose that you decided to take your income out at the “bulletproof” withdrawal rate of 3%. That would give you $10,745.00 per year. This is a safe amount based on current economic conditions. On the income rider side, they say that at your age, now age 65, you will get an annual payment of 5%. This would give you $19,671 per year. About $8,900 more per year. Run that out over 10 or 20 years and it's a pretty decent chunk of change. One thing to consider is that if you take the payments set by the annuity company from the income rider, you are assured that your income will continue the rest of your life. You can't run out of money! You will get a payout or what I'll call a “paycheck” every year even if you live to be 150 years old and have received much more income than was ever in your account. It's my opinion that the income rider calculation will most likely be greater than the actual account value. However, this means to take full advantage of it, you will need to make sure the income payment is sufficient and that you can live with the payouts. The older you are the higher the income rider's percentage may be. I've seen them as high as 6%-7% for someone 75 an older. That is twice as high as the bulletproof withdrawal rate and you are guaranteed to never run out of money, not a bad deal if income is your objective. At death, some income riders will pay the balance of the income rider's account value to your beneficiaries. If you started your income payments with $200,000 and over the years withdrew $100,000 and passed away. Your beneficiaries would get the remaining $100,000. Some annuities will pay out the balance of the ACTUAL account value, so you'll want to make sure you understand exactly what the death benefit guarantees are. If you foresee needing lump sums and annual payments are out of the question or maybe you'll need your money all at once after the surrender charge period, then the income rider is probably an expense you don't need to incur. Again, this is all based on your needs and your objectives. You may want a couple of annuities. Maybe you have one with the income rider and one without. This will give you access to a lump sum and also a higher income payout on the other. It's not uncommon as people approach retirement to have several annuities. The bottom line is that at some point you will likely want a guaranteed income for life. An income rider can give you peace of mind and assure you that you will not outlive your money. This can be a huge relief to retirees who don't have the ability to produce additional income. Wrap up or the Prelude - Summary: So what is this all about? In a word, it's HAPPINESS Retirement happiness seems to be the goal for most people, but what does that mean to you? What is the purpose of saving all this money, maybe even sacrificing while are you putting away your money for later if you don't have a plan? Are you rolling the dice? Are you hoping it will all turn out? Hope is NOT a strategy. Do you want to be happy during in retirement? What if I told you it's not that hard, it's not as painful as you may think to put a well-designed plan into action. In fact, it's relief, a burden lifted, and peace of mind. Did you know that 91% of those who have a plan have a better chance of lifelong happiness? In fact, there are even researchers who study lifelong happiness. The research went on further and depicted those who have a steady paycheck tend to be happier in retirement versus those that have varying incomes. In 2012 Time Magazine came out with an article titled – Lifetime Income Stream, Key to Happiness. The cushioning effect of lifetime income brings in a satisfaction and happiness in life. Those that have annuitized income tend to be most happy. Here's a question. Answer out loud…Do you want to be happy or unhappy? Seriously, Do you want to be happy or unhappy? I hope you yelled HAPPY! Let me refer back to the Wall Street Journal article that said the SECRET to happiness in retirement are: Good Friends Good Neighbors And a Fixed annuity with Lifetime Income. It went on and listed 7 keys points to a lifetime of happiness: Value your time Think ahead Expect less Pick your neighbors Work at retirement Invest in friendship BUY YOURSELF INCOME Do you want freedom? Get a steady paycheck. Almost every conversation amongst retirees without a guaranteed paycheck is wondering how long will their money last? I cannot stress enough the need to guarantee your retirement income. Did you know that those with a guaranteed income that they can't outlive, actually live longer? Seems no one wants to leave behind a steady paycheck. I recently read a thought-provoking study containing evidence by both The Urban Institute and The Center on Society and Health[1], about how income and longevity play into a person's overall happiness. The higher a person's income, the longer, happier, and healthier their lives will be. Higher income = longer lives. You all might be thinking, "Is it really as simple as that?" Well, check this out: "The greater one's income, the lower one's likelihood of disease and premature death. Studies show that Americans at all income levels are less healthy than those with incomes higher than their own. Not only is income (the earnings and other money acquired each year) associated with better health, but wealth (net worth and assets) affects health as well. Retirees don't live on ASSETS, they live on INCOME! Your assets can be lost, they can be stolen, swindled, sued, divorced, or decimated in a market crash. The ULTIMATE success of your retirement is not about assets. It is all about INCOME! Time to plan? Many people say they don't have time to plan. Yet they spend 4 hours a day watching TV. They spend more time planning a vacation which lasts a week or two then for planning for the longest vacation of their life, retirement. Some think they can just wing it, but that doesn't work. There is too much uncertainty! Longevity can put a tremendous amount of strain on your investments. A Hartford study called the Hartford Retirement and Investment Study in 2009. In it, they found that many people just don't like to plan. They found that 1 in 2 Americans say that planning is too difficult. 35% said they don't want to spend any more time on financial planning. They also found that those that do plan for retirement income have 3 times more likely to be confident that they will have sufficient income during retirement. Nearly 1/3 of those that planned said they were VERY confident about their retirement. Why don't we plan? Some have good intentions but never get to it. The weeks, months and years go by and suddenly the day of retirement is here. In the same study, they found that the volatility of the market especially after 2008 has made many feel like it's hopeless. Many are still recovering from 2008 and 2009. It's depressing. Optimism is in decline! Many have given up hope that they will ever be able to leave their employment and have adequate income. There is also the likelihood that the huge burden is on you. As we discussed, 100% of the responsibility is on you, if you don't have a pension and the pension is all but history. The 401k has replaced the pension and how it performs and the decisions you make are squarely on your shoulders. However, any success you will have in retirement will begin with planning. And you know what? It's not that difficult, but you'll never know unless you plan! How would you feel if you knew you had a paycheck for life? One that you could never outlive… Peace Comfort Satisfaction Worry-free You may be fortunate to have plenty of assets to produce all the income you'll need. The only thing that could throw a wrench in your plans is if you LOSE money. Protecting your assets that you can never replace is imperative, even if you have plenty of income. No matter what you need to do, planning will give you peace of mind. It will give you the confidence you need to enjoy your retirement. Do you know what a “just in case retirement is?” When we are working we have all kinds of dreams when they retire. Join the country club, buy an RV, travel, go on cruise see the grandchildren, buy a boat, but they never get around to it. Why? “Just in case”, “just in this”, “just in case that”. They live a Just In Case Retirement. They live a basic and maybe even sub-standard life and leave all their money to their kids. Then you know what the kids do? They go and buy the boat, go on a cruise, and join the country club and have fun spending your money. There isn't anything wrong with leaving your kids money, but there is a new thought process that now wonders “what leaving a bunch of money might do TO their children rather than FOR their children.” Here's a good question for you to think about. If you could look down on your children 20 years after your passing, what must happen with your assets in order for you to be happy with your planning? How about 100 years? How do you keep your net worth from poisoning their lives? What is the purpose of your wealth? Do they know what to do with the money? How do you provide tools for your kids rather than toys? How do you keep it protected from creditors? Will the date of your death be the date of your children's retirement? This can all be addressed with proper planning. Now this series of podcasts has revolved around a guaranteed income for life. The annuity being the best way to accomplish this as only annuity companies can guarantee your income no matter how long you live. As we discussed there are 3 different types of annuities. Fixed, Variable, and Indexed. I would be less than honest if I didn't say I had by bias towards one flavor over another. When you lay out all the pros and cons, features and benefits of each one I think it will be easy for you too to find the one that works best for you. There are latterly hundreds of annuities, each with a slightly different emphasis. There is no way you can research every one of these on your own. It's time for some help. We have resources available to us to crunch the mounds of data into a few that might work best for you based on YOUR goals for retirement. Who knows if this is a good way for you to go, but I'd say, it's at least worth exploring. If you have plenty of assets, plenty of income, no need to protect your assets from risk, no issues with passing assets to your heirs, and are comfortable with where your funds are, then this probably isn't a good fit for you. However, if you are wondering where your income will come from, how long it will last, worried about the risk of loss, like having a plan for your future, you might want to contact us and see if any this makes any sense at all. There is no need to try to cram a square peg into a round hole. If it doesn't fit, let me be the first to tell you. Finally, I've tried to give a talk in facts, in Math and Economics. This isn't conjecture or speculation. There are some tried and true principals. There is real scientific evidence as to what produces a happy retirement. Let's talk about the facts, the math and economics and even the science behind designing a retirement for you. That is the only way you'll ever have a peaceful retirement and a paycheck for life. That's it for now...keep educated, keep informed, and be wise!   Acknowledgement – There are many who have written and contributed over the years to this report. Tom Hegna being one innovative thinkers that I really appreciate. He wrote a book titled, “Paychecks and Playchecks” which is full of helpful content. Also, the Met Life Survey and other studies and articles from the various sources noted herein.

Fasten your seatbelts, keep your arms inside the car at all times, and hang on! Author, TV personality and retirement guru Tom Hegna, takes us on a fast and wild ride... Listen as Tom shares his wisdom on... Why words, language, questions, and stories are the key to selling... How to use seminar selling to overcome prospects' objections before you're in a sales meeting... Breaking sales down to the absurdly simple... How to persevere through the ups and downs in business (and guarantee that you move higher with every cycle)... The one word that drives Tom's social media success... Timeline 00:13 Steve introduces Tom Hegna. 00:33 Tom gives us his background in quick-fire bullet points and tells us exactly what he does: advises people how to “Optimally Retire”. 02:40 Tom talks about life and how he gets over the obstacles that that get thrown at him. 04:17 Tom explains how the life insurance business is about “Words, Questions & Stories” and how to make 50K-300K per year. 06:18 Tom tells us why he loves Seminar Selling, Referrals and Social Media all while being authentic. 10:06 Steve agrees with the importance of both Seminar Selling and Authenticity. 11:36 Tom actually doesn't sell insurance, he creates buyers. 13:56 Tom tells us what he's got lined up for the future. Teaming up with like-minded people and companies. 15:23 Tom tells us how best to get in touch with him. Mentioned in this episode: Book: Paychecks and Playchecks www.tomhegna.com

With the uncertainty of social security and pensions becoming a thing of the past, retirement income planning has to be a top priority for those looking forward to retirement. Join Prism Insurance Agency with our guest to discuss the changes that have occurred over the past twenty years and the rules that we face planning for retirement. We’ll share practical solutions to help you plan for a long, successful retirement. www.myprisminsurance.com/ www.youtube.com/user/PrismInsuranceAgency www.linkedin.com/company/prism-insurance-agency www.twitter.com/prismins www.facebook.com/PrismIns/ http://www.myprisminsurance.com/life/

What's our late fee? Major and Lise are back to apply a smooth layer to 2017. This week the ladies talk folks aiming to lose their jobs on New Year's Eve, Mariah Don't Care-y at all, Drake is for everybody, The King of Misogynoir came for our Asian baes, our stories on the silverscreens, and the Golden Globes were bad, boujee and very Black. For Let's Talk About It Sis, it is so hard to say goodbye to the Obamas...and you can't make us! A inspirational teacher gets our love offering, and Lise is willing to wait for Atlanta to travel to a galaxy far, far away. Major spotlights an aspiring librarian and a Nashville native who we won't let be a Hidden Figure.  Love our new intro? Follow the producer on Soundcloud @hitmanmemphis Listen to this episode and others on The Nashville Winner's Circle's Best Blog of 2016 www.nashvillesocialbutterfly.com - - - -  Follow us @toycpodcast on Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat  Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/toycpodcast Email us at toycpodcast@gmail.com Archives at www.toycpodcast.libsyn.com  - - - - Nashville Happenings:  -12/17  Paychecks and Playchecks by @knowledgebanknashville at American Baptist College