Plan With The Tax Man

Ever wonder what other people talk about with their financial advisors? Well, we're going to discuss that this week here on the podcast, from a new survey of nearly 400 experienced advisors and what they see in their offices, and we're going to share that with Tony and see how that relates to and what he thinks about it, compared to his practice.   Important Links: Website: http://www.yourplanningpros.com Call: 844-707-7381   ----more---- Transcript:    Speaker 1: Ever wonder what other people talk about with their financial advisors? Well, we're going to discuss that this week here on the podcast, from a new survey of nearly 400 experienced advisors and what they see in their offices, and we're going to share that with Tony and see how that relates to and what he thinks about it, compared to his practice. Let's get into it here on Plan With The Tax Man. Hey, everybody, welcome into the podcast. Thanks for hanging out with Tony Mauro and myself, as we talk investing, finance, and retirement, and we're going to break down this new survey. Well, it's not new. It actually came out December of '24, Tony, but we're going to run through this from Financial Advisor Magazine. So they did this interesting survey, so I'm going to get your thoughts on this, and we'll break down some data and see what you think. How you doing, bud?   Tony Mauro: I've been doing good.   Speaker 1: Yeah?   Tony Mauro: Spring is here   Speaker 1: Yeah, baby,   Tony Mauro: As we're recording this, it's staying light a little longer. It's kind of nice.   Speaker 1: Yeah. I know, right? So, everybody's just constantly with the time change thing, "Keep it. Don't keep it. Keep it. Don't keep it." All I know is seven o'clock, it's still light outside, and I'm happy.   Tony Mauro: That's right. I like it. Yeah.   Speaker 1: And you and I were just chatting at the time we're taping this podcast. In my neck of the woods, it is quite warm today, so I am totally digging it, so hope everybody has a good day and a good week. And don't forget to subscribe to us on whatever podcasting app you like using, by the way. Apple or Spotify or whatever, you can just simply type in Plan With the Tax Man in the app, or of course you can find the information at yourplanningpros.com. All right, Tony. Are you familiar with Financial Advisor Magazine?   Tony Mauro: I read it regularly, so yeah, I'm familiar.   Speaker 1: Okay. Well, they've got this new survey in there, like I was saying earlier in the tease there. 400 experienced advisors revealed biggest concerns, challenges, things of that nature from their clients, and everybody had an average of 20 plus years in business, so these are folks that have been around for a little while, so they've seen some ups and downs, so I'm going to give you some data here. Let's just talk through it a little bit. So seeking out a financial professional. Advisors in the survey said about 52% of their clients are looking for financial advice when it comes to retirement strategies. The other 34%, I know that's not totally 100, but 34% said they were just looking for someone to build wealth with. So, does those numbers strike you as interesting at all?   Tony Mauro: For us, I'd say our numbers are a little more skewed towards most of our clients are coming to us for retirement planning. Whether they're in the accumulation stage, that would be the accumulation stage, but I mean, the distribution stage, obviously, they're already there, but most of our clients, I mean, 34% sounds high for just-   Speaker 1: For just for wealth, yeah.   Tony Mauro: ... Building wealth. We're just asking them, "Well, okay. If you want to build wealth, and the next question is for what?" Then, of course they always say retirement, so maybe I'm just beating that a little wrong.   Speaker 1: Right, right. Well, now, to be fair, this is a wide range of ages, so it's not just retirees only that answered these questions, so it could be some younger folks too, right? So, that would make sense if you're in your thirties or forties, and you're just looking for wealth building, but I think if you find yourself in a position where, even if you're in your forties or even in your early fifties, if you're not starting to feel the need to discuss other things than just the wealth building, are you maybe working with the right person, right?   Tony Mauro: That's correct, because as you get, especially in the forties and, of course, in the fifties, there's other questions about the end game, which is retirement, but there's many, many other things that we tend to ask them and they started thinking about some of these stuff, anything from taking social security, to healthcare costs, to long-term care costs, where they want to be and how do they feel about it? There is ways to protect yourself and do things, and then as long as we give them that information and we feel like we help them understand for some of these upcoming big decisions they've got to make.   Speaker 1: Yeah, like RMDs, right? I mean, they'll be coming down the pike. What are you going to do with them? What does it do to your taxable situation? All those little things that we talk about often here on the program, so interesting that, again, 52%, about half the people surveyed, were looking for someone with help for retirement planning, which is good. I think maybe those numbers should be a little bit higher, but again, depends on the age of the person answering. Now, we often hear about people are woefully under-prepared for their future life, their elderly selves, but in the survey, over half of the advisors said the average client they see has around $760,000 saved for retirement, so three quarters of a million bucks, that's not chump change, so that's kind of encouraging to hear that there's over half the people that come in to see financial pros like yourself, Tony, are in pretty good shape.   Tony Mauro: Yeah, they are. I mean, for us, I would say our assets average is probably around that, but I would say it's a little bit skewed on the top end, because some of our clients end up having a lot more than that. Normally though, if you take the bulk of our clients, have assets well below that. Mostly what we're seeing, again, we're here in Iowa, but anywhere from $100,000 to $400,000, $500,000 is what they have saved at the time we end up talking about it, but we are generating a lot of interest from young people that really don't have much, and they're just starting out in that wealth building stage, and we don't turn them away. We don't have minimums that we require for assets. We just try to set the expectations of, your planning is going to be a little different than somebody that might come, that has more, one, because of the complexity, and two, because of just that you don't need that much hands-on advice.   Speaker 1: And every demographic. I mean, there's different cities, different demographics, but I think just in general it's good to see that on average, again, people are a little bit better, in pretty good shape, and I think that's what winds up happening often, Tony, when people do come in to see financial pros like yourself, most of them come in, going, "I don't know if I have enough," or "I don't know if I can retire." Then, when the numbers are ran, more times than not, and I talk to advisors all across the country, hundreds of them, and they all say the same thing. More times than not, people are in better shape than they realize.   Tony Mauro: I think so. Depending on their situation, we find that too, when we start running the numbers is, depending on what your goals are, as long as they're not outlandish-   Speaker 1: Right, right.   Tony Mauro: ... You're better off than you think, especially when you put the numbers to it and explain it to them, because generally, nobody does. If they want to do more, then that's when the planning comes in.   Speaker 1: And a lot of people, I do think they feel like, "Well, I got to get to the million." We've talked about that millions of times, as it is, but depending on what your situation is, as a couple, maybe somebody's got a pension, maybe you've got a good numbers in social security, maybe a million doesn't need to happen. Maybe $700,000 does get it done or $500,000 or whatever, but on average, I think it's still pretty good encouraging to see that people's asset totals are a little bit better than I would've thought, so that's nice to see. Top concerns, check this out. Surveyed advisors say their top concern, no surprise here, Tony, 38% outliving their assets. That's always the top dog, right?   Tony Mauro: For us, yeah. Well, actually, for us, it's the second one here, the reliable income streams.   Speaker 1: Oh, really?   Tony Mauro: Yeah. Just for us. Then, it's outliving the assets, but those two are the top two by far.   Speaker 1: Well, it was 38% for outliving their assets. 31%, right? So, pretty close for the reliable income streams. I mean, they kind of go hand in hand, right?   Tony Mauro: They do, because whether you're young or in your forties or fifties, that's the most important thing, because it's the end game of, do you want to spend every cent of your retirement income? And if so, that's a crapshoot a little bit because, depending on what you do, you could outlive them, and then you could end up with not a whole lot, but most of our retirees want to make sure that their assets, they've worked so hard to accumulate, that they can get a reasonable income stream from them, and then it goes hand in hand with so they don't outlive their assets, because they want to live off the income mostly.   Speaker 1: Well, think about, we were just talking about the number, the pot of money, the $760,000 or the million or whatever you put your number at, and the big bucket pot is not as important as the income streams, right?   Tony Mauro: That's correct.   Speaker 1: So again, $500,000 might get it done if the income streams are there that you need, so if you're both got a pension, maybe both got good social security or something like that, then you probably don't need as much, again, back to that point.   Tony Mauro: Back to that point of it all working it together, which comes back to the financial plan and knowing what those numbers are. My wife just got her, here in Iowa they have IPERS, so guess it's the government funded pension, which she's been in for a long time. I went and ran my own numbers again the other day, just about, here's the number that she's going to have that's going to come in when she's X age, and then what I wanted to know was, "Well, I want the number that we both can't outlive," and then I factored that in with social security and what else we have and say, "Okay." I mean, it was just a quick math, because I do it all the time. We're still in good shape.   Speaker 1: Nice, nice.   Tony Mauro: We're going to hit our goals.   Speaker 1: Nice.   Tony Mauro: So, that's what the planning is all about, but most people don't have even that starting point, because they've never taken the time to figure it out, and I think that's where the planner can help out a lot.   Speaker 1: Yeah, I would agree. Yeah, definitely. Now, the next one on here, Tony, pretty interesting. Again, keep in mind this survey was done December of '24, but future stock market downturns was only 12.5% as a concern. Now, today, if that was done this week, that we're taping this podcast, it might be a little different; however, I do want to bring up at the time we're talking right this second, Tony, the market's been about down about 10%. You and I were just chatting about that at the time we're taping this podcast, but at the time, I just pulled it up while we're chatting, it's up right now 1% today on the news that the inflation numbers were a little bit better than expected.   They came in a little bit better, and it's funny because I was looking at the news articles. Just type in S&P 500, and you get the immediate news responses, right? And this morning it was all the sky is falling doom and gloom. Here, this afternoon, and this is just after one o'clock. We're taping this eastern time, and the inflation numbers came out, and now all the news stories are, "Outlook, much better. Market wraps. Three things that could spark a quick recovery." All the news is positive, so you got to be really careful with that stuff, right? Because they're just in it to kind of capitalize on whatever the thing at that moment happens to be.   Tony Mauro: It is. With the news, as fast as it comes out, that's exactly what it is. Really, a lot of this, of course, we try to explain to our clients, take the long-term view. This is very short-term.   Speaker 1: Yeah. 10% is a normal correction. If that's all it winds up being, right? That's not a big deal in the grand scheme, right?   Tony Mauro: It is, and I just sent out, basically, a chart that I just got out of one of the research magazines, and you've probably seen them before, but I just sent it out to all of our clients, just the old cost of timing the market, and they have a chart, January of 3 to now, "You just invested $10,000 and just left it in a S&P 500 ETF. You would have $64,000, and now if you missed the 60 best days in all those 10 years, you would actually have lost money and only have $4,205," so-   Speaker 1: It is a long-term proposition, right?   Tony Mauro: It's a long-term proposition. You miss the 10 best days, and you only have $29,000, so you can't afford to try to say, "The market's coming to an end. Let's get out. Let's go all to cash." In my opinion. We tend to try to keep clients focused on that long-term goal, because short-term Fluctuations are just part of it.   Speaker 1: Yeah. Not to get too political or get off on a tazza, but I feel like sometimes we kind of give people a little bit of both sides of the coin. I was just watching somebody talking, who typically they're slant when they're interviewing or they're asking questions is typically right leaning, but they decided to kind of jump on the market downturn and said, "Hey, listen. With a lot of the layoffs that are happening in the government, people are obviously concerned about retirement, and now the market's been falling. It's kind of hard to factor in, kind of feel confident that you could even retire."   They took it from that angle for people being laid off, and it just occurred to me, through all the years of talking with you, and it's like if people being laid off today are worried about the stock market, like this week, they probably didn't have a good strategy in place, because typically your market monies are your later monies, right? So, if you're thinking about early retirement, and this was the conversation piece, was the early retirement buyout, should that be a factor, Tony? Should the market monies be a factor if you're thinking about an early retirement buyout? Because it's still going to be later money. God willing, you're going to be retired for 20 or 30 years, right?   Tony Mauro: It is, and I think you have to keep that retirement type money in that mindset. There's a lot of people. Obviously, it's getting a lot of news in the federal government.   Speaker 1: Sure, and nobody likes it when it goes down. I get it. Right.   Tony Mauro: And nobody likes to see people in masse losing their jobs, let alone in the private sector, but the bad part is it's part of life, and we have to kind of wait and see how all this is going to shake out. It's kind of only been going on for, what? 2, 3 months here?   Speaker 1: 30, 40 days. Yeah.   Tony Mauro: Yeah, and so we just have to kind of wait and see, and hopefully, at the government level, if things get to a point, they've got the mechanisms in place to help turn it around. That's what they're all they're, supposed to be doing.   Speaker 1: Right, and I guess my stance on that was, really my question more was I think people, sometimes it's when we have downturns, we immediately focus on the negative.   Tony Mauro: Oh, yeah.   Speaker 1: And again, it's a human reaction, because nobody likes to see it go down, but if you have a plan and a strategy in place, you do realize that these are your later monies. It's a little easier not to completely freak out, right? At least hopefully, and again, 10% is a normal correction. Now, we don't know if this is the end. We don't know if it'll continue to drop or not at the time we're taping this, but it's just simply pump the brakes a little bit and realize that we were super over-weighted anyway, so some kind of correction was due anyhow.   Tony Mauro: It was, and you look at most individual company stocks, valuations were really high.   Speaker 1: They're all high, all the PEIs are high.   Tony Mauro: Oh, boy.   Speaker 1: And tech, really. Tech was really bad.   Tony Mauro: Really bad, and if you're in mutual funds, and that's their objective to go buy those, they're buying these at high valuations, and all this stuff kind of comes into play. But I agree with you. I think that this is all the more reason to have a plan, number one, and keep an eye on it, mark, watch it, and work with your advisor.   Speaker 1: Sure. Yeah. If you need to de-risk a little bit, hey, nothing wrong with that, right?   Tony Mauro: Yeah, no.   Speaker 1: But we've also been saying that for a while now. I mean, you're talking about the S&P. That's usually the average. That's the index that people cut and your industry use. The all time, 52-week high was at 6,100, and it's at 56 and some change right now. So, again, it's only about 500 points off of that. So again, not a massive downturn, but it's all about perspective and maybe peeling some risk off, which again, a lot of advisors have been saying for a while now, "Hey, the market's been up 22 plus percent the last number of years. Maybe it's time to take a little bit off the top there, just to kind of think about that."   Tony Mauro: Right.   Speaker 1: So, anyway, I won't beat that horse any longer. We'll move on. Healthcare costs was only an 8.5% as a top client concern, Tony. 8.5% on a healthcare cost; however, the advisors, themselves, feel like it should be more like 50% of their perspective client base should be thinking about healthcare costs. What do you think about that?   Tony Mauro: I think, for me, most of our clients that we work with are really concerned about healthcare costs and what it's going to be when they retire, and I think many clients, my older clients are starting and they think about it in their fifties, but I think even the young, which are not thinking about it, and they're still in the accumulation stage, should at least make that part of their plan as that boogie man, so to speak, is out there, from what we know today and make sure that you're factoring that in. But yeah, some of these costs are, as we always say, nothing goes down, but it seems like healthcare costs, and of course cost of education seem to go up way more.   Speaker 1: They always stay up. Yeah.   Tony Mauro: And so, I think it's a big concern, because you got to factor that in when you get off your company's healthcare plan or whatever you've got, and you've got to make it work. It seems like most of these people, like my dad included, who's now 83, boy, he uses the healthcare system a lot, because he's constantly at the doctor.   Speaker 1: For sure, and if you're not having the conversation, only eight and a half percent find it to be a top concern, then you could be setting yourself up for some heartache a little later on when an incident does happen, or if not to you, to your spouse, right? Because that's oftentimes what happens when we talk with advisors, is they don't get a plan together, especially for long-term care. One half of the relationship gets nailed with it, and the other half winds up suffering at the end, right? So got to have a strategy. You at least got to be talking about it. I know it's no fun.   Tony Mauro: At least talking. Yeah.   Speaker 1: Yeah. I know it's no fun, but you at least got to start putting some things together in that grouping. One more thing here, and then we'll wrap it up this week on the podcast for this, Tony, but working in retirement. According to the survey, excuse me, an average of 63% of clients surveyed that are age 55 or older, plan to work beyond age 65. They plan to work into their seventies. Interesting, right? So, 63%, more than half, want to work or are going to work past 70.   Now, the reasons are not necessarily because they were panicked about the market, because again, this was done last year, the December of last year, but I think there was two main things that stuck out. They felt like they didn't know if they had enough to totally feel comfortable retiring. 48% of those clients felt that their savings maybe weren't quite enough to live on, and the other 40% said, "Well, they were doing it for the health insurance," to our point a second ago. So this is where, again, a plan and the strategy's got to come into play, get the numbers ran, so you can even find out where you stand.   Tony Mauro: Yeah, because if you don't, then you are really just grasping at straws there, and you're just hoping that it works out.   Speaker 1: And you want to keep working, but what if your body goes new?   Tony Mauro: Yeah, your body goes new. And then, I would say, for us, probably on average, our percentage of clients, 55 to 65 that say they want to work for us, I would say it's probably around 35, 40%, but our clients that are 65 and older, our average is well above this 30% that are actually still working. Ours is probably closer to about 45%, but it's because they want to. They have a plan.   Speaker 1: Which is totally great, yeah.   Tony Mauro: And they just want to get out of the house.   Speaker 1: Sure.   Tony Mauro: So, they actually love it. They don't have to work for the money. They just want to do something and just stay involved in the world a little bit.   Speaker 1: Right, and I think that's where we want to be, right? That's where we'd like to be, having that work optional decision, but I think finding out that a lot of people are doing it for the health insurance coverage, certainly a little daunting there to think about, or they just don't know that their numbers are good enough to retire, like we started out with.   Tony Mauro: Yeah. I always wonder, when I see an older retiree working somewhere, if they're there because they want to or they have to, especially if they're at somewhere where you'd see, I don't know, maybe an extreme example in maybe the fast food industry.   Speaker 1: More physically demanding job? Yeah.   Tony Mauro: Yeah, yeah. More physically demanding. It's like maybe you just always wanted to do this, and just have no stress and just wanted to get out of the house, or are you really working because you have to?   Speaker 1: Now, that's an interesting point. Now, I've got a friend of mine who retired from a very stressful, big corporate position, managing a lot of people, so on and so forth, and he took a job at a supermarket, stocking the shelves, right? Literally, goes in, six o'clock in the morning, something like that. Works for four hours a day. They grab the baskets of stuff he needs to refill, and he goes out and stocks the shelves, and he said, "Dude, I am so happy. I don't have to manage anyone. No one's reporting to me. I know what I'm supposed to do. They trust me to just grab my stuff and do it."   I said, "But it sounds like such a," sometimes we have this stigma. It's like, "Oh. He must be working stocking shelves because he has to, because he's in his late sixties."   Tony Mauro: Right, right.   Speaker 1: And it's like, no, he's doing it because it gets him out of the house. He's like, "For me, the menial tasks helps me free my mind up," because he didn't have to think. He just does, so everybody's got their thing, right? It's like, don't judge somebody, just because you see them doing something.   Tony Mauro: Absolutely not, yeah. That's why I always want to ask them, because I don't want to judge them, but from what I hear from our clients, those types of work, which is most of the clients that I have, that's what they do is that kind of stuff. It is just menial stuff, because the one on one thing is I don't want a lot of pressure, I don't want to have to think.   Speaker 1: Right.   Tony Mauro: I just want to get out, do something, feel like I'm contributing, and talk to people.   Speaker 1: Your body gets to move. He gets to talk to people. Yeah.   Tony Mauro: And they enjoy it. The same type of retiree, he drives for the shuttle at my car dealer, and he absolutely loves it. He's like 78. He works for about five hours a day. He drives people around and talks to them, and he goes home. He loves it.   Speaker 1: No stress, no fuss, no muss, right?   Tony Mauro: Nope, nope.   Speaker 1: So yeah, so interesting stuff in today's conversation around this survey done from Financial Advisor Magazine. We'll put a link into it in the show descriptions if you'd like to check it out for yourself. That way, you can read the online survey as well, but at the end of the day, Tony, you just got to see what it is that you have and what it is that you need for your situation, because everybody's situation is different. Tony's is different than mine, and mine's different than yours, and so on and so forth, right? So, get yourself onto the calendar folks. Have a conversation with Tony at Yourplanningpros.com. That is Yourplanningpros.com. He's got more than 30 years of experience helping folks. He's a CPA, CFP, and an EA. He's got all the credentials there. So if you've got some questions, reach out to him and get started today. Don't forget to subscribe to us on Plan With the Taxman. I know we went a little long this week. Thank you for your time, folks. We always appreciate it. Tony, my friend, have yourself a great week.   Tony Mauro: All right. We'll see you next time. Thanks.   Speaker 1: Yes, sir. We'll see you next time here on the podcast. We'll catch you later here on Plan With the Tax Man with Tony Mauro.   Securities offered through Avantax Investment Services SM, member FINRA, SIPC. Investment advisory services offered through Avantax Advisory Services. Insurance services offered through an Avantax affiliated insurance agency. Investment strategies discussed in this episode may not be suitable for all investors. Please consult with a financial professional.

If you’ve spent years successfully managing your own investments, do you really need a financial advisor? That’s the question Bob, one of our listeners, sent in. He’s got an MBA, knows the markets well, and has always handled his portfolio solo. So, is working with an advisor just an extra expense, or could it actually add real value? In this episode, we break down when and why even experienced investors might benefit from professional guidance and when they’re probably fine on their own.   Important Links: Website: http://www.yourplanningpros.com Call: 844-707-7381   ----more---- Transcript:    Speaker 1: If you've spent years successfully managing your own investments, do you really need a financial advisor? That's a question that one of our listeners sent in, and it works really well, because earlier this month, we had a similar question, but from a business owner's standpoint. So let's tackle it now from the other side and see if we can help you break it down here on Plan With The Tax Man.   Hey everybody, welcome to the podcast. Thanks for hanging out with Tony and myself as we talk investing, finance and retirement. Of course, Tony here is the star of the show, if you will. He's the CPA and the CFP, he's the big kahuna. He's an EA with 30-plus years of experience helping folks get to and through retirement. And Tony, we had an email question that came into the website, yourplanningpros.com, you get lots of emails for things, and this one was based off the podcast. But either way, it was still interesting this month, so we tackled really two of them this month, in the month of February, thinking about the business owner's standpoint from our last episode for a question that had come in about, hey, I've built a nice business, but how do I make a retirement plan out of that? So if folks didn't check that out, feel free to go check out that prior episode, Plan With The Tax Man, on whatever app you like using. You can also find that information on his website at yourplanningpros.com.   And this week, we're going to do a similar question, but this is from Bob, and it's more the DIY, just do the normal thing retirement planning yourself. So Bob's question, Tony, says, "I have an MBA and I understand investments well. I've always handled my portfolio myself instead of having professional help, and I've done pretty good at it, if I'm being honest. So in your honest opinion," he says, "Is there really any reason for someone like me to work with someone like you, an advisor?" So we get a lot of this, and the DIY movement's been very popular the last couple of years.   Tony Mauro: It has, yeah.   Speaker 1: And so, it's certainly a fair question, because a lot of people definitely have taken this route. And Tony, I'll set you up this way, I'll let you just jump right in and tackle it how you want to with his question. But to me, the biggest piece is, is it the accumulation phase he's been working on or the distribution phase? Because it sounds like the accumulation, just based on this question, and that is a whole lot easier, I think, than the preservation, distribution, AKA the retirement phase. But anyway, what do you think?   Tony Mauro: The honesty is it depends, because if he truly is savvy enough that he thinks he is and basically doesn't have a lot of worries about what he's doing and how he's progressing and he feels good about it, we would tell him, "Hey, look," if we were sitting... What we do, the first phase of our whole planning process is we sit the client down and have them basically answer 10 extremely easy questions and we score it, and if they don't, based on their own responses, show some anxiety or worry or need for help, I tell them, "I don't really know why you're here in this meeting because it looks like you've got it under control." So then you have a conversation from there, "Tell me why you are here," and let it go from there.   But I think that where we can lend value, even in the accumulation phase... Because I try to convince people right off the bat, it's not about what investments or whatnot we pick, it's basically about setting a plan, let's make sure all the bases are covered, whether it's accumulating to a certain amount, your estate plan, making sure we're doing it with some tax efficiency, whatnot, and then let's check in regularly and let's make sure that this plan's still on track, and that's really what you're paying for. The investments we choose, we tell them, "Look, if you want to go choose your own, you go ahead. You'll just pay us a fee, just like you would your attorney." If you want us to help you manage that a little bit and you want to give us an asset-based management fee, we do it, but it's fee-only, no matter what. And so, we leave it to the client.   So I do think there's some benefit to a good financial advisor, but you have to understand as a client, any financial advisor that's worth their salt wants to do more than just give you ideas for investments.   Speaker 1: And so, let's look at it from that standpoint, Tony, because yeah, Bob sounds like a very smart gentleman, sounds as though he's able to handle things himself just fine, and many people are in that same boat, and that's great if you're thinking about one section of your finances, your money. So I want to look at it from a couple of different places to give Bob some reference. So the questionnaire and the thing you talked about, that's fantastic, helping people break it down. Is it just the portfolio? Because that's what he mentions, the portfolio. Okay, fine, you've got investment skills, you've done well managing your portfolio, but what about all the other pieces, Tony? So the stuff that we talk about here on the show quite often that maybe a lot of DIY people, A, don't consider, or B, really have much knowledge in or even thought about, like estate planning, just that piece of it, or tax efficiency, retirement income, any of those pieces. Wherever you want to go next, just jump in there. But I feel like those are a lot of things you go, whoa, I didn't even think about that.   Tony Mauro: All those things make sense as far as us as advisors being able to help with. And I think a lot of other things too, as far as somebody brings us their portfolio and they're all chest out and pumped up about look how good I did, and we try to run it through some computer models, just to maybe address some of their risks that they didn't think about maybe. It might be they're overly concentrated in a few securities that doesn't really line up with their overall goal or risk assessment. And then, most of the time, the people that do it themselves generally are trying to time markets to an extent.   Speaker 1: Or match the market, right, they're trying-   Tony Mauro: Or match.   Speaker 1: Yeah, I got 22% in the last two years, so I want to make sure I get that 22%, but your risk exposure is awful high.   Tony Mauro: It's awful high. So we always ask them, "In order to get that, what did you have to do, what did you have to risk to get that, and is that really truly what you want?" And then, the other thing is, let's take taxes into that. If you're investing inefficiently, are taxes knocking down your returns? So a lot of it goes into that, especially on the technical side. But let's say he passes all that and he still thinks he's in good shape and we say, "You know what? You are." And then it's up to the client to say, "Am I going to get some real value out of working with this guy or gal?" And hopefully, it's something that they can definitely do and be better off with us than without us.   Speaker 1: Yeah. And as a CPA, I would imagine, Tony, that one of the things, if the DIYers... Again, accumulating your wealth is a little bit easier nowadays, technology is very helpful, there's a lot of just some good stuff out there. Let's be honest, we've had basically a 16-year bull run. Yeah, we've had a couple of blips through the... But we haven't had a prolonged downturn since '08/09, right?   Tony Mauro: Correct.   Speaker 1: Not a long one, no more than a couple of months. The COVID thing was pretty short-lived, it was a little down in 2021, 2020, obviously, shortly there after COVID as well, little blips here and there. But for the most part, we haven't had a prolonged downturn. But let me get back to the CPA point, from a CPA standpoint, if you're doing really well as a DIYer on the accumulation, have you thought about the tax advantages or disadvantages that you're just not aware of? Especially as you get closer to retirement, pulling your money out from what income sources and what that does to your income, and maybe that triggers IRMA, that's another one that people don't think about often. So there's all these little nuances that we're just not normally aware of.   Tony Mauro: Yes, that's true. And I think another big one that we hear a lot of clients talking to us about is they think that they are doing themselves a great favor by, they hear something on TV or the internet and they'll start pulling money out of their IRA and transferring it to a Roth or their 401(k) into the Roth conversion, but what they don't realize is it's much more tax efficient to just fill up your current tax bracket bucket and then postpone the rest until the next year, because you're needlessly costing yourself taxes when you could spread this out a little bit, and sometimes that can add up to large amounts of money.   Speaker 1: Oh, yeah. And we've talked about Roth conversions here, and I think we think they're a good idea, I don't want to speak for you again. But you've got to Roth it correctly, not just wholesale Rothing, but Rothing over time, for example.   Tony Mauro: Over time, yeah. Because I think a lot of people miss, and certainly outside the tax community, the tax efficiencies or inefficiencies that you can do in investing. Now, is it going to kill you? No. But why leave money on the table, so to speak, and give it to the government, when legally you may not have to?   Speaker 1: Yeah, for sure. All right, Bob, so here's another thought process for you to go through, to work on. Is this what you want to do in retirement? I think that would be another piece. Or even let me go one more, what about Mrs. Bob? Is this what she wants you to do in retirement, or does she have plans? So I think that's the other thing about the DIY side of things. It's great, we can do a lot of wealth accumulation a lot easier, Tony, than we used to could. But when it gets to the preservation phase, which is retirement, A, it's more complicated, B, do you want to spend your time doing that, or do you want to be with your grandkids and your spouse and fishing and golfing and whatever it is that's on your list?   Tony Mauro: And if you don't like it, and I mean really like it, you're going to end up putting it off, and then you're going to miss some things, both in the accumulation stage and definitely in the distribution stage. That's where, like you said before, it does get tricky, especially as you age. And then, you've got to think about long-term planning and some things there, and of course taking an income and distributing properly. And so, I always say it's two stages in life, like you said, it's accumulation, distribution, and each are vastly different.   Speaker 1: Yeah, for sure, totally different animals. And boy, the first time you miss your RMD, you're going to be real mad about that.   Tony Mauro: Real mad about that, and you're going to have to beg the IRS to forgive the penalty.   Speaker 1: Right. One of the other questions that we posed in the earlier podcast this month when we were talking about the business side was the succession plan. So I'll ask Bob, and people like Bob, the same question here, Tony, what is your succession plan? Now, by that, you say, "Well, what do you mean? I don't need a succession plan, I'm my own advisor." Yeah, but you're going to die, we're all going to die, and if you pass away first, which statistically is the case, and again, Mrs. Bob, she might not want to do any of this, she might not have any interest whatsoever, so what is your succession plan for having her taken care of, or vice versa, whatever?   Tony Mauro: Yeah, vice versa. And even if you have this all laid out, whether it's on the computer or a life book, she may not have the same enthusiasm that you do with this and it's going to be difficult for her. I've had clients with this, the husband dies, the husband did it all. Most of the cases, the wife has no idea, not what's going on, but how to manage it and whatnot, nor do they want to. And so, I think that's where an advisor could certainly lend a lot of value in that case as well, and you want to start that relationship before something happens to you preferably, not after.   Speaker 1: Yeah. When you're grieving, it makes it easy to know, hey, when I'm gone, reach out to Tony and his team, they're going to help you.   Tony Mauro: Yeah.   Speaker 1: That kind of thing. Or whoever it might be, but that's the idea. So I'll wrap it up with this. So look, you started off by saying if you're just picking items in your portfolio. And it's still funny, because the term advisor is so loose now across different kinds of fields, many investors believe advisors do just that, Tony, that the only thing that they do is help them pick stocks. And so, what would you say to folks who think, well, I'm going to do it myself because I can pick my own stocks? Because as we've touched on, there's so much more to what you do than just that. But what's your final thoughts?   Tony Mauro: I think my final thoughts there is that I would challenge anybody out there to try to not only match but beat the S&P 500 over long periods of time, and/or match what professional advisors can do. Now, that term is loose,, yes, I'm an advisor, but I'm not an investment advisor out sitting in a mutual fund researching individual stocks and bonds all day.   Speaker 1: Right, not run a broker, right, yeah. And you're not day trading, right?   Tony Mauro: No, we're not doing that. I would challenge you though to see if you can match those things year in, year out, when they're sitting there, who have much more knowledge and access to information than we do as Joe Public. And so, I would say that I don't think you could do it, I really don't, I haven't met anybody yet that can do it over long periods of time. And so, the idea for having someone like us is to keep you on track and get you where you want to go outside of the investment portion of it. If you want to go choose your own investments, again, that's great, but I think you need somebody that deals with the planning portion, day in and day out, to keep you on track.   Speaker 1: Yeah. And think about a company like Vanguard, which is a very low-cost option for people who want to buy and do their own thing, they even talk about the value that advisors bring, they rounded about 3% annually. And they also talk about, from the behavioral analysis side, one of the big pieces that they even talk about that advisors bring to the table with working with folks is that behavioral modification, because we are our own worst enemy.   So Bob might be doing a great job, but what if, all of a sudden, he's been reading a while about some new tech thing or some new cyber coin or whatever, and all of a sudden, you want to risk too much? Having that sounding board is a great idea, not only for Bob, but for Mrs. Bob as well, because it could be like, hey, we're on two different pages when it comes to leaving money to the kids. Bob wants to balance his last check so that him and the Mrs. can spend it all and have a great time, but she wants to leave a bunch to the kids or whatever, or the grandkids. So it's all those other pieces that, I think, having that... Well, Tony, basically that sounding board, sometimes you're like a counselor as well as an advisor.   Tony Mauro: We are, and I can't mention how many times... I like to mention it to the clients who will call up and say, during the good times, "Well, we don't feel like we got as much return as we needed in the previous year," or something. Or the best one is a client or a prospect will say, "Well, I'm going to divide up my between you and another advisor, we're going to see who does the best." And I'd say, "We're not in that game." Not that we're not focused on returns, we are, but I like to tell clients, "Our job is to keep you grounded, especially when the bad news comes out." Because clients, it's inevitable, bad news starts coming out, the markets go down a little bit, they're calling, "Maybe we should go all to cash." And I said, "Based on what? Who said that? And then, when do we get back in? Who's going to tell us, the news?"   And so, just keeping them from blowing themselves up, which they don't really ever see, but I like to sit in the background and say, like you said, "The last, what, 15, 16 years, we kept you in the markets, when many times..." Pick the subject that came out, COVID was the big one, we've got to get out, the markets going to hell and we've got to go all to cash. And it's proven that that didn't need to be the case. We did take a little blip, but they're so far ahead of that now that it's crazy.   Speaker 1: Well, and look at the turmoil that we're in right now too. So we've got a new administration, they're doing things that have never been done before, whatever the side of the aisle you find yourself on, there's a lot... We're $6 trillion in a deficit, that's annual, so we're $35 trillion in debt, but we operate at a $6 trillion annual deficit. You can't run your house that way. If you were running your house, Tony, that every year, you were losing $60,000, let's say, you wouldn't survive real long, unless you're mega, mega rich. And the government's been operating like it's mega, mega rich, and it's not.   However, I digress, point being is that there's a lot of things happening, and the market is reacting fast. There's all this AI stuff, there's this new DeepSeek version of AI from China that says they can do it cheaper and less energy and so on and so forth. Then you've got the fact that tech markets are massively overweighted, and they have been for a number of years. It feels very much like there's a bubble, similar to '08/09 with the housing bubble, and we've got all this stuff happening, and to your point about the markets, people can be edgy and they can be like, "Well, I'm going to panic and jump out." Well, okay, well, if you're 40 years old, that's insane.   Tony Mauro: Yeah, that's absolutely insane.   Speaker 1: Because you've still got plenty of time. And maybe even if you're 55 years old, it's insane. But how do you know if you don't have a plan?   Tony Mauro: Yeah, you don't. I just had a client, he's 55, for example, we've done well, and basically, he watches too much TV. I always get the little hairs on the back of my neck stand up when he's calling, because he's calling now saying, "You know what? I want to be more aggressive. I really think that the markets are going to be booming." I'm like, "What? You're starting to get where I'm thinking maybe we should go a little bit of the opposite, not all, but as you get a little closer to retirement, let's give up some of that risk for more steady returns." And so, it's weird, because when people want to get in, generally, if you ever read anything about it, of course, that's the time to be a little bit spooked. And then, when everybody's euphoria or when the market is tumbling and the blood's in the water, that's obviously when you want to be going like gangbusters and putting money in. But that's short-term stuff. Really, the plan is to stay long-term-focused.   Speaker 1: Yeah, and that's a great point. The market's about the longevity in it, not jumping in and out and so on and so forth. And I get that it's been booming for a while and that's very enticing, so all that stuff we talked about, comes back to having that ear to lean into, "Hey, Tony, what do you think about this? Is this a good idea, bad idea? And could my portfolio handle this, or could it handle that?" And so on and so forth. "And what does that do to my retirement?" And so on and so forth. And then, we didn't even touch on long-term care, so that's another whole piece there, Bob.   So again, you may be doing a great job, but it also may be worthwhile to sit down with an advisor and have an hour conversation and say, "Hey, what are some things that could be missing?" To Tony's point, they can walk you through those steps. They can put you through a questionnaire and just see where you're at. You may be doing a great job, in which case, they're going to pat you on the back, shake your hand and send you on your way. But you may be shown some areas where there could be some improvement, or maybe you just, at some point, decide you just don't want to deal with all of it anymore.   Either way, if you've got some questions, you need some help, hopefully you enjoyed the content this week, we certainly appreciate it, reach out to Tony and his team at yourplanningpros.com. That's yourplanningpros.com. You can find all the information in the show links below of the episode, and you can find us on Apple or Spotify or whatever platform you like using. Just subscribe, the Plan With The Tax Man, with Tony Mauro, from Tax Doctor, Inc. Tony, thanks for hanging out and breaking it down, my friend.   Tony Mauro: All right. We'll see you next time.   Speaker 1: Always appreciate you. We'll catch you guys a little bit later on in the next month. We'll be back in March for more with Tony Mauro.   Securities offered through Avantax Investment Services SM, member FINRA, SIPC. Investment advisory services offered through Avantax Advisory Services. Insurance services offered through an Avantax affiliated insurance agency. Investment strategies discussed in this episode may not be suitable for all investors. Please consult with a financial professional.

You’ve built a successful business, but now the big question is, how do you turn that into a retirement plan? If you’re like many entrepreneurs, you’ve spent years reinvesting in your business, but what happens when it’s time to step away? Can you sell it? Can you create passive income from it? Or should you start saving in other ways right now? In this episode, we’re breaking down strategies for business owners who need to turn years of hard work into long-term financial security.   Important Links: Website: http://www.yourplanningpros.com Call: 844-707-7381   ----more---- Transcript:    You've built a successful business, but now, the big question is, how do you turn that into a retirement plan? If you're like many entrepreneurs, you've spent years reinvesting in your own business, but not in yourself. This week on Plan With The Tax Man, let's talk about that. Let's get started. Hey, everybody, welcome into the podcast. Thanks for hanging out with Tony and myself as we talk investing, finance, and retirement. Of course, Tony Mauro is the man to turn to here in the Iowa area at Tax Doctor, Inc. He's a CPA, CFP, and an EA of 30 plus years experience, and a great resource for you to tap into if you've got questions about this week's topic, for example, which is what to do now, if you've sunk all of your efforts and your money into your business. And Tony is a business owner. I know you can probably relate, as many of us can. So it's a great question was we actually got a question in from a listener who's also a business owner kind of posing this, and you and I thought it'd be a good idea to have that conversation. How you doing? I've been good. Well, there's been good here, and just getting ready for tax season as we tape this. Yeah, yeah. It's coming fast and furious, so of course, as you're aware, but I'll share it with the listeners so they can kind of set the table for them, if you will, Dan, a longtime listener and a business owner sent a question that might sound familiar to others who are in the same situation, Tony. He says, "I haven't saved much for retirement, because I'm self-employed and I've always pumped most of my money back into the business. But now, I'm not sure how to turn that into retirement income, as it's creeping up on me fast. Have you worked with folks in a similar situation?" And obviously, Tony, I'm sure that you have. So let's talk about some of the key aspects to that. First of all, what'd you think about the question? I think it's a good question, and almost every one of our business owners are in the same predicament or if we're doing, whether it's just their tax return or their monthly accounting for them, they all face this. And so, it is something on business owners' minds. And what happens to us all as owners is, as we get into our... It's our baby, right? We pump everything into it. They pump everything into it, but I kind of rebut that. Because what they say is, "All my money is in my business." And then, I start asking questions to them when we're trying to do some planning and say, "Well, what's your business worth?" "I don't know," they say. And I said, "Well, even if it's worth, let's say, X, you may not get all of that money up front for it and you may not get what you think." Everybody, since it is our babies, thinks it's worth well more than it actually is. Our kids better looking than anybody else's kid, right? So it is difficult, and we also try to put some numbers to it and tell them, "Well, if your business is worth," I'm just going to use an example, "a million dollars, could you live on that?" And number one. Number two is is, "What if it took 10 years to get that million? Maybe you better start doing some other things in lieu of. Because I think the business itself is icing on the cake, but I wouldn't just count on it for your retirement." Again, everybody's different. No, for sure. And we've got several things kind of in that line and some other stuff. So I'll dive into some of these thoughts here. So what are some smart strategies for turning a business into an asset? So to that point that you just made, Tony, should Dan and people like Dan, should they look at selling? Should they transition to passive ownership? Or is there another approach? I think this is the biggest reason to be talking to your advisor on something like this, because I think all three of them could have merit. Sometimes business owners get burned out and then they want to sell, but basically, it kind of depends. Without knowing more about his financials, it's hard to say. But let's take, for example, if he's fairly successful, earning a good income and still wants to stay in the business, probably, he might want to make sure, and again, this is a more business owner talk than financial talk, but make sure his business is running on systems, so that it is going to be very sellable when he sells it, not just reliant on him. Because they're generally not worth as much if you're doing all the work. And most of these business owners are, they get to be self-employed, and really, they become an employee in their own business and they're slaves to it. That's a great point. And sometimes, even if you're thinking about selling it, maybe you are the business. What happens when you leave? Would it do as well? Yeah. Would it do as well? And if the clients are only used to dealing with you and you leave, well then, that, again, that doesn't bode well for money coming in for you. But I think the way to turn it into a retirement asset is to get it systemized, get it into something, where maybe you can go into passive ownership. Because then it's worth a lot more. Good points. What about just going ahead and maybe, okay, if you're aware of it, you get to this situation, Dan sent this message in, other people are getting there, he doesn't say how far away his retirement is, just that it's nearing, is it maybe time to stop pumping everything into it and look at some 401k options or something for yourself? Maybe if selling it's not on the horizon, is it time to start feeding what, like a SEP, things of that nature? I would definitely say that. That's one of our biggest key planning points with business owners is that whole retirement area, because a couple things can happen. One, they can cut their taxes while they're doing it, and then, the other thing is they can track better employees. And then, of course, the whole, we've been over it time and time again, about saving for the future allows them to pile up massive amounts of money that the ordinary guy sometimes can't do. And I think they need to do both. We try to get them to definitely do one of those things once we talk about how much money they want to try to put aside. Okay, because there's what? SEP IRAs out there? Solo 401ks? Yep. Simple IRAs. You've got the old fashioned type of pension plans, which are expensive, but very good if you've got a ton of cash flow. So there's like 5, 6, 7 options out there, depending on how much flexibility and how much you want to try to sock away, which you can find something that fits you. Yeah, yeah. Well, so obviously, he prioritized reinvesting in his company over traditional savings, which many people do. So to my question a second ago about, hey, it's time to maybe make a change and start paying yourself and your future self, how do you guys help people kind of prioritize that, right? Because I know that that's probably the concern, if left to his own devices, Dan may just keep pumping into the business, does it require maybe that third party person like yourself to say, "Okay, you need somebody to kind of help you stay accountable?" Or what's your thoughts? I think it definitely does, and I think this kind of bodes to some of the facts of monthly accounting and making sure that you understand, each and every month, exactly what happened in the business and then, year over year, of course. And that generally comes somebody else doing your accounting, because most business owners either don't do it at all or don't do it correctly. And then, of course, it's hard to make good decisions. But once that's done, then yes, it's extremely important for your advisor or your accountant, like in our case, to be trying to tax plan with you and retirement plan at the same time. So it all kind of blends into one for us business owners. So that you're seeing that you're not hurting the business, but you're also seeing, "Hey, I'm actually doing something for me too." Exactly. Yeah. And having, I think, a third party or a second set of eyeballs, whatever you want to call it, kind of helps a little bit, because we do get blind... With all the other conversations we have, Tony, typically, we're our own worst enemies, right? That's right. When it comes to just about anything. So, all right, so if Dan wants to eventually sell the business as part of his retirement plan, what's some things for people who are looking to kind of step out of it? Because like succession plan is important. We don't know what kind of business it is, Tony, but I imagine, for your own business, you probably have a succession plan or you're working on one for sure. Exactly. Yeah. In my own business, my succession plan now is my son, who is in the business and learning. So that's my succession plan, and then, I have a plan B from there. If he decides to change his mind, what's going to happen? But business owners need to have a succession plan of some kind. And if you're in business with a partner or a brother, sister type thing, you better have a buy sell in place, so in case somebody wants out would be another one. The other one would be, like I said before, is trying to make sure that your business is running on as many systems as possible, and it's just not reliant on you. Because I think that's going to basically maximize its value. And then, of course, on top of that, if you could show that you're steadily growing the business, you've got good accounting records and processes in place, that's going to bode very well for a particular buyer to come in and buy themselves an income that they can replicate what you're doing and make money, all while possibly paying you off. That makes sense, Tony. And is there a value in, obviously, getting your company evaluated, evaluated for what it's worth, what they call that evaluation, right? Evaluation, yeah. What's a window for that? Should you do that just anytime, just so you know where you stand? Or if you're thinking about selling it, should you do that a year ahead of time or six months? Or what's your thoughts? My thoughts when people ask me that are a year to two ahead of time, so that you can basically start out the easy way and just try to use some free resources for that. And then, as you get a little closer, you've got to go from basically just looking around at what's selling in your industry, basically from the internet or brokers, to really maybe going out and get a professional evaluation done of the business. And there are companies that do that and they charge a fee and then they go out and do that, kind of like an appraiser would for real estate. And you can find mid range and upper range, just kind of depending on what you're looking for, they can get a little bit pricey, depending on the situation. But then again, maybe not, you may not feel it's pricey at all, so it could be worthwhile. So yeah, I think you got to start getting your ducks in a row, just like anything in retirement, whether you're self-employed or working for somebody else, right? It's all about having a plan and a strategy. So reach out to somebody like Tony and have a conversation, who is a CPA, right? And a CFP. So kind of thinking about both sides of the aisle there, taxation as well as financial planning for the future. And if you've got those questions, need some help, reach out to Tony at yourplanningpros.com, that's yourplanningpros.com, to get started today, get some time on the calendar. Or call him at 844-707-7381 if you're not already working with us. And if you're listening to the podcast and you work with Tony, that's great. If you're not and you're just catching this, feel free to consider subscribing to the podcast, so you can catch future episodes when they come out, on Apple or Spotify or whatever platform you like using. We'd certainly appreciate the support as well. Tony, anything else that I didn't catch on this? Any thoughts you might have? Other than just, like you said, if you need anything, to the listeners, reach out, because this is something for business owners. We love to work with them and make sure that they can get to where they want to be in their financial lives. For sure. So yeah, don't hesitate. Yeah, it gets a little more complicated, I suppose, sometimes than just the normal straight approach. But still, you got to have a plan, no matter what side that you're working with, whether you work for somebody else, like I said, or for yourself. So get on the calendar, and we'll see you next time here with Tony Mauro. Plan With The Tax Man, that's the name of the podcast. We'll catch you a little bit later on.   Securities offered through Avantax Investment Services SM, member FINRA, SIPC. Investment advisory services offered through Avantax Advisory Services. Insurance services offered through an Avantax affiliated insurance agency. Investment strategies discussed in this episode may not be suitable for all investors. Please consult with a financial professional.

Financial mistakes can happen at any age, but they can have a particularly significant impact in your 60s. This episode offers five common financial blunders to avoid during this pivotal decade.   Important Links: Website: http://www.yourplanningpros.com Call: 844-707-7381   ----more---- Transcript:  Marc Killian: Welcome into another edition of Plan With The Taxman. We're going to talk about financial mistakes to avoid in our 60s. Financial mistakes can happen at any age, but certainly have a bigger impact in our 60s. So let's get into it this week here on Plan With The Taxman. Hey, everybody, welcome into the podcast. Thanks for hanging out with Tony and myself as we talk investing, finance and retirement. And we got a list of a few financial blunders we want to try to avoid in this very pivotal decade for us when it comes to retirement. So Tony, we'll dive right in this week. I hope you're doing well, but I'm just going to kick it off and get us rolling. So unnecessary spending, let's just start right there. If we're into our 60s at this point, we want to be focused on making sure that we're getting remaining debt down and things of that nature. We're probably not necessarily looking to be on a budget per se, but let's just not be doing anything super crazy, right? Tony Mauro: I would definitely say that this is the best time to make sure that you're on the same page as your advisor with your spending and with how much you've got coming in. And definitely try to avoid some of the unnecessary things. Not saying you can't go out. We talked a little bit about on the last podcast, going out and spending a little bit. Marc Killian: Sure, yeah. Live it up a little bit, because that's what it's there for. Tony Mauro: Right. But you want to definitely limit and avoid that type of stuff that might be unnecessary. Now, how do you do that? Well, we talked a little bit about that on the last one. Marc Killian: Well, you go to number two. Tony Mauro: Yeah. Marc Killian: Well, number two on my list is ignoring retirement planning, right? Tony Mauro: Right. Marc Killian: So how do you avoid unnecessary spending? Well, you don't have a plan. Tony Mauro: You don't have a plan. So yeah, ignoring retirement planning, if you're already in your sixties, you better get something together quick, even if it's just a snapshot of where you're going to be. Marc Killian: Yeah, true. Tony Mauro: You may not have as long obviously, as somebody that's younger to plan, but at least you've got an idea to what you are going to have coming in. Because then you can certainly try to avoid the unnecessary spending if you know what you have coming in. Marc Killian: Well, Tony, if you're 60 and you're thinking that retirement is on the 65, 66, 67 radar for you, is it too late? I mean, I don't think so. I don't think it's ever really too late, it's just you have to be realistic, in the fact that options will be more limited the longer you wait and the closer you get to retirement. Tony Mauro: That's it. I agree totally. I always encourage people to start saving. And we will get that from clients that say, "Well, it might be just too late." It's never too late, but it's managing your expectations like you said. Marc Killian: Yeah, start planning. Tony Mauro: Because as long as you're realistic and start planning, you're going to know what you have. Now, it's not going to be the same as if you've been doing it for 35 years, but that's beside the point now. Marc Killian: Sure, you're there. But don't wait any longer, right? Tony Mauro: Yeah, don't wait any longer. Marc Killian: All right, number three, overlooking healthcare costs. Again, the topic being mistakes to avoid in our sixties. Hopefully, we're not overlooking these, but there's more of them coming. Maybe you're dealing with other little things that you didn't realize and insurance costs going up, whatever it might be. Tony Mauro: And depending on what your health situation is, you start with just the insurance costs and all the [inaudible 00:03:24] that's coming down the pike with that. And as you get to 65 with Medicare and all its supplements and whatnot. But I think you got to look beyond that, especially if you have some ailments and things like that of what other out-of-pocket costs you might have and the cost of care to help you with those. If you don't look at that, again, and it goes back to the other one, if you don't have a plan and budget that in, it's going to be very eye-opening if you need some of that care. Marc Killian: Oh, for sure. Yeah. And we all know healthcare costs are continuing to climb, so you've got to make sure you're having those conversations, looking at social security, the different options there, what that's going to all look like and so on and so forth. Number four, is going to certainly be right up your alley, Tony, one that I'm sure you stress quite often. And that's failing to utilize the tax benefits and being tax efficient. Again, in our sixties, and this could be a big make or break for your retirement strategy, is how tax efficient you are. Tony Mauro: And it's one of the biggest things we stress for ourselves compared to maybe some of the other types of advisors, is we basically being tax people first, definitely the backbone of everything we do is tax efficient investing and tax efficient withdrawals. Because boy, you can cost yourself a lot of money if you just haphazardly take from the wrong pots of money at the wrong time. And so we're constantly trying to work with clients in their sixties about taking money the most tax efficient way to minimize that. Because if you're doing that over 20 years or so, that could be a big number. Marc Killian: Oh yeah, for sure, right? And so tax efficiency, whether it's for you while you're here or even how you leave a legacy, that can be a big make or break piece. And there's so many little facets and parts to the tax efficiency, Tony, that's not even funny. We don't even really realize what it is as lay folks, because we don't do this every day. But you obviously know all the different pieces that you're looking at and it can stack up. I mean, whether it's IRMAA issues when it comes to that tax issue, just the Medicare tax, depending on how you're taking your social security, so on and so forth. Just a lot of little moving parts. Tony Mauro: I think that's one of the biggest areas. I mean, it all fits together. And if you continue to overlook that tax stuff, like I say, you're really going to do your heirs a disservice, I think. Marc Killian: Yeah, for sure. Well, speaking of social security, so that's the next one on my list here. Number five, delaying social security benefits without a plan. So now I said delaying, not turning it on. A lot of the times we hear people say, "Hey, I'm going to turn it on right at 62," and that's a conversation we have. But this is delaying social security benefits without a plan. So if you're trying to max it out at 70, and that may be fine, but have you run the numbers to see what makes the most sense? What's your break-even point? Things of that nature. Tony Mauro: And I'm going to put in a shameless plug here, because we do- Marc Killian: Go for it. Tony Mauro: For ourselves. If you're listening and you want to be on one of our webinars that we do about social security planning and when you should take social security, just shoot me a line and we'll get you on the list for the next one. But we do about four of them a year. But really we go over this in detail in this webinar. It's about 35 minutes. There are a lot of calculators. We have one that we use, and basically, it runs a client through every facet of that, based on their age, what other money they have, their life expectancy based on just their family history and things. So we can give people options of when to maximize that. Because a lot of people just get it stuck in their head of, "Well, I'm going to take it at 62, the earliest, or I'm going to take it at 65 or whenever my full retirement age is." And sometimes it's better to be in between one of those, or maybe even delaying out till max retirement age at 70, when they make you take it. So it's good to have all that in front of you. Social security's not going to give you all that. They are going to give you a report, which is nice, but they don't know the rest of it. They're just going to give you a report on what your benefit would be. But we take that along with everything else we gather, and give you a nice discussion about what is the best time to take that. So at least you got all of your options and you understand it. Marc Killian: And if somebody wants to get involved with one of those, what's the easiest way to do that? Email the office, go to the website, yourplanningpros.com? What's the suggestion there? Tony Mauro: Yeah, I would say go to yourplanningpros.com, my site, and just in the contact me thing, type in your email address, say, "Hey, I want to be included on the social security benefits webinar." Marc Killian: Okay. All right. So again, go to yourplanningpros.com and they're right there under contact. There, you can just click on the box there. You can fill out the information. You can also email Tony, his email address is on there as well. So just let him know that you want to attend. But filling out the little contact form, it's probably be the easiest way to attend one of those and get that webinar information. All right, let's see, what else can we do here? We'll do one or two more and then we'll wrap it up this week, Tony. So underestimating your longevity. Okay, so if you've made it to your sixties, there's some interesting stats out there that you have a pretty high percentage of making it to your eighties, which is wild. Tony Mauro: That's right. Yeah, if you've made it into your sixties, there's a very good chance, and you could just do a Google search just for fun and watch what it pulls up based on male or female. And it may or may not be that accurate, but it's going to give you an idea. But most of the time, we're trying to plan for at least 20 years in retirement and sometimes it's even more than that, based on family history. Because most people, once they get into their sixties, have a really good chance of making it another 20 years. And if it falls short and something happens before then, well at least you've got a great plan that you could pass on to your heirs. But I think most of us when they're in the planning stages, especially early on, don't think they're going to live that long. And the statistics point to otherwise. That's just raw data there. So I don't think you can underestimate that or ignore that. Marc Killian: Yeah, no, for sure. Social Security Administration projects that 69% of people who survive to age 65 will live to 80. So basically, almost 70% of people, if you make it to 65, you're going to make it to 80. It's another 15 years, right? So thinking about longevity and planning for that is an important piece as well. And we'll wrap it up with this final one, and that is just don't forget to work on and build an estate plan, a legacy of some kind. If you're in your sixties, I know we just talked about longevity being there, but there also still is the probability that something could happen and you could pass away. We see a lot of people passing away in their sixties and seventies as well. So just make sure that you've got those estate documents and those legacy documents and things taken care of. Tony Mauro: And most people think of estate planning, it's only for the ultra wealthy. Marc Killian: Right. Tony Mauro: They're not going to have estate tax problems, and you may not. But even without that, like you're saying, a will, you want to have that. You want to have some medical directives, some power of attorneys, things like that, so that you can rest assured that your estate will be handled efficiently and the way that you want it, let alone if you want to really do some planning and start talking about trusts and some other things. I think a lot of people overlook that, thinking they don't have enough and then they leave a mess for their heirs. But I think another thing too, is we didn't really even talk about it, but planning your estate, especially if you need long-term care later on, and that's a whole different discussion. But I think to do that, even people here in Iowa, what a lot of them don't realize, is they may escape federal estate tax, but Iowa has an estate tax with fairly low limits. And if you don't pass everything to a direct heir, anything above $25,000, there's an Iowan inheritance tax. And a lot of people get blindsided by that. So depending on what state you're in, you got to check your state laws too with some of those taxes. Marc Killian: Definitely, definitely. So again, some financial mistakes to avoid in your sixties. Hopefully, that we've got a good plan by the time we get to 60, we've got a good strategy in place, and we can definitely benefit from that. But if you don't, again, don't wait any longer. It doesn't mean you've done anything necessarily wrong. You do have limited options. They're going to be a little bit reduced, but so many people still get a good financial strategy in place, even at 60. So reach out to a qualified pro like Tony today, at yourplanningpros.com, that's yourplanningpros.com, to get started with Des Moines Professional Alternative at Tax Doctor Inc. You can reach out to Tony and his team at yourplanningpros.com. And don't forget to subscribe to us on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube. Tony, thanks for hanging it out and breaking it all down for us. As always, we appreciate your time. Hope everybody has a great week and we'll see you on the future episodes of Plan With The Tax Man. Speaker 6: Securities offered through Avantax Investment Services SM, member FINRA SIPC. Investment advisory services offered through Avantax Advisory Services. Insurance services offered through an Avantax affiliated insurance agency. Investment strategies discussed in this episode may not be suitable for all investors. Please consult with a financial professional.  

As we kick off 2025, a lot of people consider what they want the year to look like and how to put their best foot forward, especially financially. Think: “new year, new me!” To figure out what the new “you” is all about, sometimes it helps to reflect first on what you’ve done in the past and what you want to change moving forward. Today, we’ll talk about the financial decisions and habits you’ve maybe had in the past and what changes you can make this year to embrace the new you.   Important Links: Website: http://www.yourplanningpros.com Call: 844-707-7381   ----more---- Transcript:  Speaker 1: New year, new me is the topic of conversation this week on Plan With The Tax Man. As we get firmly into 2025, let's look at ways where we can put the old self to bed and work on our new self from a financial standpoint. Since everybody likes to do that as a New Year's resolution, let's do that financially as well. Let's get into it here on Plan With The Tax Man. What's up, everybody? Welcome into the podcast. Thanks for hanging out with Tony Mauro and myself as we talk investing, finance, and retirement with the big dog, the big kahuna over there at Tax Doctor Inc. Tony Mauro, what's going on, my friend? How are you? Tony Mauro: I'm doing good. Coming off the new year and getting ready for tax season. Speaker 1: Yeah, I bet. Yeah. Tony Mauro: Very relaxed. Yeah. Speaker 1: Yeah. Well, I'm glad you're relaxed, because I'm sure it's going to get hectic right soon-like, you know? So it'll be all up in your business with all that good stuff, but that's all right, because that's what you do. You've been doing this for 30 years, man. You've got a lot of experience. So you ready to go? Tony Mauro: I'm ready to go. We got some good topics to start out this new year. Speaker 1: Yeah. So are you a resolution-y kind of guy? Tony Mauro: Yeah. I have a few, but I tend to write them down, so- Speaker 1: Okay. That helps. Tony Mauro: Yeah, does help. Well, for me, it's a few financial, few personal, and try not to make too big of a list, because otherwise, we don't get it done. Speaker 1: Exactly. Yeah. I spent most of my life not being one, got into my 50s, and then decided last year to write down four, to your point. I only did four, and I was able to accomplish all four, and it made a difference, so I was like, "All right, not bad." You know? But I did forget, actually, there was a lot of things going on, and I didn't do it this year to walk into 2025, so I'm going to see if starting late makes a difference. But I am starting, I just started 10 days late. But there's this thing called Quitter's Day, which you can look up. People make resolutions and then they quit. I want to say I think it's the 16th, which I think is when we're dropping this podcast if I'm not mistaken. So I thought it would be interesting for us to go ahead and continue that trend by saying, okay. We're not going to do the Quitter's Day thing because we're going to launch this after maybe people have kind of weeded themselves out, and do this podcast on new year, new me. So what I'm going to do here is I'm going to give you the old you financial kind of statement, Tony, somebody who might find themselves in one of these categories, and then I want you to give us the new you spin, like what you should try to focus on if you're trying to go in a more positive direction. Okay? Tony Mauro: Sounds good. Speaker 1: All right. So the old you might say, for example, "I overspend, and I know it, and I live beyond my means." Well, kudos, first of all, if you can get yourself to admit that, right? Because that's a tough step right there. But if you are living beyond your means, that's the old you in 2025, the new you should be doing what? Tony Mauro: I think the best thing for the new you really should be to, number one, you have to track your spending so that you know what you're spending money on, so again, so you can prioritize and maybe purge out some of this overspending. But you have to identify what you're spending on first, otherwise you have no idea. And so rather than trying to just come up with that word that I hate, but you think most accountants like it, is budget, I like to just call it a spending plan. And basically, you've got to prioritize and list what you value most and what you can cut out because that is going to be the biggest thing to help you curb that spending. And I'm guilty of it too. I'm kind of an impulse buyer as well from time to time. And you just have to keep that in check because I think that's why so many Americans run up their bills or credit card bills and everything else because they just keep spending thinking that they're going to pay for it later. That doesn't bode well for a good financial plan and good financial health, if you will. Speaker 1: Yeah. And I know people don't like the B-word, but again, you can do a list of wants versus needs or whatever, something to where you can kind of see what it is. Is it still aligning with your priorities? Do you really need it, or is it just a want, right? And try to curb some of those impulse buys. That'll certainly help on that living beyond our means. So good job. All right. Good job with that one. How about this one? That last one could be anybody, people that are a little younger listening to our podcast, people that are a little bit older, whatever. This next one maybe fits a little bit more, Tony, with people who are getting really close to retirement or even in retirement, and they've been saving really, really well for a long time, to a fault, even. The old you is saying, "Look, I saved to a fault, and now I'm afraid to enjoy it," right? And I know that's a real hurdle for some people. They build this nest egg, they get to retirement, and then they don't want to spend it. They don't want to touch it. And so part of your job as an advisor is to go, "Hey, go enjoy yourself. You're going to be okay." Tony Mauro: You're going to be okay. And I've actually said this to clients before that have told me this, and jokingly, but really getting them to think a little bit is when they say that, that they don't want to go spend any of their money. And we keep telling them, "Look, we've been planning and doing a lot of the right things, and you're going to be okay. The numbers say you're going to be okay." What I tell them is, "You know what? As soon as you leave here, go to a nursing home, and just ask if you can walk the halls. And take a look around, or go to a hospital, and look at the people that are sick," and they'd give anything to have their health, number one. But the point of it is, someday it could be taken from us. We don't know. We don't have a magic card that says when we're going to basically be at the end. And so I think I try to get them to understand and prioritize again with some of the things that are most important to them that they want to do before they die, and let's pick off one or two here and there. And it's challenging for them, but most of them end up doing it if they only have to do one at a time. But I do think that sometimes it can be a fault. We're always trying to get people to save, save, save. And for the people that really save, most people are looking at them and saying, "Well, gosh. That doesn't sound like a problem to me," but it is for them, because they save it all and then they can't enjoy it. And that's the whole purpose of having it, right? Is to somehow enjoy it a little bit. I mean, that's what life's about. So a little more psychological, but yes. That's a big one. Speaker 1: Yeah. And I get that it's tough, right? And that's where we're seeing the stuff written form. Coming in and doing the reviews, Tony, that's where you can kind of see, look, all right, maybe you got to take somebody who's in this mode, and you say, "Okay. Spend just a little bit, and then let's see how that happens." "And then we will do the review. We'll do that annual review, and you'll see that you're still in good shape," and maybe that helps them start to learn it's okay to enjoy some of this money that you work so hard for. And as the fun, old saying goes, if you don't fly first class at some point in your retirement, in your life, your kids will, right? Tony Mauro: That's right. Yeah. Speaker 1: They're going to enjoy it. Tony Mauro: That's exactly right. That's a great saying, because that's what's going to happen. Yup. Speaker 1: So that's the importance, that's the value. Well, one of many values really of working with a financial professional. So don't beat yourself up. It's understandable, you worked hard for it, but you also got to enjoy it. You got to have a little bit of fun there as you get into retirement. All right. So next old you statement might be, "I don't know what I have or really where I have it." And that sounds weird to people to think you don't know where your money is, but there's a lot of folks out there, Tony, who maybe don't quite understand what it is they have and where they have it, so what should the new you be doing if this is where you find yourself? Tony Mauro: Well, the short answer is you need to work with a financial pro. But what I mean by that, because that's self-serving a little bit, I understand, is most advisors are now working throughout their plans that they work with clients on, one of the things they do, and it's all online on a portal now, as long as you as the client help the advisor as to everything you have, they're going to create for you a list of where all your accounts are, the amounts, and basically put together a net worth statement for you that's always updated. And you'll want to review that with them once a year to kind of go over it, so at least you can see here's where we were at last time when we talked, here's where we're at now. Now, if you have your investments with that advisor, that's going to update automatically. But you would, in other words, if you're working with an advisor, you don't have to go out and try to create that on your own. You certainly can use a spreadsheet, you can use some personal finance software, that sort of thing. But if you don't want to do that, you certainly can have your advisor help you with that. But the reason it's important, like you said, is you've got to know what your net worth is, or at least close at all times, especially in retirement, when you get on that fixed income, which will help you identify if maybe you are overspending and some things like that, and your balances are going down. Maybe you can pinpoint some of those things, where that money's seeping out. But I do think it's important, and I don't think it has to take a lot of time to create that. You just got to figure out which way you want to go with it. Speaker 1: No, that's a good point, and there's some good things to think about there. And again, it's understandable sometimes because we're so busy with life, and people say, "Well, it's not my thing, finance and math," or whatever, but you got to have a good working knowledge of what you got going on. So this is the new year. It's a good time to take some of those lessons that Tony just gave and put that plan into action. And what about folks that find themselves like this, Tony? That are in this category, the old you saying, "I'm going to pause my investments until things settle down." Saw a lot of email questions come in. The last three or four months of the last year of 2024, people saying, "Well, until the election happens, or this, that, or the other, I'm not going to pump in." Maybe you're still working. "I'm not going to continue to pump into my 401k until things settle down in case the market has a downturn." And to me, first of all, that's just crazy, right? Because there's a couple of reasons why you shouldn't do that. But if anything we've learned in the last five years, Tony, when the hell does anything settle down, right? There's always something- Tony Mauro: It's never settled. Speaker 1: ... going on, right? Tony Mauro: Yeah. I was just at an investment conference with a couple of colleagues over the weekend, and it was interesting that one of the assistants there, so this is an investment advisor's colleague, or assistant, excuse me, that actually said, and so I'll give you both sides of the political spectrum here for a second. She said that she was moving out of Massachusetts because there's too many liberals and she can't stand it. So one advisor on the other hand said he has a client that said they want to move to Portugal because of the current political situation, so both kind of sides of the fence there, but to your point, doesn't really matter who's president. We're not going to get into all of that. They don't really have direct control of your life. So to plan your life around something like that or something similar, I think, is crazy, especially when you're talking about your finances. Because I looked it up, and I shared this stat with them over the weekend, and I'll share it here, but people that want to try to time the market usually don't have good success. Who's going to say when to get back in? And then I always show them my old cost of timing since '03 to about '23, if you missed even the 60 best days in the S&P, I mean, your return is 93% lower than if you just stayed invested the whole time. And we've had a lot of weird stuff happen, if you think about it, since '02. Speaker 1: Since 2000, really. Tony Mauro: Yeah. Since 2000. You start naming off the big events, and yes, the market goes down at times and then it comes back. So I think by pausing, you or your advisor, I would challenge you. You're not going to beat the market. If anything, you're going to lag it, and then when you miss the best days, I think it's really going to cause you harm. Speaker 1: I mean, even just the basic principles, Tony, your dollar cost averaging, right? So yes, the market's going to dip down. But if you're still working, for example, not only are you not getting the company match because you've paused it, so you're losing money there, but you're also not buying whatever it is that you're set up in on the dips, right? So, yeah. I mean, it's scary, I understand that, but it's a bad strategy. There really is no positive spin on saying, "I'm just going to pause things until it settles down," because nothing ever really settles down. That's why you have a plan. That's why you have a strategy. Then you don't have to necessarily worry about things settling down. And that really feeds to our last one, Tony, which is the old you just says, "My parents didn't have a plan and it worked out for them. I don't have a plan. I'll just hope for the best," right? That's just silly too, because your parents probably had a wholly different set of circumstances than you do, first of all, and hope is not an option. Tony Mauro: I don't think hope's an option in today's world, you know? When our- Speaker 1: Not from a financial standpoint, no. Tony Mauro: Yeah. From a financial standpoint, for sure. Back when the parents, people worked for the same employer generally for 30, 40 years, many had pensions that they can't outlive. Those days are all gone now, and it's up to us. Can't depend on the government or anybody else to finance our retirement. And so I think if you don't have a plan, yeah. There's a chance that you could make it, but I think the risk is there that you may not have the kind of retirement that you thought you would've, and why not just plan? It's not painful. It just takes a little bit of work. Especially if you have an advisor, they're going to kind of guide you and tell you what you need to give them. And then if they're good, they're going to say, "Hey, look. We want to meet once, twice a year, we want to go over this, we want to make changes, so you'll always know where you're at." I wouldn't want to risk my retirement with no plan. I mean, if you do, who knows? Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly. That's the whole point, right? You're kind of just playing with those things that you don't need to play with. I mean, in today's era, there's just really kind of no excuse for it, right? So get yourself a strategy put together. The days of thinking you have to be uber rich to have a financial advisor are long over, and most people are in better shape than they realize when they do sit down for an initial consultation with financial professionals. If you've done a modest job of being a responsible financial steward of your money, you're probably in better shape than you realize. I think a lot of people find themselves in that category. So do yourself a favor, get a plan, get a strategy, focus on the new year, new you financially, and reach out to Tony and his team at YourPlanningPros.com. That is YourPlanningPros.com. He's got 30 years of experience in the industry. He's a CPA, a CFP, and an EA, and a great resource for you to tap into. Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast on Apple or Spotify or whatever platform you like using. It's Plan With The Tax Man with Tony Mauro, and again, you can find all that information at YourPlanningPros.com. Tony, my friend, thanks for hanging out and breaking it down as always. I will see you in a couple of weeks. Tony Mauro: All right. Talk soon. Speaker 1: We'll catch you next time here on Plan With The Tax Man.   Securities offered through Avantax Investment Services SM, member FINRA, SIPC. Investment advisory services offered through Avantax Advisory Services. Insurance services offered through an Avantax affiliated insurance agency. Investment strategies discussed in this episode may not be suitable for all investors. Please consult with a financial professional.

Today, we’re unveiling the 2025 Method to transform your money mindset. Whether you’re overwhelmed by debt, stuck in a savings rut, or simply stressed about money, this episode is packed with actionable strategies to help you think differently and achieve financial comfort.    Important Links: Website: http://www.yourplanningpros.com Call: 844-707-7381   ----more---- Transcript:  Speaker 1: Today we're going to tackle the money mindset transformation method. Hopefully to get us on the right path for thinking in 2025, some positive thoughts and some resolutions maybe, if you will, here on Plan With The Tax Man.   What's going on everybody? Welcome into the final episode of the 2024 calendar year of Tony and myself's podcast here. Plan With The Tax Man. Of course, Tony is the tax man, Tony Mauro. He is Des Moines professional alternative at Tax Doctor Inc., of course, he serves clients all over. So if you've got some questions, need some help, reach out to Tony and his team at Tax Doctor Inc., online at yourplanningpros.com. That's your planningpros.com. He's a CPA, a CFP and an EA of 30 plus years experience in the industry. So great resource for you to tap into.   And Tony, you and I were talking about trying to eat better and get healthy and so on and so forth. And it is that time of the year, right? The end of the year going into the new season where we all want to do some sort of resolution or mindset change. And so we thought it'd be a good idea to maybe talk about that from a money standpoint. How to take some of the negative thoughts that kind of permeate our brains and find a positive better way to spend those. And so I thought that'd be fun this last episode. How you doing?   Tony Mauro: I'm doing good. Coming off Christmas and yeah, everybody's thinking about the old New Year's resolution, so this is perfect timing.   Speaker 1: Do you consider yourself a glass half empty or glass half full kind of person?   Tony Mauro: I'm the glass half full for sure.   Speaker 1: Okay, good.   Tony Mauro: And I do spend some time every year just kind of going through what I want to do for the upcoming year, both my wife and I, even on a personal level, whether it's vacations or just stuff needed around the house to financial moves. It's a time of year to put them down and see what happens.   Speaker 1: Yeah, for sure. Yeah, so if you've got any tips on how to change your mindset along the way and building new habits, well obviously it's a great time to share them. So what I'll do, Tony, is I'll give you kind of the negative thought that we tend to hear in the industry and then you give us maybe the more positive upbeat way of thinking about it, try to change that mindset. Okay?   Tony Mauro: Okay.   Speaker 1: All right. So we'll just jump around on my list here because Lord knows there's plenty of them. So let's start with a negative thought that's certainly been bothering people this past year with inflation being so high and the cost of living going up and credit card debt got a little out of control. People will say, "Hey, debt, it's ruining my life." They can't see past some of the charges they've ran up. What's a way to reframe those negative thoughts, if debt is ruining your life or you feel like it is?   Tony Mauro: You feel like it is, yeah. Well, and you hear that a lot and most of the time people say that because they look at their credit card statements because that type of debt can be ugly to start looking at. Certain types of debt really aren't as bad as people think. Mortgages are something most of us need. We can't buy our houses for cash. Student loans with low interest rates allow us to get further ahead and make more money with our educations. And so both of these generally are paying for assets that you can use in the future to hopefully help you increase your wealth and get to your goals. Now, the happy-   Speaker 1: It's an investment in yourself, right? Yeah.   Tony Mauro: It's an investment in yourself. If you do have the bad debt though, you need to work with somebody, even if it's bad, there are ways that you can tackle that bad debt. So eventually you're not going to be having that bad thought of it's ruining your life. You got to take action and do something about it.   Speaker 1: Yeah, it's true. So looking at the other types of debt and saying, "Hey, these are an investment in me," that's a positive way of doing that. And maybe that flows right along with this one too, which is the negative thought is, well, because it's so expensive right now, I don't earn enough to save, let alone invest. I'd like to, right? I'd like to save more. I'd like to invest, but God, I'm just living paycheck to paycheck. I don't earn enough to do so. And that's a tough one, especially when we're younger, so when we're in our twenties or even thirties, but we've got to find a way to turn that negative positive.   Tony Mauro: You do. And really the easiest way is to start very small. Well, I should back up a minute. The easiest way is you need to work with somebody I think, to figure out what you've got coming in and what you've got going out every month and literally detail it out. Because there are some small, small cuts that we all can make on things we blow money on to at least divert into some savings. I mean, if it's 20, 30 bucks a month-   Speaker 1: Exactly.   Tony Mauro: ... or 50 bucks a month, it gets you on the road to saying, okay, I can do this. And for most of us, whether it's a pack of cigarettes, a case of beer or Starbucks, whatever, once you start itemizing some of that out, you're thinking, oh gosh, we spend a lot of money on that.   Speaker 1: Amazon orders, right?   Tony Mauro: Amazon's another one. And so I think you got to take that mindset of surely you can find a couple of bucks, especially if you sit down and analyze it. Because if you start young enough, even small amounts can add up to big numbers over 20, 30, 40 years.   Speaker 1: Oh yeah, well think about something, I don't know, let me go with something as simple as like Netflix. It's a $30 a month subscription. So do you really need it? How much do you actually watch it? Now, I'm not saying that budgets are fun, but if you find yourself in that negative thought, out of that, I can't put anything away, $30 a month. If you're younger, well even if you're a little bit older, that adds up. 30 times 12. And putting in that something that's growing a little money, well then that's even better. So that's how you get that way.   And actually I'll use that one to jump to the next one. I'm going to jump around on my list here, Tony. But budgets, right? People are like, oh, budgets suck. They're restrictive. I don't want to have to live that way. And you could look at this whether you're a pre-retiree, which is a lot of our demographic, or retiree or even a little bit younger, you've probably lived on a budget throughout every stage of your life, but for some reason, retirees, they hate this word. They feel like, oh, I've worked really hard. I want to be able to enjoy myself in retirement. A budget doesn't mean necessarily that you can't enjoy yourself.   Tony Mauro: That's right. And everybody thinks that. If I create a budget and actually detail it out, that I can't go over this budget. That is so far from the-   Speaker 1: It's restrictive.   Tony Mauro: ... truth.   Speaker 1: I don't want to have to live on a plan. But you've always lived on a plan.   Tony Mauro: Whether you wrote it down or not, you've always had a plan. It may have been a bad plan, but if you ask anybody, in my opinion, what they.... They can kind of give you, "Well, I take in this much roughly, and I spend this much, and I don't know what I spend it on, but I know I do." That's kind of a half budget there. But if you can detail it out, all it is it points out things to help you make decisions. Do I still want to keep spending money on that or maybe I don't and want to divert it somewhere else? I have a budget. I mean, if you're really ultra into it, you need to use some financial software, in other words, Quicken, Mint, or some other ones, and have every transaction that comes in your household, every transaction goes out, detailed out in a little mini P&L or monthly saving or earning and spending report, so you can see.   For us, where we tend to spend a lot of money for example, is dining out. And sometimes we look at our thing and say, "Well, we spent a lot of money last month dining out, that's kind of over where we want to be. Maybe let's try to fix that."   Speaker 1: Reigning that in a little bit.   Tony Mauro: That's all budget is, is just reigning it in.   Speaker 1: Take that negative thought of it being restrictive and switch it to a budget is a tool for freedom. It gives me the freedom to go out to dinner, to your point you just made, because I know what my limits are. So we can go out and have ourselves a good time, but it also keeps me from getting myself into trouble. So again, taking the negative thoughts and reframing them in a positive manner. And look, you can play word association games if you want. A lot of people, instead of calling it a budget, they call it a spending plan, right? It's like, okay, fine, call it whatever you want. Call it hopscotch for all I care. But just realize that it can be a useful tool so that you don't get yourself into bad shape.   Okay, good. Good stuff. Let's see, what else could we talk about? Let's jump around different things. Taxes. So one of your favorite topics. So look, the negative thought is taxes suck. They're complicated, right? I don't get it. They eat up my income. They're taking so much of my money, right? Yes, it's hard to argue this one, Tony. It's frustrating, but how can we be a little bit more positive, at least as far as dealing with the fact that we don't have a whole lot of choice. We have to play this game.   Tony Mauro: You have to play the game. And taxes, you're exactly right, they're complicated. They are one of our biggest expenses. However, as bad, and sometimes I get on the government and everything, it's not like the old English where they just come around and say, pay us X, like to a king type of thing. They give us all kinds of laws that a lot of times, especially if you're trying to do things on your own, you don't take advantage of. Because there is some opportunities that they give you to save for retirement. They give you opportunities for deductions if you're out spending on a new house with a mortgage, student loan interest, some of that stuff we all talked about with the debt. So you've got to be able to take advantage of some of that because that is tax efficient investing and also spending. So while it's a bad thing, you got to use it to whatever laws are on the books at the time to the best of your advantage and to try to grow your wealth using that part of the game.   Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly.   Tony Mauro: It's part of it.   Speaker 1: And right along with that is the structure of the system that we have is investing. The negative thought being, man investing is so risky, it's so complicated. Same kind of feeling. A lot of people are like, I want to do it, but I don't understand it enough or it intimidates me. So we've got to be able to be positive because it's still a great way for you to grow your wealth and obviously outpace inflation. So what's the positive spin?   Tony Mauro: I think the positive spin on that is your best bet is to work with an advisor of some kind so that they can explain how over the long term, it reduces your risk over time, especially with diversification.   Speaker 1: With a strategy, right?   Tony Mauro: With a good strategy. It's one of the only ways you're going to be able to grow your wealth for the future. There are other ways. You can have your own business, you can get into rentals. There's all kinds of ways to make money, but you got to be able to save some of that money for the future. And I think that's where some people get a little intimidated, especially with the 24/7 information we have coming at us all the time. I mean, whether it's TV, internet, everything else, it's really not that complicated, especially if you have a long-term goal.   Speaker 1: I was going to say, the key I think I took from you there was the long-term approach. If you've got a straightforward long-term approach, you don't have to be trying to day-trade or be some sort of Wall Street whiz kid, but a simple longterm approach can significantly reduce the risk concerns that you have. Now, you're still going to have money at risk. That's the point. So that you can kind of grow and outpace inflation. But I think it doesn't have to be nearly as intimidating as many of us initially make it out to be. My wife says the same thing. She's like, "Oh, I don't want to mess with that stuff. It just scares me too much." So I started showing her some simpler things and she's like, "Oh, this is not so bad." So it's just a matter of coaching.   Tony Mauro: Training. It is. And really with today's, especially in the funds area, mutual funds, they make it pretty easy, and they have great portfolios, many of them, and make it very easy for a small investor to just get started and it's pretty set it and forget it. You got to have a plan in place, but you definitely want to keep a long-term approach. And I wouldn't let that get you too down about it.   Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, for sure. All right, well I'm going to do one last one, negative thought. I'm going to combine two because they kind of work together to me. But the negative thought people have is just around money in general. I'm terrible with it. It's stressful. I make bad decisions with it. Whatever. Whatever you kind of find yourself feeling about money. Like, "This thing, I stink at it. It just stresses me out." Well, there's a simple way to think, you've got to change your mindset about money because it's obviously something that we have to use in society. So what's the positive thought about it?   Tony Mauro: I think the most positive thought that I always think about, and I tell my son this too, everybody wants to achieve whatever level of wealth that they can. But it really just is a tool, I call it a tool to use for experiences that I want to do while I'm on this planet and give me the time that I can go out and do them while I still have-   Speaker 1: Yeah, it's a tool. Exactly.   Tony Mauro: ... some decent health.   Speaker 1: It's no different than a hammer. If you're trying to build a house, you need a hammer. If you're trying to build a life, you need money. It's a tool.   Tony Mauro: It's a tool. I mean, it would be great if we all could do whatever we want and there was no money and we just did whatever we wanted and we could do it. Well, that's not the way the world works.   Speaker 1: You just showed up at Disney World and they let you go around and do whatever you want. Unfortunately, somebody has to pay for the maintenance, right?   Tony Mauro: Somebody has to pay for all that. So it shouldn't be stressful for you. It shouldn't be the root of your problems. But I think this is where some of the stuff we've talked about in the past and even today, about staying on track and having a plan and having someone help you so that you don't feel stressed out about this money stuff because it really shouldn't be stressing you out.   Speaker 1: Well, as we go into the new year, making resolutions is something we all do. So start trying to be more positive, I think, in not just necessarily making a resolution or a wish, because is it a reality if you don't act on it? Maybe write some things down. That goes a long way for people, have success doing that. Maybe write down some goals that you want to attain and then take some action steps on how to do that. And maybe for many people, the money side of things is just finally working with someone who can shine the light on the stuff that we're just not used to doing day in and day out because we're so busy living our lives. But we do need that tool, that tool called money.   So get yourself on the calendar, reach out to Tony and his team at yourplanningpros.com. Get some time to talk with them in the New Year at yourplanningpros.com. And don't forget to subscribe to us on Apple or Spotify or YouTube, whatever platform you like listening to podcasts on, and that way you catch new episodes when they come out. Tony, thanks for hanging out my friend. Have a great New Year and I'll see you in the New Year.   Tony Mauro: We'll see you in the New Year and everybody else have a great New Year as well. Stay safe.   Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely. We'll catch you next time here on Plan With The Tax Man with Tony Mauro from Tax Doctor Inc.   Securities offered through Avantax Investment Services SM, member FINRA, SIPC. Investment advisory services offered through Avantax Advisory Services. Insurance services offered through an Avantax affiliated insurance agency. Investment strategies discussed in this episode may not be suitable for all investors. Please consult with a financial professional.

The holiday season is here, and while you’re stuffing stockings for your loved ones, don’t forget to stuff your own financial stocking with tips that can bring you closer to a secure retirement. Today, we’re unwrapping 10 bite-sized, actionable ideas to help you save smarter, invest better, and plan for the future you deserve.   Important Links: Website: http://www.yourplanningpros.com Call: 844-707-7381   ----more---- Transcript:  Speaker 1: The holiday season is upon us. And while you're stuffing stockings for your loved ones, don't forget to stuff your own financial stocking with hopefully some tips that can bring you closer to a secure retirement. Today on Plan With The Tax Man, let's look at some financial freedom and some best stocking stuffers in 2024.   Hey everybody, welcome in to the podcast. Thanks for hanging out with Tony Mauro and myself as we talk investing, finance, retirement. We thought we'd have a little fun here. As this is our early December episode, we're going to unwrap a few action items to hopefully help you be a little bit better on your way towards retirement with Tony and just have a little fun with this concept since it's that time of the year. What's going on, my friend? How are you?   Speaker 2: I'm doing good. Just off of Thanksgiving and a quick vacation. So although it's getting cold here, it's the holidays, so. My favorite time of year.   Speaker 1: It is what it is. I mean, it's that time of the year and it comes fast and furious too. It's like soon as one starts, it just, well, snowballs, no pun intended, but it just snowballs its way through to the end of the year. But anyway, well, I'm glad you're doing well. Hopefully our listeners are also. And so let's have a little fun here. Why we might want some of these things as financial stocking stuffers, okay? Is it a good idea as a stocking stuffer? Is it a bad idea? That kind of thing. Have a little fun with it, wherever you want to take it.   Speaker 2: All right.   Speaker 1: All right, so I'll give you the item. You tell us what you think. All right, so the first one, maxing out your retirement contributions. Is this something you'd like to have in your stocking, is to max those out?   Speaker 2: I would say definitely, yes. And for those of the people listening that are in the Iowa area, I actually brought the newspaper article in to share with my staff and it was an article about people that are mostly in the central Iowa area just living on social security. And it's a sad article and I'd encourage people to read it, but the point of it was you don't want to end up just living off social security, which means that, and I tell people this literally like a broken record every tax season, you need to increase your retirement contributions to whatever you're doing. And if you haven't started, you need to start because nobody's going to be there to take care of you and social security, while it's a safety net, it's not a very good existence. And so I would definitely say that's number one on my list.   Speaker 1: Yeah, max it out. Especially as we get to 50. 50 plus, you get those catch up contribution stages, making more money than ever hopefully, kids are off the payroll hopefully. So max those jokers out. Certainly a good idea for a stocking stuffer. All right, diversifying your investments. If somebody says, "Hey, Tony, for Christmas this year, I'm going to help you diversify your investments." That sounds like a pretty good stocking stuffer.   Speaker 2: Absolutely. It goes right along with number one that you definitely don't want to have too much of your investments, of course, concentrated in one area. The old adage, and you still hear some people having it where I've got all my 401(k) wrapped up in my own company's stock. That's probably not the best, that's an extreme example. But I do think you need to be diversified. This is where an advisor can certainly help you and provide some value to make sure you're adequately diversified so that you've always got something in your portfolio that might be doing well when other sectors may not be.   Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah. And to kind of have fun and play on the holiday spirit here, again, you said you want a qualified professional, an advisor to help you. Yes, that is the preferred thing. Not just having Cousin Eddie from the Vacation movies. You don't want Cousin Eddie helping you diversify.   Speaker 2: We don't want Cousin Eddie. No, no.   Speaker 1: We don't want that. We want a qualified like Tony helping us. Same with all of these. So what about reviewing our social security strategy? So good time to think about that and say, "Hey, you know what? For Christmas, I want to make sure my social security strategy is sound as a pound."   Speaker 2: And of course all of these coming around Christmas, it's kind of coming into the new year where people start to think about this. But social security strategy and when to take it, that's always a big question on people's minds as they approach 50 and beyond. And there's some nice calculators that we have that can help you and that we can discuss that on what's the best optimization strategy for you because it's different for everybody. Yes, social security, you can take it early at 62 and then you've got a full retirement age and then of course the latest. But depending on your situation and longevity and all kinds of other things, I think it's important to review that. And believe it or not, social security administration does make it relatively easy to go out and get your report online. And if you can't get it, we'll help you get it, but I do think that's very important.   Speaker 1: Yeah, that's a great point for sure. And speaking of optimization, our next one is optimizing tax efficiency. Well, as a CPA, I know you're all on board for that one.   Speaker 2: I am. This is my big pet peeve, because I talked to a lot of people about yes, you might be working with an advisor or maybe you're not, but are you planning with a tax efficiency slant or making sure you optimize or reduce, let's put it should be, taxes because it's usually the biggest thing in our whole life is paying these taxes, whether it's now or deferred. And you really have to try to maximize your tax savings all throughout the investment life. So that's the one we hit on, is that and everything we talk about.   Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, tax efficiency is going to go a long way. I mean, none of us want to pay taxes. We don't like the... We get taxed to death as it is, but the rules are the rules, so we have to adhere and follow along. But you can be efficient and hopefully pay as little as legally possible.   Speaker 2: Exactly, you got to use them to your advantage.   Speaker 1: That's right.   Speaker 2: Yep.   Speaker 1: Play the game as best you can.   Speaker 2: Best you can, yeah.   Speaker 1: Yeah, for sure. Okay, so another stocking stuffer idea, Tony, would it be a good thing to boost that emergency fund?   Speaker 2: I would definitely say yes. Another thing we talk about with every client that we work with is it's amazing how many people don't have emergency funds and it's never a bad idea to boost it to a level where between you and your advisor agree upon. It's a little different for everybody, the old adage three to six months of income, but it could be different for different things. But boy, it's essential to have that at least until you're at retirement age and then you can back it down some, but it's not a bad idea to even have it in the wealth distribution stage just for those things that pop up. So we do like to go over that. We do like to make sure that people, even if it's just a few bucks every month to get that boosted every year.   Speaker 1: Got you, okay. I'm going to throw a bonus one or two in here at you as well, Tony, catch you off guard a little bit. Not that you don't talk about this enough stuff, you'll be just fine, but based on what you were kind of talking about right there, it made me think about something else. Should we, at the end of the year, we're thinking this is our early December, we're talking stocking stuffers. What about rebalancing our portfolio? Is it a good idea calendar wise, maybe every December or every January to just kind of take a look at things and make sure we're rebalanced properly if we don't have someone like yourself doing it for us?   Speaker 2: I definitely think it is. If you are working on it on your own, you definitely want to go in and rebalance toward the end of the year right after the first to make sure that you're continuing with your original investment philosophy. And because what happens is is if you've got say 10 different investments over 10 different sectors, some of those sectors are going to do very well during the year and some are going to do worse.   Speaker 1: And the market's done great, the last year.   Speaker 2: Yeah, market's done great.   Speaker 1: But you may have a couple of dogs in there.   Speaker 2: Yeah, and so what you want to try to do is rebalance so that two to three years go by and all of a sudden, let's say for example, your growth sector is now 75, 80% of your portfolio, that might be out of balance with what you originally wanted to have in the overall strategy. And so by doing that, you also in essence kind of sell high and buy low, because you're going to rebalance and you're going to keep that balance so that when sectors that were doing poorly start to perform, you're adequately invested in those. So I do think that's a very, very good idea.   Speaker 1: Yeah, and it's been doing really well. The market has to give and take. The market rebalances, if you think about it, that concept of you want to rebalance your own portfolio, well, the market has to rebalance itself and we're probably going to see some volatility coming into the new year with new changes and things happening and administration changes. And I think ultimately, I think if you look at the statistics, Tony, just about every presidency, the market tends to go up, but there is going to be some shakes along the way. That's what it does. It's par for the course.   So rebalancing is a good way, especially at the end of a good run like we're seeing right now to maybe make sure you're still aligned with your risk tolerance and all those good things. So good conversation piece to have. Let's do two more and then we'll wrap it up this week, Tony. How about considering Roth conversions to reduce future taxes, especially now that we may see, we don't know yet, we'll see probably in the first a hundred days, but we may see the current tax cuts and jobs acts extended moving past '25, which it was set to expire on. So that could be a good stocking idea.   Speaker 2: It could be a real good stocking idea. I'm big on the Roth conversions to reduce future taxes. Especially what we do is basically fill up the same tax bracket of clients in, convert some tax deferred to tax-free, which is the Roth conversion, and then try to do that every year and not bump them into the next tax bracket where they're paying more taxes. But I agree, depending on what happens, whether these things are extended beyond '25 or not, it could make more sense than ever to maybe start doing that depending on the news that comes out.   Speaker 1: Because if they don't make a change, your window's pretty limited. You've got basically just a year left to do some conversions and you want to do that smartly so that you're not bumping tax brackets. But if they extend it, well now you can get back to that Roth-ing over time conversation.   Speaker 2: Exactly. And if they don't extend, going back to that's the whole optimizing for tax efficiency is making sure that you're getting enough into the tax-free bucket, but doing it wisely and not needlessly overpaying on taxes, it's not going to ruin you. But why pay more in taxes than we need to?   Speaker 1: And so many people aren't clear on how the steps work. You want to fill up the steps before you go to the next bracket.   Speaker 2: Exactly, exactly. So they don't understand. They forget about the progressiveness of the tax rates, where that comes into play and when we can show them that they can, if we only fill up this bracket, then we can save quite a bit of taxes and trying to do it all at once.   Speaker 1: If you're in the 22% tax bracket, someone's like, well, every dime I make is taxed at 22% and that's not accurate.   Speaker 2: True. Yeah, it's not accurate. And as soon as you go a dime over the limit, now everything beyond that limit is 24.   Speaker 1: Beyond that limit, exactly. So even if you did pop a bracket, it may not be the worst thing. It just depends on how much. So again, it's about filling up the brackets and doing it properly. So that's where again, you want to work with a qualified professional to help you with that stuff because it can get a little tricky. And the IRS make things tricky, no. So yeah, definitely work with someone like Tony's, a CPA and a CFP. And that brings me to my last one, which is just schedule a conversation. So for a stocking stuffer, it's a good stocking stuffer, schedule an annual financial checkup, or maybe even a first time checkup, Tony, with a qualified pro to see where you're at.   Speaker 2: I agree. And of course I have a skin in the game because what we do for a living, but obviously if you have a financial professional already, hopefully they've reached out to you or you're at least getting an annual meeting out of that, because you do need a financial checkup to see how things have gone throughout the year for you. And even if you're on your own, a lot of people will provide free financial checkups or at a small fee and you can bring them in your portfolio and everything else you've got going. And they can sit and tell you, number one, I mean, returns and diversification, some of this other stuff we've talked about, but they may hit on some things in a plan that you haven't thought about. We don't have a lot of time to talk about today, whether it be insurance, long-term care, social security planning, some things like that. Maybe a legacy and estate planning as well. So it's definitely worth at least getting an unbiased opinion.   Speaker 1: Yeah, definitely. And so certainly would be a good stocking stuffer for yourself to say, "Hey, I'm going to get off my duff and I'm going to go talk with a qualified professional and see what's going on, see where I'm at." Maybe it's a second opinion on a plan you got a couple of years ago. Maybe it's a first opinion, or maybe it's just an annual checkup with your advisor, but you haven't talked to him for a little bit and you're thinking, "I want to make sure things are all set up. My ducks are all in a row, so to speak." So that's our podcast this week. So hopefully you guys had a little fun and enjoyed the conversation with Tony and I as usual to try to highlight some useful nuggets of information when it comes to getting ready for retirement.   And as always, if you need some help, reach out to Tony and his team at yourplanningpros.com. That's yourplanningpros.com or call him at (844) 707-7381. We'll have that information in the show description links as well and you can check all that good stuff out. Tony, my friend, thanks for hanging out. I always appreciate you and I guess we'll talk right after Christmas, so I'll say Merry Christmas to you.   Speaker 2: Yeah, Merry Christmas to you and anybody listening. Have a great holidays.   Speaker 1: Absolutely. And we'll see you next time here on Plan With The Tax Man. Don't forget to subscribe to us on Apple or Spotify or whatever app you like using. Just type in Plan With The Tax Man.   Securities offered through Avantax Investment Services SM, member FINRA, SIPC. Investment advisory services offered through Avantax Advisory Services. Insurance services offered through an Avantax affiliated insurance agency. Investment strategies discussed in this episode may not be suitable for all investors. Please consult with a financial professional.  

It's hard to believe that election season is over and Thanksgiving is almost here! This week on Plan with the Tax Man, we're diving into the future of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act now that the election results are in. Join us as we explore what changes could be on the horizon and what to expect moving forward.   Important Links: Website: http://www.yourplanningpros.com Call: 844-707-7381   ----more---- Transcript:    Speaker 1: This week on Plan With The Tax Man, let's talk about the future of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the TCJA now that we know the results of the election. So let's get into what could be on the horizon in the coming years here this week on Plan With The Tax Man. Welcome into the podcast everybody. Thanks for hanging out with Tony Mauro and myself. Tony of course, a CPA, CFP, and EA with 30 plus years in the industry helping folks get to and through retirement. And he's at the Tax Doctor, Inc. You can find them online at yourplanningpros.com. That's yourplanningpros.com. And Tony, happy Thanksgiving, my friend. We are taping this a little before and dropping this podcast just a few days before Thanksgiving. So happy Turkey Bird Day to you, my friend.   Tony Mauro: Yeah, same to you and everybody else.   Speaker 1: Absolutely.   Tony Mauro: It's getting that time of year.   Speaker 1: Absolutely. Exactly.   Tony Mauro: Yeah.   Speaker 1: So hope everybody enjoys the holiday and hopefully we're just going to do a little speculation here this week, Tony. We know now, obviously President Trump is the, Trump President-elect, right, coming in here in January. And so one of the big questions and one of the big things I think that has people, especially in our demographic and the people that you serve and your clientele is what that might mean for the future of tax cuts. Right. So all through the Biden administration, we kind of wondered were they going to make any tax cuts changes or tax rate changes or anything. They never did. And then of course the big kind of question was, well, if Harris wins, will we see the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act go ahead and expire at the end of 25 like it's supposed to, or would we see a new tax program?   Well, now that we know Trump is coming back in, I think it's probably a safe assumption to say that he's going to try to either extend the TCJA or maybe even make it permanent. Right. So there's conversation around that. So I thought we could talk a little bit about what that might mean for retirees, pre-retirees, and just from a planning and thought kind of process should that happen.   Tony Mauro: Yeah. And I think now that hopefully everybody's emotions are calming down a little bit, depending on,-   Speaker 1: We hope.   Tony Mauro: Won or lost.   Speaker 1: We hope. Right.   Tony Mauro: Half of everybody is mad and half of everybody is happy. And I think the big thing with all of this is, and I've been putting it out in our newsletter since the election is even though it may not have gone your way, life is not going to change all that much for you. I mean, you need to be aware of some of these things and how it impacts you and how to use it to your best benefit. Because the end of the day, we go back to doing what we do and trying to make the best of what we've got and so,-   Speaker 1: Right. And we know that fiscally our country's in really bad shape and whatever changes they're going to be working on is not going to happen overnight. It is going to take a little time. They're going to break some eggs along the way. It's not going to be a totally smooth process. I mean, we're in pretty bad shape, Tony fiscally. Right. So it's going to take a lot of work to kind of right the ship. And obviously the voters voted for hoping that prices come down, getting a better grip on the economy. That was one of the biggest poll movers, I suppose, in that conversation. So with that in mind, let's talk a little bit about that TCJA standpoint. If again, this is if, but since they're going to have the House and the Senate, it appears there's a likelihood that they're going to get this passed through at least if nothing else, an extension. Let's just start there. That's good from the fact that tax rates are historically low, right, for the common everyday working American tax rates are historically low. So that's a good place to start.   Tony Mauro: It's a good place to start. Yeah. And from a taxpayer standpoint, who doesn't like low taxes?   Speaker 1: Right.   Tony Mauro: And me included. And so that's beneficial. Now the big picture, like you say, our financial situation as a country, we already know, everybody knows that Congress tends to spend way more than they take in. And that,-   Speaker 1: Sure.   Tony Mauro: I just read an article the other day about the TCJA, that if they extend it, it could, it could add another 2.6 trillion to the deficit over the next 10 years.   Speaker 1: Correct.   Tony Mauro: Which from a fiscal standpoint, it's like, ooh boy, we're already in bad shape. This is going to make it worse but,-   Speaker 1: Well, okay, so let's kind of talk about that. Let's break that down a little bit for a second. So if you think about it, the reason they put it in the way they did, right, for the number of years, what was it, seven years I think when they put it in?   Tony Mauro: Yeah, seven years.   Speaker 1: Was because they said they were worried about it ballooning the deficit. Well, obviously the deficit's gotten out of control anyway, so,-   Tony Mauro: It is.   Speaker 1: Keeping the TCJA is I think it's, we talk often, Tony about having a three-legged stool for retirement. Right. And I think that's what the leaders are going to have to do from a government standpoint. One is going to be promoting job growth and keeping tax rates low for paying Americans. So again, maybe extending the TCJA, but to your point, it could add to the deficit. So spending has to get under control. I think that's the second piece. Like the conversation, don't like the conversation, but the idea of this department of government efficiency that's being tossed around out there and cutting some of this incredibly wasteful spending that we do, and let's be honest, we waste a lot of money, could make a huge impact and maybe offset some of that cost of the TCJA plus the tariff conversation. Right.   Tony Mauro: Yeah. I think all that is part of what I feel like are,-   Speaker 1: The big picture, right?   Tony Mauro: Policy decisions, yeah, that has to be made by this and future administrations and try to work towards figuring this out to.   Speaker 1: Right. Because it's $36 trillion. You can't fix it with just one thing. Right.   Tony Mauro: No, you cannot.   Speaker 1: So that in mind, that in mind about the ballooning, just from that standpoint, we get that as far as a bigger picture that they have to work on. But what does it mean for everyday Americans? Well, I think one of the places, Tony, besides just having low tax rates, which is good, and the narrower brackets versus going back to the wider is the conversation about, well now it gives you more time to Roth over time. Right. Because if people were talking about doing Roth conversions at these historic low tax rates, well you only had until the end of 2025 to get them done. So your window was narrowing. If again, if they extend the TCJA, that could make planning a lot easier for you for your clients if they do need to do Roth conversions over time.   Tony Mauro: Absolutely. And we're looking at it from that standpoint now that it's over, that we're going to be harping on our clients, assuming they extend this, is to take advantage of this because we don't know when they're going to either reverse it. And I always liked that word, you mentioned it earlier, permanent. Of course, Congress changes stuff.   Speaker 1: Right. Nothing's ever permanent. Yeah.   Tony Mauro: Never really permanent, but it's harder to change when it's permanent rather than just let it expire. So it's important to take, like I say, it doesn't matter who's in office, we have to take advantage of what they are allowing us to do or giving us or legally.   Speaker 1: Sure.   Tony Mauro: And making sure that from a financial planning standpoint, it helps all of us if on these Roth conversions and whatnot, because I'm a big fan of them, is to set yourself up for a good retirement, for that end game. So I think that's extremely important.   Speaker 1: Yeah. And it does give you guys a lot more of a window to plan, again, it's the devil that you know. Right. So if we know the tax rates, let's just, we're working off an assumption, but think about when you sit down with a financial professional, they're putting information into the software. They're still working off of assumptions, right, assuming that you don't lose your job or assuming this, this or this and that you can run scenarios for social security at this amount, plus you could run social security projections at the lower amount should they not fix that. Right.   So a lot of what you guys do is assumptions, right? You can put some good educated guesses and you can put stuff in the software and get a good picture, but life changes, things happen. So let's just again, run the assumption that the TCJA gets at least extended through four more years. Let's just say if nothing else through Trump's presidency. Well then that gives you four years of planning strategy around some things to try to get done while we are again in these historic low tax rates. And that can be very valuable.   Tony Mauro: I think so. Yeah. And going to the other side of it a little bit,-   Speaker 1: Sure.   Tony Mauro: Let's say they let them sunset.   Speaker 1: Okay.   Tony Mauro: Now, America's tax bill increases by 2.6 trillion over the next decade, which will help cut into the deficit, but it's going to impact consumption and growth and everything else because if everybody's paying more taxes, then they're going to stop spending, which poses problems from,-   Speaker 1: The economy standpoint. Right.   Tony Mauro: From the economy standpoint.   Speaker 1: Yeah.   Tony Mauro: And so it really is a tough job to try to balance all this.   Speaker 1: Oh, for sure.   Tony Mauro: And try to make it work.   Speaker 1: And we're not even talking about the conversation that they're having as far as maybe lowering corporate tax rates even a bit more. So under Trump's first presidency, he brought it down to where it's currently at, at the 21, I think it's 21%,-   Tony Mauro: Yeah.   Speaker 1: For corporate tax. That brought a lot of business back to the country. Right. A lot of companies, I mean, think about the Apple conversation. Apple brought $250 billion back in when that happened. By lowering that to 15, yes, there's the worry of ballooning the deficit, but again, the idea is to spurn on job growth and economic growth. Then again, coupling that with tariffs on certain things, which again, the tariffs he put in place, the Biden administration, they left them in place. So obviously they were working in that regard. So again, I think it's one of these pieces where it's going to take a while for us to see the end results of this, but I think we can, it feels optimistic that we could make a dent, right, in this massive debt by doing some of these things and also pull the country a bit forward.   Now, who knows, there's a long way to go, right, Tony, and of course the big key, the first thing is going to be the energy dependency. And that's of course, that's one of Trump's big things, is on day one he's going to get the drill baby drill going again. Right. And so people think about that. If we start getting more energy independent right from day one that he takes office, we're not going to feel that in the streets for a little while. Right. Transportation costs and stuff like that, they'll come down, which will bring groceries down eventually, but it will take a few months.   Tony Mauro: It's going to take a little while. Yeah. I mean, nothing they're going to do, like you said before, is going to have an immediate impact. I think for most of us, you want to see, like you said, country moving potentially in the right direction. Of course, everybody's got their own opinion on what that direction is, but,-   Speaker 1: At least fiscally anyway, right?   Tony Mauro: Yeah. Yeah. Fiscally, I think we all can agree that nobody likes to see this kind of deficit and whatnot and constant different administrations continuing to,-   Speaker 1: Yeah, add to it.   Tony Mauro: Yeah, add to it, not do much about it. Then we've got all these problems on the side that nobody really seems to tackle until it's really at the last minute.   Speaker 1: Because we're really mortgaging, not necessarily you and I, Tony, our future, but we're certainly mortgaging our grandkids future,-   Tony Mauro: Absolutely.   Speaker 1: At $36 trillion and climbing. Somebody's paying this bill somewhere at some point. And we think back to the deficits we've had before, and we kind of took care of that into the Clinton administration. And I was talking with, we talked about this before, I was talking with former US comptroller, David Walker, who was part of that, and he's like, "Bill Clinton was the last fiscally responsible president we had." That says something. Not from a party standpoint, but from the fact that we've had multiple administrations since Bill Clinton and none of them have been fiscally responsible. So we've got to get back there. And yes, Trump was already president and they weren't necessarily fiscally responsible. So hopefully he's learned as well. And we try to get in that regard because think about again, what you guys do. If you are trying to help somebody plan for retirement and they come in and you've got the X's and O's, the exact number, what's happening with their income and they're not being fiscally responsible, their retirement strategy is not going to work.   Tony Mauro: Not going to work. We're the ones that have to break that to them and try to figure out some options to help them try to make something work.   Speaker 1: And they have to make changes. Right. Your options are spend less, right?   Tony Mauro: Yep. Yeah.   Speaker 1: Save more. So there's only certain things you can do, and that's where we're at as a country as well.   Tony Mauro: I think it is. And I think you go to the countryside and say, well, okay, you can tell the politicians to spend less if you can get them to do that. But then I think they tend to divert things to other things that they want to do rather than spending less. But I think where they really fall down is, and sometimes it's the tough decision when we're talking to our clients where you have to save more is sometimes they may have to say, look, guys and gals or country, we've got to raise taxes or we got to come up with some ways to make some money somehow, and this is what we've come up with. And nobody likes to hear that.   Speaker 1: Oh, for sure. I mean, I got a feeling that they're going to take a look at this and while we might extend the TCJA, they do want to make some changes. The SALT tax, there's some changes there. They're talking about putting itemization back in, which could be very helpful for citizens into their tax planning. But we could be looking at a slight brazen Medicare tax. Right. So that may be necessary as well in order to help fund that whole situation. So you're not going to make an omelet without breaking a few eggs.   Tony Mauro: That's right. That's right. And we've got all kinds of issues. I think, like you say, social security is one of them. Coming down the pike that's going to get more and more attention as we get closer to those deadlines and yeah, they're got to make some tough decisions. And sometimes they're going to be a little bit unpopular, but I think they probably could do a better job of at least when they do come up with some things, conveying it to the American people a little better.   Speaker 1: Well, the TCJA is going to be a big focal point. We'll see how that goes. Probably within the first 100 days we might see something there. We may not. Right. Because it doesn't expire until the end of 25, but obviously that's starting next year. So I got a feeling it's going to be early on the docket, so it could be something that happens in the first 100 days. And again, we're just speculating, spitballing a little bit here this week on the podcast. So we'll certainly keep an eye on it Tony. As the administration starts and executive orders start to fly, we'll start to kind of see how these things affect not just the market, but other pieces. And when you think about the market standpoint, it obviously reacted very favorably to the election. It slowed a little bit, but I think it seems to be fairly positive for now.   Tony Mauro: I think so for now is right. I think yeah, that election euphoria has kind of subsided a bit, but nevertheless, we're still chugging along. The economy even with higher prices and whatnot is doing pretty well. I think it'll help if rates come down and,-   Speaker 1: Yeah, our unemployment numbers have been climbing obviously, and there was some fudgery there, so I think we've got a little bit more unemployment than we hoped for, but we'll see as the year winds down. I know there's some companies out there laying off and hopefully they'll be able to, and again, I think that's the idea behind some of the job growth. Right. Keeping the tax rates low will help spurn on the job market. So it's a fine line. It really is incredibly complex when you start to think about it. And it's the same thing with what you guys do, helping people plan for retirement.   Tony Mauro: Yeah. And I've only been to Washington DC a couple of times both on business and got a chance to get in front of our Iowa Congress people, and it's fascinating to see how, we all complain about them, but how our government, how massive it is and how it does seem to work with all of its problems, we plot along and it's just an incredible beast.   Speaker 1: Yeah.   Tony Mauro: You have to try to get things done and make decisions.   Speaker 1: It really is. Yeah. And some would say maybe a little too big, so,-   Tony Mauro: Yeah. Yeah. Maybe.   Speaker 1: Too big a government is not a good thing. So hopefully we'll see some of the reduction in there. And that could help. And again, this is going to be like a three-legged kind of milking stool, same kind of idea. They're going to have to do multiple moving parts to get us in a better space, but we'll keep an eye on things. We'll talk about things here on the podcast and try to shed some light on them. But at the end of the day, you really, as Tony said, to start this whole thing off, you have to kind of build and structure a plan, Tony, that's going to weather whatever administration and whatever happens to come down the pike because we don't have a lot of control.   Yes, we used our voice to vote. Obviously that was very resounding this year for Republicans. They won all three. It appears as well as the majority vote, the popular vote. So we'll see, right? I mean, but we can do that job there. But at the end of the day, you still want to strategize and have a plan that kind of deals with the ups and downs of life because life will keep trucking along.   Tony Mauro: You do. I would say after the first year, my advice would be to get with your advisor or find one and have them explain some of this to you and how it could affect you individually, whether it's on taxes or how it's going to affect your financial life.   Speaker 1: Absolutely. Yep. So if you need some help, reach out to Tony and his team at Tax Doctor, Inc. Again, he's been helping families for 30 plus years. He's a CPA, a certified financial planner and an EA. So great resource for you to tap into. Just give them a jingle or reach out to them online. We'll have all the links in the show notes here for you to check out. But you can go to yourplanningpros.com to get started. That's yourplanningpros.com to get started. And again, we'll have that information in the show descriptions of the podcast. And don't forget to subscribe to us if you would be so kind on Apple or Spotify or whatever platform you like using. If you enjoy the content and find it useful, you can also share that with others who might benefit from the messages as well. And we'll see you next time here on Plan With The Tax Man. Happy Thanksgiving once again to everybody out there and Tony, you as well, my friend.   Tony Mauro: All right, we'll see you next time.   Speaker 1: We'll see you in December here on Plan With The Tax Man.   Securities offered through Avantax Investment Services SM, member FINRA, SIPC. Investment advisory services offered through Avantax Advisory Services. Insurance services offered through an Avantax affiliated insurance agency. Investment strategies discussed in this episode may not be suitable for all investors. Please consult with a financial professional.

You wouldn’t necessarily expect Mike Tyson, Shaquille O’Neal, or Lindsay Lohan to dispense valuable insights about financial planning matters. In fact, you’d probably expect the opposite. But with a little bit of creativity, we can get some financial planning pearls of wisdom from even the most unlikely of sources.   Important Links: Website: http://www.yourplanningpros.com Call: 844-707-7381   ----more---- Transcript:    Speaker 1: This week on Plan With the Tax Man, we're going to talk about unlikely financial wisdom you wouldn't expect from the likes of Mike Tyson or Shaquille O'Neal or even Lindsay Lohan. So let's find out what we're talking about this week here on Plan with the Tax Man with Tony Mauro.   What's going on everybody? Thanks for tuning into the podcast. We're dropping this about a week after the election, and we taped it ahead of the time, Tony, just in case the world was goofy. Plus you went out of town, so you were smart.   Tony Mauro: Yes.   Speaker 1: You ran away during the week of the election. You did your voting prior to, so very cool. And then you got out for a little trip and just tuned out the noise. I bet that was genius. I'm jealous. How you doing, my friend? You doing all right?   Tony Mauro: I'm doing well, yeah. Well rested and yes, I didn't plan the vacation like that back when I planned it, but it kind of worked out.   Speaker 1: It kind of worked out. Yeah. So since you're catching this after the election, but we're taping it beforehand because Tony is leaving, as I just mentioned, that we don't have a conversation for that. So, we'll probably save that for the next podcast to talk about what's going on in the world. So for now, we thought we would do one that was simple and easy and just do some unlikely financial wisdom with some characters we might not have expected financial advice from.   And look, they weren't saying these quotes to be financial advice, but with a little bit of creativity, I think Tony and I can turn those into some. So, let's start with a child actress who had some trouble as a teen, I guess, or a young adult or whatever, got herself into quite a bit of trouble and very scandalous kind of character in the Hollywood scene. And that was Lindsay Lohan, right? So, wound up making some movies when she was younger. Then she wound up getting into some trouble and kind of being very polarizing and so on and so forth.   Here's a quote, and it's a great quote, and it's especially when someone who's struggling with whatever they're struggling with in life, Tony. She said, "I'm my own worst enemy, and I know that." And that's key to fixing whatever problem you have in your life, be it your Hollywood career or your finances. If you know you're your own worst enemy, it can really help you not make more mistakes by maybe getting involved with someone like yourself who can help you battle yourself, if you will.   Tony Mauro: I agree. And with Lindsay Lohan, I'm sure... Well, I think it's a profound statement by her because obviously I don't really follow her much other than what I used to see when she was in trouble, but obviously she must have found some wisdom to make a statement like that, to at least recognize that she had some issues. And hopefully, I think she's got them cleaned up now. I don't know. But in relation to financial planning, there's a lot of truth to this because most people are their own worst enemies because one, they tend to overreact, they tend to be very emotional, especially if they're trying to dive in and out of the markets and time it and things like that.   And then they become their own worst enemy because they overthink things and they really tend to over time, a lot of times if they're doing it themselves, they don't realize great returns or any returns for that matter. And it's generally because they're their own worst enemy and they're trying to do it themselves and they're messing it up.   Speaker 1: For sure. And I think a lot of times we do that, right? Because look, we know that we're supposed to buy low and sell high, but often we panic and do the opposite. I mean, that's just the basic core fundamental that most of us screw up. Not because we don't know better, but because emotionally we freak out and we're like, "I just can't handle it. I just can't stomach it. The market's had a bad week and I've lost $10,000," or whatever it might be. And you're like, "Ah, get me out of here." And that's usually not the right thing to do.   And it could be a myriad of other kinds of situations financially speaking, where you just know that you're not supposed to do XY, or Z, but you do it anyway because your emotions get the better of you. And Tony, that's where you guys come into play. Some of the best value, the biggest value that financial professionals provide is being that sounding board to go, "Hey, look, I get it. All right, but here's why you're going to be okay, just to stay the course," or whatever. Or, "You're right, let's make some tweaks." You guys are that sounding board.   Tony Mauro: I mean, you're exactly right. We have to be the sounding board. And sometimes that's not what people want to hear. But it's [inaudible 00:04:40]-   Speaker 1: I mean, it could be as simple as calling you up and going, "Tony, talk me off the ledge. I'm about to do something dumb. I want to throw all my money into... Or I want to throw 20% of my portfolio into X or Y, or whatever." And you're like, "Okay, let's talk about that." At the end of the day, you're not the money police. If that's what they want to do, it's what they want to do. But again, you're going to give them the pros and cons of the situation and then they can make that informed decision.   All right, well, good job, Lindsey. And good job, Tony. Next one here is from Chuck. We got to go with Charles Barkley. Guy just says all sorts of great stuff. He's hilarious and has some pretty interesting quotes. He said, "I don't create controversies. They are there long before I ever open my mouth. I just bring them to your attention." And I think maybe you guys can do that too, right? It's like, "Look, I didn't create this tax problem you have. I'm bringing it to your attention, but let's now talk about how to address it."   Tony Mauro: Exactly. We do this all the time. This is a great quote from him because part of our job is to, not to tear people apart, but to tell them where we think they need to improve in their financial area of their lives. And so they create some of these controversies, whether it be taxes, whether it be they're behind on retirement planning or whatever else, they don't have any insurance. It's just our job to let them know this and how to fix them the best way so that they can get on the right track. And that's the whole reason for the financial planning process, is to get yourself and to try to stay on track. But like he says, and he does say some crazy things, but he is entertaining.   Speaker 1: And he's got some pretty good wisdom too.   Tony Mauro: He really does. He really does. And I think in order to solve these problems, first of all, you got to admit you have them and then you got to make a plan to get them fixed. It's really in its simplest terms.   Speaker 1: Yeah. Well, I'm going to jump to the Shaq one because it really works well as the follow-up to the Chuck one here. Especially with them both being on a same show for a long time with the NBA on the TNT. So if you're talking about the controversy or the problem that Chuck was just talking about and bringing it to the attention, Shaq says, "I never worry about the problem. I worry about the solution."   And I think that's great advice financially speaking too. Maybe not the term never, talking in absolutes, but why worry so much about the problem? Because a lot of times we can't control the problem. We can't control what the government does for taxation rates or what's going on with inflation, but we can worry about the solution.   Tony Mauro: You can, and just like with the election, half of the people in the country are going to be happy, half of them are not going to be. Doesn't matter where you're at. And we tend to focus on, like you say, these minute problems that are most of the time out of our control, all we can do is set up our process, so we're in the mode of trying to be successful. And it's all the time with taxes. I mean-   Speaker 1: Oh yeah, it never ends.   Tony Mauro: ... everybody worries about, "Oh yeah, taxes this, taxes that." Forget about all that. Just worry about how can we take them and use them legally to our advantage to pay the least amount of tax possible. That's just tax avoidance. That's not illegal. [inaudible 00:07:58]-   Speaker 1: Here's the rules of the chess board. We know the chess rules. Now what's the moves we can make with inside the game, right?   Tony Mauro: Yeah. And it's the same on the financial planning side. Same way, they're constantly changing laws and putting new things into place about retirement when you can take money and the deductibility of money. So, you just have to come up with a plan that's best for you and work it to your advantage and really more focus on the process, I think, rather than some of these annoying little things you can't control.   Speaker 1: And even if you feel like, "Oh, they're really big things," yes, but there are things that are never going to... I mean, even like this election, to your point, and well, what's going to happen with the market and what's going to happen with the economy and blah, blah, blah. This is what administration, if you're just now retiring, let's say, and you're retired for 20 or 30 years, guess what? There's only an administration for four years, eight tops. So, you're going to see multiple administrations, which means you're probably going to see multiple tax code changes.   Tony Mauro: Exactly.   Speaker 1: So, you might as well not stress too much over that and instead get a strategy and a plan together to help you weather whatever comes down the pike. Because again, we're all pawns on the chessboard. We have to move within the parameters that the chess piece allows us, right? Chessboard allows us. I think it's a good way of thinking about that. Don't worry about the problem, worry about the solution.   All right, final one here. We'll finish off with one more sports person. I realize we only did one actress or actor, but we were going to go a little bit more sports. Tony and I are sports guys as well, but they're just really good. Sports works so well from a coaching standpoint. Mike Tyson, everybody's probably heard this one and it's a fantastic quote, and it's dead on. "Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth." And of course he said this back in the day when people were like, they're going to beat him. They figured out how to beat him in the ring.   And he is like, "Yeah, everybody's got a plan until I punch them in the face," and you get woke up real quick. And that's life, Tony. That's dead on for any aspect of life. We can all make a plan and then you get punched in the mouth and you got to change that plan. And so while we're talking about getting people to get a financial strategy and a plan together here on the podcast, you do realize that life is going to still life and throw you curve-balls. That's why you have reviews and that's why you make tweaks and changes.   Tony Mauro: That's right. And I like Mike Tyson. You study him and his life and what a story that has been. Where he came from-   Speaker 1: Had a lot of trouble too, but yeah.   Tony Mauro: Yeah. He had a lot of trouble in his life, was on top of the world as far as money wise. Ended up losing a lot of it to all kinds of things. And I read an article about him when one of his kids were saying that they were to box, and he was telling them, "Why would you ever want to do this with all I've been punched in the face for you, so you wouldn't have to do this."   But taking it back to the financial arena. Yeah, it's exactly that, and we see it all the time. We ask tax clients, "What's your plan for retirement?" They say, "Well, I'm going to retire at 66." I said, "That's it, that's the plan?" And they have not taken it one step further than that. And that's really not a plan, that's just an age you're going to retire. There's all kinds of things that you need to think about is what are you [inaudible 00:11:19]-   Speaker 1: Oh yeah, I'm going to turn on my social security at 62 and I'm going to start pulling out my retirement accounts at whatever, 67 or whatever it is that then they walk away from the job and hope for the best, right?   Tony Mauro: That's right.   Speaker 1: And it's like, well, that's really not... That's just the basics. That's just the age requirements that you're allowed to do stuff. You got to strategize, man.   Tony Mauro: Exactly. I have a client right now that I'm meeting with in November that is right along these lines. He's 63, she's 62, and they've kind of played a lot in their life, bought a lot of toys and whatnot, don't have a ton of income, just the average American family, but they all of a sudden want to retire and now all of a sudden, they're scared because they didn't have a plan. Now, retirement, in essence is kind of punching them in the mouth saying, well, it's here now. And they don't know if they've got enough money to do it. I don't think they do, I think-   Speaker 1: Which is a lot of people. A lot of people fall into this category.   Tony Mauro: A lot of people, yeah. I mean, that's what I'm talking about. They had a plan, but they didn't really have a plan. They said they did, but they really don't.   Speaker 1: Well, yeah, the back of the napkin stuff, which we all do and there's nothing wrong with it, but at some point you've got to put it into play. I think you said they were in their mid-60s, right? Or early-60s.   Tony Mauro: Right. Is it too late to start planning then? Maybe not, but sometimes it can be. To your point, Tony, you just said, they may not be able to pull off what they want to pull off. They may have to make some tweaks to get it done. So, the sooner you can kind of start... And I think most of us, and I've talked about this a million times, but I think it's a good analogy to think about, even though we're now into November, is that at the age of 50, I think we start waking up a little bit more to the idea of, "Oh crap, it's going to be here quick. When did I get to 50?"   And so you start maybe getting a... And there's a lot of things in place to help you do some of that. Contribution limits get raised and there's hopefully the kids are coming off the payroll, all these things we've talked about before. And so you can hopefully start stocking away more. And that's a great time to start talking with a professional. Have a five, seven, ten-year window to get some planning done, right? It makes a big difference.   It makes a huge difference. And I tell the young people, even if you are not working with a planner in your 20s and 30s, the best advice I can give you is just start saving. Use the Roth IRA. Use your 401(k)s. A lot of them have Roth options now.   Speaker 1: Oh yeah, for sure.   Tony Mauro: Just get in the habit so that when you do start getting a little more serious about it, I'm not saying you shouldn't be early, because you're ahead of the game, but-   Speaker 1: Yeah. 50 bucks a month, man, would make a huge difference if you started in your 20s, early 20s.   Tony Mauro: Yeah. Just get the ball rolling so you've got something. So we're not sitting here when you are 50 and you say, "I really don't have much in anything. Help me out." And we can help everybody, it's just you may not want to hear, which we just talked about, what I have to say. I'm just pointing out some of these gaps and what you'll have to do [inaudible 00:14:23]-   Speaker 1: You can't magically make the money appear that's not there, right?   Tony Mauro: No. I can't just magically create it.   Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly. But you can lay out a strategy to go, "Okay, and Mr. and Mrs. Smith or Mr. and Mrs. Jones, whatever, you wanted to retire here in the next, let's say two years. Based on what we've got, based on what you've put together, it's not going to happen. However, if we do XY, and Z, we might could get this done by the next five years," kind of thing or whatever that looks like.   Or the opposite also happens a lot, Tony, which I think people are terrified of, is that people come in to see you for that first time and they're afraid they're going to hear some of the news like you were just talking about, but they actually hear, "Yeah, you guys are in really good shape. With a couple of minor tweaks, you guys are right on time." Or even better, "You guys could actually retire sooner." So, it happens a lot.   Tony Mauro: It does happen a lot. A lot of times people underestimate what they have coming in and they're in better shape than they thought, and they are relieved when they understand not only we have a good nest egg, but that we can live a long time and it's not going to deplete. And now we can start thinking about what are we going to do for our kids and some other thing, grandkids and things when we're gone.   Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly. So what do you do, right? You take these quotes from these unconventional folks, and you listen to it for a second and you go, "Yeah, you know what? I need to get a plan. I don't want to get punched in the mouth by life," or any of these other little fun quotes we had this week. So do yourself a favor, do your retirement a favor. Sit down with qualified professionals, somebody like Tony and his team. He's a CPA and a CFP and an EA with 30 years of experience.   So, get on the calendar with the team at Tax Doctor Inc. at yourplanningpros.com. That's where you can find them online, at yourplanningpros.com. Check the show note descriptions in this week's podcast for information and links, and don't forget to subscribe to us on Apple or Spotify or whatever platform you like using and catch new episodes of Plan with the Tax Man. Tony, my friend, have yourself a great week. Thanks for hanging out and I will see you just right before Thanksgiving.   Tony Mauro: All right, sounds good. Have a great one.   Speaker 1: We'll catch you next time here on Plan with the Tax Man.   Securities offered through Avantax Investment Services SM, member FINRA, SIPC. Investment advisory services offered through Avantax Advisory Services. Insurance services offered through an Avantax affiliated insurance agency. Investment strategies discussed in this episode may not be suitable for all investors. Please consult with a financial professional.

Every firm has distinct principles that guide its approach to financial planning. In this episode, we take you behind the scenes to explore the core values and unique processes that set our firm apart. We’ll walk you through how we get to know our clients on a deeper level, create personalized financial strategies, and how our approach redefines what it means to have a successful financial planning experience.   Important Links: Website: http://www.yourplanningpros.com Call: 844-707-7381   ----more---- Transcript:    Speaker 1: This week on the podcast, we're going to talk about what makes Tony's process and the team's process unique at Tax Doctor, Inc. Let's talk about that this week here on Plan With The Tax Man.   Hey, everybody, welcome in to the podcast. Thanks for hanging out with Tony and I for a few minutes, as we talk investing, finance, and retirement. On this episode, we're going to maybe walk behind the scenes just a little bit, talk some core values, things of that nature, on what Tony and his team do at Tax Doctor, Inc. I thought it would be a good idea to refresh this a little bit. I think we probably talked about this stuff once or twice before over the last couple years of doing the podcast. But it's important I think, to go back to some of the roots, if you will. Some of the basics, if you will. We're going to have a little conversation with Tony.   What's going on, my friend? How are you doing this week?   Tony: I'm doing well. Getting ready to start the week, and weather's still looking good here.   Speaker 1: Yeah.   Tony: Everyone is happy.   Speaker 1: Well, we're taping this the last week of October, dropping it on Halloween. So Happy Halloween! Get your candy on.   Tony: That's right, get your costumes and candy.   Speaker 1: Do you have a favorite candy? I'm in my 50s now, Tony, but I still have a favorite candy. Do you?   Tony: Still the favorite, which I think is the number one for Halloween, and that's Reese's.   Speaker 1: Okay, all right. Yeah. That's one or two. You see it goes back and forth. Snickers, I'm a Snickers guy. I think those are usually the top two right there.   Tony: Right.   Speaker 1: I don't know, black licorice.   Tony: I was just going to say ... Go ahead.   Speaker 1: I was going to say, I was going to ask you a question about black licorice. Do you eat it? Have you ever eaten it?   Tony: I have never eaten it. In fact, oh, it's bad.   Speaker 1: Right?   Tony: To me.   Speaker 1: I don't even know, why do they still make it? Does anybody like it? I don't know.   Tony: Somebody must like it.   Speaker 1: They must. But I have never met anybody, in all my travels, that likes black licorice. Hey, if you like black licorice and you're checking out the podcast, shoot us a message, let us know. I'd be really curious to find out how many people like black licorice.   Tony: I would, too.   Speaker 1: But anyway, you were going to say something?   Tony: I was going to say I just heard, it was actually on the way to work, I don't know if this accurate, but it was on Sirius XM. They were saying the estimated spending on Halloween this year is approaching $11 billion.   Speaker 1: Isn't that crazy?   Tony: Between the candy, the costumes, and all the parties. Boy, that's just a big number.   Speaker 1: Isn't that nuts? That's just nuts.   Tony: On a day that just really you go out, and beg for treats, and get scared.   Speaker 1: Well, I think with the craziness of the world all the time, sometimes we just have to hang on to some of those few traditions, and some of those things that maybe just give us a little fun, a little reprieve, a little whatever.   Tony: Yeah.   Speaker 1: I guess it could be worse. But yeah, that's some crazy ... I think Valentine's Day, too. Crazy numbers that come in on Valentine's Day.   Tony: Yes. That's another one, yeah.   Speaker 1: It's pretty wild.   But anyway, let's get into our topic this week. Tony, let's talk about your core values. What mission statement, if you will, or to go Jerry Maguire for a second here, if you were writing out a mission statement about your patient process, what is the core principles that you and your team try to exude?   Tony: Yeah. Probably the biggest one is we take the approach that you have to do all of your planning with I call it tax-centric or tax in mind. One of the biggest things that people I think lose track of, even though they're always complaining about all the taxes they pay, is taxes over your lifetime are one of the biggest expenses you'll ever pay. You want to make sure, in your planning process, that you're taking all that into account. I think that some advisors don't do that. Obviously, some of them don't have tax backgrounds, which is why they don't do that. I think that you need to use that in there with your process because that is going to make a big difference on that end goal and number.   When we're working through our plans, we always are trying to keep that in mind. Every time we meet with clients to go over their plans, we're discussing that as well. I think if you don't get anything out of this podcast, make sure that you are doing that in your own situation, because that is real key for us.   Speaker 1: Yeah. I think that's an interesting point because not to say that advisors who aren't also CPAs are tax-focused are doing a bad job.   Tony: Exactly.   Speaker 1: But you do have to have this other layer of you're working a financial professional who says, "Okay, here's the things we're doing. Now run that by your CPA to make sure everything's groovy." Granted, to be fair, a lot of financial advisors are very tax smart and very tax efficient. But you have that extra layer there, as a CPA, CFP, and an EA. Of course, it gives you the ability to not only think about it now, which I guess would be the CPA side, but then also the future looking tax implications, which is marrying both of those worlds.   Tony: Yeah. I love 401Ks and everything else, and tax deferred savings.   Speaker 1: Sure, sure.   Tony: A lot of people that are accumulating large balances in those tend to forget that they have an IOU to Uncle Sam toward the end.   Speaker 1: Yeah.   Tony: Now with the new rules, when you die you have to take it out faster and things, it's just something to think about when you're planning.   Speaker 1: Yeah. Let me ask you a question, Tony. I don't know if I've ever asked you this. Which one were you first? Were you a CPA first, or a CFP first? Were you an accountant or a financial advisor?   Tony: I started out as an accountant.   Speaker 1: Okay.   Tony: Early on, when I was working for somebody else, this was 30 years ago plus, all the partners got to talk about all the good stuff. We were just the grunts, if you will. I always wanted to do that-   Speaker 1: The adding machines, yeah.   Tony: Yeah, yeah. We were the operations, and they were the people that got to talk with the clients, and do all the things, and the planning.   Speaker 1: Right.   Tony: I wanted to be that. This was well before even the CFP stuff, and financial planning was even a thing.   Speaker 1: Gotcha.   Tony: It just was one of those things, "I want to be able to do that." That's how I got into it, way back in the day.   But yeah, in answer to your question, I was an accountant first.   Speaker 1: Okay. Again, the role of the CPA typically, it's revisionist history. They're doing their job, they're doing their job well. They're looking at the tax situation that's just expired, the past year. They're going back, and they're helping you do all that kind of stuff. I think by having that hat, and then moving yourself into the CFP, it probably gave you a really interesting and unique approach, which is probably why you set your business up the way you did. To say, "Look, I want to do this not only for the current calendar year, but we've got to be tax efficient through all the years moving forward because that's really where we're going to make a real dent." Is that a fair assessment?   Tony: That's a fair assessment. With tax clients, we already know, at least on the financial side, a lot about them, doing their tax over the years.   Speaker 1: Sure, yeah.   Tony: You know where they're at. You can even back into what they have or haven't saved. It's easy to have conversations about, "You need to start thinking about," say for example, retirement. "Oh, by the way, we have to try to do it tax efficiently." That's how the conversations generally start. If they're not working with somebody, then that's when we will introduce ourselves and say, "Let's try to put something together."   I think most planners are this way, especially us. If people have an outside relationship, we are definitely not out there trying to step on anybody's toes, or steal clients.   Speaker 1: Right, right. There's enough folks out there.   Tony: Number one, it's not good business ethically.   Speaker 1: Yeah.   Tony: It's not good if somebody else is doing a good job. We're basically looking at the tax clients and others that don't have that.   Speaker 1: Sure.   Tony: Or some of the people have retired, or they don't hear from them, that kind of thing, is where we come in.   Speaker 1: Well, I think the new numbers ... We've been hearing for a while now that, it was what 10,000 Boomers a day retiring. We've been hearing that for a couple years. Well, I think now, in 2024 going in 2025, I think it's now at maximum peak. They're calling it Peak 65 that's been making the rounds on some of the media lately, you might have saw that. It's 12,000, I think, people a day are eligible for retirement. That's a huge number. Granted, that's globally. But still, that's a big number. Plenty of business to go around, to your point.   Tony: Yeah.   Speaker 1: There's no reason to go poaching, so to speak.   Tony: No.   Speaker 1: Let's talk about customization and client education. How do you help clients build that strategy and make those informed decisions? Because education clearly is a big piece of this. Some people really want to come see a professional like you, Tony, and say, "Okay, teach me what I don't know, help me understand this stuff." Others will come to you and say, "I don't care, just handle it."   Tony: Right.   Speaker 1: You have to balance that customized plan to, I guess their individual wants and needs, as far as even just knowing the information.   Tony: Really, right off the bat, before we even agree to work with someone is, after we've had a conversation or two and they want to move forward, we basically have them in, and we go through ... It is basic. There's literally 10 or 12 things. We just have them check a box saying, "Does this thing worry you?" Then we score it. Then based on that, I don't show this to the clients, but I basically say, "Yeah, you probably do need some help." Or, "You've pretty much got everything under control by the way you answered this." Then I'll ask them, "Why are we even talking?" But most of them have some anxiety and some pain, so we start there.   Once that's determined, then we go into the plan. Of course, we use software, like most everybody does.   Speaker 1: Sure.   Tony: Then we have some more detailed things to try to get to know them. I always tell people, just like your doctor, I'm uncomfortable with recommending things until I know more about you. I've got the tax stuff.   Speaker 1: Yeah.   Tony: I need to know what some of the emotional stuff is. Your goals, what you want out of life, and all of this, before we can make recommendations. Because I think a lot of people think all we sit around and do is make recommendations, and mine could be further from the truth.   Speaker 1: Yeah. Pick this stock, pick that fund. Right, yeah.   Tony: Yeah. Not it.   Speaker 1: That's definitely not the case. Well, Tony, you said something a minute ago. Let me expand on that. You've been doing this for 30 years, in different capacities. You've been in the financial services world. If somebody walked in for their initial consultation, and handed you their files, their basket of stuff. Like a lot of advisors and professionals who've been doing this a long time, I imagine that you probably could look it over, and probably pretty quickly, within five or 15 minutes, have a rough idea of what they should or shouldn't be doing. But to your point about, "I don't know you yet," that's not the best way to give a recommendation. Could you do it because you have the skillset? Yeah, you probably could.   Tony: Yeah.   Speaker 1: But you need to learn more about ... You can see all the data, but now let's find out about who the person is. I think that's the real happy marriage in that relationship.   Tony: It is. Once you design a plan for them, and I walk them through it on a basic level. We don't like to talk in jargon, or anything like that. We just set some goals. No different than you'd do, whether it's your business, whether it's your fitness. We monitor those goals and say, "Where are we?" When we meet again, are we progressing toward that goal? Or has it changed and we need to reassess?   Speaker 1: Yeah.   Tony: Because that'll tell us a lot about are we in the right things, as far as investments go, to meet those goals. Or maybe, we need to switch things up. Really, I like to call us we want to be the financial quarterback of your financial situation. Yes, we're going to have some investments in there and some different things, but we want to make sure you're covered from start to end. And not only investments. It could be charitable giving. It could be you're under-insured. It could be you're concerned about putting things in trust for some grandkids, things like that. It gets people talking about some things that sometimes they never thought about, for sure.   Speaker 1: Well, that really brings me to my last point, which is how do you value, or how do you assess success for your clients? Yeah, obviously we could go with the basic financial metrics.   Tony: Right.   Speaker 1: That's pretty much a given. Hey, is the plan solid? Is it going to get you ... "We've run the numbers, you're going to be able to make it until 99 before running out of money," or whatever, something like that.   Tony: Yeah.   Speaker 1: But what other metrics do you guys use to measure success for a client?   Tony: Well, besides that stuff, which is a given, we have some little charts that we call the Client Happiness Charts. We have clients fill this out at different times along their journey. Then toward the end, when they're retired. Because we want to make sure that they're checking of the boxes that really matter to them, as far as what they consider success. For some of them it's "Hey, I'm now able to travel, I've always wanted to do it." For some of them it's, "I've got this little menial job, I love going to it." There's about 25 of them there.   As we go through the process, it's fun to see, especially if somebody started say in their 30s. We've had a few. I pull them out, they're now retired. To show them, "Well, here's what was important back to you back when you were 35, this was 15, 18 years ago. Now look what you're doing." Just show them the progress.   That's what gives us the most joy, is to see them doing what they want to do. Obviously, some of that takes money, and that's the whole point of trying to grow it. It's that, and making sure that they understand how much they can take out each year and not outlive their money, because that's a big issue with all of our retiree clients.   Speaker 1: Yeah. To your point a second ago as well, are you happy with all the other different pieces? Have we addressed and dealt with the legacy conversation?   Tony: Right.   Speaker 1: Just checking off the bucket list stuff. There's all these little pieces that go into valuing or measuring success for the client. Is it a pleasant experience? Do you look forward to coming in, and talking with your advisor? And saying, "Yeah, I feel like we're buddies. We don't hang out and go to dinner together, but I feel like we have a good rapport." I think that's really important in a lot of business relationships in life, but certainly when you're talking about your money.   Tony: Absolutely.   Speaker 1: With your doctor, too. Some people dread seeing their doctor because they don't like their personality. It's like, well, maybe get a different doctor so that you can have a conversation with them that you're going to take to heart, and it also resonates with you. I think same thing financially. If you go see an advisor, and they don't click with you, and they're giving you good information but you just don't like them, and therefore you don't follow through with it or do anything, you're just wasting your own time. You know what I mean?   Tony: Exactly. Yeah.   Speaker 1: It's important. Good stuff. Well, good conversation, man. Thanks for hanging out with us and chatting a little bit about what makes you guys unique. People in general are unique, so every situation's going to be different. Certainly, there's those big generalities, Tony, that affect all of us in the financial world. Social security, and taxation, and inflation, and blah, blah, blah. All the big core tenets that we have to deal with, that's certainly a part of the game that we have to run through. But every person's little puzzle is different from the next. You and I are completely different people, so our strategies are going to be different.   If you need some help, get on the calendar. Have a conversation with Tony and his team. Or if you're already working with him, and you've got some friends or loved ones that maybe should have that chat for themselves, let them know. Let them check out the podcast. Or just reach out to Tony and his team at yourplanningpros.com. That is yourplanningpros.com for a complimentary consultation and conversation with the team at Tax Doctor, Inc.   Tony, thanks for hanging out, my friend. Good conversation.   Tony: All right. We'll see you next time.   Speaker 1: Always appreciate it. Of course, it's Halloween as we're dropping this, so happy Halloween to everybody. Stay stay and sane. Don't forget to get out there and vote, because it's just around the corner. We'll see you next time here on Plan With The Tax Man.   Securities offered through Avantax Investment Services SM, member FINRA, SIPC. Investment advisory services offered through Avantax Advisory Services. Insurance services offered through an Avantax affiliated insurance agency. Investment strategies discussed in this episode may not be suitable for all investors. Please consult with a financial professional.