Experts from the show:A couple weeks Jerome Powell, the head of the Federal Reserve, stated the time has come to lower interest rates. The goal has been to lower the cost of everyday items we use while not plunging the economy into a recession. Talk about trying to walk on a tightrope over the Grand Canyon.Believe it or not there’s even a fear and greed index that gauges which sentiment is most applicable at the time.From the Wall Street Journal, “September is a popular time for companies to go public. This month’s stock-market volatility is putting some plans on ice. It isn’t just the market’s recent choppiness, they say, but that turbulence could flare up again, given the uncertainty around November’s presidential election and how much the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates this year.” From Fox Business, “About 61% of workers said they fear retirement more than they do death, while 64% said the thought of retiring is scarier than the thought of getting divorced. One reason for the fear is that Americans are worried they will run out of money in retirement.”Last week I was talking to my friend Jason Benham and we were talking about how fear often leads to anxiety.The World Health Organization states, “In 2019, 301 million people in the world had an anxiety disorder, making anxiety disorders the most common of all mental disorders.”If you’ve been reading our newsletter for a while you may recall our mice problem we had a while back in our garage.Investment advisory services offered through CreativeOne Wealth, LLC. Clients Excel, LLC and CreativeOne Wealth are not affiliated companies. Licensed Insurance Professionals. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection or lifetime income generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. Annuity withdrawals are subject to ordinary income taxes and potentially a 10% IRS penalty before age 59-1/2. Roth distributions are tax free after age 59-1/2 and the account has been open for at least 5 years. This video is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual’s situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program.

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Investment advisory services offered through CreativeOne Wealth, LLC. Clients Excel, LLC and CreativeOne Wealth are not affiliated companies. Licensed Insurance Professionals. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection or lifetime income generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. Annuity withdrawals are subject to ordinary income taxes and potentially a 10% IRS penalty before age 59-1/2. Roth distributions are tax free after age 59-1/2 and the account has been open for at least 5 years. This video is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual’s situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program.

I’m reading a book titled Think Ahead by Craig Groeschel, and one of the premises of the book is to pre-decide how we will react in given circumstances. My first thought was this would be a great book for teenagers to read. Planning beforehand for the outcome we know to be right is better than waiting until we’re under stress to think through what we should do. Under stress we may make bad decisions.One of the reasons Groeschel said we sometimes make poor decisions is we are fatigued by all the decisions we have to make. He writes, “Experts estimate that we make 35,000 decisions a day.” Think about how many basic decisions you made before you even left your house this morning. You had to think about getting up, brushing your teeth, what to eat, what to wear, taking the dog outside, and the list could go on. The issue is by the time we get hit with a big decision we may not make our best decision because we have not predetermined our belief system about the topic.In my previous volunteer work with a local ministry called Jumpstart, I learned that one of the ways prisons control the detained is by limiting the decisions they can make in a given day. Instead of 35,000 decisions they may have 6,000 decisions they can make a day. It stands to reason that the way we can control our outcomes is to limit the amount of mental energy we need to expend on making decisions.As evidenced by major stock market trading platforms going down on Monday due to large quantities of people placing trades in their equity portfolios, a lot of investors may not have pre-decided what they should do in a market downturn. When we don’t have a plan, we subjugate ourselves to making decisions based on feelings and not on hard facts. The stock market likes predictability and we’ve seen historically unpredictable events transpire recently. The cool thing about our financial planning process is we have pre-determined how we should react in a down market so we don’t have to frantically attempt to make wise decisions in the chaos of the moment. In our 3 Roles of Money process we have our “red money” in the market, but we’ve segregated out our “blue money” to use over the next ten years. Investment advisory services offered through CreativeOne Wealth, LLC. Clients Excel, LLC and CreativeOne Wealth are not affiliated companies. Licensed Insurance Professionals. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection or lifetime income generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. Annuity withdrawals are subject to ordinary income taxes and potentially a 10% IRS penalty before age 59-1/2. Roth distributions are tax free after age 59-1/2 and th

People come to us for financial planning at different stages of life. Most of our clients are closing in on retirement or they’re in retirement, but that can be a 10- to 15-year window of when people generally become a client of our firm. I’ve gotten a bird’s-eye view into what works well and what doesn’t.We normally recommend that people begin working on their financial plans for retirement when they are five years out from retirement. It makes sense to begin making the transition from an accumulation stage to an income and distribution stage five years out. Once we are closer to potentially using our funds, it makes sense to dial down our risk on some of our funds in order to figure out a way to increase our probability of being able to successfully take income out of our accounts. For that reason we are downside focused first because most of our clients are transitioning into retirement.We also want to begin figuring out how much income you may be able to sustainably draw from your retirement accounts and make them last as long as possible. This may include tax planning strategies like converting tax-deferred 401k accounts to tax-free accounts and the implications around this. Healthcare planning and taking a crash course on Medicare is often helpful, as is figuring out your best Social Security claiming strategy.We can do all this quickly, but when there is a window of time to work through these things, it allows for you to not feel like you have an exhausting summer of activities and you have time to rest in between mental exercises. It’s not easy planning the next 25 to 40 years of your life, and it’s best done methodically. If you’re like most of our clients, it took you 30 to 40 years to accumulate the funds you have. It definitely merits taking a few hours off work to figure how to make them last for the next 30 years.Whenever you have questions about your financial plan, please reach out at 864.641.7955. Get David's book How To Excel in Retirement. Investment advisory services offered through CreativeOne Wealth, LLC. Clients Excel, LLC and CreativeOne Wealth are not affiliated companies. Licensed Insurance Professionals. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection or lifetime income generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. Annuity withdrawals are subject to ordinary income taxes and potentially a 10% IRS penalty before age 59-1/2. Roth distributions are tax free after age 59-1/2 and the account has been open for at least 5 years. This video is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual’s situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program.

David starts out with a story about his recent vacation to Hilton Head Island with his family. Then he gets into some practical steps that can help you make good decisions. Today, I have a few practical things that sometime inhibit us from making the best decisions. When it comes to personal finances this is super applicable because we need to get our financial planning right!I just finished reading a book called The Richest Man Who Ever Lived. It’s about King Solomon, who the Bible says is the wisest person to live and he was incredibility wealthy. The author, Steven K. Scott, has a section titled “The Cost of Being Naïve.” I’ve been accused of being naïve before (probably true) so I was particularly interested in the content. I have a predisposition to think the best about people but as we have probably all experienced, we probably shouldn’t extend that courtesy to everyone.Whatever the case, we all want to make great decisions that result in our intended outcome, so what do we need to be aware of that prevents this from happening? Scott states several reasons why we sometimes don’t make good decisions. He writes, “We all have a natural inclination toward simplicity. We want things to be simple. We want to be able to figure things out instantly, without having to read an instruction book or doing homework. We want to believe everybody, and we want to accept what we’ve been told at face value.Solomon warned us about assuming tomorrow will present the same opportunities as today in Proverbs 27:1. The author states, “The fact is, however, we do not live in a static world. Everything changes moment by moment, and presuming that we will have the same opportunities or conditions to respond to tomorrow that we have today is foolish and naïve.” My takeaway is to seize the day and squeeze as much out of our present as possible. What would we do today if we knew we could not do it tomorrow?The next reason we may be naïve is we misplaced our trust. Perhaps, we trust someone or an institution that doesn’t merit our faith. Sadly, the author writes, “More often than not, people are less capable, less experienced, less competent and less honest than they seem to be.” Solomon recommended looking well into a matter and doing due diligence, and Scott analogized that due diligence is shining a floodlight on a situation. It illuminates what’s there or what may be missing. Investment advisory services offered through CreativeOne Wealth, LLC. Clients Excel, LLC and CreativeOne Wealth are not affiliated companies. Licensed Insurance Professionals. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection or lifetime income generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. Annuity withdrawals are subject to ordinary income taxes and potentially a 10% IRS penalty before age 59-1/2. Roth distributions are tax free after age 59-1/2 and the account has been open for at least 5 years. This video is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual’s situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program.

Another unique position we have as a company is to be able to offer solutions larger corporatized offices often do not have the ability to do. We all know the bigger things tend to get, the slower they are to innovate. Maybe it’s the bureaucracy or protocols or hierarchies, but whatever it is, when we have to deal with it it’s normally painful.As an independent financial advisory firm, we don’t have layers and layers of corporate executives dictating the advice we can offer our clients. I believe this allows our clients to have solutions that are more tailored to their particular needs. Who likes one size fits all?A quick example of this is our use of buffered exchange traded funds (ETFs). They’ve been around for a handful of years now and they are becoming more mainstream. The Wall Street Journal causes them “Boomer Candy.”In 2022, every time the government raised interest rates to try to bring down inflation, the stock market stock went down. I had been on a training call a couple years prior to 2022 and had learned about buffered ETFs and began investing my own money in them on a monthly basis.There are various different types, but one of our main go-to ETFs works like this. It credits interest based on the performance of the S&P 500 over a one-year period, and it has a defined outcome. We are buffered against the first 15% of losses in the S&P 500 over the year. In exchange for the protection, we are capped at making between 13% and 14%. The caps can vary from month to month. Of course, in any fund there is an internal expense ratio and then you may have management fees also. All in all it’s a generous upside with less downside potential than the overall stock market.We’ve been using these since 2022 and corporate America is catching up two years later. I don’t know about you, but I like having access to the best possible solutions available to me, and I believe our business model allows for that.We’d always be delighted to answer your questions if you have them. You may reach David at 864.641.7955.Investment advisory services offered through CreativeOne Wealth, LLC. Clients Excel, LLC and CreativeOne Wealth are not affiliated companies. Licensed Insurance Professionals. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection or lifetime income generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. Annuity withdrawals are subject to ordinary income taxes and potentially a 10% IRS penalty before age 59-1/2. Roth distributions are tax free after age 59-1/2 and the account has been open for at least 5 years. This video is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual’s situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program.

Connect with David at hello@clientsexcel.com or call 864.641.7955. Marty and Jess Ansen loved going on cruises so much they opted to cruise indefinitely. I came across an article that said, A retired couple have been living on back-to-back cruises for two years, and claim it's 'cheaper' than if they stayed in a nursing home in their retirement years. Hopefully you’re not feeling our inflation problem quite that much. I don’t know about you, but that would be too long a boat for me. Although, I’ve never gone a cruise. Do you think you could live on a cruise ship? I guess it would depend on how smooth or choppy the water was. From the Wall Street Journal, “Markets are unusually calm—and that’s making Wall Street nervous. Stocks have been on a steady climb, with the S&P 500 up 14% nearly halfway through 2024 and closing at 29 records along the way.” The S&P 500 continues to climb up, and as of this past Monday it’s up 15.22% for the year. Read more about our financial planning approach here. Investment advisory services offered through CreativeOne Wealth, LLC. Clients Excel, LLC and CreativeOne Wealth are not affiliated companies. Licensed Insurance Professionals. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection or lifetime income generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. Annuity withdrawals are subject to ordinary income taxes and potentially a 10% IRS penalty before age 59-1/2. Roth distributions are tax free after age 59-1/2 and the account has been open for at least 5 years. This video is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual’s situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program.

Last week the Federal Reserve board who determines if rates will rise or fall or remain met and determined that they were going to leave rates unchanged for the time being. The board is always vague about what comes next for rates, so it’s to be determined if rates decrease later this year. To many conservative investors this rate environment feels like they’ve walked into a perfect situation, because our rates we earn on cash is elevated. I’d ask you to consider whether the rate we earning on our cash is keeping us ahead of inflation. Of course, the government states inflation is one thing but most people I talk to tell me it’s higher. If we are earning less that real inflation we may be losing our purchasing power. The financial product space is always innovating and right now there are ETFs that have 100% downside protection that allow you to earn what the S&P 500 earns up to a cap. Some of them may earn well over what a C D earns. That beats the socks off what most CDs are earning, and the ETFs can be withdrawn anytime.It’s always worthwhile making sure you’re getting the most value out of our money. If you’d like to discuss this further, please reach out at 864.641.7955. Investment advisory services offered through CreativeOne Wealth, LLC. Clients Excel, LLC and CreativeOne Wealth are not affiliated companies. Licensed Insurance Professionals. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection or lifetime income generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. Annuity withdrawals are subject to ordinary income taxes and potentially a 10% IRS penalty before age 59-1/2. Roth distributions are tax free after age 59-1/2 and the account has been open for at least 5 years. This video is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual’s situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program.

David tells a funny story about having mice. Here is the link to the newsletter he mentioned. Excerpt from the show: The hurdle that some people have is taking the next step. They reached out for help, issues have been identified, a plan of action to better the circumstances has been presented, but we sometimes worry about what comes next.I’ll tell you, it took hours to get the garage in order and the better part of a day. But the results are worthwhile. Moving on from an old advisor who isn’t helping you get to the next stage of life is in my mind a lot easier than cleaning out a garage!Here’s the other thing; just because someone helped you get to one spot, that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re the right person to get you to the next spot. Investing and financial planning when we’re within five years of retirement is a lot different than when we have ten or twenty years before we are going to retire.Investment advisory services offered through CreativeOne Wealth, LLC. Clients Excel, LLC and CreativeOne Wealth are not affiliated companies. Licensed Insurance Professionals. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection or lifetime income generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. Annuity withdrawals are subject to ordinary income taxes and potentially a 10% IRS penalty before age 59-1/2. Roth distributions are tax free after age 59-1/2 and the account has been open for at least 5 years. This video is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual’s situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program.

It's easy when we face something we’re not familiar with to shy away from it or move on to a topic we’re more comfortable with. Recently I saw on social media a way to understand our national debt better. This was written on May 20th:·      “A million seconds ago was May 8th.·      A billion seconds ago was 1993.·      A trillion seconds ago was 30,000 B.C.·      The US national debt is now rising by $1 Trillion every 100 days.”The Guardian recently published a Harris poll. According to the government we’re not in a recession and yet 56% of people polled believe we are currently in a recession, and 72% believe inflation is going. What I think this indicates is the growing disparity between those doing okay and those economically suffering. After all, nearly 40% of Americans don’t participate in the growth of the stock market by owning equities.According to government stats inflation is going down and we’re not in a recession. At the start of this week the S&P 500 is 11.85% this year. It’s easy even if we are doing okay financially to not feel good about the economy. We’re reaping the consequences of over 20 years of government ineptitude such as not having a balanced budget since 2001.The author of the post linked to a 60 Minutes interview with Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. He’s the guy who leads the board that sets interest rates amongst other duties. In the interview Powell said, “The U.S. is on an unsustainable fiscal path. The U.S. federal government is on an unsustainable fiscal path. And that just means that the debt is growing faster than the economy. We’re effectively borrowing from our future generations. It’s time for us to get back to putting a priority on fiscal sustainability. And sooner is better than later.”Investment advisory services offered through CreativeOne Wealth, LLC. Clients Excel, LLC and CreativeOne Wealth are not affiliated companies. Licensed Insurance Professionals. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection or lifetime income generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. Annuity withdrawals are subject to ordinary income taxes and potentially a 10% IRS penalty before age 59-1/2. Roth distributions are tax free after age 59-1/2 and the account has been open for at least 5 years. This video is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual’s situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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