Powering Your Retirement Radio Dan Leonard

Exciting things are coming in the 4th Quarter of 2023.
Until then, the show will be in hiatus as I build new tools to help you - my listener.
Got questions or want to take one of my Summer webinars? Email dan@danleonard.expert

Welcome to "Powering Your Retirement Radio"! Today, I want to address one of the most frequently asked questions about the documents you should keep hard copies of and for how long. It doesn't matter if it's your tax return or investment statements; fortunately, digital copies are acceptable for many of these documents now. But you may have a concern about what happens if the drive fails. Many people still have banker's boxes or a filing cabinet hiding somewhere. And if you are like many people, it is overdue to be cleaned out.
I will go over Tax, Healthcare, Legal, Asset and Debt, and Other Documents to keep track of. Let's start with Tax Documents, as outside of CA, tax season is over, and in CA, it is at least starting to slow down.
A. Tax returns and supporting documents - 7 years.
B. W-2 and 1099 forms - 7 years.
C. Deduction receipts and statements - 7 years.
D. Business expense receipts and statements - 7 years.
E. Investment statements - until you sell the investments + 7 years.
F. Property records - until you sell the property + 7 years.
G. Retirement plan statements - until you close the account + 7 years.
You should keep these documents for at least seven years in case of an audit. The same goes for your W-2 and 1099 forms. Deduction receipts and statements should also be kept for seven years, as should business expense receipts and statements. You might ask why? The IRS can audit your return up to three years after it is filed unless they are claiming fraud, and then it is seven years. Investment statements and property records should be kept until you sell the investments or property, plus seven years. Finally, retirement plan statements should be kept until you close the account, plus seven years.
Now for Healthcare documents, things like:
A. Medical records - indefinitely
B. Insurance policies - indefinitely
C. Explanation of benefits (EOB) - 1 year
D. Prescription receipts - 1 year
E. Health savings account (HSA) statements - 7 years
Medical records should be kept indefinitely, as should insurance policies. Explanation of benefits (EOB) should be kept for at least one year, and prescription receipts for at least one year. Health savings account (HSA) statements should be kept for seven years. I got an EOB this week from May of last year. Since I switched carriers this year, it was good to be able to pull out the old policy and call and find out what the charge was for. Also, on HSA, since you can carry forward expenses into the future, it really is seven years after you have claimed the expense since that is when you would claim the deduction.
How about those Legal-related documents:
A. Estate planning documents - indefinitely
B. Marriage and divorce documents - indefinitely
C. Adoption and custody papers - indefinitely
D. Wills and trusts - indefinitely
E. Power of attorney - indefinitely
F. Real estate deeds - indefinitely
G. Vehicle titles - until you sell the vehicle.
H. Lawsuits and settlement agreements - indefinitely
This section is simple, keep everything. You need the current copies but also the old copies to document the changes and when they happen. It doesn't happen all that often, but when a distant relative shows up claiming they were promised or are entitled to something, having clear documentation of when a change occurred can save a lot of hassle and potentially money.
Now for Asset and debt-related documents, basically for financial information:
A. Loan agreements and promissory notes - until the debt is paid off + 7 years.
B. Home purchase and improvement documents - until you sell the home + 7 years.
C. Vehicle purchase and maintenance documents - until you sell the vehicle + 7 years.
D. Investment and brokerage account statements - until you sell the investments + 7 years.
E. Real estate purchase and sale documents - until you sell the property + 7 years.
Loan agreements and promissory notes should be kept until the debt is paid off, plus seven years. Hom

Welcome back to Powering Your Retirement Radio. I am Dan Leonard, your host. Today I am joined by Ed Sanders.

Ed Sanders is a financial strategist with over 19 years of experience in the finance industry. Originally from Akron, Ohio, Ed attended the University of Arizona before moving to the Bay Area to work for Wells Fargo after graduation.

In 2004, Ed made the decision to leave the corporate world behind and pursue his passion for helping people achieve financial freedom. As a financial strategist, Ed specializes in college planning, risk reduction, creating tax-free income sources, and eliminating debt.

In this episode, Ed will share answers to many problems people face including:

Debt as a hindrance to accumulating wealth.

What is your effective interest rate, and why it matters.

Eliminating Debt Forever.

The snowball strategy.

Paying cash for cars and what that costs you.

Ed's Webinars Series.

Thank you for tuning in to today's podcast with a financial strategist, Ed Sanders. We hope you found his insights and advice on college planning, risk reduction, creating tax-free income sources, and debt elimination helpful and informative.

If you have any further questions or would like to learn more about Ed's services, please visit his website and other links below. Don't forget to subscribe to our podcast for more expert insights and advice on a variety of topics.

Thank you again for listening, and we'll talk with you in the next episode.

Ed's Contact Information:  
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edwardfsanders
Website: www.edwardfsanders.com
Enter debt for immediate effective interest cost: www.eliminatedebtforever.com

To book a time to talk to Ed →  http://esanders.youcanbook.me
For more episodes, please visit the Podcasts website: https://poweringyourretirement.com/2023/04/29/edward-f-sanders-financial-strategist

Hello, and welcome back to Powering Your Retirement Radio. Today's episode is not uplifting, but still worth a listen. We will all likely face this event once or twice in our lifetimes. Unfortunately, like most emotional and personal things, you learn by doing it and never really share it with anyone. So, here is an outline of things to consider when your spouse or a loved one passes away.
1 Notify Friends and Family, designate the family members who can help with some of the necessary tasks 2 Contact a funeral home, medical school crematorium according to the deceased wishes 3 If the deceased was religious, contact their place of worship to arrange for services and other customs. Flowers, Picture Boards, Videos, Memorial Cards, Readings, etc... 4 Write the obituary, and send it to the local paper and funeral home. Name, age, city of Residence, date of death, birthplace and year, parent's name, biographic information, survivors, details of the service (Funeral home can help. 5 Update Social Media after the immediate family has been notified 6 Notify employers 7 Notify children's schools 8 Notify Social Security 9 Notify the Professional team, Attorney, advisors, tax professional, executor 10 Locate wills and Trust 11 Order 10 to 20 Death Certificates - Funeral home or Health Department 12 Set up a spreadsheet or notebook to keep track of food, gift cards, letters, phone calls & help provided so you can thank people later. 13 Make a list of people you can lean on for help and emergencies. 14 Call DMV - Car registration Expiration, cancel DL, is Auto Insurance still valid? Varies by state. 15 Rely on supportive people 16 Accept whatever help is offered 17 Allow the emotions to come; it will be a rollercoaster 18 Be honest with children, and allow them to participate to the extent they wish 19 Do judge people's reactions. Everyone grieves differently 20 Collect Veterans benefits 21 Determine recurring bills to be paid and or canceled 22 If the deceased was in a rental, determine the turnover of the property time frame 23 Create a calendar to keep track of important dates 24 Prepare to go through deceased possessions. 25 Practice good self-care For more information, please visit the podcast website: https://poweringyourretirement.com/2023/04/14/what-to-do-on-your-worst-day/

Hello, and welcome back to Powering Your Retirement Radio. In today’s episode, I want to discuss the most often question I get these days: "Should I buy Treasury Bills?” I also want to discuss what happened with Silicon Valley Bank (SVB).

It seems like several times each week. Someone calls to ask what I think about buying Treasury Bills. I first want to know why they want to buy them. Is it because they have extra money languishing in the bank, or do they want to move money from their current investments to something guaranteed?

Either way, you can make a case for it, but you need to determine if it is shifting money that is already invested. What will cause you to change your investments in the future? If it is cash in the bank, then it is a little less complicated. With rising interest rates, you should plan to buy bonds that you plan to hold to maturity, in my opinion. You can trade them, but that changes the simplicity of buying a 3- or 6-month Treasury Bill that will mature at par.

I will tie in with why this is what happened that caused the failure of SVB. Being forced to sell longer-dated Treasury Securities that were in a paper loss position because of interest rate increases. If they didn’t face a run on the bank and could have held to maturity, they would have gotten all their money back. Unfortunately for SVB, they were forced to realize the loss and caused the second-biggest bank failure in US History.

Have a listen for the complete story.
 
For more information, visit the podcasts website: https://poweringyourretirement.com/2023/03/24/treasury-bills

Welcome back to Powering Your Retirement Radio. I want to discuss Long Term Care or Extended Care. This is insurance and not an investment. Insurance, in the long run, is better to have and not need, than to need and not have. It is also better to buy it before there is a need because, at that point, it is either very expensive or not available.

So why do you need Extended Care Insurance? You need it because of the unknowable circumstances around your future health, not just yours but, if you are married, your spouse as well. As counterintuitive as this sounds, Extended Care Insurance is not for someone who falls ill or needs care. It is for the surviving spouse. I hear all of the jokes and uncomfortable laughter around; they’ll hold a pillow over my head… No, they won’t.

Extended Care isn’t just for end-of-life situations. It covers you if there is a car accident, if you have a stroke or if some other issue where you need prolonged care during your recovery. No one wants to be a burden to their children, and even fewer people want to leave a healthy spouse without enough money to live on because the assets went toward their care.

So what is there to do? There are a few options, including Traditional Long Term Care Insurance, which is not very popular, but still available. There is Hybrid Life Insurance that provides a Long Term Care Rider. And finally, there are Long Term Care Annuities.

Here is a quick overview, which will hopefully give you enough information to determine what makes sense for you. As always, I am happy to chat if you have questions.

Traditional Long-Term Care Insurance: This is what most people think of.  It’s a use-it-or-lose-it policy where you pay in for your lifetime, and if you never need it, there is nothing to be paid out. This is the insurance I personally own, only because I got it when I worked at Genworth, and it was inexpensive at the time. Given the cost of care, my premiums over my expected life span will equal roughly 6 months' worth of coverage in a nursing facility. Since the average stay is 3 years, I am comfortable with the fact that I have it, even if I don’t need it.

Hybrid Life Insurance with a Long-Term Care Rider: This is a life insurance policy with a death benefit that can be converted to pay for long-term care needs if needed. The good part is that if you need long-term care, you have a predetermined amount of coverage. If you don’t need it, there is a death benefit for your heirs, so the money you paid in premiums is not a sunk cost you can’t recover. If you collect on the death benefit, you don’t lose your money, but the growth of the funds is more like investing in a CD rather than the market. The key is that you have protection since you have insurance and you aren’t spending the assets meant to provide your retirement income. This can be purchased over your lifetime or a set number of years, usually 10 or 20 and you are subject to underwriting on these policies.

Annuities with a Long-Term Care Rider: These are usually on a fixed or index annuity and are purchased with a lump sum with some kind of multiple, say 1, 2, or 3 times the amount deposited if you need long-term care. So you invest $100,000 in the fixed annuity, and it grows like any other fixed annuity, and like the hybrid policy above, if there is a need for long-term care, the multiplier kicks in, and your $100,000 now covers $200,000 or more of long-term care bills. There is some underwriting, but it generally has a better issue rate than the hybrid or traditional policies.

The quick recap is that a traditional policy is less expensive than a hybrid policy, but with no way to recoup the expense if you don’t need it. Hybrid is good for a person who is a planner but wants some protection. The caveat is that you also need to be insurable. The annuity will likely get you coverage in a situation when you can’t get a hybrid policy, but you need to have a