Ditch the Suits - Start Getting More From Your Money & Life Steve Campbell & Travis Maus

*SPOILER* You need to stop making investment decisions (or becoming anxious) based on talking tv heads and economist predictions.

In this episode, we break down some of the most widely accepted academic definitions of "economics" and how these concepts should apply to your life and decision-making habits. But! We will show you how these definitions are incomplete, vague, and misleading. Don't be duped. 


Thanks to our sponsor, S.E.E.D. Planning Group! S.E.E.D. is a fee-only financial planning firm with a fiduciary obligation to put your best interest first. Schedule your free discovery meeting at www.seedpg.com

📧 For more information or to get in touch with us, visit https://www.ditchthesuits.com/ or email us at info@ditchthesuits.com

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Putting it all together  

Retiring is all about cash flow. It doesn’t matter if you retire early or late.  Your Social Security and Pension (if you have one) are two financial assets that provide income in retirement. The key consideration is how to get the most out of them.

Start by assessing your personal inventory of financial assets. Think as a successful money business owner would. 

"I have cash, investments, real estate, a pension fund, and Social Security (you could easily replace the terms pension fund and Social Security with annuity). Each of my financial assets has unique properties…advantages and disadvantages." 
Real Estate (easier to lend against, real asset, not related to stock market – may not keep up with inflation, cannot easily cash out)Cash (easier to access, not related to stock market – doesn’t keep up with inflation)IRAs (easier to access, potential for high returns – taxed on when cashed out, tied to the stock market)ROTHs (same as IRA only not taxed when cashed out)Pension (Either an asset or an income, responsible party backing the benefit – taxed when received, once claimed it is normally permanent, not likely to keep up with inflation)Social Security (Tax friendly, yearly COLI, secured by the federal government – not liquid, longevity gamble)
Assess your financial situation. What are your cash flow needs?

Assess the difference between your cash flow (before claiming any benefits) and expenses. This is your Needs Gap!
Assess your tax situation? Are you in a high or low tax situation?
Assess your investment strategy and growth rates on each of your assets. Are there some with higher growth rates than others?
Consider any liabilities you know or believe you will have, including emergencies. Earmark assets to cover them. 
Take your Needs Gap and look at your assets, what is the most efficient way to fill this?


A Secret About Retirement Planning
It is just like when you are working in that it is all about cash flow. You need cash flow to pay the bills. 
The difference is where you source your cash flow from. You may actually have to manage your money business, or hire a manager – i.e. a fee-only financial planner. 
Which assets should you use, how much, and when to cover your income gap?
To answer the question – What do I do between early retirement age and when I can claim Social Security? – 


How to put it all together?

The answer will be unique to your situation, and all the small details of your situation need to be considered. You are not likely to be successful in making isolated decisions that overlap with a number of other key issues. How you handle one issue might dramatically impact what your options are for another. It’s like a game of chess, you need to be thinking many moves ahead, or you’re likely to get trapped. 
Thanks to our sponsor, S.E.E.D. Planning Group! S.E.E.D. is a fee-only financial planning firm with a fiduciary obligation to put your best interest first. Schedule your free discovery meeting at www.seedpg.com

📧 For more information or to get in touch with us, visit https://www.ditchthesuits.com/ or email us at info@ditchthesuits.com

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What is a pension
A pension is in a lot of ways like Social Security. It is a benefit you have earned and are entitled to at some point.
However, pensions can differ from Social Security in a lot of ways. Credit Risk of the underlying institution and more distribution options, such as
Examples: 
Period Certain, Pop Ups, Higher Early Benefits, Single Life, Options for Survivor %Common to have a cash-out option, more survivorship options, and less likely to get a COLI
Like Social Security, when selecting benefits, you must consider different variables. Because pensions offer different options, it is more complicated.


Examples:
Cash-out option – needs, tax brackets, other assets, investment profileSurvivorship – survivor needs, other alternatives for the survivor, reduction on benefits due to survivorship optionCredit Risk – you are tethering yourself long-term to the financial management of the entity backing the pensionEarly Retirement – pensions are designed (specific to each institution) to promote the retirement behaviors that the entity desires. For every pension plan, there is a sweet spot. That is where you can get the maximum benefits you are entitled to. There are often cliffs built in. So if you are too early, you get a significant reduction, penalizing you. And if you are too late, benefits flatten out and stop growing, essentially giving you no additional value to keep working. 

A Real Example of Planning At Work! Retiree age 55 with a cash option pension, cash, IRA, and 401k.
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Thanks to our sponsor, S.E.E.D. Planning Group! S.E.E.D. is a fee-only financial planning firm with a fiduciary obligation to put your best interest first. Schedule your free discovery meeting at www.seedpg.com

📧 For more information or to get in touch with us, visit https://www.ditchthesuits.com/ or email us at info@ditchthesuits.com

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What is Social Security 
Think of Social Security as a giant pension for American workers. There is a number that you are entitled to at “full retirement age,” and it is adjusted based on certain circumstances. These circumstances, just like a pension, include what age you start benefits, and they do have restrictions if you start benefits early and still work. Social Security was never meant to be the only source of income for people when they retire. It was designed to replace a portion of a worker’s pre-retirement income based on your lifetime Social Security tax withholding and when you start benefits. Your benefit is based on your highest 35 years of earnings
What people get wrong about Social Security
Social Security is not one size fits all. Whether you should take it early depends on your survivorship needs, personal health, income tax situation, cash flow needs, projected returns of your portfolio, etc. Online Calculators cannot help you factor in the following scenarios:
  Cash verse long-term diversified investments  Short life expectancy  Hardship created if a spouse passes away  The impact of income taxes (not your tax bracket!)  What are you doing with the benefits_____________________________________________________________________

Thanks to our sponsor, S.E.E.D. Planning Group! S.E.E.D. is a fee-only financial planning firm with a fiduciary obligation to put your best interest first. Schedule your free discovery meeting at www.seedpg.com

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#socialsecurity #benefits #retirement #investing #earlyretirement

Social Security Made Easy
 Social Security is essentially a pension.  You pay in and get a benefit based on certain contingencies. Think of it as a pile of money that you get to draw from that is designed to last your entire life.  If you draw it early, you get less per year, but you may get it for more years than if you started it late. If you start late, you get more per year but may get less overall if you die early.However, if you stop here in your decision-making, you have messed up already. Taxes, survivorship needs (your life and that of your spouse), whether or not you need income, and what your other money is doing for you are so important. Social Security is a financial asset that you have earned. Treat it like you should treat any other financial asset. Max it out to your own personal situation. Thanks to our sponsor, S.E.E.D. Planning Group! S.E.E.D. is a fee-only financial planning firm with a fiduciary obligation to put your best interest first. Schedule your free discovery meeting at www.seedpg.com

📧 For more information or to get in touch with us, visit https://www.ditchthesuits.com/ or email us at info@ditchthesuits.com

👍🏼 You can also follow us on social media at @ditchthesuits

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If you are currently providing care for a spouse, parent, or child with special needs or recognize you may be in this role eventually someday, listen to this episode to learn best practices for making an action plan.

Step #1 - Make a list of who is willing, qualified, and able to help. 
These can be professionals, family members, neighbors, and friends. Consider how each person might be able to help the most. Step # 2 - Understand the ask, needs, and time commitment

Be careful not to assume all the responsibility and attempt to do everything or to put too much on any one person, or you (or they) are very likely to experience burnout. 
You might be able to get more people to help if you can choose the right people or service providers for the right tasksOutline, for each member of your Support Network, exactly what their time commitment and responsibilities will need to be and get their commitment To relieve the burden on yourself and your Support Network, hire service providers for busyworkHaving a Support Network is wonderful, but it can quickly fall apart without consistent, positive, and constructive communicationWhen stressed, it is natural to pull back or withdraw, focusing all energy on the issue on hand, or to divert all energy to other things, to ignore or avoid the issue completelyAs a key member of the Support Network, you should avoid this natural tendency to withdrawYour Support Network needs to be openly and constantly discussing issues, challenges, things that are going well, and things that might need to be reconsideredYour Support Network is your team, and they will perform at their best if they are not confused or frustrated and are encouraged to speak up, resulting in the highest likelihood of positive outcomesStep #3- Understand the necessary legal documents needed 

It's one thing to provide for your loved one's care, and it's another to be legally empowered with responsibility and authority. 
Often overlooked until it is too late, there are a handful of documents that can grant you legal authority to carry out your duties when you step into the role of caregiver or care coordinator. 
These are the Power of Attorney, Health Care Proxy and Living Will, and Special Authorization with Medicare. 
Thanks to our sponsor, S.E.E.D. Planning Group! S.E.E.D. is a fee-only financial planning firm with a fiduciary obligation to put your best interest first. Schedule your free discovery meeting at www.seedpg.com

📧 For more information or to get in touch with us, visit https://www.ditchthesuits.com/ or email us at info@ditchthesuits.com

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This episode discusses where to start when providing or coordinating care for a loved one.

Providing care could be for a parent, spouse, child, or relative with special needs.
Most people like to help others, and many make promises to their loved ones that they will be there to take care of them.

This could mean coordinating or personally administering services. Either situation is an intense, time-consuming, and stressful job. 
The bottom line and main takeaway.... if you are providing care, it is okay to ask for help! You are human and can only do so much.
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Issues to be aware of whether you are someone providing care or someone expecting someone else to provide you care as you age:
Things rarely work out exactly how they were originally envisioned. You need to be flexible, willing to work with others, and watch out for guilt “traps”.

You are only one person and can only give so much of yourself. It is okay not to be perfect 

You must consider your loved one’s needs, your own needs, and the needs of others who depend on you

Many people providing care for a loved one will experience a negative financial impact, such as missing work, leaving their employment altogether, or feeling obligated to spend their own resources to help

People who need care are very likely to need help physically. They might need someone to lean on to steady themselves when they walk, lift, or catch them as they fall. They might also need someone to go up and down stairs, carry things, or move items around in their home. Caregivers tend to put their loved ones first, so compounding the physical challenge for most caregivers is their tendency to get less sleep or rest, eat poorly (whatever is easy or fast), miss out on exercise routines, and all the physical ailments that can be caused by high stress. 

Providing or coordinating care for a loved one can create intense stress. Stress can inflict a great amount of damage on a person’s individual health. It can also cause hyper-sensitivity with emotions that can easily lead to low patience or frustration, causing people to do or say things they might regret that they wouldn’t normally do or say under less stressful situations.

Those who need care can’t always wait for you to be available and don’t always communicate the best. They will need undivided attention for a myriad of issues at inconvenient times. You need to be prepared to put your life on hold for an indefinite period.

You have to realize that there are boundaries to anyone’s capabilities, and it is perfectly acceptable to ask for help for the benefit of your loved ones and yourself. 

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Thanks to our sponsor, S.E.E.D. Planning Group! S.E.E.D. is a fee-only financial planning firm with a fiduciary obligation to put your best interest first. Schedule your free discovery meeting at www.seedpg.com

📧 For more information or to get in touch with us, visit https://www.ditchthesuits.com/ or email us at info@ditchthesuits.com

👍🏼 You can also follow us on social media at @ditchthesuits

✅ Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/DitchTheSuits

✅ Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/ditchthesuits/

✅ Twitter - https://twitter.com/DitchtheSuits

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ We'd also love for you to subscribe to this podcast and leave a 5-star rating and review