NEWSLETTERS-2021
BI-WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
Thank you
We are coming to the close of yet another year and heading into our Thanksgiving break. We started a business and hoped that all of the hard work we have put in over the years would pay off. We had a vision and knew that we would happily put in the time needed, but you just never know how things will turn out. As we finish up here this year, we feel so thankful because we have built a wonderful foundation of amazing clients at K Financial, and can’t wait to continue growing. We have had an overwhelming response in our new communities over this past year and look forward to continuing to serve them. Also, over the course of this last year, I have had the opportunity to reconnect with clients I’ve had for many years. It is an awesome feeling to sit down at a familiar table with old friends and talk about what they have been up to. As much as they are thankful that I am back in their lives, I am thankful to be back in theirs. The relationships I’ve created over the years give me a ton of energy to do my job. I look forward to each and every meeting because I know that there is going to be unique conversation and so much to learn from every one of you. I’ve always had the goal of taking care of my clients for life, and it is a great feeling to hear that they are thankful for me to be serving them again.
Let’s be honest…everyone thinks we’re a little crazy. We have six kids (five still living at home), with four dogs running around and a ninety-three year old grandma. A house full of chaos is the only way we know how to live. Within this chaos, I feel that we have a very close group here that truly enjoy each other. The doormat my parents gave us last year pretty much sums it up. It reads, “I hope you like animals and kids because it is a zoo in here.” We could not be more thankful for the family we have. Here are just a few things about our family that we would like to share: Nathan passed his RN exam; Amber has been accepted to school next fall; Jenna graduated a year early from high school and is doing great with us, here in the office; Austin put forth some tremendous effort and made Honor Roll for his first semester; Kyra and Asher continue to make strives in life as they learn and grow. We also welcomed Chloe, Jenna’s friend from California, this fall, and have enjoyed her being a part of our chaos. You would think we would be done there, but nope, not us. We are going to foster two teenage siblings, with the hope of adopting them in the future. We just got news that they will be joining us for Thanksgiving. We are so excited to sit around the dinner table with our family and friends and celebrate this past year.
From our table to yours, we hope your Thanksgiving is as blessed as ours and that you truly get to enjoy this time with your family and friends. We can not thank you enough for being a part of our lives and this community.
Greg Korn President & Investment Advisor Representative
Toll Free: 833-788-0404
Fax: 814-357-9070
Important Disclosures Regarding Email Communications
Advisory services through Retirement Wealth Advisors, Inc. (RWA), an SEC Registered Investment Advisor. K Financial LLC and RWA are not affiliated. This Email is being sent by or on behalf of a Registered Investment Advisor. It is intended exclusively for the individual or entity to which it is addressed. This communication may contain information that is proprietary, privileged, or confidential, or otherwise legally exempt from disclosure. If you are not the named addressee, you are not authorized to read, print, retain, copy or disseminate the Email or any part of it. If you have received this Email in error, please notify the sender immediately by Email or fax, and destroy all copies of this communication. Please be advised that you may conduct securities transactions only by speaking directly with your Investment Advisor Representative either by phone or in person. Requests for securities transactions via email will not be executed by Retirement Wealth Advisors, Inc. To help protect your privacy, we strongly suggest you avoid sending sensitive information, such as account numbers and social security numbers via Email. Please be further advised that, pursuant to the Bank Secrecy Act, the USA PATRIOT ACT, and similar laws, any communication in this email is subject to regulatory, supervisory, and law enforcement review.
Copyright (C) 2021 K Financial. All rights reserved.
I am thinking of my future self
Many of us have spent a part of our lives thinking about what we could have or should have done twenty years ago. We wonder how our lives could have been different today if only we had done that one thing. Some of us feel more regret than others about decisions we have made in the past and it can truly haunt us. Fortunately, today’s newsletter isn’t about the past and regrets, (although I certainly have a few). Today is more about the focus on our future selves. Yes, this has been a major theme bouncing around in my head and it often comes out in conversations I am having. I felt it was finally time to get it all out of my head and on paper so I can maybe stop pondering on it.
When you spend the majority of your days working with individuals preparing to retire or who are already retired, you begin to realize that time is limited. Also, the choices you make now have a major effect on your future and your future self. It can be very difficult to actually make a decision that is a little uncomfortable or different from something you would normally do, just based on the fact that it may benefit you later in life. We tend to focus on the now or even the next few months. How many times have you said “someday” I will get that done and several years later it’s still not done? I have projects all over the house that have “someday” written all over them. My nightmare is that one day Jill will literally go around the house and put sticky notes with the word “someday” on all of those projects. To make matters worse, she uses those bright neon sticky notes.
I have really been pushing myself to focus on having my future self look back at me and tip his hat to thank me for the decisions I make today. This is important for all of us in wanting to make sure we get to live our lives to the fullest. We also want to make sure we will have the best life we can have in 20 years. There are many paths we can take from here and some of them are like the path through the Saruman Mountains. However, we don’t have Gandalf the Wizard to lead us through the Orks.
What are things we could do? I know it’s not everyone’s number one task, but we should be focusing on our health. Last week I met with a client and when she opened the door I noticed something different; she was moving around easier. When we finally sat down, I asked her if she had lost weight and she said, yes, 50 pounds. What helped her was to put on a Fitbit to track her activity. This has made a major impact on her health, going from 22 medications per day, down to just 6 medications now. I left that meeting pumped and inspired. Eating better, exercising more and intentionally getting out and moving, can make a huge impact today and also on your future self. This is the only body we get. Although we can change a few parts, that doesn’t seem like a fun process to go through. Our bodies get us around just like a car does and like a car, our bodies have a shelf life. Cars come out of the factory all the same, but how they are taken care of will determine how long they run. Your body is no different; treat it well, keep active and it will run those extra few years in good condition, maybe even mint condition.
With regard to your future finances, challenge yourself to look at Roth conversions every year. I see it a lot; a majority of individuals’ investable assets are in 401k/IRA accounts and therefore, there is a huge problem waiting for them in their 80’s. They are unbalanced when it comes to where income will come from in the future, which can cause some higher tax problems. Nobody likes paying taxes, but you have more control to be able to change that now and your future self will be happy you did. Remember your 401k/IRA accounts are not worth what your statements say they are because you have a partner in those accounts – the IRS. They are going to get their piece, but how much and when they get that is up to you.
Life is full of choices everyday and sometimes we have to make choices that are not about now, but about 20 years from now. So let’s work on having our future selves give us a huge thank you for the choices we make today. Enjoy an article from Harvard Business Review “Take Ownership of Your Future Self.”
Formula Folios Latest Blog: Slow Ride
Greg Korn President & Investment Advisor Representative
Toll Free: 833-788-0404
Fax: 814-357-9070
Important Disclosures Regarding Email Communications
Advisory services through Retirement Wealth Advisors, Inc. (RWA), an SEC Registered Investment Advisor. K Financial LLC and RWA are not affiliated. This Email is being sent by or on behalf of a Registered Investment Advisor. It is intended exclusively for the individual or entity to which it is addressed. This communication may contain information that is proprietary, privileged, or confidential, or otherwise legally exempt from disclosure. If you are not the named addressee, you are not authorized to read, print, retain, copy or disseminate the Email or any part of it. If you have received this Email in error, please notify the sender immediately by Email or fax, and destroy all copies of this communication. Please be advised that you may conduct securities transactions only by speaking directly with your Investment Advisor Representative either by phone or in person. Requests for securities transactions via email will not be executed by Retirement Wealth Advisors, Inc. To help protect your privacy, we strongly suggest you avoid sending sensitive information, such as account numbers and social security numbers via Email. Please be further advised that, pursuant to the Bank Secrecy Act, the USA PATRIOT ACT, and similar laws, any communication in this email is subject to regulatory, supervisory, and law enforcement review.
Copyright (C) 2021 K Financial. All rights reserved.
New offices in Philipsburg and Ridgway
Just when we were thinking that things would slow down a bit…they did not. We have enjoyed a wonderful first year, so much so that we have opened up two offices in the month of October. We were finally able to get our contractor into our Ridgway building to get that all cleaned up. Over the last six months we have conducted several educational seminars in Saint Marys and have had such a great response from the community. Therefore, we wanted to have a permanent presence in the area. So, Jill began her favorite activity; searching for properties. She came across a great old building in downtown Ridgway on Main Street, across from Joey’s Bakery. I have since determined that this move is going to be bad for my waist line because they have really good cookies!
One of my favorite activities is designing things. I loved drafting class throughout high school. I feel like George Costanza, as I believe I am an architect. I spent many nights laying in bed thinking about how we would design this new office and was so proud of what I had come up with. Jill and I finally got into the building and she let me lay out my great idea, showing her every little detail that I was picturing in my mind. It was perfect! Then Jill said her famous phrase, “Here’s what I was thinking.” She goes through her thoughts and boom, my great idea died right there. I now know in the future, I will have to step up my game.
What we love about the space is that it has a great open area when you walk in, so we can offer our educational seminars right there. We are planning to create an environment set up like a lounge, versus the traditional classroom setting. The stuff we’re teaching can be a little boring and dry, but we want you to feel like our friends that have been invited over to hang out for a bit. We feel this fits with our overall belief that we are about developing meaningful relationships with our clients and wanting to go through life together.
One of the reasons we purchased our house in Philipsburg, was because it had a great space for an office. However, with all the activity going on here every day, we felt it was time to have a space away from here for our own sanity, and for the others to be able to enjoy the day without stressing about clients showing up. Again, Jill went on a search and we found a place in Chester Hill Borough in Philipsburg. We feel it is a great space for us, and so far, our clients have felt the same.
We feel blessed to have found two great places to call home for our business, and look forward to spending time with our clients. This certainly is not the last of our office adventures, as we do have some grand plans in a couple of years to create a unique space for future educational seminars, here in Philipsburg.
Formula Folios Latest Blog
Grandma update: I am not trying to make this a regular segment of the newsletter but this was too funny not to pass on. Austin’s room is right across from Grandma’s room and the laundry room is also across the hall from Grandma. Austin tends to use the laundry room as an extension of his room, leaving his dirty clothes all over the floor in there, so that his bedroom looks spotless. Pretty smart for a teenage boy, I suppose. Well, Grandma has caught on and will have none of that. She spent some time lecturing Austin about his laundry. I felt like we were going to lose her right then, when she saw Austin mixing his dirty clothes with his freshly washed clothes. She asked Austin, “Will you please be my friend and clean up after yourself?” Poor Grandma, living between a 15 year old boy and an eight year old boy. I feel for her. However, for now Austin and Grandma have an understanding. We will see how that plays out. Talk to you in a couple of weeks.
Greg Korn President & Investment Advisor Representative
Toll Free: 833-788-0404
Fax: 814-357-9070
Important Disclosures Regarding Email Communications
Advisory services through Retirement Wealth Advisors, Inc. (RWA), an SEC Registered Investment Advisor. K Financial LLC and RWA are not affiliated. This Email is being sent by or on behalf of a Registered Investment Advisor. It is intended exclusively for the individual or entity to which it is addressed. This communication may contain information that is proprietary, privileged, or confidential, or otherwise legally exempt from disclosure. If you are not the named addressee, you are not authorized to read, print, retain, copy or disseminate the Email or any part of it. If you have received this Email in error, please notify the sender immediately by Email or fax, and destroy all copies of this communication. Please be advised that you may conduct securities transactions only by speaking directly with your Investment Advisor Representative either by phone or in person. Requests for securities transactions via email will not be executed by Retirement Wealth Advisors, Inc. To help protect your privacy, we strongly suggest you avoid sending sensitive information, such as account numbers and social security numbers via Email. Please be further advised that, pursuant to the Bank Secrecy Act, the USA PATRIOT ACT, and similar laws, any communication in this email is subject to regulatory, supervisory, and law enforcement review.
Copyright (C) 2021 K Financial. All rights reserved.
Time for your teeth to shine
Time to show off that gorgeous smile. Congress will be debating a lot with the upcoming bills on the floor, dealing with Medicare. One thing I want to spend time on today, is the expansion of Medicare to include dental, hearing and vision. No matter what meeting I am in, at one point, questions about dental coverage will come up. Jill and I could retire early if there was actually a good dental plan we could write, because it is one of the most asked about plans. Unfortunately, there really isn’t a good answer for it. There are several options through independent companies to get dental insurance and most Medicare Advantage plans include some type of dental plan. We are always combing through these plans to find some with value, but it is really difficult.
Here are some of the issues: First, some dentists have stopped taking insurance because of the level of reimbursement they get from the insurance carriers. Therefore, not all dentists are in every network, and you must find an insurance plan that works with your dentist, or change dentists, (which, by the way, I have discovered people do not like to do). Now, if your dentist takes your insurance, they may require you to make up the difference in what the insurance pays and what the dentist charges. For example, if a dentist charges $220 for a routine cavity filling and the insurance will only reimburse up to $145 for that cavity, you could be responsible for the $75 difference between the two. On top of that, if you have a plan with 50% coinsurance, meaning you are responsible for 50% of the $145 as well, your total cost just went up to $147.50 for that cavity. Oh, did I mention that you still have to pay your monthly premium also?
Your monthly premium can range anywhere from around $15, all the way up to $75. As you go up the scale in cost, you are getting some more coverage and an increase in network. However, you have to be careful because even though some of the higher cost plans have lower coinsurance for you, it will take a few years to get down to 20% coinsurance. What I am saying here, is that you could get a dental insurance plan for $60 a month ($720 annually) with 50% coinsurance the first year, 40% the next year, 30% the year after that and 20% in the fourth year. However, to get to that spot you will have paid $2,880 in premiums. Therefore, we wonder, is the value actually there? To me, it’s difficult to justify that cost. The lower premium plans have limited coverage around cleaning and x-rays, which can also be a wash, versus just paying out of pocket.
One other fun fact you should know is that the companies do have some limits on how much they will pay in a year and/or limits on what you can have done. If you have three cavities in a year, too bad, because some plans will only cover two per year. Oh, you did work on that tooth earlier in the year? Some plans will only cover it being worked on once per year, so good luck with that wait. Have a lot of work to be done? Some plans will only pay up to $1,000 each year, so that will also need to be planned accordingly.
Awesome. Congress is stepping in and expanding Medicare to cover my teeth. Personally, I wouldn’t get too excited because Medicare has a reputation for having very low reimbursement rates for the medical side and I don’t foresee that changing on the dental side. That could mean that a very limited amount of dentists will accept the proposed Medicare coverage. I hope I am wrong, and this ends up being the solution to a concern all retirees have. We’ll keep a watch on this and let you know what is in the final bill and how to navigate it and keep our teeth looking good.
Formula folios latest blog
Jill’s grandmother has found a home right down the hall from us. She just got to the point where doctors wouldn’t let her live alone anymore. Therefore, we definitely have quite the busy household with all of us, alongside the five dogs. Nothing beats watching Grandma lecture Austin and Kyra on how to make pasta (and boy, was it a stern lecture). It was extremely bothersome to her that both of them decided to put the pasta in the pot prior to the water boiling. This is something I can assure you that they will never do again…in their lifetime. Aside from entertainment, another added benefit of having Grandma around is that when we go to get our clothes out of the dryer, we now find them already folded, as she is always looking for something to do. I’ll keep you updated on the wild wild house of the Korn’s.
Have a great couple of weeks.
Greg Korn President & Investment Advisor Representative
Toll Free: 833-788-0404
Fax: 814-357-9070
Important Disclosures Regarding Email Communications
Advisory services through Retirement Wealth Advisors, Inc. (RWA), an SEC Registered Investment Advisor. K Financial LLC and RWA are not affiliated. This Email is being sent by or on behalf of a Registered Investment Advisor. It is intended exclusively for the individual or entity to which it is addressed. This communication may contain information that is proprietary, privileged, or confidential, or otherwise legally exempt from disclosure. If you are not the named addressee, you are not authorized to read, print, retain, copy or disseminate the Email or any part of it. If you have received this Email in error, please notify the sender immediately by Email or fax, and destroy all copies of this communication. Please be advised that you may conduct securities transactions only by speaking directly with your Investment Advisor Representative either by phone or in person. Requests for securities transactions via email will not be executed by Retirement Wealth Advisors, Inc. To help protect your privacy, we strongly suggest you avoid sending sensitive information, such as account numbers and social security numbers via Email. Please be further advised that, pursuant to the Bank Secrecy Act, the USA PATRIOT ACT, and similar laws, any communication in this email is subject to regulatory, supervisory, and law enforcement review.
Copyright (C) 2021 K Financial. All rights reserved.
Healthcare can be daunting
‘Tis the season; not the joyous holiday season, but the season for planning your healthcare for next year. Time to brush up on your Greek, as you prepare to read the new Summary of Benefits that your employer is providing you, or that thick packet you receive in the mail from your current plan. Jill and I spent this month training on all of the updates from each insurance company that we work with, so that we can understand the best plans offered by each company, in each county. Fun times. If you are interested in the breakdown of Medicare Supplements, Advantage Plans and Medical Saving Accounts, I wrote detailed newsletters last year, about these subjects.
What are you looking for when it comes to making a decision on which plan to choose? The six areas to focus on are; network, monthly premium, deductible, co-payments, coinsurance and max out of pocket (MOOP). Perhaps the most important thing to know, is that your doctors are in the network and that you have a wide array of choices to see specialists locally, and also ones that are highly rated at larger hospitals. Hopefully we will never need access to those ones, but in case something major comes up, we don’t want to be limited on what doctors we can see.
Monthly premium matters, but it is not the end all and you shouldn’t choose your plan based solely on the lowest cost. Usually when a monthly premium is lower, it is because the coverage on the back end is limited, or your out of pocket costs are much higher in certain areas. Now, I do find that Medicare Advantage plans are a little different in this regard. Most of the Medicare Advantage plans have a zero dollar premium and are just as good, if not better than, plans with a higher monthly premium. I was at a Medicare Advantage training for one company and the presenter was asked, “Why do you have this $155 plan when the benefits are no better than the lower premium plan?” He essentially told us that some people just think they are getting the best plan just because they pay the highest premium, so they offer it. Now that is crazy. Don’t be one of those people. Understand your Summary of Benefits and what you are getting for your monthly premium versus another plan. Or…you could do it the easy way and call us!
Oh the dreaded deductible. Here is how the many calls and conversations I have every year go: “Greg, I don’t understand why I got this bill. This upsets me. I thought we got good insurance.” I have to remind clients every year that they have a deductible which they must first pay before the insurance company will pick up its part. Although I review this with every client before they sign up, there tends to be some level of panic when they receive that first bill. Unfortunately, that is the deal. This part is the responsibility of the insured and after the full deductible is paid, the insurance company will start covering its part. Most plans now have deductibles for the major stuff; hospital, outpatient surgery, MRIs, etc. Take a hard look at the deductible amounts when comparing plans.
Copayment vs Coinsurance: Personally, I like copayments more because I know what the cost is going to be prior to having the procedure done. With coinsurance, you’re always going to be asking “20% of what? 20% of $200 I am ok with, but 20% of $5,000? That I am not so happy with.” This is one of the advantages of a Medicare Advantage plan–at the beginning of every year you know what the cost is for a majority of the procedures you are going to have. All you need to do is find the procedure in that big thick book and you know what you are going to be billed for. Therefore, understanding what copayments are for procedures versus what is coinsurance, goes a long way in picking the best plan for you.
The final thing you will probably want to know is if you have the worst health year in your life, and spend a ton of time at the doctor’s office and/or hospital, what is your worst case scenario? That is where max out of pocket comes in. You add up all of your copayments and coinsurance, and once it hits the MOOP total, you are done for that year and the insurance company picks the rest up until December 31st. The goal is to find a plan that has the lowest MOOP, or at least a reasonable MOOP that you know you can afford if everything in your body goes downhill.
Taking in all these factors should help you narrow down the choices and get you to a plan that fits best your needs for next year. Then, you get to do it all over again the following year. However, instead of trying to become a healthcare insurance expert, just pick up the phone and call us. We’ve probably seen the plan you have, or at least something similar to it and are therefore, able to give you some important guidance on your options. Then you can just go back to enjoying this beautiful world around you with a little peace of mind, knowing that you have the plan that is the best option for you.
Formula Folios latest blog:
Yes, it is football time!!! My season however, is already over. The Giants look awful. It’s generally not a good sign when you are googling top quarterback prospects for next year’s draft, after one game. Talk to you in a couple of weeks.
Greg Korn President & Investment Advisor Representative
Toll Free: 833-788-0404
Fax: 814-357-9070
Important Disclosures Regarding Email Communications
Advisory services through Retirement Wealth Advisors, Inc. (RWA), an SEC Registered Investment Advisor. K Financial LLC and RWA are not affiliated. This Email is being sent by or on behalf of a Registered Investment Advisor. It is intended exclusively for the individual or entity to which it is addressed. This communication may contain information that is proprietary, privileged, or confidential, or otherwise legally exempt from disclosure. If you are not the named addressee, you are not authorized to read, print, retain, copy or disseminate the Email or any part of it. If you have received this Email in error, please notify the sender immediately by Email or fax, and destroy all copies of this communication. Please be advised that you may conduct securities transactions only by speaking directly with your Investment Advisor Representative either by phone or in person. Requests for securities transactions via email will not be executed by Retirement Wealth Advisors, Inc. To help protect your privacy, we strongly suggest you avoid sending sensitive information, such as account numbers and social security numbers via Email. Please be further advised that, pursuant to the Bank Secrecy Act, the USA PATRIOT ACT, and similar laws, any communication in this email is subject to regulatory, supervisory, and law enforcement review.
Copyright (C) 2021 K Financial. All rights reserved.
The little things matter
Lately, I’ve been focused on improving my health and have been following a health and fitness guy for about a month. He spent an entire podcast discussing, and sent an email about the “little things.” He inspired me to think about the “little things” in retirement that help people to be successful. When I am doing retirement planning with individuals, we spend a lot of time focusing on the big items; income, taxes, risk management, investments and the legacy they want to leave. These are very important, however, once you have an action plan and a path going forward, I think it is the little things that matter when it comes to how much joy you will have throughout your years. You might not even notice them, but the little things can offer a big return.
It’s probably because I’ve been focused on it, but I think we should start in the health area. Do you do your annual exam with your doctor? It’s not ideal to have freedom in retirement to do what you want to do, if you are not here to do it. There are a few themes that have been coming through in my meetings recently, and one of those is our future selves. We can do things today that our future selves, in 20 years, will look back on and thank us for. I am probably the least credible person to suggest this, because right up until this year, I hadn’t been to the doctor in about ten years, but I hope this little change in my life will make a major difference.
Another little thing that goes a long way is getting your body moving every day. For years you had a schedule that was dictated by your job or by the kids’ schedule. Now you have the slack in your schedule to add walks, bike rides or hikes to get the blood pumping. Maybe instead of riding around the whole lawn on the mower, you pick a section and push mow, (even if it is just to make those awesome lines in your yard). Plan a landscaping project that you work on daily and don’t rush through it. Take the time to enjoy the process of creating something around your home. Having daily movement in your life goes a long way in helping keep your muscles active.
Now, doing all of this with a friend is even better. Spending time with others can be the spice of life. My parents have made several good friends throughout their lives, however, nobody lives near one another anymore. Therefore, my parents spend time traveling up and down the East Coast or hosting friends as they come to their area, enjoying these lifelong relationships. Even just spending a little more time socializing with a neighbor can be fulfilling. I find that many of us often have trouble being in the moment and enjoying the conversation. We seem to always be thinking about what we are off to next, so instead, sit and enjoy the person in front of you.
You can even spend some money on the little things that you get pleasure out of. Maybe you’re a latte or cappuccino person. Reward yourself for the life you have lived and the life you are living. What are we doing when we deny ourselves the things that make us a little happier during the day? My grandmother was a huge ice cream eater, therefore my dad was as well. Guess what? I got the ‘love of ice cream’ gene, also. The problem I had was that I was enjoying it way too much. There was just no way I was giving up ice cream in my life though. Jill is not happy with me, but we’re down to ice cream once a week. However, we don’t mess around, we get really good ice cream when we do have it. Be open to spending some bucks on the things that give you joy.
There are so many little things you can do on a daily basis that can make your world better in that moment and also for your future self. These little things can make the difference between a so-so retirement and an amazing retirement. Before you know it, these little things will be part of your everyday life. The Retirement Manifesto is back and you can also read about his perspective, with: It’s The Little Things.
Formula Folios Latest Blog:
Fall is coming, but it’s not here yet so get outside and enjoy the last bit of summer. Talk to you in a couple of weeks.
Greg Korn President & Investment Advisor Representative
Toll Free: 833-788-0404
Fax: 814-357-9070
Important Disclosures Regarding Email Communications
Advisory services through Retirement Wealth Advisors, Inc. (RWA), an SEC Registered Investment Advisor. K Financial LLC and RWA are not affiliated. This Email is being sent by or on behalf of a Registered Investment Advisor. It is intended exclusively for the individual or entity to which it is addressed. This communication may contain information that is proprietary, privileged, or confidential, or otherwise legally exempt from disclosure. If you are not the named addressee, you are not authorized to read, print, retain, copy or disseminate the Email or any part of it. If you have received this Email in error, please notify the sender immediately by Email or fax, and destroy all copies of this communication. Please be advised that you may conduct securities transactions only by speaking directly with your Investment Advisor Representative either by phone or in person. Requests for securities transactions via email will not be executed by Retirement Wealth Advisors, Inc. To help protect your privacy, we strongly suggest you avoid sending sensitive information, such as account numbers and social security numbers via Email. Please be further advised that, pursuant to the Bank Secrecy Act, the USA PATRIOT ACT, and similar laws, any communication in this email is subject to regulatory, supervisory, and law enforcement review.
Copyright (C) 2021 K Financial. All rights reserved.
Partnerships
Partnerships are an important part of our lives; from our spouses/partners to our accountants to our mechanics. When you find a partnership that you trust, it can last throughout your lifetime. In my world, I am looking for long-term relationships with clients, where they can trust in me to deliver what I say I am going to deliver. I would like the chance to be in a trusted partnership with you, throughout your retirement. To do this, I also need to find partnerships that I can trust in, that will deliver the service and the same level of excellence that I strive to deliver.
When I started as an Investment Advisor Representative, I found an excellent Registered Investment Advisor to partner with; Retirement Wealth Advisors. Of course, being in the financial world, there is always a chance for mergers, which recently happened with RWA and Brookstone, LLC. I have been through a few of these in my career, and tend to take the ‘wait and see’ approach. Ultimately, I want to know if the situation still results in the best partnership for my clients and myself. A recent article from Financial Advisors magazine, The Future Is Now, ranked Brookstone the number one fastest-growing RIA firm. With that, I felt it was time to discuss why I am excited about partnering with Brookstone.
One of the biggest opportunities with Brookstone, is the Open Architecture platform for investments. That gives us more choices so that we can structure your retirement investments to fit your needs. There are thousands and thousands of choices for investments, however, Brookstone put its team to work, sifting through all of them and providing us with a list of investment options that has been vetted to fit their philosophy; “We believe that it’s critical to defend against the devastating impact large drawdowns can have on the long-term growth of an investment portfolio. We therefore develop and implement investment strategies specifically geared toward our client’s unique investment goals as well as their tolerance for risk.” A majority of the options are ETFs, which can have many benefits over traditional Mutual Funds. Additionally, the Mutual Funds that are on the list are focused on active management with a specific focus on a strategy or sector of investments. This allows us to build a very diversified portfolio that fits the specific needs of our clients. However, Brookstone also has its own investment models, like Formula Folios, that give us more choices to find the one that works for you.
Brookstone has five distinct investment models that each focus on a different investment philosophy, based on RAISE (Risk Appropriate Investment Strategy Evaluation). RAISE 360, a select model is based on a process they call multi-strategy diversification to go beyond traditional asset classes. Engineered using a range of equities and fixed income strategies, the aim is to provide investors a flexible, yet disciplined portfolio allocation framework. Another model offered is the STAR model, that focuses on blending both active and passive investment strategies into a suite of professionally designed, diversified and risk-based portfolios. The SMART BETA model is a type of investing that tries to improve the risk and return characteristics of the traditional market cap weighted indexes. This innovative approach to investing has broken down investing into factors that have survived rigorous academic study. One suite of factors that is particularly interesting is minimum, or low volatility investing. STRATEGIST model focuses on diversified portfolios designed to offer Investors access to portfolios inspired by popular strategists and implemented with low cost ETFs. The last internal model is SUSTAINABLE which is ESG Investing, focused on Environmental Issues, Social Issues and Governance Issues. Finally, they also partner with Blackrock and Vanguard to offer investment models through these leading industry companies.
These models can be part of a Core/Satellite approach, where the majority of the investment is in one of these models (Core), to give a solid foundation with the appropriate amount of risk, based on your tolerance level. The satellite part is where we use a smaller portion of your assets, focused on giving you a different investment driver. They zero in on a specific area of the market that will give the overall portfolios higher diversification, but are also looking for opportunities in the market for large growth. Through Brookstone, we have the ability to add Structured Notes – giving a competitive investment return with limited principal protection, or alternatives for generating higher yields. They also have the ability to invest in the ARK Invest ETFs that focus on different areas of technology – fintech innovation, space exploration, genomic, generation internet, autonomous technology and robotics. If the environment is important, then that can be a part of the satellite.
Since May, when the merger was complete, I had access to exploring the options of the Brookstone Open Architecture and was extremely impressed by the investment options they have put together. This is a partnership I truly believe in, and I have complete confidence when it comes to my clients’ financial future.
Formula Folios Latest Blog
Labor day is right around the corner so make sure you are taking advantage of the last few weeks of summer. Chat with you in a couple of weeks.
Greg Korn President & Investment Advisor Representative
Toll Free: 833-788-0404
Fax: 814-357-9070
Important Disclosures Regarding Email Communications
Advisory services through Retirement Wealth Advisors, Inc. (RWA), an SEC Registered Investment Advisor. K Financial LLC and RWA are not affiliated. This Email is being sent by or on behalf of a Registered Investment Advisor. It is intended exclusively for the individual or entity to which it is addressed. This communication may contain information that is proprietary, privileged, or confidential, or otherwise legally exempt from disclosure. If you are not the named addressee, you are not authorized to read, print, retain, copy or disseminate the Email or any part of it. If you have received this Email in error, please notify the sender immediately by Email or fax, and destroy all copies of this communication. Please be advised that you may conduct securities transactions only by speaking directly with your Investment Advisor Representative either by phone or in person. Requests for securities transactions via email will not be executed by Retirement Wealth Advisors, Inc. To help protect your privacy, we strongly suggest you avoid sending sensitive information, such as account numbers and social security numbers via Email. Please be further advised that, pursuant to the Bank Secrecy Act, the USA PATRIOT ACT, and similar laws, any communication in this email is subject to regulatory, supervisory, and law enforcement review.
Copyright (C) 2021 K Financial. All rights reserved.
Investments: The Retirement Mindset
It seems like most of the pictures out there, meant to portray retirement, are of couples walking hand in hand on the beach, watching sunrises on the mountains, or sailing off smiling, on some huge boat. A side note: Sailing scares me–I feel like I would not be able to control the boat with the wind, so we would end up stranded somewhere, with no way back to shore. There definitely will not be any of those beautiful pictures of Jill and I on a sailboat during our retirement. Anyway, all of these images are meant to project how amazing retirement is going to be. It is as if retirement is meant to be like one big vacation. As much as I wish that for all of us, there are some downsides to consider, when it comes to retirement. This article did an excellent job of highlighting many of them: The Downsides of Retirement that Nobody Talks About. I figured it might also be a good idea to review some of those downsides with you.
Although our savings should be viewed with a different mindset when we retire, many of us tend to look at those funds, as if we are still in the accumulation stage of our lives. When we are working, we are trying to stash away as much money as we can for our future selves, much like a squirrel running around the yard in the fall, putting away as many nuts as he can for winter. For some of us, we will build up a nice sum to live on during our later years. We may have watched that sum start small in our 20’s, grow a little bit in our 30’s and start to show some real progress in our 40’s. Then, (hopefully) we begin to see a solid foundation for the future in our 50’s and finally, the end product in our 60’s. At that stage, we are ready–we have stashed away all we need, so we can now pull the trigger and begin the next chapter of our lives. The problem is that we have watched this account grow for 40 years or more. We aren’t used to seeing the funds in our accounts go down. Once we begin using the money and it is no longer growing like it used to, this can understandably, become a really stressful experience. This is a pivot point for retirees and leaves us with a choice that will need to be made: Do we do less because we can’t stand the thought of our accounts not growing, or can we change our mindset and realize this is why we sacrificed our whole lives, and this money is there to spend in retirement? It may not be easy to adapt to this mindset, but it is necessary if we want to be able to fully enjoy retirement.
The other issue around the money you’ve saved, is that you really don’t have as much as you may think you do. Yes, I know; right after I tell you that you need to change the way that you think about spending the money that you have saved, I am now going to tell you that you don’t have as much as you think you have. The majority of individual retirement funds are in a 401k or IRA, and therefore none of this money has yet been subject to the tax man. If you have a million dollars and are in the 12% tax bracket, you really only have $880,000. If you’re in the 22% tax bracket, you have $780,000, and so on. Don’t get me wrong, you should definitely be proud of the money you have saved, but you should also realize that the tax man is there, waiting to rain on your parade, once you start taking the money out.
Another aspect to consider is inflation. As you get older, things are simply going to cost more. When you’re working and getting raises throughout your life, you don’t necessarily feel the effects of inflation as much. However, when you begin living on a fixed income, you will start to notice that your purchasing power will gradually decrease, and that money doesn’t go quite as far as it once did. Therefore, it is wise to be able to invest and have your funds grow at a rate that outpaces inflation. Reasonable inflation is a good thing, but it does have a major impact on retirees because usually the raises you get from Social Security, meant to keep up with inflation, get taken away with the increase of the cost of Medicare. Understanding this is especially important if you have income annuities, because the majority of them do not have inflation bumps in the future. Essentially, that means that every year, the income from your annuity loses some purchasing power. That is why it is a good idea to have different levers to pull throughout retirement, so that you can overcome inflation and give yourself a raise.
I will be hitting on more of these downsides in future newsletters. For now, enjoy all of the fresh tomatoes and other vegetables beginning to be harvested.
Formula Folios Latest Blog
Greg Korn President & Investment Advisor Representative
Toll Free: 833-788-0404
Fax: 814-357-9070
Important Disclosures Regarding Email Communications
Advisory services through Retirement Wealth Advisors, Inc. (RWA), an SEC Registered Investment Advisor. K Financial LLC and RWA are not affiliated. This Email is being sent by or on behalf of a Registered Investment Advisor. It is intended exclusively for the individual or entity to which it is addressed. This communication may contain information that is proprietary, privileged, or confidential, or otherwise legally exempt from disclosure. If you are not the named addressee, you are not authorized to read, print, retain, copy or disseminate the Email or any part of it. If you have received this Email in error, please notify the sender immediately by Email or fax, and destroy all copies of this communication. Please be advised that you may conduct securities transactions only by speaking directly with your Investment Advisor Representative either by phone or in person. Requests for securities transactions via email will not be executed by Retirement Wealth Advisors, Inc. To help protect your privacy, we strongly suggest you avoid sending sensitive information, such as account numbers and social security numbers via Email. Please be further advised that, pursuant to the Bank Secrecy Act, the USA PATRIOT ACT, and similar laws, any communication in this email is subject to regulatory, supervisory, and law enforcement review.
Copyright (C) 2021 K Financial. All rights reserved.
Still Searching?
We are living in the information age and have access to all the information we could ever need, at our fingertips. However, we are still thirsty for knowledge that pertains to making our future successful. This became apparent over the last month, when we offered educational workshops on Social Security, in Saint Marys. We had planned to have three evenings of meetings, which filled up within three days of releasing the dates. We actually ended up having seven (completely booked) evenings! There was such a great desire for individuals planning for retirement, to get an idea of when to take Social Security and how to maximize their lifetime income. Thanks to all who attended, your engagement during the meetings and the great questions you had. The response got me thinking about a couple of things; we have all the information available to us now, so why is there such a knowledge gap AND why is our industry so closed off about sharing the information people need, in order to be successful? Additionally, what sources do I use that could be helpful to you?
Perhaps there is just too much information available to us; ask Google any question and you will get thousands of links, with some pertinence to what you are searching for. How are you to choose which ones are right and will fit your needs best? You can get lost in the rabbit hole looking at all the information. On top of that, a lot of the information is conflicting, so which sites are we to trust? We are depending on the search engine’s algorithms to point us in the right direction, and the reality is that companies that want you, pay to be at the top of that list. With all of this information, we can end up in the world of ‘information paralysis’ and be so overwhelmed that we simply do nothing. I have even learned to cut down on the newsletters I receive in my email inbox and just go to sources that have earned my trust over and over again. This is why it is always nice to have professionals in your corner, cutting down on you having to learn about things from scratch and figuring out which direction you should go. I can’t tell you how many times I have heard “I just want to sit down with someone so that they can tell me what to do.”
In the financial world, there seems to be a mentality of not giving away any information unless you get paid. This can put a huge wall in between the person and the information they are seeking, and we (as professionals) are the gatekeepers. That is a commonly held perspective by a lot of individuals in my field, which I can understand to an extent, but it never really sat well with me. Don’t get me wrong–individuals who put a lot of time into educating themselves and have a lot of experience, should get rewarded for providing a service to another individual seeking that expertise. But, if someone calls me and asks a question that I can answer to help guide them in the right direction, I am not going to ever tell them, “Sorry, you are not a client so I am not going to help you.” I have always believed that if you put good into the world, good will come back. We are all in this together. Ultimately, I just hope that whoever comes to me, will feel that they received value from the information I provided to them, and one day might seek me out or speak kindly of me to others.
So what sources do I use? I use the government sites as resources for information about Social Security (ssa.gov) and Medicare (medicare.gov). Like any government site, a lot of the information is pretty dry, but you can indeed, get the information you are searching for. A great secret I can share is that Medicare is open 24/7, so I sometimes call on the weekends and I get right through (1-800-633-4227). If I want to check on a future Required Minimum Distribution, I go to Charles Schwab RMD calculator to get the numbers I need to do projections. I like Yahoo Finance as a place to check out stock, EFT or Mutual Fund information. This site is easy to navigate, has all the information you need and, best of all, you do not have to pay for it. As I have mentioned in previous newsletters, a couple of sources to check out are, The Retirement Answer Man and Retirement Manifesto, for a perspective from a professional, and an individual living through retirement. My list gets long because I have many sites bookmarked in my navigation bar, each with a different purpose. However, what is important is that you find a source that you trust. If you need suggestions, feel free to drop me an email or give me a call and I will be happy to help you the best that I can, so that you get the information you need, from a trusted source.
Formula Folios latest blog:
I hope everyone is getting outside and enjoying this nice, sunny weather and that it keeps up for us! I will chat with you in a couple of weeks.
Greg Korn President & Investment Advisor Representative
Toll Free: 833-788-0404
Fax: 814-357-9070
Important Disclosures Regarding Email Communications
Advisory services through Retirement Wealth Advisors, Inc. (RWA), an SEC Registered Investment Advisor. K Financial LLC and RWA are not affiliated. This Email is being sent by or on behalf of a Registered Investment Advisor. It is intended exclusively for the individual or entity to which it is addressed. This communication may contain information that is proprietary, privileged, or confidential, or otherwise legally exempt from disclosure. If you are not the named addressee, you are not authorized to read, print, retain, copy or disseminate the Email or any part of it. If you have received this Email in error, please notify the sender immediately by Email or fax, and destroy all copies of this communication. Please be advised that you may conduct securities transactions only by speaking directly with your Investment Advisor Representative either by phone or in person. Requests for securities transactions via email will not be executed by Retirement Wealth Advisors, Inc. To help protect your privacy, we strongly suggest you avoid sending sensitive information, such as account numbers and social security numbers via Email. Please be further advised that, pursuant to the Bank Secrecy Act, the USA PATRIOT ACT, and similar laws, any communication in this email is subject to regulatory, supervisory, and law enforcement review.
Copyright (C) 2021 K Financial. All rights reserved.
The Hunt for Your Best Life
When we were kids, many of us probably remember playing some kind of game involving finding the hidden treasure. There was a map that had the “X” that marked the spot, and sometimes a scavenger hunt, right? Remember the riddles that led you to each clue up until you found the prize at the end? Well, during retirement you will participate in one more treasure hunting game and this time, you will be the creator and you will plan for what will be in the treasure chest at the end. All that you have accumulated throughout your life will find new ownership once you move on from this world. Some of our treasure chests will be large and some not so large. That is what I want to talk about today–that fine line we walk between leaving a huge chest, packed with amazing treasures, and getting to live our best life in retirement.
Through many discussions with clients, making plans for how to finance their retirement, there always seems to be a starting point that is centered around the fear of running out of money. When you finally stop working, it may leave you wondering how what you have is going to last for 20 to 30 years or more. Once expenses are understood, goals are reviewed and the fear has been reduced, there’s an even larger decision; how big of a treasure chest do you want to leave to your heirs? How important is that to you? For the most part, the thought seems to be “what’s left is what’s left.” Then there are the people who want to leave a large financial legacy, or the ones who just want to spend everything they have and are not really concerned about what they leave behind. What you should understand is that none of these thoughts are right or wrong. This is your life to live and you are the one that gets to choose how it is lived. However, my personal belief is that if it doesn’t destroy your financial future, you ought to live your best life in retirement and live it to the fullest. I would hate for anyone to get to the end and have this big treasure chest that ended up costing them the life they wanted in retirement. That means they didn’t get to live life to the fullest. This can be especially difficult for individuals that were amazing savers during their life and built up a nice nest egg. They have to do something they are not used to doing–spending some of their savings.
The unfortunate part of retirement is that we know that time is winding down and we have more years behind us than in front of us. Therefore, it is important to focus on accomplishing those things we always said we would do “someday.” Someday is here. It is time to stop procrastinating and dive in to make those things happen. There are no do overs–we just get this one shot. Let’s plan to live our best life.
In some recent conversations with clients, one couple told me they were thinking about a nice vacation every other year during retirement. After reviewing things with them, we discovered that they actually have the ability to take that vacation every year…and I will be there, reminding them to take it. Yes, the treasure chest won’t be as big in the end, but this time that they will get to spend together exploring the world, is much bigger (and more important to them) than that treasure chest. Another couple wants to go to Alaska after retirement. We have already put the money aside to accomplish this, so now they can just focus on planning an amazing and memorable trip. This is the stuff I believe retirement should be about. Work, kids and the everyday busyness take up a lot of our time in those first two-thirds of our lives. You have the freedom now to make every day yours. The treasure chest will be there in the end, but it’s not yours to open, and the reality is that whoever does get to open it, will have more on that day than they had the day before. Hopefully they can appreciate anything that is left to them, knowing that you had an amazing and fulfilling retirement.
Formula Folios latest blog:
I wrote this newsletter for a couple of reasons: First, I believe that this is a side that people tend to not think about because they focus their attention on what will be left, versus living their lives now. Second, I think it is important to put my ideas and opinions on paper to hold myself accountable, so that my clients know that these are my true, unwavering thoughts and not just something I said one day.
Finally, I wanted to let you all know that I did get my garden started. I’ll admit, it is not as big as I had hoped it would be, but we have strawberries, tomatoes and zucchini growing out back, so it is a good step in the right direction.
If you found this interesting and helpful, feel free to pass it on to family or friends because one thing we keep discovering, is that not enough people have the information they need to make informed decisions in planning for retirement. Have a great couple of weeks and talk to you soon.
Greg Korn President & Investment Advisor Representative
Toll Free: 833-788-0404
Fax: 814-357-9070
Important Disclosures Regarding Email Communications
Advisory services through Retirement Wealth Advisors, Inc. (RWA), an SEC Registered Investment Advisor. K Financial LLC and RWA are not affiliated. This Email is being sent by or on behalf of a Registered Investment Advisor. It is intended exclusively for the individual or entity to which it is addressed. This communication may contain information that is proprietary, privileged, or confidential, or otherwise legally exempt from disclosure. If you are not the named addressee, you are not authorized to read, print, retain, copy or disseminate the Email or any part of it. If you have received this Email in error, please notify the sender immediately by Email or fax, and destroy all copies of this communication. Please be advised that you may conduct securities transactions only by speaking directly with your Investment Advisor Representative either by phone or in person. Requests for securities transactions via email will not be executed by Retirement Wealth Advisors, Inc. To help protect your privacy, we strongly suggest you avoid sending sensitive information, such as account numbers and social security numbers via Email. Please be further advised that, pursuant to the Bank Secrecy Act, the USA PATRIOT ACT, and similar laws, any communication in this email is subject to regulatory, supervisory, and law enforcement review.
Copyright (C) 2021 K Financial. All rights reserved.
It’s time to reconnect
The nicer days are upon us and we are starting to get back to the life we were used to. About a year ago, I started a newsletter that discussed getting out to local events and being present in the community. Unfortunately I had to put that on hold for a while because of the pandemic. This is not that newsletter, but I still want to talk about connection.
We have all gotten better at, and use technology now, more than ever. All of this Zoom and Facetime has become part of our daily lives. In the end though, it is just not the same as being in the room with someone. I have really enjoyed getting back on the road and sitting down with people. Yes, my life would be easier, and I could probably get a lot more done if I used the time I spend in my car to have meetings from my office, virtually. For me though, there is not the same connection with that individual. The conversation is just…different.
When a client recently mentioned to me that they were looking forward to events that bring them together with their family and friends, it got me thinking that we should definitely have these events in our lives AND have them on a regular basis, especially as we go into retirement. Connecting with others is food for the soul. Ironically, family gatherings seem to be a thing of the past. Growing up, we never lived near our extended family, and I therefore, never got to participate in the annual events or the random get togethers, but I do remember a time when we were back in Missouri for one of those. (I distinctly recall that I had to put up with some harassment from my aunts and uncles because I had a tattoo on my ankle.) Even so, this was one of the most fun and memorable get togethers for me.
One of my clients has an annual fish fry in late August every year, that brings out a large crowd. Yes, they all come for the fish, but more so, they are there to enjoy being with each other. We do something like this on a small scale every Sunday. We host dinner and friends and family show up. We went so far as to purchase a larger table because it is that important to us to connect with others. We even plan to up the head count soon.
Yes, these events can be stressful for the people hosting, but what I’ve always discovered, is that things are bound to happen when you get a lot of people together, so try not to stress too much. Take the opportunity to organize an event, or if you get the invite, put it on the schedule and don’t let it get bumped because you’re too busy. I recently started bouncing ideas around in my head, of different things we could do. Like usual, I was aiming for something that was a little bit different. One idea I came up with was a Kentucky Derby party. Just so you all know, Jill read this for the first time and basically said, “No. I am not doing that because I am not wearing one of those stupid hats.” For some reason, we continued that discussion, and I learned that if Jill was forced to choose, it would be a fascinator over a big hat. By the way, I have never watched the race, nor do I know anything about it…but that’s why it’s perfect. Nobody has anything at stake in the outcome; it’s simply about getting together and connecting with others for an enjoyable Saturday in May.
I find that we can just go and go and go, without taking a moment to pause and enjoy one another. Events that give us a chance to connect with others and force us to pause everything else, for even just a few hours, is what we need more of, not less. This is especially important in retirement, when there seems to be a whole lot of time to fill. Without work, you tend to have less interaction with others, and we all need to feed our desire for human connection.
Look at your calendar and find spots where you can create an event. Also remember to keep an open mind about saying ‘yes’ to opportunities that present themselves. I bet after this last year, you might just find them a lot more enjoyable.
Latest Blog From Formula Folios
Greg Korn President & Investment Advisor Representative
Toll Free: 833-788-0404
Fax: 814-357-9070
Important Disclosures Regarding Email Communications
Advisory services through Retirement Wealth Advisors, Inc. (RWA), an SEC Registered Investment Advisor. K Financial LLC and RWA are not affiliated. This Email is being sent by or on behalf of a Registered Investment Advisor. It is intended exclusively for the individual or entity to which it is addressed. This communication may contain information that is proprietary, privileged, or confidential, or otherwise legally exempt from disclosure. If you are not the named addressee, you are not authorized to read, print, retain, copy or disseminate the Email or any part of it. If you have received this Email in error, please notify the sender immediately by Email or fax, and destroy all copies of this communication. Please be advised that you may conduct securities transactions only by speaking directly with your Investment Advisor Representative either by phone or in person. Requests for securities transactions via email will not be executed by Retirement Wealth Advisors, Inc. To help protect your privacy, we strongly suggest you avoid sending sensitive information, such as account numbers and social security numbers via Email. Please be further advised that, pursuant to the Bank Secrecy Act, the USA PATRIOT ACT, and similar laws, any communication in this email is subject to regulatory, supervisory, and law enforcement review.
Copyright (C) 2021 K Financial. All rights reserved.
Enjoy the Health Benefits of being out in Nature
Wow, it sure is great to see the sun more and feel the weather getting warmer. However, up here in the mountains, we actually got some snow on a few nights over the last couple of weeks; not exactly my favorite sight to wake up in the morning. The dogs, on the other hand, get very excited and love to roll around in the snow. The bright side is that overall, the weather seems to be heading in the right direction with giving us more opportunities to get outside.
It has been a very long year, with a lot less interaction with others and a lot more isolation than most of us are used to. That is why I found this article (Two hours a week spent outdoors in nature linked with better health) so interesting. It definitely serves as encouragement for us to get out into nature. Therefore, I decided to put a list together of places to check out and things to do that might be good for a day trip in PA. Anything we can do to be healthier and feel healthier makes the rest of the stuff we do that much more enjoyable.
I have many clients that are limited on what they can do because of health conditions. It is a real problem. That is why it is so important that you focus on your health throughout your life, and even more so as you get closer to retirement and/or are in retirement. Your body is like investing in the stock market–when you’re younger, you have time to overcome bad health habits (downturns in the market) but when you get older, those habits are harder to break and the damage they cause is harder to recover from.
Let’s take advantage of our growing freedom to get out again and get back into nature. I’ve enjoyed hiking but haven’t done enough of it to know where to go for the best hikes, so I let the internet do my research for me.
Five Great Central PA Hikes to do this Season.
Five Best Hiking Spots in Central Pennsylvania
16 Trails in Pennsylvania That Will Leave you Breathless
Hikes are not the only thing you can do to get out in nature. There are tons of parks to visit that have different activities you can enjoy as well.
12 Top-Rated National and State Parks in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania’s 10 Most Incredible State Parks
One of my favorite activities, to this day, is to float down a river in a canoe or kayak. One of my most memorable experiences doing that was with my dad. I gave him the choice of a single man kayak or a canoe. He chose the kayak, which ended up not being such a wise choice for him (ironically, because the kids always say that my dad is one of the smartest people they know). I’ll just end this story by saying he was capsized within the first half hour, into a very cold river. Kayaking just isn’t as much fun when you’re soaking wet for the rest of the day.
14 Top-Rated White Water Rafting & Kayaking Destinations in Pennsylvania
Top 10 Places For Kayaking in Pennsylvania
5 Excellent Places for Beginners to Kayak in Pennsylvania
It is time to get out and enjoy this beautiful world we have right outside our door! When we are able to add health benefits while doing it, it’s a win-win situation. We can do all of the planning to make sure your financial situation will work throughout your retirement, but you need to make sure that you are healthy enough to enjoy it.
Formula Folios Latest Blog
If you found this interesting and helpful, feel free to pass it on to family or friends because one thing we keep discovering, is that not enough people have the information they need to make informed decisions in planning for retirement. Have a great couple of weeks and talk to you soon.
Greg Korn President & Investment Advisor Representative
Toll Free: 833-788-0404
Fax: 814-357-9070
Important Disclosures Regarding Email Communications
Advisory services through Retirement Wealth Advisors, Inc. (RWA), an SEC Registered Investment Advisor. K Financial LLC and RWA are not affiliated. This Email is being sent by or on behalf of a Registered Investment Advisor. It is intended exclusively for the individual or entity to which it is addressed. This communication may contain information that is proprietary, privileged, or confidential, or otherwise legally exempt from disclosure. If you are not the named addressee, you are not authorized to read, print, retain, copy or disseminate the Email or any part of it. If you have received this Email in error, please notify the sender immediately by Email or fax, and destroy all copies of this communication. Please be advised that you may conduct securities transactions only by speaking directly with your Investment Advisor Representative either by phone or in person. Requests for securities transactions via email will not be executed by Retirement Wealth Advisors, Inc. To help protect your privacy, we strongly suggest you avoid sending sensitive information, such as account numbers and social security numbers via Email. Please be further advised that, pursuant to the Bank Secrecy Act, the USA PATRIOT ACT, and similar laws, any communication in this email is subject to regulatory, supervisory, and law enforcement review.
Copyright (C) 2021 K Financial. All rights reserved.
A retirement trial run-The result
Mark & Elissa’s Great Adventure
Remember Mark and Elissa? It is time to tell you the results of their pre-retirement test, in which they headed South in their RV. I wish I could fill this email with all of the amazing experiences they had and the great memories they made, but things didn’t go quite so well for them. Long story short, they came back in January and put the RV up for sale. (Bad, right?!) That was the summary of our first conversation, shortly after they arrived back home. Fortunately, we did have a follow-up conversation after they had been back for a bit, where things didn’t seem quite so…bad.
The biggest problem Mark and Elissa experienced was the weather. They apparently did not go far enough South, to avoid those cold, dreary days, which in essence, defeated the purpose of traveling South. Lesson number one: During the Winter months, you need to be further South than the Carolinas, to get the benefit of warm, sunny days. (They suggest going past Jacksonville, Florida.) That leads us to the next problem: Mark was planning on working throughout their stay on the campground. A couple of things made this challenging; the first location did not have reliable Wifi and when they did find a park with good Wifi, the weather made it difficult for Elissa to enjoy her day because Mark was inside, working. Hanging outside was simply an unpleasant experience.
Lesson number two: RVing is hard work. It takes a lot of time to get set up and make your RV feel like a home. An example they shared with me was that one of the conveniences of home is having clean clothes. It seems as though the RV parks are privy to such information and really try to capitalize on that. Doing your laundry at one of the parks is ten dollars…PER LOAD! Lesson number three: Bring a lot of quarters.
Instead of powering through these pretty major setbacks, Mark and Elissa realized they would be much happier if they scrapped this plan and headed home. The silver lining is that this was a huge learning experience for them…and now also for all of us. They had plans to be full-time RVers during their retirement but that idea seems to be off the table.
Could you imagine if this was your plan and within the first few weeks of retirement, you discovered your whole plan was shot?! That is exactly why what they did was so awesome. They tested their retirement plan on a small scale to see if it was what they really wanted to do. Lesson number four: Make sure you test at least some part of your retirement plan BEFORE you retire.
Now, fortunately, not all is lost. Mark and Elissa are taking what they learned and tweaking a few things to see if they can have the retirement they dreamed of. They plan to attack this again over the next couple of years to find what will really work for them. Florida does have several options that they are going to check out. They could find an RV park there, should they not be able to sell their RV. They will try limiting the set-up time and finding other ways to make their RV feel more like home. They will also be sure to search for a park that has some better laundry options. If they keep pushing forward, it would also give them the chance to make some cross-country trips in the RV to see the country during the warmer months. That is something they still want to experience. Another idea they had, is looking at the 55+ mobile home parks, giving them more of a permanent home (with laundry included). To me, all of this planning is the fun part, as they can now spend some time exploring all of the different options available to them.
Final lesson: just because your original plan didn’t go as you anticipated, that does not mean you have to start from scratch. You can change things up a bit and attempt to get a different result. This experience has been so valuable for Mark and Elissa, as they prepare for their retirement. I could really hear the difference in their tone, from when they first got back to when I spoke with them a few weeks later. There was definite optimism in their voices about these other options, and even renewed excitement in exploring what else might be out there.
A huge thanks to Mark and Elissa for sharing their experience with everyone so that we can all learn from the people close to us, who are preparing for retirement. We’ll definitely have to check in with them in the future to see how things are going.
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If you found this interesting and helpful, feel free to pass it on to family or friends because one thing we keep discovering, is that not enough people have the information they need to make informed decisions in planning for retirement. Have a great couple of weeks and talk to you soon.
Greg Korn President & Investment Advisor Representative
Toll Free: 833-788-0404
Fax: 814-357-9070
Important Disclosures Regarding Email Communications
Advisory services through Retirement Wealth Advisors, Inc. (RWA), an SEC Registered Investment Advisor. K Financial LLC and RWA are not affiliated. This Email is being sent by or on behalf of a Registered Investment Advisor. It is intended exclusively for the individual or entity to which it is addressed. This communication may contain information that is proprietary, privileged, or confidential, or otherwise legally exempt from disclosure. If you are not the named addressee, you are not authorized to read, print, retain, copy or disseminate the Email or any part of it. If you have received this Email in error, please notify the sender immediately by Email or fax, and destroy all copies of this communication. Please be advised that you may conduct securities transactions only by speaking directly with your Investment Advisor Representative either by phone or in person. Requests for securities transactions via email will not be executed by Retirement Wealth Advisors, Inc. To help protect your privacy, we strongly suggest you avoid sending sensitive information, such as account numbers and social security numbers via Email. Please be further advised that, pursuant to the Bank Secrecy Act, the USA PATRIOT ACT, and similar laws, any communication in this email is subject to regulatory, supervisory, and law enforcement review.
Copyright (C) 2021 K Financial. All rights reserved.
The Time to tax Plan is Now
Planning is Everything When it Comes to Taxes
Oh the great month of April–tax month. For two years now, April has not been quite as bad though, because the IRS has been pushing back the tax due date. This year, it will be May 17th. Sadly, no matter how far we push that date back, there still is not much we can do to change what we owe from last year. That doesn’t mean all hope is lost though. You can still do a few things that will reduce your 2020 tax bill, such as making an IRA contribution. Also, as Jill discovered, when Congress passed the most recent Stimulus package, it had some changes in the tax code that positively affected 2020 taxes for some people.
Today I want to emphasize our need to really crack down and focus on the future. This means this year, five years from now and beyond. The tax man is a tough one to go to battle with if you are only focusing on one year at a time. However, you can have the advantage over the tax man in the long run, if you pay attention to when and what income hits your 1040.
When you are working, controlling when and what income hits the tax return is all but impossible, but once you retire, you have several opportunities to not only decide what income shows up, but also when that income shows up. What I notice quite often though, is that not very many people think about this, especially when it comes to distributions from their 401(k) and IRA, deciding when to start their pension and when to start their Social Security. The beauty of retirement is that you now have control over the income that affects your taxes.
One of my clients is starting their retirement journey this year and will have six different sources of income to choose from. We’ve had several conversations about which lever(s) to pull and when to pull them. Some of this discussion is around income and expenses, but some is around long term taxes. What is great for them, is that they have the power to decide what is important to them and we can then look at how this will affect their taxes down the road. At that point, they can decide which is the best route to take.
As I grow and continue to gain experience working with more and more clients, it becomes pretty clear that tax planning is an area in which I can see some major benefits. What is also clear, is that this is an area which many people ignore and tend to just go with the flow.
Some things to think about: If you’re older than 59 ½ but younger than 72, you are in the sweet spot. This is when you have the most control over your income. 70 is the last year in which you get any growth on Social Security, so you are going to want to start it by then. When you hit 72, your Required Minimum Distributions start for your retirement accounts. Also worth noting, the percentages you are required to take get larger every year, so it is important to look at what you might be able to move out from these accounts and pay taxes on now, to reduce what you will have to pay on that same money in the future. Unfortunately, we simply do not know what is going to happen to our tax rates down the road. Since they are historically low now, it is more than likely they will increase in the future, especially, if congress doesn’t renew the current tax rates in 2025. Then they will revert back to 2017 rates, which essentially means all tax rates will go up. I cannot emphasize enough that we need to be looking at this every year and planning for your future years.
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I have been bouncing around the idea of writing a retirement manifesto to put up on our website that people can download. In it, I would address all aspects of retirement, from my perspective. Obviously, this would be a pretty big project and will take some serious time to develop because for starters, I am not the fastest nor the most accurate typer. That means that this would also be a HUGE editing challenge for Jill. That aside, my first step in this process was to see if there was a retirement manifesto out there. What I discovered was a blog entitled, “The Retirement Manifesto.” Naturally, I had to check it out. It is written by a man who discusses he and his wife’s journey before retirement, at the beginning of their retirement and where they are now in their retirement. In my opinion, it’s a great read for anyone in any of those stages. No need to worry though; this has not discouraged me from writing my own manifesto, although, I’m sure Jill wishes it had. At least that project is on the back burner for now.
If you found this interesting and helpful, feel free to pass it on to family or friends because one thing we keep discovering, is that not enough people have the information they need to make informed decisions in planning for retirement. Have a great couple of weeks and talk to you soon.
Greg Korn President & Investment Advisor Representative
Toll Free: 833-788-0404
Fax: 814-357-9070
Important Disclosures Regarding Email Communications
Greg Korn President & Investment Advisor Representative
Toll Free: 833-788-0404
Fax: 814-357-9070
Important Disclosures Regarding Email Communications
Advisory services through Retirement Wealth Advisors, Inc. (RWA), an SEC Registered Investment Advisor. K Financial LLC and RWA are not affiliated. This Email is being sent by or on behalf of a Registered Investment Advisor. It is intended exclusively for the individual or entity to which it is addressed. This communication may contain information that is proprietary, privileged, or confidential, or otherwise legally exempt from disclosure. If you are not the named addressee, you are not authorized to read, print, retain, copy or disseminate the Email or any part of it. If you have received this Email in error, please notify the sender immediately by Email or fax, and destroy all copies of this communication. Please be advised that you may conduct securities transactions only by speaking directly with your Investment Advisor Representative either by phone or in person. Requests for securities transactions via email will not be executed by Retirement Wealth Advisors, Inc. To help protect your privacy, we strongly suggest you avoid sending sensitive information, such as account numbers and social security numbers via Email. Please be further advised that, pursuant to the Bank Secrecy Act, the USA PATRIOT ACT, and similar laws, any communication in this email is subject to regulatory, supervisory, and law enforcement review.
Copyright (C) 2021 K Financial. All rights reserved.
50 Years Makes You Stop and Think
Experiencing Life
I recently read an article entitled, “Most Retirees Find Retirement Doesn’t Live Up to their Expectations,” which I found so disappointing. (I know…that’s a strange way to start my letter, right?) Where is the disconnect between what we think retirement is going to be like and what it actually ends up being? Are we focusing on the wrong things in our planning and then executing the wrong plan?Ironically, I turned 50 this month, just before starting to write this. That milestone has encouraged me to spend some time reflecting on my own life. My focus is a little more on looking back, rather than toward retirement, because that is still a few years off for us. Regardless, what I have come to discover is how the experiences and relationships during life are more valuable to me than anything else.
Many of my memorable experiences have been related to sports; either playing them or being at different venues to enjoy them with family and friends. One of the moments that stands out for me the most, was when my dad, my uncle, my cousin and I walked the Masters, one beautiful April day, during a practice round. Standing right behind Tiger on the 12th hole, as he hit an iron onto the green and began Amen Corner, with three guys that love the game, was priceless.
I’ve enjoyed many years attending PSU football games, both home and away. I have had the opportunity to be in quite a few stadiums, including Ohio State, Notre Dame and Alabama. I was also fortunate enough to be right in the middle of Michigan fans during the “2” second game at the Big House. I actually got to be a part of the explosion, when PSU blocked the field goal attempt and ran it back for a touchdown.
After one PSU football game I suggested to my brother-in-law that we go see the World Cup in South Africa. He was in. Unfortunately, we never made it to South Africa, but we did end up going back to his hometown in London, to experience the World Cup there. Watching England play in the World Cup, in a London pub, was priceless. What I also remember, is that our trip happened to be during Wimbledon, so we got to walk around those grass courts a bit as well.
I am reminiscing simply to remind myself, and also to encourage you, to focus on the experience that you want to have during your retirement. Is it a hunting trip out west? Is it going to a huge car show to be with others that love rebuilding old cars, just like you did? Is it a golfing trip? The list goes on…
I can’t tell you how many times we have spent our dinners laughing about things that have happened in our family, both big and small, or about memories of trips we have taken. It is never not funny talking about the time we were about to cross from Maryland into Delaware on our way to the beach, and Amber asked, “We have to go through New York, right?”. You could say she may have once been a bit geographically challenged.
Jill and I planned to have 2020 as our year of attending concerts. We actually had five concerts planned. COVID definitely crushed those plans, but we are holding out hope that our concert year will eventually happen, once things start opening up again.
A couple invited us to sit with them at this little pub in Bedford this past weekend because of the limited seating. The things that dominated our conversations (other than dogs), were the experiences that we had in life and things we were planning to do. Thanks to them, we are definitely going to Troegs brewery in Hershey, for a tour.
Finding that great place where you can go and enjoy activities with loved ones should be high on everyone’s list during retirement, in my opinion. Jill and I love going up to the Finger Lakes every year. We are always finding something new to do as well, and I feel we haven’t even touched the surface of all of the activities available to us. I am guilty of pounding this drum a lot around here, with Jill and the kids, as I am always telling them to go experience life. We get one shot at this and there are no do overs. Jill decided to surprise me with a trip to Vegas this October, which in and of itself is exciting. However, Jill has never flown and has been adamant that she would never fly, so her booking this trip was an unbelievable surprise. (Maybe all that drum pounding finally had an effect). This will be an amazing experience for both of us, going to a new place together, and her stepping out of her comfort zone to see more of the world.
One of my goals in working with you, is to flip that article on it’s head, and help make retirement all that you want it to be, and more. I’ll focus on the numbers and figure out how they fit into your plan. You take care of planning to get out there and experience everything that the freedom of retirement has to offer to you.
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Have a great couple of weeks and don’t fall for any April Fools pranks.
Greg Korn President & Investment Advisor Representative
Toll Free: 833-788-0404
Fax: 814-357-9070
Important Disclosures Regarding Email Communications
Advisory services through Retirement Wealth Advisors, Inc. (RWA), an SEC Registered Investment Advisor. K Financial LLC and RWA are not affiliated. This Email is being sent by or on behalf of a Registered Investment Advisor. It is intended exclusively for the individual or entity to which it is addressed. This communication may contain information that is proprietary, privileged, or confidential, or otherwise legally exempt from disclosure. If you are not the named addressee, you are not authorized to read, print, retain, copy or disseminate the Email or any part of it. If you have received this Email in error, please notify the sender immediately by Email or fax, and destroy all copies of this communication. Please be advised that you may conduct securities transactions only by speaking directly with your Investment Advisor Representative either by phone or in person. Requests for securities transactions via email will not be executed by Retirement Wealth Advisors, Inc. To help protect your privacy, we strongly suggest you avoid sending sensitive information, such as account numbers and social security numbers via Email. Please be further advised that, pursuant to the Bank Secrecy Act, the USA PATRIOT ACT, and similar laws, any communication in this email is subject to regulatory, supervisory, and law enforcement review.This email message and any files transmitted with it may contain confidential material and are intended only for those persons or entities to which it is addressed. If you have received this email message and information in error, please contact the sender and delete all copies that you have received
Copyright (C) 2021 K Financial. All rights reserved.
3 Ways to Take Advantage of Life Insurance in Retirement
Insurance learning time again! Insurance has such a bad reputation and I think it kind deserves it, to be honest. A classic insurance line you hear in the industry is “Insurance isn’t bought, it’s sold.” Unfortunately, I don’t think that mentality has changed much. I see it all the time–”Here’s the newest and greatest product…now go out and get people to sign up for it!” A great example I see every day for people retiring, is a result of the big push of Universal Life policies sold in the 80’s and 90’s. They used illustrations to show these policies would last your whole life, for a lower monthly premium than Whole Life Policies. Guess what? The higher interest rate projections they used, didn’t exactly pan out and these policies are not in great shape today. They are either lapsing or one would have to pay outrageous premiums to keep them in force. They didn’t protect the individual like they were told they would. I actually bought one of these policies myself, and got a small settlement when a class action suit was brought against the insurance company for its actions.
Here’s the problem: Life insurance can be an excellent part of your financial plan, so with such a bad taste in everyone’s mouth when dealing with insurance companies, it’s hard to see the value it can provide you. Even so, there are many reasons you might consider Permanent Life Insurance during retirement. I am going to focus on three; paying off debt, providing income for a loved one, and estate planning.
If you’re one of the lucky ones and have no mortgage to pay in retirement, go you. However, the others who will have a mortgage, please realize the impact that will have on the spouse that is left behind. Add in other debts–car loans, credit cards or even kid’s student loans, it can definitely be a huge stressor for the surviving spouse. Therefore, having Permanent Life Insurance that takes care of this, can make the transition to life as a widow, a little easier.
I always have the talk with clients; let’s plan to make the first two years after a significant other passes away, as easy as possible. We have enough to deal with in losing a loved one. We’ve had our roles, we had someone to talk through our decisions in life and to help take care of things we could not do, or simply did not like doing. Therefore, if we give the spouse that is left behind, a period of time where they don’t have to make any major decisions and give them the ability to get back on their feet and adjust to their new life, it can help them to make better decisions, going forward. One way to do this, is to make sure all debt is paid off and they owe nobody.
Along the same lines, is income replacement. We already know that the household will lose the lower of the two Social Security monthly payments. Is there a monthly pension or annuity payments that will also go away? It is very important that we look at what the monthly income will be for each one of you when the other passes away. Can you live off of that, or is that going to be tight because you lost your spouse’s income? If it is going to be tight, then life insurance can play a vital role in covering that monthly gap.
The last thing any of us want, is for our significant other to have a huge lifestyle change because of our passing. If that happens, then you haven’t done very smart planning. Yes, insurance is one of the bills where it is hard to see the value. However, once the widow gets the check and knows they’ll be ok, the value is very apparent. It is much easier for us both to sacrifice some monthly income when we’re together instead of one of us sacrificing a lot when the other passes away.
The last area is your legacy; do you want to make sure your kids and grandkids receive an inheritance? Do you want to leave money to a non-profit or your church? Yes, this can come from what you have leftover, but do we really know what will be leftover? Will there be an event (long-term care facility cost) that will put a major dent in those funds you planned to pass on? If leaving funds to others is important to you, life insurance is by far, one of the best ways to ensure that happens. It goes directly to the person you want it to, without them having to pay any inheritance tax on the funds. It’s tough to beat that. This helps clients live their life the way they want to, and not worry about major events putting a dent in their vision of leaving the kids an inheritance. Let’s not let the salesmen of the world cloud our judgement when it comes to see how valuable life insurance can be in our overall plan.
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Another Round of Stimulus
Jill and I got away for a day this weekend. It was nice to feel a little normal again. Yes, the mask is still mandatory everywhere, but it just feels a little different than it has over the last year. However, the best part is that we had an amazing dinner out. Jill put it this way; “This was the best dinner we’ve had, from start to finish.” In the last year, you tend to forget how priceless having time to sit in a restaurant to chat, having a few drinks and enjoying good food is, with someone you love. Hopefully over the next six months we get back to doing more of these activities, in a safe way, and we get to enjoy more moments like this.
Greg Korn President & Investment Advisor Representative
Toll Free: 833-788-0404
Fax: 814-357-9070
Important Disclosures Regarding Email Communications
Advisory services through Retirement Wealth Advisors, Inc. (RWA), an SEC Registered Investment Advisor. K Financial LLC and RWA are not affiliated. This Email is being sent by or on behalf of a Registered Investment Advisor. It is intended exclusively for the individual or entity to which it is addressed. This communication may contain information that is proprietary, privileged, or confidential, or otherwise legally exempt from disclosure. If you are not the named addressee, you are not authorized to read, print, retain, copy or disseminate the Email or any part of it. If you have received this Email in error, please notify the sender immediately by Email or fax, and destroy all copies of this communication. Please be advised that you may conduct securities transactions only by speaking directly with your Investment Advisor Representative either by phone or in person. Requests for securities transactions via email will not be executed by Retirement Wealth Advisors, Inc. To help protect your privacy, we strongly suggest you avoid sending sensitive information, such as account numbers and social security numbers via Email. Please be further advised that, pursuant to the Bank Secrecy Act, the USA PATRIOT ACT, and similar laws, any communication in this email is subject to regulatory, supervisory, and law enforcement review.
Copyright (C) 2021 K Financial. All rights reserved.
Your Insurance Lesson Begins
I am planning to take the next few newsletters to discuss insurance and the products that insurance companies offer. They can be valuable to individuals thinking about, preparing for or currently in retirement. The hardest part about these subjects, will be for me to keep your interest as I chat about the very exciting world of insurance. In my opinion, this is by far one of the most boring subjects to read about. As I tell everyone when I drop off and review their policies with them, “If you are having a tough time falling asleep, pull out this policy and start reading. It will put you right out.”
The two major areas I am going to focus on are Life Insurance and Annuities. The simplest and easiest place to start is Final Expense Life Insurance. Unfortunately, no one can outrun Father Time; he will catch all of us at one point. So how do you plan to cover all of the costs after you pass away? Some of the costs you’re most likely going to want to think about are: funeral costs, burial costs, any debt collected at end of life, outstanding medical costs (hopefully not too many of these because we did a good job signing you up for the right Medicare plan), and any other things you do not want to leave for your loved ones to figure out.
According to the NFDA, the average cost of burial in Pennsylvania in 2019 was $7,849 and the cost of cremation was $5,364. Tack on other costs and any outstanding debts that might need to be taken care of, and you could easily end up in the $10,000 to $15,000 range. How do you (and your family) plan to pay for those costs?Well, there are many ways to take care of them: use your savings (self insure), prepay for funeral home and burial expenses, use other life insurance you have purchased in the past, or get a Final Expense policy. Now all of these can be good ideas. In other words, don’t let the insurance world tell you otherwise because we aren’t exactly getting an unbiased view from them. They are selling you a product. As I often say, everyone’s situation is different and therefore requires different solutions. What’s most important is that you have a plan and take the necessary steps to implement the plan, now.
If you’re planning to use your savings, then we need to put that much aside now to cover the costs. Those funds will no longer be a part of the funds you were planning to use during your retirement. Where a Final Expense policy might work better in this situation is, we could use a portion (50% to 70%), depending on your health and age, to purchase a single premium policy that is paid up for the rest of your life and you can use the rest of the money for other things. Say a 65 old male wants $15,000 set aside to cover his final expense costs. We could use $8,082 to purchase a $15,000 policy, leaving him $6,918 in his pocket to do whatever he likes, and still have the same protection to cover the final expenses. Keep in mind, this is just an example, as this number is dependent on health history.
Another option is to prepay your funeral expenses through the funeral home. I know several clients that have done this. It can definitely make sense because you are paying for the cost of your funeral at today’s price versus incurring higher costs in the future. This has worked for the most part, for the clients that I know who have gone this route. However, in some situations, things still came up that needed to be paid for and additional funds needed to be used. TheFuneral Consumer Alliance doesn’t recommend you purchase a Pre-Paid Funeral Policy at all. Some of the concerns are that things change from the time you purchase the policy to the time you will need it, there is a chance you could lose money and the policy may not cover everything (for instance, passing away in another state and having to transport you back to the Funeral Home).
Alternatively, with a Final Expense policy, you are purchasing a Whole Life policy for $5,000 to $50,000, in which the premiums will not change. This policy will be there in the end, as long as you continue to make premium payments each month. It has one purpose; to make life easier for your loved ones when you pass away. These are very simple policies to get. You just need to answer a few health questions and then your premium is determined, dependent of course, on your health and age. What if you have serious health issues? Well, there are policies made for you also, called Guaranteed Issue Policies. They work a little differently, in that, the full benefit of the policy only pays out if you live two to three years after starting the policy, depending on the policy you choose. However, if you do not end up living that long, then your beneficiaries will receive your premiums paid, plus interest. There is always a solution to everyone’s situation, but generally, the earlier you plan, the less costly it will be.
Final Expense Insurance
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The winter has won! I have never rescheduled as many appointments as I have this year. For one client, it has happened three times! My biggest disappointment is our driveway. I always wanted to be one of those men that have a safe and clear driveway. You know those ones, because there is one in every neighborhood. No matter how much snow or ice we get, their driveway is always, somehow completely cleared. I often wonder how they do it. Do they get up at four in the morning and go out there every couple of hours? I was going to become one of those men this year, but it seems that I chose a bad year to make that happen! It takes about ninety minutes for me to completely get our driveway done. I attack it at six in the morning, after each snow. However, the winter has beaten me. I no sooner finish and the wind blows and snow covers the driveway again. Then, the ice falls or the snow freezes over and I end up with an ice skating rink. I would go broke on the amount of salt I need to keep it from doing this. I’ve simply come to the conclusion that I am not going to be one of those men, so bring your skates and your four wheel drive! I am now focused on a new goal for the spring; A VEGETABLE GARDEN from scratch! Greg Korn President & Investment Advisor Representative
Toll Free: 833-788-0404
Fax: 814-357-9070
Important Disclosures Regarding Email Communications
Advisory services through Retirement Wealth Advisors, Inc. (RWA), an SEC Registered Investment Advisor. K Financial LLC and RWA are not affiliated. This Email is being sent by or on behalf of a Registered Investment Advisor. It is intended exclusively for the individual or entity to which it is addressed. This communication may contain information that is proprietary, privileged, or confidential, or otherwise legally exempt from disclosure. If you are not the named addressee, you are not authorized to read, print, retain, copy or disseminate the Email or any part of it. If you have received this Email in error, please notify the sender immediately by Email or fax, and destroy all copies of this communication. Please be advised that you may conduct securities transactions only by speaking directly with your Investment Advisor Representative either by phone or in person. Requests for securities transactions via email will not be executed by Retirement Wealth Advisors, Inc. To help protect your privacy, we strongly suggest you avoid sending sensitive information, such as account numbers and social security numbers via Email. Please be further advised that, pursuant to the Bank Secrecy Act, the USA PATRIOT ACT, and similar laws, any communication in this email is subject to regulatory, supervisory, and law enforcement review.
Copyright (C) 2021 K Financial. All rights reserved.
Aging Parents in retirement
We all have dreams and plans for ourselves throughout our retirement. However, some of those plans may get pushed aside if you have to help an aging parent or parents. We don’t always know when that point will come, how much help will be required and for how long it will be needed. At one point though, your parents will inevitably need some kind of assistance as they age.
There seems to be a definite theme when talking to clients that have retired; helping their parents is a part of their schedule. Some do it weekly, some do so daily. Geographic location is obviously a factor in your ability to help. My parents faced that with my grandparents, being that we were on the East coast and my grandparents lived in Missouri. I know my mom and dad made many trips to help out and be a part of my grandparents’ last years. Fortunately, they also had siblings that were close, that could do a lot of the heavy lifting in between visits. However, I do have clients that have moved closer to their children and clients who have moved their parents closer to them, so it was easier to manage the situation.
Through many conversations, I have come to conclude that this can be an extremely stressful situation for all involved, as it can be a full-time job helping parents. Many of us will have a stubborn streak when we have lived many years and all of a sudden our kids are telling us to do things differently, even though we may know that it is in our best interest. I’ve said this here many times; a lot of the difficulty we run into is a result of lack of communication and/or avoidance of what is going to happen in the future. Having a conversation with your siblings and parents prior to things heading downhill, can help get everyone on the same page regarding what your parents want.
I have clients (three siblings), who recently shared in helping their mom out while she was still in an apartment. Then, when being on her own was too much for her to handle, she moved in with her son and his wife. It was great to see a family working together to figure out what was best for mom and mom slowly accepting that she needed more help. This might not be the case for everyone. Sometimes the majority of care might fall on one person in the family, which definitely can derail your plans during retirement. This isn’t something we tend to think about or plan for, which has prompted me to be more intentional about asking questions regarding that possibility during retirement planning conversations.
As I write this (and when they read it), I am thinking that I need to have these conversations with my own parents. I know my parents have set up a Long Term Care policy in case it comes down to them needing it. My sister, my parents and I, all have some distance between us, so that should be a part of our conversation. I know this is many years off, but having a general idea of what they want, will be helpful when the time comes.
Many of us look at retirement as freedom because for the most part, you can tackle each day how you want to, without the obligation of showing up to work to provide for yourself and your family. For a period of time, that freedom may get interrupted by our parents needing some extra care during their last few years. Therefore, take some time thinking about this and discuss as a family, what this might look like, so it doesn’t completely derail your freedom.
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More Stimulus
I never fear that I have too much information. I like to reinforce the things I do know, as well as find new information that can be helpful in the future. Therefore, I read as many books as I can in my spare time (although, these days there is not much of it). Most recently, I came across Ed Slott’s Retirement Decision Guide – 125 Ways to Save and Stretch Your Wealth, which I think is a good read for everyone at each stage of their lives. What I like about it, is that I can just read one section each day. Again, a lot of stuff in there that I already know, but I am also still learning as I go. Once I am done, this will be Amber’s next task and we’ll get to chat after each section to reinforce what the book is saying. She is not much of a reader but nobody likes to show up to a quiz unprepared, right?
What a winter! The snow has been fun but it can go now. Hopefully, no more driveway clearing over the next couple of weeks. Greg Korn President & Investment Advisor Representative
Toll Free: 833-788-0404
Fax: 814-357-9070
Important Disclosures Regarding Email Communications
Advisory services through Retirement Wealth Advisors, Inc. (RWA), an SEC Registered Investment Advisor. K Financial LLC and RWA are not affiliated. This Email is being sent by or on behalf of a Registered Investment Advisor. It is intended exclusively for the individual or entity to which it is addressed. This communication may contain information that is proprietary, privileged, or confidential, or otherwise legally exempt from disclosure. If you are not the named addressee, you are not authorized to read, print, retain, copy or disseminate the Email or any part of it. If you have received this Email in error, please notify the sender immediately by Email or fax, and destroy all copies of this communication. Please be advised that you may conduct securities transactions only by speaking directly with your Investment Advisor Representative either by phone or in person. Requests for securities transactions via email will not be executed by Retirement Wealth Advisors, Inc. To help protect your privacy, we strongly suggest you avoid sending sensitive information, such as account numbers and social security numbers via Email. Please be further advised that, pursuant to the Bank Secrecy Act, the USA PATRIOT ACT, and similar laws, any communication in this email is subject to regulatory, supervisory, and law enforcement review.
Copyright (C) 2021 K Financial. All rights reserved.
We have a problem
Some years are boring, some years are exciting, but 2020 will be one that we will likely never forget. As we step into 2021, I wanted to chat about why I am still optimistic. Many of you have seen a few more years than I have. However, I have seen enough to give me confidence, going forward in life. Yes, many unthinkable events happen on a daily basis in this world. You can easily find negativity about today and about the future, on any news source you choose. This doesn’t stop me from thinking that our future is bright though. I still encourage my clients to focus on the continued growth of the economy.
I was born in the early 70’s, and I remember being in the car with my mom, waiting to get gas on certain days, according to our license plate. We overcame it. I remember hearing about Black Monday on the news in 1987. We overcame it. The 90’s produced amazing growth in the economy and in technology, all to see the bubble burst in 2001. We overcame it. Then there was a nice period of growth, until we ran into the housing crisis
that caused the Great Recession. We overcame it. We sure had a positive stretch of time over these last ten years, which brought us right into a global pandemic. Just in my lifetime, I have definitely seen our country go through ups and downs, but we keep plugging along, moving forward and growing.
This will be the tenth president that I have seen hold office; some good and some not so good, but we continue to go about our lives, trying to improve our situation, regardless of who is in office. This time may feel different, but remember, all of those events before were different in their time, too. We managed to find a solution for each situation though. This time is going to challenge our country much the same, but hopefully we will find a way to come together and decrease the divide.
I believe in our economy’s ability to adapt and I believe in the market. Why wouldn’t I? The S&P 500 was at $103.95 when I was born and closed at $3,726.86 on 1/5/2021–an annual return of 7.57% during that time. Who would have thought we would have had such growth in the market after the downward spiral in March? I don’t think that you will find many out there that were predicting that at the time, but it happened. The future is unpredictable but I am always optimistic about our long-term growth. Yes, at one point the market will come down from its high and we will deal with a correction. History has taught us, however, that it will come back and if it doesn’t, we will adapt.
Even with my underlying optimism regarding the economy and the market, I still believe that it is vital to take the time to explore what the best option is for you. As I often say, there is no cookie cutter plan to suit everyone. That is why we meet twice a year to make sure that we review your plan, but more importantly, to look at what your best options are for the next six months, a year and five years from now. 2021 is probably going to be another unique year, in that, we will have a new president, a vaccine for COVID and we will (hopefully) start heading back toward more interaction with others. The process will be too fast for some and too slow for others, but it will be the process we all live through and adapt to. I look forward to enjoying another year walking on this planet with Jill, the kids and our dogs. We will focus on things we can control and try to find the best in whatever 2021 has in store. I actually like the fact that the future is so unpredictable and we get the chance to enjoy the rollercoaster of life. Life is too much fun not to enjoy and not to believe that we will always be a little better tomorrow.
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Yes, we have a problem. Elvis has joined the family! We figure we should have as many dogs in the house as we have kids – five. However, I had to put my foot down this time. Just because Amber’s boyfriend hangs out here a lot, doesn’t mean we need to equal out the ratio for him. Now, Elvis is a VERY cute Poodle puppy, but what is best about him, is that I don’t have to take him out at night. Austin has stepped up as the main caregiver and Elvis sleeps in his room. Therefore, we still get our much needed beauty sleep. The biggest problem is that these dogs have control of the house and I NEED to start dog training. Perhaps my next business will be Greg’s Dog Training. My tagline could be, “If you have a house full of dogs that are out of control…don’t call Greg’s Dog Training because I have no idea how to stop it!”
Have an awesome start to the year. Greg Korn President & Investment Advisor Representative
Toll Free: 833-788-0404
Fax: 814-357-9070
Important Disclosures Regarding Email Communications
Advisory services through Retirement Wealth Advisors, Inc. (RWA), an SEC Registered Investment Advisor. K Financial LLC and RWA are not affiliated. This Email is being sent by or on behalf of a Registered Investment Advisor. It is intended exclusively for the individual or entity to which it is addressed. This communication may contain information that is proprietary, privileged, or confidential, or otherwise legally exempt from disclosure. If you are not the named addressee, you are not authorized to read, print, retain, copy or disseminate the Email or any part of it. If you have received this Email in error, please notify the sender immediately by Email or fax, and destroy all copies of this communication. Please be advised that you may conduct securities transactions only by speaking directly with your Investment Advisor Representative either by phone or in person. Requests for securities transactions via email will not be executed by Retirement Wealth Advisors, Inc. To help protect your privacy, we strongly suggest you avoid sending sensitive information, such as account numbers and social security numbers via Email. Please be further advised that, pursuant to the Bank Secrecy Act, the USA PATRIOT ACT, and similar laws, any communication in this email is subject to regulatory, supervisory, and law enforcement review.
Copyright (C) 2021 K Financial. All rights reserved.
A Retirement Trial Run
The day will come when you look around at your family and wonder, Should I retire? More questions will probably follow: Is it the right time? Should I work a couple more years? Do I have a plan that will work throughout my retirement? Will I have enough to do what I want to do? Will I get bored? Has my wife been waiting for this day just so she can put me to work doing all of the projects I have been avoiding? (Just to let you know, that last one is definitely not one of my questions. I will happily do all of the projects Jill has planned for me…)
All of those questions can lead to uncertainty, but what if you could put your retirement through a trial run while you are still working? Why? Because many of us will likely take a pay cut when we retire and will have to learn to live on less. If we know what “less” is, we can definitely take the couple years before retiring and adjust our budget accordingly, to get a feel for our new lifestyle. There are some great benefits to doing this as you head into retirement, the main one being that you will know what is actually realistic when it comes to spending.
I hear it all the time–“When I retire, we are going to be fine living on less.” Great, but will you, really? Forty years of habits can be hard to break. Think about this; you retire and finally acquire all of the free time you have been dreaming of. It was good in theory, but if your budget restricts you to more than you anticipated, what do you do? That is why it is so important to get an idea of what is (and is not) realistic, prior to walking out of the working world.
Mark and Elissa have decided to really put their retirement plans to the test. They have several years before they retire. When they finally do, they are planning to spend a lot of time on the road in their RV, seeing the country and visiting their kids. Eventually, they hope to get to a point where they don’t own a home anymore and live completely out of their RV. You see, Mark has been one of the lucky ones who has found that working remotely has improved his and Elissa’s lives tremendously.
The company that he works for is out of Delaware. Prior to being given the ability to work remotely, Mark spent the majority of his week in Delaware. Once he converted to working remotely, he was able to give up his apartment down there and reside in Pennsylvania. These two are taking working remotely to the next level though, and taking a trip in their RV to the Carolinas for the next three months! This will be the longest RV trip they have had yet, and it will give some great insight into what to expect when Mark does retire. I am excited for them, first for avoiding this winter, but mostly for putting their dreams to the test while still having the chance to adjust things. We will check in with them after their pre-retirement adventure to see how it went and what they learned.
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I want to welcome Amber to the club! She passed her insurance license exam, which isn’t an easy task at the young age of 18. At least when Jill and I studied and took the exam, we had some experience with insurance to help us understand the concepts. After high school Amber didn’t know what direction she was going to go. All she knew was that college wasn’t for her right now. A couple months ago she came to us and said wanted to join us if there was an opportunity. After explaining the hard work needed to be successful in this business, as well as the high standards we have set when it comes to serving our clients, Amber decided this was the direction she wanted to go. Then, with some serious work and studying, she got over her first hurdle and passed her exam…which will be an easy task compared to her next one–training with us. Being stuck in the car all day with me a couple of days a week, listening to podcasts, is going to drive her crazy. But it’s a great gift to a father; torturing his daughter with fatherly knowledge, knowing that she has no escape. We are extremely proud of her and very excited for her to join K Financial.
Enjoy the last football game of the year – since my roots are from Missouri I’ll be cheering for the Chiefs.
Greg Korn President & Investment Advisor Representative
Toll Free:833-788-0404
Fax: 814-357-9070
Important Disclosures Regarding Email Communications
Advisory services through Retirement Wealth Advisors, Inc. (RWA), an SEC Registered Investment Advisor. K Financial LLC and RWA are not affiliated. This Email is being sent by or on behalf of a Registered Investment Advisor. It is intended exclusively for the individual or entity to which it is addressed. This communication may contain information that is proprietary, privileged, or confidential, or otherwise legally exempt from disclosure. If you are not the named addressee, you are not authorized to read, print, retain, copy or disseminate the Email or any part of it. If you have received this Email in error, please notify the sender immediately by Email or fax, and destroy all copies of this communication. Please be advised that you may conduct securities transactions only by speaking directly with your Investment Advisor Representative either by phone or in person. Requests for securities transactions via email will not be executed by Retirement Wealth Advisors, Inc. To help protect your privacy, we strongly suggest you avoid sending sensitive information, such as account numbers and social security numbers via Email. Please be further advised that, pursuant to the Bank Secrecy Act, the USA PATRIOT ACT, and similar laws, any communication in this email is subject to regulatory, supervisory, and law enforcement review.
Copyright (C) 2021 K Financial. All rights reserved.