12.16.22: Audio automatically transcribed by Sonix

12.16.22: this mp3 audio file was automatically transcribed by Sonix with the best speech-to-text algorithms. This transcript may contain errors.

Producer:
Investment Advisory Services are offered through Foundations, Investment Advisors, LLC, Foundations an SEC Registered Investment Advisor. The content provided is intended for informational and educational purposes only. The views, statements and opinions expressed herein are those of the individual speakers and not necessarily those of Foundations and its affiliates. The information contained herein does not constitute an offer to sell any securities or represent an express or implied opinion or endorsement of any specific investment opportunity offering or issuer. Any discussion of performance or returns is not indicative of future results. Each individual investor situation is different and any ideas provided may not be appropriate for your particular circumstances. Foundations only transacts business in states where it's properly registered or is excluded or exempted from registration requirements. Registration as an investment advisor is not an endorsement of the firm by securities regulators and does not mean the advisor has achieved a specific level of skill or ability. No legal or tax advice is provided. Always consult with a tax professional.

Producer:
Welcome to Rest Assured Retirement with your host, Jeff Holmes. Jeff is a licensed fiduciary and financial advisor who always places his client's needs first. Jeff works hard each day to educate Americans like you on how to reach the financial freedom they've worked so hard for. And he can help you too. So now let's start the show. Here's Jeff Holmes.

Jeff Holmes:
Welcome everyone to the Rest Assured Retirement show. This is Jeff Holmes, a certified retirement counselor and certified financial fiduciary. Welcome to the show. Hope your Sunday afternoon is going well. Most of you are probably out shopping for Christmas. I'm joined here with Matt McClure, our producer, And that I think this time on Sunday, we may be doing the same thing. What do you think there, man?

Producer:
Probably so. Or maybe, I don't know, delaying it a little bit more and, you know, procrastinating with the shopping. That's what I you know, I either do one of two things A I wait until the last minute, go to the store and buy stuff in person or B, just buy it all online ahead of time so I don't have to deal with the crowds.

Jeff Holmes:
Yes. Yeah, that sounds like a good plan right there. I've learned that pretty quickly here. So especially of all we have going on here. So it's great to be back. This will most likely well will be like we talked about last week, reruns over the next few Sundays, because that happens to fall on Christmas and New Year's Day is also on a Sunday. So, yes, I'll be spending time with my family like you are so you can listen to a rerun, maybe a little bit of Christmas music if you would like. And also you can go to our website. RestAssuredRetirement.com to listen to past episodes. Or if you missed something today because you're in the car and then you're out of the car and then you're in the car, you go around doing your and also you can also listen to it on a podcast, voice episodes wherever you listen to your podcast. And you can also call in if you have any questions that you may have at 480 454 9191. The topic is Jumpstart your New Year with this financial checklist. So that is a big one here. So you would be able to start early and an overview of how the week this week show will go it.

Jeff Holmes:
As we start off with the quote of the week. Matt does a great job on those. And also we'll talk about important updates for the end of 2022. And what are RMDs and how can you avoid them? Very important this time of year. How a Roth conversion can become your secret weapon in your retirement plan. For some of you, our financial checklist to jumpstart your new year. Obviously, we'll be going through that. We also get to go through an inflation demonstration. This is a very unique one. Matt and I were just speaking about this before the show. Here is how inflation has affected to the 12 days of Christmas. So you really got to be around for this one. That's a good one. How much Americans are spending on Christmas trees, That's another one. And then this week in history and we'll try to have time, have some time there for some special Christmas information there on this week's show. So, Matt, if you'd be so kind to go ahead and do our Quote of the week.

Producer:
And now of wholesome financial wisdom. It's time for the Quote of the Week.

Producer:
Quote of the week this time around comes from Will Rogers, the American performer, actor, social commentator, Oklahoma's favorite son. And as an entertainer and a humorist, he traveled around the world three times, made 71 films. He wrote more than 4000 nationally syndicated newspaper columns. He did a thing or two in his life. And so Will Rogers said this, quote, The difference between death and taxes is death doesn't get worse every time Congress meets.

Jeff Holmes:
Yes. There you go. How many times we've heard that? And that's that is I've been hearing that one for years. And how true that is. And and, you know, I noticed that we only had our friendly fighters flying above there, above our recording studio here. And so they made little noise during that. So if you hear that, you know, you can thank Luke Air Force Base and Flyboys there, they do a great job. So it's like, I really enjoy that. It's almost like a air show every so often.

Producer:
Your own private air show.

Jeff Holmes:
Yeah, that's right. That's exactly right. And it does happen often. So you may hear that occasionally. It's a it tends to be one of those days when they're doing that. So the next topic. Thanks so much, Matt, for that. That was great. Porton reminders for the end of 2020 to now some of these are you going to have listen to past shows. You've heard this before, but why do we repeat these? Well, first off, many of you are busy Sunday afternoon at one. I've going in and out stores or maybe the game's on. And I can understand that listening to retirement planning or watching the game or maybe at that time for that Sunday afternoon, that something that I think we all enjoy occasionally don't we are actually benefits on a regular basis. Right. And that right.

Producer:
Yeah totally You know a little 15 minute nap here or there.

Jeff Holmes:
Sure that hurts. So retirement plan is kind of like going to school and it's amazing in school no one was ever taught anything about retirement planning, at least that I don't know of. It also can be a little bit boring, kind of like school is. But when you graduate, it's great because you understand what to do then. So that's why we go through these bits of information over and over again, because once you get yourself educated, you can have what we all shoot for. Is that happy retirement. Well, the first thing is, is we like to discuss what's going on with Social Security and there is going to be an increase on their cost of living adjustment of 8.7% this coming year. And that's up from last year's 5.9%, bringing a two year increase to a total of 14 six 14.6%. This is the government recognizing there has been some serious inflation. Yes, maybe so. Here in Arizona, we have some of the highest, if not the highest in the nation on that. So the next thing we talked about on the earlier program was also how tax brackets have been adjusted because of inflation, where they've moved the brackets up a bit to help that.

Jeff Holmes:
Now, remember, we are not tax professionals. We encourage you to seek and counsel from a tax expert near you or whoever you've been using to go through these different tax brackets and how they're working. And also, we during a previous show, we talked about what they call the effective tax bracket, a tax that you have not tax bracket, but the effective tax rate that you have, which is an average tax rate. And do you know what that is? I would get in touch with your tax expert and find out what that is, because very important when you're planning, doing tax planning for your retirement. And remember, also, these are not the only taxes that you pay. I know that they are supposed to stay in place until 2025. Will the revert back to what they were before the Trump tax cuts that always remember, if you look at like your mobile phone bill and utility bill, you'll notice there's a lot of extra lines on there and they sneak those in on us, don't they?

Producer:
They certainly do. They love to do that.

Jeff Holmes:
Yes. And anyone really know what they all are for? That's that's a big question.

Producer:
It's very and it's a very big question. And some of them have the weirdest names to of all these different fees and stuff. And you're like, what in the world is this even for? And then we just pay it because we kind of have to if we want to have a cell phone.

Jeff Holmes:
Yeah, yeah. And for some reason they seem pretty, you know, I never knew how we made it without cell phones, if you think about it. Oh, yeah, I've.

Producer:
Got I got to have them now. It's always in my pocket.

Jeff Holmes:
Yeah, exactly. Yeah. I used to take trips and never have that in a car. You know, it's kind of amazing.

Producer:
And then you have to go run, run, find a payphone and hope you have a quarter in your pocket, you know?

Jeff Holmes:
So a little easier nowadays on that, right? Now, the next thing we want to go through today is required minimum distributions. And what are those? That's if you have an employer based retirement plan or traditional IRA account. These are something that you have to they're due like the 31st of this year, and that's for most people that are 72 years or older. These distributions are also taxable. So that's something to remember. Now, as we as I go through these different topics, I'm going to give you little hints about what we call RMDs. They're you don't pay taxes on your account contributions or earnings until you take withdrawals on these. So when you turn 72, you must start taking your RMDs every year with one exception. You must take your RMD by December 31st of this year. Now, did you know you can actually do this earlier in the year and avoid the rush? That's a real important thing because how these are calculated is they're using the end of the previous year, December 31st and 2021 for how they are calculated. So when you turn 72, you may have until April 1st of the following year to take your RMD RMD out and pay taxes on it. Now, years ago, Congress determined that they would give people a three month grace period on the first RMD. But you'll also have to make another RMD on December 31st of that same year. So what does that all mean? In effect, what you're doing is you're taking two required minimum distributions out in the same year. Now could that possibly move you into a higher tax bracket? Maybe, and something to definitely look at.

Jeff Holmes:
And you may want to know that there are other ways to manage these distributions in an efficient way. You waiting to age 70 to have this discussion just a few days ago where, hey, maybe it's better to take them out before age 72 to avoid any tax spikes. And we did discuss that in a previous show. Rmds are also based on life expectancy tables. For example, at age 72, the average person is expected to live 27.4 years. How do you how does the 0.4 work on that? I wonder is that which year is a leap year or you have to ask questions like that. So so as you as you're getting older, what does that mean? It means the percentage of of your IRA or your for one case that is actually a higher percentage the older you get. So potentially what you're going to find is that payment may not be going down over time. And if you take any distributions or distributions that are not large enough, you may have to pay a 50% excise tax. And that's the amount that was not distributed as required. This is the largest penalty in the IRS arsenal. So did you know you can take them earlier, like I mentioned, and remember, if you have that excess tax and you take one and you want to take out you required take out 2000 that year, that could mean a 1000 of excise tax plus the taxes not of good luck. Okay. So we'll be back in just a minute to continue on.

Producer:
You're listening to Rest Assured Retirement to schedule your free no obligation consultation with Jeff visit RestAssuredRetirement.com. Got questions. Jeff Holmes is here to help visit RestAssuredRetirement.com today.

Jeff Holmes:
Welcome back to Rest Assured Retirement. This is Jeff Holmes certified retirement counselor and certified financial fiduciary. Joined here by Matt McClure, our producer and we were just talking about rads and those are what they call required minimum distributions. Our next topic. And again, if you want to be miss part of that show, what we talked about this previously you can go to RestAssuredRetirement.com and and listen to the show there or wherever you listen to podcast. And what we're going to do now is move on to say goodbye to your friends and kick the IRS out of your retirement plan. Because that's one thing that people tend to forget on their IRAs or on cases. They do have a partner in those accounts and they happen to be called the IRS. Now, one of the questions we all have to ask are, you think taxes are going up or down in the future?

Producer:
You probably hear me chuckling here on this end because you know, anybody when you ask them that question, the answer they're going up. They're going up.

Jeff Holmes:
Yeah. And like we mentioned earlier about the other taxes we're paying, they're almost hidden taxes, like on your utility bills and mobile phone bills. Those tend to always go up. So most people believe they are going higher in the future just because of all the government spending. So you may want to consider to do something like a reduce your future tax rate hike risk by implementing a Roth conversion. I always say smart retirees diversify their money into different tax buckets, and if you haven't had anybody help you with that, you may want to give us a call. 480 454 9191 and we'll show you how that can be done if you are able to do that. There are restrictions on some of these. Now, would you be interested in generating tax free income for 30 plus years in retirement? And that's a question you have to ask. And we do have a proven way to do that. There are legal strategies that help you do that. And the reason I say legal strategies is for the people like myself. I grew up 30 miles from the border in New Mexico. We understand that why that needs to be said and because we're used to. So not legal ways going on all around us, by the way, being that close to the border. And some of you know what I'm talking about.

Jeff Holmes:
The market is down here, down this year also, as you probably noticed. So now's an opportune time to convert your tax deferred IRA funds into a Roth IRA. Why would you continue to pay ordinary income taxes for decades after you've stopped working something to think about? They're also now getting to our main topic of the day. And we're going to jumpstart your new year with this financial checklist. The first thing is pay off your credit card balances. You want to minimize all your debts, starting with your highest interest rates. And most cards have APRs annual percentage rates of 20% and up. Ouch. Not a very good thing that you will end up paying way more interest on that than you need to. So pay off those credit card balances as soon as possible. If you have it already. Also do a Roth conversion like we just talked about. There are no RMDs with a Roth IRA. If you are already if you've already paid taxes on it, Uncle Sam has already received his cut, so he's out of the picture. You'll want to complete your Roth conversion before age 72 and RMDs kick in and waiting too until age 72 may not be the best tax planning for you. And we just talked about taking that money out of your traditional IRAs. May be better to do it earlier than later for tax planning to avoid something what they call tax spikes later in your retirement, where you're actually taking out too much and it knocks you up into a higher tax bracket, cost you way more money than it should.

Jeff Holmes:
Also, the next thing to help jumpstart your New Year with this checklist is to set a monthly budget for your retirement. How much income is required to meet your needs and wants now. Most people don't want to change their lifestyle during retirement, and I don't blame anyone for that. Why would you? So we need to plan for inflation and future tax increases. Did you know that there's another risk in retirement besides those two? Something called I just read this recently sequence of inflation. Did you know that? Well, think about what's going on right now. Two things. The market has decreased. And it wasn't just. The equities like stocks and mutual funds. There's also bonds and everything else was going down. And also inflation went up. Now, this is the start of your retirement. This is not a really good thing, because what we find is when you run the numbers through that and we have software to do that, you will find that you will have less spendable money going forward and it may reduce the amount of money you have for retirement.

Jeff Holmes:
And then also with taxes going up, you have what we call maybe a sequence of increased taxes, you know, during the beginning of your retirement. Now, what we always talked about is the retirement red zone, which is five years before you retire in four or five years just after you retired. What happens in those ten years is very important to the success of your retirement. So we can help you prepare for that and you can go to RestAssuredRetirement.com to set up a free consultation. We'll discuss that a little bit later. If you'd like to get a second opinion or maybe you need some help and you've got no help yet at this point. Or maybe it's a simple question where you can call it 480 454 9191. Now the next thing on the list is how to develop a plan to pay off your house. The happiest retirees, retirees tend to have no mortgage. Now, there's something that's happened in the past here, and that's with the low interest rates for so long. And there's a lot of folks out there that have very low interest rates on their mortgages, and now they're able to get a much higher percent somewhere else. That's where it's safe. Money works in the 4% range. So you may be able to create an arbitrage that may be something that works for you and maybe it doesn't.

Jeff Holmes:
Maybe you really just want the mortgage paid off. And this is also the easiest way to increase your net worth is to eliminate your debts. And that is something definitely to look at. So there's a lot to that. Now, also in the next subject we have have here is I'm going to spend a little bit more time on this. Today is maximizing your Social Security income benefit. Now, did you know that you can increase your benefit by 8% each year for every year you defer past your full retirement age up to age 70. Now, you never want to just. Continue not to take your Social Security. Age 70. Take the money while you can. And this can be a smart idea for some folks and may not be for others. So what you need to do is have you ever had a break even analysis done on your Social Security or Social Security income report and looked at different options on when you can take your Social Security? There is software that's out there that will help you with that. So it's very important to do. And and we're running up on time now. So what I'll do is I'll continue on on maximizing your Social Security income benefit here, and we'll be back in a few.

Speaker4:
Yes, I am preparing for some Christmas sharing, but I must be. Hang in massaging. I can hear like. Is that you satisfied? So it's dark out and the side is far out.

Producer:
Are you interested in protecting your assets from market volatility, rising taxes and economic uncertainty? Then tune in to Rest Assured Retirement with Jeff Holmes. To learn how you can protect and grow your hard-earned money. Rest Assured Retirement Sundays at 1:00 PM right here on 960 The Patriot. Protect your hard earned money today and schedule a free no obligation consultation now at RestAssuredRetirement.com. You're listening to Rest Assured Retirement with Jeff Holmes.

Jeff Holmes:
Welcome back everyone. This is the Rest Assured Retirement show with Jeff Holmes certified retirement counselor and certified financial fiduciary. I'm joined here by Matt McClure, our producer. And we're going through these lists of how to jumpstart your new year with a financial checklist and the subject we were just talking about. Again, you can go to our website. Rest Assured Retirement dot com if you'd like to see any parts that you've missed when you're probably out doing your shopping this Sunday or watching the game, whatever it may be. And we're talking about maximizing that Social Security income benefit. We just got through discussing how you could increase your benefit by 8% a year from what they call your full retirement age. And what is your full retirement age? Well, if you have a question on that, we can help you out. Call in at 480 454 9191. It'll be for everyone. It can be different depending on their their birth year and how that all works. For instance, if you're born in 1957 and your full retirement age would be 66 and six months, and then it changes for the different birth years for everyone now. And what we mentioned beforehand was doing a Social Security income benefit analysis. And so I got this. The reason I want to spend a little bit more time on this, I got an email from someone about this very thing and they were getting into how much is my Social Security is taxable? Well, one of the things that people don't realize is that, yes, it is part of it. It can become taxable. There is a chart and it's been around since 1985 on how much will be taxable that chart if for a for instance, a couple, they will have anything over 44,085% of their Social Security can become taxable.

Jeff Holmes:
Now, how do they figure that all out? Well, there's a formula called provisional income that helps you understand how they figure that out. So you've ever had that done? Have you ever done this kind of analysis to understand what you're going to be getting in retirement? You just can't also work on just the numbers. You need to make sure that you do it because of health history. Whatever the case is, too many people will take it later. And I've had situations with family members where they start taking it. In two years later, they pass away and that does happens. Very sad situation. We see that often with many people that are thinking they're going to hold off on the benefits and that's one thing that can happen. Also, there's another thing happen. People can live a long, long time. And they also could have gotten more Social Security if they had done a little bit different planning. And now you have to ask yourself the question also, do you do Social Security income planning just on its own, or do you look at it in the context of exactly what you're taking out from your IRAs and four one case and other accounts that you may have for retirement? So very important to spend time on this, and it's a very important part of your retirement. Now, the next checklist on the checklist, as we would say, is implement a bond replacement to delete these and stop the bleeding in your safe money.

Jeff Holmes:
Remember, bonds have had the worst year ever in 2022, according to The New York Times. So you may want to consider an alternate fixed income option that can provide you with a guaranteed income for life with zero fees. And yes, there is an option like that. It is something that has been around for quite some time and it works quite well. So please call in 480 454 9191 and we can go through a little bit on how that may work or may not work for you. We always like to make sure that whatever you do with us is the best for you. Also, there's a good time to do tax loss harvesting. Client called yesterday is a good time to maybe sell off on the losses and that is something to consider. And you have to look at what your taxes are going to be going forward. So get a little bit of idea on that. So the most important thing you can do is, is schedule a retirement consultation with us today. We'll show you the fees you're paying and the risk you're taking on your current investments. And we can create a true retirement income plan that fits your budget a little different. Like we mentioned earlier shows. Then what we do is what they call a financial plan with retirement strategies. So we're going to take a break here. And again, you can set that consultation to at RestAssuredRetirement.com or call in at 480 454 9191 and we'll be back in a few minutes.

Producer:
You're listening to Rest Assured Retirement.

Producer:
Are you concerned about inflation, political uncertainty, rising taxes, and how it could all affect you and your family during retirement? If you have an IRA balance over $400,000, you could save six figures in retirement taxes that you would be paying over a 35-plus year retirement. Find out how much you could save today by scheduling your free Roth conversion consultation with Jeff Holmes at RestAssuredRetirement.com.

Jeff Holmes:
Welcome back to Rest Assured Retirement Show. As Jeff Holmes, a certified retirement counselor and certified financial fiduciary, I'm joined here by with Matt McClure, producer. And we just finished up on with the Jumpstart Your New Year with this financial checklist. And that's how to help yourself find financial freedom going forward in your in your retirement. We just finished up on that. You obviously can go and listen to previous shows and this show at RestAssuredRetirement.com. And we were just talking about the scheduling that retirement consultation with us today. And we always like to go through this too, so everybody understands what that is. And why is it the most important thing? Well, we will show you what these you're paying and risk you're taking, like we just mentioned before, on your current investments and something that we had gone through before previous show where we told you what the difference between a retirement plan and a financial plan with retirement strategies and what the differences are, very important. There is a difference. And having a very strong retirement income plan is very important for retirement. And getting educated on how retirement planning works is another big thing. And that's what we help people do. We provide comprehensive consultations and no cost to our listeners. And the reason we do that at absolutely no obligation is because you have taken the time to be educated on retirement planning, which is not it's let's just be frank. It can be boring and complicated. I mean, it just that's just the way it is.

Jeff Holmes:
And when you have all the government entitlements involved, yes, they you have to think about that and how the how complicated that can be. It's like not any different than finding out a little bit about your tax, doing your taxes, doing your taxes, simple or complicated. Just have to ask yourself that question. And the next thing we do is we help people and cost in their IRA or for one K or any other retirement savings accounts. And that's a that's a really big one. Extra fees will cost you money in your retirement. Minimizing those will help you in the long run. And how long do you want to be retired? Five, ten, 15, 20, 30 years. And if you're doing the planning, do you want to do the planning for long term to make sure you always have enough? Now, we also help you with your Medicare planning. And they that just ended and everyone was calling in. Justin's our expert in the office on Medicare planning and she helped out everyone during the annual enrollment period that ended December 7th. And we always recommend people always calling their agent and finding out more about that. And that may be something where you want a second opinion on also maximizing your Social Security. I went through that a little bit in depth today. There is a lot to that subject and planning to take it out at the right time. They now most people don't know this. They do have a mulligan in Social Security. Did you know that they had a mulligan?

Producer:
I did not know that.

Jeff Holmes:
Yeah. Mulligan, you get a second shot, right? Well, it's a do over. And if you start taking your Social Security out and you decide, like I had one client who was a CEO, you know, he was one of the head honchos, head honchos of a company and retired. And then he got called back by another company and he said, go back to work. Well, he was six months into his Social Security, and he said, What can I do? I need to stop this because I'm not going to need it. And I said, Well, yeah, you can do it. It's no problem. For all the paperwork. There is one catch. You need to pay back what you got out over the six months.

Producer:
Yeah, well, that's. Well, that's no fun.

Jeff Holmes:
He did pause for a second, but he went ahead and did that, so. And took it out later. So that all worked out. You remember? You can contact us at the website. RestAssuredRetirement.com or call 480459191. And we'd love to help you discuss your future. We can help make your retirement feel like the starting line, not the finish line in your life. Remember, this is another starting line and me retirees continue to work and volunteer some time now on a weekly basis in order to stay active involved. I highly recommend that. That's a really great way to go. And I know I mentioned this over and over again. I had a dad that was a mechanic and my brother called him one day and he's talking to him. And then Steve asked him a question and he said, Hold on a minute, Steve, I need you out from underneath the car. He was actually on the phone with my brother changing oil for a client. He was talking to him and that was at age 85. I probably got a call after that from my brother. You're not going to believe this. Yeah, he he knows I do what I do for a living. And I remember he hold up his finger. There was arthritis in it from working in the cars his whole life, which was his passion. And he said, Can you continue to work and and not completely retire? And I say, Yes, I can. Well, Danny said, Don't you dare stop. So I had great advice, by the way. I found most people are much happier if they got things to keep them busy. That may be the grandkids, for that matter.

Producer:
Want to know where your hard earned money is going. It's time for an inflation demonstration.

Jeff Holmes:
And by I ever heard of PNC Bank and they have their 12 days of Christmas. And it is a Christmas price index they have come up with. It's an annual tradition which shows the current cost for one set of each gifts given in the song The 12 Days of Christmas. Hmm. Pretty good idea. I think if you read through that, you'll get some chuckles from that. It is similar to the consumer Price index, only similar, but it measures the changing prices of goods and services like housing and food and transportation, which happened not to be in the consumer price index. They also include clothing to give you a more. That that they find that that's a more reflective way of your spending habits and also that's more reflective of what most average Americans do spend. So that is why they do that. It's a fun way to measure consumer spending and trends in the economy. So even if pipers piping or geese laying didn't make your gift list this year. Now, now, on that question that ever been on your gift list?

Producer:
Not definitely not. The geese are laying and I can't remember the last time I bought somebody a pipe or piping either.

Jeff Holmes:
So yes, I not quite know. The diamond tennis necklace and all that kind of stuff. Yeah, that might be, you know.

Producer:
Right, right, exactly.

Jeff Holmes:
Or whatever you want to put it that blank. Yes. So you can learn a lot by checking it out and why their prices have increased or decreased over the years. So it's a lot of fun there for that. Also, they we have a little bit of information on Christmas trees. 33.6% of American households will buy a real or fake Christmas tree in this kind of leads into something we'll finish up here at the end of this show. And collectively, what they've spent in America is four point almost $4.2 billion on trees. And that's something that's.

Producer:
Pretty.

Jeff Holmes:
Insane. Yeah, it is. And the real trees, the average on those is $85.59 per real tree. Now you're in Atlanta and you get a real tree and it's you know, you actually have those in the backyard in the front yard, don't you?

Producer:
Right there? Pretty much. You look around, you turn around a corner. There are just pine trees everywhere. So if you want one, go grab it.

Jeff Holmes:
Exactly. Well, here in Arizona, saguaros. But no pine.

Producer:
Trees. Yeah, us a little bit harder to come by in the desert southwest, I would imagine.

Jeff Holmes:
A little drier to say get a little bit crispy on that too. Right. You know.

Producer:
You bring it in, it's a little brown. You know, you don't you don't want the Christmas tree to be brown either. So that wouldn't necessarily be the best. Look for the living room.

Jeff Holmes:
No. And that's where, you know, the trees are like humans. We have to have extra water here in Arizona. That is for sure. The average price for artificial tree is $122.60. So we'll talk about that. That came up in the Charlie Brown Christmas, which will refer to here in a little bit. So did you know also within reference to inflation that for one K hardship withdrawals surged to a record high as inflation squeezes Americans? According to a Fox News article that came out about four days ago. The article said that the highest level since and the article said this is the highest level since then. Vanguard began tracking the data in 2004 and could be hit with income taxes. In addition to this, if on that withdraw, if they're 59 and a half and younger, which is 10% early withdrawal penalty. So some things to keep in mind on that. You do not want to miss that penalty if you are younger than 59 have. So something to definitely watch out for. We found too many people don't know the percentage of the portfolio that's in bonds. I'm bringing this up because I ran into this a few days ago and they don't even know what the bonds they hold. And they're they've never had that done for them or shown in a simple way versus statements which may be a little harder to understand. So did you know in 2022 was the worst year in history? I mentioned that earlier, according to The New York Times, in Bonds. Bond can take up up to 40% or more of the portfolio and for many retirees and pre retirees. And do you want those to take big hits like that in the middle of your retirement? You may want to get in touch with us and we can show you a bond replacement and how that may work for you.

Producer:
It's this week in history.

Jeff Holmes:
On this date in 1962 of December 16, American football defensive tackle William Perry was born. And if you're a Chicago Bears fan like I am, you know, he was called the refrigerator for a very good reason, because he was six two, £335. Perry and the Bears went on to win Super Bowl 20. And Walter Payton was alongside there and he was a member of that 1985 Bears. And we all remember that one real well. And you've also recorded 29 and one half sacks. And I figured to have the half a sack because it what it meant is it didn't hurt as bad as a full sack. Maybe not. Yeah, imagine. And then also on this day in 1903 of December 17th, the first ever airplane flight was taken off. That's Orville, Orville and Wilbur Wright, first successful flight. So now the thing I'd like to finish up with is our Christmas shows. And December 18th, 1966, Dr. Seuss How the Grinch Stole Christmas was made into an animated show and shot on CBS for the first time. Also last week, we talked about a Charlie Brown Christmas and how it had started, and that was back in 1965, on December 9th. And I'd like to finish up this last show for the year. And obviously we'll be back on January 7th with a new show. You'll get to hear the reruns. But there's one something about Charlie Brown Christmas. And it was just a you know, it was a great show. I loved it when I was younger. I love it.

Jeff Holmes:
I love it now. And one of the things I like to do is go through Charlie, that what happened at the end of that show where Linus has a speech and can Charlie Brown's frustrated with all the commercialization of Snoopy, had just won the most decorated house, all the commercial. There was like ten Christmas trees, no real Christmas trees. So he he calls out during a play. Can anyone tell me what Christmas is all about? And then Linus walks up and this is what he says, and you can find this in the second chapter of Luke and what he says. And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over the flock by night. And lo the Angel of the Lord came upon them in the glory of the Lord, shown around about them. And they were sore, afraid. And the angel said to them, Fear not for behold. I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David. David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you. You shall find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel, a multitude of heavenly hosts praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest and on peace and on earth, Peace, goodwill towards them. Now, I didn't do as good as Linus did. My best there. So, merry Christmas, everyone.

Producer:
Thanks for listening to Rest Assured Retirement. You deserve to work with an experienced and licensed expert who will strategically work to protect and grow your hard earned assets to schedule your free no obligation consultation with Jeff. Visit. Rest Assured Retirement. Or pick up the phone and call 480 454 9191. That's 480 454 9191.

Producer:
Assured Financial is an independent financial services firm helping individuals create retirement strategies using a variety of investment and insurance products to custom suit their needs and objectives. This material has been prepared for information on educational purposes only and is not intended to provide and should not be relied upon for accounting, legal tax or investment advice. Advisory services are offered through Foundations Investment advisors an SED. Registered Investment Advisor. Certified Financial Fiduciary. Cff is issued by the National Association of Certified Financial Fiduciaries. Cff is reserved for financial professionals who have successfully completed a certification and training process established by the NACFF and the AFEA.

Producer:
A Roth conversion may not be suitable for your situation. The primary goal in converting retirement assets into a Roth IRA is to reduce the future tax liability on the distributions you take in retirement or the distributions of your beneficiaries. The information provided is to help you determine whether or not a Roth IRA conversion may be appropriate for your particular circumstances. Please review your retirement savings tax and legacy planning strategies with your tax or legal advisor. To be sure, a Roth IRA conversion fits into your planning strategies.

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