1.13.23: Audio automatically transcribed by Sonix

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

Producer:
Any examples used are for illustrative purposes only and do not take into account your particular investment objectives, financial situation or needs, and may not be suitable for all investors. It is not intended to predict the performance of any specific investment and is not a solicitation or recommendation of any investment strategy.

Producer:
Welcome to Prosperity Principles with your host Ed Cruz. Each week, Ed and his company seek to educate Americans like you by providing real strategies for protecting and growing their hard-earned money. Get set for a full hour of financial information and economic news affecting your bottom line. Ed wants you to reach the financial freedom you've worked so hard for. So now let's start the show. Here's Ed Cruz.

Edwin Cruz:
Welcome back to Another Week of Prosperity Principles. I'm Edwin Cruz, along with my host, Matt McClure. And like always, we have a number of topics to cover here today. But the one thing that I will say is that on this program, you know, my message is different from what you normally hear on financial planning shows, largely because our concepts are different. Our emphasis is on preservation of principle, participation in market gains and a lifetime of income that you can outlive. So our planning prepares you for your retirement and retirement that you can count on. And so with that opening, I welcome and. Matt McClure.

Producer:
Yeah. Boy, that means a lot to a lot of people right now, I'm sure, Ed, because of the year that we have just been through, especially in the markets, when people have had their their retirement savings or investments and all just really all caught up in the market, they're keeping that that principal safe really has got to speak to a lot of folks because of all that uncertainty and the volatility that we've been going through.

Edwin Cruz:
Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, this is what I've been doing now for over 24 years. And and I would tell our client or our listeners out there that if you want to know more about exactly what it is that we do, we do have the Annuity 360 book All you need to learn about annuities here and if you want a free copy of that, no obligation you can reach out to us at 386 228 5769.

Producer:
That's absolutely right. And, you know it's you can also go to MyProsperityTeam.com MyProsperityTeam.com is the website for the show and all the information is there on how you can get that book as well and of course you know we're available not only live on the radio each week both on on Wednesdays and on Saturdays, but we are also a podcast. These episodes live forever on the interwebs, as it were. And so we would encourage you to go anywhere you subscribe to. Podcast Just Search for Prosperity Principles. The show will pop right up. Subscribe. Leave us a rating and a comment. We'd really love to do that. For you to do that and just reach out. I mean, you know how much we love hearing from our listeners?

Edwin Cruz:
Well, you know, like I always say to our people, without you, we are nothing. Without my clients, I wouldn't exist. And so, yeah, we need you. We want to hear from you and we want to help you most of all.

Producer:
Yeah, that's absolutely right. And of course, the point of the show is to help you and to educate you about your your finances and your your planning and give you some ideas, as Ed said at the top of the show that that you might not have thought of. And really, as we go through the show this week, we're going to do just that. And of course, we'll start out in just a moment with our quotes of the week. We got a couple of them this time around. We also have a special message to send to you, the listener, and we'll talk about that. We'll get there in a few. Also, the main portion of the show today at is something that really does speak to our listeners, I feel, and that is how to really get rid of a bunch of things you don't need to be paying in retirement, right? We're going to talk about deleting fees, taxes and expenses from your retirement plan. I mean, that is a biggie, right?

Edwin Cruz:
That's what people call us about. How do we minimize what we're giving away, not just to our our financial advisors out there, but to our government? And how can we minimize expenses, you know, comprehensive planning. We'll touch on all of these basic principles that we have here. So, yeah, I mean, it's very important if you want to retire. Well, it's not just about what you get to keep from the market, but these other little things that will chip away at your retirement.

Producer:
Yeah, that's absolutely right. It seems like maybe there are little things that you are just kind of around the periphery of your retirement planning, but they really could eat away at the at the core of it. And we'll go through that as we continue on through the show. We'll also have some more on where US retirees are moving right now. I don't think it's going to be much of a surprise for the listeners in central Florida, and I think they probably can look out the window and see it happening a lot of places.

Edwin Cruz:
Trust me, when I when I drive around, I see it happening.

Producer:
Right, Exactly. You're like, where did that neighborhood come from? That wasn't there the other day. Oh, goodness. I hear you. Well, we're going to get to that and a lot more on the show as we continue on. But first, let's take a listen to our quotes of the week here.

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

Producer:
And as I said a moment ago, I had two quotes of the week. This time around, just just because we're generous, it's it's a buy one get one here. And so the first quote of the week this time around comes from Nathan W Morris, who's a personal finance expert, an author, a speaker, financial coach. He said this one time, quote, Every time you borrow money, you are robbing your future self. That's very true.

Edwin Cruz:
Very true. Because, you know, whenever money disappears from your hands, obviously it can't be working for you. And when money's not working for you, you're forever destroying the opportunity for compounding interest on your money. So there are multiple reasons that you don't want to borrow money. And like you said, robbing or like Nathan said, robbing that future self. You just you want to think through the decisions that you make because they will have a compounding effect.

Producer:
Yeah, absolutely. And you could be enjoying compounding interest working for you or be a victim of it, working against you, especially if you have something like, like high interest credit card debt. Right? Because then that high interest gets charged to you each month. If you carry a balance forward to the next month, then that becomes essentially part of the principal, as it were. It becomes part of your balance and then you pay interest on top of that interest the next month. That's that's not the way you want to You want things to work, right?

Edwin Cruz:
Absolutely not. And so let's talk about this this second quote, because I think it's it's a pretty neat little quote here. Bye bye, Dave Ramsey. And for all those that don't know Dave Ramsey, I don't know where you've been hiding, but Dave Ramsey is an American personal finance personality and the host of The Dave Ramsey Show. And I know that well, because my previous radio stint there, I was a follow up to Dave Ramsey, and it was quite interesting. But an overall good guy and his quote was a budget is telling your money where to go instead of wondering where it went and how many people do we speak to and they could be making a decent living. But at the end of it all, they just sit there and they and they don't know where their money went. And sometimes I'm just totally mind blown that I hear someone say that because if you would just sit down and pay attention to the way that you're spending, you really wouldn't say that out loud, or you'd be embarrassed to say that out loud.

Producer:
That's right. Hey, where did that money go? Well, if you had budgeted, you would know because you would have as as Dave Ramsey said, tell it where to go instead of just after the fact, wondering how it left your wallet or your pocketbook or whatever. And and, you know, just grew wings and flew away. But yeah, that's very, very important to get hold of your finances. So we've come to that portion of the show, which I sort of teed up a minute ago here at about this special message to our listeners, because, you know, we've talked about the volatility in the markets. We've talked about, you know, the way that people are just filled with anxiety, looking at maybe their 401. Case or, you know, maybe their their statements from whatever investments they have. Right. So there's something that we want to tell our listeners and really a special offer for our listeners as part of this as well.

Edwin Cruz:
Absolutely. You know, if if you've lost more than you're comfortable with in your portfolio last year and you're looking for some answers because maybe where you are now, they're not giving you those answers or strategies, you know, we'd love to provide you with a free, complimentary consultation. And you can do that by calling us or visiting us on our website and get started on your retirement income plan today. And I will add to that, you know, you see, when you suffer a loss in the market, even a small loss, you have two problems. First, when an investment loses value, that loss that lost value is just one problem. The second problem is the time that it actually takes to make back that financial loss. And and that's even if you get it back, because I've known I've known people, I've met them out there that they've invested too heavily in some way, shape or form. And when that bubble crashes to recoup, that is nearly impossible. And I've mentioned this before. I met a gentleman that had about $2.1 million, and from that $2.1 million after the last housing crash, because he was so heavily invested in bank stocks, he went all the way down to about 700,000. And the last time that I spoke to him, which was this past summer, he has never come back close to that $2 Million yet. So think about that. We're talking about the crash in 2008. 14 years later, this guy never recouped at all. So, you know, sometimes it sounds a little too far fetched when people here hear about this, but it's actually out there and we want to help provide the consultation that will help balance what it is that you're doing so that you don't make those same mistakes. And trust me, I've seen a lot of different mistakes out there.

Producer:
You know, I bet I bet over the years, definitely. And yeah, you know, I like to think about it as, you know, if you have, say, $100,000 invested in the market and you lose 50%, you've got 50,000. Right. But then if you gain 50% from there, you don't have 100,000. You got 75,000 because that is not you know, you can't lose that 50% and then gain 50% of it back because that's not going to get you where you were. It's very hard to re climb that hill if you have a big loss like that.

Edwin Cruz:
Yeah. It still leaves the you still leaves you a little short. Right. And so again, we don't want you to make those mistakes. Give us a call. 38622857, six, nine. And we could surely help you avoid those pitfalls.

Producer:
Yeah, absolutely. And go to MyProsperityTeam.com as well that's MyProsperityTeam.com the website for the show. All right so we teed this up a little bit earlier sort of the main bulk of the show this time around or three different ways to really get rid of some some payments in retirement, some expenses in retirement that you don't really necessarily need to be paying. And the very first one we're going to talk about here is how to delete fees from your retirement. I think a lot of people hear, wait, what about I can get rid of some fees that I'm paying? I think some sometimes people, until they're in sort of a retirement planning mode, they might not realize the fees that they're actually paying until they take a look at, you know, maybe a statement or whatever and be like, wait a minute, where's what's that money? Where is that money going to? So they want to save as much as humanly possible, right?

Edwin Cruz:
They always do. I mean, who doesn't like saving? Right? So the one thing that we that we definitely take a look at and many economists have taken a look at, is the the bond portfolios. Bond portfolios seem to be quite dull. I would say they're more dull than a butter knife. You know, bond prices have not correlated this time around with with stocks and bonds and mutual funds and stocks and mutual funds. Bonds have have been right in line with with with these products. And that shouldn't be the case. So for that reason, many economists are now saying get away from bonds they haven't performed for a couple of decades now. And what you want to do is have a portfolio that gives you the the upside opportunity, because once, let's say, stocks in your mutual funds are going up, why would you want your bonds to drag down your portfolio? And when stocks and mutual funds are are going down, why would you want your your portfolio to suffer in its entirety with the rising interest rates? So there's a lot of issues here in general. But, you know, you can make that correction by by switching over to to fix index annuities, which is what many economists are are speaking about today. Make that change so that you can have a winner even in bad times. Listen, we had this past year, we had multiple indices or indexes, as some people call them, that were that were positive.

Edwin Cruz:
And so just because the market's going down doesn't mean that there are no opportunities out there. We've seen gains from from 4% upwards to 12% over this past year. So it does exist. It's a real thing. And what I would say to anyone out there, don't just listen to what I say. If you if you need the proof, you want to see the proof, we can provide you with that proof. And you know, we're talking about products that will give you that full sense of security. You know, this is so that you don't lose sleep at night and and so that you have that guaranteed income. So you don't have to worry about what happens in the market. So, you know, we have I personally have hundreds and hundreds of clients doing this. And, you know, if if you're not if you're not educated in this way or, you know, or if you've heard about it and you haven't reacted to it, now's the time. Now's the time to take advantage of of the high rate environment because this positively impacts fixed indexed annuity. So, yeah, I would absolutely take a look at how can I delete these fees, but furthermore, how can I balance my portfolio so I maximize what I'm doing with it?

Producer:
Yeah, and a lot of advantages there to fixed indexed annuities and they're, you know, a great possibility I think for a lot of different folks out there. Of course, you know, we say this all the time. It's not a one size fits all sort of a thing to to plan out your retirement. But these are products that I feel like really do offer people a lot, especially in light of all that volatility and especially, you know, because as as generally speaking, as interest rates go up, there's this inverse relationship with bond prices. So bond prices will go down. Right. So so you don't want your bond portfolio to continue to suffer as the Fed continues raising interest rates. So so why not replace that with something else that is going to give you that possibility of market like growth without that risk to your principal and something that is going to come with little to no fees, especially compared to something like when you have, say, assets under management with somebody in a bond portfolio, for example?

Edwin Cruz:
You know, absolutely. You know, people may may wonder why we use these these safe money programs. You know, we use them because they're specialized products that can provide you with returns, guaranteed returns. And you think about this. This market is obviously has suffered over the past 12 months. And how would you like to guarantee yourself bonus fixed rate or combination of the two? How would you like to guarantee yourself about a ten, 10 to 12% return and possibly more? You know, a. These these fixed indexed annuities. They provide you with contractual guarantees. You'll never have to worry about suffering another market loss. And interesting, interestingly, on an annual basis, you'll be able to lock in gains. When's the last time your broker locked in gains for you? And we can help again eliminate the fees take loads off of of of of issues that may may come up with with these market type products and guarantee you an income that you can never outlive. These are just benefits that you just don't get with any other product out there. And what better way to secure your your nest egg, your portfolio?

Producer:
Yeah, that's right. And, you know, I think that over the years, as we've mentioned on the show before, you know, annuities have gotten a bad rap. Right? Because I think people have in mind either something like a variable annuity, which we've referred to as a scary annuity, because then if you've got a variable annuity, your money is completely at risk in in the market. That's an investment that really is at the mercy of whatever the markets do. But a fixed indexed annuity is something completely different. You can grow along with the markets, but as you say, when the markets go down, zero is your hero. You don't you don't experience any of that loss.

Edwin Cruz:
And how would you like to control the fees that you pay in a variable annuity? You have no control over the fees that you pay. And by the way, it's probably the most expensive way to have your have your assets held. Definitely one of. But you can have a fixed indexed annuity that has fee options on their indices on the riders. And that same annuity may provide you the opportunity to have no fees in general on that annuity. So you control the fees, you control what happens. I don't think there's a better way to go.

Producer:
Yeah. Boy, that giving yourself control over your own retirement. Boy, that sounds good to a lot of folks. I'm sure you can go folks to My Prosperity Time.com. For more information to reach out to Ed as well for that free consultation, if you'd like to take advantage of that great opportunity there MyProsperityTeam.com or call 386 228 5769. The number one more time is 386 228 5769. All right, Ed, so we're going to talk now about deleting taxes from your retirement. We talked about deleting fees there with a fixed indexed annuity because those fees are are much, much less than what is the alternative, really, which would be bonds. Right. So now let's talk about deleting taxes from your retirement and we'll talk about doing it the legal way. We want to emphasize that as well. There are a lot of there are a lot of not so good ways that you could do that and wind up in trouble with the IRS and you don't want that. But these are the good ways. These would be the legal ways to do that.

Edwin Cruz:
That's right. Let's stay out of the alleys. Yeah, With the with the national debt nearing 31 and one half trillion dollars, you know, we believe, like many others, that taxes are likely to go up in the future. And I think that our listeners would agree with us that, you know, if we look at look ahead, I don't think anyone's going to say, yeah, our taxes are going down. We have to think that our taxes are going up. And I'm almost sure they are. We do see that the tax brackets are shrinking as we speak. So there will be people that fall on that or last year we're on the borderline that this year will be in that following tax bracket. And so that's going to happen with a Roth IRA. Your tax when you contribute. So your money is protected from increased tax rates that could be out of your control or that are out of control because Congress controls that right. Government spending continues to increase as years go on. So nothing's going to change here. I mean, we've seen just when we think that. You know, because they're talking about inflation. They they seem to think that the Fed's going to raise rates.

Edwin Cruz:
We're going to slow down spending, but none of this has happened. This is going to further create more pressures. So tax rates, again, are going to have to go up. So what are the reasons that you should consider implementing a Roth conversion or a Roth plan in general? The tax free growth, of course, you know, contributions again to a Roth IRA, You are taxed when you put it in. But all the growth in the future and everything that you have in there will be tax free when you need it for income. What is that going to do for you that's going to lessen your tax burden in retirement, which is which is going to be very important because, again, whatever today's tax rates are today, you add another ten, 15% on top of that. And and that's what your tax burden may be. So let's find a way to to to minimize that that that pain. Let's see here tax free withdrawals again everything that goes in and grows is tax free. The flexibility Roth IRAs are more flexible than traditional IRAs. With a traditional IRA, you don't have the say on when you're going to take that money. The government says, hey, by this age you will have to take X, X, Y, Z, an amount of of of your asset you're going to have to take out on an annual basis.

Edwin Cruz:
So with a Roth IRA, you don't have to worry about taking that cash out. If you don't need it, don't take it out. But what I would say to most people is if you have other other plans out there that are not qualified plans and instead of taking money out of those and creating a taxable situation, well then let's avoid that and let's go ahead and take from the Roth IRA. So again, this goes into the planning, the consultation that we will give you on how to take your income. And it does make a world of difference when you can when you can avoid going from the 12 to 22% tax bracket. Let's just take that at face. You can imagine how much you will be able to to save yourself. Again, there's no age limit on when you take those contributions and the inheritance on that is tax free. So Roth IRAs will be passed along to your beneficiaries, to your heirs, without them having to worry about paying taxes on that account.

Producer:
Yeah. Which is always, always a good thing. You know, you can gives you a little peace of mind there for your future generations as well, that they won't have some sort of big tax burden that you're passing along to them. You don't want to pass them along, a burden. You want to pass them along. You know that that money that you've worked so hard for and that you've put away and that you've, you know, had grow over the years. So that's such a great, great thing. And speaking of IRAs in general, Ed, I know that, you know, we were talking just before we came on the air here and here recently. The of course, the secure 2.0 act secure, Act 2.0, whichever way we want to say it was something that was part of the spending bill that was passed recently in in Congress. And as part of that, there were some changes to IRAs and to the age four required minimum distributions going forward and things like that. Run through that for us.

Edwin Cruz:
If you would. Absolutely. And as everyone may remember back here in December, right before the year came to an end, the Senate did pass a new bill. And in that 1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill was the secure 2.0 Act. Right. And that increases the required minimum distribution age from 72 to 73. So if you remember the first time around, it went from 70 and one half to 72, and that did help out some of my clients. And now what we have is it's increased to 73 in 2023 and up to 75 in 2033. So these changes are going to continue to happen. They will continually or gradually move up and that new law reduces the excise tax for failing to take required minimum distribution to 25%, and that was previously 50%. If you didn't touch your or take what you needed to take out of that IRA. And so the the required minimum minimum distribution, as long as it's corrected in a timely manner or if it is corrected in a timely manner, the tax is further reduced to 10%. So that's quite a significant move. And I would say that because we always say I forgot that this is a this is a good reason for Congress to at least give us a little bit of our money back when when we make the mistake and don't take it. And trust me, I've had clients that have taken from certain accounts and they have failed to take from other accounts thinking that they didn't have to.

Edwin Cruz:
That mistake is made and I have helped clients get out of that mess. But hopefully you are aware, hopefully you have someone that will help guide you through this process and and get you to take your required minimum distributions on a timely basis starting in 2024. Required minimum distributions will no longer be required from Roth accounts that are in employer retirement plans. That's another mistake that people made, thinking that just because it's set in employer plans that you didn't have to take them. Now that that is true in some cases if you're still working. But it's not just it's not an all plan. So again, you have to be well versed on what you should touch, what you don't need to touch. When can I touch it? When should I touch it? We could keep going around just like IRAs, RMDs, 403 B's. There's there's there's all kinds of things that we can say and confuse you with. But that's why we should get together. That's why we should speak about these things and to help you avoid making these mistakes. And there's some catch up contributions in addition to all this. But I think we've covered the the main parts of it.

Producer:
Yeah. And you know what? It's good to have a little good news come out of Washington every now and then. You know, that's always nice. But yeah, it's, you know, complicated these, these laws and rules and regulations a lot of the time. And that's exactly why you should really contact Ed Cruz today do it folks it's MyProsperityTeam.com that is the website or 386 228 5769. On the telephone or on your smartphone or whatever kind of phone you have. Just just pick it up and call. That's all. That's all we care about. And you can do that and get a free consultation. You can also get you know, we talked a lot so far about fixed indexed annuities. You can get a copy of that book as well. Annuity 360 and a lot of great information in there. And once again you can go to MyProsperityTeam.com. All right so we've covered two out of our three topics here on deleting fees from your retirement also deleting. Taxes from your retirement. So number three here is deleting expenses from your retirement. And this is really we could really kind of brand this our cost cutter of the week here but it's talking about that biggest expense that most people have and that is their mortgage.

Edwin Cruz:
Absolutely. You know the happiest people that we meet for for reviews of any sort are the ones who have paid off their their primary mortgage. If you continue to pay a monthly mortgage, it can and will absorb the entirety of one or two Social Security incomes for a married couple or take up almost an entire single person's monthly Social Security benefits. So obviously, when you get into retirement or before you get there, I should say, you should start thinking about how can I get this mortgage paid off, How can I maximize what I put towards it? Because you really don't want to drag that into retirement. You know, I strongly encourage all of my prospects and clients to pay off their mortgages in a smart way. It's funny how many times I've heard. That, you know, the clients may say to me, well, you know, my my advisor tells me that I should keep it for tax deduction. Well, if you if you sit down and take a look at what that deduction means to you versus what you're paying on a monthly basis in retirement, you're going to quickly figure out that it's going to be far better for you to sit there and and just make a plan and pay that mortgage off. You know, that said, you know, try to avoid paying off the family home with your IRA money because the taxes would be too prohibitive to do something like that.

Edwin Cruz:
Remember that you wouldn't pay a 20% real estate commission. So you don't want to have to pay 20% in taxes when you pay off your mortgage using an IRA. That would really put a put a burden on the on the entire plan. So we don't want to do that. Consider using money from investment accounts that you can withdraw tax free. First of all. Right. Anything that's sitting in cash, if you if you don't no longer need the life insurance because you're pretty well off, we'll take that life insurance money and and use it for for paying off a a home savings accounts. Anything that you can liquidate. That's a collectible selling if you have a separate piece of real estate, obviously sell that to raise the funds. But the tax burden on the sale of these types of investments are minimal. So that's why we would suggest that for you to go that way and in some cases it's zero, it's nothing. So housing is among the biggest cost retirees retirees face. So eliminating your mortgage removes a sizable monthly bill from your retirement expenses.

Producer:
Yeah, it really does. And, you know, I mean, talk about a burden being lifted off of your shoulders each and every month. You know, it could take some some doing some work in the beginning and get getting that paid off, making the extra payments or doing any of the things that you said there. But boy, in the long run, that could just mean such a huge, huge difference to you and your monthly living and your overall living. Because, you know, think about it. If you didn't have that mortgage payment, well, you could take a really nice vacation once a month, probably with that with that money, just as an example, not necessarily what you should do with it, but, you know, just say it.

Edwin Cruz:
Right or, you know, if that money stays in your account. Right. Month after month, year after year, think about all the compounding interest that that would add up to be in your portfolio. And you know, when you really need it for emergency purposes, health care needs, whatever may come up now you have that money instead of not having formed a plan and now taking that burden into retirement. So, you know, when it comes to taking care of ourselves in retirement, you know, obviously as we age, we're going to have some more of the the health issues that that arise. And so we need to be prepared for that because that's something that is hard to plan for, because we don't know what that number is going to look like in retirement. But if we start planning for it, we'll be in a much better situation.

Producer:
That's right. Plan for the unknowns and the knowns and the known unknowns, I guess, you know, plan for all, all different possibilities and you'll be prepared for whatever comes your way. That's that's really kind of what it boils down to there. Well, all right. So that's our our big look at how you can delete fees, taxes and expenses from your retirement. And folks, of course, if any of that sounds good to you. Hey, I know a guy who can help you. His name is Edwin Cruz. You can call him at 386 228 5769. That number once again, 386 228 5769. Well, you know, we just talked about, you know, selling, selling your family home, paying off your mortgage or that that kind of thing. So let's talk about moving a little bit more. That that would be something that involves moving. So let's sort of continue along that vein here and. You know, I think that there are a lot of people there's sort of this great migration that's been taking place over the past few years now, I would say. But there's some US Census Bureau survey data here, and that is what looks at retirees specifically and where retirees are moving. But then there's also people of all ages moving, right? Not just retirees are moving. And the U-Haul Growth Index. Yes, that is a thing. U-haul actually does a survey as well once a year that looks at where people are moving from and where they're moving to. So let's let's go through these. Were you surprised by any of the ones that were on these lists?

Edwin Cruz:
I will have to say that the one that surprised me, although it's at the end of the list, Idaho, that did shock me. Are there more people that want to plant potatoes or something? I don't know. But but I thank you for those potatoes. You know, looking at this list, it makes sense to me. You know, people want to be more in the South. They're tired of shoveling. They're tired of all the excess taxation. They're tired of multiple things. So people move for multiple reasons, right? Health could be one of them. But moving into the warm areas, you know, it's done good for my joints. So I will say Texas being number one, no shocker. Florida, be number two, no shocker. South and North Carolina, three and four. Again, no shocker. Number six on that list, Tennessee. You know, I actually went and visited Tennessee, what, summer of this past year and I actually loved it. So I definitely understand why people would move there. I thought it was lovely. Arizona, your state of Georgia on there. Ohio. You know, I've heard some things about Ohio, why people move there. I guess taxes are low there, too. But I got to say, even though I've heard it, that one is still semi semi on the on the surprise. But really the shocker is Idaho at number ten and last year it was at number nine. So yeah that's it's definitely shocking.

Producer:
Yeah it was a little bit of a shocker there with Ohio. Yeah I was sort of a little bit not confused but a little bit surprised as to why that would be on the list. Because my time that I've spent in Ohio has been in northern Ohio during the winter. So, yeah, it's like especially, you know, you're right there, you're on the shores of Lake Erie and you've got that lake effect snow and it can just sort of come out of nowhere. And that's that's not fun. So yeah, but but maybe southern Ohio, maybe around like the Cincinnati area, Dayton and the sort of central part maybe that that I can see. But right on the right on the lake now but so, so that yeah the U-Haul growth states are what we just went through so looking at people of all ages and then when we look at specifically retirees using the US Census Bureau data that's available. They say about right around 234,000 retirees moved to a new state last year. And the you know, a lot of the same players here toward the top of the list for the places that they're moving to. Right. Florida, number one, North Carolina at number two, a new one for us, Michigan at number three. Then we've got Arizona and Georgia rounding out the top five and then the states that saw the most retirees departures. I thought this was interesting. Oregon, Maryland, Idaho. Again, they were on that list of where people of all ages are moving to. But retirees are leaving Texas, the retiree generation sort of leaving there at least 3.3% of all retirees leaving the state of Texas and Virginia on the list as well. So it's interesting when you sort of look at it by age group like that, you get a little bit different result. But still, a lot of those same states, particularly your state of Florida, where a lot of people are moving to. And I can understand why.

Edwin Cruz:
Oh, absolutely. I mean, it's wonderful when you can not be landlocked, right? It doesn't matter. You have to separate coast here, right. East and west. You know what other state can say that? So we have a lot of advantages. But I will say, going back to that, Idaho, again, outbound for retirees, inbound for the younger clan there. There has to be some type of farming revolution going on there. I'm telling you, there's something there. I don't know what it is.

Producer:
People want land or something, you know, they want to spread out a little bit. I think that that could be at least part of it. But yeah, it's it's funny. And you know, you mentioned the both coasts of Florida. I love it. I've always kind of wanted to do the thing where you go, you know, you wake up early, you see the sunrise on the East Coast, right. And then you you haul it during the day over toward like maybe the Tampa area or, you know, somewhere along the Gulf Coast. And you can watch the sun set over over that body of water. I always thought that would be cool to do.

Edwin Cruz:
And it is and it is. I will tell you, although, you know, looking at this list, Michigan, don't they have like a little peninsula way up north there. I believe you can see the sunrise and sunset there. So.

Producer:
Oh, yeah, that's true.

Edwin Cruz:
Oh, see.

Producer:
See, maybe that's why people are moving there.

Edwin Cruz:
But, you know, it says inbound people moving inbound towards Michigan, 6.6%. That's a surprise in that category. That was I had looked at that going scratching my head saying, why it's so cold there.

Producer:
It's it's very true. Well, maybe maybe they're moving to Michigan for, I don't know, the lakes and all that stuff. Maybe during the warm weather months, they've got the lake up there and all that. They can enjoy it. I don't know. It is a little bit strange. I feel like these cold weather states are just not a place that I would want to be in retirement.

Edwin Cruz:
That lake never warms up. You're not going to catch me with a swimsuit there.

Producer:
So yeah, true. And like like a warm day is like 50 degrees for the high, you know? So, no.

Edwin Cruz:
I'll give them 80, you know.

Producer:
Right, Right. Yeah, maybe.

Edwin Cruz:
And the water and the water is a nippy 65.

Producer:
Yeah. Yeah. You don't want to know. That's just not a pleasant thing. Unless you like cold bath. That's just not good. Not me. Yeah, seriously.

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

Producer:
Boy, this is this is sad news. And as we talk about our inflation demonstration this time around.

Edwin Cruz:
Hits me in the heart.

Producer:
I mean, I'm telling you, beer prices really going up. The beer inflation has hit consumers across the US, right?

Edwin Cruz:
Well, you know, like anything else, if you raise the price of fuel, it's going to affect sooner or later. And I guess the hops coming in from the European nations that's being affected. I believe that's true. When it comes to speaking about Ukraine, I believe that they import a lot of grain. And so that probably has something to do with it. But when you think about the fuel that these trucks use, we're paying here in Florida, let's say in the low threes for gasoline. But when it comes to diesel, that's up around $5 a gallon or beyond, $5 a gallon. So it's going to affect everything, you know, So we can't get away from it, even us beer drinkers. But, you know, the ones that saw the the highest increases. I was looking here. Bud Light, Miller, Miller Lite, giggling. That's a good beer. Coors Light, You know, they saw prices go up by by close to 10% or up around that range. I would have really been sad to see dos X on there. That's my favorite brand, but that's personal now. You know, we'd have to fight about that one. But right now that price has gone up as well. I've seen it go up a couple of dollars by the 12 pack there. So, you know, lower priced below premium beers such as Budweiser, Miller High Malt Liquor and Single Serve beer saw sales gain in December. So, you know, I guess people are making the change. But, you know, regardless of what happens, I'm sticking to my dos skis.

Producer:
There you go. Yeah, I know. It's it's funny that yeah, people are sort of moving to a lower cost beer to try and save that money. I'm I'm glad you mentioned Dos Equis. I'm glad that that blue moon was not on. There you go. Prices going up because that's that's going to be my favorite. I like a wheat beer like that. Squeeze a little orange in it and you're going.

Edwin Cruz:
To say that's not bad with a little slice of orange on there. And, you know, here's a little fun fact. The Americans spent around $1.3 Billion on beer in the two weeks leading up to the Super Bowl and consumed 325 million gallons of beer on game day. Man, that's a lot of beer.

Producer:
That's a lot. I am. I am. Got a burp just thinking about it.

Edwin Cruz:
It made me dizzy thinking about it.

Producer:
That's right. That's right. Yeah. It's like a contact contact drunk here. I guess it's contact tipsy, but yeah. So that's a look at our inflation demonstration this week.

Edwin Cruz:
That was a fun one.

Producer:
It's this week in history. So a lot of big stuff happened on this date or well, not necessarily this very date, but during this week in history as the title of the segment alludes to. And so let's go to January 13th, shall we, on that date in 1961. If you've ever watched Seinfeld or were you a big Seinfeld fan there, Ed?

Edwin Cruz:
I was not. I hate to say it. I get teased for that.

Producer:
Yeah. Yeah. You know what? I watched it when it came on every now and then. But I had a friend who was like, kind of obsessed with.

Edwin Cruz:
It and.

Producer:
Would watch it. Yeah. Like he would just watch it all the time. And then when it went into syndication and reruns and stuff, would just obsessively watch like the marathons all day long, you know? So I've, I've enjoyed what I've seen, but she's really funny and has been in a lot of stuff. Julia Louis-Dreyfus was born on January 13th, 1961. She's, of course, an actress and comedian and a producer as well. She's best known for playing Elaine on the hit sitcom Seinfeld, and she's also in her career now received 11 Emmys. A Golden Globe also received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame back in 2010. So, you know, she's done she's done a lot in her career beyond Seinfeld, but that is still kind of what she's best known for these days.

Edwin Cruz:
Very interesting. Now, let's go back here and add to that this week in History on January 15th. And this one's a little mind blowing when we get to the end. And I think our listeners will will know why. On this day in 1967, the Green Bay Packers defeated the Kansas City Chiefs by a score of 35 to 10 in Super Bowl one. That kind of reminds me of the the bowl game that just happened here. The Georgia Bulldogs just blew out TCU and this one blowout. And I'm sure, Matt, that you're happy about that one.

Producer:
Oh, I am. Oh, I am. I've got my my Georgia Bulldogs mousepad here that I use every week when we're doing the show. There you go. And and so but I've got it. I was wearing my red and black on game day and so I was, I was good. I was very, very happy with the outcome.

Edwin Cruz:
I wanted to see. Of the game. I didn't really have a favorite in the game. I just want to see a competitive game. And by halftime it was over and so I moved on. But I'm sure you were enjoying that, that drubbing. So.

Producer:
That's right. That's right.

Edwin Cruz:
Going back to January 15th, 1967, the the game here again between the Green Bay Packers and the Kansas City Chiefs. The game was played at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, California. And the game remains the only Super Bowl to have been simulcast in the United States by two networks, ABC and NBC. You surely won't see that anymore because these networks will fight for the rights for these things. And so that's not going to happen. But here's the mindblowing part. The average ticket price of a Super Bowl ticket back then was $12. I mean, you can't even get a beer for $12 anymore. Talking about inflation on beer, you know, well beyond that. And I would say get yourself two hotdogs, a little popcorn and a couple of beers. I bet you're spending 100, 100, maybe even more. It's just expensive. And the average price of a ticket for this year's Super Bowl, Super Bowl 57 is going to be 8000. And I'm sorry, I just cannot see myself spending $8,000 to watch a football game. I will watch it on TV with my with my 12 pack of Doss. And I get to share that, by the way, and it will cost me less than 15 bucks. What a bargain.

Producer:
I mean, you could buy a nice big brand new 4K like 80 inch TV and feel like you're at the game and and buy the 12 pack. Or do you share it with your friends, buy enough snacks and stuff for everybody and come out way ahead? Yeah, way ahead.

Edwin Cruz:
You know, just just blow it all out. Spend a couple hundred is spent a couple hundred dollars treating the friends but yeah that'll still leave me with about $7,800 to go. So I think I'll go that route.

Producer:
Yeah, definitely. That, that sounds like the plan to me too. So that that's another it's a bonus financial tip for you everybody for this week's show. And then one more here on January 15th in this this Week in History is a US landmark to talk about a very, very famous one here on this date in 1943, the Pentagon, that's the headquarters of the Department of Defense. Of course, it was completed. So, you know, and they actually and I didn't even know this, they actually worked multiple shifts, 24 hours a day on construction schedule. They're building the Pentagon. It was completed just eight months after the first concrete was poured. Boy, they they just just went to town and worked on that.

Edwin Cruz:
When you think about eight months to complete such a structure, that is mind blowing. I mean, heck, look at the smallest bridge that they start working on. They're out there for a year. So imagine working on the Pentagon or some of these builders that I see out here, and I tease them every so often. But I do see some of these homes, you know, some homes will go up in four months. That's a that's a builder that has his stuff together. Custom homes go in five, six months, and then you see your lower end builder. For whatever reason, they're taking 8 to 9 months because they don't plan ahead and oh, I can't get the windows or I can't get this or I can't get that. And you know, again, it comes back to planning. But obviously they planned well when they built this building.

Producer:
They absolutely did. And worked hard in the construction process, too. Yeah, there's been there's a building not too far from my house, just as an example of this where they've been and it's a you know, it's a skyscraper. It's probably at least probably 20 stories, something like that. And so they've been working on it like a remodel of the building for years. And every time I walk by it because I do quite a bit, I look up and I'm like, Have they done anything? Like it has looked the same for months and months and months and but I hear work going on and I see cranes moving around and I'm like, they must be doing something. I just can't see it, you know? But these are not the same people who built the Pentagon.

Edwin Cruz:
No. And I will say and most people probably wouldn't even think about this, but to do a remodel is actually harder than just coming up from ground up and putting everything in place. It really is harder because there are so many things that they have to watch out for around that building. Know anything falling down. People probably still are they still living in that apartment complex now there?

Producer:
I think they vacated the whole building. Yeah, they vacated the whole thing so that they could do this big like revamp of the whole building. And so, yeah, it's not been thankfully, there's not been anybody living in it because it's kind of it's kind of a mess, but it's been the same sort of shell of its former self for a long time. I think they've replaced a lot of the windows on the outside of the building. Yeah, there. It's it's a slow moving process. But I see your point there, though. If you've got to work within the existing structure and whatever is there, that really does constrain you quite a bit.

Edwin Cruz:
You have to be careful around everything that's going on. I've done a little construction in my day. It's actually fun for me. It's therapeutic. And some people think I'm crazy for saying that, but I actually I actually like getting my hands involved in that.

Producer:
Yeah. Hey, how did the pandemic. I was right there with you. I remodeled a kitchen and two bathrooms pretty much by myself. I had some help, but.

Edwin Cruz:
I went over to Daytona Beach. I was able to find a bargain on a on a small condo during the pandemic, completely gutted it, redid it and made a nice little profit out of it. So, you know what? Put your hands to work. Put your mind to work. It'll get you somewhere.

Producer:
That's right. Sweat equity. You're building that when you do something like that. Absolutely. So. All right, Well, just a few more minutes here left in the show. And I wanted to sort of sort of bring everything home for our listeners here and talk about some reasons why they should meet with you, to call you up to call up a financial professional like Edwin Cruz. Let's go through those here, because I think it's a great way to sort of tie everything in a nice little bow for the show this week.

Edwin Cruz:
I think. So. I would say to anyone listening out there, if you don't understand what an expense ratio is, you should talk to someone about that. If you have an advisor that's not speaking to you about that, then I would say that they're not doing their job. If you don't understand the risk that you're taking with your investments again. Whoever you're with, they should have provided you with that type of information. And if when you look at your statements, if it doesn't correlate to the amount of risk that you are willing to take, wanting to take, then you're probably not with the right person. If you don't have a formal retirement plan. And you don't know what your future looks like, then you're probably not with the right person. If you don't understand how to manage risk in your portfolio as you get older, you need to meet with an adviser because you should know. If you don't know if you should pay off your house or not. We spoke about that earlier. Sit down with someone. Give me a call and we'll discuss how to create a plan in order to accomplish that. And if you don't have a health care plan in place for your future and this is more than just Medicare, long term care, the issues that will really cripple and really bankrupt senior, then you need to meet with an advisor. So, you know, these are all reasons to to if you don't have the answers to this and you should then you should be ready to move on and meet with another advisor.

Producer:
Yeah, absolutely. So great, great reasons and a great list there to run through. I mean, the bottom line really, though, is that the part about the plan, you've got to have a plan, you know, and you need to understand that plan. And it sort of starts with having a vision for what you want your retirement to look like. You know, I mean, you've got to know where you're going before you can get started on, you know, plotting your course to get there. And, you know, I, I couldn't do it by myself. I know that. And, you know, if I'm let's say if I'm sick, I go to the doctor, right? If I need help with my finances, I'll need to contact a financial professional because I'm not I wouldn't trust myself to, you know, fix my own broken bone or something like that, you know?

Edwin Cruz:
That's right. You know, we face longevity risk nowadays. People are living longer. And so if you don't have a plan for longevity, then what are you doing with that person? Are you willing to risk your retirement future over over just someone that you may consider to be friendly to you? It's better to have someone that will talk to you the truths. It may not be everything you want to hear, but you need to hear the truths to have a better future. And and I do advise my people. I do let them know you may not like everything that I say to you, but I tell you this for your own good.

Producer:
Yeah, absolutely. It's a it's tough love. But, you know, you're going to hear what you you need to hear, maybe not necessarily what you want to hear all the time, but that's why, you know, you need that that opinion that, you know, even if you have a financial plan that's in place, make sure that it's right for you. You know, I mean, it's that's the thing that you need to do to sort of get a review of everything, make sure that it's all good, because just because you might think that it's good doesn't mean that it necessarily is, but it also doesn't necessarily mean that it can't be better, too.

Edwin Cruz:
So, yeah, I mean, we're always here to tell you that there is a better way. And if you're looking for a lifetime of guaranteed income or you're looking for safety, you're looking to minimize your taxation, you know, if you're looking for these certain advantages, that's what we're here for. So give us a call. 386 228 5769. Let us help you with your planning.

Producer:
Absolutely. Well, and that just brings us to the end of the show for this week. It's been a good one. I have enjoyed it. Of course. I've I've learned a lot, as I always do. Any time we get to get together and sit down and talk about all of these different things, and I know that the listeners have learned a lot as well, but I appreciate it. And thank you, sir. I will talk to you again next time.

Edwin Cruz:
Thank you, everyone.

Producer:
Thanks for listening to Prosperity Principles. You deserve to work with a financial and insurance expert who can offer strategies for protecting and growing your hard-earned money to schedule your free no obligation consultation. Visit MyProsperityTeam.com or pick up the phone and call 386 228 5769.

Producer:
Not affiliated with the United States government. Edwin Cruz does not offer tax, legal or investment advice. Consult with your tax advisor or attorney regarding specific situations. Opinions expressed are subject to change without notice. These opinions are not intended as investment advice, nor do they predict future performance of any product. All information provided is believed to be from reliable sources. However, we make no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of any statement. This information is intended to be educational in nature and does not provide a guarantee or a specific result. All copyrights and trademarks are the property of their respective owners. AmeriLife assumes no responsibility or liability for the content of this message. The information contained herein is provided on an as is basis with no guarantees of completeness, accuracy, usefulness, timeliness, or of the results obtained from the use of this information.

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