This is the Haven Financial Group radio show. Each week we get together to talk about life, living and planning on living life after retirement. If you're looking for a clearer picture of your retirement plan, the team at Haven Financial Group is here to offer you clear financial guidance and help you realize that planning
for retirement can be simple and easy. Have a question for the team connect now at Havenfinancialgroup dot com or we have team members waiting to talk with you off the air at six one two four four one two four four one. And first of all, if you celebrate it, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Christmas Eve, we appreciate you being up with us this morning. I
am Bill Seller along with Haven Financial Groups Founder and CEO Larry Kolvig. Happy Holidays, Larry, Yes, Mary, Christmas, Bill, Merry Christmas. It is It's here, my friend boy. Doesn't it seem like we just said Christmas is almost here? Yes? Yes, up today and here it is. My goodness. So, in celebration of Christmas, rather than a warm cup of coffee this morning, I poured a Little Hot Chocolates at Little
Hot Chocolate with marshmallows to start my day. Perfect. Yes, good stuff, good stuff, and again we thank you all very much for being here
and listening as well. We got a lot of stuff to talk about today as far as your retirement is concerned, right, That's what we do on this show, talk about what it takes to get to retirement, what it takes, especially to get through retirement, because all that hard earned money that you have put away just gets constantly bombarded and attacked right, different tax laws every year, things like the inflation we're going through now, the cost of
healthcare, all those things that can really affect all that money that you put away that you don't have any control over it. It's just the cost of being there, right. So Larry and his team at Havin Financial Group can help you put together a plan that makes sure that your money stays intact throughout your retirement years. It's that complimentary retirement readiness review that we talk about and we'll go into more details about that a little later today. But to get
your ain is set. To get that done, you want to call them at six one two four four one two four four one and coming up on the show today. You know, it costs a lot of money to go out and eat. I don't know if you've been out lately, Larry, But well I have been every day. Build costing a fortune to eat out these bays, but apparently there are some things that are actually costing less than eight of a year ago. We're going to talk about those in the spirit
of the season and happiness. We'll bring that up today. Also, we're going to talk about seven money secrets of the wealthy and how we can use them too. Also, just before the end of the year, here one more year in tax tip. And if you're dreaming of sun and sand at this time of year, like most of us are, where we've got a list of some of the best all inclusive tropical getaways from USA today. And Larry, I know you're a traveler, so we'll talk about that a little
bit too, very much, so I could go right now. Actually, before before we get started, though, I wanted to bring this up. Remember we talked a little while ago about eggnog waffle inspired liquor. That was a little while ago, and now there's a new flavor out by the same folks that are making all these different flavored liqueurs or liquors. I guess Dorito's infused booze. What do you think about that, Larry doesn't sound good at
all, but somebody will like it, I guess. Rather than eating the chip and having the booze, you can just put it all in one bottle. It's a officially known as Empirical Times Dorito's not your Cheese Vacuum distilled Spirit. That's a big name for Dorito Flavored liquor, sixty five bucks a bottle in their online shop. And I don't know. I just think that some things don't need to mix because I'm not sure what the liquor is, right, I don't know if it's like a Brandy that's not gonna be good Dorito's
and Brandy, right, or Dorito's and something like Bailey's. I don't think that would be good. Yeah, So you know what, I'm actually kind of sorry I brought it up now, So let's just move on and figure out where we're going with the show here today. Inflation numbers were down slightly in November, and despite that, you'd never know it by looking at your
restaurant bill. As I just mentioned, however, some things actually are costing less these days, and The Hill examined year over year prices from the Bureau of Labor statistics, and one of the biggest drops was in fuel. I'm shocked to read that, right, a relief to see gas prices down a little bit, right, about ten percent from last year, so at least driving to your expensive meal may not costs as much as it did last year. Yeah, I mean, expenses are still way up. It may not
seem like things are down. I don't think it seems like it's down, but you know, services such as rents and restaurants and auto insurance is way up. But there are things that are down. You know, appliances are down considerably, airfares, thank goodness, Well they were so high that they've come down. Health insurance is a big one. We saw that with Medicare. Health care prices are down about thirty percent, so that helps the budget a little bit. So, yeah, that's that's a big number. Yes,
yeah, especially for healthcare. Holy cow. Yeah. And you know, inflation's slowly but surely getting under control. They're already you know, talking about you know, reducing rates potentially you know, second quarter of next year. So we'll have to see where that goes. But again, pocketbooks are still being affected and budgets still need to be you know, updated to reflect,
you know, adequate expenses. It's why having that plan, especially as you know we're visiting with people and you know, trying to get retirement under wraps and you know, planning for those golden years. We want those expenses to be as accurate as possible. And certainly we've seen those affected and in the last few years. But again, we'd like to see certain things going down. We are seeing it. It's just a very very slow process. Yeah, it is. And we kind of knew that going in, right
when everything started to go a little wonky. We knew this this was not going to be an easy fix or a quick fix. But you know, I guess what the FAT has done has helped a little bit with inflation. And I was shocked to hear that price on Medicare or on healthcare coming down rather. Yeah, thirty percent is a big number. Yeah, that's a huge number, right. That can that can put a really big dent in your retirement money. So that's good to see. That is good to see
now. You know. One of the other things that we always talk about in retirement too is being smart about taxes. And the year is pretty much over now, so if you didn't do what you had to do. It's probably too late for that. I don't know, is it larry to do stuff for taxes? Well, yeah, Actually the deadline for a lot of financial institutions to do roth conversions was really the middle of the month where where they're they're going to promise that it's going to get done. So it's it's
why we're in the start of the fourth quarter. You know, we're having conversations with everybody, whether you have a lot or a little or somewhere in between, to make sure we're not missing opportunities. You know, we call it forward thinking Tax planning Lance is our CPA. You don't have to use him. He's very good, but we include him in our regular conversations to
see there is there any opportunities. And what we see often with with those that are newly retired early years of retirement is you know, maybe they've waited on Social Security, maybe they've delayed their pension for whatever reason, and that is an opportunity to to ierratea roth conversions to take advantage of low tax rates, which by the way, they're going to sunset at the end of twenty twenty five and go back to what they were before, so having these tax
discussions, you know, although they're not fun discussions, but you know, I think of Joe and Chris from Lakeville. You know, it was a couple of years ago where they unloaded, you know, they're like, we don't want to be landlords anymore, and they had all kinds of real estate and they had gains on that. Well, we call that tax loss harvesting where when the market was down we would sell equivalents type of investments and harvest
those losses and offset the gains that they had from their real estate. And it was really really effective. So with volatility, there are certain things that you can maneuver. Now, if you don't have a plan, or if you're not working with somebody that is watching your stuff or doing that, you're
probably missing opportunities like many many people have in recent years. And I'll ask the question, and we'll have a conversation and I'll say, well, it looks like you had about twenty thousand dollars to convert from my Arita Roth last year. Did you do that? Usually the response I get is a look of dismay, going Nope, we didn't know. Nobody told us, or our tax prepared told us after the fact, and by that time it was
too late. So we want to avoid these mistakes. We want to make sure we're carrying you know, if there's losses, you can carry them forward, you know, up to three thousand per year. But again it starts with the conversation, and oftentimes there's a disconnect between tax discussions, investments of state planning, insurance, and of course on a weekly basis, we call those all the retirement puzzle pieces. They should be coordinated, and oftentimes they're
not and people are missing opportunities. Yeah, and the reason I brought this up, even though I know it's too late in the year to do anything about, you know, getting ready for tax season, play at this seat in your head to make a note for next year. Right. That's smart because a lot of people hear the show and they go, oh, man,
I gotta do that, and they forget. So do yourself a favor, right now, make a note that sometime near the middle to end of next year you reach out to Larry and his team and have in financial group and start finding out what can be done to help you with your tax situation and retirement. Because Larry just mentioned you've got so many ways that you can legally and more and ethically, right, those are the two words we want
to make sure we're adding here. Legally and ethically. Not pay it over Let's put it this way, not overpay your taxes, because so many of us make that mistake. I mean, we work hard for our money. I mean you pay your part. But you know, if you're charitable and you're to the age of seventy three, which is required minium distributions, you know, maybe qualify a charitable distribution is a good way to alleviate some tax or maybe you have some big income. Your donor advise funds can be highly
effected than tax planning. But it comes. It starts with the tax planning piece, and we have that discussion with everybody whether they have somebody that they're using to do their taxes. But what we find is a lot of people are just getting their taxes prepared and not planning. And retirement requires, in our opinion, more attention than that. Absolutely. That's why getting in touch with the folks that have in financial group could be one of the smarter things
you do for your retirement. Let me give you the number again. It is six one two four four one two four four one six one two four four one twenty four to forty one. All you got to do is make a quick phone call to set up your complimentary retirement readiness review and they will take care of you. Okay, just go in meet with Larry and his team, and the beautiful thing is you're gonna either find out what you're doing is exactly right or if you're not doing things right, they can help you
tweak your plan. Or option three, which very rarely happens, is that if you guys find out you're not a fit, no harm, no foul. Right. So again, the number to set up your appointment is six one two four four one two four four one. Coming up in just a minute, we're gonna talk money secrets of the wealthy and how they could work for you too. Uh, the pros and cons of using investments to pay off your mortgage right before retirement, and why scammers love it when we actually
write a check. That and more is on the way with the Haven Financial Group Radio Show here on Twin Cities News Talk eleven thirty and one oh three point five FF. Jingle Manjing Gingle mel Jingle Mels playing and jingle Mels ring snolen and blown, investing, the state planning taxes and more. Want your complimentary retirement readiness review Call now at six one two four four one two four four one. That's six one two four four one two four four one,
or connect with us at Havenfinancial Group dot com. This is the Haven Financial Group Radio Show Tenny Lane in Welcome back to the Haven Financial Group Radio Show with Haven Financial Group's founder and CEO Slry. Call me guy and Bill Seller. And that's one of the Beatles' more popular songs. Actually it's Penny Lane. And the reason I'm playing now this morning is because apparently I did not
hurt it. I never heard the story, but about oh forty seven years ago, some drunk college students who were huge Beatles fans thought it'd be kind of cool to actually go steal the Penny Lane street sign because the song is about a a neighborhood in Liverpool where John Lennon and Paul McCartney actually grew up. I don't know if you knew that I did not. And well, five decades later, the guy who saw it finally gave into his conscience.
Couldn't take the guilt anymore, so he gave it back to the Beatles Story Museum in Liverpool and they were thrilled to get it back and agreed not to release his name. But the guy said he stole it because that's actually where he met his wife forty four years ago and it meant a lot to him. Well, you know, it kind of meant a lot to music history too. It's anyway, Penny Lane is backward. It rightfully belongs in Liverpool.
So, speaking of the Beatles and people with money, one of the things we wanted to talk about on the show today was just exactly is it me or does it just seem that the wealthiest people have access to money managing secrets? I mean, go banking Great dot Com put out a list of seven of those so called secrets that apparently all of us can use, Larry, we don't have to be in the Beetle stratosphere of money. I guess
number one on that list is to just look at the big picture. Now what do you suppose that means, Larry, Well, we look at it holistically, you know, when we look at what people are doing for retirement and their planning process. We look at, you know, all of the above, from the investments to their tax situation to you know, their family with their goals and their aspirations and their objectives and so really looking really big
picture. I mean, that's a comedy nominator we see on a regular basis with folks that have done well and continue to do well, and there's other comedy nominators too. They avoid debt and certainly avoid paying interest on certain things unnecessary interest. That is, they use credit in their favor rather than against
them. They're good savers typically they find ways to save. I find that often we sit down with folks and it's like, wow, you guys have been so disciplined, and this is how you created what you have, And there's a hunger there. They always want more and they're always pushing for more oftentimes and the element of time. They know time is money. They oftentimes know that compound interests is powerful and if you start at a younger age,
you're going to see the results you're looking for later on in life. They also know that money doesn't grow on trees, and they have a patience level that usually goes with that. And they're always seeking out education and as you know, we do lots of educational workshops. You know, we say that education is the potential for power. You know, it's what you do with the education that can benefit you. And so we see a lot of these
different comedy nominators with folks. It's not anything secret, it's not, but you know, we notice it when other people do it. It's just hard
to get the discipline to do it ourselves. That's the difficult part. Yeah, And I'm kind of curious when you talk to folks that are I know, you work mostly with people who are in retirement, are really close, right, But if you had advice for young folks like, for instance, if you were talking to the thirty year younger me and I came to you know, and I said, look, man, I'm trying to save but I got four kids and you know, I'm only making X amount of money.
What do you tell people like that to just find it difficult or do you have suggestions for people like that? Well? Number one, develop a budget. Start from somewhere to get to somewhere. Really focus on your expenses. Where is the money going If it's your you know, if it's going to Starbucks seven times a week, you're probably your budget. You're probably over
budget a little bit. I love Starbucks don't get me wrong. But start with the budget, manage the expenses, take advantage of you know, your employer sponsored plans. You know, because once you develop a discipline, you know, it's out of sight, out of mind, you know, start with something, you know, the old theory of increasing your contributions one percent per year and you won't even notice it. So start early, as early
as possible. I understand. You know, my wife and I have four daughters, twenty two now, twenty one, twenty one, and soon to be eighteen, and you know they're expensive. But at the end of the day, if you develop the discipline, you'd be surprised how easy it is to accomplish some of these savings goals or an investment goals, and start and work, start working with somebody, but never miss the opportunity to take care of those company matches in those plans, because that's free money. You can't
afford not to do that. That would be my best advice. Yeah, wish I talked to you thirty years ago. Where was I bill? Where was I got? In goodness gracious? Number three on that list, by the way, I noticed, was avoiding debt. And that makes a lot more sense than ever these days. But I don't know if you saw this. According to Forbes, the average credit card interest rate as of December eleventh, right, so just a couple of weeks ago was twenty seven point eight
percent. That's the now, that's the average, which tells you some of them are higher, right correct? You know those holiday shopping credit card bills can grow very quickly over a couple of months, is it? Is it ever a good idea to pull money out of a retirement account to try to pay those off? And that's going to be driven by the tax situation. You know, what tax what's your income, what tax bracket are you in?
You know, playing that credit card game can be very dangerous. And you know, twenty twenty five thirty percent interest, that's just a snowball effect. And you know that's not a good recipe for retirement. So you know, how do you get what do you do? And if you get into this position, well, maybe entertain some balanced transfers. I mean, maybe that makes sense. You know, as much as we don't want to, you know, a consolidation loan, call your credit card company, ask if
they can do a better rate. Oftentimes you'd be surprised and they can. And you know, if I had some tips, it would be make sure you monitor these credit reports. Mistakes happen, you want to catch them earlier than later. And again make sure that there's no errors that you need to dispute. And you know, there's a variety of these things really can help
you to get into these situation sticky situations. Yeah, these these rates are astronomical and a lot of folks are going to dig such a big hole they're not going to be able to get out of it. So again, thankfully, a lot of the folks that we sit down with have avoid these issues, have avoid these problems, not all. It was just with a couple that unfortunately their kids had made some serious mistakes and it's really affected their retirement.
And you know the enabling effect with some of these these kids these days, and be careful with that because it might jeopardize your retirement. And do you really want to do that? Maybe? Maybe not. I understand family is important, but at the end of the day, you have you got to look out for yourself as well. Yeah, I know. And the credit card debt is immase right now. I think it's in the trillions obviously for the whole country, and unfortunately, with inflation and things costing so much,
that's how people are being forced to pay for things. So it's kind of a catch twenty two right now, right, it is? It is, so you know, make sure you maintain a positive payment history, make sure you monitor those balances the best you can pay them down, starting with the highest interest rate card first. Just practice these things and eventually it'll become a discipline. And so it's it's really important. What do you know about
it? And I'm not I don't want any specific names or anything, but what do you know about these ads that we see for these so called companies? It will help you pay off your card, but you don't have to pay it all off. Those kinds of ads that we see are those just big scams? Tread lightly, know what you're getting, you know, consumer credit counseling, if that's what you're referring to. Some can be beneficial, others have extremely high costs and very very poor results. So I would tread
lightly, be cautious and get everything in writing in details. Yeah, it kind of falls under the old If it seems too good to be true, it probably is category right, it is very much so so again Larry and his team at Haven Financial Group are here to help you get through your retirement how they can help you get there. But the big thing is they want to make sure you get through retirement right because we all have that. The
biggest question going into retirement is do I have enough money? And will it last me? Those are the two biggest questions and they are the way to find out is to at least get your complimentary retirement writing this review done by the folks at Haven Financial Group. That number again is six one two four four one two four four one six one two four four one twenty four to forty one. And if you've listened to the show before, you've heard us
talk about it a lot. The great thing about Haven Financial Group is is kind of a one stop shop because, as Larry mentioned, all those retirement puzzle pieces, the healthcare part, the investing, the taxes, the estate planning, He's got everybody is in his office right there to help you with
everything that you need for all those pieces to your retirement puzzle. Again, the number is six one two four four one two four four one, And just a few minutes ago he mentioned the classes they offer as well as being educated about these things can can help you get through retirement just as much as anything else. You can find out what kind of classes they are, where they're happening, and when they're happening online at Havenfinancialgroup dot com. So again,
give them a call. Get that all important complimentary retirement readiness review done as soon as you can six one two four four to one twenty four forty one. On the way your tax bracket and your medicare premium, how they are connected, Also why paper checks are a scammer's dream, and the top spots for a tropical getaway this winter. I'm going to try to get towards something happy. Yes for sure, Bob Russ, happy thoughts as we paint
our picture of retirement. Okay, that might have been too much. I don't know. It's all the way with the Haven's Financial Group radio show here on Tunita City's New Stock eleven thirty and one oh three point five. That's that tucking around Christmas Street at Christmas Listener, where you can see have you had your three R checkup? Your complimentary retirement readiness review is just a phone
call away. Six one two four four one two four four one that's six one two four four one two four four one or online at Havenfinancialgroup dot com. Welcome back to the Haven Financial Group Radio Show with have In Financial Groups Founder and CEO, Larry Colby Guy and Bill Seller And well, how often do you feel like that after you spent hours with customer service? I still
haven't found what I'm looking for. I mean, and we won't call out any any certain companies, but I think we all know some of them were talking about when we turn on TVs. But anyway, after you're done with those calls, did you ever just want to like send them a bill because they've wasted your time? Most definitely? Well, I found this website it's
called Protestinvoices dot com and now apparently you can just go out there. You can create an invoice to send to that company that provided you with terrible customer service. How about that? Can you imagine being some guy at this company just getting his email and it's an invoice because you wasted my time, You owe me X amount of money. So if nothing else, you'll at least
clog up their day. Exactly going to give the money, but at least you'll clog up their day and slow them down to so selling investments to pay off your mortgage is kind of a tempting thought, right. A lot of people probably ask you about that. You can go into retirement without, you know, that monthly expense, right if you get your mortgage paid off. But according to market Watch, it could cause your Medicare premium to go up. What is the relationship there? Well, first of all, you know,
paying off your mortgage, I'm all about it. I'm a big fan of it. You know, I see on a regular basis people that have paid off the mortgage prior to them retiring, and it gives them peace of mind to knowing they don't have that big expense. You know, if you asked ten different financial people should I or shouldn't I? A lot of them will tell you, oh no, don't do that. Just let us invest it and we'll make so much money you'll be able to pay it off with
the winnings. And you know, I've seen that backfire over and over again. So big fan. If you can do it, great, that's awesome. Now, be aware of a couple things. If you're selling off investments, it might significantly increase your annual income. And what a lot of times people don't know that higher income can increase Medicare Part B and D, those
premiums can go up because it's some means tested program. Glen handles all our Medicare and healthcare in the office and we have access to all the companies. But it's called the IRMA IRMA income related monthly Adjustment amounts and they look back two years. There's a two year look back for Medicare. Well, you say, well, two years ago I made way more money because maybe I sold off, you know, a bunch of investments, maybe I sold a house. Okay, well, now we need to fill out an ERMA form
to try to get them to adjust that accordingly. So be careful when you're doing that. It's certainly why we recommend working with somebody that can map out the Medicare healthcare plan give you the advice necessary. We have folks that you know, have some lean years of income in their early years and they're unmanture. So looking at all those different options. If you're looking to save on costs for Medicare and then starting at seventy three I said earlier, require minimum
distributions might impact your Medicare costs as well. If you have a lot of pre tax monies, which a lot of baby boomers do, and all of a sudden you get to seventy three, which in nine years will go to seventy five. That can be a big income boost. So again that can be taken into consideration. But you know, that's why I work with somebody that is well versed in this area, that you know, has these retirement discussions on a regular basis. You know, we're all about paying off the
debt if it makes sense. You know there's good debt and bad debt, but make sure you're doing it in the most tax efficient way possible. Because taxes will affect us at every stage of life, and maybe even more so in retirement. It's why again we want to do some tax planning to avoid tax mistakes. Now, now you mentioned this was a means tested program for those of us that are kind of new to retirement. What does that mean
the more money you make, the premiums could go higher. Ah. So what I like about Larry, Ask a question, get an answer, and they're considering that same thing. They're considering it as we as they look at what to do with Social Security, which is another whole discussion to reform the social Security they're looking at. It could be means tested. If you've saved enough on your own, maybe you don't get Social Security, and then you
know other things that they're talking about. So again, the politicians have ran on this. Changes are not going to come easily. But again, the more money you make, the more money you might pay. Now, look, I'm no financial guy at all, but if I've paid, if I work from twenty to sixty five, if I've worked forty five years and paid into Social Security and saved, well, I don't just want them to take my money that they forced me to take out of my paycheck. Correct,
I mean, what is that all about? What? What is that? I think you should run for office? Bill? Honestly, I mean to even consider that to me just seems ludicrous. But when people say that that can never happen, and I say, well, Medicare is already a means tested program, so never say never. I guess it to be determined. We'll see. Yeah, And I guess medicare is that all part of money that gets taken out of your paycheck while you're working as well? Mm hmm,
yeah, so I guess it's the same thing, very similar. Wow? Right, Well, making sense and the government not words that necessarily go together. So anyway, the other thing I wanted to bring up was that there's an interesting phenomenon happening right now with scammers. If you're still writing paper checks to pay your bills, man, the thieves are loving you for it. A New York Times says, the check fraud has risen sharply just since
the pandemic. It seems that the more things change, the more they stay the same. Larry, It's it's the same old story, right. This is an interesting topic because you know, I'm very old school. I still write checks. I like the control factor. I have my check book in my briefcase all the time. So I was surprised at this. I shouldn't be surprised, because fraud is more relevant than senior fraud, even more relevant than ever. But I guess they really like checks and they will wash them
and do all kinds of stuff that criminals do. And I guess this is going to maybe cause me to be more cautious. Financial institutions I read are expected to file around five hundred and forty thousand suspicious activity reports. That's a lot, man. I guess I didn't realize check fraud was so so relevant, but it certainly is so. Again, like anything else, be cautious, monitor your credit, keep an eye out, and you know, as it relates to social security in the classes we teach, you know, monitor
your social security as well. Go to social security dot gov and make sure that it's current, it's up to date, that somebody's not already tapped into your social security because senior fraud is work worse every single year, and there's thieves out there and more and more of them. So again, be cautious.
Yeah, I'm just wondering that as the the senior citizen group of well, let me rephrase that, as the group of senior citizens in the next fifteen to twenty years will be different than what we have now because so many folks that are senior said, and we're talking people in their seventies and eighties right now, right that just we're not comfortable with any kind of technology are
the ones that seem to get hit the hardest with these scams. But in another fifteen to twenty years, when you've got your seventy to eighty year olds that did have their hands on technology at least for the second half of their life, maybe they'll be a little more aware of this kind of thing. What do you think I would agree with that? I would agree with it.
You know, a lot of the older generation didn't grasp technology or it was very slow to grasp it. And you know, and the fifty sixty year olds get there to seventies and eighties, I think they're going to be more aware of it. But again, I also run into folks that have
been scammed with these you know, Nigerian things. Or I had one of my clients from Megan, just a wonderful, wonderful lady, very smart, didn't she's retired, did very well, and this is just this year, and she came in just she was traumatized and she was embarrassed, and somehow they made it seem so real and she wired a couple hundred thousand dollars and she says, I just can't believe I made this mistake. They can they can be U make it seem like they're so real and legit, and you
know, never be too cautious. I mean, it's your money. Make sure it stays your money. Yeah, And it's a shame. It's a shame that people have nothing better to do. It is to people, so uh six one two four four one two four four one. That's how you get in touch with Larry and his team for your complimentary retirement readiness review. Or if you've heard something on the show today that has raised a question, or something you've heard that goes oh that sounds like me, I need to
find out more about that. Six one two four four one twenty four forty one is how you get in touch with the good folks at the Haven Financial Group. We're going to take a quick break when we come back, we're going to talk about the economy right now and which side of the line do you fall on as far as how you view it and leaving our cares behind. Little thoughts on sun surf, sand sunsets and the best places to go enjoy those. It's coming up on the Haven's Financial Group Radio show on twin
Cities Newstock eleven thirty and one oh three point five FM. Have be Jolly Christmas. It's the best time all the year. I don't know if there will be snow, but I have a couple of years. Show invest a little time to be sure your investments are working for you. Reach out to the Haven Financial Group now for your complimentary no obligation retirement readiness review. Our team is standing by now to take your call at six one two four four
one two four four one. That's six one two four four one two four four one on Twin Cities News Talk eleven thirty and one oh three point five FM. This is the Haven Financial Group Radio Show. If you're looking for a clearer picture of your retirement plan, the team at Haven Financial Group is
here to offer you clear financial guidance. Have a question for the team, connect now at Havenfinancialgroup dot com or we have team members waiting to talk with you off the air at six one two four four one two four four one. I love this car. It's my can of place. Just walking through the front door put some big smile on my face. And this is the Haven Financial Group Radio Show. I'm Bill Seller along with Haven Financial Groups Founder
and CEO Larry Kolvig, and uh just think this is great. You know, Larry, we talk all the time on this show about needing to have a purpose in life, right, about having something to look forward to.
Well to Australia. Men decided to leave their mark on the world by breaking the world record for the most bars visited in twenty four hours in one twenty four hour periods, and these guys, who are twenty six years old each had drinks at ninety nine different bars in Sydney, Australia, broke the old record of seventy eight that was set by a South African man last year. First of all, ninety nine bars and once that's a lot of bars.
Yeah, and you had to outdo it by twenty one twenty one additional bars seventy eight. I guess they wanted to make sure the record stood for a while. I'm not sure, but wow. Yeah. And you know, be it stereotypical or what just for movies and people I know who've been to Australia, they do enjoy their beer, of course, so they must have had a really good time. But ninety nine bars in twenty four hours,
that's doing it. Yeah, yeah, and they must have been really close to each other bar to bar to bar, right because otherwise luck anyway, just thought I throw that out there to get this part of the show started. So the economy, of course, is a big deal for people. But right now, whether or not we're actually in a recession, the majority of Americans think we are According to Bank Rate, fifty nine percent of the
people they surveyed think that we are in a full blown recession. It's a matter of perspective, I guess right, because you know, today I saw a viral video unfavorably comparing the current economic era with the Great Depression, referring to today as the Silent Depression. What do you think of that, Larry? I mean, I don't know that we're there, But what do you think? Yeah, I don't think we're there. I mean, just looking
at the stock market specifically, October was terrible, absolutely terrible. But November and December have been very, very good. People have seen the market increase, we said, an all time high, and you know, I've seen some optimism as it relates to that. You know, it's it's hard to compare different eras if you will. You know, today the average house is, you know, four hundred and thirty five thirty six thousand. You know, back then, you know, how much was it like three to thirty
nine hundred or four thousand comparatively speaking? Yeah, so I don't think we I don't think that's an even comparison. Now, certainly we have things to be concerned about the additional war with Israel and Hamas and put that together with an election yeer coming up and inflation and everything costing more reason for concern. Absolutely, But that's why we come back to making sure you have a plan, a retirement plan, that you will have some awareness and understand it,
that you stick to it and don't deviate it. I mean, develop the discipline that goes with that. And by doing that, we know there's going to be peaks and valleys and ups and downs. But as long as we have a plan and we stick to it, then we avoid some of these psychological and emotional roller coasters where oh my goodness, I'm gonna jump off a cliff. I can't do this. No. Remember we've had these discussions. This is why you have a balanced, diversified effisient portfolio. Remember, Oh
yeah, Larry, that's right now. I have a better understanding. The problem is most people are not aware of what they're doing, and then when things go bad, they go I can't believe this happened. Well, if you have it, if you're proactive and not reactive, we can avoid those peaks and valleys of the emotions. And there's a lot of psychology that comes
with investments in money. Yeah, there is, and it's great to have while you're not a doctorate psychiatrist or psychologist, somebody like Larry on your side to help you understand these things and really to kind of help you figure out where your mindset is as far as this kind of stuff goes. So the Haven Financial Group not only helps you with that complimentary retirement readiness review, but you talk about this all the time. Your money shouldn't just be a quarterly
phone call. If you've got questions, have you got things that are concerning you, feel free to call the have In Financial Group. Your folks are there to help when people have questions too, not just for that quarterly meeting. Absolutely, And I think of Lois. This past week. Lois came in. She came out to the Bloomington Center for the Arts a couple months
ago to one of the classes I taught. She's a single lady in the healthcare field and she's thinking about retiring and came in and visited and started the process in the discovery meeting and then visited with me in the strategy and implementation and I go, what keeps you up at night? She goes, Larry, I just don't know if I'm ready to retire. I don't think I
have enough money. I just worry about retirement. And after we got done, she goes, I've never felt this good about going into retirement because nobody ever explained any of this stuff to me. And financially, she was very disciplined, she had saved, she was worried about health care. We were able to talk through that, and you know, by having these conversations, it really gave her peace of mind. When I hear people say, and I hear it frequently, nobody's ever taken the time to explain or help in
any of these areas. And you said it very eloquently. You deserve more than one or two meetings once or twice a year. Our job description is to answer questions and help people get the peace of mind that they're looking for for retirement. Now we're not miracle workers, but at the end of the day, we're looking to cultivate long term reas relationships and help people wherever that
might be as it relates to retirement. That's why making that phone call could be one of the better smarter things you do for your retirement six' one two four four one twenty four to forty one. That's how you get in touch with Larry and his team at the Haven Financial Group. Okay, so it's time let's talk Larry. It's the holidays, Christmas is here. It's
already cold, people already thinking about not being cold. Me included. And I know you love to travel, and I know whenever you can, you grab the family and you head somewhere warm, tranquility and peacefulness in a tropical setting of what most of us are looking for. Yeah, and the folks at USA today have put together a list of some of the best tropical vacation spots that have the all inclusive resort. So I know you and I like the cruise. I know that, yes, but if we can't do that,
the next best thing would be the all inclusive resort. Right. The number one place is puta Kana in the Dominican Republic. Have you ever been there? Well, obviously they didn't pull me when they actually did this, because that would have been the last one I would have chosen. Really well, not because I don't like it. They're the sun's hot, but I've been there too many times to me my opinion that there's no flavor in the food. So yeah, Actually, our youngest will be going on a senior
trip. Her and my wife will be going on the senior trip to Poonta Kana, and I'm going to work. I'm not going. So again, is it tropical, is it hot? Yes? But that would not be on my list. Well what would have been your number one? Well, you know, during COVID during Thanksgiving, none of the families were getting together. Were like, nobody's getting together. Well, let's go to Cabo.
And we typically don't do all inclusive just because my girls are very They like breakfast and they like nice dinners, so we'll just typically go to a nice dinner. Well, we went to Grand VELAs in Cabo during COVID and it was oftentimes if you're going to all inclusive, if you're giving up some quality
maybe the food not always. This place was dynamite, wow service, great food, you know, the girls, A lot of the staff got attached to my girls and there was tears that were cried when we left after those ten days. But the Grand ve A less in Cabo would be very high on my list. Listen, any chance you get to go to Cabo, I'm going. As a matter of fact, I'm surprised you haven't asked me to join you, but that's just me. Number two on the list was
Jamaica. Now I can vouch for that one because my wife and I honeymoon in Jamaica, had a beautiful, all inclusive resort there. I like Jamaica, and it took me about a year to get out of Jamaica time. I mean, I was so relaxed when I came. It just it affected me and I loved every minute down there. Also on the list is the Bahamas, the other side of Mexico, because Cabo's on the west coast and the rivier A Maya on Mexico. We've been there. We had a great
stay. Yeah, I forget the place that we stayed up, but it was fantastic. The US Virgin Islands never been yep Oahu, Hawaii, and number seven on the list Key West Florida. I have clients that there in the winter and then it seems like they either you love it there or don't like it there. I had family that just went there my wife's side here about a month ago, and it wasn't for them. But yet I have clients that just just love it down there. So is it its personal preference.
I suppose, Yeah, it's on my bucket list. I've never been, but I do love key lime pie, so I want to go find a place and invented it and find out if I'm actually eating key lime pie or I'm not. I want to go get the real stuff right and find out what that's about. Now, keep in mind that these things aren't free, and they costs money as it relates to retirement budget. These travel expenses into your budget. Account for them and make sure that they're part of it,
and if you plan for it, then there's no surprises. Well, that's all part of that want to list right that we talk about, because you have have toos and you have the want tos and when you retire, some people want to travel, some people would rather sell the house and go buy a ranch. Whatever it is, you want to budget for it and make sure that you are set up for that, and that's what Larry and his team do for you at Haven Financial Groups. Let me throw the number
at you one more time before we have to get out of here. Six one two four four one two four four one is the number six one two four to four to one twenty four forty one, get in touch with the Haven Financial Group, go in for your complimentary retirement readiness review and make sure that not only your your setup to deal with all the tax changes, healthcare cost inflation, but that you've got the money you need and want to cover your want to list, because really, when you get to retirement, it
should all be about the want two list. Right again, we thank you for being with us this morning and hope you have a wonderful holiday. Merry Christmas, Larry to you and Rochelle and the girls. I hope, hope it's a wonderful day for you. Very good Mary Christmas and happy holidays as well. And thank you so much for listening to the Haven Financial Group radio
show on Twin Cities Newstalk eleven thirty and one oh three point five. F that it's the most wonderful time, lovely with the kids, jingle baling and everyone telling you be of good cheap, it's the most wonderful time. Investment advisory service is offered through Guardian Wealth Strategies LLC. Haven Financial Group and Guardian Wealth Strategies LLC are not affiliated companies. Investments involve risk, and unless otherwise
stated, are not guaranteed. Please consult with a qualified financial advisor and or tax professional before implementing any strategy discussed herein, and comments regarding safe and secure investments and guaranteed income streams only refer to fixed insurance products. They do not refer in any way to securities or investment advisory products. Fixed insurance and annuity product guarantees are subject to the claims paying ability of the issuing company.