Your tune to the Haven Financial Group Radio Show with your hosts Larry Kolvig and Kim Carigan, your guides to weekly retirement confidence. If you're interested in protecting and growing what you have, let us be your financials safe heyd. The phone lines are always open at six one two five oh four eighty four hundred. Now get your financial questions ready because the Haven Financial Group Radio Show starts now. Good morning. I'm Larry Kolvig, founder and CEO of the Haven
Financial Group Radio Show, and thanks for listening this morning. We got a lot to talk about. First of all, you can reach us at our number six one two five zero four eight four zero zero or go to our website Havenfinancialgroup dot com. Kim, good morning, Good to be with you. It's good to be with you as well, Larry, and I hope you've had a terrific week. Looks like we're all surviving this winter. Huh. I'm telling you, I've just had all that I can take. The
days are getting longer and that's always a really really good sign. Well, I'm excited about today's show, Larry. We're going to talk about solving the retirement equation, and I'm anxious to hear what you have to say and your expertise about this. I think a lot of people get to the retirement age and they think that they've got the equation solved, and then something happens beyond
their control and then they have to try to deal with these issues. For example, like the last year or so, we've watched inflation and that certainly has had a huge effect on the economy, and people who have been in the middle of their retirement, no doubt, have seen their investments change and they have had some real concerns. So at this stage of the game,
they're wondering, how do I solve this part of the equation. So maybe you could talk to us a little bit about how you go about retirement planning so you can head off these invariable issues that are going to come up. Let's get started with that burning question, how much money do I need for retirement? And I know exactly what you're going to say. You're going to
say it depends on the individual, and I certainly can understand that. But I'm hoping that you can narrow this down for some ideas that people need to be looking for, or some suggestions that you might have when people are trying to determine the framework they need to work within, Well, you are correct. My first answer would be, well, that depends upon the individuals, the couples, the families, but it's important to start from some sort of
framework. The four percent rule which has been talked about for a very long time. A lot of financial experts use it just to kind of get a ballpark estimate what people should have in retirement, and that four percent is if you draw four percent of your savings and your investments per year and you make four percent, you should be able to sustain itself. Now, with high inflation, I would question that four percent rule. Others say it's outdated.
I would not disagree with that, but it really comes down with income. First of all, people have to manage expenses. And you know, I can tell you right off the top that we have done a disservice I think in the industry by saying all you need one million or four million or two million. You know, I just think of even last week I had one of our clients in him and her and they're just the happiest couple. They're
retired, they have two hundred thousand dollars in retirement assets retirement investments. But they both have pensions and they both have social security, so for them it's way different. Now, in general, some would say to maintain your lifestyle, you need eighty percent of your working income. You know, I think that's probably fairly close. And others would say, well, there's certain times
of life where you should maintain the fifty. By fifty you should have five times your salary, By fifty five maybe six times, and then you know, by sixty five maybe eight times your salary. Again, these are just general rules for conversation when when we sit down with folks, we really find that this really it does depend though, and putting pen to paper with expenses,
getting accurate numbers. That's the important part, because then you can come up with some outcomes that you may not do, that you may like, and then of course talking through the outcomes that you don't like. So again, individual, yes, but these are just some really good benchmarks. Sure, absolutely, And you know I was thinking about this something you said just
a moment ago. But I bet it's frightening to some of our listeners who heard you say that by fifty you need five times the amount of money that you have made and tucked away. So let's go back to that story that you talked about the couple who are two hundred thousand dollars in the bank, but she had a pension and he had a retirement plan. Tell me what you say to people like that, Larry, who are maybe about sixty five
years old, and that's the money they're going to have. Well, like a lot of financial folks out there, we're going to sit down the team and do projections. Yes, based on some assumptions, but really nailing down specifics. What does it take for healthcare? Factoring everything into the equation. Are you carrying much debt? Fantastic? You have your mortgage paid off, that's fantastic. But again, we have clients that have a lot of retirement
assets that are at risk of running out of money. And then the couple I just talked about that they're so happy, they're so comfortable. It's individual. You know, you should have liquid assets, maybe mid term assets, and then longer term investments. So from A to B we're going to talk through these and factoring in these economic downturns, inflation. You and I both
know that it was a game changer for many people's pocketbooks. And you know the ups and downs of the market, making sure you're in the right spot. And quite frankly, a lot of people don't know the answer to that, so we helped them have some understanding and some wisdom as to why they're
doing what they're doing. So, Larry, I'm assuming that when you sit down with a client, in addition to chatting with them about what they are anticipating in their retirement and what their goals are, you also talk to them about longevity. I mean people kind of have a sense of that in their
families, right, Oh, absolutely, longevity risk is real. I think of a couple of weeks ago, I had a couple in and we asked these questions in every one of our meetings throughout the proprietary process that we take people through. It is do you have longevity in the family? And I was like, their answer was, yeah, almost everybody in our family lives
till triple digits. It's like, wow, that's good genetics. But the end of the day, we got to account for those because if you have longevity, that money has to last longer, so that is a big factor. And then do you have any dependents, do you still have any kids? On the payroll came. I can tell you in recent years, I've seen more and more Now I'm all about family, but enabling kids living in the basement at forty years old and still on the payroll, It's like that
might drastically affect your retirement, So be very, very careful. So all of these lend itself to questions we ask, taking notes, having a good understanding, and making sure we're planning for the long run, not the short term. You know, when I think about kids too, I frequently because I'm in this age group where we have a lot of friends who are making
decisions about college for their kids. And this is something else that eats up a lot of people's retirement at this stage of the game, right it does? It does you know, if you're helping pay for college costs, kids are staying on the payroll longer. It really comes down to people's incomes, the guaranteed income. Do you have pensions? You know some of the baby boomers a lot of them do, and you know what, I'll never have
a pension, And how much will your social security be. It's why we educate a lot on that, making sure you're making an educated decision because We can throw around flashy numbers like a million, two million, or whatever, but they're just numbers and they may not pertain to you like they do somebody else. And then demographics, what part of the country are you in?
So again it can change in a variety of different ways. Absolutely, I think you're explaining very well why it really is for each individual somewhat different. Let me share the telephone number. It's even Financial Groups six one two five zero four eighty four hundred. You can call Larry and his team if you'd like to come in. Maybe you already have a plan and you'd like them to look over it and enhance it, or you'd like to go for a
free consultation about a plan. And here what Larry and his team have to say about your situation six one two five zero four eighty four hundreds. How you start that process? And you heard Larry also talking about education. Larry and his team hold a lot of seminars on all different kinds of subjects. In fact, Larry, let me give this the email address, and then I'd like for you to tell everybody some of the seminars that are coming up
Hanfinancialgroup dot com. That is the email address you are the website rather, and you can go to that website and look up some of these these seminars that are coming to educate yourself better about retirement planning, Larry, some of them that folks might find if they go to Havenfinancialgroup dot com. Yeah, very good, Cam. This past week again we had a full house at Dakota County Technical College in Rosemount. We have them there three four times a
year. We do lots of community education at local libraries, senior centers. You can find them on our website. There's social security and tax classes, there's investment classes, RMD and tax classes, everything specific to retirement because you know the question, the golden question is how much do you need? Do you have enough money to generate enough income? And you know it starts with the present. Okay, you can only do what you can, but starting
right now in having these conversations is important. You don't want to wait till you get to the golden years. You want to plan ahead. Forward thinking planning will let lend itself to a better retirement. Absolutely Again that number six one, two, five zero four eighty four hundred or Havenfinancialgroup dot Com. All right, Larry, let's talk when we come back about treasury yields.
They have changed over time, and we're going to have you give us some insight about why these may be a very good place for folks to put their money. You're listening to the Haven Financial Group Radio Show. Don't stray too far searching for more financial nuggets of wisdom. The Haven Financial Group Radio Show will be right back. Stick around. You're listening to the new and improved Haven Financial Group Radio Show, where we bring you comprehensive weekly financial wisdom from
the professionals. It's all about helping you solve retirement problems so you can make your nest egg last. Welcome back to the Haven Financial Group Radio Show. I'm Larry Kolvig, founder and CEO of the Haven Financial Group. You can reach us at six one two five zero four eight four zero zero, give us a call, or visit us online at the newly revamped Havenfinancialgroup dot com. So can we got more to talk about? What's the next topic?
Well, our next topic is treasury bonds. Treasury bonds have changed somewhat, people's attitudes about them, and investing in treasury bonds during the course of our retirement at sometimes does not look like it was such a great idea and at others it has been a much better idea. The yield has changed. Talk to us a little bit about first off, what a treasury bond is. Yeah, US Treasury bond is often called a T bond, its debt.
It's a fixed interest debt security issued by the US government. The Treasury Department is to raise funds to finance all of Uncle Sam's spending. Now we all know that Uncle Sam likes to spend, so this is how they raise the money. So T bonds, by the way, these Treasury bills and T bonds and things we're going to talk about with recent inflation have actually been very
appealing to people's portfolios. The T bonds are longer term, longer term maturities and with a chance to get a little bit higher rate of returns that would be typically like twenty to thirty years, so considerably longer term. The Treasury notes very similar but like two to tenured maturity dates. And then Treasury bills is what have been very popular in the last year to two years because of the rates are actually five plus percent and there's an opportunity to get some fixed
rate of returns in there. And today especially five plus five and a half percent, So a lot of people look at laddering shorter term four six, you know, one year term treasury bills. So what they can do is kind of stabilize a portfolio. Now it's important to understand should you have them, should you not? And that's why working with somebody that says, okay, let's explore all the options. Let's leave not something out on the table
just because we're not aware of it. Not everything is you know, best for everybody. But you know these treasury but the bills, and you know they can be purchased in the form of ets, et apps and exchange traded funds, mutual funds, those type of things. Just know what is the risk with it, how long of a term is it that does it fit
into your plan or does it not fit into your plan? And if you watch a lot of the business networks here in the last short timeframe, we're in an inverted yield curve, which makes things very interesting because the short term yields are actually higher than some of the long term yields. And you can get anybody economists or financial person's opinion on that. And the are we in a recession. Are we not in a recession? Will we go back into
a recession? That's why, especially as you plan for retirement, make sure you understand what you're doing, that you're in a spot that's specific to your element of time in life, working years relative to distribution years, a balance, diversified portfolio. It's what we put a lot of time and effort helping
people understand. So literally, I want to back up just a second and talk about some of these different kind of T bonds or T bills out there and who might benefit who you might typically say this would be good for you. When I think of T bonds with that twenty to thirty year maturity timeline, I think about my in laws bought my children tea bonds when they were born, so they were really long term kind of thing. This would necessarily be something for someone who walks in at sixty, right, No, the
element of time becomes that much more important. And you know what our investment team have seen is, you know, the Treasury bills, the shorter term they work into the time frame of retirees much better better than those typical long term which you described is very very accurate. So stacking these four months six month, eight twelve month treasury bills right at five five and a half,
five and three quarter percent. That's been what's been very appealing. You just got a way they pros in the cons does it make sense having especially in retirement. We focus on do you have good liquidity money in the bank, do you have any of your investments protected where your principle is safe and what does that mean? And then how much do you have at risk in the market. A lot of people, unfortunately, they just don't know when they're
just kind of winging it. So we stress test their portfolio, get it in balance where they're maybe more comfortable now that they do understand. But I find a lot of people had not nearly enough liquid monies and everything at risk in the market. And somehow that is a good recipe to go into retirement,
not for everybody, So have an understanding of what you're doing. So, going back to the T bills, would you say that some one who you just described, for example, who doesn't have enough liquidity, is that a bad investment for them? No, it's not a bad investment if it fits into their portfolio. But when we talk liquidity, it's easy access to
cash. I mean money in the bank savings money market, which, by the way, in recent months and actually the last year, you've been able to get five five and a half in just money markets, which are you can be fully liquid certificates a deposit at five to five and a half, where we for fifteen years we weren't able to see anything and take advantage of that, because again, anything subject to change, and if they start cutting rates, you know, those might not be nearly as appealing. So this
is a work in progress. Life goes on, we get older, modification. You might have a plan, but if you haven't revisited the plan, it's quite some time. There's always modifications or things that you should be looking at. Burying your head in the sand just doesn't do any good, and you might be missing opportunities that you were unaware of. So let's talk about how they're affected by the economy. You just mentioned a couple of minutes ago
the yield curve and that it's inverted right now. That's why we're seeing these kinds of returns. But at what point do those returns start to drop and is this no longer necessarily a great investment. Well, as inflation goes down, which We certainly want to get it close to that two percent. That's the FED goal. You will see that these are not nearly as attractive. You know. It's also why when inflation skyrocketed, eebonds became that much more
appealing, pushing nine percent for a short amount of time. Now, again, understand what the terms are. Again, these fluctuate that they fluctuate up and down, and at the end of the day, it all depends upon, you know, the inflationary numbers that are out there. These are subject to change, and they're not for all your money. They could be part of a portfolio, a balanced portfolio potentially. Do you have a lot of clients who are interested in this, Yes, treasure bills, ibonds, all
these things. When they find out the rates that have been in the last six, six' nine twelve months, especially as they look on the fixed income side of the equation, I guess they can become very appealing. Sure, absolutely. And can you give me an example of maybe someone who thought this was appealing and it did turn out to be a good move for their portfolio. Yeah, somebody that actually had fun sitting on the sidelines, not
really collecting anything. And we know we saw like point zero zero one and point zero two five for quite a long time, and money was just sitting there getting stale. And to look at four five, five and a half percent, the money that was making nothing is actually generating interest and that puts a lot of smiles on people's faces that didn't have it for quite a long time. How about it does is your original investment always safe when you put it in or do you run the risk when you put it in one of
these bills of losing money? Well back by the US Treasury, I mean the Treasury bills are always careful with the word safe. There's always the opportunity for potential loss. But compared to other type of invent some strategies typically they're they're pretty solid. Okay times like these where we've seen inflation go up and you know, if we have an inverted curve. Tell me about some other investments that you start talking to your clients about when they diversify. Well,
I and the team we talk about stocks and the equities. How much risk do you have in that? Do you get into corporate bonds, do you get into other types of investments? You know, with high inflation, people are looking at the gold and the silver and the precious metals or commodities with artwork and some of that stuff we don't clan to know a lot about, but some of that stuff can get some very good appreciation through these high inflationary times. And at the end of the day, you have to weigh the
good and the bad. Do I want to store the you know, gold, it's been advertised a ton you're going to store gold? How liquid is it, how accessible is it? Does it fit into your plan or are you getting talked into something rather than look at the positives and negatives of what you're doing. Sure? Absolutely, six one, two, five, zero, four eight, four hundred. That's the number where you can reach Haven
Financial Group and the team. And if you are interested in maybe looking up some of these educational seminars that Larry's been talking about, you can go to the website. It's Hanfinancialgroup dot com. Take a look there. You can sign up. I know those those informational sessions. They fill up very quickly, don't they They do, they do. And again, all the puzzle
pieces, all the retirement puzzle pieces. No matter what your plan is, if it includes bonds or stocks or whatever it is, you know rebalancing your portfolio. It's important with It's what our investment team does. Tax minimization strategies very important, especially in the retirement years. We spend a lot of time on the education. It takes a concerted approach to understand your unique financial situation, and that's what we pride ourselves on, is spending the time, slowing
down, understanding who we're talking to and visiting with. At the end of the day, there's nothing that makes us happier than to have somebody say thanks for spending the time. Nobody else as they haven't explained it, and at the end of the day, that's what puts smiles on our face. Absolutely. All right, Larry, informative show thus far are coming up next. We're going to discuss the pitfalls of trying to manage your retirement on your own.
That's coming up next right here on the Haven Financial Group Radio Show. Ready to find your financial safe haven. Your dream retirement is in reach. Don't go away, The Haven Financial Group Radio Show will be right back. You've worked hard for your money, but do you know how to make it work hard for you? You need a team with experience, vigilance and a strategy to help you live the retirement you deserve. Find your financial safe haven
with Haven Financial Group Today. Welcome back to the Haven Financial Group Radio show. I'm Larry Kalvik, founder and CEO of the Haven Financial Group, and we're glad you're listening this morning. Our number can be reached at six one two five zero four eight four zero zero or again online newly revamped Haven Financial Group dot com. Let's go into another type of retirement topic that I want to spend some time on. Kim. Yeah, and that's that's people who
sort of do these DIY retirement plans. And you know, Larry, you can understand this. The last few years of market has been relatively strong, and certainly in the last few months it's been very strong. People are looking at their investments there for ROH one K's they've looked pretty good, and so they've thought, you know what, I'm on a good track here. I
can handle this on my own. But then things change, like a major correction in the market, which I think many people are anticipating may happen. And then there they sit and they're sixty two or sixty three years old and they have this plan that was not protected in any way shape or form. I'll bet you see these kinds of folks, don't you. We do,
And I'm not against do it yourself whatsoever. But there's some certain things you have to ask yourself, the psychology of money, the emotions that go with money. You know, this is your money, your future, your legacy. People make the biggest financial mistakes in the financial world when they panic and they sell low, the old saying by los Sell High. The problem is most people do the opposite when the markets are good, things are easy,
and I'm just making money, making money. And from two thousand and nine until twenty twenty two, we really got spoilified, almost fourteen fourteen years, and I mean spoiled so but at the end of the day, then we have a wake up call like twenty twenty two. If you're making your own decisions. Number one, is anybody going to give you a dirty look when you're making an impulsive decision? No other than you and the mirror going what did I do? And your family? Does your family know best? Is
their individual situation the same? Probably not. I always say family and finance is not usually a good recipe. And then what position are you going to leave your spouse? It oftentimes, and it actually happens very often when folks come in their spouse may may or may not like having these discussions. We encourage if you are that both be involved for obvious reasons that statistically men not always will go first. Well what position are you going to leave your spouse
in? And I'm always very happy when I'm sit down with folks and I can tell that they're a do it yourself for and they love it and they show interest, and then I ask him, well, how can we help you? Well, Larry, I've had health issues and I want to make sure my spouse is comfortable with somebody. If something happens, they're going a good spot. And you know, I applaud that, because when something happens, that's not a good time for somebody to start for a spouse to start
interviewing people. So the spousal situation, if something happens to you, and how much time do you want to want to put into the research. Some years ago, I had a couple from Burnsville, not far from the office here, and he was a do it yourself for. His spouse was she was a pharmacist locally and she would never come in and he would come in and he just loved to brag and playfully so of course, and how good he was doing and he researches. I go, you must spend a lot
of time on this. And then when his wife finally did come in, I said, does he spend a lot of time on this because he really seems to enjoy it, and she goes, that's all he does in retirement is research, And I don't get any of his time. I'm like, I think I might hit hit a nerve there. Yeah, do you want to spend your retirement researching or do you want to enjoy retirement? And again, avoiding those mistakes. Timing is so important because he did this in on
seven to nine. Timing of the market affected people's lives, and I remember to this day people that were bitter and couples that were bitter because of mistakes that were made, not because there was anybody to blame necessarily, but they were not in a position relative to retirement that put him in a comfortable position. That's what it's all about. The timing factor is a big part. Absolutely. Now, if someone comes in, like maybe the gentleman that you
just spoke of, who enjoys some research. Maybe doesn't need to be doing as much as he had been doing. Are you guys willing to work with what he's come up with or if he wants to keep a portion of it under his own control. Oh? Absolutely, First number one education, and we talk about all the retirement areas. If one's doing them theselves, we're gonna ask questions, and we don't encourage or discourage, but we want to look at it holistically from the approach. Okay, you're doing this, we'll
make recommendations. We might make suggestions. Are you open and you know, I think of this couple that was just in probably six months ago, and he was a West Point he's West Point graduate, super intelligent, do it yourself for His wife is like she loved it. When she came into the office. She goes, this is so great here and comfortable. And he's not ready to turn it over to anybody yet. We had numerous meetings. He goes, I'm not quite ready yet, but I'll let you know when
that time is. Hey, God willing, whether it's today, six months, one year, two year. We want to be part of the long term plan, so we're definitely going to spend the time we might even enlighten people to something they may not be seeing as a do it yourself for we'll give them that advice. So we're not against. We're not in all or nothing company. We're where can we help you at the end of the day.
We want you to have the confidence. And I think as somebody that from Lakeville, Aerin and Cathy they go just recently, and I've heard this before, Larry, we're happy where our guy got us. There could be a gal, but this was a guy, our advisor got us to this point. Well, we're not confident he can get us to where we need to be in retirement because he doesn't do all this stuff. And I thought that was really an interesting comment that was made in their observation that hey,
we asked him about social Security, doesn't know the answers. So again that retirement mentality and talking about how these all things are connected, I think that's extremely important. And while we're talking about that, Larry, let's take a moment because maybe some people who are listening to us today don't know about Haven Financial Group. You guys are essentially a one stop shopping location. Correct. We are, Yes, we do wealth management, carries our estate Planner Lance
is our CPA Glenn. We handles all our insurance and medicare and long term care, and we do life insurance reviews. So we're looking at retirement from all the angles, but we're looking at it through the lens of retirement. We do tend to be more conservative, but you don't have to be. It's more are you aware of what you're doing and helping people get a grasp
of what they're doing. And we believe retirements more than a one or two meeting a year, especially in all these topics for forty five minutes to an hour, because if you ask yourself, if you are do it yourself, that's great, but ask yourself this, would you plan your own wedding or funeral or even a family vacation or is there a time when maybe there should be somebody that specializes in this to help you or at least assist you in
some of these retirement decisions. And again we believe It'start's with the education piece. Other people do as well, because that's why our classes are very full. Sure, well, I think you know what I was thinking by asking you about the one stop shopping is that while someone may have a grasp on
some issues related to retirement. When they come into your office, they may find out that there are so many other areas, as you have said so many times, long term healthcare or taxes, or just healthcare in general. These are all issues social security that maybe we're not all experts on, but you've got those experts right there in the office who can help alongside maybe some of the suggestions you as to do it yourself or have. That is so
true. And the big one that we see overlooked is taxes. We have in depth tax conversations. It's part of retirement, a major part, and that's added value piece. All these years you've put into these pre tax or into your four one ks or whatever it might be. Now you're going to have to eventually look at taking money out. Where do you draw from the most tax efficient way possible. Does a roth conversion make sense today or future?
How do you do backdoor wroth conversions? Talking through these tax strategies, implementing social security in the way that will benefit you and your spouse if you're married the best. These are all the conversations, and a lot of times people might be strong in this area but might be missing it. In another area. So the coordination of all these retirement puzzle pieces, we believe that
maximizes the opportunity absolutely. And you know, Larry, I find in life what you don't know, you don't know right, or what you don't know can hurt you, not necessarily right in this situation, that's certainly not the case. Six P one two five zero four eighty four hundred is the number. Call and get yourself a free consultation with Larry and his team at Haven Financial Group. And you can check out some of those educational seminars that are
coming up Hanfinancialgroup dot com. Go right on that website, check it out and see if there's some information there that can benefit you. All right. So, one of those areas I think that is really tough for a lot of people is a state planning. So we want to talk a little bit about an overview when it comes to estate planning and just how important estate planning is to solving that retirement puzzle that's coming up next right here on the Haven
Financial Group Radio Show. Don't stray too far searching for more financial nuggets and wisdom. The Haven Financial Group Radio Show will be right back. Stick around. You've got questions, We've got answers. You're tuned to the Haven Financial Group Radio Show with your host Larry Kolbig and Kim Carrigan. Now back to the show. Welcome back to the Haven Financial Group Radio Show. I'm Larry Kolvig, founder and CEO of the Haven Financial Group, and we're glad you're
listening to us this Sunday morning. Estate planning, Kim, it's one of those topics people just don't like to talk about. Well, that's the problem, Larry. You know, when I come to your office and I want to talk to you about retirement, maybe I'm not thinking about estate planning. I want to talk about retirement and the fun I'm going to have, and estate planning can be just a tough topic to broach. So how do you guys go about, you know, working with clients to get them there.
Well, in our initial consultation, we're going to ask all the questions related to all these retirement topics, one being have you ever had a will? Do you have a current will? Do you have any estate planning documents done? If so, how old are they? We have a lot of experience and I have a lot of experience in the estate planning as other folks do in our office, But I just want to clarify that Carrie is our estate planning attorney. We educate, but the meetings are with Carrie when it comes
down to specifics regarding individual situations or family situations. You see a lot in the estate planning world. There's this misconception that estate planning is only for rich people or wealthy people, or those that have a lot, and that couldn't be further from the truth. And we kind of look at it this way. You know, you have documents that you maybe should have while you're alive, you have documents that you should have one should have when you pass away.
So when we look at that, it's like, Okay, what is that plan. Most studies that I've seen, eighty five percent of Americans have no plan or their plan is outdated for a variety of reasons. And do yourself. As in the legal world, I'd be very cautious, just because we're in a very litigious society and it isn't like it used to be where if you whispered something to somebody or wrote it down on a napkin and signed
it, they were probably going to honor it. We live in a world that is very litigious and where there's something to be had or so a loved one is gone, it can bring some of the worst out of people. So I think it'd be important to talk about some of the documents. Kim, yes, that one should have or at least should look at. Would you agree, absolutely, So let's start with wills and trusts. They are really the backbone of all of this. They are Now this is for when
one is gone. And I always joke, and not a very good joke, is the mortality rate in the state of Minnesota is one hundred percent. We're all going to go someday. But that's a talk for Sunday morning, and it is Sunday morning. So anyways, with that said, you know a will. Should you have a will? Most people should. In fact, if you don't have a will, the state draws one up for you.
It's called intestacy. I know it sounds like a terrible digestive disease, but at the end of the day, the state will draw a will for you. My encouragement would be have somebody draw up a legal will. The question is is it suffice to do what you wanted to do? Does a will avoid probate, Noah doesn't. Is that your goal to avoid probate? So it's the discussions that one is going to have with us and then in a state planning attorney, whether it's carry or somebody. And again it's really
the wishes for the court. Is it enough? Or should you explore revocable living trusts? You know, I think it's Susie Orman that says everybody should have a trust, but nothing is for everybody? Or should you have a transfer udeath deed? What is your asset mix look like? What are the pros? What are the cons publicity after your pass away. Some things accomplish
that, others having contestability provisions. If one has a loved one with maybe some gambling or addictions, maybe you don't want the spouse of your son or daughter to take anything or get anything. There's things that a trust can do that a will cannot do. This is important to understand. It's not one glove fits all, but there's certain items one should have. And by the way, I'll even make it a little more elementary. Make sure that your
accounts that have beneficiaries are updated, that they're current. I see mistakes in this and it sounds so elementary of people not having any beneficiaries. I think I mentioned it at a show before that one of our clients him and his wife, wonderful, wonderful couple, nurse at the Ridges. I think for forty one years could be wrong, but a long time. And she has a four h three V retirement plan and this is I think last year, and she's in my office and I'm like, you don't have any beneficiaries on
your account? She goes, well, I never could figure out who to put on there as her husband was sitting right next to her. That could have been a major headache or x Spouses of individuals on retirement accounts or other accounts never changed them. So again, trust, wills, beneficiaries, all these things are so important. What are they accomplished? You worked all these
years to put whatever you put together, small, medium or large. There are no automatics today, right, Nothing happens in the legal world easily. And you know, those are just specific items. When you're gone. Maybe you're philanthropic, maybe you're charitable, Okay, include that into your estate plan.
And then we have what's called kim the living documents, and people overlook these, you know, the living documents would be durable powers of attorney for health care, medical records, healthcare directives slash living will instructing if something happens to you, God forbid. I hope it doesn't. But the old saying is nothing ever is going to happen until something happens. Well, now you need these documents. Who's going to make these decisions for you if you're under
stress or duress or can't speak for yourself. If you have kids that are eighteen and above, they're adults, but you should have powers of attorney because if you don't and things happen, it's what's called guardianship. Conservatorship. Guardianship means the government of the state is your parent. Conservatorship means the state has your checkbook. I'm not sure anybody wants that to happen. So when Carrie sits down, she's gonna map out, and she's very she's very educational.
Not everything's for everybody, but at the end of the day, what is appropriate, what would fulfill your goals and objectives if something does happen, And then putting these together, nothing's free, but she'll map out here's the cost. Because the state planning is something you can pay x or y four or x or fifty times just for a name brand, maybe overlooking the US Bank
stadium or again name brand or not name brand. But what it needs to do is it needs to work, because if it doesn't work, you only get one chance and it either goes the way you want it to or the it doesn't. So again, small, mediumly, large, big estate, small estate. You have what you have, it's your family, it's your loved ones, it's your stuff. Make sure that you're directing it where you want it to go. Six one two, five zero four eighty four hundred
is our phone number. Reach out to Haven Financial Group where you can go to Havenfinancialgroup dot com. You know, I think a lot of people assume Larry, if I pass away, I want, of course my entire estate to go to my spouse. And that's just how it's going to work. And then when my spouse passes away, that's when we need to maybe my spouse needs to think more about where the rest of it will go. But that's not necessarily the case. You pointed it out, even with a will,
you end up in probate. That is correct. The will does not avoid probate. Probate by itself. On the living side of things. You know, all these years, if you're married, or if you have a spouse, you've made decisions together. Do you not want to make these decisions together? So just leaving it on one of the spouses is that really fair? Or when it comes to decision making the old school of thought, Kim is, well, I've been married for forty years. My spouse can make
the decisions if something happens to me. No, maybe your spouse has been making decisions for you for forty years, but there isn't any automatics just because they're a spouse. You have to assign them as attorney in fact, to make these decisions. Or maybe one of your kids is better in the healthcare field, and maybe one of them you don't want to making health care decisions, So it's deciding this ahead of time rather than waiting till it's too late.
I hope you never need a lot of these documents, but odds are we're going to. And it's why it's so important to be proactive, not reactive, because you might not have time to react. Time is of the essence. Adults any age should have some of these things in place, not everything. And by the way we talked earlier about taxes, a state planning
also can relate to the tax situation. When somebody gets their estate planning stuff done with us, Carrie notifies us, and then we implement whatever we need to in their investment accounts, maybe it's a trust, their brokerage, and these things should be all interlinked and coordinated together. And I can't tell you it's almost it's very rare that I see everybody have all their ducks in a relature. Well again, I think this is a really difficult conversation to have.
It's difficult to have with your spouse, it's difficult to have with your children, but it is one that's so important. Unfortunately, in my family we learned the hard way and we lost a parent. My husband lost his father and there was no will. And it wasn't that it was a difficult situation, meaning splitting up what was there, but it was just the difficulty
of making decisions for someone who wasn't there. And it leaves a real you know, a family that's grieving already and then is forced to have to deal with some of these issues. That leaves a really difficult spot for a lot of people, a lot of this emotions can ride very high on what I see is, well, we only have one child, or we have the best kids. I'm sure everybody has the best kids. Maybe not for sure everybody, but the reality is even the best of families can run into problems.
And again, if a lot of times, if you have more than one kid, maybe one's more frugal and the other one just spend, is a spendthrift or has no problem spending. If you're no longer here, then what happens. Personalities can change, money can start causing problems, and again, a sound estate plan can avoid a lot of the problems that go on. Maybe not all of them, but maybe most of them, and ultimately
is not the goal. And what I like about Carrie is, in addition to the legal documents that she puts together for folks, she also helps draft a letter to the family with the individuals and the couples that kind of maps out life and what mom and dad want for the kids and the family afterwards. It's heart touching, it's important, and it's a big part of what I think go into the estate plan. Six one two, five zero four eighty four hundred that's the number. Call Haven Financial Group today or we can
go to the website Havenfinancialgroup dot com. I have learned many things today about making sure that my retirement plan is ready to go, and I appreciate everything that you've shared with us today. Larry, great to be with you, Kim. We'll look forward to next week. Investment advisory service is offered through Guardian Well Strategies LLC. Haven Financial Group and Guardian Well Strategies LLC are not affiliated companies, and investments involve risk, and, unless otherwise stated, are
not guaranteed. Please consult with the qualified financial advisor and or tax professional before implementing any strategy discussed herein and comments regarding it 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.