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, 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. Your tune to the Haven Financial Group Radio Show with your host Larry Kolvig and Kim Karrigan your guides to weekly retirement confidence. If you're interested in protecting and growing what you have, let us be your financial safe haven. The full nines are always open at six point two five four eighty four hundred. Now get your financial questions ready because the Haven Financial Group
Radio Show starts now. Welcome listeners. My name is Larry Kolvig, Founder and CEO of the Haven Financial Group, and you're listening to the Haven Financial Group Radio Show where weekly we discussed crucial retirement and financial topics that may not be the most exciting, but they can make the difference between surviving and retirement, enjoying retirement and thriving through retirement. Kim, great to be with you again. Good morning, Good morning, sir. It's great to be with
you as well. Today's subject really really seems very timely to me. We're going to talk about financial stability in unpredictable times. Boy have these been unpredictable times. Not only are we in this election year, but we've had all these geopolitical issues all around the globe, which is really affected obviously the stock market here, and that can certainly have an effect on someone's their retirement. Well, it certainly can. I mean, I'm certainly a lot of listeners
have noticed the volatility, the drops and the ups and the downs. And if you're younger, that probably isn't that big of a deal. But when we're talking retirement planning people that are on fixed incomes, these things can really make a difference and can cause uneasiness and maybe to the point where you're not even sleeping good at night, or you want to make some decisions that aren't
probably part of the overall plan. And there's a lot of things that influence portfolio values, and those are the things we want to talk about to give people some confidence that it may seem like we've never been through times like these, but we have and we will endure again. But there's a lot that goes into that, and we're going to discuss those different topics. Absolutely. Let's take a look at what we're going to talk about today. We're going
to start with market moves and your financial stability. As we mentioned, now, we're going to talk a bit about understanding your stock market neutral investments. Larry's something really important for people who are in those retirement years, risk tolerance and your time horizon. Of course, it's all about timing and then finally understanding portfolio diversity and safety. So lots to discuss this morning, my friend. So why don't we get started with Let's get started with the markets.
I mean, we have really watched a lot of volatility. It just seems like anybody comes on television and the stock market goes nuts, whether it be up or whether it be down. Well, it is there as certain things that are affecting some major ones. Inflation. It seems like we never stopped talking about this. It's been around way too long. Well, there was an upward swing in March up to three and a half percent in the last twelve months. That was up from three point two percent in February. So
we're kind of trending the wrong direction. And that's really Inflation's really continued its resilience, and that threatens the overall chances of the Federal Reserve looking to do three predicted rate cuts this year. And it doesn't look like that that's going to happen, but it's certainly anything is possible. We see way first quarter earnings reports came out, and unfortunately they were they weren't as good as anticipated.
Now I want to remind you that first quarter is short term. Retirement is long term, so think of it in that perspective, and we'll see what happens as this year goes on and we get closer to the election. I'm sure we'll have all kinds of fun and chaos, and I hope not.
But and then the international conflict, where I should say plural conflicts between the Middle East, and perhaps we made some good progress this week, I sure hope so between Israel and Hamas, and we never stopped talking about Russia and Ukraine and China and North Korea get involved, and it seems like those things just continue and they all affect the overall health and ups and downs of the market. A couple of things I just add in there as well.
The employment costs went up in the first quarter one point two percent. House prices went up seven percent this year as of through February. And then wages, they affect employers and employees. Wages are up one point one percent. That's up four and a half percent in this the last year, and that causes a lot of problems for a lot of employers as they try to get people and pay people and still try to make a profit. So selling's all
very complicated. But at the end of the day, you know, we just have to get on the right ship and get navigate properly and make sure you stick to the plan, and first of all, have a plan. And if you're questioning that, maybe that's a good time for us to visit sure. Absolutely. Let me ask you in your expert opinion. You've lived
through a number of these election years. You know, a lot of times people think that as we get closer and closer to the election, times will get better, because it seems that the party that's in the White House makes sure things get better. As we get closer to folks casting their ballots, your experience with that. Well, historically speaking, election years are not that bad. They obviously put fear and panic in people, and that can lead
to hitting the panic button. I certainly wouldn't go there by any means. Again, there's no telling the future. We don't control what goes on. Things can change quickly. And would I say get in the right place based upon where you're at in life right now, because when the market moves, it moves fast, and by the time we can respond to it, it's already happened. In the olden days, you know, it took a lot longer to get down to the consumer. Now, you know, with computers
and everything else, it's really really, really quick. So typically electioneers is not bad. It'll be interesting to see what kind of conversations we have at the end of this year. But I remain optimistic just because you can't live in fear and anxiety. You got to have I'm a glass off full of you know, it has to be, because otherwise you'll just go crazy every single day, That's so true, and you'll be up all night. And as we've said, that is not something that we want to see anybody do.
So let's talk about you know, when we talk about the stock market and these conflicts overseas and elections and so on and so forth, it seems big and it seems very far away from my personal economy. How does this affect people's personal finance, Well, they can. You can see a lot of ups and downs. And here's why we stress the importance of having good
liquidity. Some may call it emergency fund, some may say two years of expenses in the bank account to offset these bad times, so you're not selling investments that are down, and then part of your plan having stock market investments that relate specifically to where you're at in the timeline of life, understanding the risk tolerance and how that works and how it affects you, and then making sure you have maybe some of your retirement nest egg with the principle protected.
And we talk about having a plan. That plan shouldn't look like you're thirty or forty, especially if you're fifty, sixty or seventy. It should reflect where you're in or where you're at in the timeline of life. You know, how close is retirement is that a five year window? Is it less than that more than that or are you are you already there? And then
look at all the different options. I think we're going to talk about those, but all the different options, not just some of the options, but maybe what are some investments that might be decent when inflation is so high? So again, have a plan, stick to it, but make sure your current plan is where you should be. And if you can't answer that with some with quite some confidence, that's where I think sitting down and really having
a good understanding, having somebody spend the time with you. Because even just this last week and we had a couple full classes that we taught. I encourage listeners to go to our website newly revamped site where you can see all the classes. Whether you're familiar with us or your clients of ours or have never heard of us. They are very well attended, which tells us that people are seeking education, especially in these volatile times. So I encourage you
to go check out those classes. And again they're very educational, which we think is so important. Yeah, let's tell everybody how they can check those classes out. You can go to Havenfinancialgroup dot com. There you'll see a list of some of the classes that are coming up, and as you just
heard Larry say, they're really well attended. So it's really important that if there is maybe a specific subject that you'd like to get into a class and learn more about that, you get on the website here pretty quickly and you sign up. They are free, but again it's Havenfinancialgroup dot com. You can also call the office and set up a free consultation. It's Haven Financial Group and the number is six one two five zero four eight four zero zero
six one two five zero four eight four zero zero. What do you do with those clients who come in and say, look, I cannot pull all my money out of the market, even though I have to. I just can't live with myself if I'm sitting on the sidelines. Yeah, timing the market's virtually impossible, but timing it getting out, but then also timing getting it in. You know, almost every major market downturn that I've been a part of, or we've been a part of, there's always one or two
that do something off the wall. They say they're never going to do it, but the psychology of investments and money comes into play, and then they do something they regret, and then they never get back in and they miss the opportunity. So when we look at this, we're looking at Okay, what's the short term plan, what is the midterm plan, and what's the long term plan. And remember, as I mentioned, retirement is long term,
but then you also need to satisfy those in betweens as well. So what I'd say is whether you follow these market swings or prefer not to, or whether these swings make so large or small impact based upon what you have or wished you had. Unpredictability is a major aspect and to consider when constructing or constructing what your plan is and what your strategy is. And if you don't now maybe a good time to ask questions. Give us a call.
You know, we can address this unpredictability and how it affects you, not just your neighbor or a friend or loved one, but more importantly, you take the time, you owe it to yourself and there is no cost, absolutely all right, So Larry, coming up, we're going to address some of those market neutral investments that people can make. You know, if you can't stand sitting on the sidelines, and maybe you need to get invested for sure, but you need to take a little less risk so that's coming up
right here on the Haven Financial Group Radio Show. Don't go too far. We're gathering more important insights and retirement ways. Devinment. The Haven Financial Group Radio Show will be right back. Stick around. You've got questions, We've got answers. Your tune to the Haven Financial Group Radio Show with your host Larry Kulvig and Kim Karrigan. Now back to the show. Welcome back to the Haven Financial Group Radio Show. I'm Larry Kolvig, Founder and CEO of
the Haven Financier Group. Thanks for listening this morning. Check out our newly revamped website, Havenfinancialgroup dot com. There's all kinds of retirement tools, or
give us a call, give us some questions. Six' one two five zero four eighty four hundred Kim. Lots of stuff going on in this world, and we continue to address some of these things as to you know, what can people do absolutely You know, one of the things, Larry, that you've spoken about many times here on the show is balancing your portfolio. And it just seems like during these times when the stock market in particular is so volatile, this is a real time to make sure that you're well balanced
when it comes to your investments. So why don't we talk a little bit about some of these market neutral investments that you offer up to your clients or suggest to them, but that maybe would protect their monies in these very volatile times. Let's start with maybe high yield savings. Yeah, for fifteen years, can we couldn't get anything but a couple of pennies on our savings accounts and they called the pennies high yield savings accounts. And now they actually they
can produce some yields. Is it? You know, it's a savings account that can pay up to you know, right now you should be getting four
and a half five and a half percent. Can find thement your credit unions or your banks, and if you're not, if you don't know, check it out because some banks are really slow at increasing these rates and they maintain some liquidity, which is important, so they can factor in maybe as far as your safe liquid investments, which relate into CDs CD certificates of depositive For the younger generation, they probably don't even know what that means, but you
know, certificate CDs at banks or notes. Just note that they have terms to them, whether it's months or year, So factor that into your planning because that may be beneficial or may not be beneficial, but it could cause some ill liquidity that may or may not factor into your long term plan. Bonds bonds, People say, well, what is bonds? Well, it's
really buying into a government or corporate debt. It's really buying debt. And there's all kinds of bonds and I'm not going to go into it, but corporate bonds and muni bonds, maybe they work into your portfolio, especially Minnesota muni bonds, tax free treasury bonds, treasury bills, there's all kinds of different types. How does it fit into your portfolio? I'm not sure, but they can just note that typically bonds are some of the safer side of
a fixed income portfolio. However, two years ago we saw fifty year lows on bonds that caused a lot of safer portfolios of your will to really be in the negative. And those didn't come back, and a lot of them haven't even comeback since. So what's the right balance. These are the things we want people to look at. Real estate, Hey, they don't make any more dirt, you know, lakeshore properties, So maybe that's a good idea, maybe maybe not. Or sometimes people get into real estate investment trusts
they're called rets. Be careful because some of them can be very much illiquid, and if you needed the money, you might not access it. I think back to two thousand and eight where I visited with folks that needed their money, yet the real estate market had crashed and they couldn't access their rates, which tells me they shouldn't have been in them to begin with. But you know, things happen, and unfortunately, hopefully we learned from these mistakes.
I just had this conversation with clients last week. The difference between your primary residence maybe a second home, and then an investment property when we factor out portfolio projections. You know, we got to live somewhere, so we're not The primary residence isn't something we're factoring into the investable assets. Now. If you're looking to create income, then that would be in the investment asset class or a rental property now that we would factor into it. So it
sounds really complicated. It doesn't have to be, but it's putting all the pieces into the equation to project how somebody's sitting for retirement and granted with inflation we get into gold and alternative investments. And you know, all I'm going to say is antiques and arts and commodities and an inflation side. There are always a discussion and we're not against it. Just remember how feasible. How feasible is it? And how much should you? What's the right recipe?
What's the right allocation? I always say, if something sounds too good to be true, ask more questions because it might be too good to be true. Yeah, it seems that usually that is the case for sure. Finally, let's talk about insurance. Is there is there something there that you suggest people get into it? It can work into an overall portfolio plan. I'll be teaching a class coming up, but I can't remember the date. But the truth about annuities, there's a lot of marketing out there. All I
say is, you know, there's four types of annuities. They can work into some people's plans. They don't have to. But just factoring, are you using it for accumulation purposes? Are you using it for income purposes? Or long term care? Planning can be used in annuities their contracts. All annuities are through insurance companies. The problem is seventy five percent of the people that have them don't know which one of the four they have. Well,
they are a contract. Some would say they're written in a foreign language, and a contract written in a foreign language you don't understand is probably not a good thing. They can be very effective if used properly, and I'd be remiss to fail that recent law changes in recent years when it comes to rmds and legacy planning for loved ones. Ed Slot he's on TV mid seventies. He's been teaching about taxes, which we do a lot of. You know,
that whole legacy thing changed when the multi generational stretch IRA disappeared. So what are people doing for legacy plannings. They oftentimes are using lurps or life insurance retirement plans because you can't do the old fashioned way of stretch iras anymore.
So all of these are possibilities that pertain to us a little bit differently depending upon what we have small medium in large, what our goals are, families, are we charitable and these are the things we want to talk through to find out what makes the most sense for you, your spouse, if you're married, and your family long term. If legacy is important, so it can be used, just needs to be done the proper way and understand
what you're doing. I want to just back up for a second and talk about annuities against because I think a lot of people have a bad taste in their mouth when it comes to annuities. But you're not saying that annuities are necessarily a bad thing. You're just saying that you need to understand what you're in and they're most specific for certain portfolios. You are one hundred percent correct. By nature, they're not bad and they can be very effective. There's
lots of financial marketing out there. Anybody that has a pension that is an annuity. Anybody that gets a Social Security payment is an annuity payment. The problem is the old term, the way of thinking thinks annuities are payments. Well, they can be and be careful with annuitization, which means you give up control of cash value. But they can be used for for those that
don't have pensions to do as a self directed pension. They can be used as a bond replacement in an overall portfolio for diversification and accumulation purposes, or as I mentioned, they can be used for long term care strategizing. Just understand because some of them can get very complicated, and some of them may not seem what they appear to be. They can be described sometimes better than they are, and they can also carry high fee, high fees that you
may be unaware of. Bells and whistles that have additional costs. Again, under awareness and understanding talking through which one you have, is it appropriate or are you stuck? And if you are stuck for how long? So balancing a portfolio folio is very important, and we said this off the top here, especially during these very volatile times when it comes to the stock market.
But you know, Larry, for a lot of people who have listened to you sort of walk through all these different options out there, this sounds very confusing. So you're not necessarily saying that people need to take all their money out of the stock market and put them in all of this. You're just saying, these are some options to maybe diversify a portfolio. Yeah, you
don't have to make it complicated. This may sound complicated as we look at all the options in just a discussion format, but when you're trying to construct the right financial strategy for you, your spouse and family and for retirement. It's not. You don't have to know everything about everything. Just know all the options that are out there. If somebody's pushing one option, why are they pushing one option? Shouldn't we be looking at all the options and narrowing
it down to fit what your goals are. There might be some products or different investments that might work for you but not work in other people's situations. So if you have questions about these different things and how these could fit into your strategy, that's what our job description is. That is what we do on a weekly basis. And at the end of the day, is wealth protection important or is accumulation? What's driving you? What's your goals? What's
your objection? Because it's you've heard me say, it's not one glove fits all, It's not what are the jones is doing? It's what are you doing? And if you're not sure what you're doing now, that might be as good a time as ever considering everything going on, to get your ducks in a row and dot the i's and cross the t's. Absolutely yeah, this may sound confusing in a conversation, but again, when you sit down with the experts, who understand what this is. This is what they do.
As Larry said, this can be so incredibly I think freeing to know that you've got your money in different locations and you don't have to stay up at night worrying about that stock market and what it might do and what it might do to your money. Six one two five zero four eight four zero zero. That's the number you can call Haven Financial Groups, set up a consultation and go in and see if you're right for them, and they're right
for you. Six one two five zero four eight four zero zero Havenfinancialgroup dot Com. You can also reach out to them there. All right, So Larry, we've now talked about those great stock market neutral investments, so now let's talk about risk tolerance and how that all affects your timeline when it comes to retirement. You're listening to the Financial 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. Are you worried that your financial strategy might be missing something, Well, you're in the right place. Larry Kolvig is back and ready to help you find your financial safe Haven. Welcome back to the Haven Financial Group radio show. I'm Larry Kolvig, founder and CEO of the Haven Financial Group. Again, thanks for listening this morning. I know you have all different kinds of alternatives,
but we're glad you're listening. Give us a call at six one two five zero four eight four zero zero or Havenfinancialgroup dot com. Check out the site. Great some great community things in there, great tools, all kinds of retirement stuff and again I think you'll find it very very very enjoyable. So kim risk and risk and risk the risks are retiring. Well. This is all part of the conversation that we're having today about your financial stability in
these unpredictable times. And if you missed the top of the show, Larry and I were talking about how we've watched a lot of volatility in the markets in the last year and a half two years, a lot of that associated with inflation, of course, geopolitical issues taking place, and now here we find ourselves in the middle of an election year, so it's never real clear
exactly what's going to happen. So Larry is suggesting and the people a Hapeen Financial Group suggests that you come in and make sure that you protect against what could possibly happen out there. We've already had a conversation about market moves and why these things are happening, and we've also talked about market neutral investments, and now we want to talk about risk tolerance and how that might change depending on your timeline. First off, let's just talk about Larry, what is
risk tolerance? Well, it sounds stuffy, but risk tolerance is a measure of the degree of loss an investor is willing to endure within their portfolio. You know, when do they push the trouble button or the panic button. So it's a measure of how much they're willing to lose when things are going the wrong way. Stock volatility, market swings, as we talked to economic or political events, regulatory actions that could take place, interest rate changes,
which we've talked a lot about. Any of these things can affect the investor's tolerance for risks. Now the time horizon. You mentioned that what's the short term, mid term, long term plan? How long until you need this money? When retirement planning, income is the name of the game. Are you to social security age yet? Where is your retirement and going to come from. And again accessibility, when do you need it? And the time,
the element of time becomes that much more important. What are your goals for retirement? And when we look and do these projections, we want to know what are your hobbies. Do you like to golf, fish, what do you want to do? And what are the costs attached to this that we really need to factor in. There's different levels and we're all wired differently. Some people they like the risk stuff. Other people are kind of midstream. Others don't want any risk. And our job isn't to judge whether you
should or shouldn't. By now, at this age, if people know if they can stomach it or not stomach it. I find it very interesting when I sit down with folks, and I bet you it was at least three four couples here this past week. Within couples, there's usually a difference of opinion. Imagine that couples with a difference of opinion, and I'll simply ask them, so, which one is the high stakes gambler or the high risk taker? And usually by the reexpression, it's pretty clear one is over the
other. And again that's very normal. There's nothing wrong with that. But at this at this point, what's the happy medium? What can they settle on as a couple as people get older, taking the foot off the accelerator a little bit when it comes to risks. Now you have the conservative risk tolerance, but says I don't want any risk. I don't want to lose
any money. I don't want to lose any principle. And there's you know, some effective investments or options in that area where you still have some upside. Those that are close to retirement or in retirement, maybe should look at some of this as part of a portfolio. Maybe it's those bank accounts that have FDIC backing, or maybe it's some of the fixed annuities that have you
know, backed by the State of Minnesota, the state Guarantee Fund. Maybe those are appealing for maybe for a part of your money, the fixed annuity, the CDs, the money markets, which we talked about more conservative, Yeah, moderate risk, Okay, we're willing to take some, but not gamble everything. Well, maybe a combination of safe investments and risk investments.
What's the balance? What does your recipe look like. I had a couple in this week where they were fined with eighty percent stocks twenty percent on the fixed income side, while most of our clients, when they understand what they're doing, temper that down a little bit, you know, sixty forty fifty to fifty somewhere in that area. It's not for us to say what they should be doing. It's okay. Are you in the accumulation stage of your
life, then maybe you could be more in the aggressive risk tolerance. You know, if our daughters who are in there, you know, eighteen twenty one, twenty one and twenty three, you know, God willing, they have time on their side, well put it in all stocks, you know, you know, why not the long term? Hopefully there's long term there. But as you're getting close to retirement, the accumulation years are getting behind you and the distribution preservation years are ahead of you, so it should factor
into what you're doing. The problem is, and I shouldn't say a problem, it can lead itself to a problem. But when individuals or couples don't know how much risk they're taking, and the only way they find out is when we have a bad year like twenty twenty two, that tells me there's they don't know, and what you don't know can hurt you, but it can hurt your finances, and that's what we want to miss. We want to be proactive because we know there's to be ups and downs. It's how
we stomach those up and downs. And that's why identify where you're asked and where your risk tolerance is that will go into making the right decisions for the overall portfolio pictures. So again, risk tolerance. Are you gonna jump off a cliff when things go bad? Are you gonna panic and pull it all out? Or are you comfortable with what percent potentially you lose or gain? What is the right balance? And that's what we try to help people with.
Sure. Absolutely. Now let's talk about I know that you have a tool where you can actually determine the risk of a portfolio. Explain what that is. Yeah, we call it stress testing your portfolio. When when folks come in, if they come out or you're listening and you will come in and say, you know what, I just want a second opinion. I
just want to see, well how do things look. In that process, if we get there, we're going to plug in all of your information, all your ticker symbols into and there's great technological software we're not the only ones that have it. We know that. But what it does is it gives an output. We input it, and it gives an output of Okay, let's say on a scale from one to ninety nine, one being the safe
savings account, ninety nine being the highest risk stock. What is your overall portfolio on a scale from one to ninety nine, or say one to ten. And a lot of times I'll say what what is your comfort level? And they go, well, we don't know how much risks were taken. Well, in a perfect world, if you did know how much, what would that be? And you say, on a scale from one to ten, Well, you know, Larry, anywhere from four to five would be
probably comfortable. And then when they come back and we look at it and take a peek under the hood and make some recommendations, and we show them not creating a problem, just so identifying a problem. Well, did you know that you're actually on a seven or eight and you were comfortable with a four to five? And they say, well, how do we fix the problem. Now we begin to implement implement tentation process to modify it to get them where, hey, we're not comfortable with that, but here we are
comfortable. So that's stress testing your portfolio. Indirectly, it's reducing the stress. So when the stress comes, we already talked about the stress, right. Absolutely. Do you sometimes have people who say, wow, I'm only at five I can take more than that periodically? Yes, Usually it's the other way around. I can tell you again this past week, I had a single lady in the healthcare works at Fairview, and it's that more than
a few times she goes Larry, I don't pay attention. I have a four H three B nurse for forty one years, but I'm getting close to retirement. And I heard what you said, and she just wasn't involved in the investment piece, and nobody's helped her. It's just kind of been out of sight, out of mind. She's done a great job. However, her whole retirement portfolio was in two different holdings. Only I can tell you
that's a recipe for a disaster. If things were not the timing wasn't good and she didn't know, and it wasn't her fault that she's like, well, at least thankfully somebody at least pointed at out so we could avoid a potential problem. Absolutely, yeah, So I don't think that most people probably even know that you can you can have a stressed test on your portfolio, and they don't know when they should do it. So what's the timing on
that. Well, it should be any time. But as we talk about retirement planning, five plus years to the retirement years risk tolerance is it's easy to talk about in a hypothothetical context, but when it comes to you individually, it applies to your situation at this crossroads of life. This is your situation. To help you understand are you on the road to financial independence? Are you off? Are you out of the lane? Do we need to
get back in the middle of the lane. If you have questions about this stuff, there's no time other than the present for me to say, well, if you're not ten years or five, no, no, start somewhere to get somewhere. If you're in your younger years, start the plan now because you're going to be very happy you did you know twenty twenty five plus
years down the road. So don't hesitate. We don't know what lies ahead or what life has ahead, so it's better to be proactive and start something now than not getting a chance to do it later on absolutely six one two five zero four eight four zero zero. That is how you reach out and set up a consultation with the Haven Financial Group. Let me give you the
number again, six one two five zero four eight four zero zero. Pick up the phone right now and give them a call and get that get that meeting set up and go in meet with Larry or a member of his team and talk about how you want to look at the stress that's on your portfolio
and they can help you out. You can also go to Heathnfinancialgroup dot com and get more information dot upcoming classes and more information about Haven Financial Now, when we come back, we want to talk about diversity in your I think a lot of people use that term again, just like you know, high stress. They use this term, but I'm not sure everybody knows exactly what it means. So when we come back, Larry's gonna explain to us portfolio
diversity as well as portfolio safety. You're listening to the Haven Financial Group Radio Show. Don't go too far. We're gathering more important insights and retirement pays Devinent the Haven Financial Group Radio Show. We'll be right back. Stick around. You've got questions we've got answers. Your tune to the Haven Financial Group Radio Show with your host Larry Kulvig and Kim Karragan. Now back to the
show. Welcome back to the Haven Financial Group Radio Show. I'm Larry Kulvig, Founder and CEO of the Haven Financial Group, and thanks for listening on a Mother's day morning. Happy Mother's Day to all of you out there. To the mother of our four daughters, Rachelle, thank you to my mom, Carol and Candy High Minnesota, thank you so very much much until all mothers that are listening, You are much needed. You do so much.
Enjoy your day and thanks for listening again. Talking about all these retirement topics fun and exciting. Maybe not always, but call us. Give us a call six' one two five zero four eighty four hundred, visit our website Haynfinancialgroup dot com, or send us an email. We'd love to hear all your questions that you have, So Kim, diversity, diversification, safety, all these things that get thrown around out there, but oftentimes people don't know
what these terms even mean. Yeah, I'm sure they don't. So let's start with portfolio diversity. I know that that's something that we talk here on the program pretty frequently. But let's let's start with the basics here and just what that means. Yeah, I think I'll start with the term safe asset. Okay, in the industry, you have to be very careful of what the word safe means because I mentioned earlier in the show of bonds or typically
the safer investment vehicle on the fixed income side of a portfolio. But they're not safe. And anybody listening knows that two years ago when they lost thirteen percent or whatever years did that ain't safe. There's a very low risk level of the principle falling no matter what the market cycle is. But careful when
the people use the word safe. Now. Portfolio diversification. That is a strategy where we try to use multiple assets and asset classes as part of the recipe in a portfolio number one to reduce the volatility that comes with relying on maybe one stock or one company or one asset class. We want to create
more of a balance because portfolio diversity creates more balance. If you have all of your eggs in one basket, or having in ten different baskets, the chances of all ten going down are much less than one going all down. That's why it's very important that again that you have the diversification necessary because over time you might have winners and losers and those will balance out, and then that equals compound returns that over time will be positive, and then the power
of compounding is very very powerful. And if only if some people understood that. I like a good analogy that was given some time ago, and we hate to reflect on the bad times, but I remember vividly in two thousand and seven to two thousand and nine when the real estate market and we had the two thousand and eight subprime mortgage crisis. This is really all collateralized debt obligations, which is a FASTI term for a whole basket of mortgages. Well,
we know what happens is that went really, really really bad. These were considered diversified, so meaning they really couldn't fail, so therefore potentially you could say safe. However, these were highly diversified bundles of extreme risk, very very risky, and that completely failed. Now that's exactly what we don't want to happen with somebody's portfolio. So again, don't get roped into that
which is why diversification is so important. However, oftentimes we see this, Well, Larry, I have a red statement over here, in a greenen statement over here, in a blue statement over here, So I don't have all my eggs in one basket. I'm very diversified. Yet we see if we take a look that it's the same recipe in all three of those different colored statements. Well, that's not diversification. Although you don't have to be all under one roof or one statement or one company. You can be and
still have the diversification within the portfolio. So again, don't fall into that trap. Problem is most people don't know how diversified they are. They're not. And we're not against doing yourself investors. If that's you, more power to you. I did have a couple last week that I said, well, how do you like in retirement? And she goes, well, all he does is study investments and we're not and I don't get to enjoy his time. I'm like, okay, that a few times in all the years
I've done this. So what oftentimes do it yourself ors is failing to tap into is the right percentages in a little bit in these different slices or different sectors of the market, whether it be small cap or little international or emerging markets. And that's what our investment team, that's what we're looking to fine tune. I'm not a cook, but the right amount of ingredients for the right recipe to get the best results. Looking at the willingness to take risks.
You don't want to take any risk, don't take any risk? Do you need to take risk? Maybe maybe a little? What amount do you have the ability to take risk? These are all the things that we're going to talk to to make sure. Yeah, we all want to win, but calmer waters for most of our clients prevail at this stage of the game. Do you want Can you sleep at night? I don't care if you sleep at night. Well, we kind of do because I need to.
But the reality is do you wake up grumpy and wish to do something and not stick to the plan. Human greed is very powerful and and I joke we live a mile from Mystic Lake Casino and everybody's winning there. But they're not all winning there. But when the markets are doing good, here's kind of the psychology we see. Well, Larry, the markets are doing so good right now, I don't want to do anything different now, and then the markets go down a little, well, I have to wait till it
comes back up before I do anything different. And then the market store is going down well, and then they make an Egypt reaction and then they get out when the market's low. That's the opposite of what we're supposed to be doing. The problem is human nature, worry, greed. It all factors into the psychology of investing in money, and it affects all of us differently.
But it's how we react which matters. Sure, So Larry tell me, you know, it's some broad strokes what a well managed, diversified portfolio might look like. Well, it certainly depends upon what we're talking about for assets, and we believe everybody should add the small meetium a lard. If it's smaller, we don't have as many things to choose from because you might need that money sooner. If you lose it, it might have more of a drastic effect. So every situation is going to have its own variables.
First of all, we'll start by saying, are you position well liquidity wise for retirement? You know, have you developed an emergency fund? Kind of the fundamentals, and we'll talk about some benchmarks in that area, and then what's your risk exposure, how much risk? And then of that part, well, how diversified or how much what's the right mixture, and then as far as principal protected investments, we'll get into that. So as we get
older, diversification, we believe becomes that much more important. And again safety often for a lot of people, becomes that much more important. And I hear well, Larry, at this stage, we don't want to lose our money. Okay, we don't need to make a bunch, but some decent return without the risk, without all the fees, we'll be happy with that. So we really can't give a master plan. If you're in this,
it's this. If you're in this, it's this, it's okay. What's your situation and what would be the best for you, your spouse and your family. All the more reason for people to come in and chat with you, right, that is correct? I mean absolutely. Haven Financial Group is obviously our name and six one two five zero four eight four zero zero is
a phone number. You call that number, tell them that you heard the show and that you'd like to come in for consultation, sit down with Larry or a member of the team and talk a little bit more about portfolio diversification, or you can go to Havenfinancialgroup dot com. Do you guys have classes on this issue? We do have classes on this issue. We have some coming up, and we also have RMD and taxes and we started State of the Economy, so we absolutely do so check out those classes online. You
know whether you're holding safe assets, risky assets, diversified assets. They're a measure to make sure that your finances are truly working towards your goals for what you want to accomplish, both now and in the future. So feel free to give us a call. We'd love to visit with you. There is no cost to do, so there's nothing to lose. It's a very comfortable environment, laid back environment, serious, but we like to have as much
fun with it as possible. And we've just really talked more about investments today. But all the retirement puzzle pieces, the coordination of the investments, with the insurance, with the estate planning, all of these taxes, all of these go together, and as I say so often, they don't have to be all into the same roof, but they should be working in retirement together, not a part. So, Lara, I've got a great idea for
your favorite mother today. How about you give the Haven Financial Group a call and make sure that everything is all set up so there's comfort and no worries in retirement for your favorite mom. It's six one two five zero four eight four zero zero. That's the Haven Financial Group where you can go to Havenfinancialgroup dot com. Do you guys have some big plans today? Church and brunch
with my wife, our four daughters. I'm sure there'll be a few add ons as well that would be boyfriends, And jokingly, my wife and I don't do boyfriends very well, but we're working on it. We're getting better. Well, maybe they'll be spending the day with their mom, so maybe you won't have boyfriends right now? Right yeah, potentially. And again, Happy Happy Mother's Day to you and to my mom, Carol, and to all the mothers that are listening. Thanks for listening this morning to the Haven
Financial Group Radio show. We truly appreciate it. Enjoy your day, enjoy your week, and can we look forward to visiting with you next week. All right, have a great week, Larry you as well. Investment advisory service is offered through Guardian Wealth Strategies LLC, 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 a 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.